Napa Nosh

Road trip Friday. To Napa, a town that's slowly being built into something...Not sure what yet. But there is a nice restaurant there called Ubuntu, beautifully designed even down to the restrooms, and there's a dining patio scented with jasmine. Four of us shared six dishes (all the food is meatless): Marcona almonds with lavender sugar and salt; a salad sourced mostly from the nearby organic garden and sprinkled with beet powder; artichokes and some sort of leafy succulent over pesto; braised chickpeas in a haunting broth; grits with a farm egg; mushroom pizza with a rich goat-cheese topping. Oh and the lemonade! Best I've ever tasted.
We strolled First Street, bought cupcakes at a sweet little place called Sift, and treated ourselves to pedicures. On the drive home, we stopped at Oxbow Public Market and ogled the goodies. For a final perfect nosh, try the olive bread at Model Bakery, just bursting with kalamata beauties. Then leave this sunny place and get back to the fog, where you belong.

Quiero Mole

Mole is one of the most complex and soul-satisfying foods there is. If you love it like I do, but you don't eat meat, head to the vegan-friendly Papalote and indulge in a tofu mole burrito. The rice and beans are lard-free; the salsa, pleasantly spicy with a smoky edge, house-made. (Also, their guac may be the finest in town, but perhaps a better match to soyrizo or prawns...) Oh, you can cut it in two and intend to save half for tomorrow, but the mole will win out. Go to the dark side and eat the whole thing.

Basil = Summer

One of the farmers at the Noe Farmers' Market was selling some basil tops. They were cheap little sprouty things, and I took a bunch. See, a fistful of basil won't go bad in the produce drawer. It will just make everything taste better...Like summer.
There were grilled shrimp - basted in lemon juice, olive oil and minced garlic - left over from last night's dinner, along with half a grilled red pepper. I tore a sprig of basil so that each mouthful was flecked with green velvet. And be sure to tear with your fingers, not your knife...The lovely scent of basil will stay on your skin like summery perfume.

Embarrassment of Noshes

Yesterday, not so much (although I did score some blueberry pancakes, not too shabby, at a place I've already egg-strapolated on).
Today the sun came out for Memorial Day. Ms M and I took advantage of this by walking up to North Beach, where I had a nice, slightly oily and altogether satisfying veggie focaccia sandwich at Mario's. It's got eggplant, roasty red peppers, onion, tomato sauce and Swiss cheese, all melted together in a cute little pizza oven. You can eat it with knife and fork, or pick up each piece (they thoughtfully slice it for you) and let the greasy goodness dribble where it may.
Ms M and I continued on to Russian Hill and there, on Polk St., encountered the dessert destination of my dreams: Loving Cup. If you like - nay, love - rice pudding, go there. Now. And it's healthy stuff, made with just rice, eggs, sugar and nonfat milk...plus a few well-chosen ingredients, such as Madagascar vanilla, or cinnamon and raisins (my choice). Someone please open a branch here in Noe!
And as you nosh, a moment of thanks for the veterans. My Dad was one, and I'm thinking of him now.

Rosy Glow

We are cold when we arrive at Front Porch, bundled in coats, scarves and hats against the wind. It's too chilly to repose on said porch, in a rocking chair, drink in hand. But venture inside the dark, crowded room with its tin ceiling and old-timey decor and you'll warm right up. Most especially if you order one of their delightful cocktails, like the rose sangria with guava puree. Sip it slowly, if you can, through the accompanying straw. Save a bit to put out the fire of the cute yet spicy corn-shaped cornbread that arrives before the meal. The food's okay but I sure could use another sangria to put the roses back in my cheeks.

'Wichy Woman

The blogging gods were against me last night.

First, evil Comcast decided that too many people in my neighborhood were logged on, so I could not use the interwebs.

Next, two very evil kittens converged on my lap and proceeded to snorgle and snore in such a way that I grew…very…sleepy…

OK, all to say I missed a blog. But I have a nice nosh for you, today. This is especially good if you work in downtown S.F., as the place is on New Montgomery, a block down from Market. It’s The Sentinel, cheffed by the same guy who runs Canteen on Sutter (and apparently is a one-man band, even making his own ice bowls for chilled dishes). This tiny corner operation has grown quite popular, for good reason. I was tantalized by the smoked salmon/fresh salmon sandwich, which is laced with dill, fennel and creamy avocado. Although the counterperson assured me that white bread “presents better”, the wheat bread was a beautiful shiny roll that was sweet and fresh. Alongside this dreamy sandwich was a half dill pickle rolled in paper and a chocolate mint hard candy.

I ate this sammy very, very slowly, wishing, as I do when reading a great book, that it would not end. But I’ll be back, Sentinel. A herd of kittens couldn’t keep me away.

Warm Nosh/Cold Night

Really, you would not know it was in the 80's just a few days ago. The Kimster and I rode BART to cold, windy Glen Park for some special pizza, and wound up shivering on a bench outside Gialina for a good hour before our cozy table was finally ready.
Worth it? Yes. We shared the arugula salad with ruby beets, goat cheese and lots of pistachios; bruschetta with a lovely green fava puree, marinated anchovies and shaved radish; the Atomica pizza, seriously thin-crusted and blistery around the edges, lightly cheesed and topped with portabello slices and red onion. Even the crusts got eaten. And I daresay we could've had dessert as well, but it was getting late.
Kimster commented that it's amazing how sometimes the simplest food is the very best. Wiser words were never spoken...not in this blog, at least.