jeffreak's Profile
Where can I buy authentic Spanish chorizo please?
I usually get Palacios brand chorizo at Golden Natural Foods or Canyon Market.
Top Chef All-Stars - Ep. #2 - 12/08/10 (Spoilers)
For what it's worth, Jaime did tweet that she thought she should have been the one to leave. I think she is getting a bit of the villain edit as there didn't seem to be any quotes from her about how she was freaked out because she never had stitches before as noted by Tom. For someone who was such a focal point, we heard little from perspective.
Vegetarian, staying in the Mission
I don't think there will be wine but I like the mushroom broth at Cha-Ya. I would avoid the miso-paste glazed items though, a little too sweet.
Vietnamese sandwich places on Peninsula?
I just saw a handwritten sign on Chin's Restaurant on Main Street in Redwood City that they are serving Vietnamese sandwiches now. Didn't get to try it but I think it said it was $4.25.
Trend Restaurant Mountain View - a different direction but still needs work
According to my mom, the accountant for the Rice Cafe owners, the restaurant is changing hands soon. I remember they had a bean sprout salad that was very good, which reminds me that I need to look up a recipe for that.
Anyone know where I can find glass-bottled milk and refill services?
That place would be Golden Natural Foods (but not at Golden Produce).
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Golden Natural Foods
130 Church St, San Francisco, CA 94114
Golden Produce
172 Church St, San Francisco, CA
Super Chefs _ Iron Chef America [spoilers]
Just speculating but perhaps that pot was leftover sauce. I wouldn't think they would do it otherwise in front of so many people.
Tofu Tofu (Mopo?), Soondubu in Sunnyvale
Unfortunately this place has closed. Too bad because I had looked forward to trying it.
Looking for midweek SF place to chill during the day with glass of wine maybe something to eat in or outdoor
That place south of haight is Cafe du Soleil. I like that place and Arlequin is somewhat similar. I lived equidistant to those and it was always a tossup as to which I would go to.
Top Chef DVD
Just to reiterate my previous post, you can download the first season on Amazon Video on Demand for $0.99 an episode or $10 for the whole season.
Top Chef DVD
You can buy it on Amazon Video on Demand. I've been playing Top Chef 1 back to remember the places they went in SF. No specials though.
Granulated Burger (Blumenthal style) at Duc Loi Supermarket
After eating at Mission Street Food this evening, I was walking by Duc Loi Supermarket (18th and Mission) and saw a flyer for a "Mission Street Food Burger." The description of the burger mentioned a technique that Heston Blumenthal was using to make a "granulated" burger. As I was reading it, a guy walked by who is apparently making these burgers and he explained the process which sounded pretty labor intensive. Google turned this up: http://www.mrmenu.net/discus/messages/18/61023.html
Tomorrow's the first day they'll be serving it and it comes with fries for $8. Really curious about this but I won't be able to go tomorrow so hope someone will give it a shot and report back. They also have a vegan burger and will start serving Korean food in the future.
Crispy Carnitas??
i agree with that. I usually get the carnitas when I'm down in the South Bay. It's actually a little similar to the Al Pastor at Taqueria San Jose.
Moroccan Restaurants that are not Aziza
No more lunch buffet anymore. Can't speak to the rest of their menu since I've only gone for lunch buffet.
Tony Bourdain in San Francisco
The Roli Roti guy at the Farmer's Market said he kept walking by and got someone from his crew to get him a porchetta sandwich I think.
Jamie from Top Chef doing demo at SF Farmers' Market 3-21.
I went and it was pretty fun for a free event. Lots of people there, even more than when Cosentino was there right after his ICA battle with Batali. She was making an asparagus salad with charred red onion vinaigrette, burrata and speck and also taking questions about her experience on Top Chef. First thing she said was no questions about Stefan, apparently had enough of those. One of the more interesting questions was about how she felt about Hosea winning. She was trying to be diplomatic and talked about how the competition really was about doing the best week to week but it was quite obvious that she didn't feel he was the best all season. Lots of other questions about who she keeps up with, how people were portrayed, the finale twist and that night she and Leah were wasted. All in all, she seemed pretty relaxed, almost a bit embarrassed about all the attention she is getting and focused back on Absinthe and the extra attention it's been getting.
Top Chef Season Finale
I guess I'm biased as I live 4 blocks from Jamie's restaurant but I don't see the reason for all the hate on her. I would think that her responses in the interviews are answers to questions not just off-the-cuff remarks especially since she says these things with an exasperated smile rather than a sourpuss whine. I guess I see it as she's a little bummed which I could totally understand. Plus she seems like she can recognize her mistakes like with the egg and the napoleon which is something that Lisa couldn't.
Chowdown at Yellow Pa Taut - Burmese in SOMA - Report
Hmmm, I must have seen you because a friend and I were the only ones eating there tonight. We had the paratha with chicken, garlic (egg) noodles with sliced pork, catfish in yellow curry and what I'm guessing was chicken skewers on the house. The paratha was a bit disappointing to me since the layers weren't flaky and the chicken skewers were a bit one dimensional but otherwise everything was pretty good. I thought the noodles were pretty good although light on the garlic but I like the texture of the noodles especially mixed with the spicy pickled vegetables that came with it.
Do you drink bottled water (even if the tap water is safe)?
I used to work at a water district in California and one of the things people should know is that bottled water is treated as a beverage and has to meet a much less stringent FDA testing requirements whereas municipal tap water has to meet federal standards that are 10x more stringent IIRC. Also, a lot of bottled water is taken from municipal water supplies in areas that are not known to be pristine environments. A part of our jurisdiction was in Union City, an industrial town, and a bottled water company I will not name here basically paid us to draw water out of that groundwater basin. Don't be fooled by the pictures of the mountains and trees, your water could actually be from a parking lot.
Secondly, your perception of the drinking water is partially influenced by what you drank growing up. The water that we served was a mix of water from Hetch Hetchy (a very clean source of water near Yosemite), groundwater and desalinized water. Because we were close to the bay, the groundwater had higher dissolved solids. People who drank the water in another town that was purely from the Hetch Hetchy thought our water tasted gross and vice versa. Knowing these things, I drink tap water, filtered through Brita (I live in an old building so that is mainly a concession to the plumbing). But I live in San Francisco and know where the water is from whereas there are a couple places where I would consider bottled because I know about their water quality issues.
What happened to Hakka, San Mateo?
My family went there often going the last 2 weekends they were open and from what my parents told me, they are now retired. Too bad cause it was a nice cheap place for a good meal.
#26 at Pho Hoa Lao (Oakland) - my new favorite pho
I went for the Bun Bo Hue on Monday and I was wondering if I was missing something after reading somewhere here that someone liked the version here better than Rang Dong. I'm sad to have missed them before they changed over.
Tartine cookbook - I know what I'm baking this weekend - unfortunately not morning buns
Apparently they didn't mean to leave out the morning bun recipe
http://www.7x7sf.com/eat_drink/food_finds/6735336.html
what is in the salsa at papalote?
There's a recipe that the CHOW staff reverse engineered, listed under condiments. Is that close?
Where to eat when you're, well...
The Neatloaf sandwich at Ananda Fuara is pretty decent. I'm not sure on the calorie count but it is vegetarian.
Top Chef Finale Part 1 (spoilers)
I said this up above but my guess as to why we don't see more Vietnamese influence might be because the Top Chef pantry may not have as many quality Vietnamese ingredients. It'll be interesting to see what he puts out in the finale now that he brought his own ingredients.
Top Chef Finale Part 1 (spoilers)
I have to wonder if Hung's "lack of soul" is from not having the proper ingredients available. I can't imagine that the Top Chef kitchen stocks all the top quality Asian ingredients that he prefers so perhaps he'd rather not do it if he couldn't do it well. Strikes me as a Hung like thing to do. I'm very intrigued to see what he will do in the finale with his Asian ingredients because I would expect his creativity to fuse his classical French training with his Vietnamese upbringing.
I also disagree with people who say he lacks passion. I can't imagine someone learning such incredible knife skills if he didn't have passion for cooking. I think his arrogance may play into this image of an uncaring technician but it just seems to me that he doesn't really care what people think of him, except for the few chefs he really respects. I'm personally not like that but I know a lot of people who are like that.
Over-budget already
And if you want to grab something and leave the neighborhood, you can grab a banh mi from Saigon Sandwich, Baguette Express, Wrap Delight or Lee's Sandwiches for $2.50 each.
SF Cafe with food and wifi?
I like Cafe Du Soleil in the Lower Haight (Waller x Fillmore) and it's pretty central. It's got a nice European feel and there's some nice half face sandwiches and snacks as well as Bay Bread pastries.
