San Francisco Food Blog

Photos by Mavis/Flickr

​Our favorite morsel from the blogs.

Grease junky: We missed it when it appeared back in September. But Counter Intelligence, Johnny Waldman's clipped guide to city diners at The Bold Italic, is worth a scroll -- especially his ketchup-smudged manifesto up top. Take his rules for orange juice (among other diner signifiers):

It should not be organic or fresh-squeezed or anything else special. It need only be 1) orange and 2) liquid. Maple syrup should be the only type of syrup available. The menu should be plain, so as not to distract from the grub; should not be slick, or feature a sans-serif font, or mention a website, or contain photos of the food you are about to order. Leave that to Denny's.

You might cavil about the diners Waldman chronicles -- he misses a lot. But you figure he has to stay home and nosh on salads sometime. A man's colon can only take so many slippery, grease-filmed foods with only trace amounts of fiber before it starts to crave a carrot.

Pixar

​One of the most endearing aspects of Pixar's incredibly charming digital 3D flick UP is how Oakland ice cream institution Fenton's Creamery (4226 Piedmont at Entrada, Oakland) is one of the chief draws back to land for the balloon-flying main characters, a place of great sentimental importance. Stop by the shop next Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 5-8 p.m. to celebrate the Blu-Ray and DVD releases of the film. Pixar animators will demonstrate how they drew the characters, with contests to win the film, Pixar prize packages, and free ice cream from Fenton's.

There'll also be a "Spirit of Adventure" sundae served for that occasion and that occasion only. We don't have any further details on flavors, but if you truly have a spirit of adventure, you can roll with anything.

Hertzberg and François: A case of too much coffee?

​If the idea of baking bread seems like too much work and time, there are some experts are here to set you straight. The theory? That you can master fiber-packed bread-making at home in the time it takes to floss. Artisan breads, too. Zoe François and Dr. Jeff Hertzberg, authors of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, will discuss their decidedly radical baking notion at Omnivore Books (3885a Cesar Chavez Street at Church) tomorrow from 3 to 4 p.m. A full hour. What we want to know is this: If you can make Aunt Melissa's Granola Bread in five minutes, shouldn't you be able to talk about it in the same time span?

Recession makes strange roommates. Behold two wildly different S.F. spots that are serving up three-course dinners for 25 bones, give or take:

muirwood/Flickr

Il Cane Rosso kicked off seven-day supper service last night.

​• Last night saw the launch of nightly supper service at Il Cane Rosso (One Ferry Building #41 at The Embarcadero). The deal? Three rustic, locally sourced courses, served family style, for $25 -- or order à la carte ($8 for the starter, $12.50 for the main, $6 for dessert). Wine, beer, and other liquid refreshments extra. No reservations, just show up between 4:30 and 8 p.m., seven days.

• Brunch spot Sally's (300 De Haro at 16th St.) started it's dinner service last week. Okay, Sally's After Dark sounds like an Elko bordello, but in fact, it's serving up hefty plates of familiar foods: seared ahi with Asian-y slaw, braised short ribs with polenta. You get the picture. Three courses for $24, Weds-Sat, 6-11 p.m.

Urban Kitchen SF

Students stir the pot at an Urban Kitchen class in August.

​You know you eat with your eyes first, right? Well, ogling Joshua Clever makes this blogger want to eat anything he cooks. Besides, the chef and cooking teacher is brimming with enthusiasm about cooking and food, which always pushes our buttons. Clever will be one of two chefs teaching related hands-on workshops for Urban Kitchen SF next Thursday, Nov. 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Actually, it's a two-for-one workshop on gnocchi and the pesto to go with it. John Tormey, former chef de cuisine at Scala's Bistro, leads the gnocchi part (two kinds: potato and pumpkin), then Clever takes over to teach pesto (sage and roasted garlic, and cilantro and pistachio). A starter kit with recipes and samples (including dough) are included in the $45 ticket price. Sliding -scale pricing is available by e-mailing registration@urbankitchensf.com. Advance tickets are needed. It all happens at CUESA's Dacor teaching kitchen in the Ferry Building's North Arcade.

The foie gras ice cream sandwich: Get there before the protesters do.

​Mission ice cream innovator Humphry Slocombe (2790 Harrison at 24th St.) has its famous (and controversial) foie gras ice cream sandwiches today. For $5, you get some chilly and creamy duck liver goodness, nestled between two gingersnaps. In related meat-sweets news, Humphry launched lard caramels this week. Like its lard shortbread cookies, they're something of a collaboration with -- or maybe homage to -- Boccalone, the lard's source. Both Humphry and Boccalone Salumeria (One Ferry Building at the Embarcadero) are carrying them, $3.50 for a pack of four. Demand is said to be high. On Wednesday, Humphry's Jake Godby tweeted that "Kevin & Eli from Top Chef got the last pack." Elimination doesn't seem to be a challenge today, however. Apparently there's a steady stash for the takin'.

Halloween has come and gone, leaving us with fading memories and old jack-o'-lanterns. You can't do much with memories, but the possibilities for recycling pumpkin are nearly endless. Here are some of our favorites.

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7. Pumpkin Moonshine

fOtOdOjO/Flickr

​We started out seeking to challenge the current meme that Oakland is the new locus of Bay Area chef talent. (In the East Bay Express, Carolyn Jung even called it America's next great dining destination.) We thought, sure, a handful of chefs are opening second restaurants in O-Town. And despite Commis, could the East Bay city we love for taco trucks and Lao food ever really challenge San Francisco's fine-dining dominance? We turned to Daniel Patterson, Coi chef and owner, Cane Rosso co-chef (with Lauren Kiino), and -- when Bracina (another Kiino partnership) opens in Jack London Square sometime in early 2010 -- a bridge straddler. Patterson lives in Oakland, too.

Our question: Though Oakland might be prime ground for the casual eatery Bracina is planned as, could the city support a place with cooking as finely honed and deeply thought as Coi's? Frankly, we expected Patterson to say no. His actual answer was more nuanced -- and more disturbing for S.F. diners -- than we ever imagined. According to Patterson, city policy decisions like minimum wage and Healthy San Francisco have doomed all but a tiny handful of fine-dining restaurants -- something N.Y. chef David Chang recently seconded. It's depressing: Daniel Patterson, a guy who's arguably San Francisco's most intellectually rigorous chef, thinks the city is annhilitaing the upscale neighborhood restaurant.

Hey, S.F. diners: Get your FasTrak transponders here. Looks like you'll be making more than a few trips to Oakland.

SFoodie: Would you ever open a restaurant like Coi in Oakland?
Patterson: It would be hard to open a restaurant like Coi in San Francisco today. When Coi's gone I would be really surprised to see another one like it.

Because the economics of fine dining don't make sense anymore?
I'm sure Thomas Keller could always make it work here. I have 10 people in the kitchen, about a one-to-two ratio of staff to diners. San Francisco has become a very difficult place to have any restaurant, because of the policies that the Board of Supervisors put in place. They didn't anticipate what would happen with things like the minimum wage increases, with no tip credit. What happens when the minimum wage is $12? Or $15? Product costs keep rising, especially for things like pastured meats and organic vegetables. Rents are still pretty steep. The restaurant model that we all knew no longer exists -- the Supervisors took it and crumpled it into a little ball.

​Heat lovers, wrap your lips around this if you dare. Though the name sounds like a Brian Boitano figure skating event, Monday's Spice & Ice Cocktail party at Cantina (580 Sutter at Mason) is really all about drinks that pack heat. Author Kara Newman will be on hand to pimp her latest book, Spice & Ice: 60 Tongue-Tickling Cocktails (Chronicle Books, $16.95). You'll have a chance to sample cocktails made with jalapeños, hot sauce, and related fiery stuff. Take a turn at creating your own spicy drink, and dig into light refreshments, 5:30-7:30 p.m. On Wednesday, Nov. 11, Newman will again be signing books and presiding over cocktails at Omnivore Books (3885a Cesar Chavez at Church) 6-7 p.m.

Craigslist

Berkeley homegrown.

​Some foodie essentials recently offered up on Craigslist:

• A Craigslist angel must have read our mind yesterday morning. The air was colder than usual on the way to the BART station, the wind whipped a little faster, and we were happy to read an ad hawking the very thing our chill-zapped bodies craved: dumplings. Straight out of Berkeley, an enterprising crafter of jiaozi -- aka pot stickers, with homegrown chives, minced celery, and ground meat -- is selling 30 freshly made, very recently frozen dumplings for $7, or 50 for $10. Unfortunately, for pickup only.

• Lake County Yorkshire piglets are selling for $70 apiece. They're just weaned and "ready for homes," which seems like a nice way of saying they're all set for fattening to a sumptuous heft for slaughter.