Food

Although the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program is being served up a Balboa High, San Francisco public schools still serve junk to kids. It's a big problem. Of what little money goes to free "school nutrition" at SF public schools, a slight $2.68 per meal, only $1 goes to the actual food itself. more ›

Though we've certainly not completed our cocktail tour of San Francisco, our Friday drink column is coming full circle after inaugurating itself back in March with Cantina's Laughing Buddha. We return to Cantina this warm and sunny Friday, and to one our favorite startenders about town Duggan McDonnell, for another house favorite recipe there, which combines the fresh, summery flavors of the tropics with just a hint of Chinese spice. As Duggan puts it, "A true San Francisco cocktail, and a nod to the fact that Chinatown is just a few blocks down from Cantina." more ›

Today's "Ask SFist" comes from the writer of this post. It's our second wedding anniversary next week, and we're on a budget. We always dine at home, usually only splurging on sushi, but we'd like to step out of our comfort zone for this special occasion. more ›

We suspect that the only people who rely on the Zagat Guide in the Bay Area are recent New York transplants and elderlies who pick it up in the bookstore in Danville, but we reserve the right to be wrong. Anyhow, the 2010 guide hits the stands today, it's probably more accurate than the SF Weekly Readers Poll, and its democratic readership has again voted Gary Danko into the top spot for food and popularity, beating out older winner The French Laundry and new rising star Cyrus. Saigon Sandwiches and In & Out won for Best Bang for Your Buck. The recently re-opened Sierra Mar at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur won for Best Decor, but perhaps readers really just meant "best view." And Top Chef Masters runner up Michael Chiarello's Bottega in Napa won Best Newcomer. more ›

Although this week's weather might not agree, summer--at last!--is coming to an end. Soon we'll be busting out our fall line from the back of the closet, putting extra blankets on the bed, and paying PG&E more money. More importantly, Starbucks will roll out their annual treat of legend and lore, the Pumpkin Spice Latte. (Blue Bottle's got nothing on Starbucks until they introduce a sickly sweet treat like this.) But at almost $4 a pop, who can afford Starbucks version of black tar? Not us. more ›

Free ice cream will be handed out later this afternoon in downtown San Francisco. Why? Because it's going to be hot today. Between 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. at Beale between Howard and Folsom, free sweet frozen dairy treats will be handed out to the presumably sweltering masses. more ›

Gothamist had a crazy week: First Kanye disses Taylor, then the city health department suggests banning smoking in parks and beaches...and then a local news anchor said, "Keep fucking that chicken."

Rickhouse (246 Kearny), the recently opened Financial District cocktail haven by the guys who brought us Bourbon & Branch, is already drawing crowds in the post-3 p.m. hours after the markets close. The drink menu is twenty-eight pages long and takes you through every category of classic cocktail, from a Daisy (the precursor to a daiquiri or Cosmo) to a Martinez to a Scorpion Bowl, each served with the appropriate form of ice (block ice in the Tiki punch bowl, crushed ice for the Julep, etc), as well as contemporary variations, all with fresh ingredients. more ›

Get ready, hungry worker bees buzzing about in the SOMA/Mission Bay/Rincoon Hill/downtown area. Dottie, the sweetheart of The Sweet Cart, will be selling her goods in South Park tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. She will be out in the park from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. selling her signature (not to mention astoundingly delicious) cheesecake and red velvet cupcakes. more ›

Eater brings us word that Mission district ice cream it girl Humphry Slocombe experienced its very first Yelp bullying. (Aw. You always remember your first.) Humphry Slocombe's Twitter message describes the assault: "Our 1st Yelper shakedown! Yelp girls to me: 'We're gonna order then yelp about it-what discount can you give us?' Me: 'Your joking right?'" The Yelp girls were immediately clocked across the face, then tossed out of the establishment. OK, not really. Because that would be mean and illegal. But, wow, that's pretty ballsy, Yelpers. Hopefully, Humphry Slocombe gave them the boot. Shameless, people. Really. That said, any other local business out there experience this kind of abuse from (alleged) Yelp users? If so, did you cave in? more ›

Just north of the center of Glen Ellen is an unassuming tasting room and winemaking facility, Loxton Wines. It's a large metal shed, essentially, and the place is owned and operated by Australian winemaker Chris Loxton who started the winery in 2001 after working for six years as Assistant Winemaker at neighboring Wellington Vineyards. Chris grew up on a Shiraz vineyard in South Australia, and at Loxton he focuses primarily on Syrah and Zinfandel in relatively small batches, sourcing excellent grapes from around Sonoma County. more ›

If San Francisco had an official dish -- which, by the way, it should -- Cafe Zuni's Roast Chicken with Bread Salad could be it. The medium-sized bird quickly seared/roasted in a scorching hot oven and accompanied by a salad dotted with soaked bread is stuff of lore. But visiting New York City dignitary Frank Bruni, former food critic, who recently supped at Judy Rodgers' bistro, has this to say about the famed dish: "The Zuni chicken: as sublimely moist and flavorful as ever. But not sold on the 'bread salad.' Oddly shaped clumps of flinty dryness." more ›

In opening a new bar in the space of the former Expansion (and, briefly, The Metro, 2124 Market Street), owner Shawn Vergara wanted to create an unpretentious neighborhood hangout that nonetheless served good cocktails. Blackbird transformed the previously dark space into a bright and hip lounge, and it fills a need in the Church/Castro area for a mellow, mixed bar where you wouldn't be ashamed to bring your mom. more ›

Eater reports on a couple of cheeky British waiters who deserve some sort of award. See, on August 30 over in the UK, two-year-old Molly Craig was acting "restless" at Halifax, West Yorkshire eatery Cactus Joe's. Since parents are accustomed to their precious cargo acting like trolls on meth, they tend to ignore it when it happens in public spaces, most flagrantly at restaurants. So, in an effort to passively explain to Molly's parents that their daughter's behavior was inappropriate, they printed the following on the bill: "'Thankyyou littell fucker." Chortle. Anyway, as non-food service industry types, we have to ask, how do you deal with restaurant brats, waiters and waitresses of the Bay Area? more ›

After admitting our preference for the Sonoma side of things, we'll give a little attention today to Napa, where both a winery and a world-class art gallery sit atop Mount Vedeer at the southern end of the Valley. more ›

Writing in the Chron, John King examines the current state of the Tonga Room preservation debate, in which preservation architect Chris VerPlanck is preparing a nomination package for saving the Fairmont hotel's pseudo-Polynesian paradise as a historic interior. "My preservation ethos gears me toward pop kitsch and industrial vernacular," says VerPlank, whose firm Kelley & VerPlanck is working on a 21-page report (link via Grub Street SF) to be filed with the Historic Preservation Commission. Unlike New York City, where places like Philip Johnson's Four Seasons Restaurant have been declared landmark interiors, San Francisco's preservation board doesn't yet have a protocol for preserving interiors -- only buildings, sites and landscape features. VerPlanck argues that the Tonga Room "represents a highly evolved and rare example of the so-called 'High Tiki' style," but King isn't buying it, playing devil's advocate and asking whether we should be saving anything that anyone claims a kitschy attachment to. more ›

The cocktail menu at Conduit, designed by bar manager (and recently elected President of the U.S. Bartending Guild) Reza Esmaili, tends toward seasonally appropriate and well-balanced flavors that pair well with food. The following drink, conceived for the Urban BBQ event at the SF. Chefs. Food. Wine. event last month, is all about that peak-of-summer fruit, the peach. From Reza: more ›

This quote has been making the rounds this week. So, of course, we feel the need to bring it to your attention. Nate Appleman -- A16 chef, James Beard Award winner, San Francisco expat, budding mini-Bourdain -- slammed San Franciscans with the following quote in the New York Times. Ahem: more ›

Now that mainstream media has sunk its dentures in the seemingly fascinating world of social media -- which means they now have the editorial filter of The View's Sherri Shepherd -- they can't get enough of it. Today, CNN reports on Foursquare and EveryBlock, mentioning San Francisco hot dog retailer Showdogs. What CNN had to say about e-new media 3.0 is not important. What is important is that Showdogs is handing out free 8oz beer today to customers who bark at the cashier. [via Eater] more ›

A couple weeks back we filled in the Friday Drinks column with a post about Cline Cellars, and today we're back with the launch of a new column about local wineries which we're going to call Wednesday Wine Tasting until we come up with something better. more ›

One of our discoveries at this past weekend's Eat Real Fest was a new art/collage magazine called Food+Sex. Publisher Mark Andrew Gravel was on hand selling copies on Saturday at Jack London Square, and we couldn't help but be curious -- food and sex being two of our (and everyone's) favorite things. The editors describe the mag thusly: "Collage art food magazine, Food + Sex, is a combined effort of artists, writers, farmers and foodmakers exploring how desire shapes the food environment... Included in its pages are a visual patchwork of uncommon art, essays and excerpts by thinkers, makers and doers from the food underground and beyond." more ›