the tablehopper | 12:00 pm | October 31, 2008 | Brunch, Foodie 411 | Add a comment
There’s nothing quite like oysters, especially in the winter. Coming up is Hog Island Oyster Day at Piccino on Sunday November 2nd, from 12pm–5pm. As the announcement says, “Whether you prefer to eat them briny, cold, and raw, barbecued, or both, please join us for a special day with Hog Island Oyster Company. They’ll do the shucking and grilling, and will also be serving up Hog Island’s classic red sauce, one with butter, beer and garlic, and another made from Point Reyes Farmstead blue cheese. We’ll be pouring a thirst-quenching lineup of crisp whites and rosés, while also firing up our thin-crust pizzas and tossing a few seasonal salads. No reservations are required for this all-afternoon event. Just a love of oysters, and a good time!”
Craving more seafood? Over in Cow Hollow, Nettie’s Crab Shack will be debuting its new “Crab Feeds.” The crab feed includes a whole Dungeness crab (from Washington, until the local season kicks in), salad, cornbread, sides, and dessert, for $38 per person. Plus some butcher paper and a mallet, so you don’t have to fret about being too tidy!
Like some music with your Sunday brunch munchies? 1300 on Fillmore is launching a gospel brunch on November 2nd, and it will run the first Sunday of each month (regular brunch will follow on the other Sundays, and Saturday brunch is now discontinued). Local artist Michael Cheadle and the Future Perfect Band will perform at the brunch at two seatings; the first at 11am, the second at 1pm.
There is a three-course prix-fixe meal that includes a selection of entrées, including scrambled eggs and bacon, a spinach and goat cheese frittata, cinnamon brioche French toast, or for those of you who like a savory brunch instead, there’s the barbeque shrimp n’ creamy grits, or the buttermilk-fried chicken sandwich.
$39 per person, not including tax, tip, or a San Francisco health surcharge, but it does include a Bellini or mimosa, and dessert. Oh yes, and the corn bread with hot pepper jam (not to be missed).
Marcia Gagliardi writes a popular weekly e-column about the SF dining scene, “the tablehopper.” Subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com and get it in your inbox every Tuesday. Got news? Email Marcia at taste@sanfrancisco.travel.
the tablehopper | 2:23 pm | October 30, 2008 | Foodie 411 | Add a comment
San Francisco is chock full of seafood, so it’s wise to read up on what’s sustainable (or not) before dining out. Some informative seafood consumer guides were recently put together by three leading ocean conservation organizations: Blue Ocean Institute, Environmental Defense Fund, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and are now available to the public. The guides will rank popular sushi selections based on whether they are prepared using seafood that’s caught or farmed in ways that harm the ocean or pose a health risk to people. It’s no news that we are depleting our precious oceans, so it’s time to make informed and ocean-friendly sushi choices. As Sheila Bowman, Seafood Watch outreach manager at the Monterey Bay Aquarium says, “The reality is quite simple. If you care about the future of the oceans, you’ll avoid red-listed sushi.”
Which means popular items like bluefin tuna (hon maguro/kuro maguro) and freshwater eel (unagi) are firmly on the “red” list, as is farmed salmon (sake). These species are either overfished, farmed with aquaculture methods that pollute the ocean, or caught using methods that destroy ocean habitats or kill large amounts of other sea life. Items like wild-caught Alaska salmon (sake), farmed scallops (hotate), and Pacific halibut (hirame) are more sustainable choices, in part because they come from abundant, well-managed fisheries—or, in the case of scallops—are raised using sustainable aquaculture methods.
You can download the Blue Ocean Institute sushi guides at www.blueocean.org; Environmental Defense Fund guides at www.edf.org/seafood; and Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch sushi guides at www.seafoodwatch.org.
Marcia Gagliardi writes a popular weekly e-column about the SF dining scene, “the tablehopper.” Subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com and get it in your inbox every Tuesday. Got news? Email Marcia at taste@sanfrancisco.travel.
the tablehopper | 11:32 am | October 29, 2008 | Foodie 411 | Add a comment
To celebrate the 2009 Michelin Guide awards, Michelin Two-Star-rated restaurants MICHAEL MINA, Cyrus and The Restaurant at Meadowood are teaming up to offer quite the epicurean getaway in San Francisco and the Northern California Wine Country. The Dining with the Stars offering includes seasonal tasting menus at each of the Michelin award-winning restaurants, as well as a romantic overnight stay.
Dinner at MICHAEL MINA is accompanied by accommodations at The Westin St. Francis on Union Square in San Francisco. After dining at Cyrus, guests stroll across the historic Plaza to a charming room with a fireplace at Sonoma County’s Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza. Following a meal in The Restaurant at Meadowood, guests will enjoy a walk through the wooded Meadowood Napa Valley estate to cottages turned down for the evening and cozy fires. Each portion of this epicurean journey features special in-room amenities and restaurant extras available only to guests taking advantage of the Dining with the Stars offering. The restaurants are also offering preferred seating times between 7pm and 8pm.
“There are only six Michelin Two-Star restaurants in Northern California, and we are excited to offer this special experience to dining and travel enthusiasts,” said Douglas Keane, of contemporary luxury restaurant, Cyrus.
The Dining with the Stars epicurean and travel offering is available Monday through Thursday, January 15, 2009 through April 15, 2009. The experience is flexible, allowing guests to customize their trip, starting in San Francisco and moving north, or beginning their journey in the Wine Country and finishing their trip in the city. Reservations can be made by calling Meadowood Napa Valley at 707-963-3646 or contacting reservations@meadowood.com.
Offering price starts at $1,900 per couple and does not include transportation or parking. For additional information on Dining with the Stars, visit www.meadowood.com, www.michaelmina.net or www.cyrusrestaurant.com.
Marcia Gagliardi writes a popular weekly e-column about the SF dining scene, “the tablehopper.” Subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com and get it in your inbox every Tuesday. Got news? Email Marcia at taste@sanfrancisco.travel.
the tablehopper | 10:13 am | October 24, 2008 | Foodie 411 | Add a comment
Chef Paul Arenstam of Americano Restaurant & Bar, a delegate to the upcoming Terra Madre event from October 23rd–27th in Torino, Italy, pays tribute to his long-held philosophy of farm-to-table cooking with his new menu. New items include tagliatelle with wild mushroom, toasted pine nuts and mint; bucatini with Fra’ Mani pork sausage, Manila clams and chili; fig leaf-wrapped black cod with Castelvetrano olives and garlic conserva; arancini with Prather Ranch short ribs: pan-seared Sonoma duck breast with blistered Concord grapes and saba; and roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts.
Marcia Gagliardi writes a popular weekly e-column about the SF dining scene, “the tablehopper.” Subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com and get it in your inbox every Tuesday. Got news? Email Marcia at taste@sanfrancisco.travel.
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