Michelle + Nick

Photo by Danielle Gillett

A few weekends ago I had the honor of making a few desserts for Michelle and Nick's wedding in the woods of Nestldown. It was one of the most beautiful, deeply moving and personal celebrations I have ever witnessed, let alone been a part of! Moreover, every dessert was deliberately chosen with meaning to the couple. My absolute favorite idea was the mango cupcake with coconut frosting - the minis were coated in fluffy domes of shredded coconut, just like her dog, Mango! Sweetest. Bride. EVER.

Menu (post-morning-ceremony, so short and simple)
- Mango cupcakes w/ coconut frosting
- Matcha cupcakes w/ white chocolate cream cheese frosting: both the bride and groom are half Japanese, hence the matcha
- Lavender cupcakes w/ lemon buttercream: the couple met in Japan and took a trip to some lavender fields. Romantic!
- Fruit tarts: I tried to keep the colors mostly white and green with white nectarines, kiwi, gooseberries, raspberries (accent and something more familiar), and white wild strawberries. <3 Berkeley Bowl
- Almond citrus biscotti: the bride is half Italian!
- Chocolate edamame cookies: threw it in because, well, why not?

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Mix Mix

As I mentioned before, I made some leche flan for a tasting over the weekend, and it was for a dessert inspired by halo halo. It is not actually halo halo since there is no shaved ice, ice cream, red bean, etc etc... but the concept of mixing a bunch of stuff together is pretty much the idea behind this dish, except a bit more pared down and simplified. It's essentially coconut tapioca/graham crumbs/leche flan/mango/candied rice krispies/basil lime syrup. Because the basil lime syrup has such a strong flavor and mango has a very subtle one, I kept most of the other components pretty neutral so there wouldn't be too much competition. It's still a work in progress though, so suggestions are welcome!

Thanks to Mike for the photos! <3

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Hello, Goodbye

It's been over a month since Mike moved into his new condo, but we finally introduced ourselves to his hood by having a food crawl down Piedmont Ave. We started at Adesso, Dopo's semi-new sister bar with quite a selection of salumi and other small plates. Very well aware that they have happy hour with free food from 5-7pm, we clocked in just before it ended but I guess they stop serving food around 6:30pm. My wallet was sad, but that didn't stop us from ordering.

One of the absolute best things about Adesso is the integrity of their menu. In both the drinks and food we tried, you could taste how each individual flavor component contributed to the dish/drink as a whole. It was straight and simple - transparent and exactly what you expected.

Salumi was essentially a similar experience to Dopo, rabbit pate was a bit dry, sardines w/ mozzarella were refreshing and not fishy at all, and the risotto balls w/ pork ragu in the middle were AMAZING. Good thing they only gave us 5 because I could eat them endlessly.

The drinks were also really tasty. They have a large selection of wine and beer in addition to their cocktail and aperitif menu. From the five we tasted, they were all deceptively strong and incredibly delicious. The pisco sour left a lasting impression on Mike - he was still talking about it the day after. The pisco sours I've had in the past usually have more of a frothy egg white on top, but this one was so thick that it almost seemed like they were whipped with some sugar. It was also topped with a sprinkling of spices that made me think of vanilla chai. The strawberry-cucumber-mint cocktail was my favorite. It was just a perfect summer drink, as girly as it may be.

Despite our hefty bill (about $100 for 2 ppl, inc. tax and tip), I would definitely return. The quality of the food is very high, and the atmosphere is still down to earth and chill. Too bad it's so far for me, because I would otherwise try to get there at 5!

After our delicious experience at Adesso, we somehow thought it would be a good idea to ruin it by going to Cesar. I'd been once before to the Berkeley location years ago (my 21st birthday, when my palate newly discovered a taste for "fine" food) and it was a terrible experience, but Mike had never been so we figured we'd stop in for some more tapas. The food was warm and comforting, with a lot of spreads, stews, and essentially anything you can dip your bread into. While satsfying, it was still another case of a menu far exceeding the actual execution of the dishes. Mike likened the atmosphere to Cheesecake Factory, but I wouldn't go that far. It was indeed much larger than its intimate Berkeley counterpart and the techno music didn't really help, but hey it's Piedmont. You can't be that picky. =)

We ended the gluttonous evening with, of course, Fenton's. I'm actually not a huge fan of their ice cream, but its popularity really stems from being a long-established institution of the community. Oh yeah, and I guess Up. Regardless, I enjoyed my second ice cream of the evening, coffee + cookies!

The next day, we also stopped into the new Berkeley Bowl (West) and its adjoining cafe. My first time was actually last week when I was picking up some fruit for a wedding, but this was my first time actually exploring it in its spacious glory. Selection is comparable, but it just feels like more because the warehouse is so Costco-like. The cafe is still working out many kinks in efficiency and menu (mostly sandwiches and salads), but the old burrito and Panda-Express-quality "Chinese" food is still available in the market-side.

So while we said many hellos this weekend, there were also many goodbyes. My absolute favorite shop and ice cream store closed its doors this weekend. The normally friendly chef-owners of Sketch were visibly stressed and not in the mood to chat, so it was a sad goodbye. I did leave with sweet memories and some nectarine sorbet swirled with vanilla bean ice cream, before the onset of our Piedmont run.

One of Mike's childhood friends is also leaving SF, so we said goodbye to him with lots of food including Little Star, fried chicken, lots of sangria, and much much more. I made some leche flan for a tasting earlier that day, and brought the leftovers with me. The ultimate compliment: tastes like a Filipino person made it. Success!

It was a bittersweet weekend, full of happy and sad moments, but great food wherever we went. RIP Michelle.

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Wexler's

This new spot has the perfect location for a work lunch that is tasty and affordable. The black structural piece thing on the ceiling is interesting, albeit a bit suffocating and makes the space look small. After reading an article about the food however, I was really excited to see how their menu would be executed.

We started with the wings - I think most of us agree that Point Reyes blue cheese can make anything taste good - creamy, rich, tangy, but not too overpowering.

Alice gave her squid salad a thumbs up, despite her usual dislike for frisee. The fried green tomatoes were perfect and sweet - summer is truly the best season ever!

The "pulled" lamb was so juicy and tender, and the watermelon vinegar only enhanced the flavor. The accompanying slaw had a bit too much mint for my taste, but it gave nice contrast in texture to the sandwich.

The fish sandwich (I don't think it was the po boy on their online menu) and the BBQ chicken sandwich weren't as memorable, but still satisfying. The desserts also sounded much better on the menu than they were executed. The Japanese pear pie with aged gouda sounded so delicious, but the final product left us wondering if there was any point to the ingredients they used. It tasted great - warm and comforting, but it was barely distinguishable from a traditional apple pie. The spices overwhlemed the delicate flavor of the Asian pear, and the gouda got lost in the pectin from the fruit once baked. The crust, however, was perfectly flaky, so props to them on that. The inverted root beer float was also a fun concept, but it was not for me.

Overall, Wexler's has some winners here, and is a great place for a warm break from work.

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Il Cane Rosso

Not much to say since it just opened. They have plenty of seating, including bar stools inside the kitchen. Their menu sounded quite promising, but what we ordered ended up not being what was expected. Grilled peach sandwich was more of an open-faced canape on some too-toasted bread ($9). Rotisserie chicken salad was about a half cup serving ($12.50). Egg salad sandwich was simple, but we were given what felt like half of a sandwich (pictured.. the entire sandwich = half of a sandwich for $9). Polenta ($5, not pictured) was the best and the safest.

Summary: very small portions and pricey. Maybe Daniel Patterson is too used to Coi-sized servings and forgot that people usually only order one item for lunch. I would consider going back to try their porchetta, and potentially other seasonal dishes of interest in the future.

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Gigi's Wedding

Here are photos of a dessert table I did for Gigi's wedding. We went for light flavors, and a yellow-peach-salmon color palette. Menu:

- Peach tarts/vanilla pastry cream/pate sucree shell
- Grapefruit raspberry mousse/lemon poppy seed cake
- Mascarpone cheesecake/lychee white wine mirror glaze/black tea sugar tuile
- Coconut tapioca/passion fruit mango gelee/basil lime syrup
- Trio of tea-infused chocolate truffles: earl grey (lollipops), jasmine green tea (lollipops), chamomile (rolled in chopped almonds)
- Coconut mochi cake
[more for decor, round sugar cookies and mini cakes]

Photos courtesy of Gigi's cousin.

I think this is the only photo where you can actually tell that there's a view... really great background of the bay in Sausalito!

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Maybe Tomorrow

* Update 09Jul09: no tomato salad today (corn salad). Ryan Farr is up and running - chicken beer sausage -- best part was perfect toasted bun:dog ratio. Namu lines are getting longer than Tacolicious....

A few months ago I posted about the new Thursday market at the Ferry Building, something I've been looking forward to. Well, last week it finally came, and what an unexpected clusterfk it was! Eight word reaction: Ferry Building "street food" with Ferry Building prices. Apparently, Daily Candy was the primary source of the yuppie mob (I didn't know people actually still considered it relevant) and Tacolicious was the unfortunate target. I felt so terrible for them because they were clearly unprepared for the unending line, and the gusts of wind kept blowing their tickets away. I was one of the many victims of the lost tickets, and had to wait patiently as they scrambled around their tent.

The tacos were street-size, but the filling was pretty skimpy for $3.50/taco. I would only consider getting the short ribs again (mmm cola-braised) but I'm not sure I would wait in the ridic line for those prices. Maybe once they smooth things out.

Saturday's most popular truck, Roli Roti, was serving up some steak sandwiches (no porchetta, unfortunately) which were a little too chewy... should've been cut into smaller pieces. Their simple tomato salad was the highlight of the entire market -- fresh basil and cleanly dressed in olive oil and a little salt. Really the epitome of summer produce! No frills needed when you have tomatoes that sweet.

Namu's booth had prices more reasonable than their restaurant. Okonomiyaki - at $7 (still overpriced), it could've used a lot more filling/seafood, since it was mostly batter. "The real Korean 'tacos'" were the best deal, but were pretty much just ssam using nori, so don't expect a Kogi rival here. They tasted great, but the signage was a bit patronizing. They ran out of kimchi fried rice even before the peak lunch hour began, but it was fine with me since I didn't need to spend $8 on a cup of that.

With all that said, Thursdays have great promise once they work out the kinks. Tacolicious, please put weights on your tickets. Namu, please lower your prices or justify them by giving more food or more value in the amount of protein you put in your dishes. I'm excited to see what/who else will join the market, but in the mean time, I think I'll let the crowds die down a little. Or not. See you Thursday?

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Nopa

560 Divisadero (& Hayes)
(415) 864-8643

American in Western Addition/ "NOPA"

**Update 27Sep09: OK after visiting a few more times, I must say that their pork chop, flatbread, and blue bottle martini are my go-tos. They will never fail!

*Update 06Jul09: I've been meaning to go back for awhile, especially since seasonal restaurants are always better in the summer. I finally understand the hype because this meal was sooo much better than the last! Flatbread was seasoned perfectly, with a nice char and crunch. Burger, chicken, and white beans were all pretty good, but the real star was the brined pork chop with grilled peaches. I'm a sucker for grilled peaches, but the juicy pink chop is what won me over. The cornmeal cake was really dry, but the Blue Bottle martini was the perfect ending to a great meal.
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[28-Jan-08] Went to Garrett's hood on a rainy Thursday, and this place was still packed! We couldn't get a reservation so we just tried walking in, and had to wait about an hour. Service was friendly, and the space is pretty nice. "Barnyard"-like is how Garrett described the roof, but I'd say it's more rustic. The ceiling is high, and there are very long windows - I'd imagine it'd be great on a nice day with the sun pouring in!

The food was solid, classic American fare. Nothing blew my mind, but I did enjoy my meal. We had the crispy duck leg to start, which was very meaty for this type of fowl. As for entrees, I had the cod which was eh, and Garrett's pork chop was a very juicy cut. We also shared the donuts as a dessert, which were fine, although you can't really go wrong with anything fried.

So overall, the restaurant was decent, but nothing special.

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Top 5: Vietnamese Sandwiches

It's pure coincidence that Gene from Hoodscope just wrote about Saigon Sandwiches in his SFE column (which of course tops my own list)! I've been slowly eating my way through the city's banh mis for awhile, and finally visited the last on my list! Props to bsze, Saigon Sandwiches new #1 fan and my partner in crime.

This is a direct comparison of a combo pork banh mi, ie. pate, roast pork, headcheese or some sort of meat jello at each place. That's just what I always get - it's yummy! It's no surprise that Saigon was my favorite since it's everyone's favorite... but people say it's the best for a reason! At the end of the day, it's all about personal preference, but I think big flavor will always win out. This list is also purely SF - I'm sure if you threw in the entire bay into the mix, SJ would dominate fo sho.

1. Saigon Sandwiches
Mounds of salty pate, loaded on top of rich pork goodness. Now I want one.

L: Saigon Sandwiches (a bit manhandled, but you get the idea), R: Wrap Delight

2. Wrap Delight
Yelp calls it "Wrap Delight," but I couldn't see a sign that actually said that; the awning just said "Vietnamese Sandwiches." Overall really tasty with juicy cuts of roast pork - the only real edge Saigon has over it is the amount of pate. I would totally go here again, except that Saigon is only a block away... maybe if it was closed? Or if I was in a rush and didn't want to wait in line?

Baguette Express - note the pork looks like char siu

3. Baguette Express
Great balance, and added flavor with the BBQ pork.

Lee's - my messy room in the background

4. Lee's
Not to be mistaken with the chain in Financial, this Little Saigon location is almost like a fast food restaurant, except baking their rolls daily. They take their branding seriously. Fresh, crunchy baguette, but just too much bread for my taste.

5. Little Paris
Tasty pate, but overall a bit small and not as satisfying as the others.

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Others I've visited around town:

Irving Cafe + Deli
Definitely Chinese style in the flavor of the meat, but proximity is a huge plus (for people in the avenues).

Les Croissant
Close to the Embarcadero, but definitely a bit out of proportion. Cucumber was in huge huge pieces that when it actually stayed in the sandwich that was all I could taste. The meat was also mostly headcheese, so there wasn't much flavor aside from the carrots.

Cafe Dolci
Closest to where I work, and consistent with FiDi prices ugh ($5). Very Western-friendly and dumbed down (their combo was "ham and pate"... and that was literally it). A little bit of ham and a lot of pickled veg.

L: Les Croissant - cucumber madness, R: Cafe Dolci

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Supermagic

No engagement is complete without SAN TUNG. Congrats to Cynthia + Elvin!

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The Animal Taco: A Dream, Realized

Awhile ago, Curtis mentioned the idea of animal style tacos. Well, that day has finally come! Seeing as there's only one In N Out in SF (Fisherman's Wharf), our plan of attack was to grab some carne asada tacos (plain, just meat + tortilla) at a nearby taqueria, then pile the goods on - cheese, grilled onions, and thousand island - while the tacos were still hot. Well, things didn't exactly go as planned.

First of all, the closest taco shops were all closed since we were scouting after 11pm, so I decided to drive towards the Mission until we found something. As expected, the Columbus/Broadway intersection delivered, and I waited patiently in my car in front of a strip club while Curtis popped in next door.

Our second obstacle was getting the "animal style," in quotes as the noun form. After patiently waiting in the long line of drunkards, the cashier wouldn't let us get animal fries minus the fries, even after explaining our glorious plan. Thus, we just ordered 2 fries and hoped the cheese wouldn't set too quickly.

Once they called our number Curtis immediately began transferring the "animal style" onto the tacos. He is obviously not a food blogger because he wouldn't wait for me to take a picture! Unfortunately, the cheese was already congealed and stuck onto the fries, so we made half of them California animal tacos (think California burrito).

And?? The verdict: epic drunken food. Too bad we weren't drunk. Curtis was quite the opposite, and already stuffed with San Tung chicken wings. The California version was much better, really just because of the cheese. It would've been perfect had we gotten the tacos topped with "animal style" directly, but we just had to work with what we could get. Super super heavy (as expected), but regardless, mission accomplished!

We got a lot of stares, and only one group asked us what we were eating, but I imagine that this would be really popular if a late-night taqueria opened up next door. One can dream.

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1300 Fillmore

A little while ago, Michael Bauer wrote about the rise of comfort food on his blog. Well, unrelated to that (or maybe we're just the type of people he's talking about), we visited 1300 Fillmore after talking about it for ages. Yes, I also just went to Front Porch recently, but it's purely coincidence! Stacy had gone awhile ago for brunch and really enjoyed her meal, so of course we had an itch to scratch after her raving reviews!

Our waiter was really fun, and the ambience was pretty much what I imagined - down to earth, yet still sultry. Definitely an inviting place to lounge around and spend some time before a show at Yoshi's next door. It's also surprisingly big with optional partitions to section off private events.

So how was the food? The hush puppies were non-traditional and pretty much just battered shrimp. The shrimp and grits was tasty, and pretty much a meal in itself. The char - I had to look up what it was, because I just remembered it as "salmon but not salmon" - was boring, and the lobster & andouille hash that was on the side was bland, super wet, and pretty lobster-less.

On a brighter note, the fried chicken had a ton of spices, even if it it was heavy on the batter. Beignets were filled with chocolate, the same chocolate that came as a dipping sauce. Strange, but we just dipped into the coffee foam which was a much better accompaniment.

Not a place I would go out of my way for, but definitely a great option to get you in the mood for some jazz.

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Le Bernardin <3

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you might have noticed that I have a bit of a chef-crush on Michael Laiskonis, exec pastry chef of Le Bernardin and their associated restaurants around the country. Le Bernardin isn't just famous because of Eric Ripert (although I'm sure everyone wants to be his BFF), but it is one of the few restaurants in the US with 3 Michelin stars, as well as a consistent rating of 4 stars from NYT.

I know we're in a season where fine dining and outlandishly excessive meals are shunned (not quite a twitter-happy establishment), but I've been so interested in the work he's been sharing that I just had to go.

We went with the Le Bernardin tasting menu (as opposed to the chef's tasting or the 4-course) with wine pairing. The sommeliers wore these huge medallions that initially seemed a bit absurd, but ended up being quite useful to tell them apart from the servers. The food was very clean, deceptively simple yet amazingly complex, and of course, refined.

Kampachi tartare, squid stuffed w/ more squid + mushrooms, crispy snapper w/ a truly lovely spiced sauce (as a whole, I felt like I was eating a beef stew, except not beef)

Recognize the dish on the left?? Hootie hoo! Escolar w/ a red wine sauce and little potato chips, cod w/ a red bell pepper sauce, served w/ a yellow bell pepper filled with braised octopus (tasted and looked like a tamale. clever!)

Now for the fun part. I contacted Chef Laiskonis when I made my reservation because I really just wanted to meet him and such. Well, I got much, much more! There were only two desserts on the tasting menu, and when the first course came, we each got a different unlisted dish (and they kept coming). The real treat was that they were all dishes I've read about before - experiencing first-hand how each individual component worked to contribue to a beautifully plated and delicious dessert definitely made all his work an amazing reality.

Ahh there was so much food I actually don't remember what the dessert on the left was but it was pistachio-based and perhaps similar to this one. R: yogurt parfait, basil ice cream, yogurt micro-sponge (my favorite of the evening)

Ahh again I don't remember what this was but it was a green tea and yuzu dessert. On the right is one of his signatures - an egg filled with chocolate pot de creme, caramel foam, topped with some Maldon salt

It was pretty cool because the dessert courses were paced from light (fruit and such) to heavy (chocolate) as well. Unfortunately, all that wine, plus my giddy excitement and thus inability to think straight => I really can't remember what we ate! It was all delicous, the textures and flavors all worked together nicely, and everything was innovative without becoming too inaccessible. <3

I think this was a milk chocolate cremeux on the left, and then a chocolate-PB dessert on the right. There were just so many! I should've written it down.

A chocolate sweet potato dessert, raspberry pearls, truffle + petit four (beignet is missing because I ate it too soon)

Three hours, a stretched stomach, and a hefty bill later, our server finally asked the magic question: "Ready to see the kitchen?" YESSSS

Unlike the kitchen I worked in, it was remarkably pristine, very monochromatic, and quite serious. They mean business! The pastry nook was a very large space (for NY pastry standards) and I got to say hi to the team and finally meet someone I truly respect and admire. So gracious, humble, and generous! Definitely an experience I will never forget!

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