Gastronomie

Gone Fishin'

Yup, we're off tonight for the first real vacation we've had since our honeymoon over three years ago.

No emails, no voicemails... so freaking excited. There are a couple of posts on my scheduler, so if you see 'em pop up in your RSS feed, don't go thinkin' I'm blogging from the Caribbean!

Sam & Fred are taking the pups, so drop her a line of encouragement, won't you?

Tags: Caribbean, Cruise, French Bulldog, Vacation, San Francisco

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Stephen Starr's Philadelphia, Part 2 - The Striped Bass

So, on my second night in Philadelphia, I got the chance to squeeze in a dinner at Striped Bass, one of the new Starr restaurants, and perhaps one of the more upscale.

The space is rather gorgeous, in an old-school-Wall-Street-bank sort of way -- cavernous ceilings, muted colors, staff in conservative darks. The only things giving it away as a place that's actually not TOO serious are the open kitchen and enormous sculpture of a striped bass that's suspended over it.

Now, before I can speak to the food, I really need to address service here. Because it really kind of sucked. R, A and I all wanted to take our time ordering, so just got started with raw bar items and a chilled soup. We told our waiter we'd "start with these" -- he took that to mean that we were only have appetizers, and he gave us a look that made me want to get up off my chair and smack him. Fortunately, I do have a LITTLE more decorum than that, and decided to let it roll off my back.

Unfortunately, that was only the start of the problem. Because our waiter didn't seem interested in our table, one of our courses was delivered incorrectly, and we actually had to swap plates ourselves. One of my guests is pregnant, so mentioned that she'd be drinking water all evening. Our waiter kept bringing fresh bottles of Fiji, causing us to think, "oh, how nice, a restaurant that doesn't nickle-and-dime on water". Apparently not -- there was a $21 charge on the bill for 3 bottles.

Stephen Starr's Philadelphia - Part One (Pod)

Ask any Philadelphia foodie what she thinks of Stephen Starr, and you're likely to get an earful. Lots of people love what he's brought to their city, but there's a whole other segment that thinks his restaurants are all totally formulaic, and that this "Starrification" has killed the inventiveness and individuality in the city's fine-dining scene.

I went to two Starr restaurants while I was in Philly last week, and while I can see that the thumping bass, gorgeous and uber-hip servers, and excruciatingly precious interior design features might get boring after a while, I had two really lovely meals and think that Mr. Starr must be doing something right.

In the interest of integrity, I am going to mention here that one of C's best friends is the sous chef at Pod, arguably the youngest and funkiest of the Starr restaurants. So it might go without saying that the meal we had there was out of this world. I'm not going to write about it in depth, since we never even had a chance to order -- we just put ourselves in R's capable hands, and were not even momentarily disappointed. The highlights, however, might include:

• Toro and chu-toro that literally melted away as soon as they touched your tongue
• Szechuan lamb chops with a depth of flavor that never once hid the beautiful lamb flavor
• Crab spring rolls, incredibly decadent
• A chocolate toffee bread pudding that not only wasn't too sweet, but carried through the bitterness of the dark chocolate beautifully
• Passion fruit creme brulee, so pure and tart-sweet that I wished my part-time lover could have been there to taste it

Pod doesn't have what I would call "ambiance". Instead, it's a place that you'd go if you wanted to feel unbearably hip, and beautiful, and sexy. The space is DEFINITELY on the very loud side, but conversation isn't out of the question.

In the next couple of days, I'm going to write about my second Starr experience, this time at Striped Bass. This was a wholly different meal, from the menu to the environment to the service. Let's just say that Mr. Starr doesn't seem to have a problem creating very different restaurants for very different patrons.

Tags: Philadelphia, Stephen Starr, Pod, San Francisco, Restaurant Review, Food & Drink

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Can Someone Please Explain This Search String?

"beef cow skin maker good tea the bible"

Can someone please explain to me what this person was looking for?????

Tags: Google, Search, San Francisco, Blog

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PSA For Anyone Flying This Weekend

I have been in the Philadelphia Airport security line for 40 minutes, and I am not even halfway through.

Due to the 'foiled terrorist plots' (CNN's words, not mine), things in the terminal are as confused and chaotic as they were after 9/11.

Anyone who has a cosmetic case or dopp kit will have to put them in checked luggage. Don't even think about taking anything creamy, liquid, or gel-based in your carry-on.

There are people begging (myself included) to be allowed to take their eye drops. My contacts will simply wither up without them.

Oh, and that bottled water? Forget about it.

They are coming through the lines collecting stuff in big garbage bins; the camera crews are having a field day.

Oh, just to keep this on the topic of food:

If you are one of the ignorant assholes who are bitching and telling them to 'move it along', and complaining about the 'g-ddamn arabs', may I please offer you a generous portion of Shut-The-F*ck-Up?

Tags: Terrorism, Flying, Airports, Philadelphia, CNN, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, London


Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

The Food City No One Talks About: Philadelpia

When you think about food in Philly, does it bring to mind thoughts of coffee-crusted scallops and toasted almond foam? How about some of the most mind-blowingly and buttery toro you've ever tasted? And gelato that might give Italian gelatterias a run for their money?

Well, having spent the better part of a week here now (where I coincidentally ran into one of the coolest girls I've met recently), I am suddenly having a whole lot more respect for this city's culinary prowess.

I have plenty of places to write about, so bear with me for a few days. But first, let me tell you about the ubiquitous Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich. Having grown up in New York, there was definitely a plethora of this oozy and delicious lunch around. But after I moved to California, I decided to simply go without instead of partaking of the mockery that is available there.

From time to time, the urge would overwhelm me and I'd go running off to WizWhit (may he rest in peace) at the corner of Norfolk between 11th & 12th in SoMa. Once the Wiz was gone, though... that was it.

So it was with a nearly giddy demeanor that I skipped off to Reading Terminal Market, just around the corner from my hotel, to ponder whether I'd be going for an Italian hoagie at Salumeria, a roasted pork sandwich at DiNic's or a cheesesteak at Rick's. When I walked up to Rick's and realized that they are the 3rd generation of Pat's Philly Steaks, the deal was sealed.

"One steak, please, provolone, sweet peppers, no onions"

Five minutes later, I had a big, juicy, slick, tender, sweet-and-salty sandwich. I promptly walked back to my room so as to keep from making a total ass of myself eating this sandwich that I just described like sex. It was likely to be loud and wholly inappropriate a thing to do in public.

By the way, for those of you wondering what Reading is like... Let me put it to you in Bay Area terms: take the archictural beauty and integrity of the ferry building, and fill with vendors you'd find in Emeryville Public Market and the Housefiles Market in Oakland. Drop it next to City Hall. And there you have the Reading Terminal.

Tags: Philadelphia, Reading Terminal, Cheesesteak, Rick's Steaks, San Francisco

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I love you guys

I just wanted to post really quick to let you all know how great I think it is that we've been able to have this discussion about what is usually a rather volatile topic, without anyone getting hurt or defensive or otherwise negatively affected.

It's one of the things I adore about this community, and I am so proud to say I'm a part of it!

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An Interesting Observation

Well, it seems that BlogHer has caused quite a stir in this here Blogosphere. A quick search on Technorati reveals nearly 2,000 posts on the subject, and a great many of those posts have an earful to say about the context of the conference.

Add to that the really lovely and supporting comments you guys have left on my earlier post about the topic, and you've got the makings for a lot of self-examination and more than a cursory look at one's own community.

And then it hit me: The food-blogging community has a disproportionately high number of child-free members. I count no fewer than 10 people in my blogroll (yea, that one over there on the right) whom I know to have chosen not to have kids.

I find that fascinating. And before you bring it up, I don't actually think it has to do with the people I'm drawn to, because most of the people on my blogroll were there before I ever developed friendships with them. So, it's less of a self-fulfilling prophecy than you might think.

I suppose that generally speaking, foodies are a pretty hedonistic crowd, which maybe doesn't  lend itself to the types of sacrifices it takes to be a great parent. But that's just not food bloggers, is it? I mean, everyone has their days of debauchery. So why this odd disparity?

(For the record, there are also some wickedly awesome parents in my blogroll -- people who are raising little human beings that are smart, funny, well-mannered and a joy to be around. So shushie.)

Tags: BlogHer, Motherhood, Parenting, Food, Food & Drink, San Francisco

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