As appalling as "Frisco" is, what really sets my teeth on edge is "San Fran". Where the hell did that come from? I think it should be discouraged in the "read this first" section.

"new england mill town"...Lynn?
Treat them just like miniature lobstahs from Conley and Dagget's but for less time. Don't forget to suck the heads, and don't bother with the claws.

I was just on the verge of asking this very question. 80 lbs. would be quite a salmon.

My all time favorite from years ago was a mom furiously spitwashing her young sons face while exclaiming "Let me tell you Mr. 'I like to lick the wheels of my stroller', I just don't get it!"

It's almost not fair to mention it, since I don't know how often it will be featured, but last weeks "special" fried chicken was truly unique to my experience. It featured a huge leg and separate monster size thigh which I believe were first roasted and then coated in a shattering crust that resembled the hairy crust on deep fried taro balls. Accompanied by a generous green papaya salad laden with fresh shrimp and a ball of sweet red rice it cost about $12 (if I recall) and served 2 as a light lunch. Definitely worth asking about. On their menu more regularly, their fish tacos are hard to beat (at least in "hardscrabble" Marin County.)

Bearing in mind that I am neither the greatest expert or fan of the pizza medium, and that it is a rather low place, but those pictures sure do look like the product of Golden Boy pizza, which has hit my spot a time or two. The second hardest working little oven in North Beach.

Got two at about 2.2 lb. for six bones a pound. (Sorry, six dollars) at Alioto-Lazio at FW. One more thing to love about the girls is they don't call six dollars $ 5.99. I appreciate it.

I also should have specified a preference for take-out to warm at home. Thanks, Aldo.

Thanks for the tip, but I was really looking for "not awful". But now that you mention it, I had a blueberry "muffin" at Town's End once that would have made a seagull sick.

It was a rare Friday night when I didn't feel like cooking, and I remembered seeing chicken pot pies to go at Brioche Bakery on Columbus, so I thought I'd take a chance that they had a couple, and sure enough, they did. It was an entirely satisfying experience, a puff pastry top on a rich, chicken-y gravy (which could have been thicker, with a few more inclusions, but I'm just whingeing) with a completely acceptable side salad for about a sawbuck.
The only threat to the future of pot pie Fridays is that their production is inconstant. Any other sightings of pot pies between say Sausalito and North Beach? Any more out of my way, and I might as well cook.

On Christmas Eve I paid "The Girls" at Alioto-Lazio $6.25 lb. for two feisty but small specimens. They were about1.75 lbs. each, with some minor damage from time in the pound, but the price was fair and the meat was sweet. The Girls rule.

I ordered two live from Alioto-Lazio for 12/24 and got the impression that there were still some left.

I'd consider Joe's at Wash. Sq. Not everything is great, but the fritto misto sure is. Fried lemon fer god's sake! Who knew?

Thanks Wolfe, but I can't take too much credit. "So round, so firm, so fully packed!"

Got two nice ones at Alioto-Lazio. 2lbs. 2 oz. each for a very reasonable $5.25 lb. Free parking in front of store. (Live price.) Yielded 1 lb. 6 oz. of meat.

I second Red's Java House ( which is different from The Java House at pier 40) but ONLY for the ambience and fish and chips. Yuet Lee on Stockton and Broadway is a must, since it is a dive, (while it's not dirt cheap, who wants dirt cheap fish?) it specializes in seafood and it's Cantonese, making it a threefer by my reckoning.

Thanks Ruth, I couldn't have put it more graciously myself.

Lucca on Chestnut has Bielese culatello (from NYC) for about $30 lb. Pretty good if you ask me, and I've been to Norcia.

Actually la principessa and I accidentally ate there a few months ago. We had actually gone on a walk to try the empanadas next door, but after waiting for them to open, and finding we would have to wait further for the empanadas, we walked "next door" to the Codmother. The owner is lovely and personable, and the f +c is the real thing. Not cheap,but not overpriced (cf. Fish) and a tidy little sidewalk space. I only wish the aspect ratio of the fish were different. I would prefer 4 narrower filets to two wider ones, for a better batter to fish ratio. As Vic 'n Natlie say, "It ain't da seafood makes you fat, it's da battah".

The Peach Farm at FPFM (in the front near the info booth) has them for $15 a flat. Great roasted!

I firmly believe gas grills are an abomination. Why not get a Weber with a gas powered igniter. Also, the new Weber with the cast iron/porcelain grill insert is the bomb, I just replaced my 20 plus years old model with one. What a beautiful steak I made.

Heresy to some, but I like House of Nanking, but ONLY for their Nanking Scallops.

While it is true that crab season "officially" begins around the 15th, traditionally there is a lag time between opening day and first day of fishing, depending on how long it takes crabbers and wholesalers to come to an agreement on price. Last year, locals who didn't have an in with sport crabbers were condemned to a crabless Thanksgiving. The upside is that first of the season crab are usually larger and sweeter than those from later in the season. I would avoid "walk away" crab from the wharf stands, since they are often frozen, sub-par specimens from far north. Best bet is live or cooked from Alioto-Lazio fish company (NOT Alioto's restaurant) at the far west end of the wharf. Good luck, I'm looking forward to it myself!

Yesterday I was in the neighborhood when Roberts was open, (a rare occurrence) and stopped in to buy. I was parked in a loading zone, so in a hurry and more of a "carpe diem" than "caveat emptor" mood so I asked for a piece of navel pastrami and left. When I got home, I noticed the "Desola" label, and more ominously the ingredients liquid smoke and caramel color. My consolation is it is probably no worse than the pastrami I grew op with back east. I'll steam it and report back.

Since you're here , in Union Square, and maybe a little bushed, maybe you should start at Katana-Ya and then branch out for more adventure later. Check out Ms. Wong's ramen listing, she's quite a scholar.

Pressed duck in the Bay area puts me in mind of the Analogy of The Cave in Phil.101. Each variant I've had is like a mere shade cast on the wall by the real fritz passing in front of the fire.On Hughliptons advice, I went into Yet Wah while passing through San Rafael , and while it is the best I've had locally, it's still lacking. It featured pretty thick slabs of boneless duck (maybe 1/2 inch) smeared on one side with a mysterious orangey paste and fried, with some atrocious ,viscous, "sweet and sour" sauce served (mercifully) on the side (this was take-out).
Thus encouraged, I resolved to investigate the possibilities at Trader Vic's the next time business brought me to Emeryville, since it was a staple of "Polynesian" restaurants, and it was mentioned on their on line menu. Skunked. Went in, sat down asked about it,and was told they haven't had it "for a long time". I went to the Public Market to drown my disappointment in some not quite first rate Korean BBQ. At least I still have Paris, or at least, Wakefield (see earlier post).

I've never had sweet and sour pressed duck, but as a nipper on the east coast I remember fondly a dish called pressed duck which we got at Bali Hai "Polynesian Restaurant" in Wakefield, Mass. It was boneless and fried till crunchy on the outside but unctuous in the middle. I have seen it on occasion in The City, but have always been disappointed in that it was barely duck and mostly something gummy-pasty (taro root?). I'd also like some insight into its conspicuous absence on local menus. I really loved it.

I don't know about the sandwich part, but the meaty bit sure looks like the wiener schitzel at Leopold's. But as a point of order, how could a piece of pork that wide come from a tenderloin? Is it just an expression like "stainless" steel? Looks like a pounded loin or leg to me.

A couple of years ago I got a GIANT pickle type jar (I'd guess about 2 or 3 gallons) at The Container Store. I recall they had a pretty good selection of glass canning stuff too.

I like Ideale,having only recently been a few times after more than 30 years on Tel. Hill (the poor side). The veal tortelloni are memorable, as is the anchovy cheese bruschetta. In the same neighborhood, I also like L'Osteria del forno on Columbus for the crespelle , spiedini d'agnello, and the pork roasted in milk. Incidentally, that is where I tasted my first Negroni, and I am eternally grateful.