San Francisco’s reigning porn epicenter Kink.com has been really good about keeping its three or so daily porn shoots on the DL. So good in fact, that the building’s 38,000-square-foot “drill room” may play host to “community banquets, film festivals, farmers markets and youth sports events” before year’s end. The drill room is separate from the rooms where Kink’s porn activity goes down, so neighbors have recently become receptive to the idea. If the new community center function is approved by the Planning Department, veggie vendors could be rolling in record proximity to Kink’s vats of lube before year’s end. [Examiner]
forming roots in the green community as a member of the EcoTuesday Meetup group
Starting with my discovery of gardening and cooking a few years ago, hobbies which quickly have become my new passions, I began to learn more about farming and the importance of implementing sustainable practices in order to keep our environment clean and our food supply safe. As a natural consequence, my interest and curiosity expanded beyond my own back yard; now I’m passionate about learning more about environmentalism and sustainable practice as it impacts every aspect of our lives. I’m passionate about living green! And in that spirit, I’ve resolved this year to deepen my involvement in the green community and to meet others with similar passions.
That’s why I joined EcoTuesday as a member, and I look forward to becoming a regular participant in their events.
What is EcoTuesday? Put simply, it’s a monthly networking event for professionals of any field with an interest in sustainability and living green. You can find out more by following this link. I love that while everyone shares this abiding passion for the environment, the group encompasses people of all walks of life, approaching green issues from any and all angles. From chemists to venture capitalists, from marketers to construction workers (and graphic designers like me) you could meet anyone at these events, and the synergy that erupts from that is an exciting thing. When people create and build bridges, good things happen. And there are lots of good people at these events.
Tonight was no exception. It was the 5-Year anniversary party for EcoTuesday and the event was held at the Bently Reserve in the Financial District of San Francisco. And I met some cool people. Among them:
- An entrepreneur and foodie, in the process of getting investors for a business incubator. Her goal, a commercial kitchen that could be shared by any number of home cooks who want to make a business of their passion but don’t have a lot of start-up capital. It’s a dream of building an economy of scale and sharing resources so that talented people can make a start in a challenging economy with minimal risk.
- A chemist, ready to start researching ways to use chemistry to improve consumer products by finding replacements for toxins used in the manufacturing process, and finding ways to reuse waste and trash by transforming it chemically.
- The makers of Mamma Chia, an organic beverage made from the chia seed.
- Organizers of the Green Film Festival, the Bay Area’s only festival dedicated to films and new forms of media that explore green issues and sustainable living.
- My buddy T who represents Dharma, a green credit card processing company during the week and farms on the weekend, in Petaluma!
It was a great night, with a great speaker, Brian Back, of Sustainable Industries Magazine who provided great insight as to how the playing field is changing for corporations and small businesses, encouraging us to find new approaches to innovation through creative partnerships with one another. I look forward to going to more of these events, learning more about sustainability and environmentalism and above all, I look forward to making new, green friends.
this is the start of something, learning to farm in Petaluma
On my friend's farm in Petaluma. . .
Moving to San Francisco some 10 years ago changed my life. More to the point, it opened-up my life. I blossomed here.
My dad was a gardener by vocation, and avocation. Green was in my genes but I’d never tried gardening as a kid. . . I just didn’t know it yet. I loved to draw, though. . .
Moving to San Francisco, I discovered truly great food. Great ingredients. Now, I wanted to find out more about the source of my food. I wanted to make it myself. I became selective about the food I chose. I started going to farmers markets.
I also moved into an apartment with unused space in the lot behind. I took it over, with the blessing of the neighbors. I had the idea I’d start an ornamental garden. I taught myself to garden by digging in the dirt every day. I grew to understand the plants by watching them, season to season, year by year.
Understanding plants and developing an appreciation for food have become essential parts of my life. It’s only natural that I would want to explore the area in which they overlap and, that’s farming. Enter my dear friend T-.
We’re on a similar trajectory, T- and I. Having never had much experience either, he’s developed his passion for farming only within the past few years, and how quickly and easily he’s succumbed to it. A fellow San Francisco resident, he’s found a way to rent a plot in distant Petaluma, which he tends as often as he can get away, getting his plant-starts established in his kitchen growing station. He’s graciously invited me to help him in his grand endeavor, and now I have a new home away from home.
Stay tuned for more posts from the farm. This is the start of something. . .
Here’s a video I find inspiring. It neatly sums up the lure of the farm, and suggests why it is that so many people nowadays are going back to their roots, by learning how to grow their own food.
heirloom carrots!
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egyptian beets!
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egyptian beets!
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pumpkin!
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the Petaluma farm
18 reasons, and the coffee-tasting
Blind coffee tasting at 18 Reasons, San Francisco
18 Reasons is a non-profit organization located in the heart of the gourmet gulch in the Mission. It’s an organization that we here at MUS•e•YUM have grown to love. The group is dedicated to bringing the people of the community together, using food and food production as the thread that binds. In the tradition of family, friends & neighbors gathering around the table to share a meal and each other’s company, 18 Reasons hosts events that teach, enlighten, enliven and delight. I’ve met a lot of quality folk here, it’s just that kind of place. Here’s the Mission Statement:
18 Reasons brings people together to deepen our relationship to food and each other. Through an innovative community center and thought-provoking, fun programming, we inspire action and foster collaboration toward creating a just and sustainable food system.
18 Reasons has several events per month, of dizzying variety. Want to learn how to make cheese at home? How about a multi-course meal, each dish prepared with, and paired with, Chinese teas? Maybe you’ve had the desire to try urban farming (and you can) and didn’t know where to begin? 18 Reasons and their community of eaters and producers will help you. I love coffee but realized, I didn’t know that much about it. So when I saw a coffee tasting come up on the schedule, I jumped. (The cost is usually discounted for members, so much I decided to purchase a membership; I suggest you do, too!)
evaluating the aromas. . .
We blind-tasted 9 coffees. It was fun to conjure up adjectives to describe the nuances of the flavor profiles, which varied wildly from cup to cup. Of course, the event reminded me of a wine tasting but with a twist: interesting adjectives emerged that I’d never used when speaking about wine. Of a flavor profile, the best descriptive phrase of the evening was “hot, humid jungle”!
The tasting also differed from a typical wine tasting in another way. Because of the changes coffee undergoes during preparation, we wrote notes for each of 9 samples at four different stages of brewing. First, we described the fragrance of the grounds themselves and second, the aroma released after the pour (this was timed with precision). Third, we broke the surface of the coffee to release still more aroma, and described that. Last, we documented the taste. This involved a particular technique of aspirating the coffee, essentially a very quick suck from the spoon with a loud sssssssssssuppppppppp!
writing down our tasting notes
With 9 coffees side by side, it’s just so easy to appreciate the broad array of flavors that the varied beans deliver. There’s a surprising diversity out there. It’s amazing, too, to see how one’s experience of a particular coffee, one’s impression of it, changes from the moment you sniff the grounds, as compared to the first taste. And not only that, for each coffee the taste and aroma change over time, from bean to brew. Very cool stuff.
For fun events like this and so much more, check out the calendar of events at 18 Reasons and, go try one out!
the surface of the coffee is gorgeous, four minutes after the pour
18 Reasons
593 Guerrero at 18th Street
San Francisco, CA
info@18reasons.org
we love trees! celebrate them at the Contemporary Jewish Museum now through 28 may…
MUS•e•YUM could not have been more pleased to attend the opening-night celebration of the new exhibition, Do Not Destroy: Trees, Art, and Jewish Thought at the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) of San Francisco. The CJM always puts on extraordinary exhibitions (remember Gertrude Stein and Maurice Sendak of 2011?) and Do Not Destroy, which runs now through 28 May, is no exception. A blend of art and environmentalism, religion and whimsy, the exhibition is a celebration of the role trees play in our world, in our spirituality and specifically, in our imagination as evidenced in art. Moreover, experiencing Do Not Destroy challenges us to realize our own responsibility, both individual and collective, to protect the environment. Witnessing the beauty and fragility of the world around us makes us human, and protecting what we see makes us divinely hopeful.
Only some of the memorable pieces of art include:
- A round circle of sand on the floor at the beginning of the exhibition, planted with hundreds of small metal plants. Walk the circle a full 360 degrees for the full impact of the piece, and be sure to view it from floor level, too. You’ll be glad you did.
- A short film about students in Laos. Watch to the end as art students sketch a river from the decks of small boats, and leap into the water to swim to shore when they see a tree of special significance.
- Watch a video rendition of the Tony Bennet song, “Tie a Yellow Ribbon (’round the Old Oak Tree)” – the pairing with the multimedia piece to the right is hysterical!
- Write a prayer on a small piece of paper and leave it inside a piece of wood, the collection of prayers already inside is profound and moving.
While photography is not permitted inside the exhibition, here are some memories from the opening night party that kicks it it off.
The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco
- The Food. Simple and gorgeous, I’m reminded by how beautiful vegetables are in their own right.
Grand Lobby, Contemporary Jewish Museum
enjoying the party the CJM
I invite you to go to the exhibition at the Museum, or explore it online, for more information and a first-hand view of the amazing art you’ll find there.
my pocket choice for thai, Suriya Thai Restaurant
Suriya Thai Restaurant on Howard, in SOMA, San Francisco, CA
Tonight, dinner was about not just food but celebrating my friend Ll’s great accomplishment, acing a critical exam needed for his profession. (He’s so good. ) We chose Suriya Thai Restaurant, a place we’ve known for years, back in the days when it anchored the south end of the Valencia foodie corridor. (In fact, before Valencia was the foodie street that it is today.) Still, the new location on Howard has all the familiar trappings of the old. Gorgeous antique carvings are placed throughout the dining room including a striking display of centuries-old carved coconut shellers.
coconut shellers at Suriya Thai
And the food is special. One can find a lot of thai in the City but somehow Suriya manages to set itself apart. Many of the dishes are drawn from family recipes so you’ll find some things here that you’ve not seen on menus before. The helpings are generous, the price reasonable. The casual-dining-feel in turn reflects the casual nature of the food. The descriptions on the menus are well worth reading, too…
Suriya menu
Our server was Ahn, always flawlessly kind. A special treat was meeting Suriya’s owner, who came by to check on us, and I met one of the lovely women behind the scenes responsible for the exciting flavors on the menu.
A meal in pictures:
scrumptuous, the chicken dumplings at Suriya.
perennial favorite, the sausage-stuffed eggplant with basil
bursting with flavour: pineapple, tomato and duck curry
special menu item tonight, and so good!, the bbq pork ribs with shredded new coconut
1532 Howard St
(between 11th St & Lafayette St)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Neighborhood: SOMA
(between 11th St & Lafayette St)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Neighborhood: SOMA
(415) 355-9999
sfenvironment.org: Our City’s Programs: Zero Waste: Composting
One of the things we love about our city, San Francisco, is our reverence for the environment and the food supply that sustains us. Check out this link to find out what the city is doing to not only reduce the waste going to landfills but also, to repurpose food waste as the compost that makes our soil among the best in the world. Find out what you can do to help by following this link from sfenvironment.org: our citys programs: Zero Waste: Composting.
The Whole Pie. on Vimeo
Enjoy. Do a little work. Eat.
This is the latest video in an ongoing series produced by the Bay Area’s Pie Ranch.
Pie Ranch is an educational farm whose mission is
to inspire and connect people to know the source of their food, and to work together to bring greater health to the food system from seed to table.
We here at MUS•e•YUM simply love them. Check out the first in the video series, previously posted on MUS•e•YUM, here.
Wise Sons pop into Ferry Building farmers’ market
Last year, Evan Bloom and Leo Beckerman saw opportunity in the lack of stellar Jewish cuisine in San Francisco, so they started the search for a restaurant space to house their Jewish deli concept, appropriately named Wise Sons.
SF Street Food Festival Is This Saturday! Heres a Handy Guide – Street Food – Eater SF
SF Street Food Festival Is This Saturday! Heres a Handy Guide – Street Food – Eater SF.
MUS•e•YUM will be on the ground and reporting from the event. Check it out, not only will it bring together good people and amazing food, the proceeds go to charity, thanks to the San Francsico non-profit La Cocina.
Teach Pie.
It’s been nearly four years since my first trip to Mission Pie, a wonderful oasis for homespun dessert and savoury pies located in the Mission District of San Francisco. I was new to the food community then, and eager to learn more about it. I wanted to learn more about the provenance of the wonderful ingredients being used in the meals that I was enjoying. My eyes were being opened to the wealth that is the abundance of the Bay Area’s local produce.
I’d started taking photos, too, with my new digital camera and many of those pictures were of my food. I began to post photos of memorable meals on Flickr and Yelp, together with reviews of my experiences both good and bad. I wanted to document my excitement for what I was discovering and for what I was learning, all at the same time. And, I wanted to connect with others who shared my passion. And my passion was fed.
It’s funny now to think that something as quintessentially homespun as a warm-from-the-oven pie could be a novel new player on the bakery scene but then, it was. At a time when bakeries were vying for the top cupcake, a bakery devoted to the humble pie seemed novel and maybe even bold. No one was doing pie then. I sought out Mission Pie soon after it opened and on that visit, after tasting that perfectly cooked crust and the luminous brightness of the fruit inside, even then remarked to my friend that pie ‘just might be’ the new cupcake. Was I right? Maybe not quite on the grander scale but for me, it sure is! And I wanted to learn more. . .
What I also learned on this first visit made me love this business even more. Mission Pie is the retail outlet for a bigger picture and a bigger story. All the ingredients which comprise every one of those gorgeous pies comes from a ranch, the Pie Ranch, located outside the city on the San Mateo Coast. Bees make the honey, fruit falls from the trees, wheat is milled to flour, and the spirit, hard work and love of farmers and volunteers all come together there so that you and I may enjoy the fruits of their labor here, and I was- and am- blown away and moved by that concept.
Founded in 2002, The Pie Ranch is a working farm, not only producing food but producing change. Their mission (Mission Pie) is to feed and nourish the body, the mind, the consciousness and the broader community by educating people as to where their food comes from and how it gets to one’s table. The Ranch welcomes students from inner city schools and introduces them to the country, all the while teaching farming and an appreciation for where food comes from. They mentor adults who want to learn to farm sustainably.
So they’re doing far more than growing food or even making pies…they’re making a difference. You can see this passion in the eyes of every single person in this video and I invite you to check it out:
via Teach Pie. on Vimeo.
The Pie Ranch apprenticeship program gives apprentices the skills needed to become the next generation of successful farmers.
Pie Ranch is an education farm whose mission it is to inspire and connect people to know the source of their food, and to work together to bring greater health to the food system from seed to table.
pieranch.org/
Thanks to Nancy, Jered, Amy and all the apprentices and interns!
Mission Pie
2901 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 282-1500Hours:
Mon-Thu 7 am – 9 pm
Fri 7 am – 10 pm
Sat 8 am – 10 pm
Sun 9 am – 9 pm
our favorite coffee destination, Sightglass, set to open cafe space 11 July
Interior of the new Sightglass Coffee space, photo courtesy of Tablehopper.com
Straight from local food authority Tablehopper comes some news for which we’ve been eagerly waiting here at MUS•e•YUM, not in the least because their location is but blocks away from the Mission Street office! Yes, after one cup of Sightglass Coffee and we were hooked. In our estimation it’s the best cup of coffee in the city (click here for our first review). Up until now the coffee has been served up from a kiosk on 7th Street near Folsom, housed in a loading dock that is tucked into a nondescript part of a nondescript industrial block. Sightglass has been building-out the space next door, however, over the past several months. Curious we were and after taking several peeks through the curtain, we’ve followed the development in its progress, as the immense warehouse space morphs to coffee Mecca. The centerpiece is a towering roaster, gleaming under the skylights that bring ample light into the two-tiered, lofted room. Beautiful. What you need to know is this: not only will the space be as impressive a space as the coffee is rich (it’s roasted on the spot after all), they’ll also serve baked goods from two of the hottest sources in town, Tell Tale Preserve Co. and Hooker’s Sweet Treats. Everything comes together here: Industrial chic, fabulous coffee and great desserts… so get thee there! Here’s the full article by Tablehopper, with all the sumptuous details and photos:
http://www.tablehopper.com/chatterbox/sightglass-ready-to-open-its-spacious-cafe-and-roastery/
Sightglass Coffee
270 7th St. at Folsom
SOMA
Hours: Mon-Sat 7am-7pm, Sun 8am-6pm
415-861-1313.
super hot farmer’s market in development for the Mission
We San Franciscans do love our farmer’s markets so how could we not love having a new one . . . best of all not too far from MUS•e•YUM HQ! There is sort of a catch to this one, though, and we don’t know that there’s another market out there quite like it. So, straight from the “only in San Francisco” files . . . (but you have to love how integrated our little society is;-) comes this little story out of Eater SF. . . check out the size of those melons!!!
San Francisco’s Favorite Burger, 4505 Meats
As if hearing our call here at MUS•e•YUM for the Best Burger in San Francisco, the fine fellows over at SF Eater have mobilized the entire city (and their fancy-shmancy number crunching servers) to scientifically determine just that! The winner? -no surprise here: celebrity chef and food concept innovator Ryann Starr and his 4505 Meats. Starr is a busy guy, running 4505 Meats at the Ferry Building on Thursdays as well as other pop up venues (like his fabulous turkey lunch right before Thanksgiving in Hayes Valley, link here) and the scrumptious 3-SUM Food Truck which you can find at various Off the Grid venues around town.
http://sf.eater.com/archives/2011/04/29/4505_meats_new_school_burger_wins_big.php
4505 Meats “New School” Burger Wins Big!
Friday, April 29, 2011, by Laura Beck
4505 Meats won the Best Burger in the SF Bay Area Burger Brackets showdown! You go, girl. Congrats to 4505 Meats team and congrats to all of our restaurants and voters. You’re all the real winners here. I think.4505 Meats Burger [Photo: HamBlogger]
San Francisco Travel Guide: In the Magazine : bonappetit.com
Here’s a great list of San Francisco restaurants to experience. We can vouch for Commonwealth, and we’re eager to try more on the list! Click here :
San Francisco Travel Guide: In the Magazine : bonappetit.com.
dharma talks | Insights, inspiration and information from your friends at Dharma Merchant Services
Perhaps you, like me, are concerned about the high levels of toxicity in our environment. And perhaps you, like me, have no idea what one person can do in the face of such an omnipresent problem. The article below, from Dharma Talks, provides some useful advice in this regard and reinforces the idea that if each one of us starts by (gradually) making simple changes at home, the long-term effect will be great, and you’ll have detoxified your life. Don’t forget to leave your own tips in the comments section at the bottom of the blog post!
Winning Green America’s “Green Business Leader of the Year” award in 2009 set us on a mission to constantly try to expand the ways in which we learn to reduce our footprint and support our community.
FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR THE FULL ARTICLE:
via dharma talks | Insights, inspiration and information from your friends at Dharma Merchant Services.
What To Expect at Smitten, Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Shop – Plywood Special – Eater SF
What To Expect at Smitten, Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Shop – Plywood Special – Eater SF.
Anxiously awaiting the arrival of what could be the best ice cream store in the City… Smitten. Check out the story linked above for the details about this venture, which will entail ice cream made-to-order with one of four liquid nitrogen ice cream machines. Smitten is part of a greater project called the Hayes Valley Proxy, a network of shipping containers that will form a food court of sorts in this very cool SF neighborhood.
From Delfina Pizza to a Suppenkuche beer garden, this is going to be an excellent foodie destination!
‘We Were Here’ review: AIDS’ horrific early years – SFGate
This is the only time we’ll recommend a film to you this year. Just see it.
‘We Were Here’ review: AIDS’ horrific early years – SFGate.
Snap Good Photos in Restaurants
link to norecipes.com post
Here’s a great article from one of our favorite food blogs, [No Recipes]. Marc Matsumoto is not only a photographer but an artist when it comes to preparing food. You can’t ask for food photography tips from a more knowledgeable source! LOVE the tip about balancing your point and shoot camera on a water glass in low light conditions. Check it out:
Snap Good Photos in Restaurants.
(disclaimer: it’s unabashedly a commercial for Sony products too, and we make no endorsement of them here…never used them. Delfina Restaurant on the other hand, we LOVE. You should go there;-)
Marc also happens to be a gifted writer. He cooks improvisationally, hence the name of the blog, and the narrative of his posts is as much about his day, his inspiration and his process as it is about the food. We love the way he weaves food, socializing and a moment in time together, reminding us why we love to cook and . . . celebrate food.
But darn, he shot this video mere blocks from MUS•e•YUM H.Q. So bummed to have missed out on meeting him in person. Marc, come back! We’ll take you to Starstream on the company expense account!
FREE DONUTS. FREE BEER.
Meyer lemon and huckleberry donut from Dynamo Donuts, SF
Dear readers you know we’re all over this event: Dynamo Donuts has teamed up with Project Open Hand for what could be the event of the year. On Friday March 18th, at Dynamo Donuts on 24th, you will get yes, free donuts and free beer from 4-6. Be assured, it’s the good stuff. . . you’ll already know Dynamo Donuts rock as evidenced by some pictures we’ve previously posted, here and here, and the beer will be a craft brew from Austria, Stiegl.
You’ll know from a previous MUS•e•YUM post that Project Open Hand has a track record for teaming up with foodie-favorite hotspots in town, like Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream, which is right down the street from Dynamo, on Harrison.
Here’s the story, as published on Facebook:
We are excited to announce a new collaborative effort with Dynamo Donuts. On Friday, March 18th, Dynamo Donuts will launch their newest doughnut flavor, Open Hand Peanut Butter Banana. To celebrate the flavor’s debut, we will give away FREE doughnuts paired with FREE Stiegl beer, an Austrian specialty, on March 18th from 4-6pm at the bakery on 2760 24th Street. Come out and celebrate a delicious treat that benefits your cherished San Francisco non-profit organization. It’s eating for a good cause!
*Guests will be invited to name the new doughnut. The individual who comes up with the winning name will receive an incredible prize!
We hope to see you there!
this is a dynamo donut
we love this hot new foodie website, Deep Dishing by the gorgeous Marcia G.
:^)
There’s a hot new foodie website on the interwebs, and it just launched today. It’s called Deep Dishing and it’s the brainchild of Marcia Gagliardi of Tablehopper fame (((our OTHER favorite foodie website 
))
What do we love about the site? It provides the reader a fast way to find out which restaurants are trending right now, and an easy way to look up the ‘fan-favorite’ dishes on each of those menus. Need a recommendation for a…? There’s an active forum that delves into such consequential questions as “Where’s the best croissant?” and apropos a previous post on this blog, “Where’s the best burger???” Now, we know.
And thankfully on Deep Dishing, there are lots, and lots of pictures of those menu items and, as everyone knows, we here at MUS•e•YUM do love our food porn;-)
Best of luck Marcia! It’s lookin’ hot!
PS: if you look carefully enough through the image galleries on DeepDishing, you just might find some familiar photos . . .
the Heartwarming Story of the Open Hand Fluffer Nutter
The people of San Francisco really know how to love. Having lived here for 10 years, I’ve seen people practice charity and kindness, from the simple to the grand, to a degree unsurpassed by anywhere else that I’ve lived. So, when I hear about a story like the one told in the following video, a story of different businesses and groups creatively partnering for the purpose of supporting a single, charitable goal, I love to spread the word and in so doing I love to spread, well, the love. ((In fact, where ice cream is involved, I shout!)) Check out the video below for a story about the partnering of two local organizations, a non-profit and a small business, that embody the very best of San Francisco values. And, I encourage you to support both of them because of what they do for our community. Happy Valentine’s Day, folks!
I give you Project Open Hand* and Humphry Slocombe:
