AtLast

There is a particular sandwich I sometimes crave, and I probably should try the other ones they offer at Atlas Cafe. Right? Someday, maybe. But today I needed a baked tofu sandwich. It's on toasted multi-grain bread, and spread with a tart tamarind vinaigrette. There's a thin layer of nori atop the tofu, and some papery red onion slices and cherry tomato halves. Bite into this, and yes, you've tasted the perfect vegan sandwich.
Someday, yamwich and beetwich, I shall eat you. But not today.

Scream Weather

Hot hot hot. SF was one hot mother today. All the ice cream places swelled with customers...I know without even walking by. BiRite...line around Dolores Park. Mitchell's? Halfway to my house on Church. Humphrey Slocombe, well, I'm guessing the Secret Breakfast ran out by noon.
But if, like me, you don't have a very cordial relationship with dairy, you might wanna try Soy Delicious. Especially the Chocolate Peanut Butter, which has little peanutty chips of goodness. It's made with organic soymilk and sweetened with things like brown rice syrup and fruit juice. And, yeah, it tastes quite good, if not as creamalicious as real 'scream. You can buy your own carton at Whole Foods, minus the long queue of hipsters with fixies and oversized shades.

Ode to the Aubergine

Last nite, the Kimster and I had a date at Noe's Alice's Chinese Restaurant. It's a cozy spot on a corner, not far from our house, and the food is usually quite good. We shared a veggie mushu, 'cause we both love things wrapped in pancakes, and a shrimp with spicy black bean sauce which truly had some kick. But my favorite thing was our appetizer, Garlic Eggplant. For this, the waiter brings over a dish with a long Chinese eggplant that's been cut into thirds lengthwise, but not all the way; each piece is still attached to the stem. The pieces have, however, been splayed apart and slathered with a sweet/garlicky sauce. Mr. Waiter cuts each piece in half and liberates velvety flesh from stem; two hungry girls then devour all six in record time. Aubergenius!

Bean Awhile...

I've been slacking again. But I made up an awesome recipe this week, easy and cheap and dee-licious. Here it is; call it Pasta and Beans with Tomato/Cheese Topping:
Throw a splosh of olive oil in a pan; heat. Next throw in a handful of organic cherry tomatoes from the farmers' market/your CSA box, and let them soften a bit in the oil. Add a nice fistful of leftover pasta, and an equal amount of canned white beans (I used Trader Joe's) and some of the beany liquid. Stir. Toss in some good pasta sauce and a few torn basil leaves. Cook until the juices are nice and gooey; pour into a bowl and grate some Parmigiano Reggiano on top. Feel the yumminess overtake you.
p.s. if you have 2 ravenous kittens, lock them in another room while you eat, then let them lick the empty bowl

Gingerly

I have admitted that at times, my tummy goes a bit aggro on me. At such moments, I have a friend in the Ginger People. Most especially, I love their Ginger Soother: a squat little bottle of Chinese ginger, lemon and honey. It's sweet but not cloying, the taste is delightful, and man, does it ever make an upset stomach feel better. The same folks make an apple-juice drink called Ginger Gizer, also a winner. You can find 'em at health food stores like Whole Foods or neat little places like BiRite in S.F. And it's sooooo much better than boring ginger ale. Let's also note that the little gingery peeps on the packaging are as cute as anthropomorphized roots can be.

Noshing Does Portland

Portland is one of my favorite places. The greenery, the cute Craftsman houses, the laid-back 'tude...the vegan options everywhere you go. So yes, I enjoyed my brief vacation there and took some notes for y'all on what got noshed.

Francis Restaurant: the Kimster had recommended this place on Alberta, which later this month will be serving dinner. But JP and I had lunch, and it was pretty great. I tasted JP's whiskey lemonade - tarted up with pureed candied ginger - and found it delightful. My enormous meal consisted of hummus, nice and coarse, with chopped kalamatas mixed in, on some flakey vegan foccaccia; pickled carrot coins; baby greens in a raspberry vinaigrette. JP loved his fish and chips with tartar sauce and horseradish marmalade. He also sucked down a large bottle of Rogue hazelnut nectar ale which listed 'free range coastal water' as one of its ingredients.

Cup and Saucer: a groovy little place in the Concordia/Alberta area. Please, please do not venture in the door without a tattoo. OK, you can, and the staff will be really nice, but you'll feel like a giant dork. Anyway, my Saucer Special had scrambies, vegetarian sausage patties, and a frisbee-sized vegan cornmeal-blueberry pancake. I loved that cake, although I wish real maple syrup had not been $1 extra. JP's breakfast came with a cup of excellent raspberry jam - he made me taste it - and we also made the acquaintance of Secret Aardvark hot sauce via a bottle on the table.

Stumptown Coffee: those of you who know me also know about my coffee habit. It's not crack, but it's close. And if you love good java, you'd best get over to Stumptown and get a fix. JP and I visited the location in the Ace Hotel, after a trip to the overwhelming Powell's Books. Sitting in the window with my iced soy latte, a new book weighing down my shoulder bag, I had a serious moment. Maybe angels singing, I don't know, but it happened.

Moxie RX: this place rocks. Dear lord, what could be better than a converted trailer with a few stools inside, picnic tables outside, and creative food and drinks served on vintage dishes? My Grapefruit Fizz helped cool me down on a hot day: juice, fizzy water and fresh basil over ice in a Mason jar. Ahhh. JP kindly shared his Healthy Glow, a frothy blend of pineapple, cucumber, ginger and apple juice. He also enjoyed his panini: goat cheese on a cute little anise-fig roll. I enjoyed the fence behind us, topped with metal roosters and bird houses.

Jam on Hawthorne: this place was recommended by our bartender at the Kennedy School's Honors Bar, who I liked in spite of his failing to card me. We're so glad we went. I had vegan oatmeal-chai-blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup (the chai is Portland's local Dragonfly Chai, fyi). JP swooned over his lemon ricotta 'cakes with blueberry compote. And yep, Jam makes their own jam, which you can buy...The jars are artfully labeled and, judging by the blueberry jam on our table, they taste like a little bit of fruity heaven.

Prasad: we stopped by this cute food cart on Alberta before we left. I ordered the Beulah Land, a great big cup of grapefruit/apple/celery/mint juice. Refreshing, yes, but I also love food carts so it made me happy on several levels. And I got a vegan bbq wrap at the food co-op across the street, the perfect nosh to tide me over till we got back to foggy San Fran. I'll admit to some post-partin' depression, but I'll be back soon. There's so much more to blog about...

Streetwise

Yup, street food is the new black. You can do the twitter thing and find out where the carts are congregating, or you can spend your Thursday lunch hour at the Ferry Building. Many delightful choices; Ms CatChoo and I had a hard time deciding where to spend our lunch money. We finally were reeled in by Politano Pizza, what with its sturdy outdoor oven and featured pizza (one of three): erbette chard, chilies, kalamata olives and a thin layer of mozzarella. The crust was just the right amount of blistery, and while I ate all of mine, Ms CatChoo kindly shared some of hers with a wounded pigeon (sniff). We also shared a yellow watermelon agua fresca from Tacolicious, light and not too sweet. Sitting out back on a bench, warmed by the sun and calmed by the water, we gave thanks for working closeby. And what with okonomiyaki and smoked salmon sandwiches, I'll be hitting the streets again real soon.

Hidden Harvest

If I didn't know it was there, I'd walk right by. But Harvest and Rowe is a good little place, if you're downtown and hungry and like healthy, yummy food. I've only been there for lunch, myself; I had a great salad as I recall, but today I felt like a sandwich. And I know they do a tofu sandwich. So I called and a very nice woman described it to me as having smoked tofu made by some local dude, and hummus, and a variety of veggies. She nicely offered to put one aside for me, and said to look for the gal with the brown ponytail.
Well, I found her! And the smoked tofu was quite awesome. It's a big sammy, so I saved half for tomorrow. They have lots of other goodies, always a variety of soups, and their salad dressings all sound amazing. Sherry-olive? Balsamic-strawberry? Anchovy-parmesan?
Take the walk down Second Street and look for the place with a couple of outdoor tables and chairs. And a brown ponytail.

Cabbages and Kings

Brassica, per our friends at wiki, "is a genus of plants in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). The members of the genus may be collectively known either as cabbages, or as mustards."
If you go to the Brassica supperclub, as I had the good fortune to do last night, you will eat something from this plant family. And you will enjoy it.
The lovely Elise and I took the N Judah out to a secret location in the Sunset, equipped with a password to get us in the door. After shedding shoes and jackets, we climbed upstairs to a cozy apartment where one room was set aside for dinner guests. Each table had fresh flowers and either chairs or cushions for seating. Our waitress was the charmin' Carmen, who was happy to squat down and chat with us, explaining each dish that came our way. Ed and Mark are the two guys who provided us with our fantastic meal.
For a mere $35 (shaking my head in disbelief as I type), you will eat a four-course menu that is beautifully presented, locally derived, and obviously made with love. Tea and water are replenished quickly; you can bring your own alcohol if you wish.
First: Thai-style spinach cups that you roll yourself, after stuffing them with roasted corn, tofu, red onion, chopped lime, serrano chile, coconut, garlic, and oyster mushrooms. A drizzle of peanut sauce and you are in heaven.
Second: a duo of soups served in hollowed rosemary rolls. Potato-corn chowder with rosemary, and creamy tomato with oregano. So, so good.
A palate freshener of incredibly sweet watermelon juice with mint, served in shot glasses.
Third: entree of tempeh slices with a sunflower crust, over basmati pilaf with sliced avocado, cauliflower ceviche and a smoky tomatillo puree.
Finally: a dessert to end all vegan desserts...almond cake with pastry cream and roasted nectarines (Frog Hollow, y'all); almond brittle with a nice burnt-almond taste; cinnamon-nectarine granita.
I am still full.
And after dinner the heroic chefs hung out with guests, answering questions and being generally cool and friendly. Elise and I will be going back. You might want to try it too. Just don't forget your password.

Thai Trinity

Portabello mushrooms. Asparagus. Garlic.
Three things, stir-fried in a dark dreamy sauce and spooned over jasmine rice.
Walk up the 24th Street hill to Rin's Thai for some good Asian food...Not your standard Thai, they use the term 'fusion' to include things like Vietnamese lettuce cups; roti; samosas. It's a quiet place (they seem to do great takeout business) and the decor is a bit funky, but I like it. And I like that it's the same place - with some changes to the menu - I visited over twenty years ago with my sister. If she were still here, and how I wish she were, I'd take her there for dinner.

Been There, Ate That

My first blog was inspired by this place. Perhaps it's lazy of me to return and rave about their food, but hey, I tried something from the revised menu! And it was soooo good! So forgive me for not going somewhere new last nite, but there were JP and Greg and Kym and me, all mighty hungry and not wanting to walk too far...
What did I eat? Well, after sharing the Gilroy (bok choy snazzed up with vinegar and garlic, hence the name), I headed for the Wine Country with a big bowl of Sonoma: bucatini pasta, roughly chopped tomatoes, garlic, basil, and grilled tiger prawns, enriched with melty Chenel chevre. The two pieces of bread tucked alongside were, sadly, insufficient to sop up the sauce, but I bet they'd bring more if you ask nicely. Sometimes, the best meal can be found at a favorite haunt where you know you can get a table and have a conversation without shouting. Big citrus, we love you.