Now also available at Rapha Cycle Club in the Marina (along with Four Barrel Coffee) ...

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Rapha Cycle Club
2198 Filbert St, San Francisco, CA 94123

Thanks, SteveG!

Last time we stopped at the Marshall General Store, there were no crab for sale, but I will check again next week - and report back with my findings ...

Would be nice to get some "fresh of the boat" crab while out there by the water's edge.

I like the beautiful gift certificates at Chez Spencer - adorned with the restaurant's signature art drawings.

Chez Spencer serves amazing food (French-Californian cuisine) in a beautiful space, great atmosphere with full bar and open kitchen, attentive service without the stuffiness - and the Japanese Whiskey bar next door makes for an interesting stop for a night cap ...

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Chez Spencer
82 14th St., San Francisco, CA 94103

Spending the holiday weekend in Marshall and wondering where to go out there for fresh dugeness crab.

It seems oysters are easy to get anywhere up there,
but where does West Marin shop for fresh shellfish and fresh fish in general?

I go out of my way for lunch or early dinner at Apollo Coffee in NoPa every once in a while:
their hot-pressed panini are layered with organic cold cuts & european cheeses
- and get a garlic clove rub after toasting for an amazing aroma twist.
My favorites: the "Grilled Mediterranean Turkey" and the "Ham & Cheese" (made with real gruyere!)

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Apollo Coffee
1064 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA

Thanks, rworange, that little search tweak did the trick
- I was already wondering why there were no cooking class posts.

And a quick cooking class update:
a CookwithJames gift voucher for two made the perfect wedding gift.
Just heard back from newly wed friends who had a blast at their first cooking together last week ...

I have been searching the boards to find informations or listings on cooking classes in/around San Francisco, but have not found anything yet, so here's a shout out to all ChowHounds:

what's your favorite cooking school or cooking class story?

I got hooked to the concept after signing up for a "Cooking of Rome" class a couple of months ago - offered by CookwithJames I happened to read about it just has the husband and I were getting ready to leave for Rome - so perfect timing!

After much hesitation on the husband's part ("I will NOT attend a cooking class"), it turned out to be such a fun night!
Not only did we learn to make some amazing (& rather easy) Roman dishes,
it was just so fun to cook the recipes along with a small group of people
- and then sit down together to enjoy the meal, in our case:
Spaghetti Carbonara & Saltimboca Alla Romana,
two dishes we have made many times since attending the class!

Participation was optional at this class, but I definitely liked that aspect!

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Cook with James
San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Chef/owner Stefano Coppola of Lupa Trattoria in Noe Valley hails from Rome and I would vote his Spaghetta alla Carbonara my favorite in town.
The dish occassionally pops up on the daily changing specials menu, but we have been able to special order on "non-Carbonara days"...

Another amazing Carbonara is whipped up by James Stolich - and it comes with detailed instructions on how to make this rather simple dish at home. CookwithJames' cooking classes are held at his Cole Valley kitchen and cover various regional Italian cuisines.

The "Cooking of Rome" class not only taught us how to make a perfect Carbonara, it's history, guanciale and all, but also included an easy recipe for Saltimboca alla Romana - two rather simple, yet amazing dishes from the classic cucina Romana ...

Bi-Rite & Lucca Ravioli are good sources for guanciale in the Mission, i you want to avoid the crowds at the Ferry Buidling ...

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Lupa
4109 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94114

Cook with James
San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Where can I find fresh chicken liver in San Francisco?
Organic and local farmed preferred ...

I like Apollo Coffee in NoPa/Western Addition:
big, open contemporary space, modern (yet comfy) furniture, organic coffees, teas - and some of the best grilled panini sandwiches in town. Wi-Fi is free and the fresh pastries rock.
Big windows - no view though, except for onto the traffic on Divis ...

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Apollo Coffee
1064 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA

Just wanted to update my original post,
in case anyone in search of Matjes stumbles across this post...

I ended up finding fresh Matjes at Lehr's,
a great little German store in Noe Valley
- and perfect resource for all other Herringsalad ingredients, as well:

pickled beets, lingonberries, conrnichons ...

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Lehr's German Specialties
1581 Church St, San Francisco, CA

With the white asparugus season approaching,
I am wondering if anyone has spotted any local white spears for sale anywhere.

I know some grocery stores carry white asparagus (mostly from Peru) all year round,
but the flavor facotr can be hit or miss ...

Here is a new posting of the perennial Chowhound classic - favorite new product finds at Trader Joe's ...

Last week the kitchen at my local Trader Joe's was offering "Chocolate Souffles" - straight from the fozen aisle.

Loved the small sample I tried - and loved that they came ready-to-bake (2 in a pack) in individual white procelain ramekins. Voila, out of the oven, ready to serve.

Rich deep chocolate taste, not too sweet, very velvet-y texture - and fool-proof souffle making (freezer to oven in 20 min)

Thanks everyone!

It seems that Berkeley Bowl has the tobiko kind.
Not sure if whitefish is the same roe, but my recipe specifies wasabi tobiko, so I'll just make my across the Bay before the holidays ...
Berkeley Bowl is a great place to shop, just wish it was on my side of the bridge ...

Lucky in NoPa (1750 Fulton @ Masonic) had Dungerness crab for $2.99 this weekend!

I am trying to find wasabi tobiko - the small green fish roe, colored and flavored by Japanese wasabi.

I have tried the main grocery store in Japantown - no luck there ...

Any ideas where to look in the Bay Area ?

For an old German recipe of Herringsalat (soused herring w/ beets & sour cream) I am trying to find fresh or frozen soused herring. Anyone have any suggestions where to start the search?

I would second the steak for two at Globe - a great grilled porterhouse, cut and served at the table, accompanied by individual servings of potato gratin for two ...

Another favorite is South Park Cafe's Steak Frites - a grilled hangar steak with an amazing red wine sauce - and some of the best french fries in town ...

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Globe Restaurant
290 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94111

South Park Cafe
108 South Park, San Francisco, CA 94107

I would suggest South Park Cafe - I have seen larger tables there in the past. It is a mid size place, where the occassional group table fits right in.

The food is French Bistro inspired, with a daily changing menu - and the 3-course prix fix menu is a steal: $36 - you get to choose from any of menu item.
Same goes for the wine list, always some nice offerings by the glass and a fair amount of affordable bottles...

Another major plus: parking along South Park is very easy at night, a small hidden park in San Francisco's SoMa/South Beach area ...

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South Park Cafe
108 South Park, San Francisco, CA 94107

We had not been to Vivande Porta Via in a while (years, actually), so on a casual shopping stroll along Fillmore last week we decided to give it a try for lunch …

The menu in the window really did not sound too exciting, but we only wanted a light lunch, so we figured we would find something once settled inside. Only about 1/3 of the tables were taken, which should have been a sign, this being 1pm on a sunny Saturday, with Fillmore Street shopping buzzing outside …

We ordered a daily special from the lunch menu, an Insalata Caprese (“with heirloom tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella”) along with the Pollo Arrosto (“Cold Chicken with pasta vegetable salad”) - after we spotted to very yummy looking Pollo al Mattone (chicken cooked under a brick) in the deli display.

Since we were sharing both dishes they came out separately, first the Caprese:
one (!) heirloom tomato, sliced (okay, they were two half heirlooms, red and yellow) – topped with three (!) small wedges of mozzarella, a bit of basil - and nothing else.
No salt, no pepper, no olive oil – niente! For $15.75 on a lunch menu.
Speechless at first, we asked for salt & fresh ground pepper, but felt too embarrassed to also ask for olive oil, once we noticed this was missing, as well …

Next out came the Pollo Arosto – I had asked for a substitute to the fettuccine vegetable salad, since it did not look too enticing in the deli display. We got ¼ (!) pollo al mattone (some very dry breast meat w/ a tiny wing) – on some wilted greens, dressed with lemon juice, topped with a few slivered almonds and some shaved ricotta salata.
This was the chicken that sold for $5/half and $9/whole in the deli display, so for $13.75 we somehow had expected a half chicken with this dish - or at least a waitress attentive enough to point out that this may be a bit small to share ...

Unfortunately, the food was not the only disappointment – while seated we kept watching customers waiting by the deli counter to order, who were repeatedly ignored by the staff. One lady patiently waited about 5 minutes, tried to make eye contact repeatedly with the staff behind the counter – and ended up leaving the store shaking her head, after even getting ignored by the waitress passing her multiple times …

All in all a fairly sad experience at an old Fillmore mainstay …

How about Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe for lunch or brunch?
Converted service station turned classic diner
- and great people watching while eating al fresco ...

And, how about Cesar for weekend brunch or dinner?
I personally like the Shattuck location better than Piedmont,
casual place, great drinks & California inspired tapas
= small plates, perfect for the jet lagged traveller.

I have taken many Euro friends to both places ...

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Bar César
1515 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709

Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe
4081 Hollis St, Emeryville, CA 94608

I like taking friends and/or family to South Park Cafe - great food & ambiance at a very reasonable price.
They can usually accommodate small groups on weekday nights, from the Wharf it is a nice drive along The Embarcadero (Ferry Building, Bay Bridge ...) - and parking along South Park is usually easy at night.

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South Park Cafe
108 South Park, San Francisco, CA 94107

I am still excited about my newest find in NoPa:

Apollo Coffee not only serves great organic coffees, teas and yummy pastries in an airy modern space, but for lunch or dinner I also highly recommand the hot panini sandwiches - maybe along with a nice glass of wine, once it's time to turn off that laptop and call it a day ...

Wi-fi is free, outlets are available - though I have to agree with some Chowhounds about the offset "power/space-use-versus-order-ratio" that unlimited free wi-fi seems to cause at some coffee shops lately ...

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Apollo Coffee
1064 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA

South Park Cafe has a Croque Monsieur and a Croque Madame (a Monsieur with a fried egg) on their lunch menu - in my opinion the closest to the real thing in France, especially if you can score one of their sidewalk tables along with a glass of rose ...

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South Park Cafe
108 South Park, San Francisco, CA 94107

A bit off the beaten track, but defintely worth the detour is my newest find for great sandwiches - along with a latte for lunch or a nice glass of wine for a casual dinner stop along the Divisadero corridor:

Apollo Coffee in NoPa ... some great panini options - all made to order with fresh, mostly organic ingredients, crispy crust Ciabatta or Foccaccia breads and some yummy combos including pesto, sun dired tomatoes, tapenade ...

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Apollo Coffee
1064 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA

The paninis at Apollo Coffee in NoPa are amazing - always made to order, served crispy hot on thin crusted Ciabatta or Foccaccia breads, with some nice toppings like the Mediterranean Grilled Turkey (visualize: pesto, olives, succulent sun-dried tomatoes with a hint of fresh garlic aroma) ...

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Apollo Coffee
1064 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, CA

Sorry for the confusing first post, actually refering to NoPa, the neighborhood, not NoPa, the restaurant - a new offee shop / wine bar space called Apollo Coffee ...

I did not even know the name of the place for the longest time,
they finally got a sign last month ...

I have stopped at this new NoPa corner space a couple of times now - and got hooked to some of the best paninis ever ...

What starts out as a cool coffee stop in the morning (yum pastries, great organic coffee and tea choices) morphs into a nice space for an after-work glass of wine (always some nice choices by the glass - from California to Chile, South Africa and beyond ...) along with several choices of the above mentioned paninis:

made to order, grilled to a crisp-crust-ciabatta-perfection - with the final twist of garlic aroma (a clove is sliced in half to rub the hot panini crust) they come in vegetarian & omnivore options.

I have tried almost all choices by now, but keep gravitating back to two favorites:
- Grilled Ham & Cheese - a modern twist on a classic sandwich, using upgraded ingredients (real gruyere cheese!) along with the above mentioned garlic trick
- Mediterrranean Grilled Turkey - a yummy combination of thinly sliced turkey breast with pesto, olives and sun dried tomatoes ...

Highly recommanded stop along the Divisadero corridor:

Apollo Coffee
1064 Divisadero Street (corner of Turk Street)

My recommands would include ...

Chez Spencer - for amazing food (Californian/French), very cool space - and great ambiance ...

Nopa - for ambiance, food (Californian) - and great cocktails ...

South Park Cafe - for reliably good quality at an amazing price - always with a twist on fresh ingredients on the daily changing menu ...

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Chez Spencer
82 14th St., San Francisco, CA 94103

Nopa
560 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117

South Park Cafe
108 South Park, San Francisco, CA 94107

Lunch : Swan's Oyster Depot ... Zuni Cafe ... L'Osteria del Forno

Dinner : Tadich Grill ... South Park Cafe ... Slanted Door

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Slanted Door
Ferry Slip, San Francisco, CA 94111

Zuni Cafe
1658 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

Tadich Grill
240 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

L'Osteria del Forno
519 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

Swan Oyster Depot
1517 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109

South Park Cafe
108 South Park, San Francisco, CA 94107