(Photo: Historic Fort Mason)

This weekend I headed out to Fort Mason to attend the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon. Located at the top of San Francisco right near the Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Mason is a former army post that is a great example of repurposing historic buildings for modern use . The old dock warehouses have been taken over by the Fort Mason Center, an organization devoted to the culture of San Francisco. Each year the center puts on thousands of events in the spaces, and the area also houses a variety of arts organizations, and the long standing Greens Restaurant: the upscale vegetarian dining establishment where one of my favorite cookbook authors Deborah Madison once reigned in the kitchen.

Having never been to Fort Mason before (shame on me!), all I knew from my peers was that this was an old army warehouse sized room devoted to chocolate… chocolate everywhere… samples of chocolate… everywhere. And I missed this last year? So this time I made sure to register early.

What I found out after walking through the fair: International Salon is more like… “International” in the baseball “world” series type of connotation. Most of the chocolates that I tried were west coast confections, with a few national companies. Overall I was a little disappointed at the lack of creativity – sure there was salt and chocolate everywhere, and bacon also made it’s appearance, but a lot of the chocolate was over sugary, and the flavorings overpowering.  Nevertheless, there were some redeeming standouts.

My first responsibility at the fair was a work errand – I had to run back to see Celia at the Omnivore Books table, and hand her off some more bookmarks and calendars from the bookstore, as she had run out (Always a good thing!) Celia was in charge of author signings from some of the choco-celebs doing talks at the fair. When I got back to the booth, there was Elizabeth Falkner, of Citizen Cake, Orson, and Top Chef fame, just hanging out. I made sure to get a requisite silly picture of her and Celia.

Highlights of the salon:

Clarine’s Florentines: The florentine is an italian cookie made of nuts and caramel, which can be dipped into chocolate. These are one of my favorite cookies, but I hesitate to bake them because I have no restraint- once I make a batch, they find themselves quickly down the hatch. My hatch, only mine, because I’m greedy. (Like that? I rhyme and I’m ridiculous…)

Clarine makes her florentines out of Berkeley with almonds mixed in a caramel of butter, sugar, honey and cream, and are dipped in Guittard bittersweet chocolate. They were the first product I sampled at the fair, and the last (I went for a second go.)

Lavender Chocolate Gelato: Ali’i Kula Lavender, a lavender farm on the island of Maui. I didn’t actually know that Hawaii grew lavender, but apparently the do all year round. Their delicious gelato is unfortunately only available in Hawaii, but I’m looking forward to recreating this combination at home this summer.

Marti Chocolates: I headed over to the Marti booth on the recommendation of Elizabeth Falkner, and was impressed with the chocolates they had to offer. Marti, based in LA had some of the more creative flavors showcased at the salon, including Goat Cheese,  Zesty Philipine Lime in Dark Chocolate, and Durian, which I dutifully sampled and actually enjoyed. I thought that the flavors of the fillings and the chocolate both came through clearly. They were quite delicious.

Poco Dolce Chocolate – it’s not a secret, I’m in love with these chocolate squares ever since I had my first one last year conveyed in this moment: “Deep, dark chocolate. Spicy chile pepper with hints of cinnamon. Crunchy little toasted pumpkin seeds nestled in between. And flecks of salt that make the chocolate sing! You experience each individual layer and then they mix together and… I can’t come close to giving them justice, you really have to just try one.”

I also liked the caramels dipped in chocolate with salt from Posh Chocolates – I’m love the combination of chocolate and salt, and this company had some particularly creative salts that they were using, including White Truffle Oil Caramel with Cyprus Flaked Sea Salt, Coconut-Pineapple Caramel with Hawaiian Pink Sea Salt, and Bacon Caramel with Apple wood Smoked Sea Salt. I thought the flavors were good, but in some cases the salt seemed to overwhelm the chocolate.

After gorging myself with chocolate, my camera became lazy- so not pictured, but enjoyed:

Fentiman’s Botanically Brewed beverages: After tasting these at both the Green Fest, at Il Cane Rosso, and now at the chocolate salon, I’m hooked. My particular favorite is the Shandy soda – a mixture of beer and lemonade (their version has less than .5% alcohol). Fentiman’s soda is also the center of food scandal, after the state of Maine decided to outlaw their products to minors (even though it has less alcohol than…bread…yes, bread.) Sometimes I’m just so befuddled by people that I want to leave and start my own country somewhere.

Marin French Cheese Company (also known as the Cheese Factory and Rouge et Noir): I recently learned from reading Gordon Edgar’s ‘Cheesemonger – A Life on the Wedge’ that this is the oldest cheese manufacturer in the country. I haven’t yet gone to visit, but I think it’s on my to-do list for this spring. Cheese tour anyone?

And finally, what would a chocolate salon be without makeovers??? (Yeah, I was a little perplexed about that too.) But, I do admit that I waited an absurdly long time in line to get my girly beauty fix at Bare Escentuals, maker of the Bare Minerals line of cosmetics. While my date sat patiently for 40 minutes playing scrabble on my ipod, (*he was very, very patient), I sat getting dolled up and left with a handful of free samples.

The lipgloss they put on was the final touch, and as I was already completely full from chocolate samples, it was the natural conclusion to our time at the fair. Will I go next year? Perhaps. The $25 price tag for the chocolate salon is a little steep, but for those willing to be gluttonous, this isn’t too bad of a deal.

If anything, I should set up a booth selling milk and water. I think I’d make a killing.

I’m still working off the buzz from last night’s Punch Contest we hosted at Omnivore Books, the latest in our popular series of friendly neighborhood food competitions. (Previous throwdowns included pie, fried chicken, and pumpkin.)

The rules were simple: free entry if you bring your punch, boozy or non (okay, they were all boozy, who were we kidding?), or pay $5 at the door to drink as much punch as you can handle. Everyone judges, and the winners split the door money.

There were no actual requirements for entry, you just had to show up. Which of course, made it slightly nerve-wracking for us when it was ten minutes ’til, and the punches still hadn’t arrived. It was down to the wire, but I’m happy to report that we had 10 completely unique and intriguing entries.

Turns out, when you host a punch contest, people are happy, because you are providing them with tasty adult beverages, and the company of friends and neighbors. Well done, us.

And now a look at some of the entries:

One major trend was ingenious home made ice rings. This one was a frozen gingerale ice block, others were filled with fruit, and a vintage tupperware mold made an appearance. I was also intrigued with the variety of serving dishes – from crystal punch bowls, to jugs, to an electric fountain (alas, we didn’t have electricity, but the thought was what counted.)

Some of the punches arrived already prepared, but many were putting the finishing touches before the drinking started:

And here, the winners making their Mission Gutter Juice. It was a collaborative process.

First Place went to Mission Gutter Juice – “the punch you hate to love” with twenty votes! Just four ingredients – Vodka, Bud LIght, Fresca, and Lemonade Mix.

Second Place went to Jetsetter Punch: Brandy, rum, cachaca, cara, green tea, pineapple, and nutmeg syrup.

Third Place to Kagetaka’s Grog: a spiced persimmon vodka.

And Fourth Place – we didn’t announce it, but it was tied for my favorite with the Kagetaka’s Grog: The Whiskey Sunrise, featuring freshly squeezed grapefruit, orange, other citrus, maraschino cherries and sour mix.

And the fun didn’t end after judging! This place was a party until closing, including the late coming 11th entry, who after showing up after the judging was over, graciously donated their raspberry adult beverage to keep the party going. Thanks guys!!!

The next contests are in the works, but you can be sure to see soon Food/Art puns (such as “Finnegan’s Cake”), a Cookie Competition, and bring your best Ethnic Fusion cuisine – think (Japanese + American ) moffles (mochi waffles), or maybe (Chinese + Jewish) 5 spice tsimmes? Ok, I don’t know, I’m leaving the creativity up to the contestants… Actually, 5 spice tsimmes sounds pretty good….

Omnivore Books Food Competitions
To get the official updates follow on twitter @omnivorebooks or sign up for the newsletter on the website.

Yesterday was the Underground Farmers’ Market in San Francisco. My initial plan involved walking over to The Mission to get some exercise before gorging myself in the underground. Instead, I lazily took the MUNI to 18th street where on the way, I was “accidentally” seduced by a chalk board that boasted exciting flavors at Bi-rite Creamery. I couldn’t restrain myself. I ended up with a cone of earl gray, which I blissfully ate as I walked through the neighborhood. You know… to prime my stomach.

The SF Underground Farmers’ Market is an event that allows small time vendors to get their businesses off the ground and test the market with their wares. It’s been organized by Iso Rabins from Forage SF, who has done a brilliant job of putting together a great community of vendors and people looking to support the local food movement.

This location was in a moderately awesome space on Capp Street. (Up a mysteriously lit set of stairs, which evoked memories of basement raves at M.I.T. Yep. Nerd.) Despite arriving punctually at its 5pm opening, the place was already packed! I heard from Iso that he had a list of over 600 people signed up, and there were more registering at the door.

There was a plethora of options and the market was heavily skewed towards gently prepared foods: ranging from sauerkraut, kombucha, honey, chocolate, mushrooms, pies, lasagna, bread, and sandwiches. There was live music, families with small children, and plenty of happy, food lovin’ people to share the evening with. Fun!

My first big stop was to see Shakirah of Slow Jams (this lovely lady below, being interviewed on the camera). I heard tell that her Blood Orange and Meyer Lemon Marmalade was to die for, so I snatched one up before anyone else could get to them. I also managed to score the lone jar of her Milk Jam, which Jessica from the Golden Crust was using in some amazing cream puffs she was selling at the market.

Her jams are beautiful, as are the cute containers! Which is another trend I’d like to point out – the Underground Farmers’ Market was filled with simple, pleasantly aesthetic design. Not really a surprise, given that these entrepreneurial folks have a great sense of taste. Including the limited edition poster from local artist Philip Clark. (Really though. I considered buying one to spruce up the ol’ abode, but now, my apartment is only decorated in regret. Maybe next time Phil C.)

After making my initial rounds, I ended up purchasing a jar of raw local honey from Oakland, two Slow Jam jams, and a few bags of delicious Treat granola (which was stirred into my morning oatmeal with great success). While there, I ate a fair deal more than that, including my absolute favorite food of the evening: the corned beef sandwich from Pearl’s Kitchen, with lightly spread mustard on caraway bread. Pictured below is a woman holding said Manna from Heaven. Where my Jews at? Can’t these people open a deli in San Francisco? I’m pleading!

I could have eaten three of these.

Don’t miss out next time! SF Underground Farmers’ Market is gearing up to be a monthly event if Iso can swing it.

SF Underground Farmers’ Market
When: (Hopefully monthly)
Where: Secret-ish location, changes each time. (This last one was in the Mission at Capp and 17th)
How: It’s free! But sign up is required.
Sign up HERE to be on their mailing list.

The news is hot:

Six local vendors are about to open a collaborative culinary marketplace in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood… in other words, less than a mile away from my house. Yeehaw!!! I walk up the hill to Bernal about once a week, partly for the pleasure of huffing and puffing my way up the little hill from Mission to Cortland – and partly for the pleasure of enjoying this great little corner of San Francisco  filled with independent coffee shops, bookstores, cute restaurants, and nice markets. I haven’t yet tried the new Sandbox bakery, but I hear that it’s fantastic… Anyone want to join me?

The lineup of vendors is looking particularly promising:

Wholesome Bakery: Tasty vegan treats and baked goods – that are also wheat-free, yeast-free and soy-free. And to wash them down, Desiree Salomon’s DEZYS DRINKS—including “freshly made chai, juice, and kombucha tea, all made from scratch daily using mostly organic fruits, vegetables, and spices, and all kid-friendly.” Yum!

Paulie’s Pickling : featuring hand crafted pickled vegetables and fruits, as well as sauces, relishes, sandwiches and salads. I have a thing for pickles that rivals any pregnancy craving, so I’m guessing that this one is going to be a particular favorite of mine.

ICHI Lucky Cat Deli : Japanese deli delights! I’m particularly looking forward to their sushi (which has until now been experienced only by those lucky enough to have ICHI cater an event..) Japanese sandwiches, and take home sushi kits.

El Porteño Empanadas : I went to college with Texans responsible for my love of empanadas. But really, who wouldn’t love an empanada? Little handpies that you can fill with savory or sweet, and then grab on the go? My type of food! El Porteño Empanadas are of Argentinian influence, and will feature Prather Ranch Beef, Fulton Farms Chicken, and fresh organic/local veg for their vegetarian versions.

Della Terra Organics : organic produce from the bay area – open seven days a week when you miss out on farmer’s market.

331 Cortland
Bernal Heights
331 Cortland Avenue, San Francisco
California, 94110
Contact: 415-822-4024

Before I forget, I wanted to put up a few photos that I took at Omnivore Books over the past few weeks. Working in this little bookstore is so enjoyable on a day to day basis, but what really makes it exciting are all the great events that we have. We have such a great little community!

One of the best perks are the foods that our customers bring in for events to share with everyone. This braided spice bread called “Saffranbrod” was made by Robert, in honor of St. Lucia Day on December 13th. It was a dense yellow bread, filled with spices that let off incredible aromas. We topped it with lingonberry jam. And it was still warm. I ate three slices. The recipe was from our guest speaker Greg Patent’s cookbook ‘A Baker’s Odyssey‘ in honor of his arrival. The stars had aligned!

Greg Patent, who writes GREAT books about baking, including among others ‘A Baker’s Odyssey‘ and ‘Baking in America’ (which won a James Beard) couldn’t have been more enjoyable. He comes from a diverse food background: he was born in Shanghai, with one grandmother from Iraq cooking Middle Eastern foods, and the other grandmother from Russia. When he was 11 his parents moved back to the U.S., and along the way to these cookbooks he ended up getting a Ph.D in Zoology. What is it with scientists and food? There are so many crossovers!!! (Barbara Ghazarian, author of Simply Quince is a micro-biologist… and Harold McGee…)

Here’s a picture of Greg with Celia, our fearless leader at Omnivore, and Paula, lifting up the bottle of Muscat that was sent to us to enjoy. It was a Les Petits Grains Muscat de Saint Jean de Minervois, a beautiful sweet wine that I sincerely wish I had a case full of!!!  (I’m thinking of all the possibilities… most of which involve me drinking it straight… but maybe a sabayon? Ice cream? Ooo….)

But wait! There was more! Seriously…. I could subsist completely on the food I eat at work…. One of our other customers Jessica has started a seriously tasty little pie business here in San Francisco called The Golden Crust, and brought us some wonderful lemon meringue to sample. So good!

I think I’m going to make this a regular feature.

Omnivore Books

3885 Cesar Chavez Street
San Francisco, CA 94131-2013
(415) 282-4712

Come visit us!

A few weeks ago we headed down the California coastline to a tiny town named Pescadero, on a quest for beans. Pescadero, at the midway point between San Francisco and Santa Cruz – is known for a lovely beach, antiques, the historic artichoke soup at Duarte’s Tavern (which apparently Guy Fieri is a fan of), and the burrito joint in the gas station – but if you drive farther down the road you will get to a mystical and magical place named Phipps Country Store, which has both an unusually large selection of beans, and an unusually large selection of birds, small furry animals, livestock and antique stoves.

So, truthfully, I drove over an hour just to buy beans. But, oh what beans!!! Phipps brags over 50 types of beans, most of which are grown by them, using no sprays/chemicals. While I was there I picked up some chickpeas, runner beans, soup mixes, and chestnut runners, all glorious stuff.

Included in my purchase was one really great package of red lentils and barley – that came with a recipe which I adapted for dinner.

This soup is perfect for the winter weather, and like most soups, tastes absolutely delicious for lunch the next day even if you are eating it cold. My twist is the miso – I use white miso, which adds a really nice depth of flavor to soups without it tasting miso-y or exotic. You can easily find white miso paste in the refrigerator section of any asian market, and I would highly recommend buying it to have on hand. If you can’t find miso, you could substitute bouillon.

Phipp’s Red Lentil Barley Soup
makes 8-9 1 cup servings

1 slice thick cut bacon (I use Niman Ranch)
1 cup (or 1 large) onion, chopped
1 cup (or three stalks) celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, or 4 cups diced fresh tomatoes
3/4 cups red lentils, rinsed
3/4 cup pearl barley
4 cups water
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon white miso paste
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup shredded swiss cheese, or sharp cheddar (optional)

In a large heavy bottomed soup pot, place the slice of bacon over medium heat, until most of the fat is rendered. Add in the onions, celery and garlic, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the water, chicken broth, miso paste, tomatoes, lentils, barley, rosemary oregano, carrots and pepper. Bring to a boil, and then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 40 minutes or until the barley, lentils and carrots are tender. Top with swiss cheese or sharp cheddar if desired. (It goes well with or without!). I made a small batch of salt and olive oil rolls from my refrigerated master dough from “Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day” and it went perfectly with this.

Nutritional Information: (Per 1 cup serving, not including cheese) Calories: 158, Total Fat: 1.6 g, Sodium: 115.9 mg, Total Carbs: 29.3 g, Dietary Fiber: 6.5 g, Protein: 7.7 g

Phipps Country Store and Farm
2700 Pescadero Road, Pescadero, CA 94060
(650) 879-0787
Hours: 10:00 – 5:00 during winter, Closed Mondays

It’s something terrible we have all experienced. Accidentally eating a light pink, mealy, and flavorless tomato. Or perhaps eating a bland, completely tasteless melon. Or worse eating slices from an unripe slightly green banana.  How do you ensure that you are eating the tastiest and most nutrient rich fruits and vegetables? Start eating seasonally and locally!

Eating seasonally means eating whats ripe when it reaches its natural point of the seasonal growing cycle. Heading to your local farmer’s market or green market is a good way to start, a level up would be joining a local farm’s CSA to get yourself fresh fruits and vegetables ever week or two through the summer, and even in winter. Here are my favorite go to resources:

For the Fridge: Because I live in San Francisco, I’m blessed to be able to use the Local Foods Wheel which shows both foods that are in season all year round on the inner circle, and foods coming into season on the outer circle. So far there is a New York version and a San Francisco version – let’s hope they expand soon! (If you are in SF – you can pick up your own copy at Omnivore Books! We have ‘em in stock)

Portable for the tech crowd: the Seasons iPhone application will give you seasons information for “fruits, vegetables, lettuces, herbs, fungi and nuts,” for wherever you happen to be. You can view local seasons versus import seasons and see a graph that shows how “in season” a given food is. It’s $1.99, but you can take it everywhere!

There are also a few websites that are great resources: the Northeast Regional Food Guide for the New England area, and in Europe, BBC Food runs the What’s In Season page . A little more obscurely, a Swiss couple runs a site called Laughing Lemon, that also shows what is in season each month, and points out some rarer vegetables and fruits. Because the northern hemisphere has similar growing zones, these sites can be helpful for anyone in that general region. (via Maki)

For further reading, there are several cookbooks that discuss eating seasonally that I love:

- Jamie Oliver’s Jamie at Home (discusses growing and cooking methods for seasonal veg)
- Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries (his eating journal for a year of dinners)
- River Cottage Vegetable Handbook – the River Cottage makes the best little handbooks on the planet. They have ones for mushrooms, preserving, bread making, and seafood as well.

Do you go to your local farmers market? Are you a member of a CSA? (Actually, if you are a member of a CSA that you love in San Francisco, gush about it here in the comments. I need suggestions! )

There is nothing like spending a few minutes a day in your neighborhood markets finding the perfect food for dinner. I know that many people have stressful days and they just want to get home and kick back with some takeout, or whatever you can make the fastest, but for me, spending a couple of minutes in the cheese shop making small talk and getting free samples, picking up some meat at Drewes and saying hi to the staff who know us by name, or walking down the street to Church Produce to find the perfect heirloom tomato and chat with my neighbors for  a few minutes - is a really great stress reducer.

Here are a few snapshots of my beautiful neighborhood yesterday – it was cloudy and gray, but that only makes the roses more brilliant! These beauties were at the very top of the hill on Noe street. Someone has a lovely green thumb – I think I need to leave them a note on their door letting them know how jealous I am of their roses. They make for great incentive walking the steep way from my house to 24th street.

Here is St. Paul’s church, I’m guessing it’s why they call it Church Street, and it’s pretty impressive. We snuck inside once during afternoon mass, and it’s just beautiful inside – Gothic arches, buttresses, and intricate stained glass. One of my favorite classes in college was a course about spirituality and architecture, and regardless of what you believe in, walking into a church like this is sure to make your heart soar.

When I have a house, I’m going to paint it gray and grow some of these flaming climbing flowers. Look at the pop!

It’s not hard to shop in the markets every day when you have such a beautiful walk to look forward to. And it sure beats shopping for an hour in the terrifying/overwhelming Safeway on 30th. And then you have the added bonus of the freshest of produce and ingredients. Win!

]]> http://www.thesecondlunch.com/2009/06/why-i-walk-to-the-market-every-day/feed/ 6 http://www.thesecondlunch.com/2009/02/best-meatloaf-in-town/ http://www.thesecondlunch.com/2009/02/best-meatloaf-in-town/#comments Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:12:24 +0000 Sam http://www.thesecondlunch.com/?p=115

The first week we arrived in Noe Valley, we spent almost all of our time moving, unpacking boxes, and putting together several items of Ikea furniture. One night, we found ourselves very, very, hungry, and had nothing in our fridge. We set off to find some food. Fortunately, Cecilia, the incredibly kind woman who works behind the counter at Drewes Bros. Meats, opened the doors for us an hour after closing, and after learning our names and our situation, gave us some really fantastic steak with a special discount. “Welcome to the neighborhood!” she waved enthusiastically as she locked up behind us. There was no doubt that we had moved to the right place.

We live two blocks away from Drewes Bros. Meats. Drewes has been opened since 1889, which is a fairly fantastic legacy, one of the oldest meat shops in California. When it almost tragically closed ten years ago, it was bought by two young brothers, Josh and Isaac Epple who had been working in the store since they were teenagers, and couldn’t bear to see it go.

There is no doubt why Drewes is an integral part of the neighborhood. Every time we are in there, people stroll in excitedly to purchase their evening meal. If it’s busy, you take a number from the old school deli counter reel. Everyone is in a good mood at Drewes; sometimes a game is broadcast on the little mounted television, often something is cooking on their mini grill in the back, and everyone chatters about what they want for dinner (with the helpful staff ever offering suggestions).

You can get all types of meats and fish, including rabbits, venison, and dungeness crab- and if they don’t have it in stock, they will find it for you. The only flaw is that Drewes doesn’t actually butcher on site. I learned this last week when I went in asking if I could learn to butcher a pig (a skill that I have been wanting to learn for years), and I was apologetically informed that this wouldn’t be possible. Alas, I’ll have to continue my search, but I’ll still continue going to Drewes.

We frequent Drewes a lot, and the best thing there is their award winning meatloaf. They wrap it up for you with instructions, and you just have to go home and pop it in the oven for an hour. Tonight we had it with corn, green beans, and a mixed salad, but it has gone equally well with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

Drewes Bros. Meats – 1706 Church St (at 29th St.)- Tel: (415) 821-0515 – Hours vary. We find them open later most of the time.