Grub Street San Francisco

Sozai for Lease in the Sunset

Adam Martin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:32:02 -0500

]]>Almost exactly two years after it opened, Sozai is looking for a new operator. The Japanese restaurant and sake lounge was ahead of the izakaya curve, opening its doors just before O Izakaya and paving the way for spots like Deep Izakaya, Otoro, and the upcoming Nombe. If you want to get into the izakaya game too, the price of entry is just $20,000 down and $4,300 a month in rent.

Cozy Japanese Restaurant for Lease [Craigslist]

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Filed Under: deep izakaya, for sale, nombe, o izakaya, otoro, sozai

Catch David Chang and Jeremy Fox at Omnivore

Adam Martin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:30:00 -0500

]]>If you missed David Chang's appearance with the cadre of Bay Area chefs at Cafe du Nord Wednesday, you're not fully out of luck. The Momofuku chef/author is still in town and will be appearing at Omnivore Books on Food with Ubuntu's Jeremy Fox this Sunday. The conversation should be interesting, as the apparently polar opposite chefs (Chang puts pork in everything while Fox runs a Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant) have crossed over into one another's turf. Chang cooked a vegetarian dinner at the James Beard House in New York in August and Fox is preparing to host a series of special dinners by guest chefs who won't be limited to vegetarian menus. They're set to talk at noon Sunday, with Chang's Momofuku co-author Peter Meehan moderating.

Earlier: Meat to Guest-Star at Ubuntu [Grub Street SF]

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Filed Under: david chang, foodievents, jeremy fox, momofuku, peter meehan, ubuntu

Thomas Keller Makes Fried Chicken on Today

Helen Rosner — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:32:18 -0500

]]>Thomas Keller showed up on the Today show this morning to promote Ad Hoc at Home, All-Clad cookware, and, naturally, teach Al Roker and the team how to make his famous fried chicken. Ann Curry is visibly horrified by Keller's direct handling of the scorchingly hot fresh-from-the-oil chicken, and he reassures her by pointing out that after years in the kitchen, he's got "asbestos fingers." Watch the video for that, plus plenty more hijinx.

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Related: Illustrated Recipe: Ad Hoc at Home's Chicken Mar i Muntanya]]> Read more posts by Helen Rosner

Filed Under: ad hoc, ad hoc at home, dave cruz, fried chicken, the today show, thomas keller, video feed

Inevitable ‘Tweservations’ Service Launches

Adam Martin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:31:51 -0500

]]>A new startup called tweservations launched in San Francisco today, getting Twitter into the reservations game at 14 local restaurants. Mobile application? Check. Ridiculous name? Check. Only surprise here is that this didn't happen earlier. [tweservation]

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Filed Under: openings, tweservation, twitter

Kellogg's Drops Cereal’s Immunity Claim

Adam Martin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:37:58 -0500

]]>After San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera challenged Kellogg's to back up claims on boxes of Cocoa Crispies that the cereal "helps support your child's immunity" the company dropped the label from its packages. Boxes already on store shelves won't be pulled, but new ones with unadorned Snap, Crackle, and Pop will gradually replace them. [SF City Attorney]

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Filed Under: beef, dennis herrera, kellogg's

Garden Links Obama, Kennedy White Houses, Former Chef Says

Adam Martin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:12:22 -0500

]]>As the Obamas prepare for their first state dinner on November 24, White House chef Cristeta Comerford faces the challenge of her career. From the sidelines, San Francisco's Rene Verdon, who cooked for the Kennedys, notes that the Obamas have similar palettes and values to the first family of 1961. “Mrs. Kennedy was very concerned about the health of the children,” he told the New YorkTimes. “She wanted them to eat meals of the freshest ingredients, and she wanted them to taste everything.” Verdon grew vegetables in the White House garden and used them in state dinners. "It’s a good thing she is doing, a very important thing," the 85-year-old farmers' market devotee said of the First Lady's garden. Comerford and assistant chef Sam Kass are still working with the Obamas to set the menu for the state dinner, when the White House hosts a delegation from India.

Heavy is the Toque at a State Dinner [New York Times]

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Filed Under: barack obama, cristeta comerford, michelle obama, presidential eats, rene verdon, sam kass

Service Vs. Food; Bid on Martha Stewart Airtime

Adam Martin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:39:49 -0500

]]>• Michael Bauer once again addresses the question of food versus service in determining a restaurant's quality. [SF Gate]

• City hotel workers still in a contract standoff plan more walkouts and pickets like yesterday's at the Grand Hyatt. [SF Examiner]

• Wild mushroom season is just around the corner in California. [Press Democrat]

]]>• If it's your dream to work with Martha Stewart, fork over $3,600 and you can have a six-week internship at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, or just drop $10,000 to do a segment on her show. [Eat Me Daily]

• Having spent the past six months eating cheeseburgers for research, one man offers up a list of advice. His first insight? "Ketchup and mustard are overrated as condiments." [Chicago Tribune]

• Cocktail aficionados, take note: Angostura Bitters are in short supply around the world owing to the sole manufacturer's recession-related troubles. [Guardian UK]

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Filed Under: booze news, burgers, martha stewart, mediavore

Mission District to Get an East Coast Deli

Adam Martin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:32:53 -0500

]]>To the delight of 500 Club regulars (who have always had to walk an absurd amount of blocks all the way down to Mission Street to get a decent burrito for their drink-cushion), an East Coast-style deli called Clare's has made its future presence known on 17th and Guerrero streets. According to Mission Mission, "'East coast style fun' better involve slamming back cases of Harpoon UFO and watching Irish people have fist fights." But that's not what the opening of this deli says to us. We're thinking pastrami. For real. Miller's East Coast Deli has got to stop being the only game in town. David Sax pointed out to us a couple weeks ago that somebody is bound to give deli meat the whole 4505 Meats treatment. Let's hope this is it.

Clare’s East Coast Delicatessen SAY WHAT? [Mission Mission]

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Filed Under: clare's, david sax, previews

Two Stars for Meridian's Pub Grub; Greens Ages Gracefully

Adam Martin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:31:29 -0500

]]>• Carol Ness got by Meridian for a somewhat ambivalent two-star review, though it sounds like the fare is solid. "Meridian's approach to good pub grub is to fancy up typical bar offerings - wings get a lemongrass sesame barbecue sauce, fries are either medium-cut organic ($4), Parmesan garlic ($6) or delicious wedges browned in duck fat." [SF Chronicle]

]]>• Paul Reidinger checks in with the 30-year-old Greens Restaurant, where age has not tarnished the shine of quality. "It is one of those rare places that combines high style and a pedigreed menu with something for everyone, even doubtful omnivores." [SFBG]

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Filed Under: greens, meridian, the other critics

Original Joe's Suing Uptown Joe's

Adam Martin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:50:20 -0500

]]>The standoff between Original Joe's and Uptown Joe's — slated this month for the former Hotel Majestic — has gone legal. Scoop reported today that the Duggan family this week sued the folks behind Uptown Joe's for copyright infringement. "According to the suit, the Duggan family was approached about reopening Original Joe's in the Hotel Majestic, calling it 'Uptown Joe's.' Despite the family's rejection of the idea, the defendants carried out a plan to replicate Original Joe's, including hiring ex-employees, according to the documents." Meanwhile, the fire-damaged Original Joe's has been silent on a possible reopening date, but as John Duggan's Fish & Farm partner Frank Klein noted in 140 characters last week, "Original Joe's gearing up to re-establish the domain and launch fresh. Copy cats beware; advice to you; seek neutral counsel."

Inside Scoop [SF Chronicle]

Earlier: Original Joe's Fired Up Over Perceived Knock-Off [Grub Street SF]

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Filed Under: frank klein, john duggan, lawsuits, original joe's, uptown joe's

Visit New Orleans in Portola at Queen's Louisiana Po-Boy Cafe

Adam Martin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:00:53 -0500

]]>Danielle Reese is obsessed with the food of her native Louisiana. Lucky for us, she's put that obsession to work moving as much of that state as she can into her new Portola-area restaurant, Queen's Louisiana Po-Boy Cafe. The Cajun and Creole joint opened today with imported bread from a bakery in New Orleans (she flies in par-baked loaves, then finishes them in-house), Gulf shrimp, Louisiana catfish, Patton's sausages, and even little details like Zapp's potato chips and Community Coffee. "When you come and eat a po-boy, it's like eating a po-boy in the French Quarter," Reese told Grub Street on the phone today.

]]>Reese moved to San Francisco with her husband, a San Francisco native, 13 years ago with the dream of opening a restaurant, and she saw a niche for home-style Louisiana cooking. "I decided to open up a po-boy shop because they really weren't represented in Bay Area. Basically when I set foot here, I knew what I wanted. I wanted a restaurant. But it was so expensive to find a place. We finally got everything together. We've been working on this for two years," she said. They're still waiting for a beer and wine license to come through, and the menus won't be out of the printer's till tomorrow, but the shop is now open for business from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. through 5 p.m. Sunday.

Queen's Louisiana Po-Boy Cafe, 3030 San Bruno Ave., nr. Paul Ave., San Francisco; 415-468-9066

Earlier: What to Eat at Queen's Po-Boy Cafe, Pending in Portola [Grub Street SF]

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Filed Under: danielle reese, openings, queen's louisiana po-boy cafe

Illustrated Recipe: Ad Hoc at Home's Chicken Mar i Muntanya

Helen Rosner — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:30:15 -0500

]]>The appeal of Ad Hoc at Home is its accessibility: unlike the dishes presented in Thomas Keller's other volumes — The French Laundry Cookbook, Bouchon, and the almost unattemptably technical Under Pressure — the food at Ad Hoc is designed for comfort and familiarity. And that's no accident: "Most restaurant cookbooks take what's happening in the kitchen and try to translate that for a home kitchen," chef de cuisine Dave Cruz told us, echoing an idea he explores in the book. "But the thing with Ad Hoc is that we started with home cooking, and asked ourselves how we could turn that into restaurant food. And now we've turned it back into home cooking." We went into the kitchen with Cruz to make one of the dishes from the new book — a multilayered paella-esque creation known as "Chicken Mar i Muntanya" — watch the slideshow to see how easy Ad Hoc can be when you bring it home.

The recipe: Chicken Mar i Muntanya.pdf

Related: Want see more of Ad Hoc's kitchen? Watch our behind-the-scenes slideshow.

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Filed Under: ad hoc, ad hoc at home, dave cruz, recipes

In the Kitchen at Ad Hoc

Helen Rosner — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:02:08 -0500

]]>With his third cookbook, Thomas Keller brings us into the kitchen of his most accessible restaurant, Yountville, California's Ad Hoc. By now everyone knows the story: the restaurant was originally supposed to be temporary (hence the name), but its concept of a daily-changing, family-style fixed menu proved so popular (and the food was so good) that it's become a permanent fixture in the Napa Valley. In October, we checked out the restaurant in the company of Ad Hoc chef de cuisine Dave Cruz. On the eve of Ad Hoc at Home's publication, watch the slideshow to see all the little ways Keller and Cruz make a restaurant's food feel like home.

Related: Want to try an Ad Hoc dish at home? Watch our illustrated recipe slideshow.

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Filed Under: ad hoc, ad hoc at home, back of the house, dave cruz, slideshows, thomas keller, yountville

Peerless Coffee Still Unmatched; Julio Chavez Plans Knockout Restaurant

Adam Martin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:56:33 -0500

]]>• After 85 years, Oakland's family-run Peerless Coffee is still the top choice for local restaurateurs. [SF Chronicle]

• Napa Valley grape growers are fighting invasive moths with other, sterile moths. [Press Democrat]

• A California-based tomato-processing executive has plead guilty for his participation in a conspiracy (that included Kraft and Frito-Lay) to drive up food prices. [AP]

]]>• Boxing champion Julio Chavez is opening a boxing-themed restaurant and entertainment complex in Phoenix, Arizona. [NRN]

• After a recession-fueled slump, Whole Foods is finally seeing sales pick up. [WSJ]

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Filed Under: crime scenes, frito lay, kraft, mediavore, oenofile julio chavez, peerless coffee

Amuse Bouche Guy to be Deported After All

Adam Martin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:00:00 -0500

]]>San Francisco street vendor Murat Celebi-Ariner, a French national also known as the Amuse Bouche Guy, won't get to stay in the country, but will be deported as soon as a flight becomes available. Murat's lawyer told SFoodie that Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), which took Murat into custody last week, had denied a request to defer the deportation. Murat has overstayed his visa, and while he is married to an American citizen, they didn't file papers for a green card for him in time to keep him in the country. Still, Murat's wife Pelin Celevi-Ariner told SFoodie that they would file for one tomorrow anyway. "We're hoping it will invite them to reconsider their decision," she told SFoodie.

ICE Denies Amuse Bouche Vendor's Deferral Request -- He'll Be Deported in the Next Week or Two [SFoodie]

Previously:
Amuse Bouche Guy to be Deported? [Grub Street SF]
Amuse Bouche Guy was Applying for Green Card [Grub Street SF]

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Filed Under: amuse bouche sf, crime scenes, murat celibi-ariner, pelin celibi-ariner