by Sam Tackeff | Feb 25, 2010 | Pantry Staples, Restaurants
I’ve been spending a little bit more time over at www.healthylunchidea.com in the past few weeks, because I’ve newly committed myself to the ultimate health accountability – blogging my every meal, and documenting my exercise as well. I’m beginning to suspect that this will be a crazy adventure, but so far I have been having fun with it. If you have any inclination of following the efforts of a looney woman, I encourage you to head over there or subscribe to my RSS!
The Second Lunch is going to still be devoted to the city, restaurants, travel, and where I will post most of my recipes.
Here are some shots from my other site, and some others from the city that I haven’t posted anywhere:
Today’s breakfast hack: Oatmeal in a Nutella Jar! (more photos of this delicious nutella oatmeal in a jar here)
Last night I attended a study group for my Integrative Nutrition program at Cafe du Soleil on Fillmore – for some reason I’ve never walked over that way, but it’s less than two miles from my house. I had a glass of mint tea with some steamed soy, and it seems like a nice place to meet a friend for a beer or a cup of coffee:
A Rocher from Tartine (meringue filled with cacao nibs) :
Veggie Delight sandwich from Dolores Park Cafe:
The San Francisco view from the top of Dolores Park:
Ritual Roasters:
and some coffee from Ritual:
Kermit Lynch, the wine aficionado came to visit us Omnivore Books:
This is about half of the corks from the free wine tasting! We had a lovely 2007 Meyer-FonneMuscat Katzenthal, and a bold Côtes du Rhône.
A Chicken and Chicken Pate Banh Mi from Bi-Rite:
Lisa Schwartz from Rainbeau Ridge Farm discussing her new book/cookbook about sustainable farming (over some snacks of some local bay area cheeses) :
As you can see I’ve been busy!
I’m also going to be posting some cookbook reviews over at the Good Taste Review, and I’ll keep you all posted.
More to come!!
by Sam Tackeff | Feb 13, 2010 | Beer, Ice Cream
A beer lovers dream? I think so! This week is San Francisco Beer Week, with hundreds of venues all over the bay area jumping in to join the fun. Beer dinners, tastings, get together’s, brew-nerd-fests, and wild and crazy parties abound. Nobody has been sitting around drinking crappy beer and feeling sorry for themselves – this is a celebration of the best of the best.
It was SF Beerweek and all I got was lousy t.shirt…wait…this…nevermind, ok, this amazing beer ice cream at Humphry Slocombe. Beer? Ice Cream? Actually, it’s a natural flavor combination. Even Ben and Jerry’s was on board a couple of years back with their Black and Tan. And why not create small batches of the highest quality ice cream using the highest quality beers and creams?
After testing six flavors, I ended up with this one: the Iron Springs Rye, with rye and caraway brittle mixed in. I’m a caraway seed junkie, so this tasting experience was a heavenly one. Another favorite was the Magnolia Four Winds beer ice cream. Frankly, I’m not sure why I haven’t been making beer ice cream myself. It’s possibly the most satisfying thing I’ve eaten in some time.
And hold on a second, why didn’t they make awesome t-shirts?? I’d tap that. Get it? Keg? Tap that? Ok, yeah, I know, fail.
Related fun:
:: Humphry Slocombe: Creative ice cream on 24th and Harrison in the Mission.
:: Beer and Nosh’s Beer Photography Show at Humphry Slocombe
:: The Designers behind SF Beerweek stylishness: Gamut.
by Sam Tackeff | Feb 4, 2010 | Restaurants
After writing about Cheeseboard Pizza, I received several recommendations that Arizmendi bakery, located in the Sunset District, semi-sibling of Cheeseboard had better pizza, so I thought I’d take a trek out there to investigate. (In the beginning, the Cheeseboard collective shared their business model and recipes with Arizmendi, and many of their tasty goodies are identical).
My thoughts:
(Based on one slice of pizza, which is frankly bad journalism and against blogging etiquette. But, I’ve corroborated the story with other Cheeseboard and Arizmendi eaters who seemed to agree with my observations, so please take this as you will.)
This particular pizza at Arizmendi was topped with spinach, tomatoes, feta cheese, garlic oil, parsley and parmesan. From a flavor perspective, the pizza was very satisfactory, even with my slightly dulled tastebuds. You really can’t go wrong here with these high quality ingredients.
:: The main difference, it seems, is in the crust – Arizmendi’s crust seems to be slightly thicker and puffier at the edge, more dry, and more crispy. While it’s only my preference, and I’m sure many differ on this opinion, I prefer Cheeseboard’s thinner, slightly chewier crust.
:: Another difference has to do with volume and sales. When I arrived at Arizmendi (9th Avenue between Irving and Judah in Sunset), there were fewer people than normally at Cheeseboard, and most people were eating shortbread, scones, and a variety of other sumptuous looking pastries, but not actually pizza. I saw a few pizzas hanging out on the counter, including one lone slice, which I was hoping and praying that I wouldn’t be served. Fortunately, a new pizza came out of the oven for me, and I was given a fresh slice. I think, that based on the volume of people actually ordering pizza at cheeseboard, the pizzas are simply going to be fresher due to the timing of dough creation, pizza creation, etc. – even by a few minutes, which, in my opinion, does make a difference.
:: The last difference: a slice at Arizmendi costs $2.25. A slice at Cheeseboard is $2.50. But, at Cheeseboard you get an extra almost half slice, which is well worth both worth the quarter and the added satisfaction. This alone is enough for Cheeseboard to win out in my boat.
That said, in a pinch, if you can’t get over to Berkeley, Arizmendi is still serving a quality pizza that I’d be more than willing to eat again and again. I’m only sorry I didn’t take more of their pastry things to go. Everything looked stellar.
Arizmendi Bakery
http://www.arizmendibakery.org/
1331 9th Avenue
Between Irving and Judah
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 566-3117
