I stumbled across the newly-opened Yemeni’s Restaurant on Sutter during a jaunt home this afternoon. Most restaurants are not open between 2:00 and 5:30, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the doors wide open. I stuck my head inside and asked if they were serving. Amber, the hostess, confirmed they were open all day and I took a seat, anticipating only a quick appetizer to curb some minor hunger pangs. Read the rest of this entry »
I like to delude myself that I have a pretty decent palate. And for some things, I think I do. But when it comes to sushi, I can’t hold a candle to my buddy, Lisa. This is a woman who — if money were no object — could eat at the likes of Urasawa six days a week and not grow tired of it. So it was sort of ironic when we went out to dinner one evening at a favorite noodle joint, Tampopo, that after we left (with full bellies, mind you!), we saw the newly-opened Sushi Aka Tombo with only a few people inside. Well Lisa rates every sushi restaurant on their Uni so I suggested we go in just for a single order; sort of to determine if there was a reason to go back. Let me tell you, not only do I have a reason to go back, but I am not sure I can find better sushi in San Francisco.
This review is, in fact, two separate visits. The first was Lisa and Cassy and I, sauntering in at almost ten in the evening, ostensibly to just try the Uni which, elegantly bedecked with 24k gold leaf was astonishingly fresh. But there were a few other treats being offered so we just *had* to stay. Baby squid were a surprise offering and proved to be very tender and bright.
Over twenty years ago, I was completely entranced by the cooking of Michael Chiarello when he owned Tra Vigne. In 1985 he was named Food & Wine Magazine‘s Chef of the Year and I think that celebrity got to him because the quality at Tra Vigne went down hill, there were numerous rumors of Chiarello’s ego causing problems, and ultimately he sold the restaurant. For several years, Tra Vigne was sort of a laughing joke in the Napa Valley and the only business it saw was by tourists who didn’t know any better. He had a reputation in the valley as a bit of scamp.
And then Chiarello seemed to clean up his act. He put his name on a handful products through the brand, Napa Style. He started doing some television and getting a respectable mantle through television. But would he ever open another restaurant? Well, yes and hearkening back to those glory days of Tra Vigne, Bottega is packing them in and with good reason. I was going up to visit some old friends and suggested Bottega which is walking distance from their home. As it turned out, that evening was a special occasion with a related book signing by Lidia Bastianich and it was great fun watching Chiarello and Bastianich make the rounds around the room in between their own noshing.
It was quite an evening for me for a myriad of reasons; getting an opportunity to see old friends mostly, but also the menu gave me multiple opportunities for research. To start, there was a savory option of fried dough, which I wrote about here. I was having quite a time determining what to have as a main course and ultimately, it was easier to ask the waiter to just bring me his favorite fish course. I was not disappointed by the surprise; Adriatic Seafood Brodetto with monkfish, mussels, rock cod and fresh Monterey calamari, forno-confit tomato broth, olive oil-crouton, paprika-saffron rouille. Like a thicker and richer version of Cioppino, the selection of fish was fresh and the mussels were especially large and tender. I liked the rouille-topped crouton as a tangy counterbalance to the redolent sauce.
Being pretty full from a huge appetizer (half of which was packed for leftovers) and the entrée (also half of which was packed for leftovers), the table shared a selection of biscotti cookies. I tasted the dark chocolate square and a sugar cookie that had a hint of saffron to it. But then there came a follow-up dessert, a sweet version of fried dough, the full report of which is over on the Fried Dough Ho site!
I am extremely grateful to BFF (Best Foodie Friend) Lisa for rescuing me today for lunch. Working from home, I tend to get lazy about my daytime meals and have exhausted every local Fillmore and Japantown eatery several dozen times over. I am ashamed to say that I don’t think enough outside my local neighborhood and while debating between the $10 Bento Box and the La Boulange Niçoise salad, Lisa called and suggested a jaunt to North Beach to try the much-lauded Naked Lunch. With a menu that changes on a daily basis, Naked Lunch is the brainstorm of chef Ian Begg (SF Chron Rising Chef 2008), formerly of Café Majestic.
Both lunch and dinner menus are available but operating out of the adjacent Enrico’s Sidewalk Café, dining in-house is only possible for lunch while dinner is take-out. While waiting for our order, we enjoyed a bag of 4505 Chicharonnes, a great balance of salt and sugar with a hint of chili powder. We also shared a Honey Tangerine Cooler.
The staff was really great; apologizing at the lateness of our ordered salad by offering an amuse of Roasted Tomato Soup with a chive garnish. This soup must have been half butter for its richness. We were so happy with the chicharonnes, it didn’t matter that our salad was going to take a little time.
What I love about eating with Lisa is that we share everything we order and we have very consistent tastes; whenever I suggest a selection of courses it invariably is exactly what she would order and vice-versa. Two sandwiches which we decided to share was the Piquillo Pepper and Manchego Sandwich garnished with Spinach, Sweet Onion, Balsamic, and Herbs. Ripping open the paper and pulling apart the warm, crunchy bread displayed an almost erotic stringiness of melted manchego. This was one of those Perfect Sandwiches; just enough caramelized onions, not too much spinach to be bitter, and juicy bright peppers.
Regrettably, we arrived too late to order the Duck Prosciutto and Foie Gras sandwich with Black Truffle salt, but the Tuesday special of a Fulton Valley Farms Fried Chicken Sandwich with Green Garlic Aïoli, Buttermilk Coleslaw, on Pain de Mie was an ample condolence. Just the look of the bun itself was sufficient to know we had a treat before us; golden, warm, and spongy, this encompassed a supreme example of fried chicken. Here the meat was tender and intensely moist with a very light breading which provided a tender bite, complementing the creamy slaw. So many fried chicken sandwiches are so pervasive with breading, while this was far from the case here.
Our salad did arrive several bites into our sandwiches and while we were already getting full and knew we didn’t need the extra food, were gratified at its simplistic elegance; a Spring Asparagus salad with Wild Arugula, Manchego, Preserved Lemon, and Chives. Any apologies that had been offered were entirely unnecessary and this simple preparation of clean ingredients were well worth the wait.
The best part about all of this? The price tab; at $28, we had a truly astonishing lunch with an incredible bargain to boot. The sandwiches were a mere $8.00 each, the salad was $6.00. $3.00 each for beverage and fried pork skins rounded out the tab and saddened me that I don’t live closer or that going for the evening take-out menu is not more convenient.
Ever since the team of Lori Baker and Jeff Banker took over the old Quince locale, I’ve been meaning to visit. Now named Baker & Banker, the space is darkly elegant, albeit a little cramped (it only seats 40-some diners at a time). My eating buddy, Lisa, had helped me through a hard day at the Cherry Blossom Festival and we were in the classic quandary of where to eat on a Saturday night. Lisa mentioned she became acquainted with Jeff Banker by occasionally sitting next to him at a mutually-favorite sushi restaurant, Koo. It was a long-shot to get a table and calling, we confirmed they couldn’t provide a table until 9:00 p.m. but there was always the possibility of grabbing a seat at the bar.
We decided to risk it and walked up the hill, we were rewarded with two of the remaining four bar seats. I think when I go back, I will never bother with a table as we had much more fun chatting with our server, David, the sommelier, Colin, and occasionally Jeff Banker would stick his head out to say hello. While an extensive five-course prix fixe with wine pairing is available, we opted for a smaller tasting menu we which put together ourselves and the restaurant was more than accommodating in pouring us miniature carafes of wine (single pours, actually) for us to share. While waiting for our first official course, an amuse was sent out of spicy ahi tuna with Vietnamese slaw, crispy shallots, and peanuts. We were very happy a taste of this as it was high on our list of one of the courses we wanted. There was just enough light creamy dressing on the bright fresh ahi to complement the crunchy goodness of the slaw and shallots.
To accompany our first course, we ordered a 2008 Matthiasson White Wine from the Napa Valley. A blend of semillon, sauvignon blanc, and ribolla gialla, the nose provided a clean aroma of lemon peel and stone fruit. The entry was clean and engaging and was a spectacular pairing with the house smoked trout on celery root latke with horseradish crème fraîche, pickled beets, and shaved fennel. The sauce was made from concentrated beets but it was the crunchy celery root latke which marveled. This was a great combination of fresh ingredients with rich trout and horseradish cream which could have overwhelmed, but did not. The wine brought out the smokiness of the trout without being oppressive yet also heightened the collection of vegetables. A really great beginning.
Our next course was a torchon of foie gras served with pickled rhubarb, house-made brioche, and Sausalito Springs watercress which we paired with a wine recommended by Colin, a 2007 Domaine Belliviere l’Effraie chenin blanc. The wine produced a rich, tropical aroma and gave a bright entry of kumquat. The foie was simply prepared; a classic example of a properly-prepared torchon, yet heightened with large grilled slabs of the house-made brioche. The true stroke of genius was the pickled rhubarb and watercress. The tangy goodness made the foie that much creamier and also emphasized the exquisite nature of the kumquat tones in the wine. Absolutely lovely pairing with a foie offering that was both wholesome and delectable.
After our two starters, we decided to share an entrée; Black pepper pappardelle with braised shortribs, wild mushrooms, English peas, and shaved pecorino. This was paired with a 2006 Occhipinti Siccagno Nero d’Avola. While we were pretty happy with our first two courses, here we reached a new level of richness. The pappardelle was handkerchief thin, laden with earthy mushrooms which were punctuated by the bright spurts of the English peas. Once again, we had a wine pairing that blew us out of the water; muted fruit of dark cherry and black olive on the nose opened up to earthy tastes of smoky tobacco, mushroom, and a delicate eucalyptus at the very finish. The creamy sauce in our entrée had a touch of truffle oil which provided an exciting counter-balance to the earthiness in the wine. This is a very rich dish and I could definitely see myself ordering it again on my own, but just to assure I had leftovers for breakfast. I am not sure I could see ordering and consuming an entire order in one sitting, but it could be fun to try.
Of course we ordered dessert, strawberry-filled PB&J doughnuts with peanut butter dipping sauce. And a very extensive write-up of those can be found over at Fried Dough Ho.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|