I keep hearing about this place. It’s at 29th and Telegraph in Oakland, and it’s a pub/cafe-type place that my friends like to go for Sunday brunch.  And it’s awesome. I finally went today and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

From the adorable pair at the bar speaking in their British accents (which I hope were real) to the decidedly British/Aussie (hence the name Commonwealth) fare and beverages (beans and toast, “cuppa” tea), this place was A) uber-cute, and B) good. We three ladies ordered three dishes and shared. And the light was fabulous so my photos look money. See?

French toast with "Golden" syrup. You know you want it.

"Bubble and Squeak" on the menu is really just vegetable mash, beans, and toast. Yum.

Veggie Pie. 'Nuff said.

So, those are the things I ate. And I think the photos accurately depict the deliciousness contained in each dish. The place was cute, small, and cozy. The music was loud-ish, and we asked the waitress to turn it down, like the old folks that we are. I also got a cappuccino and an Odwalla OJ to make sure my personal bill wasn’t under $20. Fully worth your bruncherly** attention.

Also, we all shared this, though I wanted it all to myself:

Currant Scone of Doom. Ok, I named it that, but it was reminiscent of a dessert it was so good. Almost as good as a chocolate dessert, even.

*I have been recently alerted to the fact that I use the word “dude” a lot in my speech patterns. I’m not sure how I feel about this, but I think I’ll take it to mean that I’m really awesome. Which is how I take most comments.

**This is a word. I am using The Force on you right now.

Conversation I just had with my stove:

—-

Me: You’re making weird noises, what does that mean? Are you on? I guess so, the big coil at the bottom is all red.

Stove: …

Me: Ok, it looks like you’re heating up my pizza. How the fuck do I use this timer? Forget it, I’ll just use my phone.

Stove: …

Stove: BEEP

Me: Oh god, are you going to blow up? Why would you beep? Did I set a timer by accident or something? Why is the coil getting dimmer?

Stove: …

Me: Oh. I’m a tard. You’re pre-heated. To the temperature I set you to. That’s what the beep was for. Now I’m supposed to start cooking my food.

Stove: …

Me: I am not good at this game.

—-

I think the stove may have rolled its eyes at me. I don’t really blame it.

Blog-related note: Restaurant reviews to re-commence soon; I haven’t gone entirely insane (yet).

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 15,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Chocolate Cream Pie a la Angie

I made it for Christmas, for my family. Like a normal person might do. I even created it under the loving tutelage of my mother, who refuses to do such things anymore but has no problem telling me how to do them.

And my family complimented the pie. “Wow, this is a good pie, Angie” “You made this, Angie?”

“Yeah, I made it. I’m good at cooking.”

Chocolate cream pie is about the easiest dessert to make. Ever. I guess pudding would be easier because that would have been the same recipe, just giving up halfway through. Regardless, here’s the recipe for (Angie’s Mom’s) Chocolate Cream Pie:

Ingredients:

• Two big boxes (or one big box and two small boxes) of Jell-O Chocolate Instant Pudding. It must be the instant kind. I’m not actually even sure why, but my mom is very adamant about it; don’t mess with mom’s instructions.
• Quart of whole milk.
• Two pints of Lucerne heavy whipping cream. Per mom: must be Lucerne brand, must be heavy whipping cream, not just regular.
• Half cup of sugar.
• Teaspoon (or “glug” as my mom calls it) of vanilla extract.
• Good or not as good chocolate bar to grate up and sprinkle on top.
• 10″ pie crust.

Instructions:

1. Using only 2/3 of the milk that the Jell-O box tells you to use, place the milk in a large bowl.
2. Whisk in Jell-O pudding and stir for two minutes or whatever the Jell-O tells you.
3. After two minutes the pudding will be done, and using less milk made it less runny and more chocolaty, which is better for pie. And probably anything.
4. Put the chocolate pudding into the pie crust.
5. Lick the pudding spoon and bowl.
6. Pour two quarts of heavy whipping cream in another bowl. Doing this in the sink makes slightly less mess.
7. Pour a half cup of sugar and a “glug” of vanilla into the cream.
8. Using a mixer (My mom has a mixer and if you don’t, I do not have alternate instructions for you, sorry. I hope you read this in its entirety before actually putting these things in a bowl.), start mixing the liquid in the bowl. Use the fastest setting on the mixer*.
9. Keep mixing.
10. Ask your mom when to stop mixing.
11. Ok fine, stop mixing when the cream thickens and your mixer starts to struggle a bit in the goo. Taste it to see if it tastes like whipped cream. It should stick on the mixer tongs a bit. If you mix too much, however, it will turn to butter. At least that’s what my mom says**; she always stops me before then because she’s a good person.
12. Slather as much whipped cream on the pie as humanly possible. If you think you’ve put too much, just put a bit more. Think Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Also, please get that joke.
13. Shave some of your good or crappy chocolate bar (I may or may not have used a left-over chocolate Easter bunny leg) using a grater and sprinkle over the top of the whipped cream so it looks like you’re totally pro.
14. Lick mixer tongs and bowl.
15. Present pie to family and/or friends. Accept compliments.

I somehow managed to turn the easiest recipe ever into a fifteen step procedure. That’s ridiculous and I apologize. But now you know. And knowledge, they say, is power.

*Ok, I use the highest setting on my mom’s 1970′s mixer. (Dude, that picture is almost exactly the one she has, weird!) If newer, space-age mixers have, like, a supersonic setting or something that mixes faster than the speed of light, maybe you could go to a medium speed. This is subjective; just mix the shit fast, ok?

**Maybe that’s like how parents tell you that if you sit too close to the tv, you will go cross-eyed? My mom usually doesn’t lie about stuff like that though, so I’ll believe her.

After a bout of radio silence (read: neglect), I’m back. And I’d like to start with some changes. Personal shit aside, this blog will be experiencing the following:

1. I am not doing ratings any more for restaurant reviews. All I do is get crap about it, I don’t think it’s super helpful, and it makes my RSS look like poo. Done.
2. I may post more about random crap and less about straight restaurant reviews. You know you want to read my inane rantings.
3. A new theme? A certain friend has promised to show me how to upgrade my blog and make it look more awesome. I will hold him to this. And probably will buy him a cookie in return.
4. I may cuss more, sorry kids. I’ve tried to keep everything pretty G rated thus far, but I think it’s time to bring in some tastefully hilarious cursing.
5. Numbered lists will continue to be prominently featured, do not fear.

Additionally, a fine piece of electronics has recently come into my life: the mighty Canon S100. With this, I no longer have to dread toting around my beloved yet wholly cumbersome XSi and can conveniently store $500 worth of image-capturing goodness into the bottom of my shoulder bag. A call to all: please help me not leave my bag at restaurants and bars. I will be very upset if I lose this camera.

Ok, so that’s it. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

I’m thinking I should shorten my food reviews. Sometimes I take notes after I go to a place since I don’t review it for a while after. My notes on this place were as follows*:

Russian Hill, corner of Broadway and Polk. Totally radical space looks like a 70′s swinger’s club or something. Red velvet everywhere, round booths in the wall, dozens of crystal chandeliers from the ceiling, large bar. Apparently a club at night. Apparently an attendant in the men’s room who will hold the water faucet on for you. Ladies room normal, no attendant. Taco selection good. We ordered fish, fried fish, and veggie. Get it “Nick’s Style” with guac and a crispy taco. Which apparently means they just fry it up a bit.

Inside Nick's (during the day).

Good food. $4 or so for a taco. Aguas frescas too, and drink specials at the bar. Friendly staff. Tacos tasty but really hard to eat. Taco filled up and falls apart/drips immensely. Can eat with a fork, but that’s a commitment too. Honestly may have had a 2nd taco if I wasn’t so exhausted by the first. Tasty though.

Tacos!

*I realize this is a cop out review, but I found it funny to re-read my old notes. Additionally, it’s new and different, so that’s exciting, right?

Greens is a staple of bay area vegetarian cuisine located in Fort Mason in SF. It’s been there since the 70s and (per their website) has been an influence in the national prevalence of vegetarian cuisine for the last 30 years. Sweet.

The place is a converted warehouse in the Fort: high ceilings, giant steel trusses (yes, I look at the framing), and huge windows that face the marina and the GG Bridge. From the front it doesn’t look like much (in fact, we almost missed it), but inside it’s a great space.

Inside Greens

The menu changes seasonally and is always vegetarian. It’s not vegan, however; they put cheese on nearly everything, which made me happy. I think they’re vegan-flexible, however, and can change things up to suit dietary needs. They use fresh, local produce from a farm in Marin, and though their recipes are simple enough, they are made with culinary expertise that can’t help but show through. Put simply, food is good.

But you get what you pay for (some argue that at Greens you pay for more than you get) and the place ain’t cheap. We ordered an appetizer and meal each (for two of us) and a coffee after and ended up paying $93, including tax and tip. Meals are around $20, so just be prepared for an “upscale” bill when you’re through.

Star Route Wilted Spinach Salad

Artisan Cheese Plate

I thought the food was really good. The appetizers weren’t phenomenal, but were yummy, and my “risotto” (it had no cheese, mind you) was really good. And, aside from the large amount of olive oil used, seemed very healthy. Boyfriend’s veggie gratin was good (I liked it better than he did). His complaint was that it was “just a pile of vegetables” — indeed he was correct. But it was covered in cheese and came with yummy potatoes and fresh beans and, while not artery cloggin’-good, was still tasty and healthful.

Farro Risotto

Veggie Gratin

Plus, you can’t beat the view:

The Marina and GG Bridge from Greens Restaurant

Ironside is a hip little restaurant on Second Street between Townsend and Brannan in San Francisco. It’s one of the (great many) places that makes SF what it is in terms of food and ambiance. The decor is a sort of modern wild-west: heavy timber framing (the stairway landing is a 4′ cube of solid wood pieces!) and steel connectors and accents fit in with the polished concrete floors and steel-railed mezzanine. Like other top SF restaurants, it looks great.

The order-at-the counter style adds a bit of casual-ness to your lunch (though they are also open for dinner, and brunch on the weekends), and the paper menu has lots of tasty things to choose from. The list itself is nothing particularly fancy: soups, salads, pizzas, and sandwiches; but the execution is key.

Inside Ironside

Entrance at Ironside

As I’ve only been here once, I can’t verify that everything on the menu is awesome, but lots of things sure did look really good. And my Pressed Veggie Cubano was pretty awesome: roasted seasonal vegetables (mine had spinach, squash, and peppers), melted gruyere cheese, and pickles really hit the spot. A side of big fat steak fries is $2.50 extra, and I had to try an agave soda.

Pressed Veggie Cubano with fries and agave soda.

Yes, agave soda. Instead of using sugar or corn syrup, Ironside serves soda that is sweetened with agave. Since I’ve never tried this, I splurged and spent the extra $2.50 for a soda.

And it tasted like Coke. To me. I’m just saying.

Other lunch menu items include interesting sandwiches such as The Pauline (garbanzo cream cheese spread, cucumbers, carrots, avocados, sprouts, and sunflower seeds on whole wheat ($8), add turkey $3); Pulled Chicken; Grilled Snapper (with jalapeno aioli, pickled onions, butter lettuce, cilantro, and Thai basil – $10); Vine Ripened Tomato and Mozzerella; Meatball Parmesan; and Cheese Steak. There’s also salads (Cobb, Nicoise, Mediterranean, etc.) and pizzas (Spicy Sausage, Roasted Mushroom, Fig and Prosciutto, etc.).

I can't remember what Jesse ordered, but it looked like this.

I like this place a lot. My only complaint is that it was a bit pricey with my add-ons (fries were $2.50, soda was $2.50, and sandwich was $9), but overall a really cute place with a lively atmosphere, cool decor, and good food. Next time, I’ll have to try a pizza!

Brendan from Easy Canvas Prints contacted me a bit ago to see if I wanted a canvas print in exchange for blogging about it. While I love this idea, I typically pass on promos because I don’t often find them relevant to my blog and don’t want to clog up the content with crap no one cares about. But Brendan knew a weakness of mine… I love canvas prints. I also love picture and photos in general. And I love ordering things online. Ok, Brendan, let’s do this.

Because this was being posted on my food blog, I figured it wouldn’t be appropriate to order a canvas print of my family, a sunset, or my cat. It’s really only appropriate to order a photo of food to discuss on a food blog. So, I set off perusing my multitudes of photos for one that would turn out well on a canvas.

I was looking for a superior photo, obviously, one with good light, a tantalizing subject, and perhaps some color. A close-up was going to work best since the canvas that Brendan kindly offered was an 8×10. After much deliberation, I chose this photo:

Tuna Sandwich from The Brick House in SF

Yeah, that photo is totally awesome, huh. I know. So, I used their “photo to canvas” website and created my canvas with just a few clicks. I told Brendan that I’d be happy to post about my experience on my site, but that I wasn’t going to pump anything up that wasn’t up to par. He was confident, and I see why. His site is solid, his product is great, and there’s nothing to complain about. I had a great experience (in addition to getting a free canvas print), and I love my sandwich canvas. Here she is:

Sandwich Canvas. I haven't hung it up yet, so I took this photo outside. Which is weird, I realize. But the lighting was good.

And here I am:

Me and Sandwich Canvas.

SF Street Food Festival 2011

Pros:

• Lots of vendors means lots and lots of food.
• Helpful, well organized, uniform signage throughout the festival and at each booth helped to communicate information and make sure it was obvious what was offered at each booth.
• Varied vendors made for a wide range of food offerings.
• Extremely well organized arrangement, complete with information booths at appropriate intervals.
• An entire event where food is the main deal instead of the sideshow. Brilliant idea.
  

  SF Street Food Festival 2011. Good lord there were a lot of people.

Cons:

• Way, way to many people in attendance.
• Immensely long lines for nearly every vendor.
• While the signage was good, some of the dishes were listed in Spanish. This is not helpful to me.
• Descriptions of each dish would have been good, but this may have been present in the festival guide that I did not pick up (which I should have). Descriptions were not present on the signs at each booth.

Basically, it seemed to us that the idea of the festival was great, the execution was pro, but there were just too many people there to make it wholly enjoyable for hermits like us. Lots of people seemed to be enjoying themselves, evidenced, indeed, by the magnitude of the populous. But we weren’t having it. We were hungry, damn it. We wanted to eat now, not in 45 minutes when we arrived at the front of the line. But that was our problem. So we went to Cafe Gratitudeinstead.

The 25-minute line we waited in to get to Onigilly.

We did manage to seek and eat one particular dish at a food cart called Onigilly. I love this place. It serves little triangles of rice which contain a bit of something savory in the middle (teriyaki chicken, spicy shrimp, eggplant, etc.) and are covered in seaweed. See?:

Onigillys

They have these in Japan and sell them at 7-Elevens, which is awesome. They’re small, healthy, and a really great snack. Onigilly makes them fresh to order so they’re warm and delicious when you get them. Their roving food cart (which I must find) makes a meal out of them by offering three onigillys, edamame, and miso soup. I want to go to there.