July 2009 Archives

Finalists for Murphy Goode winery's Really Goode Job were announced Tuesday, and while the competition to be the winery's over-paid social media consultant ($60,000 for six months of hobnobbing and imbibing) seemed like any other web popularity contest, the Chronicle's John Bonne reports today that it wasn't that simple. In fact, it's hard to pin down just what the criteria are or how they're applied. [SF Chronicle]

Whatever happened with that Board of Appeals hearing for the code violations at Medjool? Wasn't it scheduled for July 8? Yes, but spokesman PJ Johnston says the hearing has been pushed back to October to give the restaurant time to work things out with SF Planning. You can look forward to freezing to death on that roof deck all summer long.

If you took our advice and went down to the new Show Dogs yesterday, you may have been disappointed to find out that they were not actually open for business, but you probably forgot about that disappointment immediately when you learned that they were giving away their high-end hot dogs. And if you didn't get by there yesterday, well you can head over today for a free dog. Owner Gayle Pirie tells us that a collection of little things prevented them from opening officially yesterday: "We're trying to get logos on the glass and our ceilings aren't done, we're waiting for wallpaper. Waiting for our big beer delivery, which came yesterday. It's all cosmetic, but we're making food." They're putting in the beer lines right this minute, and the license is good as of Wednesday, so if you play your cards right, you can get a free dog and a beer (though you'll probably have to pay for the suds). They don't make deals better than that on a Friday afternoon. Oh, the official opening will be Monday.

Bad news from the North Bay: The Plumpjack Group has dropped its plan to build a big hotel/spa/restaurant complex in Healdsburg after they couldn't come to an agreement with the city about a timeframe. According to the Press Democrat, Healdsburg wanted to do a long-term study of development options for Mill Street Row, and the developer working with Plumpjack just couldn't wait that long. Peter Schellinger of Santa Rosa's Schellinger Brothers development company told the paper, "We informed staff and many of the City Council members we had a very short fuse on our contract with the property owner." While Schellinger declared the project "dead" in Healdsburg, we can't imagine the group will abandon plans to do some kind of big development up in wine country. The question now, is where?

• Spruce's sister restaurant, the Village Pub in Woodside, is now serving brunch and it looks awesome! [Food Gal]

•: Restaurants get off on the wrong foot when they seat you in an abandoned corner of the room. [Between Meals/SF Gate]

• Happy hours of note: Boozy lectures with free tastings at Elixer, $3 margaritas at Palomino. [7x7]

• A twenty year study found that monkeys on a reduced-calorie diet lived longer and researchers think humans could as well. [NYP]

• It's safe to eat raw cookie dough again! Nestle has reopened its factory after an E. coli scare. [WSJ]

The new, upscale hot dog joint from Foreign Cinema owners Gayle Pirie and John Clark opens today on Market Street, in a part of town you once might have walked swiftly through with your eyes pointed down. Right next door to Secrets Adult Superstore, you can now find Show Dogs, a dog-and-beer palace sporting links from all the top local producers (4505 Meats, Let's Be Frank, Golden Gate Meat Company, Fatted Calf), and ten local beers on tap. According to Urban Daddy, the seating consists of 200-year-old church pews, which makes sense, as a great hot dog can be a religious experience. The new place goes into the space once occupied by Opis, whose outdoor seating never really caught on. There's just something about the middle part of Market Street that makes you want to go inside. But maybe not anymore. [Via Urban Daddy]

Historical preservationists have a new cause to champion in addition to the Tonga Room. It seems the snack bar and boathouse near Stow Lake is in danger of closing, and the San Francisco Bay Area Postcard Club is rushing to its rescue. The Chron's Leah Garchik notes today that the snack bar was one of the first places in the city to sell Coca Cola and It's-Its, and is now one of only two places to get pink popcorn. The city apparently wants to overhaul it into a sit-down casual restaurant. Much as we love sit-down casual restaurants, we're with the Postcard Society on this one. You've got to fight for your right to pink popcorn. [Via SF Chronicle]

Update:@teemoney415 points out you can get pink popcorn at the zoo and at Wishbone on Irving Street.

Things just got a little better at the Ferry Building. That's because Boulettes Larder has finally gotten its beer and wine license. Finally, an end to that nightmarish trek to the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant all the way on the other side of the building.

• San Francisco moves closer to growing its own food, as city departments prepare to audit unused land for culitvation. [SF Chronicle]

• Obesity costs the State of California a total of more than $41 billion, according to a report by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. [CoCo Times]

• Peeps will get their own store in National Harbor, Md., where you can buy everything from the actual marshmallow chicks to Peeps china. [Washington Post]

• Sushi baron Hagen Stehr has figured out how to breed sustainable bluefin tuna. [Bloomberg]

• Testing reveals that menu calorie counts are often incorrect - Taco Bell's fresco grilled steak soft taco, listed as having 160 calories, turned out to have 297. [WSJ]

We have a few openings to report to you this evening. As we mentioned last week, Trademark is now open in Belden Alley. They have this whole stock market thing going on, with their "Closing Bell" happy hour from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Over in North Beach the newly opened Vin Club is a wine bar from Dario Zucconi, whose family owns Tommaso's Restaurant, where he got his start. Mission Mission has a full report (complete with diagrams) on the new Chile Lindo Empanadas, started by "Empanada Lady" Paula Tejeda. Finally, Eater has some exciting early plywood reporting for us: Looks like Mayes Oyster House will re-open in its original 1867 space, where the now-shuttered Midpoint once operated. Also, it seems Gussie's has been delayed just a little while longer. Look for Michelle Wilson's new Fillmore District soul place on July 20.

Previously:
Downtown Openings Going Strong This Weekend [MenuPages SF]
Gussie's Sets Date, Shares Menu [MenuPages SF]

In Food Network news today, we have a start date and itinerary for Chefs vs. City. Starting August 7 at 10 p.m., you'll see Chris Cosentino (Incanto, Boccalone) and Aaron Sanchez (Paladar, Centrico) compete with local foodies in different cities in food-based challenges. The first season takes them to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston and New Orleans. While we haven't learned exactly what challenges each city holds, it's pretty easy to draw conclusions from the press release's assertion that they "could include everything from wine stomping to eating the spiciest dishes in the country to crab fishing in a gator-infested river." We're guessing San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New Orleans, respectively.

Top Chef Season six is nearly upon us, and while we have to wait till August 26 for the premiere, it's time to start salivating over the contestants. The Las Vegas season features three San Francisco contestants: Left Coast Catering's Lauring Wickett, Google executive chef Preeti Mistry, and Iluna Basque owner Mattin Noblia in the field of 17. Of our new crop, five were self-taught and four attended Culinary Institute of America. Seven are executive chefs, two are chefs de cuisine, and four own their own restaurants or catering businesses. Four are from California, including Bazaar chef de cuisine Michael Voltaggio, of Los Angeles. Only one contestant is from New York this year. For a complete list, check out our sibling blog, Grub Street New York. [Via Grub Street]

One niche Mission Street Food fills nicely is that of drug-themed dinners. The restaurant-within-a-restaurant first edged into class-A territory when it served "lines" of bacon "snow." Now it's going the whole distance this Saturday with Mission Stoned Food. Plebiscite has a sneak peak at the menu of stoner munchies, which includes Hot Pockets, Ruffles, and "inverted nachos." It cannot possibly be a coincidence that this is going down on 7/11.

As if the line for Tartine Bakery needed any more encouraging, the Apple folks have used the restaurant in their latest iPhone ad, which debuted recently. The treatment they first gave to Pacific Catch has been a boon to Farina and Sushi Bistro as well. In its post today, Mission Mission wondered if they'll hit up Bender's next. That doesn't seem so unlikely with the place's post-fire gourmet cache, supplied by Weird Fish. The real test will be to see what Apple can do for renowned 6 a.m. joint Clooney's Pub. If you're interested, you can watch the latest spot here. [Via Mission Mission]

Photo via Mission Mission

• A new website called Stop the War on Fun aims to battle the ABC's recent crackdown on all-ages music venues. [SF Weekly]

• A Sierra Club lawsuit alleges illegal water diversions are decimating trout populations in the Carmel river. [SF Weekly]

• Though Americans are drinking more overall, the recession has caused a huge downturn in the luxury wine market. [WSJ]

• The growing fascination with sustainably produced foods has lead to an increased interest in butchers, many of whom are becoming sex symbols. [NYT]

• In a White House ceremony announcing new safety rules for eggs, Joe Biden promised a sweeping overhaul of the nation's food safety system. [NYT]

Don't forget to put a VHS tape in your VCR and get your young but precociously skilled child to program it for you. Tonight's episode of the Food Networks Best Thing I Ever Ate goes for a "Sugar Rush" theme and features Bi-Rite Creamery. The show airs at 9:30 p.m., then again at 12:30 a.m. tomorrow, then once more at 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 18. Sounds like you don't much need a VCR or a precocious child after all. [Via SFoodie]

Photo via George Arriola/flickr

It looks like the Portola-area Pho Cali Pho Nia has taken over Pho Tu Do up in the Richmond. An employee at 1000 Clement Street said the Cali Fo Nia folks had bought out Pho Tu Do a couple months ago, but permits are just changing hands. The menu is a little different now, but we were assured quality has not suffered.

It looks like the shuttered 222 Hyde, which sort of replaced the Arrow Bar as a hipster haven with an active bathroom scene, is going for an about-face. SFoodie reported that they're re-opening with a vastly different vibe: They're going for a low-key, trendy pizza-and-antipasti thing. There's already a website up, with a PDF of the menu, and owner Emilio Giraudbit told SFoodie he expects to open "in a few weeks at most." But where will drug-addled hipsters hang out downtown? At this rate they'll be back at the Edinburgh Castle soon enough, thanking their luck for 1964. [Via SFoodie]

Photo via 222 Hyde/Myspace

More closures to report from over the weekend: This time it seems Julie's Supperclub, which closed "temporarily" after its license was suspended back in April, has shuttered for good. Also, Eater reports that Russian Hill's Cossu has shuttered just about a year after it opened. [Via Eater]

Image via Julie's Supperclub

The web tv show Vendr has made its way to San Francisco, and in the first of a few Bay Area segments scheduled for the summer, host Dan Delaney visits the original Blue Bottle kiosk in Hayes Valley with Facebook senior platform manager Dave Morin. The spot is predominately food-porn oriented, with close-ups of coffees being poured and cookies behind the glass case. We do get a little bit of insight from Blue Bottle owner James Freeman, who says he started the kiosk on Linden Street because he could license it like a street cart instead of a cafe. Check out the show after the jump.

• A Pleasant Hill Quizno's burned early today in a fire that hurt no one but destroyed the restaurant. The blaze started in the attic and is considered an accident. [CoCo Times]

• 7-11 Plans to give away free 7.11 oz Slurpies on July 11 (7/11). That's fine and all, but SF Weekly's Joe Eskenazi is still mighty bitter the chain of convenience stores opened one in the shell of the beloved old 711 Club at 711 Market Street. Couldn't they leave well enough alone? [SF Weekly]

• A virus is debilitating Chile's salmon industry and production isn't expected to pick back up until 2011. [WSJ]

• The country’s only Stella D'oro factory will close in October after over 75 years in business. [City Room/NYT]

• The recent boost in food stamp funding has resulted in a quick surge of cash into the economy. [WSJ]

• Michael Bauer got by Oakland's Pican, and yesterday gave the relative newcomer a fairly hearty welcome with two and a half stars. He seems to have been blown away more by the vibe than the food (three stars for atmosphere, two for food), but the whole thing is a good package. Souther Foie Gras ("gooey fried chicken livers with bacon, scallions and a sweet onion marsala gravy, served on toast") sound awesome. [SF Chronicle]

• Patricia Unterman has a review of Flour + Water, where it sounds like she's considering moving in, were it not for the "noisy, not terribly comfortable dining room," and slightly rushed service. The food, though, she characterizes as "sublime," including the pizza uovo, which is "miraculous." [SF Examiner]

Photo via inuyaki.com/flickr

Eater brings word of two closures over the weekend: Levende Lounge shut its doors in the Mission, to be replaced in August by a jazz club from Chris Pastena and Bruce Hanson called Coda. As Paolo notes, neighbors couldn't see it close too soon, and by the middle of June were threatening to pelt patrons with eggs if they didn't shut up already. Meanwhile, over in the Western Addition, Metro Kathmandu shut its doors in another planned closure. That space will eventually become District 5. [Eater SF]

Previously:
Openings: Metro Kathmandu [MenuPages: SF]

Photo via Metro Kathmandu

The astute folks over at the Tenderblog noticed the above poster in a shop window over the weekend and traced its origin from the real world to the virtual one. Turns out its the product of the North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit District, which has a much better sense of humor than its name would suggest. Why the folks who came up with terms like the Banh Mi Belt (Larkin Street between golden Gate and Turk) can't come up with a better name for their own group is beyond us, but it's a great map nonetheless. Click here for a full-sized pdf. [TCBD via Tenderblog]

The Chron's main critic and executive food editor already has to find time to "write, edit, blog, answer emails, walk the dog and eat between meals," and now he's got another task: Michael Bauer is finally joining Twitter as @michaelbauer1. In his first 140-character post, he successfully tweets that he's still figuring out how to tweet. And the world continues to turn.

Our colleague Helen Rosner in Chicago relates today's Tribune's list of nine menu language pet peeves, which includes redundancies such as shrimp scampi (literally shrimp shrimp), and "melt-in-your-mouth" (when not applied to ice cream). We're right on board with these, and would also like to add our displeasure with the word "succulent." Has anybody in real life ever used this meaningless adjective when not writing menu or ad copy? We think not. How about you, readers? What are your menu pet peeves? [Via MP Chicago]

For those with questions and opinions about meat production, you've got a great forum starting today in a Chowhound conversation with Bill and Nicolette Hahn Niman. The rancher who helped spearhead a departure from factory farming and the lawyer and animal rights activist who wrote The Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food After Factory Farms often pen articles and personal essays for the Atlantic Food Channel. From today until July 10 they'll be all yours on Chowhound, where posters are already stacking up questions. If you're like us and still working off a July 4 barbecue binge, this might be a great time to learn the back-story of the sausage.

• The fires that ripped Northern California in 2008 might have affected that year's red wines, giving them a smoky taste. [SF Chronicle]

• Mr. Pickle is spotted in Marysville, this time as a human wearing a costume instead of a hilarious sign in front of a San Francisco deli. [Mission Mission]

• Joey Chestnut won the 2009 Nathan's hot dog eating contest at Coney Island. [Serious Eats]

• Mucca Design, whose projects include MenuPages' new look, debuts a line of sharp new packaging for the upscale grocer Brooklyn Fare. [Eat Me Daily]

• Milwaukee’s Will Allen is the nation’s “go-to expert on urban farming.” [NYT]

• PepsiCo will expand its manufacturing and distribution network in Russia with a $1 billion investment. [WSJ]

The Ferry Building Farmers' Market opened for lunch today with street food vendors jockeying for attention with actual farmers. 4505 Meats was there with smoked hot dogs, Cap'n Mike came down from Marin to sell smoked fish sandwiches, and Roli Roti hauled in the rotisserie grill, in addition to stalls selling pizza, tacos (Korean and Mexican), sorbet, and coffee. Oh, there were also fruits and vegetables. It is a farmers' market after all. Now setting up Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the weekly market promises to become the new hot spot for downtown lunchers. Let's hope the weather holds.

After What the Pho's initial splash the mobile soup vendor has been quiet, and now its very existence is being called into question. Chowhound noodle expert Melanie Wong (she of the ramen list) floated the suggestion on the message board last night that the truck might be a prank: "Good chance this truck is as fake as Britney Spears death on twitter. A lot of things don't add up." Indeed, we found a few discrepancies.

• Michael Bauer took a return visit to Fog City Diner, where he says the food has not survived the test of time. "It's become a tourist trap, with all the stereotypes that implies," he wrote. His conclusion: Buy a hat but leave the half-star food in the kitchen. [SF Chronicle]

• Matthew Stafford gives us one of the first formal reviews of Little Skillet, the chicken-and-waffles window adjacent to Brit-pop palace 330 Ritch. The relatively small menu means he got to taste pretty much everything, which seems to have gone down just fine. While the place gets a lot of buzz for its chicken and waffles, Po' boys seem to edge them out in Stafford's esteem. Call ahead, though, or get ready to wait in line. [SF Weekly]

• Paul Reidinger checked in with Farallon, where restraint is not on the menu when it comes to butter and decor, but shows up just in time for crab. Overall, it seems the Kuleto-designed fish house has aged well, and will continue to do so, though with its imported, not-necessarily-sustainable seafood it may not be the place for environmentalists. [SFBG]

Photo via orphanjones/flickr

• The Pez company has sued the Burlingame Pez museum for copyright infringement because of its exhibit of a huge dispenser that was not made by the company. [Serious Eats]

• Canteen, Slow Club, and Bix have tiny kitchens where chefs have adjusted to the cramped quarters of the big city in different, but equally effective ways. [SF Chronicle]

• Despite its more than 200 menu items, Berkeley's hole-in-the-wall Mayflower has remained virtually invisible until now. [East Bay Express]

• Mario Batali's genetic profile will be revealed in new PBS series Faces of America. [The Food Section]

• A federal court ruled that the Stella D'Oro cookie plant must reinstate its striking workers and pay them back wages. [City Room/NYT]

July is National Hot Dog Month so we're glad to see a wave of high-end frankfurters crashing over this city right now. Jamie Lauren's hot dog made with Kobe beef and bacon for $12 on Absinthe's bar menu has been a thing for a while, but we're starting to see a plethora of other fancy options here in town. There's the Crispy Dog at 15 Romolo, which SF Weekly included in its national gourmet hot dog roundup today. It's served wrapped in bacon and a tortilla and deep fried. We've also got the pigs in a blanket at Bix, which the Tablehopper describes as "Schwarz frankfurters wrapped in homemade brioche dough and Dijon mustard." Ryan Farr is producing franks at his 4505 Meats, which you'll soon be able to get at Showdogs, the new Market Street storefront from the Foreign Cinema team of Gayle Pirie and John Clark. Some of the best classic street dogs come from the carts run by Annie's Hot Dogs & Pretzels. But to us, the best late-night bite in the city is a bacon-wrapped dog served at 2 a.m. from a cart on Mission Street, yes please to grilled peppers and onions, and throw on a little extra salsa verde if you don't mind. Nathan's, eat your heart out.

Photo via brandi666/flickr

The New Montgomery outpost of Caffe Trieste seems to be splitting from the chain, calling itself the Roastery but still selling Trieste brew. An employee today said despite the new signage that went up yesterday, they're still under license from Trieste, at least for the time being. At the main Trieste office, Sonia Giotta said she was "not at liberty to speak" about the name change, but said she hoped the store would still sell Trieste coffee in the future. Finally, we stopped by for an iced decaf Americano and chatted up the Barista. "Yes, we changed our name because they were charging us too much to use [Caffe Trieste] and we weren't making enough money for it to be worth it," she said. Then she said they would still be selling Trieste coffee. Sounds like you can still get your Trieste fix at New Montgomery and Howard streets, regardless of what the sign above the door says.

In late-night dining news, Michael Bauer reports on his blog today that both Heaven's Dog and RN74 are extending their hours to 1 a.m. Meanwhile Eater reports that, starting today, Spencer on the Go will now be open on Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to midnight. Eater also has the scoop on Hayes and Kebab, which has shuttered its current location and is moving down the street to 580 Hayes.

Photo via gary j wood/flickr

A couple of openings and other updates to relay this morning: Tablehopper reports that Trademark, the new American grill in the former Voda space on Belden Alley, is due to open either Friday or Monday. However, they're playing it safe by their OpenTable account, which gives July 6 as the official opening. Our advice: Call before you come. Also via the 'hopper, look for The Pub to replace O'Neill's Irish bar with a Southern barbecue theme at Ghirardelli Square tomorrow. Both new restaurants will have heated outdoor seating, and both will offer great views — of the bay at The Pub, and of the downtown fabulous at Trademark. [Via Tablehopper]

Photo via Trademark