broccoli and chocolate

This adorable little gem opened up not long ago at the corner (ah, hence The Corner Store) of Masonic and Geary in the Inner Richmond, SF. It’s classic San Francisco with a quirky little menu, fun cocktails, and a cute space. I’ve been twice. This time, I was really happy, see?

Yeay, food!

There aren’t actually a lot of veg options on the menu, unfortunately, but I found something out the second time I went: they’ll make non-veg things veg if you ask. Because they’re chefs and that shiz doesn’t phase them. I love this city.

This is the beet salad. I thought it would be mostly beets. But it wasn’t. It was better than that. Cuz the corner store doesn’t mess around. Not even with beets.

Roasted Beets (salad)

This is the smoked salmon with rye flatbread and dill creme fraiche (hold the pastrami gastrique, whatever that is). It was yummmm.

Smoked salmon

And this is the veg dish du jour (or du mois, as it were) which was some sort of grains with mushrooms and cheese. I don’t recall the exact description, but it sounded like it would be risotto-esque, and it was except that the grains were less tender and more distinct in form. It was really good.

Grains and mushrooms and sauce, oh my!

My second trip was for a blogger event hosted by Urbanspoon. Which meant they paid for a variety of dishes to be brought out to about fifteen local bloggers hungry for photos as much as for food. It was awesome; I love free food. Highlights:

Starting with the best first: this is a new kale concoction that’s not currently on the menu. They asked for our recommendations regarding the dish’s introduction to the menu. My thoughts: YES PLEASE. The kale was deep fried, crispy and likely bereft of any nutritional value it once held. It was amazing. Those balls perched on top? Panko-crusted, deep-fried poached egg. Yes, the chef somehow managed to deep fry a poached egg and keep the inside runny. He described the process to us (yeah, we got an exclusive with the chef and owner, no big): amazing.

Kale ‘n stuff

This is the “Corner Store PB&J”, an odd dish that I normally would have nothing to do with as it’s covered in bourbon-glazed pork. But, being the kitchen-savvy folk they are, they brought out a veggie version with mushrooms instead of pork. Mushrooms over a grit cake with huckleberry as the “J”. Ridiculous. Incredible.

PB&J: The real thing with pork

I single-handedly destroyed the veggie version. And I’d do it again.

And I learned something that night: “sweetbreads” are not in fact bread. Indeed they’ve gone the opposite direction as “offal” and made a confusingly appetizing name. Regardless, everyone said they tasted like chicken wings.

Sweetbreads. Don’t ask.

We were even presented the Idaho Red Trout dish, along with a handful of other salads and mains to feast on. It was a pretty amazing night.

Trout in the house

Oh! And listen to this: their Pickled Paloma cocktail consists of tequila, lime, pickle brine, and house grapefruit soda. Yeah, it’s a cocktail that tastes like a pickle. It was amazing. Note: three is too many. Even if they’re free. Enjoy.

For real, this time.

Ok, so, I may have gotten a bit frustrated with the reservation process and popularity of State Bird Provisions recently. But, in response to my sad/ranting/obnoxious blog post, my good friend and personal savior, Ms. Mala B. won the refresh-the-reservations-webpage game. The day after my “I’m so grumpy that I can’t get a rezzo at SBP” post, I received a text:

“Holy crap”

Ms. Bingham had won the culinary lottery; the stars had aligned to reveal a reservation at SBP the following Friday at 5.30pm for two people. And she, being the most kindhearted, loving, awesome, beautiful (not relevant, but still true) person ever, bequeathed this reservation to me.

Obligatory above the fold photo. Carry on.

Remember that episode of My So-Called Life when Angela’s dad gives her Grateful Dead tickets? Subsequently she sells them in an effort to impress/have some excuse for contact with Jordan Catalano and to piss off her dad, but Rayanne’s words on the matter still ring true: “He’s still the type of dad that would lay two Dead tickets on you out of nowhere”. And in this case, Angela’s dad is Mala and my date was super excited and not all pissy about it like Rayanne. End scene on ridiculously drawn out analogy. The point is: Mala is amazing, I love her.

SO. HOW WAS THE BEST NEW RESTAURANT IN AMERICA???

It was awesome. And, since my little camera (Canon S100, buy one!) is broken (uber sad face), I rented a lens just for this night. Canon 28mm fixed f1.8. It did the trick. The food was so good and the pictures are so beautiful, I am overwhelmed. Let the visuals begin!

First, half of the items on the menu are not actually on the menu. Look at their website menu. See all the things called “provisions”? Those aren’t on the menu at the restaurant. Instead, they’re served dim-sum style on carts and trays that servers circulate throughout the restaurant during the night. So you don’t even know what’s up that night until it’s at your table. And, you have a hard time pacing yourself because it all sounds/looks SO GOOD. We started the night off by saying yes to the first three items that came by on a cart:

Shrimp and avocado with crispy nori. Amazing. In the running for my favorite for the night.

Raw ahi tuna with quinoa and bonito flakes. Mild, cool, fresh — delicious.

Seafood ceviche over creamed avocado.

At this point we actually did order off the menu. There are three sections on the menu: pancakes, commandables, and dessert. We ordered the two vegetarian pancakes (sourdough, sauerkraut, pecorino & ricotta pancakes and sweet corn & garlic chive ‘shortstack’ with mt. tam). Each order came with four approximately two-inch diameter savory pancakes. They were delicious, needless to say.

The sourdough and ricotta pancakes tasted like sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches. Possibly in my top three favorites for the night. So good.

Sweet corn short stack.

For a “commandable”, we ordered the breaded cauliflower with beet jam, which was beautiful and yummy:

Breaded cauliflower

And then we snagged two more items off passing trays: tofu tagliatelle and garlic knot bread with buratta. I said “yes” to the latter before the waiter had even finished the description. I want it for every meal ever. Easily my favorite of the night. So ridiculously good.

Tofu tagliatelle

Garlic knot bread with buratta — WINNER

Lastly, we went out on a limb for dessert and got the chocolate gingersnap pudding with crispy coconut pecans. I do not like many of these ingredients, but I was urged “not to be so goddamn picky”. And the waiter recommended it. The pudding was too ginger-y for me, so I left that to my companion. But the crispy coconut pecans had chocolate involved and were amazing. Finale:

Chocolate gingersnap pudding with crispy coconut pecans

And this was just the beginning. There were so many dishes that passed us that we had to say no to because there was just no way to eat it all. Suggestion: bring four people so you can try more things. The lesson: DO NOT GIVE UP on refreshing their site to get a reservation. Totally worth it. Fun, delicious, amazing. Thank you for having us, SBP, we will be back.

Yeay, North Beach! I’ll stop pretending like there’s some lack of good restaurants here. But still, the majority are Italian. And while I LOVE Italian food, it gets a bit tedious. And, if I had to pick a favorite type of food, oddly, it would be American. Stars and stripes, baby, I love me some sandwiches and burgers and mac and cheese.

And they have all three at Bottle Cap, but, like, in good form (Humboldt burger and grilled cheese as “smallish plates”; cheesy shells as a side). But, still, the menu is “American”, which basically seems to mean anything that’s not already claimed by some other culture or country. Or, it can also kinda mean a mesh of a bunch of different things. What a great idea! I love meshes.

Bottle Cap Restaurant in North Beach

The menu is blissfully small, but totally diverse. Crab and rock shrimp louie, pork belly, fried chicken thighs, and tuna poke are a few of the appetizers. Pork chop, chicken, halibut, gnocci, and pierogis are mains. Toss in things like chipotle bbq sauce, cumin-laced black beans, smoked paprika fried potatoes, and pearl onion-dill broth, and you’ve got yourself some fancy San Francisco American food. Best.

I’ve only been once (kinda want to go again tomorrow though… twice in one week is reasonable, right?), but everything we had was amazing. Really. Let’s discuss.

Shrimp and scallop over a quinoa pancake with butter lettuce and fennel salad. Yes. Delish. Scallops tender not tough. Great flavors. Love!

Shrimp and scallops over a quinoa pancake!

Pork belly. Ordered and consumed by my omnivorous friend Quinn. I assume it was delicious due to all the “mmmm” and “ahhhh”s coming from him. He said it was amazing, melt-in-your-mouth belly.

Belly of pork

I was perusing the menu at work before heading over for dinner (yes, I was super excited and pre-ordering in my head…) and thought lots sounded good. But one dish caught my eye. It was the number one must for me. Pierogis. Home made pierogis. Description: portabello mushroom & carmody cheese filling, pearl onion-dill broth, red cabbage & garlic cream. It was entirely amazing. I should photoshop these pictures to make them have a halo or something. Or to even look like decent photos… sorry…

Home made perogis

After a long deliberation (and a candid question to the entirely indecisive waiter), dessert was the brownie with caramel sauce and honey ice cream. It wasn’t OMFG amazing or anything, but it was good, and Smalls did love the honey ice cream.

Chocolate brownie and honey ice cream

And the cocktail list was good. And they have a cute 3-piece band that plays music reminiscent of (as Quinn called it) avant-garde 1930′s French cartoons. It was adorable. And not too loud. Oh, and the waiter was nice. And the tables were cute. And it totally filled up at like 7.30. On a Tuesday. Yeay!

Quinn enjoys a cocktail

It’s a five minute walk from my house, it’s delish, and it has pierogis!!! Excited squeal!

P.S. They have brunch. I want, I want, I want, I want…

All lowercase lettering. Sandblasted brick walls. Exposed steel mezzanine. High ceilings. You know this SF restaurant.

Ok, you probably don’t; it sounds like lots of others. For which we can all be thankful: there are lots of chic, modern, schmancy, yummy restaurants in SF, yeay! Love this city. Moving on.

Inside the salt house

Salt House (or salt house — upper case is so 2009) is another restaurant serving classy American fare with their own special spin. A summary of my experience:

• Get a reservation. This place is full every night. And I’m pretty sure they’re the type of place to scoff at you if you arrive sans reservation. I had a reservation: I felt so special!
• There is not one menu item that is both non-dairy and meat-free. My lactose intolerant friend and I were forced to not share. No big.
• Even though we didn’t make a big deal out of the fact that we had to order separately (after asking lots of dairy- and meat-related questions), our waitress kinda seemed like she didn’t like us. Or maybe like she was just kinda better than we were. Or maybe I was reading that totally wrong. But there was definitely something there.
• They give you Acme bread and butter after you order. It’s like manna from god.
• We had to wait an inordinate amount of time for our food. The company was good, so it wasn’t a huge problem, but it was noticeable.
• The food was, not surprisingly, really, really good.

Kyla ordered an appetizer for her dinner: poached organic egg with spring peas, serrano ham, morel mushrooms, and foie gras. It sounds like a super weird combo, but she said it was amazing.

Poached organic egg appetizer from salt house

I ordered the yellow polenta with morel mushrooms, artichoke, fava beans, and grana padano. Which is apparently a cheese, I just looked it up. Who knew?

Yellow polenta from salt house

The polenta (did you know polenta is the same as grits?!!) was very good, but I make cheesy grits at home that are quite honestly just as good. The spring vegetables were FABULOUS. I had no idea what to expect from the description of the dish, but the mixture of veggies was simple and really, really good.

For dessert we chose something wholly cryptic (in my opinion); I did not know that I should expect a home made Whatchamacallit candy bar. That’s essentially what it was — a layer of peanut buttery goodness, a layer of crunchy bready something, a layer of chocolate ganache, and a more solid chocolate layer on top. We got the chocolate gelato on the side (lactose and all that — I enjoyed it alone). The entire dish was unexpectedly delish. I would both recommend it and order it again. and I would re-read the description to see if it actually makes any sense to me now.

Peanut buttery, chocolaty yumminess dessert. Although I don’t think that was the official name on the menu.

Overall, Salt House was a bit schmancy for me, but the food was very good and it’s right downtown (ok, fine, in SOMA — barely). And they have a bar for the fancy FiDi after-workers to enjoy their la-dee-da cocktails. And I do appreciate that they have a “bad press” link on their site that lists bloggers’ and yelpers’ ridiculous reviews of their restaurant. At least someone’s got a sense of humor.

It’s so sad to me when people hear the names of restaurants like Plant and say something like, “Ugh, does that mean there’s nothing good on the menu?” When did plants become bad to eat? Why do meat eaters have to eat meat with every meal ever? I digress (and kinda apologize; you do what you want).

Plant is not a vegetarian restaurant. It is sorta healthy-ish, doesn’t have anything deep fried, and doesn’t have meat other than seafood and poultry. In fact, their website tells me they serve: all organic produce, all free range poultry, and sustainable seafood. Sounds good to me. And yes, they do have many meat-less dishes and some veggie-adventurous items (tempeh, anyone?). And it’s great! I love this place.

Inside The Plant on Pier 3.

This was my first time at their only “restaurant” location (versus a “cafe”) in the city on Pier 3. It’s a small-ish restaurant with a modern, industrial feel (welcome to San Francsico), and outdoor, bayside seating. I went here on that ridiculously beautiful Sunday a couple weeks ago and, unfortunately, had to take an inside bar seat since all the outdoor tables were reserved for dinner. Who woulda guessed?

Their other locations are “cafes” where you order at the counter, and they’re not open for dinner. Um, with the strange exception of  the SFO location, which is open all day. I can only imagine being blessed enough to enjoy Plant Organic at a freaking airport. Especially after having been to the domestic terminal of two Chinese airports, whose food is akin to something the Nazis might devise. Or like something from Arby’s.

Ok, can I tell you my favorite-est favorite thing from Plant yet? Can I, can I?? The veggie burger!!! I love veggie burgers. I’m making it a quest to find the very best one in SF. Herbivore, you dog, you’re very, very good. But Plant, you might be the winner… at least so far. The “Plant Burger”, as they call it, is red. Like beets! Which are apparently a main ingredient. Along with lintels, mushrooms, cashews, and bulgur wheat. And the burger tastes like none of those; it’s just yummy deliciousness. In a fab bun that I’m not sure if they make in house (I asked; the bartender — my server — didn’t know), but it’s really good either way.

The California Plant Burger. Shown lightly braised in all its glory.

The Plant Burger dinner meal deal.

Nom nom nom.

They have a bunch of choices for the burger: California Plant Burger (avo, cheddar), Swiss Mushroom Plant Burger, Wasabi Plant Burger (sauerkraut, wasabi raspberry aioli — uber adventurous), and of course, the plain Plant Burger. For lunch it comes with salad, for dinner it comes with red potatoes and salad. Yum!

Plant also has other good things (salads, sandwiches, noodle bowls, pizzas and all sorts of other creative stuff) for lunch and dinner. And brunch at two locations, apparently. If you’re looking for healthy, tasty, and SF-interesting, head to Plant! And nod your head to me when you bite into your veggie burger and realize it’s awesome.

Wayfare Tavern = Awesome.

I guess that’s really all I need to say. I’m adding this to my wish list (for places to return with a camera); this place was birthday worthy!!!

Main points:

• a roving bread monger with freshly baked, croissant-like bread aplenty (and salted butter… oh lord, I could have just eaten this)
• a small “American-food” menu with all kinda cool stuff that my dad would call “art food” but that was totally rad
• a bar-like atmosphere, totally packed with well-dressed peeps at 10pm on a Thursday
• GOOD ASS FOOD — I shared the deviled eggs and the ahi tuna carpaccio with a friend  – delish!
• I wanted to order all of the sides. yum.
• a tiny plate of cookies with your check! do they know me?

In short, I LOVED this place. I want to go back. With a camera, like a tourist. Whatever. Totally delicious, a little pricey, totally worth it. W00t!