atlanta penzeys

are you familiar with the catalogue or website? If not, Penzey's sells a variety of individual spices and spice blends, including many salt free blends, salad dressing mixes, soup bases. If you buy in larger quantities, the cost per oz drops significantly, which is great for spices I use frequently, like dehydrated onion and smoked paprika, or you can split the quantity (and price) with a friend.

sad tomato in Atlanta

San Francisco Hounds moving to Atlanta--what should we look forward to?

After 10 years in the San Francisco Bay area, my husband and I are moving to Atlanta this summer. We've been spoiled with the bay area's incredible variety of high/low options, every ethnic cuisine know to humankind, incredible local produce and markets. Of course, we're also THRILLED to be in the epicenter of Southern cuisine as our options here are pretty lacking since our favorite homestyle southern place closed 5 years ago.
We're no food snobs; our palates are adventurous and democratic, but we like to eat organic and local when we can and support local entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, growers, and producers. Every once in a while we splurge, and we love cheap eats, but we typically spend $15-30 for the two of us. We're not big drinkers either.
What will become our new favorites? What will replace the Ferry Building/Oxbow Market/regional farmers' markets? If I'm feeling homesick, where can I find dim sum/organ meat tacos/hole in the wall Italian/artisanal coffee?

make me drool . . .

sad tomato in Atlanta

Best donut I've had in forever....

Oh, Carlock's! I grew up in Los Osos eating Barvarian Creams and lemon filleds on Saturday mornings! ten years ago when the Krispy Kream juggernaut hit I was thoroughly underwhelmed after being spoiled on hot, fresh, and cheap donuts from Carlock's. When I visit my parents for the weekend, I've been known to extend my stay until the bakery reopens Tuesday morning just for another hit . . . the exotic flavors at places like Dynamo just can't compare to a well executed lemon curd or the just right dough. Also helps that Carlock's are almost as good at closing time as they are first thing in the morning, which is more than I can say for most.

sad tomato in San Francisco Bay Area

bay area nowruz/persian new year?

I read the recent Sunset magazine article about L.A.'s version of this holiday and i'd love to know if any place in the bay area will be serving seasonal dishes or where I could get recipies/provisions to make my own spread. Any thoughts?

sad tomato in San Francisco Bay Area

pasadena recs, please?

thanks all for your recs,
i've mapped out Daisy Mint, Euro Pane, Zona Rosa, Malbec, and Elements, and I figure between those options we'll find something. I'll lek you know how it goes!

sad tomato in Los Angeles Area

pasadena recs, please?

Hey all,
I'm a Bay area hound meeting 3 friends in pasadena this weekend and hoping for some great recomendations. Here's the parameters:
*I'm in grad school and the other 3 are public school teachers , so $10-$20 each per meal would be great, with or without a glass of wine or dessert to split
*We'll be around the playhouse district/old town mostly and would prefer to walk, though could drive
*We're looking for a saturday lunch, saturday dinner, and sunday brunch or breakfast, maybe coffee/smoothie/some sort of afternoon pick me up
*I've got the most adventurous palate of the 4--I love crawling the Mission/Excelsior/Richmond neighborhoods in SF and discovering hole in the wall places that serve things i've never tried before--octopus balls, charcuterie, Zante's Best Indian Pizza, chicharones pupusas, whatever fruit is in season at farmers' markets. The other three have more mainstream tastes (pastas salads, chicken dishes, nothing too spicy), so anyplace that has a mix of at least some safe and some adventurous choices is ideal
*we're looking forward to spending time catching up with each other, so nothing too loud or too scene-y

thanks so much in advance
kristin

sad tomato in Los Angeles Area

quiet, study-friendly cafe in corte madera/mill valley?

This weekend I'm meeting a friend for some GRE study and I'm looking for a place that's not too noisy/distracting, but also not so quiet that we'll disturb the other patrons or so busy that the waitstaff will try to shoo us out if we linger for a few hours. Comfy seating, strong coffee, and easy parking a plus. suggestions?

sad tomato in San Francisco Bay Area

Looking for a repertoire of casual haunts en route between the GG Bridge and SFO

if you're willing to make a little scenic detour, when I head down the 101 from the North Bay, I go to Columbo's in Pacifica for a giant deli sandwich. I don't recall the name of the item, but they do a roast beef with incredibly creamy bleu cheese that makes my day. I often buy the sandwich, park overlooking the water and eat half, put the other half in a cooler and drive on to San Luis Obispo where my family lives. There are a few awkwardly placed mini tables, but taking your food to the beach or home is your best option. Since Columbo's can take a while (and since they close at 5 or so) it might not be a great option on the WAY to meet someone at an appointed time, but on the way back from the airport it's great, especially if you're ariving in the afternoon after a long trip and can't bear to go grocery shopping or face an empty fridge. In this scenario, I've been known to eat the other half for midnight snack . . . or breakfast.

sad tomato in San Francisco Bay Area

SFSU/19th street late night

yeah, 19th AVE. way to brand myself as an outsider. So far we've been hitting Irving pizza--fabulous once you sponge some of the grease off the pepperoni--and I even ran down to Columbo's in Pacifica one night with a cooler bag.
We were looking forward to finally trying PPQ on Irving last week in the rain, but it was closing just as we got there. I've even considered Island Cafe, but I fear it will fall short of my kahlua pork expectations as we were just in Kauaii this summer.

sad tomato in San Francisco Bay Area

Crane Melon Barn Update

I just bought a crane melon--my first--at oliver's in Cotati this afternoon for 1.29 a pound. Unrelated, but also delicious, Ciao Bella is on sale there right now for 3.79

sad tomato in San Francisco Bay Area