A Perfect Meal

Yesterday while the rest of San Francisco was going nuts over the Giants game I had the privilege of listening to two of my food idols speak as part of the City Arts & Lectures program. As I've become more interested in food I've also become more aware of my food. Meaning I've learned to ask where my food comes from, how was it manufactured or produced, how did it get to my plate, who was involved in getting it to my plate. Two of my favorite food writers happen to be champions of that kind of food thinking, Ruth Reichl, the former New York Time's food critic and editor of Gourmet and Mark Bittman, New York Times food writer and author of the cookbook How to Cook Everything. I was ecstatic over the opportunity to hear them speak and it was a very sobering, thought provoking talk about how we eat in modern America and how it affects our health but what I wanted to write about tonight is the meal I had beforehand.
When my friend and I decided to go to this talk we also wanted to have dinner beforehand. We talked about where we should go and it only felt appropriate to go to the legendary Zuni Cafe. I've been there before and it is a truly wonderful restaurant. It's perfectly San Francisco, located close to the opera house and city hall in a beautiful, light filled, two level space. The interior is warm and inviting, done in golden tones and warm woods and the restaurant has been around for awhile and buzzes with the atmosphere of precision and routine. When you go to Zuni there is one dish you must get which is their famous roast chicken. Now I generally, as a rule, do not even like chicken but the Zuni chicken is extraordinary. The chicken takes an hour to cook so my friend and I also got a Caesar salad to share and a plate of shoestring fries. We happily munched on the fries and the delicious, classic and well balanced Caesar until our chicken arrived. You get a whole chicken to split for two and it comes to you already cut up atop their bread salad. The chicken is a revelation, succulent, flavorful with crispy skin and bursting with chickeny goodness. The accompanying bread salad is just as good as the chicken, the bread is flavored with the chicken drippings and vinegar to provide a lovely balance of acid and savory accented by the sweetness of currants and pine nuts. It is one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life and I have never been less than transported to some higher culinary plain when eating it. What made last night's meal really special though was our dessert. We opted to share an apple tart with creme fraiche as an homage to the season. Apple anything just seems so appropriate in the fall. This apple tart was quite possibly the best I've ever had. The apples were perfect with sweet apple flavor and the dough was buttery, flaky perfect. The slight tanginess of the creme fraiche set the whole thing off and following the savoriness of the chicken it was the perfect ending to a perfect meal.

Never Say No to Panda!

This is so freaking hilarious!

A little Egypt, a little Kenya.

Our big 2010 trip. Egypt and Kenya, here are a few pictures.





View the rest of the photos here.

It's been a while...

I know it's been a long time since I've posted. But don't be mad! I've been spending my time finding treasures like this:

Food Musings - Crispy Pork Belly Sandwich with Egg Salad

In San Francisco and probably the rest of the food world Tartine Bakery is legend. There is always a line out the door and around the block of people waiting patiently for some of the most delicious pastries and amazing breads you will ever eat. I'm a big Tartine fan and my favorite thing they serve is their banana cream pie which is a delicious concoction of flaky pastry, chocolate, caramel, pastry cream and ripe bananas. Heaven. But I digress. I was super excited when I heard that Tartine was going to open up a partner restaurant named Bar Tartine. I wanted to wait a bit before going to give the crowds a chance to die down and for the restaurant to work out all the kinks. Then I read a story about this amazing sandwich that Bar Tartine was serving and I was like "TAXI! Take me to Bar Tartine ASAP!!! Also, do you take credit cards?" And then I was like "Hello crispy pork belly sandwich with egg salad on country bread with pickled red onions and mixed greens get in my belly!!" Seriously though, this sandwich is AMAZING. I happen to love egg salad and I also love pork belly but I'd never thought to put the two together but thank God Bar Tartine did because now my life is complete. This sandwich is totally decadent and I can probably only handle eating it about once a year but it is totally worth it. Crispy, fatty, juicy, succulent pork belly atop creamy egg salad with all that yolky goodness spread on top of crusty country bread and topped with pickled onions to give a tart counterpoint and arugula for a spicy kick (and to make it seem healthier.) Everything together is in perfect balance and it is a flavor explosion of savory pork belly, creamy egg salad, tart and sweet pickled onions and spicy arugula. If you are in San Francisco (and have low cholesterol) I highly recommend this sandwich.

Sing It Sister!!

For all the non whore ladies out there!

Food Musings - Berries and Cream

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is one of my favorite books (of course) and one of my favorite passages is when Eleanor is talking to Margaret and trying to cheer her up, tells her about the picninc they are going to have tomorrow where they will eat strawberries and cream. Something about the phrase "strawberries and cream" has always tickled my fancy and it also happens to be one of my favorite desserts. In fact I enjoyed something similar tonight at the venerable Tadich Grill restaurant in San Francisco. Pictured above is their mixed berries with zabaglione (a custard like sauce made of egg yolks, Marsala wine and sugar.) There is something so simple and satisfying about the dessert. I know most people tend to favor chocolate desserts in restaurants and don't get me wrong, I love chocolate as much as the next girl (hello! I have my own truffle company!) but whenever I see zabaglione on the menu I have to order it. You can also find it sometimes as the French version, sabayon. It is an amazing dessert in spring and summer when berries are in season and at the peak of their flavor. The freshness of the berries contrasted with the sweet, creamy richness is a combination like no other. Think of everything you like about ice cream but in a more delicate and sweet sauce poured over the freshest, ripest berries you've ever tasted and in one bite you will be transported to the lovely England of Jane Austen, in a field with clover and honeysuckle around you enjoying fresh strawberries and cream with Eleanor, Marianne and Margaret. Now if they could only come up with a dessert that could approximate Mr. Darcy, I'd be a happy camper.

Screw Em!!

I love this kid.

Food Memories

I know I've been terrible about writing on the blog but I'm trying to find the right balance between sharing what's going on in my life and keeping private stuff private. I've also been in a bit of a rut about what to write about because as I've gotten older and more settled into my life it's not like I have all that much stuff that I would like to publicly write about. This blog started off as a space for me to share all the angst of being young, broke, and single in San Francisco and trying to find myself and the right guy and now I'm more sure of who I am and I've married a wonderful guy which is great for my personal life but isn't exactly blog fodder. So I'm going to try and take the blog in a new direction and use it as a forum for things I'm really passionate about and anyone who knows me knows I'm the most passionate about food. And I never really noticed this until recently but I have a pretty photographic memory for food. I can pretty much remember what I've eaten at any restaurant and usually what Pete ate as well if he was there. So for the next couple of blog entries I'm going to detail some of most favorite food memories. Tune in if you like food!

I Love

These videos have honestly changed my life. Honestly.