Dynamo Donut and Coffee

I hate that they spell it "donut," but I cannot resist a maple bacon doughnut.

San Buenas Taco Truck

Why, heLLO! How did I not know this existed? Unfortunately I did not have time to stop for a taco today, but $2 tacos every day near Sansome and Market, plus $2.50 fish tacos on Fridays sounds mighty tempting to me. Anyone want to make a date?

And okay, I can't lead Fara on anymore. I am not expecting a mini Pei. If I were I probably would not be going semi-vegan to pinch pennies and then be making dates to eat truck food. I'm crazy, but not that crazy.

Filler Post

eally really busy these days, as you guys know. I also gave my camera away, so it'll be boring posts and terrible Blackberry photos for you and busy days and practically vegan (read: money saving) meals for me. But my project is coming along! I think I'll be ready for a big reveal in a week or two. Meanwhile, thanks for hanging in there!

Sushi Toni

We tried Sushi Toni for a change today. Above is the volcano roll, but the point of this review is that I think Sushi Rika is cheaper, tastier, and has a nicer dining room, so I'll be going back there instead of Toni from now on. Oh well. Sorry, Toni!

Fuyu Persimmon

Fall means the arrival of Fuyu persimmons, a crunchy fruit that is sweeping the markets right now. I bought my first one of the year when I saw some real giants goinf for $1 a pound. This would be incredible dried, but I'm going to peel and eat it tonight!

Burger Bar

It's shaping up to be the next big tourist trap, but we had to go to Hubert Keller's new Burger Bar inside Macy's to see how their burgers and shakes shook up. Hey, we're locals, we have to keep updated on the lay of the culinary landscape, right?

I started with a nutella shake. Delicious, but overpriced. Given the $1.75 markup for specialty shakes, I think I would have been perfectly happy with a plain chocolate shake. That said, this creamy, thick, beautiful drink with fluffy whipped cream was quite a treat. So much so that I was full halfway through drinking it and could barely take three bites of my very large burger with caramelized onions and blue cheese.

J was there for one reason only: the $12 foie gras option. He wanted to go in case the Burger Bar starts shrinking the foie gras portions or resorting to serving chopped pieces of foie gras like the Las Vegas branch is rumored to do. The foie gras addition made for a very expensive burger, but it was worth it to try once. A huge slab of seared fat is a fantastic addition to a burger. Burger Bar also gets kudos for exceptional fried zucchini and onion rings. The french fries, on the other hand, were good but not great.

A VERY pricey lunch, but enjoyable as long as we didn't stare at the bill. I doubt I'll be a regular, but if I need a snack while shopping I could see myself stopping in for a shake or a side dish. I would go to share a burger or a plate of sliders, but the $2 split plate charge is a negative. Who knows though, maybe they'll stop enforcing that if customers insist. Overall, I think Burger Bar is a nice addition to Union Square.

Fried Rice

Sorry, all. I really haven't had time to cook anything interesting or document it in saliva-inducing photographs. But we did have comfort food tonight: fried rice! There's nothing like a slightly greasy bowl of rice to sooth the stomach.

Zagat, You Fail

I've never picked up a copy of Zagat because let's face it, you can get all that info on-line. But my bank was giving out free copies of 2009 Zagats for a bunch of different cities, so I brought some home for leisure reading. Now, my brain is bleeding because Zagat, you suck.

If you hate people who make air quotes and love the English language, do not read Zagat. If you are not furiously clicking away from this page yet, I will make you regret staying by inserting their review of Fresca, a really great restaurant group with three locations in SF.

"Creative" ceviche, "succulent" seafood, and "savory grilled" meats are complimented by "flavorful, colorful" cocktails (including the "best" pisco sour) at this "reasonably priced" Peruvian trio where the "festive atmosphere" matches the "lively" decor. Some critics complain that "service can be slow" , but fans are undeterred, insisting the "payoff is on the plate."

I can't even be mad at their use of "compliments" and ill-placed commas, because the quotation marks have blinded me. How can a restaurant guide that writes entire books like this be taken seriously?

Pig Parts

X-rated pig parts for dinner tonight.

Following a recipe from our beloved Szechuan restaurant, Spices I, I tossed the cooked, chilled pig parts in Szechuan peppercorn oil, hot chili oil, salt, sugar, and a dash of soy sauce. A handful of cilantro and a clove of grated garlic and we had a great side dish with dinner.

Apologies for being AWOL. Our big project is really heating up! More to come...

Arepas de Queso

I tried something new today: a take on arepas de queso, which we enjoyed for the first time last week at Destino. I took the liberty of topping a traditional Peruvian corn cake with much more Mexican style toppings, but the result was still very tasty. I try to make only one new thing at a time, lest I find I've bitten off more than I can chew.

Arepas de Queso

• 2 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup white masarepa (this is a white corn flour, look for it in Latin markets where you find Goya brand products)
• 1 cup mozzarella or other soft white cheese, grated
  

Heat the milk and butter to a bare simmer. Meanwhile, combine all the other ingredients. Stir in the hot milk slowly. It may seem like too much liquid, but eventually the flour will absorb it all. Let the dough sit for a minute or two, then stir it again. A light touch is very important for arepas. It's like working with gnocchi; in fact the dough looks a lot like mashed potatoes at this point. Heat up a nonstick skillet and a tablespoon of cooking oil over medium low heat.

Form into handfuls of dough, then flatten and round out the edges. The thickness is up to you but I like these about half an inch thick or slightly thicker. Cook for about 8 minutes per side. If the arepas start burning before 6 minutes, your heat is turned too high. Adjust, and cook until all the dough is done.

Destino had their arepas topped with delicious pulled pork shoulder, but today I just did shredded chicken that had been cooked in spices, and topped with both tomato salsa and tomatillo avocado salsa. A little Tapatio on top and we were full and happy.

Happy House

I saw this house on a jog to the Mission today to buy groceries. It was a really cloudy day and my ears and nose were freezing, but I couldn't look at this house and not feel happy. I probably would not have the patience or desire to paint my house so many colors, but it's fun to run by one of these SF gems once in awhile.

And in food news: I bought enough food to make dinner for three days for $15! I love the Mission.

Boozy Strawberry Slushee

It was a chilly day in SF, but come dinnertime we still wanted a frozen treat.

This is a blend of frozen strawberries, the juice of one lime, a few ice cubes, a dash of water, two tablespoons of simple syrup, a shot of tequila, and a half shot of cointreau. Easy, delicious, and if you have a powerful blender you can make it almost as thick as sorbet (just add no water). It's also really tasty poured over vanilla ice cream, sort of like a Hawaiian Lava Flow.

Vegan Fish

There's a whole style of Chinese cuisine that centers around fake meat products. While I can't say it's a favorite style of mine and I don't think vegetarianism should automatically be equated with meat substitutes, I do really enjoy vegan fish.

I prepare this the way I would prepare real fish filets: sear on both sides, then simmer in a combination of water, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and rice wine. In the last ten seconds, add thinly shredded green onions and toss lightly before plating. The texture of this fake fish is a little stringy and a little chewy, and it actually has a nice savory flavor. The seaweed "skin" is a nice touch.

Pisco Latin Lounge

More happy hour specials! Actually, I'm not sure if this is a special of the day or a happy hour deal. But I walked into PLL to wait for friends, andthe bartender was shaking up Flor de Cana gold rum mojitos for $4. You just don't say know to that. In fact, you say yes and then settle for a skewed photo so you can start sipping ASAP. At least, I do. It was quite sweet and tasty.

Henry's Hunan

My gosh, it's been over a week since my last post. It's been a whirlwind of a week. Why, you ask? Well, I'm not ready to jinx anything yet, but big things are (hopefully) coming! But for now, you get to hear about Henry's Hunan. Henry's is a small Chinese chain in San Francisco. It has only about three outposts, the newest of which is on Church Street near 28th. We've never walked in because the name makes it sound like a fast food joint, but we were very pleasantly surprised after stumbling upon Henry's today.

First off, great service! I am not one to complain about the brusque, minimal service at casual Chinese dives. Heck, even fancy Chinese restaurants usually have worse service than your average hamburger joint. But at Henry's, the server (owner?) was welcoming, attentive, and brought us complimentary hot and sour soup. Henry's version is definitely on the sour side, which I like, and the soup had a nice depth of flavor and plenty of fixin's.

J and I shared the salted ham and egg fried rice. It was a huge portion for $7.50! Even greasy spoon Chinese places don't always serve this much for $7.50, and they certainly don't use such delicious, smoky, flavor packed ham cut into such generous pieces. We were prepared to order an appetizer in case one order of rice wasn't enough, but after the soup this was plenty. A pretty incredible lunch for two for under $10. It's too bad Henry's on Church is too out of the way to make a destination, I could really use a great place to order fried rice for those days when cooking just doesn't happen (er...like this week). But I'll happily check out one of their other branches some time.