From Farm to Table at Ubuntu

Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio (yep, you read it right—this is California after all) showcases garden vegetables and biodynamic produce in such a way as to satisfy even the most hardcore carnivore. No meat on the menu here, but even JW—who lives and dies by sausage and other things swine (smart lad)—loves it here. As do I.


We led off with the marcona almonds with lavender sugar and sea salt along with the fragrant pesto-marinated castelvetrano olives ...


Moved into a plate of perfectly ripened heirloom tomatoes, basil leaves, quince saba, wild fennel crackers, with a sprinkle of espelette (red pepper) and a lovely blob of creamy burrata.


Next up, the fingerling potato salad (potatoes done 3 ways—fried bits, roasted lumps and diced salad) with a super tart sauce gribiche (a mustardy mayo and hard-boiled egg emulsion), New Zealand spinach, black garlic coulis and fried capers.


Another Ubuntu goody: cauliflower—roasted, pureed, raw, "couscous"—with vadouvan spice and coriander.


We managed to squeeze in a couple of other small plates and then wound up with the luscious date cake flanked by a dollop of earl grey ice cream and roasted apples sitting in a pool of caramel.

Omakase at Sushi Sasabune

According to New York magazine: At this outpost of the famed Los Angeles and Honolulu sushi shrine, a sign reading "Today's Special—Trust Me" is the only menu option you'll get.

In other words, it's all about omakase, or the chef's tasting menu, at Sushi Sasabune and nothing else. The only thing the server asks is if you can eat everything (read: are you adventurous) or not (meaning, are you a wimp when it comes to raw seafood)?


Well, of course, we said we'd take it all. And so out came a steady stream of sea creatures, from abalone, clams of all kind, octopus, butterfish, albacore, sea urchin, salmon roe, and more.


Of the 12 or 13 courses that came our way, I'd say only 1 or 2 didn't sit well with us—I guess our milk-weaned, corn-fed palates aren't quite sophisticated enough to appreciate the chewy, fishy nature of some of the clams.


Predictably, we adored the delicate butterfish swabbed with a generous dose of teriyaki sauce—we asked for a second helping, it was that good.


And we savored the ever-so-buttery-rich sea urchin along with the slippery smooth salmon roe, tiny helpings of miso soup crammed in each and every one of them.

Han Il Kwan's Minno-Tahng

A slight pause in our regular programming for this ...


a taste of heaven.

Momofuku Noodle Pigfest

JC and DY said Momofuku was still as good as it's ever been (save for the first 12 months, when chef David Chang was still trying to figure things out), so we cabbed it on over to the East Village to promptly queue up for an hour-plus wait just for a chance to slurp up some of the super-porky ramen, one of many pork-laden dishes that Chang had hurtled into stardom for.


While we waited for our ramen to hit the countertop, we lay into the Berkshire pork belly buns, slathered up with duck sauce and a zesty dice of scallions.


Then, the ramen arrived, and I gotta admit it wasn't as good as I remembered it. A tad too salty, missing the umami high notes that Minca's thick and savory pork ramen hits (at least the last time I dropped in on a cold wintery night).


Ah well. Still a good mid-week meal, made that much better by the antics of my (nutty) friends.

I Triple-Heart Barrio Chino

I've got a thing for tacos and tequila especially at loverly LES hotspot Barrio Chino. I fell head over heels for this place when I went with a food editor friend on her recommendation five years ago (no, that's not her to the left, but my good pal JA). She'd spent many years in Mexico City, part of it running a cooking school, and gave Barrio Chino a big affirmative for authenticity. I love the food for its incredible balance of flavor and spice.

The love affair continues ...

The sweet-and-savory succulence of the chile en nogada—a smoky poblano chile stuffed with spicy ground pork and pineapples drizzled with a creamy walnut sauce—has me under its spell.


The chicken mole is also wicked good. So are the chile rellenos and of course the tacos. I've tried a bunch of stuff on Barrio's menu, and frankly it's all damn good.

Peasant is for the birds

MK's face says it best—there's something rotten in Denmark, or in this case Peasant. Of the 8 dishes we ordered, only the polpi in purgatorio (octopus, at bottom) did us right. Absolutely everything's cooked in Peasant's woodfired oven, and whoever was on the line that night, just could not get a handle on the seasoning to save his life. Too bad, since it wasn't so much the level of done-ness that we had a problem with but rather the sad blandness—and in some cases tongue-curling saltiness—in most of what we tried. Well, that does it. Strike Peasant off the list.


The pasta itself was tasty, but the sea urchin on top? Not so much.


The pork broth was nice, but the hefty, dense gnocchi got a thumbs down from MK, who's the protein cook at a 3-star Italian resto in the city.


S'more salt in both the sea bass and the suckling pig woulda been handy, so say we all.


No complaints though with the octopus. Yes we're a tough crowd (made up of cooks, a food stylist and an ex-cook), but heck, Peasant's received some pretty big raves, so it has a big reputation to live up to.

In a New York State of Mind

So I just got back from a week-plus jaunt in New York (where I actually managed to squeeze some work in between my pig-out sessions), and it was fab. Some highlights here with more to come ...


Peasant didn't deliver on the hype. No matter. The company made up for it in spades.


The pork (belly) buns were what put Momofuku and David Chang on the map. Good times.


The 9th (?) of 12 or so courses comprising omakase at Sushi Sasabune: lusciously creamy sea urchin and salmon roe tasting like miso soup.


Allen & Delancey's big plate o' meat. Bone marrow included.

Spork So Good

I went to Spork last year with S and C, and shame on me for never blogging about it, because it really was fantastic. I'm afraid the deets escape me, but I think it's fair to say the pics tell the story.


Spork's fish


Spork's mussels


Spork's pasta

Domo Arigato

I can always count on SS to steer me right when it comes to sushi. Hayes Valley newcomer Domo serves up an assortment of super fresh salads, rolls and nigiri in a super cute space, sitting just off the main drag on Laguna.

It's a good thing we got there early because by 7 pm, all 16-some-odd seats were taken.


The Sexy Mama was ... yes, you guessed it ... sexy—stuffed with broiled asparagus and tobiko, then topped with sliced lemon and salmon, plus a generous drizzle of yuzu cucumber salsa.


The crunch and spice of Domo's jalepeño hamachi roll with scallions and sea salt also got high marks, but it was the silky, supple hamachi belly nigiri (far right) that reigned supreme.

Mad for Macarons

"I'm bringing you something from NY, but I don't know if you're going to like them, but I'm bringing them for you anyway," said JC on the phone, the day before she was to fly in to SF. "OK, sure, bring it," I told her, wondering what the heck could it be.

Only THE most delicious sweet Parisian pastries from Macaron Cafe, opened by—what else?—a Parisian husband-wife duo. When JC handed them to me, she asked, "Do you even like macarons?" I told her I honestly didn't know. I can't even think when I might've had them. Sure I've seen them around—after all, SF is rife with French boulangeries, patisseries and bistros—but I'd always avoided them, mostly because the pastel colors signaled that these had to be too "sickly sweet" to be any good.

I was wrong. A luscious, creamy ganache filling comes sandwiched between two airy-crisp meringue domes, all of it bursting with flavor. The vanilla, mocha, chocolate, lemon, and peach ... I loved them all. Perfect with a cup of coffee or a strong cup o' tea.

The Best Kind of Vietnamese at PPQ

JC did not want me taking her picture. Oh no. No way. But since we go waaaaay back, I ran roughshod over her wishes and snapped one of her anyway. (Thanks, C!) Then it was down to business. We scooted down the street and around the corner to my friendly neighborhood Vietnamese eatery, Pho Phu Quoc, and made quick work of the spicy, tart green papaya salad covered with a generous handful of crushed peanuts and deep-fried onion strings. Almost as good as the addictive rendition that Charles Phan offers up at Out the Door.


Then we wolfed down PPQ's bouncy fresh spring rolls. All of 'em.


Moving right along, we slurped up the rare flank steak and beef ball pho. Beef balls? Not so much. It was the spongey texture that put me off. But the rest? AH-mazing. A subtly fragrant, steaming broth, sprinkled with scallions, it's the best noodle soup of its kind that I've ever had.

CAV Says It with Cheese

"You won't find a better cheese plate in town," our server declared as he slid this gorgeous plate across our table at CAV Wine Bar. "Funny you should say that," I said, "because I was just telling my friends that this IS the best cheese plate in town." For real though—I really did say it, because fully loaded, this trois-fromage medley kicks some serious ass.