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The Obama chocolate bonbon by Oakland's Cosmic Chocolate. From the Mercury News:

"It's the newest addition to the company's "Cosmic Icons" collection, which includes chocolates decorated with the likenesses of Oprah Winfrey (raspberry ganache), Snoop Dogg (mint grapefruit), Bono (limoncello ginger), Madonna (red hot cinnamon caramel) and Al Roker (peanut butter/honey caramel). The Obama one is filled with a yummy espresso cognac ganache."

(via Eater SF)

Photo courtesy/Cosmic Chocolate

-- Brian Bernbaum

Admittedly, this SNL Digital Short entitled "People Getting Punched Before Eating" has very little to do with food, per se, and a lot more to do with Andy Samberg punching people and zombies dancing, but it's great all the same. Watch out for celebrity cameos by the Foo Fighters and Jon Bon Jovi.

-- Brian Bernbaum

Check out this brilliant mash-up of my favorite chain-smoking, asshole celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain reading from his book No Reservations to the sounds of Morcheeba. (via Eater SF)

And while I'm on the Bourdain tip, here's possibly the best quote he's ever spat at an interviewer (and there are plenty), in response to the Onion AV Club's recent question: "Do you feel like your smoking has affected [your sense of taste or smell]?"

"Oh, I'm sure it has. But most chefs smoke. I always love reading on the foodie blogs, these complete idiots who say, "I would never eat food made for me by a smoker." Listen, asshole: You've been eating food made by smokers your whole fucking life. Most of the three-star chefs—at least half of them—smoke."

A shot of pure, unadulterated Bourdain straight to the jugular. Gotta love that.

Photo courtesy/ nytimes.com

-- Brian Bernbaum

Developed by Swiss water sterilization and desalination pioneers Katadyn, this handy cheeseburger in a can from Trekking-Mahlzeiten is intended for the outdoor expedition and extreme athlete markets, but damn, it actually looks pretty good. Maybe they should recalibrate their marketing strategy to aim for bachelors and college students. According to Gizmag, just pop the familiar tuna-type can into hot water for a few minutes, then fish it out, open and enjoy. It's got a year-long shelf life and requires no refrigeration. And for dessert, Trekking-Mahlzeiten offers a similarly handy chocolate mousse. (via The Grinder)

-- Brian Bernbaum

Apparently I was born too late, since I missed the greatest snack hit of 1969: Space Food Sticks! Not to worry, you can still watch the hilarious TV ad for the proto-energy bars developed by Pillsbury, and thanks to The Space Food Sticks Preservation Society (yes, it exists), you can once again sink your teeth into the "classic astro-snack." (via io9)

-- Brian Bernbaum

My love for crazy game meats and the even crazier folks who eat them (I'm talking to you, Ted Nugent) is well documented, which is why this Slate Explainer is so great. Samantha Henig attempts to answer the eternal question, inspired by a quip from presidential candidate and southerner Mike Huckabee: can you fry a squirrel in a popcorn popper? The answer: You're goddamned right you can fry a squirrel in a popcorn popper! The question is why? Check out the original Mike Huckabee clip here for a little background. (via Serious Eats)

-- Brian Bernbaum

Everyone's been talking about Blue Bottle's new cafe in Mint Plaza and their $20,000 Japanese siphon bar, and now you can get a glimpse of owner James Freeman putting the contraption to use in a New York Times slideshow and a CBS5 video segment.

(via Eater SF)

-- Brian Bernbaum

Who can deny the greatness of Fred & Friends' Zing spring-loaded food-fight spoons?

"Everyone knows you shouldn’t play with your food. But hey - sometimes you have to defend your dinner! Now there’s a new weapon in your homeland security arsenal - load up a particularly mushy pea or corn niblet, aim, pull back the spring-loaded handle, and watch your food take flight. ZING! It’s WAY more fun than a war of words."

(via Boing Boing)

-- Brian Bernbaum

I do love me some sweet, insane Japanese snack commercials: this latest one comes from Pizza-La, the highest-grossing pizza chain in Japan!

(via Laughing Squid)

-- Brian Bernbaum

With the recent bluefin mercury drama, it might the right time to get up close and personal with some tuna anatomy, and if you can read Japanese you might even learn something. For the rest of us slobs, these highly-detailed little Gotochi Dissection Animals from Giant Robot will have to settle for just being cool looking. Peer into the plastic, (seemingly) anatomically correct guts of a fish, pig, cow, rooster, monkey, horse, panda, or bear.

(via Serious Eats)

photo courtesy/notcot

--- Brian Bernbaum

As far as San Francisco coffee goes, it's a tie in my book between Ritual and Blue Bottle (Philz is way too strong and rich for me...liquid crack indeed). But neither one of my front runners was close enough to the Weekly's downtown offices until now. Blue Bottle's cafe in Mint Plaza (near Mezzanine on the corner of Mint and Jessie) is officially open, according to the coffee roaster's website. All the Gibraltars I can drink are now only a few Muni stops away! -- Jennifer Maerz

Well, that didn't take long: Last week behemoth java-slingers Starbucks was found to have wiggled its way into the Richmond with an under-the-radar Safeway kiosk, despite last year's smackdown by the Board of Supervisors. But word comes today that the chain has indeed shuttered its newly-revealed location "following complaints to The City from shoppers and neighborhood residents." Safeway sent a letter to customers Tuesday explaining that they had not applied for a permit to open the kiosk.

(via Eater SF)

-- Brian Bernbaum

For all those people who've ever annoyed the shit out of classmates/coworkers by chewing on the caps of pens, rejoice: you've finally been redeemed. Din-Ink has designed handy pen cap cutlery:

"A set of pen caps, including a fork-cap, a knife-cap and a spoon-cap, that replaces the normal pen cap during lunch time! All caps are made by annually renewable resources, like natural starch and fibres, to be 100% biodegradable and atoxic, warranting the best alimentary use."

(via Boing Boing)

-- Brian Bernbaum

Around Town:
With an array of Spanish-inspired small plates countered by a healthy dose of larger selections, Laiola (2031 Chestnut at Fillmore) lovingly bucks the current tapas trend. Led assuredly by chef Mark Denham, the Marina restaurant delivers a balanced menu of small plates and big flavors, described by SF Weekly’s Meredith Brody as “a parade of perfection.” The tastiest floats (as it were) in this culinary parade include the roasted wild mushrooms topped with breadcrumbs and an egg, and the roasted baby beet salad served with a wedge of Cabrales cheese. The crowning jewel comes in the form of the slow-roasted piglet, a daily-changing dish and no doubt a welcome surprise for the more adventurous pork connoisseur. For more info, call 346-5641 or visit www.laiola.com.

Weekly Planner:
Test your inner wino this week at the 17th Annual Zinfandel Festival, which kicks off Wednesday, January 23, at the Fort Mason Center and drinks its merry way through to Saturday, January 26. Four events pack in an estimated 300 wineries and 10,000 attendees for an extravaganza touted as the world’s premier single-varietal tasting. Thursday’s Good Eats & Zinfandel Pairing at the Herbst Pavilion teams up local eateries and wineries for an evening of tastings. Even with the $125 price tag, the sky’s the limit, with some 50 sumptuous pairings on deck. Here’s a fun game: See how many you can taste before the Zinfandel finally gets the best of you. For more info, call 530-274-4900 or visit www.zinfandel.org/festival.

Date Night:
Great first impressions are important when dating, but having enough cash left after dinner for drinks and an eventual cab ride home is essential. That’s why the three-course prix-fixe dinner at Scott Howard (500 Jackson at Montgomery) in North Beach is the bees’ knees for foodies who want to save a Gary Danko or Michael Minna visit for the second or third date. At $32 per diner, the deal is a steal, with generous, wonderfully composed tasting portions that won’t leave you yearning for a slab of pizza an hour later. Mix and match any three dishes from the California- and French-inspired tasting menu, which is full of richly adorned works, including the not-to-be-missed signature carrot soup with chervil sabayon and truffle oil; and the Colorado lamb loin with eggplant caponata, currants, and capers. Seating is required by 6:15 p.m. For more info, call 956-7040 or visit www.scotthowardsf.com.

If you can still walk after dinner, head up the street to historic North Beach saloon Vesuvio (255 Columbus at Jack Kerouac) and soak up the Beat-era ambience — and the booze — until it’s time to catch that cab. For more info, call 362-3370 or visit www.vesuvio.com.

Night Cap:
Prowl the late-night Trendyloin scene with a swanky ’50s backdrop at The Ambassador (673 Geary at Leavenworth). Complete with decadent crystal chandeliers, button-tufted black-leather booths, and famously stiff cocktails, this is the perfect spot to get sloppy until the wee hours. Perhaps best of all, there’s no need to waste valuable mingling time waving down the bartender: Simply order from one of the vintage phones in your booth. For more info, call 563-8192 or visit www.ambassador415.com.

Coming Soon:
It’s time again to make the rounds of new joints sprouting up across San Francisco, starting in the Inner Richmond at Burmese and Californian fusion spot B*Star Bar (127 Clement at Second Ave.). Just down the street from the always-packed local favorite Burma Superstar, this casual incarnation features some Superstar staples and enough variety to please even the most finicky diner. For more info, call 933-9900. Sticking with the Burmese theme, Pagan Restaurant (3199 Clement at 33rd Ave.) in the Outer Richmond is catching diners by surprise with its spicy dishes and dual menus — one Thai, one Burmese. For more info, call 751-2598.

With the presidential hopefuls stumping hard in the Bay Area, the question has reared its hungry head: where will they eat? But more importantly, where should they eat? Bill Clinton popped into Oakland's Everett & Jones barbecue for some finger-licking goodness last week in what turned out to be national news after his testy exchange with ABC7's Mark Matthews. Bay Area Bites takes up the topic in an exhaustive post, complete with image-appropriate dining suggestions for the candidates. Here's a smattering: