Recently in Restaurants Category

Anticipation has been high since word surfaced earlier this year that Daniel Patterson was working on a new downtown Oakland restaurant, and that Jeremy Fox, formerly of Manresa and Ubuntu would be in charge of the menu and kitchen.

The newest word from the sidewalk in front of the Ferry Building is that Jeremy is no longer associated with the project, having decided to devote his time to other personal projects. Daniel Patterson will be taking over the menu development, and will be donating his Mondays off in August to cooking the Plum demonstration dinners at Il Canne Rosso.

According to Restaurant Magazine, Alinea is the seventh best restaurant in the world, and the best restaurant in the United States. Someday I'll write about my visit to Alinea, but I can't do so yet, because I haven't been there yet. (Though I have eaten an Alinea dish). For now, I need to console myself with this time-lapse video that compresses 24-hours at the restaurant into less than three minutes. Note that there are things to do at the restaurant for almost all 24 hours, even though customers are only there for six hours. Click and enjoy...

Bonus tip: There is an Alinea channel on YouTube that you can subscribe to. All their videos are interesting. I especially liked the Thanksgiving one (actually two).

One of my goals... no, let's be honest: fantasies, was to eat at El Bulli. I went through the reservation process and like most people, didn't have any luck. However, considering the number of people trying for a dinner reservation, I was mightily impressed that I got an email politely saying there was no room at the inn. Perhaps I should print it out in gold ink and frame it. It is as close as I'll ever get to El Bulli, now that they are closing to become a cooking school.

So, as they used to say every now and then: "The King is Dead! Long Live the King!" making this the time to wonder whose restaurant will ascend to the top of the world ranking. This article: "Who Will Fill El Bulli's Place?" picks Alinea. This is great news! Although I've never been to Alinea either, I did have a reservation there once, and I have (more or less) successfully cooked out of the Alinea cookbook.

Iron Cactus, the new Mexican restaurant from the owners of "The Creamery" is set to open at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, October 21st. It occupies the space on 4th Street between The Creamery and the "bimma loft 2.0" furniture store (which this blogger originally and incorrectly identified as the future home of Iron Cactus).

Normally hidden behind a roll-up steel security door, Iron Cactus will be accessible during business hours through a pair of rustic Cantina-like wooden doors under a wagon wheel.

The owners say that Iron Cactus will be an upscale taqueria using high quality ingredients.

Since I haven't tried the food yet, I don't know about the quality, but I did manage to beg a menu off of them which you can download as a PDF right here!

Initial hours will be Monday-Saturday 11:00 am to 9:00 pm with Happy Hours scheduled for Monday-Friday 3pm-6pm; Saturday 4pm-6pm.

The Iron Cactus
683 4th Street
San Francisco, CA
415-777-1010

The big super foodie news of the day is that James' Syhabout's new restaurant, Commis opened last night, not "next month" as today's Chronicle Inside Scoop had it.

Commis has been one of the most anticipated restaurants of 2009, as executive chef Syhabout had been named one of the Chronicle's Rising Chefs in 2007, was Chef de Cuisine at the Michelin two-starred Manresa Restaurant, and earned an astounding three and one-half stars from the Chron's Michael Bauer for his executive chef stint at Plumpjack Cafe.

The East Bay seems to be exploding with new places, but many of them are just the most recent incarnation of the Chez Panisse ethos (for instance, Camino). Commis, however, has the potential to bring some real creativity and some of that despised "cooking" close to the borders of the People's Republic of Berkeley. I'm cheering for success here, and will be visiting very soon to see what is on the menu ($49 three-course prix fixe, plus $29 for paired wines!!).

The photo of Chef Syhabout in the kitchen last night at Commis is by the lovely and talented Pim, from Chez Pim.

Commis
3859 Piedmont Ave
Oakland, CA 94611
510.653.3902

Bacar is experimenting with brunch and is offering their first example Easter Sunday. I'd leave a link to the PDF, except that it uses Flash, and the link is not obvious. Here is the menu for this Sunday....

As I previously reported, Manresa will be celebrating the Iron Chef America victory by offering the winning dishes with a six-course Iron Chef menu for $135 per person. The menu will be available on three consecutive Sundays, May 10, 17, and 24. This is a special menu, so if you want it, please request it when you make your reservation.

More information is available here on the Manresa blog.

Manresa
320 Village Lane
Los Gatos, CA 95030
+1 (408) 354-4330

This restaurant is another proverbial jewel hidden in plain sight on a really yucky street (5th about 1/4 block from Folsom towards Harrison). Le Charm is notable for having a charming trellised patio, solid French Bistro food, and a continual Prix Fixe $25 dinner menu that has to be one of the great bargains in San Francisco. The menu has exactly what you would expect: French Onion Soup, Seamed Mussels, Duck Confit, Cassoulet, Grilled Steak with Pommes Frites, & etc. Recommended
Le Charm Website Original post 2005-01-18

Update: The Prix Fixe menu is now $30 and they feature live jazz every Thursday evening on the patio. A recent visit found the food adequate, not as good as I remember from my last visit, but that was at least six years ago.

Gerald Hiragoyen had a book release party Saturday, March 15, for his new book, Pintxos: Small Plates in the Basque Tradition at his Bocadillos restaurant. The event was held as a fund raiser with book sale proceeds going to Food Runners, a San Francisco charity that picks up excess perishable food from businesses and delivers it to shelters and neighborhood programs that feed the hungry.

All of the tables had been removed and guests were treated to wine and an endless supply of fresh tapas, presumably from recipes in the book.

Since Bocadillos is my favorite Basque place in the city I bought a copy of the book and had it autographed. (Note: do not call Bocadillos a "Spanish" restaurant within earshot of Chef Hiragoyen. You will be corrected!). I've been going through it and trying things out. This is my favorite recipe so far...

Congratulations to Chef David Kinch as well as his chefs de cuisine, John Paul Carmona, and James Shyabout for their resounding victory over Iron Chef Bobby Flay in last night's Battle Cabbage episode. At 52 vs. 42 points, it wasn't even close. At times the judges seemed stunned and almost speechless over the quality and creativity of Kinch's food.

I have heard that Manresa will be taking advantage of the victory by offering these dishes as part of upcoming Iron Chef Dinners.

Remember, you heard it here first.

The papered-up storefront depicted in the image to the right will soon be the newest restaurant to open in SoMA's 4th Street restaurant ghetto. It will be an as-yet-unnamed Taqueria, a sister to the newest coffee shop in SoMA: The Creamery.

It is a sister restaurant, because it will be in the same building as The Creamery Coffee Shop, which not too long ago housed the "Gilt Edge Creamery" which, strangely enough, having passed from the business world, still lives in the virtual one at this website.

The coffee shop occupies the odd-shaped end of the building, with tables situated at the big and bright windows. In front of the building is a bright and open patio for sipping on those warm days we know will be here eventually. They serve coffee, espresso drinks, and some rudimentary food, including the de rigeuer pastries, salads, juices, and breakfast sandwiches. Rumor has it that crepes might be next!

I've visited twice. On the first visit, I ordered a double (medium) cappuccino and got a Latte. I thew it away. The second visit, I ordered a single (small) cappuccino and really got a cappuccino. The second visit was at 6 in the morning, and I think one of the owners made the drink. The espresso drinks are named and labeled appropriately (single, double, and triple shots for small, medium, and large) so someone there understands the correct proportions for espresso drinks. Since one poor experience, and one good experience is a tie, I'm going to give it another try and hope they have the staff trained before my next visit.

As for the Taqueria, what is "The Creamery," in Spanish? I'll bet we'll see a sign like that in no time.

Update:#2 The Creamery has now posted an application for a license to sell beer and wine. They clearly have ambitions that go beyond latte and scones. Watch this space.

Update: Eater SF reports that the working name for the Taqueria is "Iron Cactus."

The Creamery
685 4th Street (at Townsend)
San Francisco, CA 94017
(+1 415.896.1445)

An amusing anecdote on the Guardian Dining and Food blog "Word of Mouth."

The Szechuan-trained English chef Fuchsia Dunlop asked (on BBC Radio Four last night) whether Asian and European cuisines could fairly be judged side-by-side: Chinese cooking being about some very different things - not least with its interest in texture.

Dunlop told how she once took three top chefs from Szechuan province to eat at the Californian shrine-restaurant Chez Panisse. They were "baffled and disturbed " by the food. "It's interesting," said one of them, "but I don't know if it's good or bad."

Aha! It's not just me! I've been tagging some posts here as "post-modern cuisine," should I be tagging Chez Panisse posts "pre-modern"?

This post is a cautionary example of the effects of procrastination. I have been planning a review of Sunday brunch places in San Francisco and environs, with weekly posts. I visited a few places and took some notes but didn't actually post anything. And when I finally had the time and incentive to launch the series, I find my initial target restaurant has shut down their brunch service! Well, no matter. I have these notes and it was such a good brunch. I'm going to write about it anyway.... but I'll be short.

South is the North American outpost of Sydney chef, Luke Mangan. It features the foods and wines of Australia and New Zealand. Located across the street from the King Street Cal Train station, it is in a warehouse-like building and the decor is modern and SoMA loft-like.

I tried the south crab omelette, enoki mushrooms, miso broth—a clever Pacific Rim take on breakfast food. It was a delicious omelette generously stuffed with crab meat and enoki mushrooms, garnished with crunchy fried garlic and shallots, and served in a savory pool of miso broth. This was so good, I had it every time I went for brunch.

If crab or miso aren't your thing you could have had "eggs and soldiers," "crumpets with butter + marmalade," or "coconut bread with new zealand manuka honey." And if that didn't sound good, how about "sweet corn fritters, bacon spinach + maple syrup," or "truffled egg, citrus cured salmon, hollandaise"? Or a "venison burger with spiced beetroot chutney"?

I really liked the South[ern] Brunch, but alas, 'tis no more. Too bad. A little variety has leached out of the world to be replaced by yet another waffle or poached egg. You can still have lunch and dinner here. Give it a try. Maybe if you promise to come for brunch, they'll bring it back.

Next week I'll write about a place that will actually serve you food on Sunday morning.

South
330 Townsend St # 101
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 974-5599

A recent thread on Chowhound revealed that Zuni Cafe—one of the local temples to "California" cuisine—was serving a "Blossum Bluff" nectarine for dessert priced at four dollars and fifty cents. So far, so good, but the message also reported that this nectarine was served by itself, unadorned, unsliced and rolling around on a plate (see photo).

There are scores of replies in this thread and they fall into two camps: the outraged and the apologists. The outraged think that it is absurd for a restaurant to buy a flat of nectarines, and then plop them onto plates with just a quick washing as the total value added. They point out that anyone in San Francisco can go to the Farmer's Market and buy their own organic nectarine and cut it up and eat it for a lot less than $4.50. The apologists insist that this is a perfect nectarine, and the essence of California cuisine is that the ingredients are the most important, the cooking is entirely secondary. And besides, Zuni is a CAFE not a Michelin three-star restaurant.

Personally, put me in the outraged camp. Restaurants need to add something or there's just no point in going out. The nectarine should have at least been sliced and served with a sprig of mint or some other garnish. How many people would present such a dessert at a home dinner party, or even a home dinner?

I think high end sushi is the cuisine with the closest affinity to purity of ingredients that California cuisine purists are always preaching. However, no sushi chef would dream of putting anything before the customer without attempting to make certain that the presentation was perfect. Rolling around on a plate is not perfect presentation.

"Fish." Take a close look, that isn't a sentence fragment, it is the name of one of the two best places to eat in Sausalito. Besides the desserts, one salad, a pun, and two dishes pandering to fishaphobes (ichthyophobes?), all you can get at this place is fish. Period.

Set out on a pier overlooking the marina, Fish. is a casual, California kind of place. Except for the Marin County prices, and the lack of surfer dudes, it reminds me of a Southern California fish shack. There are picnic tables to sit at outside, and inside you get the same thing: picnic tables. However, unless it is raining or colder than San Francisco in the summer, you'll want to sit outside and enjoy the California sun and the view of the marina and its inhabitants. (Watch out for the hungry and highly-practiced seagulls though).

The menu is casual, sporting items like clam chowder (both red and white) shucked oysters, and a grilled fish sandwich; but it is also creative. You can also get "The Fish. Parfait" which is a parfait glass layered with Dungeness crab, salsa, tomatillo, lime crema, and cocktail sauce.