San Francisco Food Blog

Meatmeister/Flickr

There goes the neighborhood.

​Our favorite morsel from the blogs.

Going too Farr: Mission Loc@l's Kate Kilpatrick probes chicharrones both Bi-Rite and ghetto, sampling swine skin from sources as diverse as 4505 Meats and La Gallinita. Her guides? Papalote's Victor Escobedo and David Lew. Here's their take on a bag of Ryan Farr's 4505 Meats' version they score from Ritual:

They're not holding up with Escobedo and Lew. Lew's assessment is less forgiving than Escobedo's. His face reeks of letdown. "That's an abortion of a chicharron. It's not even crispy. It's soggy-crispy," he vents, then turns to face Ritual's storefront. "You ritually butcher chicharrones, that's what you do!"

Kilpatrick's quest for crispity transcendence is really a chance to express skepticism about the gentrification of el barrio. Again, it's Farr's chicharrones that seem emblematic of the Mission's morphing:

Folks here that have lived here for a long time and who are primarily Latino look at that like, 'That's way overpriced,'" says Roberto Hernandez, 53, a neighborhood fixture who says he's noticed the trend "of all these overpriced Latin foods" ever since Ramblas, a Spanish tapas restaurant, opened near 16th and Valencia eight years ago. "But then folks who have never eaten that before will pay for it because it's new and different," he says. "It's like rediscovering Latinos but on an upscale level."

But then, philosophical as you wanna get about cultural shifts, there's always the chicharron clot to bring you back to the moment.

T. Palmer

Silvanas, a dreamy dessert sensation.

​Tucked away in the back of one of several shopping centers along a very consumer-friendly street, House of Silvanas (2055 Gellert at King, Daly City) offers cool treats from the Philippines to those lucky enough to stumble on it. The small bakery is operated by Crissy and Manu Sagarbarria, the son and daughter-in-law of the owners of this Manila-based mini-chain. Crissy is usually there to provide the friendliest customer service you've probably received in a while.

The namesake silvanas look like giant, crumb-dusted French macarons. Both are largely comprised of meringue, but silvanas rely on the heft of crushed cashews and a generous swipe of buttercream filling, and are ideally served straight out of the freezer. The lighter crunch has more in common with astronaut ice cream, actually. And while the French rely on flavors such as rose and violet, the bright colors of silvanas reference tastes like ube, pandan, and buko. 

"They're basically the cookie version of the sans rival," explained Crissy Sagarbarria of the cashew and buttercream-rich cake that we will have to return for when we have the foresight to order it two days in advance -- and, perhaps, have a few more inches to spare on our waistline.

In the meantime, we feel quite satiated and happy with our box of mixed silvanas and a (now empty) bag of miniature pastries and confections, including butterscotch date bars called "Food of the Gods" and crumbly polvaron milk candy. We got a little lost trying to find this spot, labeled as "Bake Shop" on the shopping center sign from the street view. We're glad we didn't give up.

Was it a case of poor management from the very beginning?

​There's more information coming forth about why the S.F. Department of Public Health has essentially driven a stake through the heart of foods prepared on-site at the Metreon's Island Earth farmers' market. SFoodie has obtained a Nov. 5 letter from Department Director Mitchell Katz to Island Earth market managers Mark and Holly Brett suggesting that the Bretts never should have allowed prepared food vendors in the market in the first place.

In his letter, Katz points out that the Bretts obtained a farmers' market permit in May. And while the market has three certified farmers, the numerous prepared food vendors needed to operate under a separate food permit. As a result, the Health Department determined that Island Earth could really only qualify for a temporary food permit -- the kind street fairs and weekly farmers' market operate under -- but that permit, according to Katz, "explicitly limits operations to 25 days in 90." In other words, Island Earth had long since used up its prepped food permit.

The only solutions Katz can see are expensive: Have individual vendors essentially build mini kitchens, or have the Metreon build a central commissary kitchen and operate as a food court. However, Katz wrote, "both would involve substantial capital investments to meet the higher standard of structural requirements imposed on all daily operating retail businesses." In other words: Sorry, Island Earth -- foods cooked or held at temperature on-site are out of the question.

Cupkates Bakery

Kate McEachern (in truck) is continuing to sell, despite having been told she's violating the law.

​Cupkates mobile cupcake vendor Kate McEachern told SFoodie she's still waiting to hear from Berkeley city officials about her dispute over where she's legally allowed to sell. Last Friday, a code enforcement officer told McEachern she was violating the law for selling from metered parking spaces, something McEachern said the city had allowed her to do since Cupkates launched in August.

On Wednesday, we reported that the vendor was unable to speak with an assistant city manager about what McEachern charges is Berkeley's about-face. Last night, Councilmember Kriss Worthington called McEachern, and said he'd try to get the issue resolved with City Manager Phil Kamlarz. It's unclear whether she'll be allowed to attend the meeting that might or might not take place Monday.

In the meantime, McEachern has been continuing to sell from the very metered parking spaces she was told last week were off limits to mobile vendors. "I am still operating as usual, out of financial necessity," McEachern told SFoodie. Earlier this week, she informed the offices of both the city manager and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates that she'd be selling along her usual route. Since then, no code enforcement or other officer has approached her.

Andrew B./Yelp

The former Spud's in South Berkeley will offer N.Y.-style pizzas with Cali toppings.

​Looks like South Berkeley is set to become Ground Zero for the next wave of Bay Area pizza frenzy. Hot on the heels of Emilia's (2995 Shattuck at Ashby) comes word of Addie's Pizza Pie, a collaboration between Thomas Schnetz (Dona Tomas, Flora, Tacubaya) and pastry chef Jennifer Millar, owner of Sweet Adeline Bakeshop (3350 Adeline at 63rd St., Berkeley). The location is 3290 Adeline (at Ashby), the historic bank building that was home to Spud's Pizza. Barring delays (pretty much inevitable with new restaurants), Millar is hoping for a February opening.

The concept? Pizza by the round or the slice, including the ability to customize with toppings. "It'll be New York style, but with California ingredients, not wood-fired," Millar told SFoodie. Salads, and an emphasis on both takeout and family-style eat-in. And something else: frozen custard. "It's sort of an East Coast-Midwestern ice cream type," explained Miller, who's spent time in both upstate New York and Wisconsin. "It's an ice cream enriched with egg yolks, churned at a slower speed, and held at a warmer temperature." In other words, a particularly luscious soft serve. And the restaurant will do what Millar calls "concretes," -- i.e., mix-ins.

Millar is 50-50 with Schnetz (Dona Savitsky, Schnetz's partner in other projects, isn't involved), who's also designing the space. Millar says the idea is to work with the building's classic elements (arched windows, terrazzo and marble floors) to approximate an old-school Italian restaurant.

p200eric

Somewhere out there lurks an amazing bowl of pho.

​Adam Martin of Grub Street SF grabs phone time with Jonathan Kauffman -- starting in January, SF Weekly's new food critic and SFoodie blogger -- and gives pretty much anyone who loves finding authentic food in the Bay Area something to look forward to in the New Year. The differences between covering food in the Great Northwest (Kauffman's been writing for Seattle Weekly since 2006) and covering food in S.F.? Kauffman: "The way San Franciscans eat is very broad, and there are a lot of San Franciscos as well. There are a lot of neighborhoods and cuisines that don't get covered enough in media." Read the As to all of Martin's Qs here. And prepare yourself for a 2010 spent wallowing in food that doesn't somehow involve a pizza crust, and isn't served up within an olive pit's expectoration of Valencia Street.

Zachary Carson/Flickr

​It's been kinda crummy out today, but it is the sort of weather that begs for a zingy beverage. Where similar products aren't well-balanced, Adina's cold Indian Chai Latte nails the ratio of milk, black tea, and sweetener (in this case, evaporated cane juice).

This organic and fair-trade beverage company is a partnership between its San Francisco-based founder Magatte Wade-Marchand and Odwalla's Greg Steltenpohl. (Adina means life in Senegal, where Wade-Marchand was born.) We've enjoyed a number of its products, including the summery lavender lemonade and nutrient powerhouse açaí and purple corn maize juice blend. But nothing has quite the power of Adina's Chai Latte to perk up a gray day.

The Metreon's Island Earth Farmer's Market (101 Fourth St. at Mission) is suddenly feeling rather chilly, and it has nothing to do with the cold front. At an abatement hearing, the Health Department has determined that the market's permit to sell food cooked on site has expired, meaning that only vendors of produce and pre-made, non-perishable foods are allowed to operate.

Kevin Y./Yelp

The Health Department has 86ed sales of potentially hazardous foods.

​Richard Lee, director of environmental health regulatory programs for the S.F. Department of Public Health, told SFoodie Island Earth was operating under a special events permit -- the same one that food vendors at street fairs have -- which is temporary. Though the market had a 90-day permit, Lee determined that the four or five vendors who sold potentially hazardous foods were only permitted to operate for 25 of those 90 days.

"The booths at the Metreon were not designed to be open daily for a long period of time," Lee said. Island Earth vendors have been operating seven days a week practically since the market opened last May. The city requires individual vendors to have their own permits, but the sponsor -- Island Earth management -- has to have a valid special events permit. Lee said that under that agreement, management is not allowed to renew for another permit that would allow cooked food vendors to operate for another 25 days. Essentially, the vendors themselves are cooked.

M. Ladd

It was a mix of the sliver-haired and the sliver-tongued.

​Last night was the 90th birthday party for North Beach institution Tosca Café (242 Columbus at Jack Kerouac Alley). By 6:30 p.m., the bar was crowded with silver-haired neighborhood denizens, journalists, and the local culterati (George Lucas, Carol Shorenstein Hays, Ward and Claudia Bushee, David Wiegand, etc.), as well as younger, leather-clad actor/dancer types. The $5 Anchor Steams were popular; so was a blend of cappuccino, chocolate, and brandy. The free spread included focaccia, olives, figs, tangerines, cured meats, and cheese.

Tosca owner Jeannette Etheredge glowed as she received a City proclamation from Mayor Gavin Newsom. She immediately took to the dance floor with friends, jamming to live music. Etheredge took over the bar in 1980. Since then, Tosca's not-so-secret backroom has welcomed Hollywood types of the likes of Sean Penn, Warren Beatty, Johnny Depp, and Clive Owen, to Pulitzer winners and international ballerinas. Ah, San Francisco. More pics after the jump.

All you need is patience -- and a big-ass freezer.

​The drawbacks of DIY cattle ranching obviously start with space. A chicken coop is one thing, but legit pasture on a San Francisco lot is rare -- unless you're as rich as Robin Williams or something. We're just guessing, but if enjoying grass-fed steak is your thing and shoveling manure is not, you might want to look into forging a relationship with Stone House Ranch in Mill Valley.

According to yesterday's Craigslist posting, the ranch is selling 500-800 pound steers (they usually runclose to $1 per pound) and then charging board for six to nine months until slaughter. Next fall, customers can cash in on the investment. If you don't have a spit that big for impromptu roasting, or a freezer large enough to store the cuts, consider going in on one with some mates. Think of the cookouts you'll have -- this time next year.