Food: May 2009 Archives

Well, we asked you to vote in EaterSF's poll last week, and after tallying well over 1000 votes, we think we're ready to call it for La Folie.

Because we all know the Twain adage about summer in San Francisco, we'll skip it and throw out this recipe for a slightly wintry concoction that comes to us via Greg Lindgren of Rye (688 Geary). It's their signature infused whiskey called Rock & Rye; it would mix well with ginger ale and makes for a great hot toddy base for those cold and foggy July and August nights. From Greg:

For anyone who's ever shopped there -- be it noon on a Tuesday or 6 p.m. on payday -- Berkeley Bowl has pretty much always been a shitshow. Bulk granola-buying hippies elbow aside gourmet grannies in the ultra-narrow aisles, and hundreds of shopping carts squeak by one another in the endless stock exchange of Asian pears and celeriac. And forget about Thanksgiving week. Well now, Berkeley denizens will have yet another gourmet grocery to fight over (to add to four Andronico's, a Whole Foods and a Wild Oats soon-to-be Trader Joe's) as Berkeley Bowl opens a second store, Berkeley Bowl West, about 15 blocks west of the current store on Ashby Ave (map).

The SF Weekly Best of 2009 Readers Poll, while clearly accurate in such categories as Best Blog, was perhaps skewed by a campaign to vault Pasta Pomodoro to the lofty position as the people's choice for Best Restaurant. While Pasta P. may make a competent marinara on a good day, and their focaccia can be quite tasty, both we at SFist and our pal at EaterSF have a hard time accepting this result given the multitude of world-class restaurants in our fair city. So, in the spirit of democracy, please vote in EaterSF's poll so that we can get a better idea what our readers think. Sure, it's multiple choice and does not include a host of smaller neighborhood faves, but you're welcome to add your write-in candidate in the comments, either there or here. (We already know that Brock votes for Spruce.) And yes, polls are always dumb and biased, but humor us for a second.

For those of you amateur mixologists who aren't afraid of muddlers and strainers, we bring you our weekly artisanal cocktail recipe from a San Francisco bartender. This week's cocktail was something concocted by Alicia Walton for Elixir, specifically for the Ferry Building/CUESA Cocktail Week event last week, and it was one of our favorites of the week.

This is a special Cocktail Week edition of our weekly drink column, featuring a recipe from the same bartender of our inaugural column, Duggan McDonnell. Duggan is one of the organizers of the 3rd Annual San Francisco Cocktail Week, the proprietor of Cantina on Sutter Street (just voted one of the best bars in the country by Esquire), and the creator of this recipe for the Barbary Flip, the official cocktail of Cocktail Week.

Your stalwart correspondents have been enjoying the opening events of SF Cocktail Week, and in particular last night's farmers' market drink event at the Ferry Building, co-hosted by the non-profit Center for Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture. We don't want to be all annoying and "you shoulda been there" about it, but you shoulda been there (we would have warned you but it was sold out as of last week)! Bartenders from around town like provided little tasters of drinks made from rums and cachacas and seasonal fruit, and several restaurants provided delicious food things to cleanse the palate between beverages. Highlights included the Black Lavender cocktail from Alicia Walton of Elixir -- which was, if we remember correctly, a mix of dark rum, Tuaca, blackberries, raspberries, lemon, honey and muddled dried lavender (look for recipe on SFist later) -- and the Herb Cane from Duggan McDonnell's Esquire-honored bar CantinaSF -- which had muddled Thai basil, mint, lemon juice, syrup Cabana cachaca, Chartreuse, and an orange peel garnish.

Lessley Anderson (senior editor at CHOW and our former colleague back in the day) sent us this map denoting the sports where you can find the current "nonstaurant" trend in the Bay Area. It's pretty damn handy for those of you who prefer to get your gastronomic fix from a taco truck.

The fine folks over at Eater came across the May issue of Esquire, which boasts their annual list of the Best Bars in America. San Francisco scored big, with Zeitgeist (cyclists and porta-potties!), Toronado (somewhere in the Haight!), 21 Club, (grit!) Bourbon & Branch (never been before!), Cantina (secret basement fumblings!), Vesuvio (North Beach at its most preserved!) and Tosca Cafe (Sean Penn!) making the annual list.

Last night marked the opening gala of the third annual San Francisco Cocktail Week celebration -- a week in which Bay Area barmeisters mix and mingle with mixologists and cocktail enthusiasts from around the nation. The fest includes multiple tasting events around town, education seminars for professional and amateur mixologists alike, a national bartending competition, and lots and lots of drinking. (See full skedge after the jump.)

LA Weekly baits San Franciscans in Ask Mr. Gold's most recent column. Erica, a Los Angeles-based reader, writes in to ask about her "friend in town from Berkeley" who loves burritos but is set in her Bay Area commie pinko burrito eating ways. What should Erica do?

It may sound girly at first, but there's nothing frou-frou about this seasonal, rye-based, culinary cocktail creation from Alex Smith, bar manager at Thirsty Bear Brewing Co. And if you only know Thirsty Bear for their beer, perhaps you should drop in for Cocktail Week, which kicks off Monday, or during SF Strawberry Week, starting next Thursday, for this inventive and potent potable.

The Oscars of the food world were held yesterday in New York, and among top honorees were San Francisco's Nate Appleman of the restaurants A16 and SPQR, who won Best Rising Star Chef (it was his third nomination and first win... he's still eligible because he's under 30) and Douglas Keane of Cyrus in Healdsburg (pictured) who won Best Chef, Pacific. Previous winners of the latter award were Craig Stoll of Delfina and Traci Des Jardins of Jardiniere.