Consuming Ambitions

Where's the best Chinese food in SF?

I'm often asked, "Where do you like to eat in San Francisco Chinatown?" The answer is, I generally don't chow down in C-town. Though fine for finding groceries and some speciality items such as fish bladder, bird's nest, and the like, Chinatown presents a restaurant scene that is largely geared towards tourists, and gems are few and far between. In my experience, foodies seeking Chinese fare congregate on Clement Street in the Inner Richmond. Though it's still hit and miss, the average quality is much higher, and there are some excellent places (anybody care to divulge a favorite spot?). And no tourists, only locals. Simply by walking around Clement Street, you can discover many good places to satisfy your Chinese food cravings.

One spot I like is the cramped hole in the wall known as Spices II (one case where the sequel is actually better than the original, unless you are a big fan of stinky tofu). Spices II specializes in Taiwanese-style Sichuan food that will set your mouth on fire. If you like it hot, order anything with 3 chilis next to it on the menu, or with the word "numbing" in the name of the dish (translated from Mandarin ma la). The food is solid, if not spectacular, and inexpensive.

This short film (under 4 minutes) covers the Clement Street eating experience pretty well (courtesy of TurnHere).

Spices II
291 6th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 752-8885

The Counter: Bay Area's Best Burger?

As promised last week, I want to share my impressions of Palo Alto's newest burger joint, The Counter. In short, go! Soon! It's a good burger served by very friendly and enthusiastic people. The restaurant just opened last Monday, August 21, and has hit the ground running. When we arrived around 8pm, the place was packed and we had to content ourselves with the free samples of sweet potato fries as we waited for a table (nice touch, the free samples, and good marketing too -- of course the first thing we ordered when we sat down was an order of fresh, hot fries).

The Counter is all about "Building a Better Burger^TM, like so:

• Step 1: Choose a burger (beef, turkey, veggie, or... grilled chicken which is not technically a burger) and size (1/3 lb, 2/3 lb, 1lb). For the carb challenged, "Burger in a Bowl" is an option which is served salad style over lettuce or mixed baby greens.


• Step 2: Choose a cheese (standards such as Tillamook Cheddar and Danish Blue Cheese, as well as more unusual varieties such as Horseradish Cheddar and Jalapeno Jack).


• Step 3: Choose up to 4 toppings (again, ranging from everyday items -- say, lettuce, tomato and onions -- to the burger fringe such as dried cranberries and grilled pineapple).


• Step 4: Choose a sauce (caramelized onion marmalade and roasted garlic aioli were popular, while the sour, mustard-challenged dijon balsamic dressing was not).


• Step 5: Choose a roll (English muffin, honey wheat bun, or classic burger bun).

Whew! I didn't check the math, but The Counter claims 312,120+ burger combinations, which should be enough to keep me coming back for a while. Not recommended is ordering every sauce and topping at once, as attempted by a wild young man named Tim (warning, graphic food image may not be suitable for all audiences). I spoke with the waitress who served Tim this dripping burger orgy, and she noted that Tim very nearly finished it, and probably would have done so if he had not just finished a full meal before attempting this feat. Now there's a man with consuming ambitions!

Besides the sweet potato fries, we tried the fried dill pickle chips, which also were good. Two people at our table who normally don't like pickles found this preparation to be pretty tasty; the batter and grease neutralized the usual sourness of the pickle for them. The apricot dipping sauce is good in its own right (it's a burger sauce option) but didn't really go with the pickles.

Desserts are secondary at The Counter. We tried the Chocolate Burger and, though the presentation is cute (think Krispy Kreme meets beef), the donut filled with chocolate mousse, strawberries, and bananas didn't quite do it for us. To the restaurant's credit, somebody came over to solicit our opinion and was very open to our suggestion of substituting dark chocolate ice cream for the mousse. Another dessert option, the chocolate chip cookie, was fine but ordinary except for its oversized dimensions. Much to my horror, no coffee on the menu! It was pretty much like living through my own personal "Got Milk?" commercial except that I craved coffee instead of cow juice. The Starbuck's two doors down had long since closed, chairs stacked high on the sidewalk and the familiar green-and-white sign darkened. So it goes on the mean streets of Palo Alto.

I may be getting ahead of myself by suggesting that a week-old restaurant is now the Bay Area's best burger, but The Counter clearly does have a good thing going. With only a single location (Santa Monica) prior to the opening of the Palo Alto store, The Counter has won acclaim in Los Angeles and even attracted the attention of pop culture kingmaker Oprah Winfrey. One word to budding entrepreneurs fresh out of ideas: plastics! No, wait, franchise! The affable Managing Partner of The Counter Palo Alto, Peter Katz, told me that he and his business partner George have already laid claim to the Northern California franchise region. However, according to Business Week, The Counter envisions 60 locations throughout California and 400-600 nationally over the coming years, starting with Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and New York. The next Bay Area location? According to Peter, The Counter will open soon in Santana Row.

The Counter
369 California Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 321-3900

Reader Recipe: Carnitas Made Easy

Carnitas (Spanish for "little meats") is typically made from a fatty cut of pork, heavily seasoned, then slow braised or roasted for as long as half a day. The slow cooking makes the meat all relaxed and tender, so that it may be pulled apart easily. Then the disassembled meat is joined with some of its rendered juices and roasted (or I've seen it fried at some taquerias) to produce a winning combination of tender meat with some crispy caramelized parts. Yummy! The meat can be used for burritos, tacos, enchiladas, tamale, or simply shoveled directly into your mouth. I would serve it with warm tortillas and pico de gallo; if you're not a purist, you could also enjoy it with guacamole, shredded lettuce, and grated cheese -- but at that point, you may as well just go to Taco Bell.

The slow cooking aspect of carnitas could put a serious crimp in your daytime plans -- as David Cowan would say, who has time for this? But Chris Yeh comes to the rescue with his kind suggestion of a simple carnitas recipe:

• Start with some slices of pork. The best is pork with some fat, like bone-in pork chops, or boneless country ribs.


• Place the pork in a pan, and cover with water. Season liberally with salt.


• Simmer the pork, turning occasionally, until the pork is cooked and the water has partially boiled down (and has been joined by a quantity of melted fat).


• Fish out the pork, remove remaining fat and gristle, and shred/slice. Return to the to cook in its own juices. Season with the juice of one lemon or two limes, depending on your tastes.


• Cook the shredded pork until it crisps, and serve. Delicious!

It doesn't get any easier than that. If you want to increase the caramelization effect or kick the flavor up a notch, my thought is to also season with brown sugar and/or molasses (to better caramelize), pepper, garlic, and even a shot of tequila! Or maybe you do a shot or three of tequila, and then the seasoning doesn't matter any more.

Thanks Chris!

Good Eats at TechCrunch 7

Friday night was the latest (and apparently 7th) installment of the granddaddy of Web 2.0 parties, TechCrunch. On a balmy evening on Sand Hill Road, a cast of hundreds showed up to meet, greet, and eat (yeah, and of course drink). Much has already been written about the event, ranging from those who thought it was great, to those who found it yet another cautionary sign of a new bubble. But how about the food?

The caterers did a nice job of picking a few creative dishes, presenting them well, and (very important for those with consuming ambitions) not running out of food! The menu:

• Lentil "burger" with fries


• Pulled pork slider with slaw


• Egg rolls with Asian salad


• Ice cream sandwiches

The real foodie news to come out of the event, though, is the opening of the celebrated Santa Monica burger paradise, The Counter, on California Avenue in Palo Alto. Word is that The Counter was requested to cater the TechCrunch party, but was unable to accept the honor due to opening-weekend logistics. The restaurant was open for private functions this weekend, with proceeds going to charity, but the official opening is Monday night. I couldn't wait and stopped by to check the place out and sample a milkshake (takeout orders are accepted pre-opening). The milkshake was fine (how much could go wrong with a chocolate shake?) but the real reason to visit this stylish new eatery is the incredible burgers and fixings. Armed with the 25% off coupon I received at the party, I'll be back to try it out in the very near future. Look for it in an upcoming post.

Thanks to TechCrunch and August Capital for throwing a great shindig that ran very smoothly despite the scale.

A few pics of the food and people below...

The Steak-o-meter

Much has been made of the recent hype and frothiness in Silicon Valley, what with splashy startup launch parties in San Francisco and Business Week doing its best rendition of journalists gone wild (a.k.a. "Kevin Rose: the easiest $60M I never had."). At a dinner party I attended this week, I met an exec from Black Angus who reported that business in the company's Valley locations have seen a noticeable uptick in recent months. That got me thinking, if you wanted to create a foodie measure of economic health, what would it be? When people are feeling flush, they eat steak (with apologies to my non beef-eating readers). For example, the day that the aforementioned Business Week article hit the stands, Kevin Rose bought steak dinner for everyone at Digg, realizing too late that he doesn't even have enough money to buy a couch. Thus was born the steak-o-meter. This is the type of economic metric that you just can't get from the Economist, folks!

I bounced the idea off of the guys at TechDirt over lunch, and Grier Graham offered up an anecdote about a b-school classmate who lives in a New Jersey suburb where you cannot swing a cat without hitting an investment banker. In this town, a high-end steakhouse just opened, and it's already impossible to get a reservation; his friend had mentioned it as a sign of the frothiness of the banking market. I would add that when said bankers are finished with a hard day's work in NYC, they can stop by Tom Colicchio's Craft restaurant to tuck into a roasted 30-day dry-aged cote du boeuf -- for $125 a plate. Score that one a 10 on the steak-o-meter!

Bistro Maxine: Crepe Expectations in Palo Alto

I mentioned in my previous post on crepes that I would try the newly opened Bistro Maxine on Ramona Street in Palo Alto. I finally had a chance to stop by with some friends last week and found it to serve solid, if not spectacular, crepes in a cheery atmosphere with friendly service. The place is tiny: about 5 tables inside, plus a couple out on the sidewalk. A word to the tipplers: no alcohol may be served or consumed out on the sidewalk (per municipal code). Not even out of a paper bag, as my wisecracking dinner companion confirmed with the waitress.

The menu offers a few salads and sandwiches, but is dominated by the crepes. You can go savory or sweet, the latter served with choice of whipped cream or creme fraiche. There is a subcategory of sweet crepes with liqueur, some with colorful names such as "Malicious" (orange jam, hot chocolate, Cointreau). The fact that they will serve the liqueur crepes out on the sidewalk is a neat loophole around the sidewalk booze ban -- after my fifth Malicious, I definitely had a buzz going. Or maybe it was just a sugar high.

On the back of the menu, you can read the story behind the Duralex Picardie glass you are enjoying as you sip your beverage. Actually, if my experience is representative, you'll need a bit of luck to enjoy drinking from a Picardie at Bistro Maxine; only one person in our dinner foursome actually received the genuine vintage style as pictured on the menu back, and boy did she feel special. Another member of our party was inspired to spontaneously douse my wife's hand with water in order to test the veracity of the claim (per the Picardie biography) that "fingers slip nicely into the hollows of the flutings on the lower part of the side, and even with wet hands the glass feels secure." Oy, things get wild and crazy at Bistro Maxine.

As it turns out, we visited the bistro on a historic day: we witnessed (and captured on film) the affixing of the "Bistro Maxine" logos on the front door. Though the place has been open since June 14, seeing the sign hung underscored the happy freshness of a new eatery in downtown Palo Alto. I liked the feel of the place and will go back, though probably for dessert after lunch or dinner elsewhere. Bistro Maxine makes it easy to do that almost anytime by staying open 7 days a week from 7am to 10pm.

Bistro Maxine
548 Ramona Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 323-1815

Bufala Mozzarella at Whole Foods

With heirloom tomatoes in the height of season, it's a great time to enjoy caprese salad! I mentioned previously that Whole Foods stocks a solid, reasonably priced bufala mozzarella di campana. Compared with other fresh mozzarella balls you may find in these parts, the genuine Italian bufala mozzarella has a softer texture and a much more interesting, tangy flavor. While still a very mild cheese, it's got soul. Why, you ask? As the name implies "bufala" mozzarella is made from flavorful buffalo milk, which is not for drinking (due to its high fat and casein content) but great for cheese. Mozzarella made from cow's milk is relatively flavorless.

The production of mozzarella di bufala campana is limited to certain regions of Italy and has a protected designation of origin from the EU. The Italian trade commission offers this appetizing description:

Mozzarella di Bufala Campana is a fresh (unripened) stringy cheese with an extremely thin, shiny, porcelain white rind. When sliced open, a Mozzarella reveals rivulets of whey redolent of the fermenting lactic acids from the whole buffalo milk which give the cheese its distinctive flavour.

As Homer Simpson would say, Mmmm, rivulets of whey... Way to sell it, guys!

Currently Whole Foods has genuine bufala mozzarella on sale for only $4.99 which is less than you typically might pay for the less exciting, non-imported cow's milk variety (albeit, the bufala ball is a bit smaller). For some reason the Whole Foods store in downtown Palo Alto is really pushing the bufala mozzarella; there's a huge, full color sign out on the sidewalk in front of the store, then when you walk into the store there's an end cap display with the cheese on ice so that you can grab some without having to take more than 10 steps into the store (which is a boon given how cramped that store is). I was really excited to get good quality bufala mozzarella for only $4.99 until I realized that the regular price is only a buck more (so I lost the sensation of having made a huge cheese killing). The way I learned the regular price is that when I went back to the store tonight to buy more, I wasn't paying attention and discovered when I got home that I was overcharged by the cashier, who obviously wasn't paying attention as she walked into the store. If the Whole Foods Palo Alto store manager happens to be reading this, you can send my $1 refund to the office.

Aziza: Rockin' Moroccan

This week's restaurant tip comes from David Weekly, hacker extraordinaire, co-creator of the SuperHappyDevHouse hackathons, and CEO/founder of PBWiki. You might not expect foodie tendencies from a guy who named his company after the lowly peanut butter sandwich. But in fact David and I recently shared a foodie bonding moment when he recommended one of his favorite restaurants, Aziza, located in San Francisco's Richmond district. You could read the accolades from the pros, such as curmudgeonly San Francisco Chronicle food critic Michael Bauer, who named Aziza one of the Top 100 Restaurants 2006. But what more do you need to hear than David's description of an innovative Moroccan restaurant which uses organic and locally produced ingredients in preparations that leave him with "quivering knees" (his words!) and a very satisfied tummy? I almost had to leave the party right then and there to pursue my consuming ambitions at Aziza!

Besides the tasty food, which may be sampled via a very reasonably priced ($39) tasting menu, Aziza is proud of its creative cocktail menu, which presents innovative concoctions designed to complement the flavors from the kitchen. David likes the Lavender (orange blossom-honey syrup, lemon, vodka), while the Wall Street Journal article on 'Strange Brews' highlights the Rhubarb and Vanilla (rhubarb-infused vodka, bourbon, vanilla bean, Stoli vanil, lime juice, and black peppercorns). With cocktails like this, who needs dessert?

Aziza supports local farmers who practice sustainable agriculture, and even lists some of them on its web site. Bravo!

Aziza
5800 Geary Blvd. at 22nd Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 752-2222

Beard Papa's: Cream Puff Sensation from Japan Comes to Bay Area

You're having a very pleasant dream, enjoying the freshest, most exquisite cream puff imaginable...you wake up, and find yourself in Beard Papa's. The Japanese cream puff sensation, over 200 stores strong in its home country, came to the Bay Area in early May with the opening of Beard Papa's at 99 Yerba Buena Lane (a pedestrian walkway running between Market and Mission, on the block between Third and Fourth Streets). Now when my wife knows that I am up visiting my friends at SOMA-based startups such as Fanpop and Buzzlogic, I will not be allowed back in the house unless I return with a Beard Papa offering.

What makes these cream puffs kick butt? As is often the case in life, it's the little things. Think the delicious custard cream filling gets its flavor from vanilla extract? Oh no no! Beard Papa's scrapes the seeds out of Madagascar vanilla beans (hence the little black specks). Also, the two-layer shell (inner layer is choux pastry such as is used in eclairs and profiteroles, outer layer is pie crust pastry) does not get soggy thanks to best-practice Japanese Just-In-Time manufacturing techniques: each pastry is prepared to order, with the freshly made filling injected into the pastry to order.

As was the case with the first U.S. store in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, it is not unusual for Beard Papa's to sport a line going out the door and down the sidewalk. In a tragic cream puff incident, my friend Michelle, 98 pounds of pure foodie, waited until she was fourth in line, smelling the cream puff fragrance wafting out of the store...only to have the cashier abuptly call out "6 puffs remaining today!" The guy next in line bought 5, and it was game over for Michelle. Oh, the agony!

Those of us on the Peninsula will be happy to know that a second location is opening this month in the shiny new On Broadway shopping complex in downtown Redwood City.

BTW, am I the only one who thinks the Beard Papa's man is really just a cutesy Japanese cartoon version of the Gorton's fish sticks Fisherman? "Separated at birth."

Beard Papa's
99 Yerba Buena Lane
Between 3rd and 4th Streets off Mission
San Francisco CA, 94103
(415) 978-9972