Chaat Cafe's Profile
Great Homemade Bread
thefreshloaf.com is a great resource to help me get started.
Thanks!
Great Homemade Bread
Since no stores are open on Christmas Day and I really want some nice fresh bread with our Christmas meal, I'm thinking of just baking my own. I really like sourdough. My two favorite store bought breads are Acme sourdough (baguette, batard, ciabatta) and the the amazing bread from Tartine. Obviously I'm not expecting to replicate these amazing breads, something just in the ballpark would suffice. I have two pizza stones which should work for bread. Any recipe suggestions?
Catering for Indian Wedding
Have attended and catered Indian weddings (300+ ppl) at the SF design center. Really nice space with plenty of parking on weekends and an onsite kitchen which is VERY helpful for the caterers.
http://www.sfvenues.com/
Smoked Prime Rib
This is exactly what happened with mine. Smoked at 350 with some cherry wood about 3 1/2 hours to internal temp of 125. Held in a primed cooler for about 4 hours and stuck it in a warm oven for 20 minutes just before serving. Great crust, the cap was more on the medium to medium well side (but amazingly delicious with a heavier smoke flavor than the eye) and the eye was uniformly med rare. Everyone loved it... though I skimped a bit on the salt.
Horseradish whipped cream was a nice touch.
Thanks again for everyones help!
Smoked Prime Rib
Thanks for all the help... definitely feeling more confident about this endeavor.
Smoked Prime Rib
Bought a nice 16 lb bone in PR for Thanksgiving. I wanna cook it in the smoker, but I'll need some advice.
1) Cooking Temp. Should I go 225-250? And should I give the outside a direct heat sear before placing it in the smoker?
2) About how long for med rare? I'll use a thermometer to temp it, but I'd still like an idea so I know when to start. I read about 20 min/lb.
3) How to transport? I was thinking of cooking it at my house then taking it to my cousins in a pre-warmed ice chest? It's worked for ribs and brisket but those are cooked to well and holding them is relatively easy. Will it work with this cut or will I ruin it?
Any other helpful tid-bits will be much appreciated.
Cheers.
99 Ranch to open in Pleasanton?
It's in the Rose Pavilion shopping center where the Levitz or Brueners once was. Planned opening is spring next year.
Berkeley/East Bay's best--please share!
The iskander at Turkish Kitchen is really amazing. Homemade bread chunks topped with shwarma meat and a heavily seasoned tomato sauce all served with a lot of yogurt. When the bread gets a little soggy from the sauce and it gets mixed with the meat and yogurt...really good! And a good value at around $10.
ISO Wood Pellets for Smoking
I would guess that BBQ Galore would have them... not sure if there is an SF location though?
Mini burger/slider buns
A lot of great options, but these mini brioche buns are sounding good...
Good quality ground chuck in Oakland/Berkeley?
Just going to throw this out there too, Prather Ranch is my favorite ground beef for burgers and although their main store is in SF, the website says they sell their meat at the following Oakland Farmers Markets:
Grand Lake, Oakland:
Saturdays 9AM to 2PM year round
Temescal, Oakland:
Sundays 9AM to 2PM year round
www.prmeatco.com
www.pratherranch.com
Mini burger/slider buns
Where can I get some good ones in the Bay Area? Mini brioche buns would work, or a mini version of Acme's amazing sourdough burger roll/bun would be even better.
Any Ideas? I am willing to drive for quality so anywhere in the bay will work.
Good quality ground chuck in Oakland/Berkeley?
Costco carries a couple of brands of Organic grass fed 85/15 ground beef. Not local and about $4.99/lb, but they always have it and it tastes great.
Indus is very cheap, I think $1.99 last time I saw (same price for ground chicken and ground lamb, the latter really is shocking ). I'm always weary of that place though as their food handling techniques are... shall we say questionable?
BBQ Naples-Ft Myers Area
My wife grew up in fort Myers and whenever we go back we go to Sonny's, she loves it.
5980 Winkler Road, Ft. Myers, FL 33919
Store Number: 239-481-0090
I've always enjoyed it, well priced and delicious. It is a chain, albeit a mini regional chain... I think. Way better than what we find here in CA (though I guess that doesn't say much).
Fried Grouper Sandwich in SF?
I read a recent post of someone eating Bluefish at Hayes St Grill and that reminded me of how much I love fried grouper sandwiches. I've spent some time in Southwest Florida and the Grouper sammies were great. Anyone know of a place locally?
Help! Lunch in Orinda?
If you're willing to drive 4 miles down HWY 24 to Lafayette you will have some better options including pizza Antica (great thin crust pizza), Chow (solid American Fare) and Bo's BBQ just to name a few.
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Pizza Antica
3600 Mt Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA 94549
Bo's Barbecue
3422 Mount Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA
Chow
53 Lafayette Cir, Lafayette, CA 94549
Everett Jones BBQ in JLS Oakland
I go the Berkeley location of E&J's regularly for lunch, I love the home made beef links. Like many BBQ places they have good days and bad days, though more of the former IMO. Since everything is slow smoked, I figure it's hard to gauge how much food to make and if you have a slow dayt and make too much it's gonna end up dry.
I really like the brisket and beef rib at T-Rex.
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T-Rex Barbeque
1300 10th St, Berkeley, CA 94710
Best Bay Area Chocolatier with mail order line?
Here's a chowhound link
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Chocolatier Blue
1964 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94701
Best Bay Area Chocolatier with mail order line?
http://www.chocolatierblue.com/
Chocolatier Blue makes some pretty darn delicious chocolates. They ship out of their store in Berkeley. Only downside about shipping overseas is that the shelf life of their chocolates is only about 3 weeks. The shop has been discussed recently on this board.
Restaurants in Dublin/Pleasanton
My whole family lives in Ptown so we eat out there a lot. Here are our regular spots to hit up.
Asian-
Singapore Old Town Cafe- Singaporean (Dublin)
Koi Garden- Dim Sum (Dublin)
Sendo Sushi- Sushi (Ptown)
Tabla- Indian (Ptown)
Masala- Indian (Danville) **Haven't been, but heard good things**
Little Home- Thai (Ptown)
Uncle Yu's- Americanized Chinese (San Ramon and Livermore)
Pizza-
Amici's New York style thin crust (Dublin)
Tomatina Thin Crust (Dublin)
Zachary's Deep dish (san Ramon)
All three of these are local mini-chains
Steakhouse
Haps (Ptown)
McNamara's (Dublin)
Forbes Mill (Danville) **My favorite**
Gimanellis deli in Ptown is a great local deli.
Vals Burgers in Hayward is possibly the best burger joint in the Bay Area. The shakes are incredible!!!! If we don't want to go to Hayward we will hit up Fuddruckers.
Agora Bistro is nice upscale Mediterranean place on Main St. in Pleasanton.
Blue Agave is nice Mexican place, better in the summer when you can take advantage of the great patio.
The restaurant at Wente vineyards in Livermore is a nice special occasion restaurant.
I've become quite fond of house of falafel in Ptown. Small family run place with solid falafel, shwarmas and middle eastern dips. Very casual and not at all gourmet, but everything is well seasoned.
You can also try Chow in Danville. Solid for the area, though people (on Yelp) complain that it is not as good as the other 2 locations.
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Hap's Original Steaks & Seafood
122 W Neal St, Pleasanton, CA 94566
McNamara's Steak & Chop House
7400 San Ramon Rd, Dublin, CA 94568
Forbes Mill Steakhouse
200 Sycamore Valley Rd W, Danville, CA 94526
Old Town Cafe
4288 Dublin Blvd, Dublin, CA 94568
Little Home Thai Cuisine
4000 Pimlico Dr Ste 106, Pleasanton, CA 94588
Sendo Sushi
4555 Hopyard Rd, Pleasanton, CA 94588
Just Koi
4288 Dublin Blvd, Dublin, CA 94568
Uncle Yu's
2005 Crow Canyon Pl # 160, San Ramon, CA
Tabla
4040 Pimlico Dr Ste 116, Pleasanton, CA 94588
Zachary's Chicago Pizza
3110 Crow Canyon Place, San Ramon, CA
Val's Burgers
2115 Kelly St, Hayward, CA 94541
Wente Vineyards Restaurant & Visitors Center
5050 Arroyo Rd., Livermore, CA 94550
Chow
445 Railroad Ave, Danville, CA
Blue Agave Club
625 Main Street, Pleasanton, CA 94556
Masala Indian Fusion
499 San Ramon Valley Blvd, Danville, CA 94526
Uncle Yu's
39 S. Livermore Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550
Tomatina
4590 Dublin Blvd, Dublin, CA 94568
Amici's East Coast Pizzeria
4640 Tassajara Rd, B Dublin, CA
Gimanelli's Delicatessen
915 Main St, Pleasanton, CA 94566
Agora Bistro
443 Main St, Pleasanton, CA 94566
House of Falafel
6654 Koll Center Pkwy, Pleasanton, CA
Tacos Al Pastor - Vertical Spit with Pineapple - Anyone in the east bay?
I haven't been in a while, but the taqueria inside Chavez Supermarket in Hayward used to make delicious Al Pastor on a spit with pineapple.
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Chavez Supermarket & Taqueria
1157 W Tennyson Rd, Hayward, CA
Soccer bar in SF?
Mad dog is a great place to watch a soccer match.
A new space recently opened at 2050 University Ave in Berkeley between Milvia and Shattuck called Meridian International Sports Cafe. They have 6 or 7 50in plasmas and a huge projector. I go for lunch every now and then and have enjoyed the burger. They also have a nice selection of beer.
I've talked to the manager and their plan is to have ALL the major sports packages including Euro soccer as well as PPV cricket matches and major boxing events. It's worth keeping an eye on.
Healthy Indian?
hmruthi brings up a good point, if looking for healthier options it's as important what you order as where you order it from. Ask the staff what kind of oil and/or butter they are using and look for items that are cooked to order so they can be modified for your needs. Also, look for places using fresh veggies as opposed to frozen or...canned.
Also, make sure that the people you deal with at Indian restaurants understand the difference between vegan and vegetarian. Vegans aren't that common in India, and the term vegan is even less common. I caught a few of our employees recommending vegetarian dishes with dairy to people looking for vegan meals. We now make sure everyone working knows the difference.
As a vegan you probably want to stay away from naan in general as I have never found a naan that doesn't have some sort of dairy (not to say that it doesn't exist. Tandoori roti is your best bet. Be cautious of saag and dal dishes as the N. Indian versions traditionally get their flavor from a tarka, some combination of ginger, garlic, chili and onions cooked in butter.
Mango popsicles
You can contact Zee Foods at 510-490-0999. They make and distribute the kulfi themselves out of a facility in Fremont. The owner's name is Akram and he is a very nice guy.
