Tamara Palmer

Marina Snetkova bakes on her truck, Cookie Time.

​Marina Snetkova used to wake up at 5 a.m. for her Wall Street job as a day trader for a hedge fund; now she rises at the same time to hop in her truck to start baking.

After losing her job in 2008, Snetkova, who is originally from Latvia, started traveling west with dreams to open a wine bar with desserts and use her skills learned at pastry school. She wound up in San Francisco and, two weeks ago, unveiled a refurbished ice cream truck dubbed Cookie Time.

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Alanna Hale

Baby octopus stew

​Part 3 of an interview with Massimiliano Conti, chef of La Ciccia. Part one of the interview is here. Read part two here.

All too often, octopus becomes rubbery when cooked and thus intimidates those trying to prepare the cephalopod at home. Massimiliano Conti's method for his famed baby octopus stew in spicy tomato broth involves a simple braise that ensures an impressively tender outcome.

The following recipe can be used for calamari or other types of seafood or even meats, but you will need adjusting cooking times according to the type of fish/meat you are cooking. Conti suggests a Monica di Sardegna - a Sardinian wine, of course - as a pairing for the dish.

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Alanna Hale

​Born and raised in the southern part of Sardinia, Massimiliano Conti -- chef-owner of La Ciccia in Noe Valley -- was 14 when started he culinary school and 18 when he joined the Princess Cruise Line to travel the world and meet his future wife. After stints in Tuscany, Chianti, and Washington, D.C., Max and Lorella moved to San Francisco in 1996. It then took 10 years to find the right space for what is now a cherished neighborhood restaurant.

In part 1 of SFoodie's interview with the chef, Max talked about his childhood in Sardinia. Tomorrow, he shares the recipe for one of La Ciccia's most popular dishes.

SFoodie: How do you think La Ciccia fits into the dining scene in SF?

Conti: Our ultimate goal is to bring the best that Sardinia has to offer to San Francisco. We want to be able to do that on many different levels. Not just with the food, not just with the wine, but also to open the doors to people to Sardinia so that maybe you decide, Hey, instead of going to Florence this year, let's spend a week in Sardinia and see what it's all about. That is my ultimate goal.

What are some defining characteristics of Sardinian cuisine?

Because we are an island in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, you would think seafood is very important, but actually, seafood didn't become part of the culture until the Spanish colonization. The heart of Sardinian culture and cuisine is based on the land. Lots of grains, vegetables, and animals like goat, lamb, rabbit, and wild game. The coast was a dangerous place. Being an island, everybody wants to conquer you. Many invaders would use Sardinia as a base to spend some time and restore themselves before continuing on to other parts of Europe.

Does their influence show up in the cuisine?

Yes, definitely. Think of bottarga: cured, salted fish comes from the Arab colonization. Saffron from North Africa. The use of raisins, of sweet and sour - even a dish like fregola [a pearl-like pasta] reminds you a lot of couscous. The colonizers brought new things to this very ancient land, which through the years became part of Sardinian culture.

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Jen Siska

Contigo

After scarfing pork-belly bocaditos and octopus salad at Contigo in Noe Valley, SF Weekly food critic Matthew Stafford gets all dreamy thinking about the vacay he took in Barcelona. Stafford thinks chef-owner Brett Emerson gets all the details right in this local simulacrum of the Catalan tapas bar. Drool over the full review later today at sfweekly.com. Meantime, here's a taste:

The similarities between the Bay Area and Catalonia are striking. Both regions have a fierce independent streak and derive much of their identity from the nearness of the sea. Both are dominated by cities renowned for their leafy, hilly charm and footloose sophistication. And both enjoy a proximal larder of seasonal produce, game, and seafood practically unmatched anywhere in the world ... and the wherewithal to enjoy them absolutely. Contigo, a new Catalan restaurant in Noe Valley, is a fine example of this duality in action. Here, specialties from Spain's northeastern reaches are prepared and served in an environment as lively and attractive as any Barcelona bodega, using foodstuffs sourced from Straus Family Creamery, Monterey Fish Market, Star Route Farm, and 42 other all-organic dairies, ranchers, and fisherfolk from our own back yard.

Chef Chris Cosentino of Incanto (1550 Church) has published the tentative menu for the restaurant's sixth annual Head to Tail dinners, coming up on Monday and Wednesday, March 23 & 25 ($75, reservations advised):

• Venison heart tartare, foie gras and ciccioli brioche
• Goose intestines with fava beans and artichokes
• Big brain, little brain with asparagus
• Cordedda (Sardinian lamb intestine) with peas, mint, and sheep's milk polenta
• Coffee and Doughnuts: pork liver, blood, chocolate, espresso

Chef Cosentino held an essay contest to select two cooks who would stage (intern, more or less) for the dinners. Read the winning entries here.

James Sanders

From Incanto's mailing list:

We are pleased to announce that this Sunday, February 8, we will begin offering a weekly Sunday Brunch at Incanto.

The menu will showcase the best of Incanto and will prominently feature Boccalone meats including all of Boccalone's fresh sausages, guanciale, pancetta, and sanguinaccio.

This Sunday's menu will include a black truffle mortadella panino with potato-leek salad, house-milled whole wheat polenta with poached farm egg, and a brunch version of our legendary handkerchief pasta.  We will also feature Incanto's award-winning Italian wine program and a not-to-be-missed Roman Bloody Maria.

Hours of service will be from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  Reservations accepted only for parties of 6 or more persons -- we encourage you to stop by and pay us a visit!

Pure Grain Bakery's pumpernickel is one of the best German-style breads in these parts. Though it's 100% rye, the bread is lighter and less sour than most of this style, and it has a wonderful nuttiness that's accentuated by toasting. I first came across it several years ago in a bread basket at a German restaurant, and was so impressed that I asked where they got it. Unfortunately, it turned out that the bakery is in Vacaville, and at the time they had no retail outlets in SF.

Now they do. Lehr's German Specialties (1581 Church) carries both Pure Grain pumpernickel and a variety of German goodies that go well on top of it, such as apfelkraut (dark, not very sweet apple butter) and quark (soft German cream cheese), a classic breakfast combo, and various sorts of liverwurst. You can also get the bread at Rainbow Grocery (1745 Folsom).

At Omnivore Books on Food, our favorite new SF bookstore,a glamorous display of cocktail books both new (The Craft of the Cocktail, by Dale DeGroff, Classic Cocktails: A Modern Shake, by Mark Kingwell) and old (the 1948 Drink by Andre Simon, The Commonsense Book of Drinking, from 1960, by Leon D. Adams) reminded us that if you pair such a volume with a nice bottle of alcohol, hey presto! You've got an excellent themed gift. (A volume that neatly combines both old and new is the reprint edition of the excellent Savoy Cocktail Book.)

If you want to go the extra mile, muddlers, bar measures, and cocktail stirrers are available all over town, from such relatively posh locales as Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and Crate and Barrel right down to your local hardware store. And if you really want to go the extra mile, Omnivore has in stock a rare first edition copy of the 1869 cocktail book Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks, which includes recipes for "Yankee Punch," "Elephant's Milk," and "Elixir de Violettes, and priced at only $500! --Meredith Brody