Via B.K.: Bay Area Coffee Battle Update: Took home a bag of Roast Coffee Co. beans from Zazie (after having a stellar capp) and made a lovely cup of french press with it. Silky and smooth, more akin to Barefoot & Ritual (versus intense & earthy like BB and 4B). Roast Co. is relatively new and fab restaurants are jumping on the band wagon like Quince, Farmer Brown, and Bocanova. more ›

Tiffany Maleshefski over at The Examiner has been doing a charming series where she interviews local mixologists and prints one of their recipes. Last week she talked to Elmer Mejicanos, the Nicaraguan-born bartender at Joe DiMaggio's Italian Chophouse, who's served the likes of Tiger Woods and Adam Sandler (they drank Grey Goose and water and a Margarita, respectively). Below, is one of Elmer's signatures, which is a tasty-sounding concoction featuring almost-in-season fresh strawberries which should please the vodka lovers among you. We disapprove, as a rule, of naming any drink a 'Tini, but we'll let this one slide. more ›

The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is trying to kill your buzz, folks. Again. The most recent example is their cracking down on bars serving infused alcohols. Demian Bulwa of the SF Chronicle reports that on a recent Friday night, the AB "entered [Bourbon and Branch] and warned bartenders they were breaking California law by altering alcohol - infusing it with the flavors of fruits, vegetables and spices." more ›

Now that Mayor Gavin Newsom has office hours where almost anyone can sign up to talk with and/or gaze at him for 15 minutes, SFGate's Charlie P. Cunningham (who describes himself as a graduate senior in the Urban Studies and Planning Department at SFSU) made an appointment to chat with Newsom. (Side note: Wait, what? SFGate initially said that "Newsom insisted no staff or media be allowed inside during his 15-minute chats." Which: not so much. SFist now looks forward to meeting with Newsom for 15 glorious minutes.) The two shot the breeze, chatting about Newsom's favorite SF park, something delightfully called the Market Street Calming Initiative, services the city has to offer, and food, glorious food.. more ›

...Well, almost. Chef Dennis Leary (Canteen, The Sentinel) is in talks to take over the beloved, century-old, downtown watering hole, The House of Shields, and he plans to do little to the space except spruce it up. This should come as a relief to everyone who lamented about the place being on the market last month. Leary's Sentinel sandwich shop is in the same building, so we're guessing he'll be adding a bar menu of some kind. more ›

On this most gloomy day, doesn't a stack of hotcakes sound good? Yes. Yes, it does. So, you can celebrate National Pancake Day, which is today, by visiting your nearest Maison Internationale des Crêpes for a free short stack of pancakes. (Here's a handy list of Bay Area IHOP locations.) more ›

In addition to that bunny boil, you may want to consider a little celebration happening at Smuggler's Cove tonight in honor of Don the Beachcomber's birthday. Don's pioneering Tiki chain once had an outpost in SF, but now can only be found in Huntington Beach and elsewhere. Two of Don's classic cocktails, Don's Own Grog and the Demerara Dry Float, will be $7 all night. more ›

by Rachel Brodsky more ›

Admit it, your saliva glands went into overdrive when Glenn Close did this. Because no matter which way you slice them, bunny rabbits hit your senses in just the right places. Whether it be the Easter bunny's baskets, the Cadbury Bunny's annual high of ovular fructose, or rabbits seared crisp with the perfect amount of thyme, rabbit should be cherished on many levels. more ›

Trademark Grill, nestled on Belden Place, features a cocktail program that Camper English would likely classify as Neo-Classic. Today's cocktail of the week, created by Franz Meis, was named to honor a long-time regular customer named Spencer, who has a penchant for for dressing in turn-of the century suits as well as a biting sense of humor. His elegant dress coupled with his personality displays a contrast in styles, which served as the inspiration for the drink. more ›

The James Beard Award pre-nominations (or, "semifinalists") were announced today. In the "Outstanding Chef" category, Charles Phan (The Slanted Door), Michael Minna (Michael Minna), and Gary "Gummy Worm" Danko (Gary Danko) all received hat tips. Flour + Water and Adesso received "Best New Restaurant" nods, and rightfully so. And Christopher Kostow received a "Best Chef: Pacific" nomination, so he's having a red-letter day of the deepest kind right now. more ›

His Holiness Michael Bauer bestowed an extra half star upon Christopher Kostow's Restaurant at Meadowood, making it the ninth Bay Area restaurant to earn four stars. more ›

In a move that makes us want to slice open an artery, Eater's much-loved and Schick Quattro-sharp editor Paolo Lucchesi is leaving his post. Sob, sniff. On the plus side, if there is one, they're looking for a new editor. So, if you're a huge Eater fan, check out the gig and apply today. It's part-time job with flexible hours, and best of all, you can work from anywhere. (Blog life, yo.) more ›

Tight on cash and/or don't quite buy into Valentine's Day? Nevertheless, you're making a decent dinner tomorrow night and want to top it off with a special dessert? But this idea occurred to you at the last minute, and you don't want to buy/spend a whole lot of time or money on ingredients? more ›

This week's cocktail — which we could really use one of right now, can I hear you say YEAH, SFist readers? TGIF! — comes from the bar consultants at Quince, Scott Baird and Josh Harris, who created a clean and refreshing drink for their cocktail menu that may as well be a classic. From Scott: more ›

The Twittersphere was all aflutter today as the food cart (and food table) sensation hit South Park, because this time it drew media interest from BBC Radio, some unnamed video outlet and, yes, your 'umble narrator at SFist. Among the fine folks dishing out tasty, affordable treats were @GumboCart, @AdoboHobo, @TheChaiCart, @WholesomeBakery, @MagicCurryKart, and more. More pictures here to warm up your appetite for next time. more ›

Have you ever noticed that chunk of ivy covered, ruined Central Freeway at the corner of Fell and Laguna? Well it's about to become something a whole lot more interesting than just a bleak reminder of the days when Hayes Valley was nothing more than a collection of grime caked liquor stores and plastic blow-up lady shops. The Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development has engaged with a local non-profit, Hayes Valley Farm, to temporarily develop the on-ramp as a sustainable, organic urban farm. Blessed be! more ›

Join Monk's Kettle's Sayre Piotrkowski, one of the city's very few cicerones (i.e., a beer sommelier) and Broke Ass-Stuart as they honor SF Beer Week by going on a walking tour of San Francisco’s best beer places. more ›

Yes, it's the time again when Bay Area chefs, critics, and other artisan slop notables break their silence on what junk food they let pass over their acclaimed, richly-textured palates. Everything from aged (read: stale) Swedish Fish to Tombstone Pizza (mmm) to Rotel cheese dip (quadruple mmm) to Beard Papa cream puffs receive tips of the hat from the gastronomic elite. Many thanks goes out to the fine food folks who participated. more ›

Holy heck, folks. Tomorrow, fine-dining establishment Denny's will be giving away free "Original Grand Slam Breakfast," their signature plate of twos. more ›

At this Wednesday's Heart of the City Farmers Market, located at the United Nations Plaza in Civic Center every Wednesday and Sunday, we more ›

The drink is called the Recoil because we like to use Bulleit (pronounced like bullet) Bourbon and it goes down easy but it has a kick. Kinda cheesy, I know. I like the drink because it's really balanced and can appeal to all different kinds of drinkers. Whiskey drinkers like it because you can taste the bourbon and it's not too sweet. However, it's sweet enough to appeal to those that like sugary stuff. And lets face it, you can add St. Germain to just about anything and it makes it taste better. It's like bacon that way. more ›

We came across these delicious-looking brownies by Jessie Oleson of Cakespy via Serious Eats the other day and thought they'd be a sweet ending to the Super Bowl themed recipes. more ›

Sliced bread can move aside, another food innovation is about to take America by storm. For forty years, the Heinz ketchup packet has walked the fine line between convenience and annoyance. On one hand, it lets you eat french fries anywhere, anyway, anyhow... more ›

Vegan cupcakes from Love at First Bite. more ›

It's hard to go wrong with Mac and Cheese, so we decided to pick the most gluttonous version we could find, Deep-Fried Mac and Cheese, by Ms. Paula Deen. (Well, actually, there's an even more gluttonous version of this recipe, which includes a strip of bacon wrapped around each serving, but we thought that was going a bit too far.) more ›

We're a little late getting this to you, but the SPCA is offering free pet food today. Check it: "Tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 3, the Purina ONE Tour for Heroes is making its stop at the San Francisco SPCA. Purina will set up a temporary food bank to give out more than 1,000 bags of pet food to Bay Area pet owners from 2-7 p.m., while supplies last." Location: 250 Alabama Street (at 16th Street), San Francisco. more ›

Leave it to Martha to come up with a clever presentation to a classic dip by putting its contents in single-serving jars. Seven Layer Bean Dip is the sort of thing you can't stop eating, so why not give your guests individual servings, enabling them to double-dip to their hearts content? You could use jars, plastic cups, or little, plastic football helmets (if they exist?). If you feel like putting in the extra effort that is. more ›

The big game is on Sunday, which for us non-sports fans means hovering over the snack table in between space-out sessions in front of the TV. (Except this contributor is a bit more invested this year since it involves our home town team, the Colts.) In order to make that snack table as appealing as possible, we'll be posting recipes for some classic comfort foods for the rest of the week. more ›