CAFE EUROPA...EASTERN EUROPE COMES TO INNER RICHMOND

San Francisco is a small city, but sometimes the whole idea of getting on MUNI and riding out to say, the Richmond District, can be exhausting. It's a bus trip only for those of us with no car and when you stop at every other corner, it can take a toll, some time, mental anguish, etc. Because my friend Ms. O works out that way, every now and then I'll text her up and say "hey, how 'bout I come out your way to try some place there." That's what happened a few weeks ago when I deliriously decided to take something besides the 38 Geary. Instead, I opted for the 1 California just to be different. Yes, it was a slow slog, but then the driver decided that one particular stop was his last before turning around or going on break or something and we all had to get off roughly 10 blocks from where we all thought the end run was gonna be. Ugh, MUNI. Needless to say, after a transfer, I reached my destination and me and O met up at Cafe Europa (oddly, they have no website).

CRAPPY COOKIE CRUMBLES....AND YOUR WEEKLY DIGESTION OF FOOD NEWS TO CONSUME

I was strolling down Market Street when I passed by The Market, that new amalgam of grocery store and mini-food service spots in the ground floor of the Twitter building. I wasn't really hungry, but I thought since I was in the hood I would at least check the place out to see what all the buzz was about. It is a market, mostly for grab and go stuff, but it also has places to get quick bites to eat circling the shopping part. It reminds me of a smaller, diverse version of Eataly in Chicago. After rounding the store I came across what I believe is their coffee shop at the front and spotted this cookie in the case. Now, I'm all about a big ass cookie and this was definitely it. I know it is hard to tell from the pic but it was bigger than my hand and thick around the middle too. At $3 (plus tax) it was a decent price considering the size. I took my prize and sat at a nearby counter to see if it tasted as good as it looked. Without drawing out the suspense here, my answer to that question is, no, no it didn't. Doing big cookies can be difficult if not done right, but they are possible. My favorite at Cafe Madeline is a good example of a big tasty cookie. While the look and the browning on the outside were nice, the inside of the cookie was dry, dry, dry and thick, thick, thick. It's like they thought because it is thicker in the middle they needed to cook it a little longer, leading to over baking and a crumbly, not very tasty mess. And to top it off, it could have used a little better chocolate dispersement. Ultimately, after a few bites, I just couldn't finish it. Maybe if I'd also had a giant glass of milk or scoop of ice cream to trade off the dryness, I could have soldiered through it but, alas, I could not. Oh well, lesson learned, bigger is not always better, at least where this particular cookie is concerned. 

• In big, maybe not so surprising or possibly surprising news, Richie Nakano is out at Hapa Ramen--his, mostly, own restaurant concept. 
• As casual as San Francisco can be, sometimes you gotta' respect the restaurant and at least make an effort to spruce up. Staffan Terje of Perbacco shows you how. 
• Upcoming spring restaurant openings to be on the lookout for from SFEater.
• Bay Area craft beer continues to bloom. Now you don't need to go to Portland. 
• And not to be left out, 7x7 ranks The City's 10 best beers.
• It's Starbelly's bacon jalapeno spaghetti. Yeah, I had to look too.
• If you find yourself out late at night in Oakland, well, good luck with that! Though, if you are hungry, East Bay Express says this is a good sandwich option. 
• Sadly closing this past week Ironside and Jumpin' Java.
• San Francisco Magazine goes on the search for the best soup dumplings in town.
•  Oakland is getting their own super fancy food market and deli thingy.
• Blue Bottle is heading to Pac Heights. Maybe this will mean less lines elsewhere, or not.  

HARVEY'S IN THE CASTRO....THIS TIME I KNOW IT'S NOT ABOUT THE FOOD

It's been awhile since I've been to a "San Francisco institution." Recently me and the SO found ourselves down in the Castro neighborhood, a place we don't frequent so much anymore these days. We were standing at the corner of 18th and Castro, staring at the rainbow crosswalk and thinking about getting a lunch bite to eat. I was staring across the street at Harvey's and casually said, "you know, I don't think I've actually eaten there before." The SO was like, "well, if we go, you have to review it." I thought, sure why not. It's the "heart of the Castro," and why not have some old-school fun.

YOUR WEEKLY DIGESTION OF FOOD NEWS TO CONSUME...AND SOME MUSHROOMS AND CHEESE

My journey through Neighbor Bakehouse continues this week with savory offering--the mushroom and manchego cheese croissant tart thingy. Croissant crust is the thing they have down here. It is flaky, buttery, light and everything you want in a croissant. Not necessarily a dessert, but for a breakfast croissant like this, it is perfect. I really liked the mix of manchego and mushroom--the earthy with the buttery--was a pleasant flavor profile that made it a great breakfast, mid-morning treat. While I was eating it, I kept thing how great it would go with an egg on top. I know that is one of the trendy things of the moment but in this case, I think it would add a whole other level to it. Something like the perfect breakfast tart/open faced sandwich. I know they are a bakery, but, if they were thinking of adding to their current line up of take out, it's an option, just throwing that out there. At $3.50 a pop it is a pretty decent size and you do get a fair share of cheese and mushroom on top. I ended up getting this because they were out of their ginger sugar bun and as something at the opposite end of the spectrum, it was a nice alternative and I didn't have to worry about all the sugar I wasn't getting (even though my sweet tooth missed it a little). I would most definitely recommend and get this again. Next, if I plan ahead (ha, that's funny) maybe I'll take along an egg with me and plop it on top. Protein, veggies and a carb, it's a great way to start a day.

• If they won't come for the pork, maybe they'll come for the sweets B-Side reinvents itself in Oakland.
• The Yard beer garden thing is now open at McCovey Cove. Now Marina and techie bros can drink in SOMA, oh joy. 
• 8 years on Hooker's Sweet Treats is still sugaring up the Tenderloin, as much as you can do that I mean.
• Former Radius space in SOMA has turned around quickly and is now reopened as El Capitan.
• Hey, another high end restaurant is opening in San Francisco! Oh, joy.
• I totally support any best pie list, including this 7x7 one. Though the chocolate peanut butter pie from Chile Pies really should be #1.  
• And while we are ranking desserts, InsideScoop says these are some of the current Bay Area best. 
• Why does this make your own pizza place have to open all the way out at Stonestown? If good this place would kill it downtown. 
• Restaurant pop-ups and pickling in....Oakland? Yeah, I thought it was Berkeley too.
• SixFoot20 will be serving up breakfast tacos at Duboce and Church. Appropriately convenient to grabbing and jumping on the N or J heading to work. I'm sure the other commuters will love to smell that in the morning. 
• Really? These are the places you want us to take tourists? Well, at least now I know not to go during tourist season. 
• The Sinbad's saga continues, though probably not after this weekend. Or maybe next weekend, depending on who you ask. 
• Small batch artisan goods come to Bernal Heights, just because. 

JUST FOR YOU CAFE....UH, NO, I'M NOT HERE FOR BRUNCH

There are innumerable places in San Francisco that specialize in brunch and it's non-combo meals. They open around 8am, serve till 2:30ish then close up shop. Everybody knows them from doing these meals up right which is why you will find a wait to get in on most any day you stop by. Every now and then one of these places decides they want to expand the menu and stretch their offerings  by serving up dinner, to varying degrees of success. One such spot that has been dishing it out for over 20 years now is Just For You Cafe in Dogpatch. I vaguely remember them trying dinner service a number of years ago, but it seemed to come and go so quickly I never got around to trying it. This time around, they are testing it (?) on Friday and Saturday nights only. Since I was in the hood, I decided to give it a try.

YOUR WEEKLY DIGESTION OF FOOD NEWS TO CONSUME....AND A CHOCOLATE BEAR CLAW THINGY!

As with any new thing, lines have finally subsided to the point where I can run by Neighbor Bakehouse without a wait of interminable proportion. Though, I still run into the already sold out issue. I'm choosing to look at this, however, as an opportunity to try my way through the other baked goods they offer. This time around I went for the chocolate bear claw. Though this is only a claw in the name sense, I'd say it's more of a chocolate croissant in the shape of a claw. You get the light, fluffy, flaky crust with spots of semi-sweet dark chocolate in almost every bite. Fans of the the everyday chocolate croissant will not be disappointed in this pastry confection as it hits all the same notes. For a pastry junkie like myself, it's just a tad on the twee side, as you know, I like my sweets to have some bit of heft and thickness to them. While this does not fill that need for me it does work as a  light morning compliment to a coffee or tea. For that I'll give it thumbs up. If you are searching for something more desserty and substantial you'll need to try something else, which, of course, is exactly what I will continue to do. 

• Thrillist says these are the best Southern food places in SF. I'm down with most though, just because you serve pork doesn't make you Southern.
• And not to beat a dead horse they also rank the 13 best tacos in town.
• The Progress introduces the no-reservation-eat-at-bar-under-$10-menu! Though doubt you could get out of there without dropping $60 or more per person. 
• Jersey, that Italian New Yawk eatery from the Town Hall folks is now open. Prices seem to be New Yorkish too. 
• Bay Area ice cream maker leaves town in a huff and a Facebook rant about everything that is wrong with San Francisco. Oh, sweetie, you shouldn't let it get to ya' like that, you make ice cream--enjoy life. 
• San Francisco Street Food Festival has found a new home at Pier 70 in Dogpatch. Early entry passport tickets are now on sale.
• Here are 5 new San Francisco restaurants that "most" folks say are worth trying before they become too hard to get in to. 
• In case you also like watching films about food, CAAMFest has a pot full of those for ya'.
• PlumpJack Group, partially led by the Gavin Newsom guy, is planning major food/drink expansion. 
• Artist inspired brewery and taproom? Only in San Francisco you say? Surprise, it's in Oakland, sorry, Temescal.  
• And since St. Patrick's Day is coming up, here some Irish themed bars you drink up at. 

JUNK FOOD JUNKIE: FALLING DOWN A RED VELVET K-HOLE

Red velvet, traditionally a cake with origins going back many years, it's been sort of a specialty cake that popped up here and there as either a Southern treat or holiday type cake due to it's red and white nature. It also had an air of uniqueness to it that whenever I saw it on a menu I was like, ooh, I need to try that. Over the years it's popularity began to soar and it started showing up on more and more menus. I'll attribute this to the cupcake boom that started sometime in the 90's. Since the cake itself is sometimes challenging to make, the fact you could just make a small easy version made it appealing for bakers. Pretty soon, the whole red velvet thing took off and you could find versions ranging from cheesecake to whoopie pies. Abominations, maybe. Some worked, some didn't. These days, that aura of specialness has unfortunately totally worn off for red velvet, particularly where bastardized versions of the flavor are concerned. Nowhere is this more prevalent than the latest "creations" to hit the grocery shelves, being marketed as one time only (we can hope) get them while they last flavors. And, yes, of course I'm going to try them. Ladies and gentlemen I present the latest variation jumping on the (really late) bandwagon.

NAKED LUNCH IN SAN FRANCISCO.....GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER

Ah, lunch in San Francisco, it is always a challenge. You want something good, sometimes healthy, but you don't want to spend a boat load of money on a midday meal that will probably make you sleepy in your cubicle by 2pm. Sadly the rise of the $10 sandwich in SF doesn't always make it that easy to find a place to go. On a recent sunny Tuesday I decided to eschew the basic lunch rules and just hit up Naked Lunch, a place that has garnered a following, and see what all the fuss was about.

YOUR WEEKLY DIGESTION OF FOOD NEWS TO CONSUME AND POT PIE!!

I was at the Ferry Building recently trying to quell some hunger pangs. Suddenly I had a taste for some comfort food when I wandered by Golden Gate Meat Co. and saw these pot pies. Yes, that's what I want today. The sign said chicken or beef so I asked the counter clerk which one I should get, he said the chicken was sold out. Well, that made my decision easier, for $7 I got the beef. It's a pretty large and heavy portion so I had no qualms with the cost ratio on this It is served warm and the crust on top is a nice flaky brown and one bite of it reminded me of home made pies instead of those frozen Swanson ones I fondly remember from my childhood. I dug into it and steam rose out..ooo yum! You can see the beef filling below. Cubes of beef, carrot, potato, onion and what looked like bits of barley.  I took a big spoonful in my mouth and.....well, it won't good. In fact, it tasted sour, like old juice. I tried picking out individual pieces of what was inside but the flavor had pervaded everything from the gravy on down. Not good, not good in anyway. I didn't even finish it, which for me is saying a lot. I was so totally bummed that I couldn't get my comfort food fix I had to drown my sorrows by eating a cookie. Yeah, I know, sad, but ya' gotta' do what ya' gotta' do sometimes. Oh well, obviously there won't be a next time. I know I could probably go to Safeway and get one, then take it home and heat it up.....ugh I'm already tired. I think the sugar rush from the cookie is wearing off. I'm just gonna go lay down now. 

• Three Twins Ice Cream takes on Ben & Jerry's! It's an ice cream throwdown!
• Anna Roth has left the building! Or more specifically SFWeekly.
• It's the Belgian style brasserie the Marina was clamoring for?
• Pal's Takeaway is doing that guest chef thing again. Another reason to charge more for sandwiches
• OH GOD, NO, NO, NO, NO!.
• Snail burger...nuff' said. 
• Manresa Bread is now open. Seems to be a big deal. Watch your back Tartine.
• Ever wanted to feed the masses in the Haight? Yeah, me neither, but now someone can.  
• "Tenderloin Vietnamese gem"--do those words really go together?
• Upscale candy boutique coming to San Francisco. Union Square and Cow Hollow--of course.
• These are the places Yelp!'s CEO likes to eat. I wonder if he hassled asked them personally for advertising after giving them 4 star Yelp! reviews. 

FOOD TRUCK QUICK BITE: SMOHTERED IN SAUCE...FRIES THAT IS

Poutine--that's fries smothered in gravy and cheese curds (yum!)--has been a popular menu item in the Bay Area for a few years now. I guess it was only a matter of time before a food truck doing variations on that theme showed up. And only a matter of time before our paths crossed at SOMA StrEat Food Park. That day came for me and the Smothered Food Truck, at least I think that's their name, though they also seem to go by Smothered In Sauce, either way, you get the theme. 

YOUR WEEKLY DIGESTION OF FOOD NEWS TO CONSUME....RED VELVET CAKE EDITION

What a surprise! The SO made red velvet cake for me us on VDay as a real treat. This lovely homemade version is from my grandmother's recipe, one she purloined from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York back in the late 40's or early 50's (details are a little sketchy). This is old school red velvet, not that new fangled version with cream cheese icing. This one is chocolate cake made from scratch with food coloring to get the brilliant red velvety color. The icing is a cooked one made with flour, milk, sugar and that most special of ingredients--Crisco. Yeah, I can see all you folks out there blanching, but believe me when I tell you the combination works, creating an icing that is smooth, creamy and not too sweet. A great counter balance to the sweetness of the cake itself. This was always a special occasion cake in our family and both my grandmother and mother made this in quite spectacular tasting versions. Since neither is around anymore, the SO has made it his mission to re-create the best version possible and with each iteration, comes closer and closer to the best. Of course, as we all know, no one ever makes things as good as our parents, but the fact they try, makes it very special. Each time I have a bite it will always bring up fond memories from childhood of birthdays and holidays with the family. It's an extremely difficult cake recipe to make as you have to be quite exact and when cooking the icing--it burns and curdles easily. Needless to say, I appreciate every time he whips one out and relish every bite for the both the effort and the memories. 

• That bastion of kitsch and crap food Sinbad's may finally be on it's way out after cluttering up the waterfront with tourist trap food and prices for like forever.
• Willie Brown likes Mourad. I'd probably like a free meal there too.
• Spring, Summer and whatever is returning to SF and thus returns Off The Grid to both Fort Mason and The Presidio.
• Ugh, bone broth, stock, soup without stuff in it. Call it what you want, but this fad makes even me hate foodies. Here's my rant all about it. 
• It's family style dining in San Francisco, if you can afford to actually have a family here. 
• The Alembic is bringing back their Girl Scout Cookie cocktails because, why not.
• Hahahahahahaha.....hopefully they make better pizza than signage.
• 10 most Instagrammed restaurants in San Francisco--visit at your own risk.
• Mr. Holmes Bakeshop suffers recipe theft--guess he better call Dr. Watson and get on the case! 
• An inside look at Bar Tartine's pantry, because you know you wanna see.