San Tung

My first meal back in San Francisco. A quick bite with my dad, who had picked me up from the airport.

My father loves Chinese dumplings, and San Tung does them pretty well.


You can really tell that they made their own dough, rolled it out by hand before stuffing the wrappers with filling. I would stick to the boiled dumplings and eschew the pan-fried ones, which are usually my favorite. The dough for the pan-fried ones is too thick and dense and sort of gobs up in your mouth.

It's been nice spending more one-on-one time with my dad in the last six months. I got to learn how my parents met, and it's funny to think that they were young and brash once. More than that, for once, I won't say!

San Tung, 1031 Irving (b/n 11th and 12th Ave.), San Francisco, CA

Oliveto's Truffle Dinners

My parents were complaining to me this past weekend that I never told them about when Oliveto was holding its White Truffle Dinner. Every year, around November, the people behind Oliveto's, a restaurant in Oakland that understands the joy of food, hop on a plane and personally select a batch of white truffles to bring back to California and serve to Oliveto diners.

The Oliveto White Truffle dinner in 2003 was when I lost my tartfufo bianco virginity. One nearly wanted to die of happiness. The experience left such a positive imprint on my mind that when I went to Per Se four years later and watched the servers shave copious amounts of black truffle over a dining companion's plate of pasta, I made a fool out of myself bouncing in my seat and literally clapping my hands with glee. To this day, KM, who organized the dinner, gently mocks me about how I failed to comport myself in a civilized manner.

Well, I had brushed off my mom's admonishments with explanations that I lived a terribly busy life and could not be bothered to look after their gastronomic welfare. Honestly, who is the child and who is the parent in this relationship?

But, in a funny karmic fluke, this very Monday I received an email from Oliveto proclaiming that they had hauled in such a bounteous batch of tartufi that they were extending their truffle dinner until Saturday. In a bit of personal insult to me, turns out somehow in my absence from California shores, Oliveto has extended its White Truffle Dinner into just the simple, but certaintly not plain, Truffle Dinner, aka a gastronomic orgy of white and black truffles. What a kick in the gut. I'm landing in San Francisco next Wednesday night, four days too late to sneak into Oliveto's for their truffle menu.

For once my father listened to my adament instructions that if they wanted to attend this dinner, they better make reservations soon. Lucky bastards (I guess one shouldn't call one's parents bastards), lucky fools (oh that will probably get me in trouble too, won't it?) are going to eat there tomorrow night.

Dad asked for some recommendations, and in a two-part email (initial recommendations based off of choices in the Oliveto email and subsequent "ooo-ooo-oooh, you should eat this too" upon pursing the online menu), and I made the following suggestions:

Appetizers:
(1) Carpaccio of Northern Halibut with bottarga, Cucumber, and Black Truffles
(2) Vol-au-vent of wild snails, wild mushrooms, and leeks
(3) Roast Paine Farm pigeon stuffed with black truffles, dried Knoll Farm figs, and pistachios

Pasta Course:
(1) Tagliatelle al burro
(2) Crespelle of first-of-the-season Dungenesss crab and Porcini mushrooms
(3) Ravioli of celery root and bone marrow

Meat Course:
(1) Sweetbread and Spiny Lobster Sausage with Shoestring Potatoes
(2) Roasted double breast of Liberty duck with pickled sour cherries, sweet potato purée, and fried Chanterelle mushrooms
(3) Spit-roasted porchetta of Cannard Farm young pork stuffed with sweet fennel sausage; black truffle and Fuyu persimmon mostarda

Dessert Course:
(1) Chocolate, burnt orange, and cardamom-espresso ice cream tartufatti
(2) French Butter pear budino with black truffles in Cognac

Don't know what they'll choose, but my parents' bellies are going to be very very full, and their wallets will be corresponding that much lighter.

Oliveto's, 5655 College Ave., Oakland, CA 94618

Not so sure about Yelp!

What is your opinion on Yelp! So far, it hasn't exactly led me to great Vietnamese or Indonesian finds. Minh's Garden got 4 stars from 95 reviews, and Borobudur 3.5 stars from 222 reviews. People, stop with the grade inflation on the online reviews. Chowhound used to be a good and persnickety site, but since CNet acquired it (subsequently acquired by CBS), I've been wary.

Little Vietnam Cafe got 4 stars based on 115 reviews. People of San Francisco who subscribe to Yelp!, do you not understand that life can be better? How can you bloody give four stars to bread that is as thick and doughy as Little Vietnam's? Sure the filling is decent, but only as a baseline. The only thing I can see to recommend the sandwich is that the fillings are fairly traditional.

You don't give gold stars for an apple pie including cinnamon in the recipe, and the fact that the banh mi has some fresh herbs and pate shouldn't merit any special notice either, except only to highlight how embarrassing it is that other establishments can't even manage to get the basic ingredients correct.

This isn't the Stanford grading system people, three stars should be average, which is where I would put this banh mi.

To use some San Francisco/Bay Area nerd speak: where is the food review site for those of us who need a grading system equivalent to that of the U.C. Berkeley electrical engineering program? I aspire to have a diet of only great, if not extraordinary, meals. I'm not saying this particular restaurant needs to go, but let's flunk some of these babies out of the program.

Little Vietnam Cafe, 309 6th Ave. (b/n Clement and Geary), San Francisco, CA

Toyose

Somewhere, out in the Siberia known as the Outer Sunset, is the perfect spot to down shots of soju while chopstick fighting over some spicy chicken wings.

It's called Toyose, and it's way out on Noriega and 45th.

Koreans make some mean fried chicken wings.

And they aren't too bad at the kimchee either.

Toyose, 3814 Noriega St. (b/n 45th and 46th), San Francisco, CA

A True San Francisco Meal

On my last night in town, DKB and I managed to squeeze in one of our favorite San Francisco meals. We popped into car and zipped to Fisherman's Wharf, whereupon we quickly scurried to #2 the Crab Station to order some Dungeness crab. DKB has tried the stand to the right and was disappointed, so now we don't dare venture beyond #2 the Crab Station.

It was a little slow that Monday evening, so the vendors got into shouting fests about whose crab was cheaper, fresher, and better -- to no one in particular, just for the pure joy of a little boisterious, but friendly competition.

The crabs are already cooked lined up on a tray. You'd find it difficult to make crab as delicious as these suckers because they've been cooked with dozens and dozens of their cousins, essentially boiling in pure crab broth. It makes for a crabbier experience, in a good way.

Then we headed across the street to order some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl from Boudin's. Typically, it was too cold to eat outside (ah, those hordes of tourists who perpetually wander Fisherman's Wharf in shorts, making easy targets for the Chinese vendors to sell overpriced $45 sweatshirts emblazoned with a cable car), so we found a corner of Boudin's to enjoy our feast.

Two crabs, some piping chowder, crispy sourdough - the perfect San Francisco meal.

#2 the Crab Station and Boudin's, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, NY

Minh's Garden

I'm heading to Indonesia in July, but there's a part of me that mourns the absence of Vietnam on the itinerary. Vietnamese food is so good, but I am acutely aware that I have no personal taste memory of just how good it can be. Instead, my history with the cuisine has been mainly relegated to meals such as this one: just good enough to hint at the dish's true potential.

Minh's Garden Vietnamese Cuisine, 208 Clement St. (b/n 3rd and 4th Ave.), San Francisco, CA, 415-751-8211

Beijing Restaurant

My friend recommended Beijing Restaurant in San Francisco, and turns out my mom did too. It's rare that my mom will come to love the same thing as a lanky, former cross-country runner.

Beijing Restaurant tastes like home-cooked grub. Of course, my favorite thing was this take on crab rangoon - imitation crab meet with cream cheese, wrapped in a spring roll wrapper and deep fried. So fake and so good. I'd have pictures, but some of the photos got corrupted.

Both my mom and my friend like this warm pot dish they have on their menu, of which I also don't have a picture because of my photo editing program's decision to be cantankerous this morning. The restaurant, which Yao Ming has patronized (as evidenced by photos splashed on the walls), needs some help with the descriptions. The warm pot dish is appetizingly described as "Slice Pork With Preserved Vegetables in Warm Pot." Yum. The salted, preserved cabbage has a slightly sour taste the perfumes the milky broth. It's a comforting dish, nothing extraordinary, but tastes like something you'd want after a rainy day.

Then we got this crepe sandwich filled with chive and scrambled egg.

The crepe was paper thin and all-in-all, it was a well-executed dish. If you make it out there, look for a Beijing specialty noodle dish that has the Sichuan peppers that will numb your tongue if you bite into it. Sounds unappetizing, but it's oddly appealing.

Beijing Restaurant, 1801 Alemany Blvd. (b/n Ocean Ave. and Ruth St.), San Francisco, CA, 415-333-8182

I've got a problem, but I'm reluctant to tell you about it. It's the sort of problem that is along the lines of, "I'm really worried about myself. I've got too much money." Though trust me, with my student loans and love for delicious food, too much money is certainly not the problem right now.

My problem is that I think I eat too much good food. Which is to mean that it is getting harder and harder to be impressed. How does the New York Times food critic do it? How does this terror of the restaurant world stalk the streets of this fine town and try to eat for the Times readership. Though admittedly, said readership, being blessed to live in one of the finest dining towns on the planet, may also suffer from my predicament, so maybe the Times food critic is safe.

I became increasingly aware of this ailment when hitting up favorite spots while back in the Bay Area. I revisited this restaurant twice, which I guess I can now tell you is called Shanghai House. Over those two trips, I probably ate at least three orders of the soup dumplings myself. They're still good, but turns out you need to eat them while they are piping hot because within 10-15 minutes the broth either evaporates or soaks into the dumpling skin because the xiaolongbao are not very juicy by then.

The problem was that everything else tasted either not so great or fine, but not extraordinary. The green beans I raved about were not as crisp or salty upon the second and third engagement. The alcohol was too strong in a dessert of dumplings filled with red azuki beans in a rice wine broth. Their service at least has improved.

Maybe I should just be grateful that most of the food I eat is good, and that I'm lucky enough that maybe one out of three restaurant visits I get to try a dish that merits a moment of pause and appreciation.

Shanghai House, 3641 Balboa St. (b/n 37th and 38th), San Francisco, CA, 415-831-9288

Borobudur Restaurant

Roti Prata

While in San Francisco, I was planning a July trip to Indonesia, and I wanted to see whether Indonesian food merited me planning special itineraries for grub alone.

Martabak

I convinced the family to check our Borobudur.

Empek Palembang

I think of Asian food as particular good at play with textural and flavor contrasts, and this didn't meet those expectations.

Sayur Asam

Many dishes seemed to sport muddy flavors.

Nasi Goreng

Which doesn't make sense to me. Indonesia's proximity to Thailand and India suggests potentially mind-blowingly good food.

Beef Rendang

The waitress recommended this beef stew, I don't understand why. It was dry and stringy.

Ikan Bakar Samudra

This fish she also touted was slightly better, with a sweet and pleasant glaze. Still, it didn't convince me to either come back to the restaurant nor go out of my way to spend extra days in Ubud, Bali, stuffing my face.

Borobudur Restaurant, 700 Post St. (@ Jones), 415-775-1512

Sahn Maru Korean BBQ

I am finally back from my trip to the Bay Area. When I looked from the airplane window and saw the multitude of tiny lights glittering beneath wispy clouds, I felt glad that New York knows how to be a city and understands the associated concept of population density.

When I went to visit my friend in Oakland, I screeched that he was living in suburbia. He chuckled and informed me that Oakland qualifies as a bona fide urban location. I guess so.


We had lunch at Sahn Maru Korean B.B.Q., and I insisted on ordering kim chee chigae. It was good, but I prefer a chigae that is so spicy it makes me ears ring and so seasoned that a spoonful of soup has a slightly gritty texture from all of the spices mingling in the broth.

We also ordered a plate of bulgolgi and jap chae. Sahn Maru was good, and we ate everything before waddling out the door, but I don't think the experience will induce serious cravings. Apparently their specialty is pa jun, the Korean pancake, which they cook on a blisteringly hot iron plate.

Sahn Maru Korean B.B.Q., 4315 Telegraph Ave. (b/n 43rd and 44th), Oakland, CA 94609, 510-653-3366

Chinese Medicine

The first thing my mom did when I came back to the Bay Area was whisk me off to see the Chinese doctor.
After feeling for my pulse and muttering about how I can't have any fried food or sea food or any of my favorite foods because I have too much "fire" in my system, he dashed off this prescription.

At which point the attached Chinese pharmacy began to fill it.

I love how the pharmacist still uses an old style balance to weigh the proper amount of various twigs and other flora.

Now he's checking that he filled the prescription properly by rummaging around the pile of twigs and bark to make sure each item on the prescription has been included.

Here's one dose. You boil it for awhile and then extract the bitter brown brew. Yum!

El Tonayense Taco Truck

People who think San Francisco is a warm place are cracked in the head. I'm always swaddled in a pashmina when in this town because of the bloody fog. I hear the blessed people in the Castro and the Mission get a break and are permitted to pretend they live in California, but for the San Francisco I know, living here means big puffy down jackets or frigid fingers.

But once you leave town, the fog parts abruptly and suddenly you're under the wide blue California sky with the sun beating on your face as you zip down the highway with the radio blasting favorite high school tunes.

There are some compensations though. Good cheap ethnic food for one. Welcome to the El Tonayense Taco Truck.

Dumb Kid Brother and I came to be here because we went to the Mission Cliffs climbing gym to work out. Me by sweatin' it on the elliptical and him by working 80 foot walls. Lord I have not seen so many ripped back muscles since well, the last time I was in this former warehouse perpetually smelling vaguely of foot. Lithe and beastly strong Asian women with washboard abs scrambled up monstrously difficult walls while a tiny hippy child hung upside down on a boulder, his long curly brown locks swinging in the air perfumed by chalk dust. I felt beyond inferior.

So I comforted myself with some calories. Three dollars got me a tongue taco and tripe taco. And my dumb-kid-brother paid. Even better.

On the food itself, the tongue was great, the tripe didn't do it for me, but I realized that I have never gotten a tripe taco before because most taco places don't have it on their menu, and when they do, they always seem to be out whenever I show up. I tell you, the world of delicious Mexican food has been conspiring to limit my taste knowledge, and it was only by latching onto my DKB that was I able to sneakily gain entry to the world of tripe tacos. Except now I have, and it didn't rock.

But those pickled jalapenos did. I could have just gotten a plate of those and some tortillas and salsa and been happy.

Can we note here that this taco truck was in the Mission? It is still not clear to me why someone willingly lives in the Richmond or the Sunset where they can freeze their tushes off in a million-dollar home in a boring neighborhood: such is life in the model-minority ghettos of Slam-Bam-Disco, otherwise known as 'Frisco.

El Tonayense Taco Truck, 22nd Street and Harrison Street

Abalone in Ft. Bragg

I'm in San Francisco hanging out with the family. My parents love to go "fish" for abalone, and this time I decided to tag along.

My parents watch the tide tables, and on this morning, the tides were low around eight in the morning. You find the abalone clinging to the underside of these seaweed covered rocks. They have to be at least 7 inches in diameter, and you can only take three in any one day.

It was funny seeing seaweed that I usually find on a platter of sushi covering all of the boulders.

Here's an abalone clinging to a rock. You pry it loose with an abalone iron, which is about the shape of a ruler with a rounded, flattened tip, made of aluminum generally.

I was more interested in picking up some sea urchin.

We decided that the red sea urchins yielded the best uni roe.

While you're mucking about in the waters, you can spot some funny inhabitants.

This bird was utterly unconcerned with my presence.

My mom claimed this nudibranch looked like poo. That's not exactly how I would describe it.

But then she found this starfish, and I forgave her.

When you arrive on shore, it is necessary to immediately tag the abalone before heading back up to the parking lot. Here you can see how the abalone use their foot to cling to rocky surfaces.

I put this fellow on its back, and it really did not appreciate it. Here you can see how it extended its muscular foot to try and grasp the side of the rock.

That night we had abalone steaks pan-fried in butter, abalone sliced thin for sashimi, and fresh uni for dinner.

New Year's 2009

Thank goodness this year I decided not to cook for New Year's because I knew I wouldn't have time to do it properly. I ended up feeling pretty sick the morning of New Year's Eve, and my usual help were down with their own ailments as well.

Instead, the New Year's menu was simpler and occurred in three rounds: Round 1 - appetizers purchased by moi, Round 2 - entrees cooked by my parents, Round 3 - Ice Cream Sundae Buffet. There are a ton of dishes though, so I'm just going to describe them briefly.


Charcuterie Platter (Clockwise from top left):

1. Prosciutto Crudo in the style of San Danielle (Boccalone - SF Ferry Bldg);
2. Terrine de Volaille, a robust terrine of game hen, pheasant and duck with walnuts and sherry - made from organic Soul Food Chicken, Liberty duck, organic cream, breadcrumbs, walnuts, organic herbs, sherry (Fatted Calf - SF Ferry Bldg);

3. Saucisson Sec - made with pasture raised pork, spices, brandy (Fatted Calf);

4. Pate Maison, garnished with duck gizzard confit - made from naturally raised pork, Liberty Farm duck, organic shallots, organic cream, breadcrumbs, organic herbs, brandy (Fatted Calf);

5. Ciccioli - typical of the Emilia-Romagna region, ciccioli is prepared by braising scraps of lean meat with fat and skin, and seasoning the mixture with garlic and rosemary. Ciccioli has a pleasing, unctuous mouth feel balanced by the rosemary (Boccalone);

6. Terrine Forestiere, rabbit terrine with goose liver, goose gizzard and black trumpet mushrooms - made from locally raised rabbit, goose, pastured pork, cream, black trumpet mushrooms, breadcrumbs, organic herbs (Fatted Calf);

7. Rabbit Rilletes, rustic rabbit spread with white wine and herbs - made from naturally raised Devil’s Gulch Ranch rabbits, organic herbs, sea salt, white wine (Fatted Calf); and

gherkins and pitted kalamata olives from Whole Foods.


Bread Basket
Foie Gras Torchon, foie gras drizzled with Sauternes and cured in sea salt (Fatted Calf), with Welsh Flake Salt, Murray River Salt (Boulettes Larder); and Agrimontana Fig Preserves.Cheese Plate. Don't remember these. G picked them out, except the one in the lower left hand corner is Fromage d'Affinois. The one in the top right is a sheep's milk gouda. No idea what the blue in the top left or the washed rind in the bottom right is.
Lardo - cured pork back fat seasoned with juniper and rosemary, served on toasted ciabatta(Boccalone/Acme)

Salmon Platter (from top left):

Creme fraiche and sliced red onions
Gaspe Nova - classic nova;
Gravlax - cured and coated in a delicate brine of salt, sugar, dill, and other secret ingredients;
Scottish Salmon - smoked with apple and cherry wood;
salmon caviar.

All salmon was ordered and delivered overnight from Russ & Daughters in the Lower East Side in Manhattan.

Additional accompaniments: sliced red tomatoes from the farmer's market, vinegar softened thinly sliced red onion, capers.
The pumpernickel was a great base for the seafood.


Pickled Herring Sampler (Russ & Daughters) with pickled beets from Rick's Picks.


Pickled Herring with cream and onions


Swedish matjes - marinated in brown sugar, clove, all spice, and cranberries.


Mustard and Dill Herring


Curried Herring


Then of course our precious kumies: 120 Kumamoto oysters (Hog Island Oyster Co.).

And that concludes Round 1: appetizers. We let people have a short break to catch their breath, and then it was on to Round 2: hot Chinese entrees.


To start a sampling of beef tongue, jelly fish and bbq pork.


Mom's chow mein with green beans and bean sprouts, strangely addictive.


My dad's crab with butter, garlic and basil.

My mom's pan fried shrimp.

Dad's steamed clams.Mom's stir fry of king oyster mushrooms, shrimp, cucumber, scallion and pine nuts to be wrapped in lettuce cups.

Finally, dad's fish fillets steamed with scallion and Chinese oil cured olives.

After one more break, we headed to the home stretch with gelato/sorbet sundae buffet.

Ciao Bella flavors (from left to right):

Apricot Chardonnay sorbet,

Bourbon Butter Pecan gelato,

Coconut sorbet,

Lebanese Yogurt sorbet,

Scharffen Berger Chocolate gelato,

Pumpkin Spice gelato,

Mojito sorbet,

French Vanilla gelato.

Toppings (from top left):

Mini peanut butter cups,

Scharffen Berger Cacao Nibs

Crushed toffee

Chocolate syrup

Bananas (that no one touched)

Pineapple

Strawberry

Mango

Blackberry

Raspberry

Blueberry

And that was New Year's!