Spatlese's Profile
Where to buy a chocolate Kouign Amann in San Francisco on Sunday?
I'd agree with this statement, though I've only had their version once, and that was from Whole Foods, so who knows how long they'd been sitting around before I bought it.
Does the Four Barrel cafe still sell Belinda Leong's product? (I've never gone there, mainly because I don't like Four Barrel coffee.) Her KA was superior to Starter's, judging from the one time I'd had hers, though I have no idea if she does a chocolate variation.
Root Beer -- housemade or good bottle selection??
So the BevMo's near you don't stock Abita? I picked up a few bottles over the weekend at the Emeryville branch - I wouldn't have figured the different stores would have very divergent stocks.
French? Cheddar? cheese at BiRite
That's (somewhat) reassuring - when I read that bit about the cheese mites, I had a flashback to the first time I learned about casu marzu from some long-ago Saveur article. Brrrr....
Nam Kao Tod in Bay Area?
Good to know LoS is still killing it - haven't been back to Vegas in years, but I'd go back for Lotus, not all the other stuff people seem to make Vegas trips for.
Tried going to Vientian Cafe recently, but they were closed! Was somewhat confused, but after reading Melanie's post on the Santa Rosa Lao new year's festival, I figured they were closed for the holiday. Will have to try again soon.
Flavor Brigade, Oakland
I think I've just had really bad luck with the timing of my visits here - all 3 times I've dropped by, their frozen custard machine's been down for the count, so I've yet to have any. The water (or as my Philly native friend says, "waugh-tuh") ices are nice, though, especially on a warm day trip to the Fruitvale.
Where can I buy authentic Spanish chorizo please?
If the brand is El Mexicano, presumably it's Mexican-style (i.e. uncured) chorizo? Completely different animal (so to speak) from the Spanish-style stuff that's available stateside, as Robert mentioned above.
Best palmier in SF?
Funny you mentioned Starter's palmiers - since the thing I like about their signature kouign amann pastry is the palmier-like crispy-sugary crust, I figured their straight palmier would be even better. Sadly, the 2 palmiers I picked up yesterday at the Temescal farmer's market weren't that - rather stale texture, without the sugary crunch I expected, just sugary.
Beer flights and beer samplers
This brewpub opened fairly recently - haven't been there myself, so I can't say with certainty that they have sampler flights, but it might be worth investigating.
http://www.southernpacificbrewing.com/
Beer low in Gluten/Gluten light?
Haven't tried it, but Dogfish Head now makes a gluten-free beer that might be another viable option for celiac beer-drinkers.
http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/seasonal-brews/tweasonale.htm
Downtown Oakland/Ogawa Square - AT NIGHT?
Perhaps Flora? I'd prefer Plum personally, but Grand Avenue's a bit of a schlep on foot from Ogawa Plaza, so that may not fly.
Any place one can buy Kouign Amann in SF?
Also dragged myself out of bed this morning to trek over for Belinda Leong's popup, mainly to see how her kouign amann compared to my "go-to" version from Starter Bakery. The cinnamon apple filling in the middle was tasty enough - just a smidgen, so the pastry didn't get soggy at all. As for the rest of the pastry, yeah, I'd have to give the nod to this version over Starter's, mainly because this one seemed to be "hollower" than Starter's, with less bready heft in the middle, but in exchange much more crunchy, caramelized goodness overall.
I think I'd read in one of the various food news blurbs that Chef Leong was planning an East Bay baking site, though I guess she's aiming for SF proper for a future retail shop - if that happens, hopefully her baked goods'll be showing up on this side of the bridge eventually!
(As an aside, spotted David Kinch patiently waiting in line as I was leaving - props to him for making the schlep all the way from Santa Cruz to support his ex-pastry chef!)
Any place one can buy Kouign Amann in SF?
I should've known better (since it's anyone's guess when they were actually made), but I bought a pair of these Boulange Bakery products in a clamshell pack from Whole Foods the other day - leaden, slightly soggy on the bottom....bleah. Suppose I'd have to find them at the source for a true comparison, but until then, it's Starter Bakery all the way for me.
Costco rotisserie chicken...why is it so good?
Head-to-head, I don't think there's a comparison - Roli Roti's chickens are definitely superior tastewise. But you can't really beat the convenience of the Costco chickens when you're already there loading up on Charmin and gigantic blocks of Cheddar - plus, they cost, what? Half of what the Roli Roti birds do? Economical as hell, which is no small consideration in this day and age.
ØL Beercafe and Bottle Shop - Walnut Creek
The expanded City Beer is pretty much just that - expanded, so they can pack in more drinkers than ever before - but the overall ambiance is pretty much the same.
As for Monk's Kettle, they've certainly got some choice beers available at any given time, and the food's pretty good - but jeebus, why is their beer so damn expensive? Even by the admittedly-higher-price-point set by places like the Trappist and OL, Monk's routinely charges a premium for their offerings.
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The Monk's Kettle
3141 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
ØL Beercafe and Bottle Shop - Walnut Creek
I keep meaning to check this place out, since I'm a diehard regular at the Trappist already, and figured it'd be interesting to compare/contrast the two. I think I need some other reason to make the trek out to Walnut Creek so it isn't just a schlep for different taps...
Gammon joint in Berkeley
If you're looking in Berkeley, I'd say try the Local Butcher Shop at Shattuck and Cedar. Since they break down whole animals, they ought to be able to provide you with the cut you need.
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The Local Butcher Shop
1600 Shattuck Ave #120, Berkeley, CA 94709
Chicken Pot Pie/ Berkeley or Oakland Area
Though I've only seen it on sale sporadically at my local TJs, they also offer a chicken potpie that's refrigerated, not frozen, and that I thought was pretty good for the price.
Montreal bagels for a California girl
So it seems the Beauty's Bagels folks are revving up for a brick-and-mortar site early next year - here's to hoping their fortunes are better than the guys at Spot.
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2011/10/31/beautys-bagel-shop-finds-its-brick-and-mortar-bagel-shop/
What's Your Favorite Domestic Beer and Why?
Most of what I'm drinking nowadays ventures heavily into beer-geek territory (lot of Belgians, Mikkeller, and such), and even the domestics are often the higher-octane stuff that come in the 22oz bombers. But of the domestic beers I've been able to find with some regularity, and in smaller bottles, I'm most currently infatuated with Firestone Walker's Velvet Merlin oatmeal stout, Dogfish Head's 90 min IPA, and Allagash Tripel. Just keep me well-supplied with those three, and I'm good to go.
SPoT BAGEL
Are these guys still up and running? Was at Bi-Rite this past weekend, and the bins previously stocked with Spot product were now filled with House of Bagel stuff, along with a sign saying something to the effect that as of Saturday, Oct 15th, there would be no more Spot Bagel available, so they were selling HoB bagels instead.
Acme Edible Schoolyard loaf
It's a fairly dense loaf, but yeah, it's pretty good. They sell it at the San Pablo Ave. shop in Berkeley, at least - haven't been to the SF Ferry Building store lately, so no idea if they're selling it there as well.
el bulli documentary?
I was there as well, and I also felt a vague sense that something was missing. I think part of it was having to rely on the on-the-fly translation of his talk (as my own Spanish is far from adequate to the task); the translator seemed to do a good-enough job, but I think some of the impact was lost by having his words filtered thru another person, so to speak. I thumbed thru the book, and the recipes seemed pretty accessible, and apart from 1 or 2 desserts that employed a foaming canister, fairly free of the gadgetry or other exotica that one normally associates with Chef Adria. I would take a bit of issue with his assertion that the book's concept (a cookbook of restaurant staff meals recipes) is all that novel - as I seem to recall, the dearly-departed NY Tribeca restaurant Chanterelle published a cookbook of staff meals several years ago.
Best Coffee Shop in Oakland/Berkeley?
Do others find Four Barrel coffee to be overly acidic? I had an espresso at Subrosa awhile back made with their beans (don't recall which variety), and while a charitable descriptor would be "distinctive", the one that sprung first to mind was "holy jesus, this is the sourest espresso I've ever had in my life". I've had similarly unimpressive experiences with single-cup drip coffee at home using Four Barrel beans - is it just me?
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Subrosa
419 40th St, Oakland, CA 94609
Looking for Delitia Butter of Parma / Parmigiano Reggiano Butter
Assume you've already checked at Draeger's?
Food options near the Trappist
I'm such a regular at the Trappist that they should start greeting me with "Norm!" when I walk in the door - their food menu is short, and it doesn't really change very often, but to paraphrase a line, what they got is cherce. A number of little snacky items run in the $3-5ish range, like a plate of house-pickled veggies, or a rather large plate of tasty olives, or a bag of 4505 chicharrones. The grilled cheese and pastrami run $8 and $9 respectively, an arugula and strawberry salad runs about $7, I think, with a few other items on the menu, the priciest ones including a charcuterie plate and assorted cheese plate, which are in the $14-15 range. It's a quite limited food menu, to be sure, but given the tiny kitchen they're working out of, I think they do a pretty damn good job.
ISO Diablito & Corn ice cream
More of an East Bay source than SF/Peninsula, but I know they're at least showing up at the Ferry Building a couple days of the week - Scream Sorbet had a corn flavor available the last time I dropped by their Telegraph Ave. storefront.
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Scream Sorbet
5030 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA
Flavor King Pluot Season
One caveat to my usual griping about Frog Hollow's prices - if you buy a flat (about 10 lbs or so?), you can usually score quite a discount compared to their usual per-pound pricetag. I picked up a flat of the Flavor Kings from the Berkeley Tuesday market a few weeks ago for $25.
Flavor King Pluot Season
I've learned over the years to restrain myself from tossing too many paychecks at Frog Hollow fruit - generally excellent quality, if bordering on overripe sometimes - but the annual appearance of Flavor Kings remains the exception. Sticker shock or no, I can't resist buying a ton of them because I haven't found another purveyor's that's been as reliably mindblowing.
Good scrambled eggs?
That sounds like what I'd read about the Waffle House egg prep - whirled up in a shake mixer.
