Nom Nom Num Pang

I'd been jonesing for good banh mi, so when I was to meet a friend for lunch one day near Union Square, off we went to Num Pang on 12th and University. Thanks to DY for giving me the heads up on this Cambodian sandwich shop (num pang means sandwich in Khmer). Yes, the meat fillings aren't quite the same, but the toasted baguette, cilantro, cucumber and pickled carrots are like any really tasty banh mi I've ever had.

As it is, the filling I did try—the pulled duroc pork with spiced honey—was super satisfying, tender and full of flavor, and nicely set off by Num Pang's home-made chile mayo. My main regret is that I didn't have time to go back and try a few other sandos—like the coconut tiger shrimp or the hoisin veal meatballs. Well, I guess it'll have to wait til the next time I'm in New York.

Going Local Mission Eatery

"entirely local, humane and housemade."

Plain and simply written in the bottom left corner of the menu. What Local Mission Eatery neglected to add are other key things like: "exceptionally fine, inventive and well-made."

We 3 dropped in for dinner at this Outer Mission establishment a couple of weeks back, thanks to a Blackboard Eats special I'd signed up for giving us a free bottle of wine with our meal (and a nice one to boot). And we were pleased that we had. A lot of what we tried was bursting with flavor, well-seasoned and cleverly paired. I'm told Local's only been serving dinner for 6 months now. Here's hoping folks come out to support their fab work.


The gnocchi had a nice, airy consistency but were a tad underseasoned. The tomato water, however, was divine—the best kind of savory-sweet agua fresca (slurp-worthy to be sure) with juicy stewed heirloom tomatoes bobbing about along with a good helping of mozzarella and basil leaves.


I've grown to love sardines, and this is the reason why: Local Mission Eatery's ginormous rendition were marinated and then grilled, giving them a really fine flavor and texture. They came piled on a plate with crisp-tender cranberry beans, braised fennel and fresh greens, drizzled with a sweet-tart romesco sauce and crowned by strands of saffron.

Kudos to JG for being a good sport and trying the lamb tongue. When we asked how the tongue had been prepared, our server told us the offal had been confited (braised in fat). We thought, hmmm, sounds pretty good, especially when paired with roasted peaches and nectarines, toasted walnuts and bitter greens. Well ... let's just say the lamb tongues (yes, plural) came out looking exactly as you'd imagine: a bunch of tongues curling this way and that on the plate. JG could barely stomach even half of one. They were pretty spongy and not terribly flavorful. But wow, the accompaniments were so good and went so well with the lamby that I found myself eating not one tongue but two. Let's just say they grew on me.

I didn't have a whole lot of the chicken roulade, but what I did have impressed me. Usually I avoid chicken on a menu, as it seems it's often poorly done, dried out, uninspired. Not so in this case. The crispy skin housed an incredibly moist and juicy interior. The sauteed tokyo turnips with bacon sitting on a lovely puree of parsley root in a pool of chicken jus made for the perfect complement to the bird.

I've had goat before and not particularly liked it. But this dish has changed my mind—Local's cooks had braised the rich, dark meat til it was falling off the bone. A tangy tomatillo salsa kept the dish from getting too heavy. I loved every bite.

It seems everything on the menu came with a little twist, even the plum tart with creme fraiche—it arrived with a sprinkling of fennel seeds, some fennel fronds, plus a scoop of celery relish on top.

Pitstop at Pica Pica

I'd been telling folks how much I missed the incredible accessibility of cuisines that I once enjoyed when living in downtown Manhattan—not just your usual Italian, Chinese and Japanese fare, but also Venezuelan, Russian, Filipino, Puerto Rican, Caribbean, Cuban and more. One of my absolute faves was and still is East Village hole-in-the-wall Caracas, which puts out the best empanadas and arepas I've ever had; plenty of others agree—often the wait to get in can stretch for an hour and a half or more (luckily, there's takeout). Whenever I'm in town, I always try to pick up one of the deep-fried sweet corn hot pockets (aka empanadas) stuffed with shredded beef, sweet plantains, black beans and cheese (called the de pabellon) as well as one of the spongy pita-pocket-type arepas, packed full of another delightful meat and cheese combo. It's something I wish we had in SF.

So when I heard that Pica Pica Maize Kitchen was opening in the Mission, I was psyched. Finally. Venezuelan-style arepas and empanadas conveniently located nearby. Sadly, the empanadas don't hold a candle to the ones at Caracas. But the Pabellon maize'wich (pictured above) comes damn close ... at least in flavor and appeal. This is true comfort food. And at a pretty good price. Welcome to the neighborhood, Pica Pica.

A Spot of Italy at Darwin Cafe

Thank you, SS, for the heads up on newly opened Darwin Cafe, a tiny spot tucked away on Ritch street serving up hot pressed sandwiches that made us daydream of lazy food forays in Italy. We loved the bresaola and blue cheese packed with plenty of sharp watercress on fresh Acme bread. The sando with slices of salami paired with huge wheels of heirloom tomato and oozing mozzarella cheese was also quite divine. Who knew a sammy could sate us so?

Celebrating in style at RN74

A few of us went for a long and leisurely lunch at Michael Mina's RN74 not too long ago to celebrate VB's birthday, and a fine choice it turned out to be.

Everything we ordered from the modern American menu was seasoned so well, the flavor combinations skillfully balanced. VB's oh-so-juicy grilled kurobata pork loin with crumbly cornbread financier, roasted licorice-y endive and juicy bing cherries in a nutty brown butter jus was the hands-down winner.


We also liked RN74's luscious hunk of creamy burrata ringed by a garland of marinated veg, and served with a big bowl of grilled bread.


I was happy as a clam with my al dente hand-cut tagliatelle with sweet corn, leeks, fresh basil, pistachio and castlemagno cheese.


JL's grilled Mediterranean sea bass was light and flakey, accompanied by a medley of fingerling potatoes, cauliflower, artichokes, capers and a tongue-tingling lemony sauce.

Sunday Izakaya at Sebo

A meal at Sebo will easily set you back a couple of benjamins per 2 top, what with the finest-grade sashimi being flown in straight from Japan. But if Izakaya is more your thing, then Sundays at Sebo will do you right. We ordered almost everything on the weekly changing menu, plus some cocktails and a few extra-large beers, and couldn't quite polish it all off. And yet the damage totaled a mere $45 a head. Pretty much all of what we ordered (maybe 12-15 small plates) got high marks from the 4 of us, except for a couple of outliers.

Here follows a selection of Sebo's scrummy dishes:


Deep-fried, extra crispy okra and boiled egg, drizzled with a special sauce (aka zesty thousand island)


Eggplant in soy with a chiff of nori


Spicy, peppery mac n cheese (ah-mazing, we ordered 2); sweet yam, cooked al dente (I liked it; others, not so much)


Little fishy swimming in rice soup with a whopping dollop of salty roe sitting on a shiso leaf—this one grew on me; I liked it the more I ate it. The Koreans take these li'l fish and deep fry them in soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and garlic, making 'em the crispiest, crunchiest nuggets of goodness you'll ever have with your bowl o' rice.


Shrimp with winter melon (BLERG—overcooked and mealy, bland and sad, I found this dish extremely disappointing); dried squid with herring roe and konbu (bottom left; loved the squid; the hardened cubes of herring roe didn't add anything to the plate—"lowtide" as NJ put it in a not-so-complimentary way; I agree); woodear with tofu and lotsa sesame (bottom right; mmmm, good)


Lovely mussels in a tomato broth; tuna melt with quail eggs (from the folks at Farm Table who were guest cheffing that night); dried squid

Leonard's Malasadas

The malasadas from Leonard's Bakery are so much better than plain old donuts. Puffy, light and airy, and dusted with plenty of sugar, the half dozen "plain sugars" we ordered from this Honolulu institution came out piping hot from the fryer.

Of course, the extra-large-and-in-charge folks manning the store make me think it's a good thing malasadas can't be found anywhere in SF. (Read: As good as they are, malasadas are best had at most once every 4 or 5 years ... )

Fettucine Night with the Boys

Whenever J+J ask me over for supper, they often expect me to get to work in the kitchen. This time was no exception, though thankfully JG had already done the heavy lifting—prepping all of the ingredients beforehand for this especially toothsome Epicurious recipe: fettucine with peas, asparagus and pancetta with a couple of substitutions/additions—mint instead of parsley, for example, plus a healthy dose of crushed red pepper.


Crispy pancetta adds a wonderfully savory depth to the pasta.


And of course the fresh peas and asparagus make this the perfect springtime-into-summer pasta (we cooked this a couple of months back).


Truth be told, I didn't have to do too much beyond toss a bit here and taste a tad there. And it was all worth it once we sat down to eat the creamy-citrusy pasta sitting before us.

Very Fine Food at Frances

Lonely Planet writer and food critic AB was right. Relative Castro neighborhood newcomer Frances is really, really good. I'd been led astray by a luke-cold review of the place, but it seems that review was (way) off the mark. I mean, what's not to love about beignets, light fluffy clouds studded with savory bacon with a perfectly crisped exterior, or giganto tender gnocchi tossed with earthy morels and spring vegetables, served with a crunchy breadcrumb topping. I've told everyone and their mother to go check it out. I'll be going back again. And big plus: the menu changes often ... to match the season and what's available locally.


in front: bacon beignets—some of the best I've ever had; behind: flash grilled calamari nestled in fresh leaves of arugula


pig trotters ... kinda like crabcakes, but with pork instead. mmmmmm.


pillowy gnocchi with morels and more


in front: creamy polenta with mushrooms and scallions; in back: oh-so-tender lamb loin with gigantes and things

In Season: Zucchini Blossoms

I scored some gorgeous zucchini blossoms after volunteering for a CUESA event today (CUESA runs the SF Ferry Building farmers market). Since these subtly fragrant flowers don't have a long shelf life, I decided to whip up a simple beer batter (beer + flour whisked together), dip the 15 or so blossoms in, and then fry them up in hot canola oil. Out they came onto a paper towel. I sprinkled 'em with a little parmesan and salt, and they were ready to go.

The blossoms were gone in 60 seconds ... OK, slight exaggeration, but it didn't take long for me to polish 'em off—they were so good.

BCD Tofu House

When it comes right down to it, you can't beat a piping hot stone bowl full of five-alarm spiced, seafood, silken tofu jjigae in NY's K.town ... especially when it's at a resto imported from the number one K.town in the US = the city of Angels (aka LA).

BCD Tofu House is a serious keeper.

Dell'anima Can Do No Wrong

It'd been more than 2 years since I had the exquisite pleasure of partaking in a meal at West Village Italian eatery dell'anima. And yet from what I'd been reading, it was still going strong.

So off we went on my last proper night in the City for an unforgettable meal that started with a tasty array of five bruschette and ended on a high note comprising four kinds of perfectly al dente and fragrantly flavored pasta/risotto.

dell'anima still delivers ...


Sweetbreads with (I think) a sunchoke puree and strawberries in balsamic vinegar — Not my fave dish (a bit discordant to me), but I could appreciate the tender juicy-ness of the seared offal. DY and CY loved ...


Mouthwatering bruschette: Soft scrambled eggs with bottarga (aka caviar); rapini pesto walnuts and pecorino; cannellini with preserved tangerine and aleppo pepper; creamy avocado with Sicilian olive oil; ricotta with sea salt


Uber tender, charred octopus with rice beans, chorizo, chicory and endive


What I couldn't get enough of: the lusciously rich minty pea risotto with tons of Pecorino cheese. But heck, I was happy getting a little bit of everything. It was all so good.