In the meantime, I’d love to tell you about a recent food-and-fun-filled trip to San Francisco I took with my gal Leena Trivedi-Grenier over at Leena Eats. We planned our trip around the BlogHer Food conference, and it was my very first time visiting the West coast.
Traveling to San Francisco from Jacksonville was proof that this country of ours has some pretty dang diverse food cultures. The density of restaurants and wealth of options in San Fran is ridiculously impressive. Like all the great food cities of the world, the food culture in San Fran is a true reflection of local identity.
Fish and Farm adheres to a local, sustainable, artisanal philosophy. The neighborhood might be a bit sketchy, but step inside the restaurant to find yourself in a space made warm and cozy
by leathers and browns and dark woods and dim lighting. Just after we took our seats, our friendly waiter brought us a complementary plate of the chef’s house made potato chips with horseradish sauce.
We started with four appetizers (I love eating out with lots of people, more goodies to try!). Everyone seemed to enjoy the slow-roasted pork ribs with honey harissa BBQ sauce and vinegar slaw. The ribs were perfectly tender and the vinegary slaw helped cut the richness of the pork and its sauce.
The daily special was an heirloom tomato salad with Pt. Reyes bleu cheese dressing & sourdough croutons. It was one of the more expensive starters and ended up being my least favorite. It just didn’t seem that special – I make this kind of thing all the time at home.
The local oysters on the half shell, on the other hand, were quite special. As was the plate of house made potato gnocchi with smoked ham hock, peas, fava, parmesan. This was my favorite – perfect balance of flavors, perfect gnocchi consistency. Bad photo, awesome dish.
I thought the mains were truly standout. The cheeseburger at Fish and Farm was rated best in the city this year, and I could definitely see why. Leena ordered the burger and while she didn’t do cartwheels through the dining room out of excitement, I thought it definitely ranked up there in my top 10 or 15 burgers of all time. The Niman Ranch beef tasted very meaty and aged and the secret sauce provided a rich umami flavor that just made me want to keep stealing bites off Leena’s plate. It was topped with grilled onions, white cheddar, house made pickles, Hobbes bacon, and that special secret sauce.
My Niman Ranch country pork chop with spinach and potato puree was just as satisfying and perfectly prepared. More like a tender steak than a piece of pork.
Leena’s awesome hubby Adam had the grilled natural ribeye with creamed chard and crispy onion rings. I was glad he sat next to me so I could keep sneaking the onion rings.
I know we ordered dessert but sorry folks, I’m just not a dessert gal so I can’t for the life of me remember what it was. You’ll have to pop over at Leena Eats and read her review to find out!
Chouchou French Bistro was an excellent contrast to Fish and Farm. While the latter focused on local ingredients and American dishes, Chouchou was like stepping into a bistro smack in the middle of Paris. From the accordion and guitar players to the excellent crusty bread hot from the oven to the truffles and escargots and foie gras and duck gizzards and French waiters, every last detail was French French FRENCH. Leena’s gastronomy classmate Linda and her husband John know the place well and recommended it for the food and atmosphere as well as for the free corkage on Thursdays.




trois, a trio of meat dishes: Rack of lamb with mascarpone polenta and plum coulis; chicken breast with fondue of carrots and a thyme sauce; pork tenderloin with dates and figs in a foie gras sauce. He said that each dish was better than the last and that they were each the best thing he’d ever eaten. I guess that’s a pretty solid recommendation! énage à





One of my favorite dishes of the evening was the daikon rice cakes with shiitake mushrooms and shallots in a rich umami broth. This photo is awful but I guess I was too busy smacking my lips over the aromas rising from these two cakes. This dish made me an aspiring (yet unsuccessful) vegetarian. Adam seemed to enjoy them as much as I did but poor Leena wasn’t feeling so well at this point…

The stir-fried chicken with gingko nuts, Chinese dates, raisins, walnuts and cashews wasn’t something I’d normally order, but that’s the fun in dining out with people who have different tastes from your own. I was really digging the contrast of textures and flavors, chewy and crunchy, savory and sweet. It was just as good leftover the next day for lunch.The caramelized tiger prawns with garlic, onions and chili sauce were big and meaty and impeccably prepared.
We balanced all the rich meats and seafood with allstar organics rainbow chard with caramelized shallots. I love me some green stuff.
Well, you can’t get any more American than good ole In n Out.
This being my first time out West, I’d never before had the pleasure of eating anything animal style. For those of you not from the U.S., In n Out is a family-run burger chain with a cult following and is often regarded as having the best fast food burger in the country. The menu is extremely limited, but I prefer to think of it as extremely focused, allowing the In n Out angels to work their magic and do what they do, and do it the best.
The cheeseburger animal style was everything a fast food burger should be, greasy, cheesy, dripping with sauce, on a soft bun. Yum. Good thing I walked up and down so many hills that day.
San Francisco has a sizeable Latino community centered in the Mission district.
Being the good Sánchez I am, I took a leisurely stroll down Mission Street to soak in all the Latino-ness I possibly could before returning to Jacksonville. The area truly feels like it was uprooted from a Latin American city, and the smells wafting from the restaurants proved irresistible. I stopped at El Majahual on Valencia Street for some cheap, filling, insanely good Salvadorean food.
The pupusas, fried stuffed dough pockets, really delivered. I ordered one stuffed with pork and beans (called revuelta on the menu), and the other with cheese. They were an absolute steal at $2.50 each and came with fresh tomato salsa and shredded cabbage in a light vinaigrette.
I am easily seduced by wafting smells, and San Francisco’s Chinatown tempted me at every corner.I just had to stop at a Vietnamese restaurant on Clay Street to enjoy a hearty bowl of fish ball and meat ball pho. Spicy!
I already miss the ethnic neighborhoods and colorful food culture. Can’t wait to return some day!
Fish and Farm http://www.fishandfarmsf.com/
339 Taylor St, San Francisco, CA 94102-2004
(415) 474-3474
Chouchou French Bistro
400 Dewey Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94116-1425
(415) 242-0960
Slanted Door http://www.slanteddoor.com/
1 Ferry Building #3, San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 861.8032
In n Out http://www.in-n-out.com
333 Jefferson St, San Francisco, CA 94133
El Majahual
1142 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94110-3027 (415) 821-7514
7 comments:
i read about all this food and immediately gain three pounds.
are you still in st. aug?
ah, deadlines. i know them well. i am queen of procrastination, in fact...yikes. i am under one now! bye!
1. Great pics! We still need to exchange photos from this trip.
2. You totally told me you weren't gonna post this stuff until after the paper was done. Is it done??
3. Posting my version of these meals over the end of this week and start of next. Will send you the links so we can share the love!
Hey girl! I wrote this a few weeks ago when I was REALLY bored, but the Chicago post won't come until after the paper's DONE! Then maybe my life will be normal again.
Saw your Chouchou post!!! I will get you my San Fran and Chicago photos soon, just haven't had the mental energy to figure out how to compress them or find a site or whatever to get them to you...
Paper's coming along, down to 25,000 words, Phil's helping me cut this weekend, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!
Love this post Cari. The fresh prawn spring rolls.....I drool uncontrollably...........
Yes the last saying well, says it all. We are blessed with a good life.
Yay!!! Jackie!!! You commented on my blog!!!!! Woo hoo!
Hi Cari,
I understand you are having hard time for finishing your paper.
Writing and presenting our paper is so crazy!!
I just finished reading my paper in Nagoya.
Now I am enjoying reading magazines and watching movies and....everything!!
You said you can see the light!
That's great!
I hope we could read your next blog.
(I went to SF this summer.
All your photos remind me my stay there.)
Anyway, Ganbatte!!
Michiko from Kobe.
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