La Boulange - Burlingame10/6/2011 La Boulange is my favorite bakery and I wrote about the Pine Street location last June. In that blog, I complemented the designers who were able to create an authentic looking "old" French bakery that didn't feel phony.
Walking down Burlingame Avenue in Downtown Burlingame last week, I saw how they do it. These craftsmen were working quickly for a scheduled grand opening the following week. Notice the overlay painting technique of the exterior blue paint, where the under-painted light orange paint is allowed to peek through occasionally. After the paint is dry, they apply a paste wax over the surface to protect the paint. The sign painter was carefully delineating the letters above. Click the images below to see the sign painter and the waxing of the exterior. I hope the pastries here are as good a my local Pine Street location!
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Winter Melon Soup10/5/2011 Winter Melon Soup I remember as a kid, coming home to the welcoming smell of the long slow cooked soups that Mom made. Now, Alex has moved into his own apartment and he surprised me by saying, he misses the Chinese soups we make at home . . . . and the other night, Katie asked me to teach her how to make Winter Melon Soup. See my recipe here. Gahm Mi Oak Restaurant - Koreatown NYC10/4/2011 Sul Lang Tang is a Korean soup of beef bones boiled carefully until the stock turns white. Whenever we visit Los Angeles, we always order Sul Lang Tang as San Francisco doesn't seem to have a Korean Restaurant that serves a good one.
Gahm Mi Oak Restaurant in Manhattan's Koreatown on 37th Street near Broadway -- and right around the corner from the Empire State Building -- serves a superior Sul Lang Tang. Chris has declared it perhaps better than our Los Angeles favorite. The intense beef flavored soup with slices of beef comes steaming hot. Season it yourself at the table from large bowls of salt and slices of green onions. This is a dish that isn't easy to attempt at home. One the surface it is easy, but getting the right flavor and color seems mysterious to me. When I went by the kitchen, the stove seemed to be a clay- like structure. They wouldn't let me take a picture so I guess it is their "secret". Chez Papa - Potrero Hill San Francisco9/30/2011 Chez Papa Window I always thought mussels and french fries were a strange combination until I went to Brussels and saw that they seemed to be almost a national dish! Now I see why - it's good. Chez Papa Bistrot in San Francisco's Potrero Hill makes an excellent rendition. The Art of Food Display9/29/2011 When Whole Foods Grocery opened in San Francisco, they went to great lengths to differentiate themselves by displaying their whole fish on a slanted tray of crushed ice and positioning the fish as though they were swimming in the water. After the opening they scaled back their display efforts, but yet simple gestures can be pretty effective. Here, just stacking and alternating the green onions heightens their colors and textures. I applaud these simple things. Paris Food display Of course leave it to the French to display their products in their own distinctive way. This display was in the front window of a restaurant in the Latin Quarter in Paris. Voila! Roasted Figs9/20/2011 Chris loves them. Here they are roasted with a little extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinigar drizzled on top. Figs at the Bastille Market - Paris Growing up near Fresno, California where fig trees abound, I never had a fresh fig when I was a kid. We didn't know anyone with a fig tree and they weren't sold at the local supermarket. The only fig I had was in a fig newton. Fatted Calf Charcuterie is located at 320 Fell Street in San Francisco's Hayes Valley. I happened across it when I took a walk after getting my Blue Bottle Coffee around the corner.
I normally don't talk pictures of raw meat, but this store is so well designed in every detail -- it even shows in the way they prepare and display their meats. Their products are shown to their best advantage and everything seems to work together in harmony. Fatted Calf is dedicated to all things related to meat products. According to their website, they just had a class on hog butchering! Perhaps not for the feint of heart. I do, however, recommend their pates. D & A Cafe Steamed Eggs9/12/2011 I've written about Chris' work on perfecting steamed eggs - Chinese style with just a dash of soy sauce on top and in this photo a sprinkle of green onions for color. D&A Cafe on Clement near 5th Avenue in the Inner Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco is know for its inexpensive Chinese food with generous portions. While some of their dishes are better for quantity rather than quality, their steamed eggs are as good as any.
The surface is smooth to allow the soy sauce to glaze the top evenly and the texture of the steamed eggs itself is like the best custard without air bubbles and barely set. I'm happy to say that Chris' last effort matched this, but I didn't take a picture. You'll just have to take my word. You can see her previous effort here. San Wang Pea Sprouts9/8/2011 I don't usually expect much in the way of leafy green vegetables from San Wang Restaurant in San Francisco. I usually order their spicy egg plant or dry-fried green beans - both highly seasoned dishes. This restaurant is owned by Chinese owners who have lived in Korea and the wait staff speaks fluent Korean. Their approach to vegetables seems very different form Cantonese restaurants.
I was surprised to find their chowed pea sprouts cooked to perfection, the bright green of the vegetables still vivid and appealing. Seasoned simply, it was a great accompaniment to the braised fish and hand pulled noodles. Some of my earliest childhood memories come from the House of Chung restaurant in Reedley, CA where I watched the chefs shaking the heavy woks and tossing the ingredients, cooking them quickly. The oils in the wok would sometimes vaporize and with the tossing, the oils would ignite in a dazzling display. Wok cooking is hard work. Any chef that has spent years behind a Chinese stove probably has burn scars on their arms to show for it.
That said, I grew up listening to elders wax longingly about the nature of wok hay an how this nuance to the dish is only possible with intense heat cooking in a wok and with an experienced cook who knows how to time the addition of ingredients and the length of cooking. There is little margin for error and when done right, it is incredible. The most humble of ingredients can be wonderful. San Francisco native, Grace Young has written extensively on this subject and published several cookbooks. AuthorCatagories
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