Hot Stuff Food Blog Round Up
Check out the latest food blog goss on SFist.
I'm working on a tea piece for the San Francisco Chronicle/SF Gate/SFiS.
Check out the latest food blog goss on SFist.
I'm working on a tea piece for the San Francisco Chronicle/SF Gate/SFiS.
Happy Birthday, Bi-Rite & Delfina! I did prep work today for the upcoming 18th Street Block Party, happening in SF on Saturday. Jennifer Biesty was the boss, and we worked at Charles Phan's new gorgeous and huge commissary kitchen. 18th Street Block Party food includes pig, chicken, corn, beans, hot dogs, paella, sandwiches, smoothies, watermelon agua fresca, lemonade & more. There will also be booze, music, and wonderful weather. The wine and beer garden make my mouth water already.
To purchase advance meal tickets, call Christie Ward at 415-971-7291 or email PARTYBLOCK18@gmail.com.
I wish I could work on this bash, particularly to get the chance to work on a roasted pig. But. We are leaving early tomorrow for a wedding in Sebastopol.
Slow Food celebrates "food that is good, clean and fair." These honey samples looked and tasted good. Other foods on offer at Fort Mason today at times took as long as forty five minutes to get. Thankfully, the Native Foods tent had a shorter line, and we gladly tried all three items on offer: bison chili (rich, thick, meaty, clean tasting), hominy, and wild rice cakes with a spicy kick. While I was happy to try something that reminds me of my Dad's Kwakiutl Native American heritage, I also found myself hoping that the cooks there would have a steady stream of customers all day. I had time to mull it over as we sat on hay outside, people watching, eating, drinking and talking.
It's great to have face time with the makers of these foods and drinks, sure. But it would've been a more satisfying event if the lines were not so long and slow.
Celebrate Big Apple's
Culinary Might, Help End Childhood Hunger
Share Our Strength is excited to announce that it is one of two charities that
will benefit from the first Food Network New York City Wine
& Food Festival presented by Food & Wine and Travel & Leisure.
And we knew you'd want all the delicious details.
It runs from Friday,
October 9 - Sunday, October 12, primarily in NYC's
fashionable Meatpacking
District
It brings together global culinary
icons and America's most beloved TV personalities.
It's the brainchild of Lee
Brian Schrager, who created the wildly successful Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival
50-some sensational
events including tastings, demonstrations, book signings,
dinners, live interviews, plus special menus at Meatpacking District
restaurants...check them out here
Share
Our Strength and the Food
Bank for New York City will share 100% of all funds
raised
An online
auction of luxury items including gourmet
dinners, rare wines and extravagant travel will run September 15 - October
15-you can make donations through August 27
Look for these and other chefs who
have supported Share Our Strength over the years as they host events, and
participate in live interviews and TV show tapings, burger competitions, dessert
tastings, wine dinners and the Grand Tastings: Alton Brown, David Burke, Tom
Colicchio, Todd English, Guy Fieri, Duff Goldman, Rachael Ray and
more.

This is simply too grand an event to miss and what better way to help end
childhood hunger than with thousands of fellow food-and-wine-loving friends.
Work Date of Sunday, August 3, 2008
Event Description: Litquake fundraiser with light refreshments for approximately 200-250 guests. All food to be served at room temp until 10 p.m. or when food runs out. Guests arrive at 7:00 pm, show begins at 8:00pm.
Menu: Steamy
& Saucy BBQ Pork Sliders, Creamy & Sexy Petite Quiches, Sinful
Assorted Cheese and Fruit, Gotta Have It Chocolate Covered Strawberries (dark chocolate
with white chocolate drizzles).
I'm catering some naughty eats for Litquake on Sunday, August 3rd. Text below is directly from Litquake.
------------------------------------
Sexiness! Ribaldry! Corsets! Books! All for $25.00 with two drinks included!!!
Starring: *Daniel Handler * Ellen Sussman * Michelle Richmond * Helena Echlin * Stephen Elliot * Kirk Read + a fashion show featuring corsets from Stormy Leather and some naughty fun with the Twilight Vixen Review
****
Litquake season is coming up, and this is our last fundraiser of the year. So, we want you to come join us at CELLspace on August 3 for Dirty Words: Litquake’s Tribute to Smut.
It will be a giddy Sunday night homage to titillation and obscenity starring Daniel Handler (as himself rather than alter ego Lemony Snicket, reading from Watch Your Mouth, a dirty little comic novel), Ellen Sussman (editor of Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex), Michelle Richmond (author of No One You Know), Kim Addonizio (My Dreams Out in the Street), Helena Echlin (charmer of snakes and author of Gone), and Stephen Elliot (author of My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up and editor of Sex for America).
Emcee Kirk Read (creator of performance piece This Is the Thing and author of How I Learned to Snap) will be on hand to keep things spicy. SOMA-based Stormy Leather will present a naughty fashion show with the buxom and beautiful gals from Twilight Vixen Review doing cabaret and burlesque.
What: Dirty Words: Litquake’s Tribute to Smut
When: Sunday, August 3 – Doors open at 7 p.m.; readings and show begin at 8 p.m.
Where: CELLspace 2050 Bryant Street (between 18th and 19th streets), San Francisco
Tickets: $25.00 admission includes two drinks and
light refreshments; in addition, alcohol will be available for purchase
during the evening. Tickets available online at
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/38342. Tickets also available
at the door. 21 and over.
Special support from Distillery No. 209, Vine Connections, and Flora Grubb Gardens.
Not sure I'll be attending, but this sounds like a worthwhile cause. If you've got the coin.
--Help Feed Thousands By Attending Epicurious.com's Special Farm-To-Table Event--
Join Tanya Steel, editor-in-chief of Epicurious.com, celebrated chefs, and select local farmers and purveyors for an evening of fine wine, delicious farm-fresh creations, and the company of your fellow foodies. Your ticket price will help feed the hungry as proceeds from these events benefit America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest network of food banks.
Wednesday, July
30th
ACME
Chophouse with Chef Traci Des
Jardins and Citizen
Cake's Elizabeth
Falkner
Address: 24 Willie Mays Plaza
Time: 6:15
reception, 7:15 dinner
Price:
$125
Go to Epicurious.com for more information
and to buy tickets
Meatpaper and Gastronomica, two independent-minded magazines exploring the intersections of food and culture, invite you to celebrate the publication of their summer issues with a lively evening of artistic food and food-centric art at Perbacco Restaurant in downtown San Francisco. This event will feature tastings from local chefs, as well as cocktails, an art exhibition, and live music.
WHEN:
Sunday, July 20th
6pm to 9pm
WHERE:
Perbacco
Restaurant
230 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
tel: 415-955-0663
TICKETS:
$25 per person, may be purchased online
via credit card or PayPal.
A limited number of tickets will be sold at the door.
FEATURED
SPONSORS:
Chef
Staffan Terje (Perbacco)
Chef Leif Hedendal
Chef Chris
Kronner (Serpentine & Slow
Club)
Chef
Scott Youkilis (Maverick)
The Fatted Calf
Prather
Ranch Meat Co.
Verge Syrah
La
Fee Absinthe
Rhum
Clement
Bluecoat
Gin
Trumer
Pils
and more
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY:
Charlie
Grosso
MUSIC:
Gaucho
ABOUT MEATPAPER:
Founded in 2007, Meatpaper is a quarterly print journal focused
on art and ideas about meat. Inspired by the current "fleischgeist" that
is sweeping the country, Meatpaper publishes lush visuals,
provocative articles, and timely reporting. Neither pro nor
con, Meatpaper's ambidextrous approach and innovative style
have generated international press.
www.meatpaper.com
ABOUT
GASTRONOMICA:
Since 2001 Gastronomica has been feeding readers' sensual and
intellectual appetites by offering food-focused scholarship,
fiction, poetry, humor, and exciting visual imagery. With its
diverse voices and eclectic mix of articles, Gastronomica provokes
discussion and encourages thoughtful reflection on the history,
literature, representation, and cultural impact of food.
www.gastronomica.org
illustration by Marco Marella © 2008
Grilling and other noshes on this week's food section round up on SFist.
Salad pic from last week's visit to the Careme 350 Restaurant at the California Culinary Academy.
Hello Ms. Ladd,
I am so glad that you enjoyed your experience at CCA’s new restaurant. The students running the kitchen and dining room were excited to hear such great feedback about their work.
To address your concern about how we handle gratuities at Carême 350, I thought I’d offer a brief explanation. As you know, CCA is a culinary school whose mission it is to train students in the culinary arts and hospitality fields. Our student-run restaurant exists to provide a real-life laboratory for these students and those who work there are actually doing so as part of the curriculum. This six-week course teaches students how to operate in a real restaurant environment, with 3-week rotations in each the front and back of the house. The students working in our restaurant classroom are just learning the skills necessary to serve clientele in a fine dining establishment and therefore leaving a tip is not required at Carême 350. Still, some patrons choose to do so, which led us to come up with a way to see that those funds ultimately benefit our students, but in a manner that doesn’t taint the learning environment we strive to maintain. Therefore, all gratuities at Carême 350 are donated to the institution’s scholarship fund.
Periodically, we must hire additional students to fill in when a class is too small to keep the restaurant running on its own. To make up for the fact that tips are not part of their compensation, we pay such individuals at a rate approximately 50% higher than the hourly wage of the average restaurant server in San Francisco .
I hope I’ve been able to clear up this issue for you and look forward to welcoming you back to Carême 350 in the near future.
Sincerely,
Jennifer White
President
Jennifer White | President
California Culinary Academy| Le Cordon Bleu
350 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco , CA 94103
Yesterday's bargain lunch-three and a half courses for $3.50-at the California Culinary Academy's Careme 350 restaurant was a winner. The food was made and served by culinary students. There were some glitches; our bill was presented before we ate dessert, and sometimes we were waiting for utensils or food, but the light filled room and tasty fare worked. Everything looks clean and new at Careme 350. There aren't defecating vagrants, smoking students in uniform, or flashing prostitutes outside the building, which was an issue at the CCA's old Polk Street campus.
Other diners included construction workers, office peeps, and a few grey haired senior citizens. The place was about 80% full and capacity is just over two hundred people. Nothing felt rushed, and the mood was happy. The $3.50 promotion was for both lunch and dinner yesterday, and included three and a half courses.Two senior CCA staff members visited tables to make sure customers were happy.
Le Menu was as follows:
Amuse Bouche
Spicy mini shrimp cake with lemongrass & chervil
Appetizer (choice of 1)
Sauteed portobella and oyster mushrooms, shallots, frisee and watercress with Jeres Spanish vinegar
Homemade pasta Greek style, with fresh oregano, feta cheese, Kalamata olives and Extra Virgin olive oil
Entrees
California Ling Cod gratinee with a Dijon mousseline served with steamed Tournee potatoes.
Roasted leg of lamb with garlic, baby Lima beans and Linguica sausage.
Dessert
Chocolate tart with mango sauce
Almond cake with whipped cream, raspberries and strawberries
We did wonder about one thing: is it right (or even legal) for the Careme 350 to use "all gratuities" for their "scholarship fund"? I like the idea of helping with scholarships but don't feel this is the right way to do so. I'd rather the money go directly to the dining room and kitchen crew, as is the case at other restaurants. It's been some time since I studied restaurant law, but the Careme 350's policy seems unfair at first glance.
When I learned The Last Supper Club (TLSC) was morphing into
Beretta, I was a little peeved. I liked TLSC’s pasta, good wine list, and
convivial party vibe. One sweet touch TLSC had was to include a pesto for each
table’s bread basket, which always tasted better than plain butter or olive
oil. I needn’t have worried. The new restaurant, Beretta, still has a fun
setting, interesting Italian food, with smashing drinks and affordable yet good
wines.
Dare yourself to try Beretta’s specialty cocktails, with ingredients like Benedictine, tia maria, absinthe and Dubonnet. The improved whisky cocktail is potent and balanced, with rye, bitters, dubonnet, absinthe and a touch of maraschino. Think smooth and sharp. Wine by the bottle is an affordable and pleasing pairing with food, and decent bottles can be had in the thirty dollar range.
Beretta’s Italian food is skillfully prepared, and the cheery and hip wait staff does a great job at pacing. Highlights included a mixed meat antipasti platter with lardo, which is white fat from the back of a pig, peppery soprassata, and artisan salumi with giardiniera, otherwise known as pickled carrots and cauliflower. The arugula & fennel salad with shaved parmesan, also pictured above, is tender greens with a nutty flavor. Pizzas are a specialty, and are of the blistery thin type. Winning flavor combinations include: potato, rosemary, radicchio & gorgonzola; and prosciutto, tomato, arugula & mozzarella. It would be nice if the arugula was slightly more wilted, but that is a small quibble.
Beretta
Edible party platter
garnishes are all the rage. It’s a great rule to follow in case one of your
guests decides to help themselves to the garnish. Edible flowers, fruit,
vegetable carvings, and fresh herbs make things look pretty and yummy. Sliced
fruit (orange, lemon, and lime, alone or in a combo) also punches up a
platter’s edge. Slice the fruit and lay on the platter. If doing a citrus
combo, try and lay the slices on top of slices that are similar in size. That
will look best to the eye.
Don’t forget to keep
party platters clean during your event. I’ve learned from many catering
companies that the best way to clean up a platter is to use a white vinegar and
water mix. To do this, combine two parts water with one part vinegar in a
squeeze bottle. (Not to worry if you go overboard on the vinegar.) If you don’t
have a squeeze bottle, put the liquid mix into a bowl. Use a kitchen side towel
to dab at the platter, cleaning away any leftover food and sauces. The vinegar
cleans up gunk quickly, and leaves the platter looking clean and fresh. Add
more food and get the platter back out to the party, stat!
Book tidbits and food section round up is on SFist today.
With the world's spotlight on China, Fuchsia Dunlop's new book Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: a Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China hits the spot. Her tales of eating and cooking are enticing. I can't stop thinking about her time in China, and how she pushed her way into kitchens and restaurants, to find out how to cook her favorite dishes. She eventually came to love the taste and texture of chicken feet, and other dishes that take some mental work for a non-native. She feels that learning to appreciate these weird textures are critical to truly enjoying Chinese food. I only wish she had included hints or even stories of love interests. It seemed odd to not know who she liked and loved during her fifteen year journey to China.
Bob Spitz's The Saucier's Apprentice is another interesting travel/cooking/eating memoir. He decides to pack up and learn to really cook after finishing a book on the Beatles and going through a divorce. Smart move. His journey to some of the finest cooking schools in Europe is funny, tasty, and touching. The characters-from fist fighting cooking school guests to hostile women folk are hilarious. Spitz experienced first hand that not every cooking school is worth shelling out money for, but he ultimately finds the recipes and knowledge, along with self acceptance and love, that he is seeking.
HDO is short for Hors d'Oeuvres, which are passed "butler style" by waiters at events. I love servers who offer to clean the platter (using water and vinegar) when they return to the kitchen. That's much better than handing it back all smeared and messy. I notice and appreciate the help; sample nibbles for you, good server!
Here's a recent sampling of HDOs served at a Bay Area event:
Endive & asparagus spears with dijon sauce
Butter lettuce with shrimp, toasted coconut, shallots, ginger, lime, peanuts, and a smidgen of jalapeno
Artichoke cake with sharp cheddar and onions, baked
Ancho Chili Chicken Skewers with guac dip-the leftover tasted great the next day.
Dining Out for Life takes place April 24 at various San Francisco restaurants, during lunch and/or dinner. Twenty five per cent of the food sales go to the STOP AIDS project. Last year, over 200K was raised.