Gastronomie

"Hi" to all you Amateur Gourmet folks!

{Peering out into the blinding light of the internet stage}

Hi! Glad you popped over from He-Who-Makes-People-Laugh-So-Hard-They-Pee's site!

That guy is hella funny. And I'm so glad that we were able to work breakfast in, because not only was Balthazar sooooo good, hanging out and laughing with Adam pretty much gave me my second wind.

'Cos what he didn't tell you was that I had taken a Tylenol PM before my flight... which I stupidly offset with the cup of coffee I had at dinner. Which means that I got literally 35 minutes sleep on my 4.5 hour REDEYE flight to JFK. Which, if you're following along here, means that I was really running on empty.

At any rate, thanks for coming by, and thanks to Adam for joining me on such short notice. I can't wait to return the hospitality when you come out to San Francisco!

Technorati Tags: Food | Food & Drink | Restaurants | San Francisco | New York

Me! Me! Me! Meme!!

Joy tagged me for this one, and I have to admit that I'm kind of excited about it! It's been a long time since there's been a "get to know me" meme around. And, since this IS my playground, and I clearly like talking about myself (why else would I have a blog)... well, YOU put two and two together.

If you click through & buy something on Amazon from this post, the commission goes to the French Bulldog Rescue Network account...

Four Jobs I've Held:

• I was a Clinique girl. Yup, I wore the fake lab jacket. And when I went to work for them, pants were sitll not OK yet. That was a fun (and lucrative) job.
• I was an agency girl. Oh, shut UP - get your minds out of the gutter. I ran several accounts for a leading direct marketing agency.
• I spent two summers as a camp counselor for preschoolers. I adored doing it, with all the ups and downs. And even though we don't want kids of our own, I still sometimes think I should have been a teacher.  Watching little kids learn is mesmerizing.
• I was... well... a 'junk mailer'. I planned mailings for several catalog companies. So you can blame me for your mailman's annual Christmas hernia.

Four Films I Could Watch Ad Infinitum:

• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
• The Big Lebowski
• The Usual Suspects
• Snatch

Four Places I've Lived... or in my case, the progression of where I got where I am

Tehran, Iran -> Westbury, NY -> Los Angeles, CA -> Washington, DC -> San Diego, CA -> San Francisco, CA

Four TV Series I Like:

• The West Wing. I'm so sad it's being cancelled.
• Grey's Anatomy. McDreamy. McLove It. Seriously.
• House. Hugh Laurie ROCKS.
• L & O: Criminal Intent. D'Onofrio fascinates me.

Four Places I've Been on Vacation:

• Iran
• Kona
• Bahia de Los Angeles, Mexico
• Puerto Rico

Four Foods I Love: (Seriously? This is a FOOD BLOG...)

• Ghormeh Sabzi
• A Pan-seared Ribeye Steak
• Takahashi-san's Ume Temaki with Shiso & Shark Fin... damn, I'm drooling on the computer.
• Starbucks' Brownies au Caramel Ice Cream. Good thing it's been discontinued. :-(

Four Sites I Visit Daily:

• PopSugar... it's my once daily celeb fix. So shoot me
• Dooce. I get really bummed when Heather doesn't update
• CraigsList (particularly the Pet section - just to make sure no Frenchies are looking for homes)
• SFGate... despite what C thinks, I really do pay attention to the news. Sometimes.

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now:

• On our roofdeck, book in hand
• Somewhere warm... book in hand
• On the water...
• Washington, DC.

I'm not tagging anyone else for this meme, just because I think everyone's been tagged already. But, if you haven't, please take this as an open invitation to respond!

Technorati Tags: Food | Food & Drink | San Francisco | Oakland

Nowruz is Almost Upon Us

All across the country, there are glimpses of an impending spring.

A break in the damp gloom of San Francisco... an afternoon of such warm sun in Manhattan that gloves and scarves become unnecessary... and in Denver, it seems possible to go skiing in little more than a tee shirt.

Moments like this serve as the first reminder that Persian New Year is creeping closer... I can almost smell smoked fish in the fragrance of a hundred fireplaces burning.  Hyacinths bursting into bloom at the market remind me to start my sabz-e soon.

Last year, I shared a few traditions, stories and recipes; this year, I'll bring you more goodies, including a photographic journal of my purchases for this most revered holiday.

**********************************************************************

Observance of NOROOZ 1385 Saal-Tahvil (turn of the year) - is on

Monday, March 20th 2006 at 06:25:35 PM Greenwich Meantime.

NEW TIMES FOR THE NEW YEAR

City	Time	Date
Tehran	09:55.35 PM	Monday March 20, 2006
New York	01:25:35 PM	Monday March 20, 2006
Chicago	12:25:35 PM	Monday March 20, 2006
Los Angeles	10:25:35 AM	Monday March 20, 2006
London	06:25:35 PM	Monday March 20, 2006
Paris	07:25:35 PM	Monday March 20, 2006
Tokyo	03:25:35 AM	Tuesday March 21, 2006
Australia/New Zealand	05:25:35 AM	Tuesday March 21, 2006

Technorati Tags: Food | Food & Drink | Nowruz | San Francisco | Iran

The Whore Can Sing!

By now you know that The Restaurant Whore & I have something of a soul-bond thing going on.

So it should come as no surprise to you that C & I joined Jon at the opening night of her new show, She Love Me.

What you might NOT know (and I didn't know until last night) is that the girl has some pipes on 'er. She has not one but two solos in the show, and let me tell you how freaking cute her character is. She sassy and funny and even does a little jig.

The show itself is so sweet and so funny and I'm so going to see it again. The show goes through March 18th (I think it's Thursdays through Saturdays) and I heard last night that about half the tickets for the run have already sold out.

So, seriously, go get some tickets (they aren't available via web) and check it out. You'll like it - I promise.

Hericum Erinaceus

Nicely done, folks.

I have to say that I'm somewhat surprised at how many of you guessed that the photo from yesterday was of fungi.

Specifically, these are the pristine and gorgeous Lion's Mane Mushrooms (aka "PomPom" or "Beard" mushroom).

Sporeworks tells us that "The Lion’s Mane is a member of the unusual teethed fungi, which form tooth-like structures instead of gills." So although they LOOK like coral, they actually have a delicate, almost ethereal texture.

They are rather mild in flavor, though somewhat remiscent of lobster if you saute them in a bit of butter and olive oil until just caramelized on the edges.

Select 'shrooms that have a faintly pink tinge to them, and are still moist and compactly built with tightly packed gill-teeth-thingies. They smell very mild - nothing like the heady fragrance of some of the other odd-looking fungi like morels -- still, at $8/pound at Far West Fungi, they are quite reasonably priced.

Technorati Tags: Food | Food & Drink | Shopping | San Francisco | Oakland

What Is It #8

OK, in light of all the ickyness going on in the food blogosphere (I'm currently afraid to use the word "community"), let's move along and have some fun, shall we?

Betcha can't tell what this is... Because I know when I look at this photo, I see a whole lotta things it COULD be.

Have at it.

Technorati Tags: Food | Food & Drink | San Francisco | Oakland

We're going to "The City"

I've lived in the Bay Area for over six years now, and it's really hard for me to imagine living anywhere else. In some ways, I've truly become a San Franciscan -- I hate it when people call it "Ess-Eff" or "San Fran"; I wax poetic about our produce, our people, our attention to what's going on in the world... I love this place, dammit.

But it's still not "The City". It is very much "the city"... but not "The City" with capital letters. That honor, that nickname, will always be reserved for the place I grew up. And though I haven't lived in New York in over 15 years, most people will still tell you that I have a very New York sensibility about me -- it's amazing how many people ask me if I'm "from the East Coast", despite my lack of an accent.

All that said, it's hard to believe that C and I have never been to The City together -- it's a place we both love, and have both been to since we were married, just... never at the same time.

As it turns out, we both have to go for work in a few weeks, and it happens to coincide with his birthday weekend. So, we're sending the dogs to their sitter, taking a couple of days off, and spending four days in Manhattan. We'll probably head to the Island for a day to see my cousins, and so I can show C the house I grew up in, but other than that, we're just playing in the city.

We have several reservations already... New Yorkers, let me know if there is a place we can't miss... and, if you want to weigh in on the Aureole vs. Bouley debate, please feel free.

On Sunday night, we have late reservations at Babbo (YAY!), while C's birthday "lunch" on Monday, before we head to the airport, is at Gramercy Tavern.

• I'm considering doing Bouley for lunch, and perhaps Aureole for dinner -- or would we be better served going vice-versa? I'm also planning to eat pizza - lots of pizza.  What else can't we miss, people?

Loving Limon?

I am a fan of Peruvian food. Mind you, I didn't know this until, oh, say a year ago. But in that time, I've tried both outposts of Mi Lindo Peru (I think I like the Marina one best), swooned at Fresca on Fillmore and most recently, ate way too much at Limón.

Limón is maybe a little sexier, a little moodier than the others. It's Mission-hip, but stays true to the region's cuisine. And though the hostesses are a bit "too cool for you", the rest of the service was spot on and delightful.

We started with one of Limón's signature dishes - Ceviche en Crema de Aji Amarillo (~$13). All I can say is "wow". I've never had a cream-based ceviche before, and I'm hooked. I would honestly go back just for this one dish, and to try the other two versions. I loved that the portion wasn't too stingy for 3 people to share comfortably.

We shared three appetizers next (which, honestly, might have been too much food) -- the Anticucho de Pollo (~$8) were the only disappointment, and that's because I didn't read the description on the menu. When I see anticuchos, I always expect heart meat. I figured these were going to be chicken hearts, and got crazy-excited (skewered and charcoal grilled chicken organ meats are my favorite street food in Tehran). So, it's not so much that there was a flaw in the dish -- in fact, the chicken was flavorful and juicy -- it just wan't what I expected.

The Empanada Don Walter (~$9) were two flaky pastries filled with what amounts to piccadillo -- olives, raisins, eggs and beef. I would have liked a bit more "punch" from the filling, but these were just fine.

Finally, we ordered the Calamares Fritos (~$9), a beautiful presentation, perfectly cooked squid and wonderfully crisp and light breading. This might have been my favorite appetizer of the night.

Zuni Saves the Day

Yes, well, it was little Miss Restaurant Whore who guessed the restaurant correctly. 'Course, what she forgot to mention was that it was HER ticket to the Food Blogger Face-Off I was trying to give away!

So, first person to email me gets the ticket. Now, back to the grub.

I've mentioned in various places that I will generally only go to Zuni for lunch. I find that the service frequently suffers in the evening, perhaps because they expect a whole lot of touristy types. And, heaven forbid that one person in your party is "urbanity-challenged" -- it can guarantee a shitty experience. So, as I drove through the city, my blood-pressure beginning to normalize, I considered our options.

Citizen Cake... had a great lunch there with Sam, but the kitchen had changed hands since then. Oh, and parking might be a bear.

Absinthe? Love it. Maybe even adore it. But it's one of our "date night" spots, so didn't want to taint it with the sour taste of the day. 

Zuni... Zuni! Readily available parking. Oysters. And my near-favorite Bloody Mary. Yes. Zuni would do.

As we pulled into our (FREE! EASY!) parking spot, I realized that in five years of living here, C had never been to this quintessentially San Franciscan place. He'd never experienced the burger, or the caesar, or the brick-oven roasted bird with that heavenly bread salad. Oh, this would be fun.

My hopes were dashed as I peered through the window and saw a packed house. Opened the door, and asked the hostess how long the wait was for a two-top. "45 minutes", said she. "30 minutes", I told C -- I couldn't risking him wanting to go elsewhere, could I?