bong's Profile
Local Chinook Salmon in San Francisco (for the 2012 season)?
As per San Francisco Chronicle of today, the Salmon Season has just started:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/06/FDGK1O909B.DTL
(The full article may not be visible to everyone)
Any ideas where to find local Salmon, somewhere in the city?
I did some searches in this board, but could not find any recent topics on
salmon in the city.
Thanks
One more thing...SF farmers market
Here is a PDF (by someone else) on the layout:
http://www.localforage.com/local_forage/files/alemanyguide.pdf
The PDF is a bit old, some of the layout has changed.
But the "Russian chick" sits near "Stall #1" as marked here.
These days, if you go, she is almost right next to the guy selling oysters.
Other favorites (by no means is this a complete list):
Strawberries from Rodriguez Brothers Farm
Various greens and produce from Tomatero Organic Farm
Various greens and produce from other vendors (dont know name!)
Peach, Cherries, dried fruit, nuts from Ferrari Farms
Eggs from Haney Egg Ranch (they also have duck eggs and other eggs)
Asian Pears from the fruit lady (dont know her name)
Mandarins (Satsuma) from the fruit guys
Juice oranges from Bernard Family Ranch
Bariani Olive Oil
Honey from 2 vendors -- both are excellent!
Mushrooms -- Far West Fungi
One more thing...SF farmers market
The "Russian chick" has been around for at least 5 years.
Her's is, indeed, the very best apples I have tasted anywhere.
While many of the (small, family) farmers at Alemany are not "certified" organic, they do embrace the spirit of organic farming -- no pesticides, no inorganic fertilizers, etc. I believe many of them are small farmers and they simply cannot afford to go through the certification process.
Having said that, I should add that in the last 2-3 years, there has been an increase of farmers selling "certified" organic produce at the Alemany farmer's market. So for those of you who care about this sort of thing, this should make you happy.
Alemany is where we go for our reguylar weekly produce, fruits and other stuff.
Ferry plaza is where we go, once in a while, to splurge in the prepared foods.
What's in and near Bernal Heights?
Re: farmer's market, don't miss the Alemany Farmer's market (Saturday mornings). It is very very good. (Crowded, parking is tough, but well worth it)
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Alemany Farmers' Market
100 Alemany Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94110
Where to buy good Indian spices in SF, North Bay or Redwood City area
Sorry forgot about the one we use the most!
Neelam Pacific Market
492 San Mateo Avenue
San Bruno, CA 94066-4437
(650) 583-5024
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Pacific Market
901 Golf Course Dr, Rohnert Park, CA
Where to buy good Indian spices in SF, North Bay or Redwood City area
We (live in SF - mission) and buy our indian groceries from:
Patel India Foods
650 San Bruno Avenue East, San Bruno - (650) 583-6559
and
Fiji Market
621 San Mateo Avenue
San Bruno, CA 94066-3611 (650) 589-6388
None of these compare to the superior stores in the South Bay, but they are good enough for your regular needs.
Good middle eastern market in south bay/peninsula?
Have you tried Bijan bakery (Saratoga Ave @ Kiely, San Jose)
Chilango: favorite new restaurant of 2009 (Church & Market, SF)
Thanks to your recommendation, we tried out Chilango last week. We tried the Carnitas plate ("1/2 lb", large enough for two) and the Tortilla soup.
Both were excellent. We will be back, definitely.
What's your favorite bakery or pastry shop in the South Bay?
Bijan Bakery (havent been to them in a few years though)
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Bijan Bakery & Cafe
441 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA 95129
Jai Yun - not just the same thing every time
I am pretty sure single diners would be welcome. They remain pretty empty at lunch anyway.
Jai Yun - not just the same thing every time
Never been to dinner, but Lunch (we tried the $18/pp) does *NOT* take very long.
Union Square with Kids?
The Westfield Mall ( Market and 4th) Food Court would, IMO, be a far better option than going to Cheesecake Factory. Its walking distance from Union Square.
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Westfield San Francisco Shopping Centre
865 Market St, San Francisco, CA
Peaches [split from SF ChowDown thread]
No its the stand with "voted best peaches" is not Twin Girls neither Capay. Wish I could be more helpful, but unfortunately, I have forgotten the name of the vendor ( I had asked them before, but I have forgotten). Usually they do have the best stonefruit in the entire (Alemany Farmers) market.
Proposing in San Fran (flying up from L.A.)
"I'm always disappointed because the city's usually fogged in"
This is true for summer, but Fall (End Sep till end October-ish) is the exception -- during fall, the evenings are usually always fog free, especially on the south and eastern part.
Need help with Indian food
Given that OP asks for "price range $$ to $$$$" and "Peninsula and San Francisco",
following are my recommendations. Amber has 2 locations in SF/Peninsula -- very good (mostly north) Indian food. Dosa has 2 locations in SF, but the Fillmore location is slightly more upscale. Dosa serves mostly South Indian food. Junoon has good Indian food and is upscale.
I dont think in the SF Bay area we have that many choices when looking for upscale and really stand-out quality Indian food (Such as Tabla in NYC). Speaking of Tabla, Floyd Cardoz of Tabla I think is a "consulting chef" for Junoon, whatever that means.
Junoon
150 University Ave Palo Alto
The fillmore location of Dosa is at
1700 Fillmore Street San Francisco
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Amber India Restaurant
2290 El Camino Real Suite 9, Mountain View, CA 94040
Amber India
Mission and Fourth, San Francisco, CA
Finally, Manresa! But what to drink? Winehounds?
I have always done the tasting menu + pairing and been very happy with it, every time. Keep in mind that there will be a lot of wine involved though. If you can handle the quantity of alcohol, my vote would be to go for the pairing... that way you get to taste a lot of different wines as well (which I normally would not have drunk otherwise)
Enjoyed Range, Canteen, Slanted Door last time…
If its good mixology (and good food) you want, you may be interested in Slow Club/Beretta/Nopa. If its good pasta you want, you may want to try Antica Trattoria, which, IMO is under-appreciated compared to its true worth.
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Antica Trattoria
2400 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109
Nopa
560 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Slow Club
2501 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Beretta
1199 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Special occassion- dinner in or near the financial district.
Actually, compared to Kokkari (not sure about Boulevard), I don't think Coi would be that much more expensive.
The "Lounge" at Coi is a cheaper option, with mostly the same food.
If you can define what "special occasion" means for you, perhaps you might get better suggestions.
If you are venturing outside of FiDi, You might want to try the new Pizza joint by Tony in Northbeach -- its still "almost" walking distance. The pizzas are really good, and there's the gimmick factor too.
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Tony's Pizza Napoletana
1570 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94133
Special occassion- dinner in or near the financial district.
Coi, if you can get a reservation.
It is walking distance from your hotel.
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Coi
373 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133
In SF for 4 days for work, but with wife and infant daughter: would love recommendations
I you want good Chinese, I strongly suggest Jai Yun. Their lunches are moderately inexpensive (the $19/pp option IMO is very good) and the food is really really good (Chef's tasting menu).
The restaurant, sadly, stays empty, but -- this should be good for you with the baby.
Public transit wise, its walking distance from BART Montgomery St station, and there are quite a few bus lines close by as well. As a bonus, you can do the toruristy thing and go around Chinatown as well.
If you wish to have dimsum, I would actually suggest going to Koi Palace, which is in Daly City -- unfortunately, the public transit options are not that great for this one. This is a big bustling noisy restaurant, should be good for your baby as well.
For Ferry plaza, others might disagree, but I would not go there just to have lunch. The farmers market, on Sat mornings may be worth a visit (although I prefer the Alemany market myself).
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Koi Palace Restaurant
365 Gellert Blvd, Daly City, CA 94015
Alemany Farmers' Market
100 Alemany Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94110
Jai Yun
680 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94111
Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
One Ferry Building, 200 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA
In SF for 4 days for work, but with wife and infant daughter: would love recommendations
Coi is most certainly not baby-friendly. Its very quite, and dinners are long and slow.
Nopa
Slightly off-topic, but yes, I have tried the Namu burger, although only once. I have not tried the burger at Nopa. But I have tried the burger at Slow Club many times. At this time, I would rate the burger at Slow Club superior to the burger at Namu...
(The Namu burger was just not that tasty. Also, structurally, it was very unwieldy -- it was literally falling apart in my hands. The slow club burgers have been always cooked to perfection, medium rare-ish and juicy)
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Slow Club
2501 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
What time should I get to Koi Palace?
I have called them multiple times and done the "get a number" thing without fail. It shortens the wait just a little not by much. (I dont speak/understand any chinese)
Contrary to popular belief, the hostesses speak english pretty well.
SF Street Food Festival 8/22 - Aziza, Delfina, Heaven's Dog, La Mar, Laiola, etc are out on the street
By the time we arrived (with kids in tow!) around noon, it was crowded as hell.
The bacon wrapped hot dogs (not the Absinthe ones), which we waited for about 30+ minutes, were really really good. (My six year old said "yummiest hot dogs I've ever had").
Anybody knows who the vendor was?
La Mar Cebicheria's mini sandwiches (they ran out of pork and switched to beef) were kinda dry, not worth the wait. We also managed to have some pupusas (so so, not great) from Estrellita's Snacks and, of course, creme brulees from the creme brulee man.
Looking forward to next years' -- hopefully they will be better prepared to handle the crowds.
Taqueria with handmade tortillas in San Francisco
La Palma is good, but I wouldn't call it a Taqueria. Its more like a grocery store, which also has take-out food, i.e. a "mexicatessen":
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La Palma Mexicatessen
2884 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Chow on Church Street badly burnt
Have been to both branches of Chow many times... very good value for money, IMO
Chow on Church Street badly burnt
Sad news:
"An early morning fire gutted the kitchen at Chow Church today,
hurting no one but forcing the restaurant to close for the
foreseeable future ..."
From:
http://sanfrancisco.grubstreet.com/2009/08/fire_guts_chow_kitchen.html
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Chow
215 Church St, San Francisco, CA 94114
Cheeseboard's "Indian" pizza
I am sorry, but the one time I tried Zante's Indian Pizza, it was quite opposite of "fantastic". It was, what I would call, more of a "soggy, chewy, rubbery crust overloaded with 2-day old leftover chicken tikka and whatever else did not sell out" pizza. It was so disgustingly bad, that I have never ever ventured to Zante's again even though I live within walking distance.
