realspear's Profile
Carnitas to Go - Mission/Bernal
Does anyone know where to buy good cooked carnitas, or al pastor, to take home for using later? When I lived on the Peninsula, there was a taqueria that sold any of their cooked meats by the pound. I'm looking for that in the Mission/Bernal. There's just two of us, cooking a pork shoulder ends up with way too much meat, we just want to do our own tacos at home.
Nopa Customer Service
>>And it's not usually based on celebrity status.
That's totally different. That's not about a random celebrity walking in and being put to the front of the line.
Nopa Customer Service
Anyone catch Willie Brown's column last week:
"I went over to Nopa on Divisadero the other night for a great meal and a real lesson in celebrity.
We pull up and the place is packed.
I walk in. I have no reservations, and first thing the young host says is the wait is an hour and 45 minutes.
Then his co-worker steps up and says, "Mayor Brown, your table is ready. How many did you say?"
The owner sees me and personally walks us to our table.
As he seats us, he says, "Mayor Brown, so nice of you to join us. Now tell me, where the hell have you been for the past 4 1/2 years?""
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One of the things I have treasured about San Francisco since moving here from NYC twenty years ago is the absence of "celebrity status" in the restaurants. In NYC, I usually ate in what the good restaurants refer to as "Siberia." When I came to San Francisco, it was amazing to see celebrities not being shown to tables in front of everyone else and to be able to ask for a table not under the stairwell or next to the kitchen doors.
Brown's report shows that some restaurants don't want to be San Francisco restaurants. I wrote Nopa as soon as the online version appeared (Tuesday I think) and explained that I would stop eating at the restaurant and recommending it. It has long been one of my favorites.
The response from Nopa: NOTHING. Clearly Nopa doesn't care about ordinary diners in SanFrancisco, no matter how much they love food and great cooking. Celebrities are important to them, and that's their prerogative, but, as the feedback on the Chronicle site shows, many people are pretty resentful of a restaurant with two classes, "you" and "important people."
Oh well, there's still plenty of restaurants that treat people equally, a San Francisco tradition.
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Nopa
560 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Asian markets closest to the Mission?
Pacific Super is close to Manila. I find Pacific and Manila to be fairly similar, but Pacific has much better parking. Both are closer to The Mission than the Daly City markets. I'm pretty sure there's a bus right up Mission that will take you to Manila.
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Pacific Supermarket
2900 Alemany Blvd, San Francisco, CA
REALLY spicy food in the Bay Area?
Spices and Spices 2 in the Inner Richmond hold up to their name. They also have stinky tofu, if that is of interest.
Food near BART
Everything in Glen Park is near BART. This means that Le P'tit Laurent and Chenery Park are close as well as Gialiana, which is the only one on the list. Higher Grounds serves brunch and is also there.
Wexler's
Anyone else been? It's a new Financial District Place, corner of Montgomery and Sacramento. My take is that the food is well-prepared and the ingredients seem high quality, but it's all seriously lacking in zip. No salt on the table only makes it worse. The "pulled lamb" is hardly pulled, it's more like sliced, but the fried fish is excellent except for the missing flavor in the crust.
If it's going to be a "soul food" type place, they are going to have to really "kick it up a notch." I'm no fan of Emeril, but they could use him to throw some salt, garlic, and red pepper into the mix.
Still, very nice atmosphere and a full bar.
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Wexler's
568 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA 94111
has anyone been to brunch at farmer brown?
I had the same experience. Walked in, looked and inhaled, and left.
Black Bean Oaxacan in Redwood City, quick before it's gone
That's not a great location for a restaurant, but more than that, there isn't much of a Oaxacan community in that area. It's far more Michoacan. The reason people in LA know Oaxacan food is that there is a large Oaxacan community there. That makes a real difference.
KQED Check Please 5/22/09: Joe's of Westlake (Daly City); La Mediteranee (Berkeley); Roy's Restaurant (SF)
Joe's of Westlake is probably the worst restaurant I have eaten at in the Bay Area. Neither I, nor my wife or son, could finish their meal. The meat was badly cooked and not particularly good cuts.
On the show, the real indicator is how much they talk about everything but food at this place.
Quince Prix Fixe Only
I had it once, a year ago. I wasn't paying, so it was fine. I think the price is $119, but I had the same reaction - the pasta courses were stupendous, everything else was good enough. If I was going to pay out of my own pocket, I'd go for a different restaurant at this price.
Current Coffee Top 10?
I like the coffee at Old Jerusalem. It's not traditional American or European style coffee. It's a spiced and sweetened coffee with the mud at the bottom, like a Turkish or Greek coffee but heavily spiced. Cardamon and nutmeg are most obvious.
For more "traditional" coffee, I like Trouble's espresso. It's more fun than most places and you can walk to the beach afterwards. I buy my beans there, they seem to work beter in my esperesso machine than any others I've tested so far.
Feed your body, feed your soul, eat at Incanto
We always eat at the bar at Incanto and sit where the bald wine dude serves. He's terrific. He can't always be attentive because he has to pour the wine for the servers, but I've never seen him stop working and ignore people.
Best Bun/Bread for burgers?
There is an excellent bun that is locally produced that you can buy at Mollie Stones Markets. I'm not sure of the name, but they are in an area with the non-big name buns, i.e., separate from the commercial breads. They do need to be sliced as they are not pre-cut. Flavorful with great texture that you will never get from a standard packaged bun. Their hot dog buns are equally good. Probably the best I've had locally, although there are no options like sesame buns etc. Because they are fresh-baked, they are often sold out on Sundays.
My second choice is Rudi's Organic, available at Whole Foods. One odd thing about them is that they are undersized, so 1/3 lb burgers may hang way beyond the edges.
Quince Prix Fixe Only
>>they both ordered a lamb with lavender sauce
My three companions had this and weren't that excited about it. I had the duck and thought it was better than the lamb but still not at the quality of duck I've had elsewhere. I like to eat duck when I'm out since I rarely cook it at home (FWIW, the best duck I ever ate was a confit at Bayona in New Orleans the year it opened, 1990.) I didn't find Quince's squab that good on my previous visit in January.
The $17/course price is one way to look at it, but deserts are rarely over $10. If you back out desert at $10, you are around $20/course, which is OK for a main but not for the others. There are plenty of other places I would prefer to go given the price, and because the pasta is so good, I'm not really happy about that.
Quince Prix Fixe Only
I didn't see this anywhere here. Quince is now prix fixe only, with the over $100 many course menu and the $68 four course option. With the four course menu, you get choices in four categories - starter, pasta, main course and desert.
I find this very disappointing, mostly because I find the pasta dishes incredible and the main courses not particularly exciting. I went in January and again last week, and both times found the main courses to be significantly less interesting and well-prepared than the pastas (or the incredible rolls.) The starters on this visit were better than the January visit and the pastas were spectacular. The result of this menu change is that dinner is probably about $20 higher (not including tax and tip) than what I would otherwise pay, maybe more since I don't usually order desert.
I'm wondering if this has something to do with business. By all appearances, on a pleasant Thursday night, they were doing about 1.5 seatings, and it was half-empy at 8:30. It could be the recession, but it could be that there is no longer a way to eat there at a price under $100/person ($68+wine+tax+tip), and for someone who wants a three course meal with pasta as their main course, well there's nothing. I suppose the pasta could be ordered for two courses, but the portion of the pasta in the prix fixe menu is actually quite small.
I assume that the new bigger space will put more upward pressure on the price.
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Quince Restaurant
470 Pacific Av, San Francisco, CA 94133
Does dim sum just suck in San Fran?
I eat regularly at Yank Sing (on Stevenson, I haven't really liked the one in Rincon Center on four visits) and don't find any problem with the meat. I also eat occasionally at Ton Kiang, which I find has quality dim sum. Today, I had dim sum at the Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae, it was good but greasier than in the city. However, the tripe was just fantastic, very tender, and the durian things (I have no idea what they are, flaky crust) were excellent. The lotus cakes (pan-fried, not steamed) had terrific texture. I still would prefer the less greasy stuff I get in the city.
Hidden gems? Suggestions?
Lately, I've been a fan of Old Jerusalem in the Mission. Order half of what you think you will eat, there's a lot of lagniappes and the portions are huge, and if you like Turkish-style coffee (grounds at the bottom), the Arabic coffee is stupendous. Also in the Mission, try Beretta for casual Italian, Dosa for south Indian, Range for just great food. Try Foreign Cinema or Maverick for brunch on Sunday. If you go to Maverick, have the Andouille Benedict. At Foreign Cinema, the eggs with balsamic are incredible. Also, if you want to see a neighborhood that is not a "destination," go to Glen Park (there's a BART station there, very easy to get to) and eat at Chenery Park or Gialini. You'll get to eat with locals, there isn't a tourist in sight.
And if you're coming here, go to Alcatraz. It's the only tourist attraction I ever bother with, and I go at least once every year. Take the first boat out, there's a lot fewer people there. You won't find anything like it anywhere else.
The Great Burrito Debate
It's not new, but Gordo's in the Richmond has some of the best burritos in town. If you follow Intestinal Apocalypse Monthly or the same person's website burritoeater.com, you'll find it consistently at the top and I would agree.
Lunch near Healdsburg?
Scopa is terrific, my favorite restaurant in Sonoma. It's more "Italian" than most Italian restaurants in the Bay Area, everything is fresh, it's as friendly as it can get, and it's conveniently on the square.
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Scopa
109 Plaza St, Healdsburg, CA 95448
Best intestines preparation?
The best I've ever had was in Granada, a chick pea and offal stew with a lot of tripe in it. I don't know why the tapas and Spanish places here don't serve more innards, it's very disappointing. It's even hard to find good morcilla.
Cool Cafe's Cobb
I think $14 is too much for a lunch salad, especially their somewhat anemic one. Also, at all three of Jesse Cool's restaurants I have eaten at, I have been served gritty lettuce. I would get a sandwich instead.
Best BYOB Restaurants in SF
>>If they have a license, they're going to want to sell their own alcohol, especially since that's usually the most profitable portion of restaurant sales.
It's not simply profitability, the cost of the license for a city like San Francisco is really high. There would be no point in getting the license and then having free BYOB, it would put a restaurant behind instantly.
Any info on "Bistro Saint Germain" in Lower Haight?
If that's the case, I'm definitely checking it out. Just in case some people don't remember, Laurent was at Clementine before.
Best place to buy fresh pasta (cook at home)
Sergio's is excellent, a lot better than the grocery store brands.
Good Dining in or near Daly City
I had the most inedible restaurant meal of the last five years at Joe's. It didn't smell great either (that too much antiseptic smell). It's a place for people who haven't ventured beyond Joe's for the last twenty years. Bangkok Garden is serviceable at best. Not inedible like Joe's, but not particularly interesting, mall'd Thai food.
I would recommend driving into the Sunset, it's not that far, and other than Koi, there isn't anything in DC that can compare.
Where can I find a Sturdy Pita in San Francisco?
Parkside Farmer's Market, which is a Mediterranean store, has about six different kinds of pita, and it's super-fresh, I think it comes in daily, although probably not on Sunday. I haven't had any problems with it when it's fresh, I find pita tears more as it dries out.
Easy parking and it's on the Taraval MUNI streetcar line.
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Parkside Farmer's Market
555 Taraval Street, San Francisco, CA
Luna Park????
Used to be a whole lot better, not worth a special trip. Bar is good though. I agree on the Chenery Park recommendation, great place and good with kids. And, if you're from out of town, you will see a neighborhood you would never see otherwise. Actually true of a lot of locals too.
Late afternoon chow near Stanford Hosp
I always liked Cook's but don't eat much fried food so I haven't been in a while. But if you want fried seafood, it's terrific.
I've always thought California Cafe was like a spruced-up TGI Friday's. Boring maill food.
And I've always liked Cafe Borrone, they seem to really care about their food even if it is cafe food. Wonderful people too.
