Feed on Cooking With The Single Guy

Steaming Up San Francisco with Steamy Kitchen

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:05:00 +0000

Last night was supposed to be cold and rainy, but it actually turned out to be a beautiful night to be out. And no wonder, there were some Florida sunshine in the house with Jaden Hair of the fabulous Steamy Kitchen blog in town.

Steamy Kitchen is one of the early food blogs that have shot up in the stratosphere, and with so many food blogs out there now, hers is definitely considered on the A-list. (Mine is more like the E-list, not even the D-list.) Jaden's blog about simple Asian dishes has launched her into a newspaper column, TV appearances, an online show on TLC and now a just-released Steamy Kitchen cookbook. (That's why she's in San Francisco; signing a few books and teaching a class at Sur La Table.)

When I started my blog three years ago, Steamy (that's how I think of her) was one of the first to post a comment and then she emailed me a few times (she used to live in San Francisco). I was touched by how real she was, so down-to-earth and hilarious!

OK, enough of the setup. You want to know what we did last night, right?

So when I found out Jaden was going to be in town on her book tour, I e-mailed her about getting together. She emailed back and said she was gamed, so I planned a casual, get-together with her and a few other foodies last night.

We met at Otoro Sushi in Hayes Valley because Steamy says she can't get good Japanese food in Florida. I'd been to Otoro before and liked the vibe and combination of robata grill and sushi. Plus, they're one of the few Japanese restaurants that actually take reservations. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

The only thing about Otoro was the lighting wasn't the best for photo-taking. (And I didn't bring along my photo light bulb setup that Jaden highly recommends on her blog.) Look at this shot of Jaden scooping up some miso ramen. She looks all blurry and mysterious huh? Those were some really long ramen.

The food was great, and we tried a variety of things from agedashi tofu to monk fish liver (Jaden's favorite) to grilled squid (you know I ordered that!) and lots and lots of rolls. See, here's another blurry photo of us digging into the amazing rolls.

OK, so enough of the blurry photos. Time to bust out the flash to get a decent photo of Jaden. Here she is with Sean of the Hedonia blog. Gosh, I really should have moved those beer bottles and glasses to the side. As you can see, I'm not the best stylist like Jaden, who's a master food stylist.

Here's the gang after our dinner. Stephanie of Wasabimon, Sean, Jaden (that girl never takes a bad picture), and Samantha of The Hungry Dog and her husband, Danny (who is NOT the inspiration for the name of her blog; she actually does have a hungry dog).

After dinner, as we walked along Gough Street looking for a cab to take Steamy back to her hotel, we spotted this line of people outside a gallery. Jaden noticed the unusual name and couldn't believe someone thought it was smart to call the gallery "Fecal Face Dot Gallery." She thought it was a San Francisco moment and told me to shoot a picture. We were across the street and I didn't think my flash had the power to reach all the way across, but when Steamy Kitchen tells you to shoot a picture, you snap and asks questions later.

It was a fantastic night of good Japanese food and blogging talk among foodies. Thanks Jaden for taking time from your busy schedule to hang out!

You, too, can meet Jaden in person. She'll be doing a book signing tonight (Friday) from 6 to 7 p.m. at Omnivore Books in Noe Valley. If you want to be her friend for life, bring her a bowl of monk fish liver.

Dish on Dining: Bushi-Tei Bistro

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:03:00 +0000

Does French-Japanese Fusion Work Watered Down?
1581 Webster St. (between Geary and Post), San Francisco
Japantown
PH: 415.409.4559
Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Major credit cards, reservations accepted

Bushi-Tei is an elegant, French-Japanese fusion restaurant on Post Street. Its food by Chef Seiji Wakabayashi garnered much attention (and once captured a Michelin star, although it has since lost it). Earlier this year, a spin-off called Bushi-Tei Bistro opened down the street on the ground floor of the Kintetsu and Miyako Mall, on the same side as the Sundance Kabuki Theater.

Recently I was in Japantown with a craving for ramen (it happens every time there’s a cold tinge in the air) but the place I wanted a hot bowl of ramen was closed on a Tuesday night. So that led me through the doors of the nearby Bushi-Tei Bistro.

The place was nearly empty except for one large table of happy diners. I could see how this place was planned to be a contemporary, festive bistro with a brightly lit bar (also empty that night) and black varnished tables under ambient lighting. But on this night, it actually looked like the perfect spot for a rendezvous with a spy because the high partitions pretty much obscure one’s view of other tables once you’re seated in the empty restaurant.

The menu is a mix of Japanese and westernized dishes like several pasta choices. The appetizers seemed to offer the most unusual items, but I just settled for a small mixed salad ($4.80) and a plate of gyoza ($6.80).

When the salad arrived, the plating was an indicator of the expert execution even though the ingredients were your garden variety of leafy green, cucumbers, tomatoes, julienne carrots and green bell peppers. You might expect a miso dressing, but it was a slightly tart creamy dressing that wasn’t that distinctive.

The gyoza (seven pieces) had a very thin skin, which I appreciate, although the searing of the bottom was slightly off for some pieces. In fact, one gyoza had its skin punctured apparently during the cooking process, which didn’t help the presentation. The filling was light, and I wasn’t sure if it was all vegetarian or if there was any pork involved. (When the bistro first opened in April it offered a vegetable gyoza appetizer with tomatillo sauce, but this was served only with the standard gyoza dipping sauce of light soy, so I’m not sure if it was the vegetable gyoza version.)

For my main dish I ordered my ramen. Since Bushi-Tei Bistro isn’t a noodle restaurant, it only served one type of broth — the soy broth. (I usually like to order the miso broth when getting ramen.) They offered three types of ramen toppings: teriyaki chicken, karaage (the fried chicken) and ginger pork.

I got the ginger pork ramen ($10.20), and when it arrived it looked like a nice big bowl of noodles and pork, finished off with shredded veggies and bean sprouts. The ginger pork on top was made up of thinly sliced pieces in a soy-ginger glaze, packed with a lot of flavor. The ramen noodles had a nice give to it, although I wouldn’t deem it the best I’ve ever had. But the warm broth and tasty thin pork slices really hit the spot.

I returned on the weekend to check out their lunch menu, which actually seemed more interesting and extensive than dinner (and the place had a few more customers but still not packed.) There were a few dishes that I’d never heard of. But in my fit of indecisiveness, I ended up ordering my tried-and-true lunch order of oyakodon ($9.80) or chicken donburi, which is chicken and egg over rice. I figured it was a good way to see how authentic Bushi-Tei’s Japanese dishes can be.

Before my donburi, though, I ordered the Avocado and Sashimi Salad ($9.80). It looked so pretty in the picture that I wanted to eat it (plus I felt it would be healthy for me with my cholesterol issues and all). But when I think about it, all they had to do was slice up some fresh fish and avocado, top it off with some shredded veggies garnish and call it a day.

The fish, which I couldn’t determine what it was, was indeed fresh, and so was the avocado, served with soy and wasabi. But really, there was no cooking involved. And I found it extremely difficult to pick up the slices of avocado with my chopsticks.

Side note: Bushi-Tei Bistro has some really odd eating utensils. For example, my ramen was served with a really shallow metal spoon that really didn’t help me scoop up large servings of the broth if I wanted to. And the chopsticks were the rounded lacquered chopsticks with the pointy ends, but the rounded part was so thick that it was difficult to get the tiny pointy ends to meet. I hate to admit that I resorted to using a fork to eat the avocado salad.

The oyakodon arrived on a tray with the rice in one bowl, the chicken and eggs in a stone pot and a bowl of miso soup.

I drank the miso first, which had a subtle miso taste but was filled with a lot of ingredients, including small cubes of kurobata pork, sweet potatoes and daikon (although no tofu). It was hearty but not necessarily flavorful.

I thought it was odd that the chicken wasn’t served over the rice, so instead I had to scoop up the chicken and eggs cooked with sweet onions and poured it over my rice. The chicken and eggs were done really well, with just a slight amount of sweet juices.

Bushi-Tei Bistro is a place that I really wanted to like, especially since both times I was served by a really personable (and attractive) server. But the food didn’t necessarily excite me, although it has some moments with its ginger pork. For the higher price, I felt it needed to be more creative with its fusion mission but in the end it seemed more like good Japanese food dressed up to look western.

Single guy rating: 2.5 stars (Better for lunch)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Related reviews:
Otoro Sushi: “Latest Hip Addition to Hayes Valley”
Santa Ramen: “What I Do For a Good Bowl of Ramen”
Katana-ya: “When it Rains, Find Shelter in Ramen”

Pineapple on My Mind

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:35:00 +0000

You can take the boy out of the islands, but you can’t take the islands out of the boy.

Even though it’s been years since I’ve lived in Hawaii (and more than 18 months since I last visited), I still get cravings for certain things that remind me of Hawaii: kalua pig, haupia, or papayas. Lately, I’ve been craving pineapples.

I think pineapples get a bad rap. They’re often a symbol of a touristy Hawaii, with the slice of pineapple in a brightly colored tiki drink or served up at luaus. It’s often used as a quick way to make something seem tropical like adding them to a pizza for a Hawaiian pizza even though I’m pretty sure the Hawaiians never ate pineapple with cooked ham.

Despite the odd combination, I sometimes like to add pineapples to my dishes and it just makes me feel at home. I typically use it to make sweet-sour dishes like sweet sour pork or beef tomatoes, and I have no problems getting them from the can because then you have these perfectly nice chunks of sweet pineapple.

For the recipe below, I decided to make a simple chicken stir-fry, adding in some zucchini and red bell pepper for color. Yeah, it looks like those made-up dishes at Chinese restaurants created for Americans, but I still like the mix of savory and sweet flavors. Now all I need is a hula dancer to serve it up and I’m all set. Enjoy!

Pineapple Chicken Stir-Fry

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:31:00 +0000

Copyright 2009 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients
½ lb. chicken breasts, cubed
1 small zucchini, diced (about 1 cup)
1 red bell peppers, diced (about 1 cup)
1 can pineapple chunks (8 oz.)
½ cup peanuts
1 t white pepper
1 T sesame oil
1 T Shao Hsing cooking wine or sherry
1 ½ T soy sauce
1 t ginger, minced
2 T sugar
1 T oyster sauce
1 T cornstarch
2 T vegetable oil
Salt for seasoning
Green onions for garnish

In bowl, mix chicken with white pepper, sesame oil, Shao Hsing wine and soy sauce. Let set for 10 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over high heat in wok or large skillet. Then add chicken and brown on all sides, about 2-3 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in wok again, and add zucchini and bell peppers with the ginger and stir fry until vegetables are almost soft, about 3 minutes. Season vegetables with a teaspoon of salt. Then add back the chicken and mix everything together for 30 seconds. Drain pineapple chunks and add them to the wok and blend everything together along with the sugar.

In a small cup or bowl, mix cornstarch with some water to create a slurry, then slowly add this to the ingredients over high heat to create a bit of gravy. When you have the consistency you like, finish off the dish by tossing in the peanuts and the oyster sauce. Plate and garnish with chopped green onions.

Makes 2 to 3 servings. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Pair with a glass of Riesling.

TIP: When stir-frying, remember not to crowd the chicken. Cook in two batches if your wok is too small. And avoid the temptation to stir too often. You want to give it some time to get golden brown but not burnt. Also, when cooking the vegetables, you can add a little bit of chicken broth to help soften them quicker. But don’t add so much that it’s soupy.

PEANUTS: Try to use unsalted peanuts, but if you can only find salted ones, get the ones with less salt. If your peanuts are really salty, adjust your overall dish by adding less oyster sauce at the end.

Ice Cream for the Earth

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:41:00 +0000

On Saturday I had to go into San Francisco to get my cholesterol checked at my doctor’s office. When I was all done being punctured (twice!) at the lab, I treated myself to what else? Ice cream!

I figured after weeks of avoiding ice cream to get a favorable grade on my cholesterol test, this would be like breaking a fast. So I headed to the nearby Three Twins Organic Ice Cream shop in the Lower Haight neighborhood.

I’ve never had Three Twins’ ice cream before. (I first noticed them at the Oxbow Public Market in Napa.) This small business has an interesting beginning, having been started in 2005 by a former Peace Corp volunteer. The name is kind of confusing, so I’ll leave it up to you to go to its Web site to get the story behind the name. But one thing that’s prominent about this organic ice cream shop is it tries to be a real partner with the environment.

Along with using only organic ingredients to make the ice cream, all the packaging is compostable and they purchase renewable energy certificates to offset their electricity use. From the beginning, they’ve been affiliated with 1% for The Planet, where 1 percent of proceeds go to support non-profits that help the environment.

Walking into the tiny San Francisco store, you can tell it’s an environmentally conscious business because almost everything is green. (More specifically, lime green.) There’s a real whimsical feel that’s part hippie and part folksy.

I ended up getting a single cup ($3.25), where you can get one to two flavors. I decided on Milk and Cookies (which is their version of Cookies N’ Cream) and Dad’s Cardamom. There’s pretty much no seating in the store, so I ate mine as I walked the neighborhood since it was a beautiful warm day in San Francisco.

The cardamom was on top so I ate that first. It had a real nice distinctive cardamom flavor that actually stayed with me even with I was all done. The Milk and Cookies was filled with big chunks of Oreo cookies, so I felt like I was really getting my money’s worth although the sweetness of the Oreo filling added to the sweetness of the ice cream.

Overall, I really enjoyed the creaminess of the product. Unfortunately, this will probably be my last post about ice cream for awhile. I just got my cholesterol test back and it’s high. (Not terribly high, but just over the border.) All those La Farine tarts, artisan ice cream and restaurant eating are catching up with me. I’m not giving up on them, but I just have to eat in moderation. Dang family history!

Three Twins Organic Ice Cream, 254 Fillmore St. (at Haight), San Francisco. PH: 415.ITS.TWIN. www.threetwinsicecream.com

Back for Seconds: Koi Palace

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:52:00 +0000

This is an occasional report on return visits to restaurants that I’ve already reviewed.

A Gathering for Good Food
365 Gellert Ave., Daly City
Serramonte Plaza
Open daily for dim sum lunch and seafood dinner
PH: 650.992.9000
Major credit cards, reservations (primarily large parties and dinner) accepted
www.koipalace.com

Original visit: July 2008

When my Mom was in town awhile back, we went to get dim sum with my aunt and cousin (who were also visiting from Los Angeles) at one of the best places for dim sum in the Bay Area ... Koi Palace in Daly City.

I read a mix of reviews on food discussion boards about Koi Palace, some wondering if the food and service are really worth the long waits. Every time I go, I always come to the conclusion that it is.

Granted, I go on the weekdays when I have guests visiting, so I've generally avoided the ridiculous weekends waits. So maybe it's worth taking the day off to get some good dim sum.

I actually wasn't planning to do a post about Koi Palace, sparing my relatives with my constant photo-taking during lunch. But I had to take a picture when our order of Shanghai dumplings arrived at our table.

While dim sum comes out in a parade of trays and carts, certain dishes need to be special ordered. Shanghai dumplings are one of them, and we ordered a double order for our table.

These are the dumpling that are made with a bit of soup inside, so when you bite into them you get a burst of brothy goodness. I liked how at Koi Palace the beautiful dumplings came in their individual silver tart liners. That made it easy to pick them up and place on your plate.

Koi Palace's version of the dumplings were tasty as well, with thin skin that's used to encase a perfect balance of pork filling that wasn't too dense or loose.

We had a whole slew of other dim sum as well, including my favorite pineapple buns filled with custard. My Mom got her favorite, which was a plate of roasted suckling pig. I generally don't eat animal skin because of the fat content, but no one can really resist the perfectly roasted crispy skin of these piglets at Koi Palace. They're done so well, this is really the inspiration for the pork belly movement.

Almost every other dish were also just as good, and what always draws me back to Koi Palace is the vast options of food to eat. You really will have to eat there a lifetime to be able to eat everything on the menu. I'm definitely up for the challenge. ;-)

Update experience (previous 4 stars): Upgrading to 4.25 because there's still no where better in the Bay Area

Related dim sum reviews:
Hong Kong Flower Lounge: "Going Beyond Your Average Dim Sum"
Asian Pearl Seafood Restaurant: "Dim Sum that Offers Few Jewels"
Dim Sum in Honolulu

Trick or Hawaiian Treat

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Any kid growing up in Hawaii will tell you about the trick of tossing Japanese rice crackers (mochi crackers with a soy sauce coating) with popcorn, getting your own special Hawaiian trail mix.

It’s the mix of savory crunch of the mochi crackers (which we called “kaki mochi” as a kid but I forget why; some kids call it “arare” because of the major brand that produced them) with the buttery popcorn that kids love. Meh, I thought it was all right. (Again, proof that I wasn’t a normal Hawaiian kid.)

Anywho, recently my friend David went to Hawaii for a vacation, and he brought me back this box of treat called “Mochi Pop,” and it turns out it’s the childhood trick of mixing the rice crackers with popcorn, except they took it up a notch by mixing it with caramel popcorn instead of just plain popcorn.

Eating this brought back memories of going to the movies and snacking on this mix, but it was different with the sweet caramel. If you try the mochi crackers, though, I’m giving you fair warning that your breath will give Dracula’s garlic breath a run for the money. You Hawaii people know what I mean. ;-)

Dish on Dining: La Furia Chalaca

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:51:00 +0000

Offering Up Homey and Authentic Peruvian Cuisine
310 Broadway (at 3rd), Oakland
Jack London Square neighborhood
PH: 510.451.4206
Open daily for lunch and dinner
Major credit cards, reservations accepted
www.lafuriachalaca.com

When I was wrapping up my post about my search for the best pisco sour drink in the Bay Area, I made one last stop at this Peruvian restaurant in Oakland because I figured where else would I find an authentic version of the national drink of Peru?

You can check out my post to see how La Furia Chalaca’s pisco sour ranked (sorry to say it wasn’t so authentic), but this post is all about the food at this tiny, almost divey seafood restaurant just north of Jack London Square.

Opened for a few years, La Furia can be easily missed on Broadway, with most people probably heading to Soizic next door. And from the outside, you can’t really tell it’s a restaurant so it’s a good thing they had an “Open!” sandwich board in front.

Unfortunately, in this quiet area of the neighborhood—which is seeing a rebirth with new condos and new restaurants opening—there are still a lot of street elements, like homeless people coming into the restaurant trying to ask for money. So these are some of the challenges La Furia faces, as well as for their diners.

The room has quite an old world feel with the dark wooden furnishings. I sat at the bar, which didn’t have a bartender on duty, and surveyed the menu. It offers up some interesting dishes, including Peruvian classics like ceviche, causa (mashed potato cakes) and lomo saltado (stir-fried beef, except they make it with chicken). There are also quite a few seafood options.

I decided to start with the ceviche ($14), even though it was listed under the entrées, my server told me it was small enough to be a starter. It arrived with all the classic Peruvian ceviche condiments, such as thinly sliced red onions, yucca, sweet potatoes and the corn-like kernels called choclo.

The fish chunks marinated in lime juice was nicely balanced, not very tart. And I liked how they were in chunky pieces. There was a slight heat from the chili, but that’s what the sweet potatoes were for to soothe my mouth. I wasn’t a big fan of the yucca, but I liked that it was there to make it seem very authentic.

For my main dish, I ordered something called Arroz con Pollo ($12) because of the description of a “whole chicken leg” served on rice. When the dish arrived, the chicken leg was buried under this mound of rice, speckled with peas and corn and some tomatoes.

Here’s a picture of the chicken inside the rice after I dug in looking for it. For some reason when I read “whole chicken leg” I was thinking like a turkey leg size, but it really is just a chicken leg, and when you think about it, a chicken drumstick isn’t very big. I felt a bit disappointed at the size of the chicken in the dish, but I did enjoy the jasmine rice, which was cooked perfectly and accented with cilantro. As for the other ingredients, they felt almost pedestrian, like they were from a bag of frozen vegetables. (It didn’t taste frozen; it just looked like they came out of a bag.)

I ended my dinner with dessert, which was helado ($6)—the amazing South American ice cream that’s similar to gelato. The flavor was lucuma, which is a popular fruit from Peru. The flavor and look is very similar to caramel, and this helado was super thick and creamy. I enjoyed it although I wished it was a bit colder.

Overall, La Furia seems to offer you a nice glimpse at authentic Peruvian dishes, but in a simple presentation like you were visiting a friend’s home in Lima. You won’t be amazed by the presentation but you’ll appreciate the informality.

Single guy rating: 2.75 stars (Simple and straight-forward)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Related Peruvian reviews:
La Mar Cebicheria: “A Continuing Lesson in Peruvian Cuisine”
Pisco Latin Lounge: “Trying to Shake Up the Neighborhood”
Limon Peruvian Rotisserie: “Classy Take on Home-style Peruvian Food”

Behind the Scenes at Hodo Soy Beanery

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:07:00 +0000

Hodo Soy is a testament to what one guy will do for good tofu.

The fresh organic tofu products can be found under the bright yellow-and-white canopies at Bay Area farmers’ markets. Since 2004, the small company has tried to cast tofu as a cool and tasty product in the Bay Area’s food scene; its workers offer up free samples or gladly spend time talking to you about the wonders of soy.

The company was started by Minh Tsai, who grew up in Vietnam but came to the United States when he was 11. Working in finance, Tsai and his friends would get together for home-cooked meals, but often felt frustrated at the lack of good, fresh tofu like he remembered eating as a child in Vietnam. Long story short, he connected with some tofu-making relatives and Hodo Soy was born.

In just five years, Hodo Soy has established itself as a high-end organic tofu maker and this month opened a new 10,000-square-foot production plant in West Oakland. The new facility will be open to public tours in December to continue Hodo Soy’s mission of tofu education.

Growing up Asian, I already understood the benefits and beauty of fresh tofu. So I jumped at the chance to go on a preview tour of the new plant to see first hand how beans turned into tofu.

Hodo Soy renovated the former candy factory and bakery into a beanery, installing equipment from one of the oldest tofu-equipment makers in Asia. In the visitors’ room, Hodo Soy plans to show a video about the tofu-making process and give you a peek at the production through a glass window. Above, Dean Ku, a co-founder and marketing director, gives the lay of the land as one guest looks on. (We then donned the requisite hairnets and plastic booties to enter the production floor, which is something the public tours won’t be able to do.)

Here’s the founder Minh Tsai, who also has the title of tofu master. A charming and affable guy, Tsai explained how Hodo Soy uses dried soybeans from a supplier in the Midwest as the starting point for their tofu products.

The soybeans are soaked overnight in filtered water and then ground into a pulp. One of the first products extracted from the puree through a steam-injection process is the soymilk, which is the basis for the tofu Hodo Soy makes. We got to try a cup of fresh soymilk that was unsweetened. In its natural state, the milk had a nice nuttiness to it that gave it lots of body. We also tried fresh yuba, which is also known as “tofu skin” because it’s made by steaming the soymilk and pulling off the thin top layer, or skin, that forms.

Fresh yuba is an expensive ingredient in Asia because of the labor involved in making it. Hodo Soy is the only U.S. manufacturer making and selling it fresh. (Most Asian stores sell it in dried form.) The yuba on this day was so fresh that we could still see the milk around the edges. Of course, when you buy the yuba at the farmers market stand, the yuba has been allowed to air out a bit and then sealed in its packaging.

Here are the yuba sheets being drip dried at the plant. Hodo Soy’s yuba is served in such restaurants as Coi, Greens and The Slanted Door.

Making tofu actually is very similar to cheese-making because it involves curds. In one section of the plant, workers laid out cheesecloth-lined molds that are filled with the soy curds, which are then pressed by this huge assembly line machine. The amount of pressure determines the texture of the resulting tofu—medium or firm. (Soft tofu, or silken tofu, is so delicate to make that Tsai says he has to do that by hand.)

The tofu blocks are then cut up and stored in water so it can be sold at the farmers markets. Tsai says that all the employees who work at the plant also spend time at the farmers market selling the products. So you really do meet the people who make what you buy. It also gives the workers a chance to hear feedback about their tofu.

In the back of the plant is a kitchen, and it’s not just where the workers take their lunch break. Hodo Soy has a chef who develops recipes and creates cooked products that are packaged and sold at the farmers market.

At the end of the tour, we got to sample a table full of tofu dishes, including some sautéed tofu pockets, poached tofu, tofu croquettes and stir-fry tofu noodles. I especially liked the croquettes, which tasted surprisingly light and not at all dense.

With this new and bigger plant, Hodo Soy can now extend its reach beyond the farmers markets. But because Tsai and his team are so focused on quality and freshness, they’re carefully negotiating with retailers and distributors, working out issues such as shelf life, etc. For now, Hodo Soy can be found at Rainbow Grocery and possibly down the road at the Berkeley Bowl.

If you’re interested in tofu and want to talk to people who love it, then I’d suggest you stop by one of the Hodo Soy stands at the farmers markets (you can check where they are on their Web site). And if you want to take a tour of the West Oakland plant, check back at their Web site later this year for more information.

Hodo Soy Beanery, 2923 Adeline St., Oakland. www.hodosoy.com

Get your tofu on:
Yuba Salad with Broccoli and Red Bellpepper
Spicy Blue Lake Bean Salad with Tofu
Rainbow Tofu Soup

Test Kitchen: Smoky Shrimp and Chorizo Soup

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:13:00 +0000

This month's Single Guy Test Kitchen featuring the recipes from Food and Wine Magazine was a first. There was a tie in the poll to decide which recipe to test from the magazine's October edition: 40% voted for the White Bean Stew with Swiss Chard and another 40% voted for the Smoky Shrimp and Chorizo Soup. Of course, only a few voted for the dish that I really wanted to try, which was the Lamb Skewers with Salsa Verde because that recipe is from Chef Seamus Mullen, whose New York restaurant Boqueria Soho I love when I was there recently and who's currently a leading contender in "The Next Iron Chef."

Anywho, I did the simple pull the recipe from the hat trick and the shrimp soup came out on top. So that's what I made recently, which turned out great for the cool fall weather we were experiencing in the Bay Area when I made the dish. (Of course, you're probably reading this now when we're experiencing a warm spell this weekend.)

The recipe was from the section of the magazine that was dedicated to wine pairings. The soup was in the section about "old world wines" and how old world wines from Italy and Spain should be paired with food from the area as they've matured together. So they suggested you pair this Spanish soup with a red Rioja wine. Easy choice.

It's been awhile I've made soup, so it was nice getting back into the soup groove. As usual, I cut the recipe in half because I'm the Single Guy and I don't need that much soup. Here's how the cooking went. You can get the full recipe from the Food and Wine Web site here.

I started out shelling and deveining the medium-size shrimp that I got from my local grocer. I kept the shell and used it to make a stock according to the recipe. But it was a simple stock where I simply infuse the shrimp shell flavor into already made chicken stock for just 10 minutes.

While my shrimp stock stewed at a low simmer, I prepped my other ingredients, including the other star, which was the chorizo. Be sure to buy the dry Spanish chorizo and not the Mexican version or fresh version, which can be too soft and mushy inside. I get my Spanish chorizo from the nearby Piedmont Grocer on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. You can also find them at the Spanish Table in Berkeley.

This recipe had very basic ingredients. Along with the shrimp and chorizo, I just needed a sweet onion, one carrot, a clove of garlic and a can of diced tomatoes.

Here's the chorizo after I've quickly browned it in a large soup pot. They look tasty to eat just like that, but I had to restrain and keep it to the side as I get working on the other ingredients.

In the same pot, I started off sweating the vegetables, starting with the onion, garlic and carrots. That sprinkling of red you see is the teaspoon of smoked paprika or pimenton, which is a basic spice for a lot of Spanish dishes. I love it. It gives off a really nice smell as you're cooking your vegetables. After the vegetables softened, after about five minutes, I add the can of tomatoes and let everything cook for another five minutes until some of the liquid from the tomatoes evaporate.

Then you start building your soup with the shrimp stock and chorizo, and finishing it off by throwing in the shrimp, which cooks really quickly. Then you add a tablespoon of flour to thicken your soup a bit, but I didn't have flour in my kitchen so I just used cornstarch, which is the Asian way to thicken soup. Same thing.

And that was it. I garnished my soup with slices of avocados, which is suggested in the recipe, and then I was ready to eat. Here's my final bowl. How do you think it looks from the Food and Wine photo above?

My tips and warnings about this recipe:

Even though I halved the recipe, I didn't skimp on the pimenton. The recipe called for 1 teaspoon and that's what I added, even though I halved the other ingredients. The smoky part of the recipe comes from the smoked pimenton, and I felt it could have needed more smokiness. So you could add more if you like, I feel. (Maybe 2 teaspoons.)
If you want to make this a hearty soup, especially for dinner or leftovers, add some cooked white rice.
The recipe says to cut the carrot into thin matchsticks. But I felt it was weird eating soup with carrot sticks, so I would have liked to pureed the onions and carrots before adding the chorizo and shrimp, so the soup would be more smooth. But it's up to you want kind of texture you like when you're drinking your soup.

Ease of cooking: This was another super simple soup recipe. Soup is always so easy to make. And it was quick, so I think anyone can do it. It makes a nice quick weeknight dinner.

Taste: I really liked the flavor of the soup when everything was said and done. The slight smokiness from the pimenton was really overpowered more by the chorizo, which like any meat ingredient dominates the dish. But since I love chorizo, I didn't mind. Plus, the meatiness of the tomatoes was a nice support for the chorizo. And there were a lot of shrimp in the soup, and I love shrimp, so again, it just had all the flavors that I love. Good job.

Overall Grade: A for easy to find ingredients, simple steps and full body flavor.

Don't forget to vote in my latest poll on the upper right corner. It's the Thanksgiving edition of Food and Wine. (BTW, aren't you glad I didn't start with Gourmet magazine? Because this feature would be dead by now.)

Previous test kitchens:
Rabbit Ragout with Soppressata and Pappardelle
Puff-pastry Tomato Tarts
Bucatini Carbonara
Mini Corn Cakes with Seared Salmon

Got Apples?

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:34:00 +0000

While I was at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market last Saturday, I noticed that it was definitely apple season. I spotted several stands with crates of apples, from luscious pink ladies to petite cinnamons to green grannies.

I never really liked apples growing up in Hawaii because they were all shipped in from the Mainland and were often the huge, highly waxed Red Delicious. (Do you still eat those?) While an apple is a great carry-along snack because you can take it anywhere, I never really liked the chewy skin.

But now I can find all sorts of apples of different shapes and colors. One of my favorites from the stores is the macintosh variety (maybe because I’m a Mac guy) because of its crunchiness and sweet-tart flavor. I mostly just eat them as a snack or toss them in a salad. What do you like to do with apples?

Food Paparazzi

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:27:00 +0000

Last weekend at San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market, I spotted Chef Brett Emerson looking over some fresh vegetables. (There he is with a big bunch of baby carrots.)

Emerson’s face may not be that recognizable by many people (even I took the picture and thought, hmmm, where have I seen him before?) but his restaurant, Contigo, is one of the few hot spots in the city creating a lot of buzz right now. I haven’t been able to check it out yet, but I’m dying to try his take on Catalan-inspired dishes using fresh, seasonal ingredients.

Emerson also pens the blog, In Praise of Sardines, which partly talked about his adventures in opening his restaurant. Not surprisingly, he hasn’t posted any new entries since Contigo opened in March. But from what I hear about the food, it sounds like it’s worth keeping him busy in the kitchen than in front of the computer.

Previous sightings:
Elizabeth Falkner
Chris Cosentino
Daniel Patterson

Back for Seconds: Ubuntu

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:04:00 +0000

This is an occasional report on return visits to restaurants that I’ve already reviewed.

What’s Growing this Fall in Jeremy Fox’s Garden
1140 Main St., Napa
Downtown Napa
PH: 707.251.5656
Open Mon.–Fri., 5:30–9 p.m. (until 10 p.m. Fridays), Sat.–Sun., 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 5:30–10 p.m. (until 9 p.m. Sundays)
Major credit cards, reservations accepted
www.ubuntunapa.com

Original visit: September 2008

NAPA, Calif.
During the Columbus Day weekend, my older sister was visiting from Hawaii. She travels a lot for work and often complains about the heavy business dinners she finds herself eating on the road. So when she suggested we spend the day in Napa Valley, I thought she might enjoy the lighter, vegetarian fare at the celebrated Ubuntu restaurant in downtown.

Joining us was my college-aged nephew and two of his friends. I don’t think they were as thrilled to be eating an all-vegetables menu. So to prep them for dinner, I took them for hamburgers earlier in the day at Taylor’s Refresher. ;-)

I was spellbound when I first visited Ubuntu for lunch last year. Chef Jeremy Fox’s magic with vegetables was showcased in beautifully plated dishes crisp in flavor and freshness. Since then, the restaurant and Chef Fox have received a multitude of national praise, and just this week received its very first Michelin star.

The menu changes regularly, although stays primarily the same throughout a season. Again, the mode was small plates shared around the table. I did notice that the dinner tasting menu was no longer offered, and the popular pizzas from lunch aren’t available at dinner (although our server says it may be added to dinner soon).

Here’s what we ate. I should say that I wasn’t as good with my note-taking this time around, so I don’t have the precise name and prices for the dishes (most dishes were in the $9-$15 range). So I’m working off memory right now.

First up was the house specialty Carta da Catalan, which was a flat bread topped with all the ingredients from the restaurant’s organic garden just up the street. It came on a pig-shaped wooden platter, which my nephew noted was probably the chef’s play on irony.

All the ingredients blended beautifully together, rounded off with dehydrated beet bits that were supposed to represent dirt from the garden. Although simple and clean in flavor, it was a challenge to pick up and eat. The flat bread hidden under the huge pile of greens is almost paper-thin, so it was more like a cracker.

This is a dish of crispy potatoes, which you can’t go wrong for college students. It was mixed with a succulent plant, which I think was called “ice plant,” and sat on a puree. This was one of my favorite dishes for its unusual ingredients (the succulent, not the potatoes) and expert preparation.

This is an example of how the dishes at Ubuntu seems to be shrinking. Although a wonderful display of fall colors, this puree of kohlrabi seemed lacking in substance and the tastes components didn't seem to be enticing. Although the crispy beans were popular with the college kids.

We got a double order of this dish, which was broccoli with padron peppers. When brought to our table, our server finished it off with a light sauce that was more a broth. Most of the college kids at the table weren’t turned on to the Spanish flavors of the roasted padron peppers, so I ended up eating most of it. While I liked the peppers, I don’t know if there was anything special in the preparation.

I was hoping the pasta dish would be substantive like the pizza to satisfy the young appetites at the table. My sister ordered it with a fried egg on top just to give my nephew some added protein. But when it arrived, it was beautiful but quite a small serving. We all got just a spoonful of taste.

I forgot what kind of pasta it was, but they were small kernels almost like a grain and served with roasted tomatoes. I enjoyed the flavors of the tomatoes and the egg did help, but it wasn’t that filling.

This is the braised sunchokes, which again came out beautifully plated. But there was a tartness to the sunchokes that I didn’t enjoy, so this was the least popular dish of the night.

These dishes represented a bit more than half of the menu, and all the other items didn’t necessarily appeal to us. My sister, probably feeling a bit guilty about not feeding her son enough to eat, suggested we move on to dessert instead of eating more orders of what we already had.

We ended up ordering almost every item on the dessert menu. Probably the most beautiful dessert was this apple, which I think was called a “Claudette.” (Again, sorry, I didn’t take notes.) This was an ingenious dessert of thinly sliced green apples layered around a filling to recreate the shape of the apple. Inside were two types of filling; we all agreed that one of the filling was an apple sorbet. What was so interesting was the apple sorbet was hard like a crunchy apple, but melted when you ate it. This was my favorite dish of the night for the presentation, creativity and taste.

Other desserts we had was the classic cheesecake in a jar (which I had last time). My nephew loves cheesecake so he got a kick out of the idea of eating it straight out of a jar. We also ordered the cornbread pain de perdu with figs. The dish looked rustic and pretty, but all the components didn’t seem to blend well together.

We also had the saffron rice pudding, which came in a clear glass boat. The pudding texture wasn’t as creamy as I liked but it was pretty.

Overall, I felt the dishes were as creative as I remembered, but I did feel the portion sizes seemed smaller, which makes it hard IMHO to have a filling meal. One of my nephew’s friends did say he was impressed by the complexity of flavors in each dish, so I was glad that the experience opened his eyes to something new.

The service was just as proficient and friendly as before. Although I found only a few things to be thrilled about in Fox’s current fall menu, I am still impressed by his creativity and details in presentation. But for a better value, it might be worth checking out Ubuntu for lunch when you can order the white pizza.

Update experience (previous 4.5 stars): Holding steady at 4.5 even though plates seem smaller

La Farine French Bakery is Inching Closer

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:52:00 +0000

Earlier this year, I finally shopped at La Farine French Bakery and fell in love with their fruit tartlets, among other things. But the threat of carb overloaded was kept at bay because: 1) I’m lazy and 2) the original La Farine location on College Avenue on the edge of Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood would require a very long walk or a bus ride to get to from my apartment.

But curses! (I sound like a cartoon, huh?) Now La Farine has opened a new location on Piedmont Avenue, which is just a 10-minute walk from my place. I will now be forever tested on how often I can avoid the buttery goodness of La Farine’s baked French breads and pastries.

I couldn’t resist checking out the new location this past weekend when I was doing some grocery shopping. The store lacks some of the charm of the original location, but it definitely is roomier. There are several small tabletops along one side so you can sip on some coffee and munch on some pastries.

I noticed some pretty purple frosting cupcakes in the counter and there were tons of fruit tarts for sale. I picked up a whole grain baguette and one of the last two fruit tartlets.

What’s amazing about their tarts and tartlets are the colorful designs on top created by the carefully placed patterns of the fruit pieces. This one was a tartlet with some kind of yellow fruit thinly sliced and then made into a fan design. I couldn’t tell what it was but it reminded me of unripened mango, topped off with a few tiny raspberries. It was delicious!

If you’re ever wondering where I am on a weekend afternoon, chances are high I’ll be munching on a fruit tartlet at La Farine’s Piedmont Avenue location.

La Farine, 4094 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. (Other locations in Rockridge and Fruitvale in Oakland and Solano Avenue in Berkeley.) www.lafarine.com

Related posts:
My Apology and Thanks to La Farine

My 1,000th Post — But, really, who’s counting?

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:47:00 +0000

If Blogger is correct, this is officially my 1,000th post. (I guess I could click on my archives and count, but I’ll take their word for it.)

Yes, I can’t believe it myself. One thousand posts made up of more than 220 restaurant reviews, about 170 recipes, more than 132 trips to stores that I shared, nearly 80 recaps of “Top Chef” and “The Next Food Network Star,” and countless other interviews, video demos, cupcake love notes, and peeks into my frig. No wonder I’m always so tired.

This 1,000th post comes just a few weeks after I marked my blog’s three-year birthday. When I started, I thought I’d post maybe two or three times a week, so I didn’t expect to reach the 1,000 milestone so soon. But you’ve turned me into this obsessive posting machine, always wanting to put up something new to keep you guys happy and returning for more. So I hold you partly to blame for my prolific nature. ;-)

I tried to think of something significant to do for this 1,000th post. But I couldn’t come up with anything that grand to match the occasion. (You know, if I were a TV show I’d be in syndication.) So I decided, like usual, to just go with what’s on top of my head. Instead of just free-styling it, I decided to do it in one of my interview formats. So basically, I’m interviewing myself, which as a Single Guy isn’t that unusual since I’m constantly talking to myself. I just hope I can open up.

The following are edited excerpts of my conversation.

Single Guy: So can you believe it? 1,000 posts?

Ben: No, I can’t. I guess it just means I really love writing for this blog. Or maybe I just don’t know how to self-edit.

SG: Do you plan to keep up this pace? 1,000 posts in three years is kind of a lot.

B: Awhile back, I thought maybe I should slow down. Because, really, coming up with posts, then processing the photos to go with them, do take up a lot of time. I’m practically working on my laptop every night as I’m watching TV. I post about three to four times a week, and I thought I should drop back to maybe two to three times a week. But then I always find something I really want to talk about, and then I start getting a backlog of post ideas, so then I just end up throwing them up on the blog.

SG: People forget that you have a day job. And it’s not related to cooking.

B: Yes, this is just a side thing for me. I work full time in corporate communications, but this blog has been my way to creatively express myself in ways I can’t really do at work.

SG: What’s the best thing about having this blog?

B: Oh, so much. For one, it’s really given me a purpose. Before I never knew what to do with my weekends, but now I think, “oh, I should go out and find something to blog about.” And it’s given me a reason to go out and try a new restaurant. I used to hate dining alone, but now I have a reason to because I’m going to blog about it.

Second, it’s connected me to a community. Through my blog I’ve met people who also love food, and I’ve heard from readers or people who post comments, and that interaction is something that makes me feel like I’m part of something.

SG: What’s the worst thing about having the blog?

B: It would have to be the haters. I give people credit for being passionate about their beliefs and their opinions, but I’m a sensitive guy [awww] so I really do take the comments I read personally. So on the few occasions, and luckily it’s only been just a few times, when some anonymous person dumps on me or gives me some snarky, back-handed insult, it’s depressing. It makes me kind of sad knowing a stranger feels comfortable putting down someone they totally don't know.

There were a few times when I felt like I wanted to stop blogging because a comment made me so upset. I’m all for free speech, which is why I don’t require approval before a comment gets posted, but I think there’s a difference between expressing an opinion and just attacking someone. Readers don’t always see the full onslaught because I delete the really hateful comments. But since I have to read it first in order to decide to delete it or not, then it sticks with me, you know?

SG: So comments get to you?

B: Actually, I love comments. And I wish there were more comments on my posts because it makes me realize people are interested in what I posts. It’s my way to gauge what kind of posts you like reading. It’s just the hateful anonymous posts that I don’t like. In reality, a lot of the really hateful comments are to my cooking demos that I post on YouTube. I spend so much time blocking users on that site.

I do want to take this time, though, to give a shout out to my readers who consistently post comments, people like Foodhoe, Food Gal, Hungry Dog, Mrs. L, and Cookie. It really means a lot to me that you take the time to share your thoughts, even if it’s just a thumbs up because it lets me know that you like what you read. When I first started, I had no comments, and then this guy Seth started posting (and my friend, David, too but I told him to post). I realize readers come and go, and I haven’t seen a post from Seth for a long time. But if he’s still out there, I want to give him a hug for being one of my first commenters!

SG: Back to the point about YouTube, why do you post there if you get such hateful comments?

B: I treat it like a hosting server for my videos. Now that Blogger allows you to upload videos, I’ve thought of just doing it here on my blog. But even with all the negative people on YouTube, there’s also been a lot of new viewers who enjoy my videos and probably wouldn’t discover my blog if it weren’t for my YouTube channel. I have about 30 videos up and so far they’ve been viewed a total 208,000 times.

SG: That’s a lot. Which video is the most popular?

B: At first I thought it was the one where I made the spam musubi (more than 40,000 views) but when I last checked it was the one where I killed a live crab (58,500 views).

SG: So your blog is called “Cooking With The Single Guy,” but you haven’t actually been cooking that often lately. Or at least you haven’t been posting recipes.

B: When I started the blog, I figured I’d post a recipe a week. And my thing was posting simple recipes that single people who are cooking for themselves could easily make, especially after coming home from work. But after the first year, I went through my repertoire of recipes that I rely on as a single guy. I still cook a lot for myself, but it’s just I’m cooking the same recipes I’ve already posted. I’m hoping in the future to get back to posting more recipes. What I’m doing is thinking of past things I ate growing up and putting my own spin on them, or being inspired by ingredients I find or dishes I eat at restaurants. But yeah, I’m definitely going to get back in the test kitchen.

SG: What are your standbys that you’re always making?

B: When I don’t know what I feel like eating, I know I can always make paella and that gets me happy. There’s something about the paella rice that’s so hearty and comforting to me, and I love the flavors. You can just create your own paella by throwing whatever you have in the frig and then adding maybe chorizo or pimenton. So I make that often.

When I come home from work, I eat salmon often and would either steam it with black bean sauce or glaze it. Other dishes I make often are mapo tofu, spaghetti and meatball, or a stir-fry. When it’s in season, I love making my peaches and pork stir fry and sometimes if I remember I’ll make my sticky chicken. I have to make a point to make that dish because you have to marinade the chicken pieces ahead of time.

SG: People think you eat pretty healthy because you’re always writing about how you don’t eat deep-fried foods or fatty dishes like foie gras. But I know you’re not perfect. So what are some of your food vices?

B: Well, it’s true I don’t drink sodas and I never go to fast-food places like McDonald’s. But I admit that I’ll sometimes go to KFC, mostly because I love their cole slaw. I peel the skin off the original-flavored chicken before eating them. And also when I’m out and about and can’t decide where to eat, I’ll sometimes resort to Panda Express because I do like their orange chicken even though I know they deep-fry it first before smothering it in the orange glaze. (Foodhoe, my secret’s out so now you can’t blackmail me! I did a Letterman! Ha!)

SG: What’s the question people seem to always ask you?

B: People always ask me about the name of my blog and what I’m going to do when I’m not single any more, whether I’ll change the title. I tell them that I don’t know because I don’t know if people will find me if I changed my URL or name, plus now I’ve built up some equity being the Single Guy.

SG: Um, I’m the Single Guy.

B: You know what I mean.

SG: So why are you still single?

B: That’s kind of personal, don’t you think?

SG: I think people want to know. I mean, you’re getting older and you’re still single. What’s the deal? I would think you’d find someone, especially since you like to cook, and they say the path to someone’s heart is through the stomach.

B: Is this leading anywhere?

SG: Yes, why aren’t you dating?

B: I don’t really like this line of questioning.

SG: Do you have something to hide?

B: I don’t think it’s any of your business. In fact, I think we’re done. This interview is OVER.

SG: Awwwk. Waaard.

So this is the point where I couldn’t get myself to continue the interview, and boy, was it quiet around my apartment when I wasn’t talking to myself for three days! But eventually I came around and while I never really finish the interview, I am open to answering any of your questions. So if you have any additional questions you want to ask, just post a comment. I’ll be happy to answer them, except the one about why I’m not dating! And thanks everyone for visiting my blog and coming back regularly. I hope you enjoy reading my next 1,000 posts!

Dish on Dining: Pizzeria Picco

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:03:00 +0000

Cozy Pies in North Country
320 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur
Downtown
PH: 415.945.8900
Open daily for dinner, weekends for lunch and dinner
No reservations, major credit cards accepted
www.pizzeriapicco.com

LARKSPUR
Pizzeria Picco’s name is often thrown in when people talk about the best pizza in the Bay Area. But I always could never make the comparison myself because I don’t have a car. So my gauge for the best pizza is limited to San Francisco and the East Bay.

But when my friend David was out of town and left me his car to use, I drove up on a Saturday night to test out Pizzeria Picco’s Italian pies. For company, I brought along my friend Ken, the seafood-dairy eating vegetarian.

We arrived on a blustery evening, so I wasn’t in the mood to sit outside on the patio that faces the street. So we waited for a counter seat in the tiny pizzeria.

Pizzeria Picco is next to the larger Picco restaurant next door. When owner Bruce Hill had the chance to expand to the space next to his restaurant, he decided to make it a pizzeria serving up Neapolitan-style thin crust pizza way before the Neapolitan craze took a grappling hold on the Bay Area.

The tiny space definitely has the feel of a neighborhood joint and not a stylized pizzeria. The coziness is accentuated by the wood-fire oven churning out pizzas every few minutes, the pizzaiolo slapping the finished pie loudly on the plate like the announcement of a new birth comes with the slap on the behind.

Each of the pizzas are supposedly named after bicycle brands because this is Marin where bike riders roam the Marin headlands and beyond. Since I don’t ride bikes, I can’t verify that all the names of the pizzas are bike names. Although I’m pretty sure the Margherita is the traditional Margherita pizza of tomato sauce and basil.

After studying the pizza options, many made primarily of vegetables, I settled for the Ibis ($14.95) and Ken went with the Della Santa ($12.50). But to start, I felt like something cool as we sat close to the wood-fire oven, so I ordered a cup of the tomato and melon gazpacho ($4).

The gazpacho came not in a cup but more like a Chinese tea cup. They didn’t serve it with a spoon, so I had to drink it like a shot. The taste was amazing, with an interesting tartness that cuts into the tomato and melon flavors. It was quite complex, especially with the slight drizzling of Davero extra virgin olive oil (that’s the same oil used in their famous dessert of soft-serve ice cream with oil).

My pizza came out first, and it was beautifully designed with the green swirl of rapini pesto on the canvas of mozzarella and parmesan cheese. The toppings for the Ibis included bay shrimp, Picco pancetta and roasted peppers.

Ken’s Della Santa pizza came a few minutes later, looking actually very similar as a white pizza but played off more by the broccoli di ciccio. It was also topped with roasted peppers, spring onion and roasted garlic. Ken reported that it was a good pizza and he thoroughly enjoyed it.

As for me, I loved the flavor combinations of all the ingredients on my pizza. The slight sweetness of the bay shrimp offset the oil of the smoky pancetta, with everything wrapped by the cheese and bright rapini pesto. But in terms of pizza crust, there was a lot to be desired. The heavy layer of cheese made the pizza crust soggy, and almost bread-like despite being a thin crust. I had a hard time picking up the slices with all that droop factor.

And the flavor of the crust was just OK. It didn’t inspire me to eat the crust, which I sometimes do when I’m enamored by the dough itself. So while I ate the whole pizza, there were bits of crust edges left on my plate.

Because I had the gazpacho to start (and a cupcake prior to dinner), I passed on dessert. I know, I’m not supposed to leave without trying the Strauss Dairy soft-serve ice cream with extra virgin olive oil. Hey, I can just get a soft serve closer to home and drizzle olive oil on myself, thank you very much.

Pizzeria Picco definitely is the spot for pizza in Larkspur. Even though the wait wasn’t that long for us to get a pair of seats at the tiny counter, there was a constant parade of people coming in to pick up take out orders. While the service was efficient, it wasn’t super neighborly to make me want to stay longer. And since the pizza crust wasn’t crispy, I’m not sure if it’s worth the trek from Oakland for their pies. Great combination of ingredients and flavors, but the crust is a bit lacking.

Single guy rating: 3.25 stars (Tasty but Limp)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

More Pizza Posts:
Gialina Pizzeria: “The Best Pizza … At Least in Glen Park”
Flour + Water: “The Personal Touch to Your Pasta”
Pizzeria Delfina: “Showcase for Pizza and More”

The Frosting Never Stops Here

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:27:00 +0000

MILL VALLEY
After visiting Tyler Florence’s charming store here, I spotted a cupcake store across the street. So you know I had to stop there for a try.

Frosting Bake Shop is a quaint cupcake shop that looks like a combination bakery and gift shop. Painted in festive colors and happy dots, the store is made up primarily of gift products in the front.

At the counter, you’ll find the 11 regular flavors of cupcakes all under these slender glass domes, almost like precious jewels under glass. The cupcakes lacked the sophisticated look of, say, Kara’s or Georgetown Cupcakes. Instead, they had this craft project look, like the head cupcake designer is a 5-year-old. I’m not pointing that out as a negative; I sometimes like playfully decorated cupcakes.

The flavors also have playful names like Razzleberry and Willie Vanillie, as well as standards like Red Velvet. A couple of the flavors were already sold out, but in the end I settled for the Lemon Twist ($3), which is a lemon cake with sweet lemon butter cream frosting.

Also at the end of the counter were cupcake truffles, which the owner says is the latest fad in cupcakes. Basically, they’re miniature cakes covered in chocolate to resemble chocolate truffles. I would have tried a few, but I was headed to dinner and I was already spoiling my dinner with the lemon cupcake.

The Lemon Twist had this huge pile of frosting on top, so it was a bit difficult to eat. I pretty much had to just eat the frosting with no cake. But you know what? I loved the frosting, so I didn’t mind just eating it alone. It didn’t have the thick butter cream texture, and leaned more toward a light frosting. It was very airy and not sickly sweet, so it was perfect for me.

The cake itself was good, although slightly tough on the edge, which might just be a sign that it had been sitting around all day. Still, I thought it was a nice cupcake treat. Frosting Bake Shop looks like the perfect cute cupcake match for the tiny downtown Mill Valley.

Frosting Bake Shop, 7 E. Blithedale Ave., Mill Valley. PH: 415.888.8027. www.frostingbakeshop.com

Around cupcake country:
Georgetown Cupcake, Washington, D.C.
Crumbs Bake Shop, New York
Kara’s Cupcakes, San Francisco
Cake Coutore, Honolulu

Dish on Dining: East Ocean Seafood Restaurant

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:01:00 +0000

A Fine Spot for Celebrations
1713 Webster St., Alameda
PH: 510.865.3381
Dim sum, lunch and dinner daily
Reservations, major credit cards accepted
www.eastoceanseafoodrestaurant.com

When my Mom was in town, it was also around the time of her birthday so she had a birthday celebration with her relatives in the Bay Area. I had the task of finding an appropriate place, so for a central location for all the relatives, I zeroed in on East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Alameda.

I haven’t been to this Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant, but I’ve heard good things about their dim sum. And it seemed like everyone having a party these days go to East Ocean. In fact, when we went on a Saturday night, there were a couple of birthday parties on our side of the restaurant and a wedding on the other half.

The restaurant is conveniently located on Webster Street a few minutes after you come out of the Webster/Broadway tunnel from Oakland. The spacious dining room is set up for large family dinners, surrounded by decorative paintings and some aquariums filled with fresh seafood.

When I arrived before my Mom, I asked the waiter about special birthday buns served at Chinese dinners. (They’re shaped like peaches, which are a symbol of longevity.) He told me there wouldn’t be a problem getting them at the end of dinner, and he also asked if we wanted the last winter melon soup, and I said yes. It’s an entire winter melon served at the table, and often requires an advanced order.

When my Mom arrived, she selected the rest of the menu for her birthday dinner, which started off with this amazing order of fresh prawns, simply boiled and served with a chili-soy dipping sauce. The prawns were so fresh that a few of them still had the roe attached. These prawns, which just a few seconds were freely crawling all around the tank, were served whole with the head still on (you’re supposed to suck on it, which I just tried once) and arranged symmetrically on the plate.

Then came the winter melon soup, which like I said was served inside the winter melon. In fancier places in Hong Kong, they’d actually carve a design on the exterior, but ours was just wrapped in plastic wrap. Still, it was overflowing with ingredients. The soup is a clear broth, buoyed by the mild winter melon and accentuated with a variety of Chinese herbs and ingredients like ham and shiitake mushrooms. When served, the waiter scraps the actually winter melon flesh from the side. When cooked the flesh is clear and tender. It’s been awhile since I’ve had this soup (yeah, how often do you order an entire winter melon, they’re huge!) so it was nice to start off with this soup.

Next up was the East Ocean Cold BBQ appetizer platter, which comes with an assortment of items, including Chinese BBQ char siu, soy sauce chicken, pickled pig’s feet (two version) and crunchy jelly fish. Everything on the platter was made with traditional tastes, but with fresh ingredients. (My favorite parts of this appetizer platter is the jelly fish, sliced thin and dressed in a vinaigrette and the thinly sliced pickled pig’s feat.)

The rest of our dinner included a minced squab and vegetables dish served on lettuce bowls. the entire dish was tasty and refreshing with the lettuce.

Then a plate of fried tofu stuffed with shrimp. This is a common dish in Chinese households, one that my Mom often makes at home so it was probably a comfort dish for my Mom to order it at her birthday banquet. The fried tofu creates a brown exterior for the tofu’s silken insides, then covered with an oyster sauce.

This is the steamed yellow feather chicken with a ginger-green onion dipping sauce. This is also a very simple chicken dish with clean flavors, but one that reminds my Mom of the dishes she had growing up in Hong Kong. I found the dish a bit difficult to eat because the skin didn’t easily come off the meat, which is really what I’m focused on.

The highlight of the dinner is lobster egg noodles. For Chinese birthdays, it’s important to eat noodles because they symbolize long life like the length of the noodles. Not everyone has to order lobster noodles, but my Mom wanted something special. The noodles did look impressive with the lobster pieces, but I have to say I felt the noodles were a bit overcook.

Despite the last two dishes, all the other dishes were well done. The dinner ended with the peach buns I inquired about at the start of dinner. Our waiter was especially helpful with my family, so my Mom enjoyed the attention, the service, and the food.

I can’t say what East Ocean is like for dim sum, but it’s a fine option on the East Bay if you’re planning a traditional Chinese banquet and you want tasty food served in a grand way.

Single guy rating: 3.5 stars (Tastes that are spot on)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Related reviews:
Hong Kong Lounge: “A Banquet for Family and Friends”
Great China: “Feasting with Family in Berkeley”
Bund Shanghai: “Hearty Northern Chinese Cuisine Done Right”

Shopping With Tyler Florence

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:22:00 +0000

MILL VALLEY
OK, I wish I was shopping around with Food Network personality and chef Tyler Florence. But really all I did was visit his store in this Marin County town just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Last weekend I had my hands on some wheels, so I drove up to check out the Tyler Florence store in the heart of tiny downtown Mill Valley. Florence calls this place home, giving up New York pizza for the fresh seasonal ingredients of the Bay Area.

Along with rooting his family here, he’s opened the store and has plans for three restaurants around the Bay Area (most probably opening next year).

The store reflects Florence’s personality — charming, handsome and stylish. It’s a bit Williams-Sonoma meets Oakville Grocery. Several products are from his own branded line, but he also sells products that he’s become a fan of, many of them grown or produced in California.

He also stocks products from fellow Food Network friends, like the Barefoot Contessa and Jamie Oliver.

Walk past the front area of cookware and dinnerware and there’s a center kitchen area that looks like the perfect spot for Florence to do a cooking demo. On this day, however, the TV screens were running old shows of Julia Childs. In fact, it seemed like the kitchen was dedicated to the French-influenced kitchen master.

The only thing non-Julia was this black-and-white photo of Mick Jagger.

In the back of the store is a room filled with cookbooks that felt like an exclusive men’s club or den. The leather seats were offset by photographs and antiques, and the back wall displayed a boar head. (In fact, there were quite a few dead animals around the store. I didn’t get that.)

There are a lot of interesting things to explore at the store. Some products look familiar (like the wall of Dean and Deluca spices) while others look like exclusive offerings. The prices can also run all over the place, from a few dollars for a kitchen gadget to hundreds for an antique kitchenware.

Visiting the store does feel like you’re walking into Florence’s home and getting a look at his very expansive pantry.

The Tyler Florence Shop, 59 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. PH: 415.380.9200. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. www.tylerflorence.com

From Hive to Bottle to Table

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:52:00 +0000

Did you know there’s a board that actually goes around promoting honey? I thought that was funny too because to me these puppies sell themselves.

But, yep, there’s a National Honey Board, and I found out about them recently when they invited me to a special honey dinner at Perbacco in San Francisco. The Firestone, Colo.-based board packed up their honey and went on the road, putting on these special honey tasting dinners with the help of local chefs.

Honey? Oh, yes. Free dinner? Duh.

So last night I went over to Perbacco, the chic Italian restaurant in the Financial District, and brought along fellow food blogger and honey lover Foodhoe. We also met up with Food Gal, who drove up from Silicon Valley, and I also spotted or briefly met other food bloggers such as Tablehopper, Cooking with Amy, Kitchen Gadget Girl and Jen Maiser of Life Begins at 30. It was a virtual honeycomb of bloggers.

When we arrived, there was a bar offering up honey drinks and I picked up a honey mojito that had just the right balance of sweetness and mint. That primed my palate for the honey tasting in the back, where we listened to a presentation on the varieties of honey.

We tried 10 different types of honey, and learned that the names didn’t necessarily translate to the taste. Like the avocado honey didn’t taste like guacamole or the pumpkin honey didn’t say pumpkin pie. They just get their names from the plant’s pollen used to create the honey. But they were all quite different (although they all were achingly sweet; yeah, you try putting a teaspoon of straight honey in your mouth 10 times).

Some were light, others rich and gooey. The weirdest one was the buckwheat honey, which was thick as molasses, slightly dark like tar, and gave out a weird funky smell that was anything but sweet. It’s an acquired taste.

Speaking of taste, Perbacco’s staff kept us from getting tummy aches from all the sweets we were tasting by nourishing us with appetizers such as smoked goose breast with honeydew melon, honey and citrus marinated Asian pears with gorgonzola, and a salt cod croquette with lemon-honey aioli.

Then it was time to sit down for dinner, where we feasted on a five-course meal prepared by Perbacco’s Chef/Owner Staffan Terje. Chef Terje briefly talked about the challenge of using honey in preparing foods because, he says (and I agree), that you can’t use too much or else you increase the likelihood of burning.

First course: Honey-Glazed Smoked Trout with Roasted Beets and Horseradish Schiuma. Paired with a white wine: 2008 Langhe, Collaretto, Oddero, Piemonte.

The trout slices were layered with perfectly roasted slices of red and golden beets (I heart beets) and topped with a garnish of what seemed like miniature Italian flat leaf parsley that were seasoned with a light vinaigrette. The honey glaze served to lock in the moisture of the fish, but allowed the exterior to have the smokey look and flavor. Everything was beautiful and well balanced.

Second course: Sheep’s Milk Ricotta Agnolotti with Chestnut Honey-Brown Butter. Paired with a white wine: 2007 Kharisma, Ragnedda, Sardegna.

This was probably the star dish of the night as everyone raved about the honey brown butter, which was rich and luscious, gently kissing the light ricotta stuffed pasta. The brown butter and honey were a decadent combination that truly shows the strength of using honey in a savory dish. (BTW, my plate might not look as exciting as maybe Foodhoe’s or Food Gal’s because it lacked any of the slivers of sage sprinkled on the pasta. So now it looks kind of bland, although it tasted totally opposite.)

Third course: Honey and Arneis Poached Halibut with Thistle Honey Artichokes. Paired with another white: 2007 Roero, Arneis, Renesio, Malvira, Piemonte.

OK, this is where I’m going to blame the poor lighting and my bad eyes because I couldn’t really read the menu so wasn’t sure what this course was. So when the server placed the plate in front of me, I thought we were eating tofu. And I thought the tofu looked so white and bland that I turned my plate to show off the other components. So that’s how I took the picture above.

After I found out the main dish wasn’t tofu but a halibut filet, I retook the photo to give the halibut its due.

The halibut was silky like silken tofu. I guess you would be totally smooth and silky too if you sat in a pot of honey. (How many bottles of honey do you think would fill up my tub?) Overall, the dish didn’t have a distinct honey flavor.

Fourth course: 36-hour Honey and Barbera-Glazed Wagyu Short Ribs with Fall Vegetables and Herb Salad. Paired with a red wine: 2006 Barbera D’Alba, Tre Vigne, Clerico, Piemonte.

That’s right, that’s no typo. 36 hours, baby. This was a hearty dish of tender boneless short ribs. The honey glaze wasn’t overly sweet or sticky, instead it was a muted skin to the richly succulent meat. The roasted parsnips, carrots and potatoes with a tiny herb salad (with a minty zing) rounded out this dish.

Fifth course: Dessert plate of Milk and Honey Panna Cotta with Lemon-Zest Gelatina, Torrone Semifreddo, and Butermilk Bombolone with Honey Dulce de Leche. Paired with a dessert wine: 2008 Mascato D’Asti, Strev, Marenco, Piemonte.

I was looking forward to dessert because I thought this is where honey would really shine, but Chef Terje used a controlled hand again with the honey in dessert. So none of the desserts were overly sweet, including the panna cotta, which was more milky than honey. The torrone semifreddo was nice with some bits of nuts for the base, but I wished the dulce de leche with the bombolone was a bit more sweet because at the end of the meal is when I would throw caution to the wind and go crazy with the honey.

Overall, Chef Terje delivered an exquisite meal using honey both as a taste component and a cooking technique. It makes you realize that honey recipes don’t have to always be sweet, but savory too.

Speaking of recipes, try some of mines featuring honey:
Pomegranate-glazed Pork
Honey-Mustard Salmon
Asian-Style Pulled Pork Sandwich

Dish on Dining: Vanessa’s Bistro

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:55:00 +0000

A Twist on Vietnamese Dining
1715 Solano Ave., Berkeley
Solano Avenue neighborhood
PH: 510.525.8300
Lunch, Thu. and Fri., noon–2:30 p.m.; dinner from 4 p.m. daily except Tuesday
Reservations, major credit cards accepted
www.vanessasbistro.com

During my Mom’s visit, we did break from our parade of Chinese restaurants to try Vanessa’s Bistro in the Solano Avenue business district in Berkeley. I usually can convince her to try something like Vietnamese because it’s still in the general Asian-food-with-rice family.

Vanessa’s has been open for awhile, and has created a buzz for its home-style Vietnamese dishes served tapas style (or small plates). Vanessa’s is also a mom-and-daughter establishment with Vanessa’s mom generally working the kitchen (although she wasn’t behind the stove the night we dined).

The dining room is contemporary with Vietnamese touches, but I was surprised to find that the seating area for regular diners seemed to be dwarfed by the huge bar and outdoor seating in front. Still, we got a table for four along the side (my sister who was traveling with my mom and my nephew’s girlfriend rounded out the party).

The menu offers bits of familiar Vietnamese dishes like shaking beef but in small portions and with added ingredients to put Vanessa’s creative touch to them. We decided to order a few dishes to eat family style, which seemed like a good idea. But turns out that some of the dishes were too small to share among four people. You’ll see what I mean.

We started with an heirloom tomato salad ($7) that was one of the specials of the night. The heirloom tomatoes, which were meaty and fresh, were buried by a mountain of crumbled cheese. Still, the salad (which also included artichoke hearts) was something my sister and I craved after days of dining out.

The Salt and Pepper Fried Calamari ($8) also came buried under a pile of sautéed vegetables. (Not sure what it is about Vanessa’s presentation but she seems to hide the main ingredient.) This dish, which came in a cute bamboo steamer, was mostly for my Mom, who loves fried foods. I tried one just to see what it was like, and while the calamari looked pale rather than golden brown, it was tender. My Mom really liked the preparation.

Another starter was the Tuna and Salmon Poke ($9), which I’m sure my sister ordered because she wanted a feel of home (they live in Hawaii). The raw tuna and salmon were mixed with avocado and mango chunks and served with a ginger-tomato salsa. I thought everything worked nicely together, and liked the added twist of mango to what is typically tuna tartar at other restaurants.

Some of our meat dishes (which still came as small plates) included the Maple Leaf Duck Confit Lettuce Wraps ($9). The tender duck pieces were buried once again in crushed peanuts. We grabbed them and wrapped them in the lettuce leaves with a piece of basil, then dipped the wrap in the accompanying fish sauce concoction. The duck was tender and the flavors were light and fresh.

The Claypot with Chicken and Prawns ($10) was OK, but I didn’t feel the flavors of the chicken or prawns (and added bok choy and mushrooms) blended into the rice. It felt like the dish was cooked in another pot and then poured into the claypot for display, not really allowing the juices of all the ingredients to meld together.

We also ordered the Rack of Lamb ($20), which came from the specials menu. The dish was made up of two pieces of chops that were glazed. The lamb was a little on the tough side, and since there were only two pieces, it meant not everyone at the table could get a taste of the lamb (although we were polite and pretended like we couldn’t finish one chop).

We also got a side of green beans with tofu ($7) that came with a special sauce. The sauce wasn’t necessarily very special, but the dish was hearty and a nice complement to make up for the small lamb plate.

Vanessa’s offers quite a bit of desserts, so we ordered two to share at our table. One was the Banana Fosters made with rum and topped with a coconut-caramel sauce. Funny, but I don’t really recall tasting a strong coconut flavor, but when you have warm bananas with ice cream, how bad can that be?

We also ordered the special pear tart for the day. The plate, served with vanilla ice cream, looked pretty and the pear pieces were nicely lined in a pattern. But I felt the pear wasn’t tender enough.

As we ate, more people came in for dinner and the noise level became horrendous. We could barely hear ourselves, which seemed odd since the place didn’t necessarily have high ceilings. I think it’s just the acoustics of the floor arrangement or something, but it’s one of the noisiest places I’ve eaten at, and I generally can zone out the noise. (But then again I’m usually eating alone and not worrying about talking!)

In the end, though, my Mom was impressed by the food, which is saying a lot because she’s not the type that eats outside her comfort zone. So I guess Vanessa’s does offer something different when you need a change from the routine.

Single guy rating: 3.25 stars (Bits of diversity)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Other Vietnamese dining reviews:
Rang Dong: “Vietnamese Cuisine that’s Hard to Pin Down”
Out the Door: “Dressed Up Street Food at Restaurant Prices”
Turtle Tower: “A Local Favorite Serving up Steaming Bowls of Pho”

A Summer of Pisco Sour

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:26:00 +0000

I’ve talked about how the pisco sour is my favorite drink of the moment. It’s partly because of the presentation of egg whites whipped into a foam and partly because pisco was banned in this country until a couple of years ago.

The pisco sour is the national drink of Peru and is pretty popular in other parts of South America as well. I had my first one in Buenos Aires. The main components of a pisco sour are lemon or lime juice combined with egg whites and, of course, pisco, which is a grape brandy. It’s topped off with dots of bitters, usually Angostura bitters.

Pisco also has a connection with San Francisco, which made a once-popular drink called the pisco punch. It’s a fun drink too, but I’m still a pisco sour fan.

So much of a fan that this past summer I decided to go on the search for the best pisco sour in the Bay Area. And luckily, I found a few bars serving this drink up. How many actually served it up right is another story.

Now that summer is over, here’s my list of pisco sours I’ve tried and how they ranked. I should make clear that I’m not an expert on what is a true pisco sour since I didn’t grow up in Peru, but I’m giving you my impressions of which drink was the most balanced and tasty, and in a way took me away to Peru.

I ranked each drink on presentation, authenticity and taste, on a scale of 1 to 5. I found the pisco sour at nine locations, and here they are, starting with the bottom on my list:

Levende East, 827 Washington St. (at 8th), Oakland. 510.835.5585
Cost: $9, Overall rating: 2.5

Presentation: 3.0
Authenticity: 2.0
Taste: 3.0

Notes: This drink threw me off a bit because it was finished without the traditional bitters on top, not even one dot, and it was served with ice cubes. It tasted fine but for some reason without the bitters and with the added ice cubes, it made me feel like I was drinking a margarita, especially with the lime garnish.

La Furia Chalaca, 310 Broadway, Oakland. 510.451.4206
Cost: $9, Overall rating: 2.75

Presentation: 2.75
Authenticity: 2.75
Taste: 3.0

Notes: You would think this Peruvian restaurant would serve up an authentic pisco sour, and if this is how it is, then my idea of a pisco sour is totally off. The drink was served with grated cinnamon instead of the bitters, and I felt the brand of pisco used was especially strong and not very smooth. The multi-colored straws didn’t really say sophistication either.

Absinthe, 398 Hayes St. (at Gough), San Francisco, 415.551.1590
Cost: $9, Overall rating: 2.75

Presentation: 3.0
Authenticity: 2.5
Taste: 2.5

Notes: People raved to me about the pisco sour at the longtime popular restaurant bar, but I have to say the drink was sloppily made, with the bitters drizzled on top without the dots I typically see. Plus, the egg whites dominated the drink and never really separated to reveal the pisco. The pisco also tasted strong, just like whisky. I did appreciate how the drink was served very cold, which makes it a great summer drink.

Five, 2086 Allston Way (at Shattuck), Berkeley. 510.225.6055
Cost: $10, Overall rating: 3.0

Presentation: 2.5
Authenticity: 2.5
Taste: 3.25

Notes: Served in a short champagne glass, Five’s version also had an unusual pattern on top using the bitters, making almost an abstract design. Beyond that, I thought the bitters looked unusually red instead of the typical rust color and the bartender looked like it was the first time he made one in a long while as he went about looking for an egg to whip up the whites.

Pisco Latin Lounge, 1817 Market St., San Francisco. 415.874.9951.
Cost: $9, Overall rating: 3.25

Presentation: 3.25
Authenticity: 3.0
Taste: 3.25

Notes: I had high hopes for the pisco sour at Pisco Latin Lounge. I mean, come on, it has pisco in its name. But it turned an odd twist when the bartender served it with a happy face on top, and then the egg foam never really settled or separated. Also, the particular pisco used was especially strong and didn’t balance well with the overall drink.

Adesso, 4395 Piedmont Ave. (at Pleasant Valley), Oakland. 510.601.0305
Cost: $7, Overall rating: 3.5

Presentation: 3.5
Authenticity: 3.0
Taste: 3.5

Notes: It was served in a really beautiful curved tumbler and the bartender grated nutmeg on top and added the bitters in front of me, which is a nice touch although I wasn’t sure about the nutmeg. The taste was nice and balanced but there were bits of chipped ice in the drink, which I find distracting.

Alembic Bar, 1725 Haight St., San Francisco. 415.666.0822
Cost: $10, Overall rating: 3.75

Presentation: 3.5
Authenticity: 3.5
Taste: 4.0

Notes: The drink was served up in a glass like what you’d serve bear, so not as elegant as others I’ve had, but I thought it was creative how they made a pattern with the bitters (I’m not always totally against unusual patterns with the bitters as long as it looks nice and not sloppy). The taste was a nice balance but overall a bit lukewarm. It could have been more refreshing.

Nopa, 560 Divisadero St., San Francisco. 415.864.8643
Cost: $9, Overall rating: 4.0

Presentation: 4.5
Authenticity: 3.75
Taste: 4.0

Notes: This is one pisco sour I can drink again and again. Nopa puts their own spin with a pattern created by the swirl of the bitter spots, and it’s served up in a martini glass, looking very classy and refreshing. The taste is balanced and quite a bit of a drink, even in a martini glass.

La Mar Cebicheria Peruana, Pier 1.5, The Embarcadero, San Francisco. 415.397.8880
Cost: $5 (Happy hour, 4-6 p.m.), Overall rating: 4.5

Presentation: 4.5
Authenticity: 4.5
Taste: 4.5

Notes: So La Mar is where I found the best version in the Bay Area, looking like what I think a pisco sour should be, with the perfect foam and bitter dashes. This restaurant from Peru serves up its pisco sour in a simple tumbler. The taste was also refreshingly cool with a very balanced pisco and sour combination. It helps that the price is right during happy hour.

Honorable mention: One of my favorite pisco sours I tried this summer was actually in New York when I dined at Eleven Madison Park. This luxurious restaurant also serves up a luxurious pisco sour. What was so unique about this version was the pure frothiness and creaminess of the egg whites and pisco. It was like drinking a smooth liquid custard. I found it very enjoyable even at its high price of $11.

Dish on Dining: Hong Kong Flower Lounge

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:38:00 +0000

Going Beyond Your Average Dim Sum
51 Millbrae Ave. (at El Camino Real), Millbrae
Near Millbrae BART
PH: 650.692.6666
Open daily for dim sum, lunch and dinner
Reservations (for dinner or large parties for dim sum), major credit cards accepted
www.mayflower-seafood.com

MILLBRAE
I just realized that a couple of the restaurants I took my Mom to last week had a distant link to the once popular Hong Kong Flower Lounge. Earlier this week I blogged about our dinner at Hong Kong Lounge (in the former spot of Hong Kong Flower Lounge of San Francisco), and today I’m going to talk about our dim sum adventure at Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae.

Even though this restaurant has kept the name of the popular restaurant from the late 1980s, it’s been under the ownership of the Mayflower Group, another Hong Kong chain, for the last two years. Still, it’s retained a lot of the look and charm of a traditional Hong Kong tea house.

We had a real family dim sum experience last Saturday when I went with my Mom, my uncle and aunt who lives in San Leandro, and my aunt and cousin, who were visiting from Los Angeles. Hong Kong Flower Lounge remains a popular spot for dim sum, so there was a crowd waiting for tables when we arrived at noon. (They have a large dining area on two floors, and what looks like an ante room in the front bar/lounge area.)

But what was interesting was I noticed that people don’t seem to have much patience. When numbers were called, many of the parties had already given up and left. (I’m guessing some went to the nearby Fook Yuen, another popular dim sum spot just a block north on El Camino Real, or The Kitchen, also in Millbrae.) Whatevs, this just meant our wait for a table for six was maybe 20-30 minutes. (Yes, it’s no where near the crazy crowds of Koi Palace in Daly City.)

Dim sum at Hong Kong Flower Lounge are pushed around in carts or carried around on trays by servers. (Prices are $2.60 for small plates, $3.20 for medium plates, $4 for large plates, and $6 for special orders.) You can also make special requests with your server, which is actually how my family went. Lucky for me, my aunt and cousin from Los Angeles are originally from Hong Kong (just like my Mom) and they still live there half the time of the year.

So they ordered a few dishes that I’ve never tried before. Even without their orders, I found some interesting looking dim sum in the carts that I’ve never seen at other restaurants or even on my previous visits here (I’ve eaten dim sum here in the past under previous management). So thumbs up for the variety at the current Hong Kong Flower Lounge.

One of the first items my Mom ordered was the joong, which is boiled sticky rice with filling. I don’t know if my Mom ordered two orders or if this was just one, but everyone at our table was amazed by the size. It was also very tasty, with the fresh rice infused with the flavors of Chinese sausages, chicken, mushrooms and salted duck egg.

As you walk in to the main dining room, there’s a cook station where a server is prepping some of the specialty fried dishes, like very thin crepes made into pancakes. We got an order of the scallion pancakes, which is actually a Northern Chinese specialty. I didn’t try it because it looked oily, and most of my family agreed that it wasn’t the best.

There were tons of fried stuff to be eaten because my Mom, unlike me, doesn’t discriminate against deep-fried or fatty foods. So she ordered things like a plate of Chinese-style fried chicken wings and was easily convinced by a server to try the fried sea mullet fish. The fried mullet didn’t look very appetizing because somehow it was fried but the crispy exterior remained snow white. I did try one piece out of curiosity, and while the fish was tender, it wasn’t very crispy.

We did get a few regular dim sum dishes, such as siu mai or shrimp-pork dumplings (my standby), meatballs (my cousin’s standby), and cheong fun or flat noodles with barbeque pork filling. All of these were fresh and good, but as expected and not exceptional.

I should note that we had an excellent server who spoke Cantonese to my family and joked around with my relatives. I’m guessing this isn’t the typical service at Hong Kong Flower Lounge because I have to say I saw a lot of tables get ignored or people sitting around with no food. So while I felt like our table was special, I did wonder what the experience would be if we didn’t speak Chinese?

Just something to keep in mind in this bloodsport of dim sum dining.

Back to the food: we also had two varieties of savory pudding cakes. Typically you’ll see the pan-fried turnip cakes, but our family likes to eat it steamed (which most dim sum restaurants don’t bother doing because they think Americans like everything fried). It was served in a cute ramekin and I really enjoyed the freshness of the grated daikon mixed with the various ingredients. My cousin prefers the mai tai gou, which is like the turnip cakes but is made with water chestnuts instead.

Another special item requested by my aunt from Hong Kong was called lo bok sou, which is like the turnip cakes except it’s made like a turnover. We saw something similar in the carts, but my aunt didn’t like the filling in that version so the waiter put in an order for us. It took awhile, but when it came out it was piping hot and the turnip filling was sweet and tender. I really enjoyed this and will remember to ask for this in the future.

My other aunt had a craving for the ginger pickled pig’s feet. I know, only someone raised on this can really have a craving for this dish, which is customarily served at the one-month birthday parties for Chinese children. The dish consists of pig hooves marinated and stewed in a sweet ginger sauce with boiled eggs. The bowl came in the typical dark brown soup. I didn’t try this dish.

Near the end of our lunch, my Mom ordered a claypot rice dish. Again, this took awhile to come out but when it did, it was amazing. The rice was cooked with large pieces of chicken and shiitake mushroom. The rice was so fresh and fragrant. My uncle kept marveling at the price — just $4 — and kept saying how he would be happy to come to dim sum and just order this dish. (He also noted how pissed off the servers would be if he held a table just eating this one dish.)

I think because we ate so many rice-based dishes, we were pretty full. Of course, that didn’t stop my Mom from ordering two joong (the sweet versions) that she was going to carry on her flight back home to Hawaii the next day. (The total for our table was about $75, which is excellent for six people.)

Through the years, Hong Kong Flower Lounge has been a gathering place for families on the Peninsula. Its kitchen continues to produce fresh and decent dim sum that’s always satisfying and in a few instances, revelatory. They have some interesting dishes that go beyond the typical dim sum varieties. You just need to ask.

Single guy rating: 3.5 stars (A little something different)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Other dim sum reviews:
Asian Pearl: Dim Sum that Offers Few Jewels
Koi Palace: Dim Sum Gem Still Going Strong
King of Kings: The Working Man’s (or Woman’s) Dim Sum Joint”

Not Feeling So Creative at Creations

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:13:00 +0000

You wouldn’t think Chinese people have a sweet tooth if you look at the scarcity of desserts offered up on menus. Chinese dinners typically end with fresh fruit (in Asia) and fortune cookies (in Americanized Chinese restaurants in the United States).

But Creations Dessert House is trying to buck that trend, selling a variety of Asian-style desserts day and night. This restaurant (it’s more like a café) is part of a Hong Kong-based chain called Hui Lau Shan (named after the founder). Its first U.S. outpost is on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco’s outer Richmond neighborhood.

I took my Mom and sister to Creations for an afternoon snack during their visit last week. The exterior really looked like some place in Hong Kong with its fiery dragons and red-and-gold motif. Inside, it looked like a frozen yogurt shop with the pastel colors and flat-screen TV.

The menu is this big placard showing photos of the desserts and teensy-weensy printing of the names and descriptions. This was horror to my eyes. (I mean, really, 8 point font? Seriously?)

The offerings are broken up into categories representing common Chinese dessert types: bird’s nest (dessert made with the popular Chinese soup ingredient), crystal snow (think snow cones), glutinous rice balls (like Japanese mochi), sago (tapioca pearls) and anything mango.

It did seem a bit overwhelming, even though the photos all looked the same because most of the desserts were topped with mixed fruits that looked all the same. Out of pure exasperation, I just went with something from the Mango Mania section because I love mango. So I ordered the Sago in Mango Juice with Extra Mango ($4.50).

My sister felt the same pressures and also ordered from the mango section, but she went for the Black Glutinous Rice in Coconut Juice with Extra Mango ($4.50). My Mom went off menu and ordered the Black Sesame Juice with Glutinous Rice Balls ($5.50), something my dad used to make fresh for us (the black sesame, not the rice balls).

Our orders arrived and the bowls looked pretty big, although somewhat sloppily assembled by our young server. My mango dessert was OK, although the mangoes weren’t super sweet. I liked my sister’s mango dessert better because of the contrast with the black sticky rice (similar to desserts found at Thai restaurants). Both our desserts are served cold and my Mom’s was warm. The black sesame juice or pudding was nice but I liked the full body in my dad’s version. Creations’ version seemed a bit thinned out.

Side note: I also ordered a glass of watermelon juice ($2.95) that was really refreshing, and my Mom—unlike me—ordered the special fried turnovers filled with cheese and crab meat. She will eat anything fried.

It took a long time for the fried crab turnovers to arrive, but it looked fresh and the skin was crunchy. They were like fried won tons. (I tried one so I could tell you guys about it.) Unfortunately, the filling was gross. And I rarely use that word in food reviews, but it was, mostly because the cheese was some processed cheese that was so watery it reminded my sister of mayonnaise. And my Mom complained that there wasn’t enough crab meat to really get a crab flavor.

Creations has been open for awhile and it’s starting to show some wear and tear. While generally clean, it just feels a bit tired. And what’s odd is that they serve their dessert with plastic utensils. (I think they do have regular flatware but maybe the servers are too lazy to wash them so they just pass out the plastic ones, which are tiny.)

Creations is a nice idea because Asian-style desserts can hit the spot when you have the sweet tooth. But it’s kind of hit and miss depending on who’s serving you at that moment. Without much competition, I can’t really see it improving much.

Creations Dessert House, 5217 Geary Blvd. (between 16th and 17th Streets), San Francisco. PH: 415.668.8812 www.creationsdessert.com

Other sweet posts:
Georgetown Cupcakes (Washington, D.C.)
What’s Up at Fentons
Lush Gelato

Dish on Dining: Hong Kong Lounge

singleguychef@comcast.net (Single Guy Ben) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:11:00 +0000

A Banquet for Family and Friends
5322 Geary Blvd. (between 17th and 18th Avenues), San Francisco
Outer Richmond
PH: 415.668.8836
Open daily for dim sum and dinner
Major credit cards, reservations accepted

During my Mom’s and sister’s visit last week, I feasted at several Chinese restaurants as my Mom got together with family and friends. One of those restaurants that are made for family-style dining is Hong Kong Lounge in San Francisco’s second Chinatown, aka the Richmond District.

Hong Kong Lounge is in the same location of the once-popular Hong Kong Flower Lounge, but it has no connections to the previous restaurant other than the name is almost the same. We arrived early on a weeknight for dinner as my Mom met up with three of her friends.

The restaurant, which is also popular for dim sum, glitters like other ostentatious Hong Kong-style restaurants. Most of the tables are for large parties, which was fine since there were six of us.

We ordered the $69.99-prix fixe menu, which comes with soup of the day, choice of sautéed lobster or Peking duck, and four other entrées that you select from a long one-page list. Since Chinese people are always worried there won’t be enough to eat for guests, we added an additional two courses off the regular menu.

Soup of the day at most Chinese restaurants is typically a dark broth with some kind of meat and a few herbs for flavor. At Hong Kong Lounge, they sweetened their soup with summer corn, which really added a nice twist to what can be quite a boring soup.

First up was sautéed fish with vegetables, a pretty basic dish that my Mom likes to order to make up for all the meat that typically comes to our table. I never can figure out what kind of white fish is used because of the Chinese names, but I’m guessing it was a cod. The dish was light and simple, but nothing exceptional.

Next came XO Chicken, which is basically soy sauce chicken but they use the XO brand. While this is a very pedestrian dish, the chicken was nicely cooked. It wasn’t overly salty, and our chicken pieces were quite plump.

Side note: I should point out that in the pictures, I didn’t always shoot the entire dish because, as per etiquette in Chinese dining, the guests and elders get served first. So oftentimes the food were placed in front of my Mom and her friends on the other side of the table and by the time it rolled over to me, several people had already gotten their hands into the dish!

We opted for the lobster instead of the Peking duck, and I’m kind of thinking we should have gotten the duck. The lobster was presented in a grand way with the head on the plate, but it seemed like there wasn’t much meat. It didn’t look like the lobster was very big, and it was simply cooked with the typical gloopey sauce of cornstarch.

We also ordered a plate of ong choi, the Chinese greens that were simply sautéed. And there was also a plate of sweet and sour pork, which was tasty but heavy on the batter, IMHO.

I’m a big fan of claypots, so we ordered the Oysters and Pork Belly Claypot, which also had mushrooms, greens and tofu. My Mom and her friends were disappointed that the claypot only had three pieces of oysters (even though they were quite huge) because that made it hard to make sure everyone at the table got one. I was one of the lucky ones who got an oyster, but I was disappointed that it was overcooked despite having a lot of meat to it. The pork belly was nice and they overcompensated for the lack of oysters with a lot of tofu.

To try something different, we ordered the Coffee Spare Ribs, which was served with a squirt of whipped cream to suggest a cappuccino, I guess. The spare ribs had a nice glaze on them, and a very distinct coffee flavor that lingered in your mouth even after you were done chewing on the meat. This was an odd dish that I found likeable and strange at the same time. The coffee taste didn’t seem to belong with the dish, but the honey is what must have kept me wanting to eat more.

The service ranges from friendly to brusque; it’s not the type of restaurant where they check up on you. If you need something, you have to flag down a server. When you order, a slip of paper with the dishes you ordered is kept at the front of your table (it’s a computerized slip with Chinese characters) and the server scratches off the dishes as they arrive.

The total for our table of six was $109 (the prix fixe plus the additional two courses). For a total of six courses, that works out to be about $18 per person, which is a pretty good deal. (We also got complimentary dessert, which at Chinese restaurants is typically a sweet bean soup served warm or a tapioca soup with melons served cold. This night we got the sweet bean soup, which was fine except I did take my Mom to a dessert place in the afternoon before dinner so we couldn’t finish our desserts. Complimentary desserts aren’t always a given at Chinese restaurants. Often you have to ask about it, and generally it’s only given to large parties.)

Overall, I found the food at Hong Kong Lounge to be satisfactory but not exceptional. It’s not greasy, which is always a sign of good Hong Kong-style food, but the cornstarch ratio can sometimes veer on being too much, which creates the gloopey sauce. It’s what I would consider a good family-style neighborhood restaurant that you can bring guests to, but it’s not a destination restaurant.

Single guy rating: 2.75 stars (Familiar and reliable)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Similar restaurant reviews:
Jai Yun: “Family Dinner with Chef Nei”
Great China: “Feasting with Family in Berkeley”