San Francisco Food Blog

J. Birdsall

Halibut in smoky seafood broth at a Saison prix fixe from July.

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

In any kind of normal economy -- you know, the one where the roast chicken at Zuni was a logical weeknight option when you didn't quite feel like pushing a cart through Safeway -- Joshua Skenes would own the kind of fine-dining establishment that'd soak up major magazine ink. Instead, the 30-year-old cooking phenom has had to make do with the nonstaurant, both as Carte415 and Saison, the weekend prix fixes he and Mark Bright have devised at Stable Café (2124 Folsom at 17th St.). SF Weekly critic Matthew Stafford invests time in the concept this week, describing a series of courses as meticulously planned and crafted as any on the Bay Area's Michelin short list. Taste the vadouvan later today at SFWeekly.com. Until then, enjoy SFoodie's little amuse in the form of an extended excerpt (after the jump).

Jen Siska

Ironside's cuban sandwich

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

Point your finger at the jobless rate or the housing bubble's bust: We're living through a moment of intense repurposing. And while we may not be at the point of sock darning, we're seriously digging restaurants that manage to remake the familiar into something convincingly modern. The SOMA restaurant Ironside (680 Second St. at Townsend) scores a double hit in that regard, rehabbing both a former industrial machine shop into a darkly chic loft, and a roster of mostly American classics into unfussy stylishness. SF Weekly critic Matthew Stafford probes the makeover this week, eating through more or less appealing takes on roasted apple and turnip pizza, seafood stew, and the brownie sundae. It all pretty much works, especially as an open-all-day destination for the neighborhood's office cube denizens. Read Stafford's full review later today at SFWeekly.com. Till then, glean a taste of Ironwood's hits (and misses) in SFoodie's extended excerpt (after the jump).

cygnoir/Flickr

Yu-Zen's futo maki.

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

We all know the taste of mid-grade sushi-joint food like we know the taste of a McDonald's burger: starchy tempura, elaborately gooshy fantasy rolls, watery miso soup. Get something better, and it seems like revelation. That's the case at Yu-Zen (4036 Balboa at 42nd Ave.), a no-frills Outer Richmond sushi bar where the sprawling menu offers up modest delights in the form of chirashi sushi, izakaya dishes, and long-cooked pork belly. The emphasis is on simplicity and freshness, minus mayonnaise-oozing maki, cranked-up Nickelback mixes, and parasol-sprouting cocktails. Explore Yu-Zen's quiet space later today online at SFWeekly.com. In the meantime, catch a whiff of satori in SFoodie's paragraph-long excerpt (after the jump).

karizmatic/Flickr

Banchan aren't the only freebies.

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

SF Weekly restaurant critic dives into the spread of banchan and soy sauce-marinated broiled beef this week at Muguboka in the Inner Richmond (401 Balboa at Fifth Ave.) and comes up charmed. The Korean mom 'n' pop serves up creditable versions of seafood pancake, galbi, and brick-red rice cake fry-ups, plus a black goat stew that leaves her thrilled as a toddler at a petting zoo. But banchan -- the spread of pickles and condiments as inevitable as chips and salsa at Chevys -- aren't the only freebies. Read about Mugoboka's secret schwag later today online at SFWeekly.com. In the meantime, score a preview in SFoodie's paragraph-long excerpt (after the jump).

Tamara Palmer

A pork shoulder sandwich from Pal's Takeaway in Tony's Market.

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

SF Weekly food critic Matthew Stafford haunts corner markets in the Mission this week, only not for the reasons you'd think. Instead of showing up to score Snus and St. Ides (or shall we say, just to score Snus and St. Ides), Stafford's on the hunt for sandwiches -- good freakin' sandwiches, no less. Turns out the Great Recession has been good for more than just draining 401(k)s and giving millions of the laid off the ability to blow entire afternoons in the consumption of online porn. It's also made culinary destinations of some formerly funky deli counters. Stafford checks in on Pal's Takeaway inside Tony's Market, Rhea's Deli and Grocery, and Mission Burger at Duc Loi Market -- loci of deliciousness that, in any normal economy, might have been standalone places. Follow Stafford on his quest for takeout deliciousness later today at SFWeekly.com. Need something to tide you over? Get a free sample in SFoodie's extended excerpt (after the jump).

foodnut.com/Flickr

The Tower: Addictive fried potatoes.

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

What would Yao eat? That's Yao Ming, the hella lanky Houston Rockets center, who dribbles chili oil and black vinegar on northern Chinese dishes like fennel dumplings and meat pancakes at a Mission Terrace hole in the wall -- or so we like to think. According to Yelp legend, the Shanghai native is so crazy about tiny Beijing Restaurant (1801 Alemany at Ocean) that his limo makes the long, slow crawl out whenever he's in town -- though no one in the place could tell resident food critic Meredith Brody precisely what Yao allegedly likes. No worries. Tomorrow in SF Weekly, Brody drives the lane through Beijing's Sichuan and Cantonese clichés, discovering a roster of not-so-common dishes worth the trip, even if you're rocking a mere Hyundai. Which ones are slam dunks? Find out later today at SFWeekly.com. Need a hint? Glean a preview in SFoodie's extended excerpt (after the jump).

An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

Jen Siska

​It's merely the latest eatery to embody the übercasual, thin-crust pie, salumi sandwich, and beer ethos of the moment, the way Beretta, its restaurant sib, embodied the artisanal cocktail spirit of mid-2008. Crown the ownership duo geniuses, then, and not just for getting Starbelly's menu right. They're also gastro pioneers in a neighborhood better known for restaurants that lay down post-party calorie bombs or gently tweaked diner fare than a roster of carefully wrought -- if approachable -- dishes oozing style. Tomorrow in SF Weekly, restaurant critic Meredith Brody makes a confession about the meals she had at Starbelly: She can't shake the memory of them. From split-pea soup to warm pear crumble, Brody was smitten with nearly every bite she tasted. Feel the love later today at SFWeekly.com. Can't wait? Get a preview in SFoodie's table-setting excerpt (after the jump).

Robert Lauriston

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

Sometimes, mom and pop restaurants evolve gradually, starting out as places with broad, doughnut-and-tuna sandwich appeal, later morphing into eateries grounded in food more personal and distinctive. That's the case with Larkin Express, the tiny Tenderloin-fringe deli whose bread and butter was deli sandwiches, with a secret clutch of Burmese steam-table dishes that lit up the local Chowhound-osphere like a debate about ramen rankings. Owner Dennis Lim has engineered a kind of switcheroo: Now it's the ham 'n' cheese -- not the chicken coconut noodle soup -- that's practically an off-the-menu rarity. Larkin Express has a new identity as Burmese Kitchen (452 Larkin at Turk), with cooking that can hold its own against Burma Superstar, Pagan, and Yellow Pa Taut. SF Weekly critic Meredith Brody scopes it out this week, holding forth on BK's shrimp and sour leaf, garlic noodles with pork, and -- of course -- tea leaf salad. Read the verdict later today at SFWeekly.com. But first, check out the appetite-whetting excerpt after the jump.

Jen Siska

At least the interior is tasty.

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

It's probably hopeless to expect food that sings at a place where the talent does, and Levende Lounge successor Coda (1710 Mission at Duboce) doesn't disappoint. Sure, the owners have distilled the right jazz club flavor in the exposed brick, banquettes, neo-noir art, and mood lighting. But, says restaurant critic Matthew Stafford in Wednesday's SF Weekly, the food can leave you feeling kind of blue. Like a CD jumbled up with money tracks and filler, certain dishes need serious rehearsal time, while others swing surprisingly hard. Read Stafford's review later today at SFWeekly.com to find out which dishes are downloadable, and which deserve to die. In the meantime, score a preview in the extended excerpt (after the jump).

Jen Siska

Aicha's kefta tagine (right).

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

Little Aicha (1303 Polk at Bush) showed up in Polk Gulch last June, in the space where De Afghanan Kabob House once ruled. SF Weekly restaurant critic showed up, too, working her way through a series of Moroccan dishes at the modest mom 'n' pop that busts out small (an medium-size) dishes, with prices to match. Vegetables shiny with olive oil. Cinnamon-y chicken baked in the phyllo-like pastry called warka. Tagines. Brody found the kitchen uneven, but capable of pulling out a brilliant - even unusual -- dish or two. Find out which ones later today at SFWeekly.com. Meantime, let the spices waft over you via the following excerpt (after the jump).

M. Brody

Sexy, right?

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

When this year's food obit is filed (something tells us we'll be the ones writing it), expect some ponderous post-mort on 2009 having been the Year of the Sandwich. Foams and 12-course degustations may seems as quaint as cotillions in this first year of the Great Recession, but stuff bracketed between bread is charged with as much unlikely sex appeal as a neckbeard and a pair of dirty Vans. Turns out S.F. diners are seriously craving food with a certain rusky earnestness, whether that means pushcart Indian at a park in the Mission or a bag of shortbread perfumed with lard. It's a condition that makes the Outer Sunset's Outerlands (4001 Judah at 45th Ave.) as irresistible as some expensively hyped Michael Mina flagship might've been in times more flush. The driftwood walls, the glory-shy anonymous chef (he's punched the clock at Range and Serpentine), the house-baked lévain: It's all as real as hell, emanating a delicately ruddy aura.

This week, SF Weekly restaurant critic Meredith Brody mingles with surfers and the genuinely nice at Outerlands, drooling over heirloom tomato soups and some quintessential expression of pork and beans. Read the details at SFWeekly.com. Meantime, glimpse the realness via this excerpt (after the jump).

J. Birdsall

Luym, grilling up goodness at the S.F. Street Food Festival.

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

Seems that some chefs are born fierce, while others (credit changing tastes, the alignment of the planets, whatever) have fierceness thrust upon them. That second option describes the trajectory of Tim Lyum, chef at Poleng Lounge (1751 Fulton at Masonic) and a guy getting a lot of second looks these days, thanks to the city's sweaty embrace of street food. Sounds crazy now that San Franciscans are itchy to line up in some park for a $5 paper boat of underground chicken adobo, but Poleng used to have a secret menu of what Lyum told SF Weekly food critic Meredith Brody he considered "challenging ingredients." Well, Lyum's Asian street-food dishes are secret no longer, and ingredients that once gave most diners chills are smoking hot. Read Brody's take on Poleng's lemongrass-scented, calamansi-spiked deliciousness (as well as Lyum's plans for a street-food-inspired lunch service) later today at SFWeekly.com. We'll give you a little whiff after the jump.

K. Todd Storch/Flickr

Belden Alley: S.F.'s urban Epcot now has an American place.

​An early nibble of the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

Like some urban, particularly fragrant Epcot Center, Belden Alley has long offered the city a taste of global cuisines. Recognizably Euro cuisines, anyway, what with Plouf and Café Bastille, Café Tiramisu, and the Barcelona copycat B44. But where the vodka bar Voda once offered a taste of, well, Vegas, stands Trademark (56 Belden at Pine), a restaurant devoted to a broad sweep of consciously American foods, built from a walk-in full of gorgeous summer produce. SF Weekly restaurant critic Matthew Stafford found dishes he liked, smack up against dishes he didn't. Which ones had him getting all lyrical about the season's, um, fecundity? Find out at SFWeekly.com. Meantime, get the lay of the land via this excerpt (after the jump).

Jen Siska

More downtown than down-home?

​An early taste of SF Weekly's Wednesday food review.

Forget the kind of barbecue you find yourself licking off your forearm an hour after lunch, the kind you feel no remorse in toothpicking from your molars on a crowded bus in plain view. Wexler's (568 Sacramento at Montgomery) fuses barbecue tradition with New American ambition, resulting in some very refined smoke-touched dishes that -- the best ones, anyway -- deliver much of the satisfaction of pit meats without the wallow. Are the results brilliant or bogus? SF Weekly food critic Meredith Brody weighs in on the very un-joint-like Wexler's at SFWeekly.com. Before you go, catch a whiff in an extended excerpt, after the jump.

Jen Siska

54 Mint's caprese salad.

​An early taste of SF Weekly's Wednesday food review.

This may be a city whose obsession with thin-crust shows no sign of cooling, but newcomer 54 Mint (16 Mint at Jessie) isn't exactly willing to pander. No, the still-new Italian restaurant in Mint Plaza's sleek Euroscape has a very Sicily-meets-Manhattan sense of itself, one that doesn't include Cali-style pies. Not surprising, since one of the owners here is co-owner of Il Buco in New York City. SF Weekly critic Meredith Brody loved what she calls the "lusty, uncompromising, boldly flavored" cooking here -- read the full review later today at SFWeekly.com. Until then, immerse yourself in a preview (after the jump).

Jen Siska

The honey-walnut prawns at Mercury Lounge.

An early taste of SF Weekly's Wednesday food review. 

A bridge-and-tunnel bar in SOMA is probably the last place you'd expect to taste well-made food, but that's just what SF Weekly food critic found this week at Mercury Lounge (1582 Folsom at 12th St.). Brody worked her way through a merienda of Filipino-tinged Asian dishes from a chef who spent time in the kitchens of Betelnut and Poleng Lounge. Go before the clubbers in their aviator sunnies and pleated minis show up (or, if you slip in for Sunday brunch, after) and it's possible to dine in relative peace. Find out which dishes had Brody popping later today at SFWeekly.com. Meantime, score a sample clip after the jump.

Continue reading " Early Bird Special: Mercury Lounge"...

Tags: restaurant reviews

Jen Siska

Creme Brulee Guy in Linda Street: Stafford likes his culinary showbiz.

We've hogged major bandwidth in blog posts about the city's underground, Twitter-stoked street-food scene, treating the phenomenon more as news than the subject of serious parsing from the POV of gastronomy. In tomorrow's Eat column, SF Weekly restaurant critic Matthew Stafford considers S.F.'s flotilla of carts from an eater's perspective, mingling with the crowds in Dolores Park and elsewhere to clock calories from Left Coast Smoke, Sexy Soup Lady, Crème Brûlée Guy, Wholesome Bakery, and others. Turns out Stafford left DP with more than just a giggly contact high -- he discovered food that actually tasted good. Find out which vendors rated at www.SFWeekly.com, and score a table-setting foretaste after the jump.

Jen Siska

They'll make you forget the wait.

Like children of the corn, San Franciscans have lined up practically since day one at Flour + Water (2401 Harrison at 20th St.), the Mission's newest locus of blistery thin-crust grandeur, juxtaposing clunky schoolhouse chic with graceful cooking. Call the restaurant's acolytes children of the locally grown silver corn, cut off the cob and scattered over heirloom tomato salads. In this week's restaurant review, SF Weekly critic Meredith Brody discovers the reasons behind the painful waits (hint: pizza is among the least of them). Instead, Brody says, the house-made pastas are extraordinary. Savor a vicarious mouthdul of every silken bite at www.SFWeekly.com. Glean a taste after the jump, then prepare to take your place in the queue.

Jen Siska

The mac 'n' cheese most definitely did not suck.

You've been to that party, the one where you feel uncomfortably dickish. Everybody else is hammered and sweaty, screaming into their phones and busting cheesy moves to Lady Gaga, while you're, well, wondering if anyone'd notice if you booked. That's how Weekly food maven Meredith Brody felt on her second visit to The Tipsy Pig (2231 Chestnut at Pierce), the Marina comfort-food phenom that calls itself a "gastrotavern" (you know, like gastropub just wouldn't do). And yet -- in contrast to her first, more laid-back meal there, when the cooking kind of sucked -- the delicious food kept her riveted to her seat. Read Brody's complete Tipsy diary at www.SFWeekly.com. Before you rush off, sample a taste of the restaurant at its best after the jump.

Jen Siska

Ah, summer, when a young man's fancy turns to chicken 'n' waffles. What is it about the Harlem classic -- an inter-meal mashup of homely comforts -- that's poised for revival? In the Tenderloin, Gussie's Chicken and Waffles is due to drop any day now. And halfway between AT&T and South Park, techies and others escape office cubes to line up for chicken 'n' waffles (plus neo-Southern favorites) at takeout-only Little Skillet (360 Ritch at Townsend). Weekly restaurant critic Matthew Stafford took his place in the queue to taste what all the ruckus is about, only to emerge with greasy fingers and a smile. He decided it was the perfect place to outfit a summer picnic, even one spent sprawled on a concrete loading dock. Read Stafford's full review at www.SFWeekly.com. Catch a short taste after the jump.

Jen Siska

Note to aspiring restaurateurs: The fiercest Chinese eateries are in diaspora neighborhoods, places like the Outer Richmond or northern Peninsula, where second- and third-generation Asian Americans actually live. Seems like nobody told the owners of Bund Shanghai (640 Jackson at Kearny), a restaurant in the heart of Chinatown that SF Weekly critic Meredith Brody says is pumping out some of the best Chinese food in the city. Start planning where you're gonna park the Prius, even as you brush up on Shanghaiinese regional: the famous gushing dumplings xiao long bao, mantou, and long-braised pork leg. Read Brody's dish-by-dish take later today at www.sfweekly.com. Or, if you're the kind of guy who skips to the end of a DVD to see who dies, proceed directly to the spoiler (after the jump).

Paul Trapani

You gotta love Michael Mina: Nobody in this town does high concept with such downright drama. How about a mashup of old French trains, New American cooking, and global wines? SF Weekly food critic Meredith Brody rides the vin express at RN74 (301 Mission at Beale) this week, holding on through a rickety series of dishes from French Laundry alum Jason Berthold that, thankfully perhaps, had absolutely zilch do with the French rail service. Throw in an unhelpful sommelier, and it turns out they had almost nothing to do with wine, either. Track the full review later today at www.sfweekly.com. Until then, ponder this after-the-jump snippet.

Jen Siska

Hoodies and ball caps allowed

If you've ever wondered what the hell a gastropub is, get the ultimate schooling by reading SF Weekly food critic Matthew Stafford's review of the Broken Record (1166 Geneva at Edinburgh). Think bar food done by serious chefs who actually love the genre, without a whisker of the attitude that'd make you think twice about dressing in your favorite broken-in black skinnylegs and scuffed-up Vans. Stafford plows through house-smoked pigmeat sammies, alligator sausage, and what just might be the city's best mac 'n' cheese, in a room steeped in whiskies, ryes, and top-shelf bourbons. Taste every morsel of whoopee pie and toffee crack at www.sfweekly.com. For instant gratification, wet your whistle on the exquisitely seasoned preview after the jump.

It had to happen -- SF Weekly food critic lost her virginity, and to a hunk of foie gras, no less. Brody experienced her gastro rite de passage at überluxe Gary Danko, which opened in 1999 and still has a way with a cheese cart. And in case you think a place not accustomed to skimping on the lobster and caviar has to be Prada-shoe fancy, think again.

Jen Siska

Brody found casually dressed Texans at the bar, and waiters too well trained to get all sniffy when you pick up the wrong fork. Read the buttery details at www.sfweekly.com. Here's an appetite-whetting lagniappe:

In some famous temples of cuisine, the atmosphere can be a little stiff, even verging on pretentious -- something one can experience while enjoying otherwise wonderful meals at New York's Le Bernardin and Yountville's The French Laundry. Although after seeing Gary Danko giggle and charm his way through a couple of TV episodes of The Best Recipes in the World, you can infer that perhaps his restaurant would reflect some of that lightheartedness. Danko was even pictured in My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals, lying around on gold lamé pillows at a staged orgy featuring a mountain of caviar and two voluptuous drag queens, also in gold lamé.

Jen Siska

Remember when hotel restaurants were the sad repositories of toast points and stuff en croute? Those days are gone, thanks locally to eateries like Michael Mina and Fifth Floor. Midi, the new Cali-French place in the FiDi's Galleria Park Hotel , aspires to join the ranks of hospitality-biz glory. But despite the kitchen's mad skills with the sauté pan, SF Weekly food critic Meredith Brody found something lacking. Read her complete explication du terrine later today at sfweekly.com. For now, enjoy this amuse-bouche:

Everybody but me was pretty much thrilled with the main courses. I found them well-conceived and carefully cooked, but lacking that ineffable touch that elevates good food, even very good and sincere food, into memorable and great food -- food that you want to eat again.

Jen Siska

February's launch of Nopalito, the regional Mexican spin-off of Laurence Jossel's swarming Nopa, was the city's most fervently-awaited restaurant event so far this year (just sayin', Michael Mina). SF Weekly food critic Meredith Brody braved the crowds to sample fungus antojitos, sturgeon tacos, and stewed goat, and for the most part emerged smiling. Read the full review here. Itching for a spoiler? A tease follows the jump.