Search Results for: Mission District

A Visit to Pasta Supply Co.

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Veal triangoli with tomato sauce from Pasta Supply Co. to enjoy at home.
Veal triangoli with tomato sauce from Pasta Supply Co. to enjoy at home.

The second you step inside the Pasta Supply Co. on Clement Street in San Francisco, your eyes are drawn to the expansive refrigerator case displaying all manner of pasta sauces and fresh pastas in every shape imaginable.

Now, this is where I would normally show you a photo or two of that mouthwatering display. However, when your husband neglects to feed the meter with enough coins and parks four blocks from the shop while a meter maid is seen circling about, you simply don’t have time for that. So, j ust take my word: Anyone who loves pasta will feel like they’re in Wonderland here.

The Pasta Supply Co. is the brainchild of Anthony Strong, who’s been a chef at the forefront. When the pandemic hit, he was one of the first to convert his then-Prairie restaurant into a veritable grocery store to supply shelter-in-place folks with gourmet products to enjoy at home, and even toilet paper when that basic was in short supply.

The pasta cooks up at home in just a few minutes.
The pasta cooks up at home in just a few minutes.

With restaurants still facing challenges because of higher prices for ingredients, plus the difficulties in hiring staff, Strong made the genius move to open a place that’s half dine-in restaurant and half retail shop. While the dine-in portion is open only for dinner, the retail shop is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, providing for sales opportunities for far more hours.

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For the Big Game — Chicken Wings Of A Different Sort

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Japanese-style chicken drumettes cooked with orange marmalade.
Japanese-style chicken drumettes cooked with orange marmalade.

San Francisco Chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett fondly remembers his mother cooking up a pan of chicken drumettes with sake, shoyu, and a copious amount of orange marmalade.

The resulting thick, sticky, sweet glaze would coat every inch of the tender drumettes that were savored hot or room temperature on New Year’s Day.

It wasn’t necessarily a classic component of the traditional Japanese New Year meal known as osechi. But in his family, it sure made for good eating on that day or any busy weeknight.

Me? I think it would score big-time on Super Bowl Sunday.

I mean, why pay homage to Buffalo, NY with been-there, done-that, fiery red-sauced wings when you can support the home team by indulging in a version from a bona fide San Francisco Mission District chef instead? That’s got to make for good juju, right?

The recipe comes from his debut cookbook, “Rintaro” (Hardie Grant, 2023), of which I received a review copy, that was written with San Francisco food writer Jessica Battilana.

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Reem’s Chocolate Chip-Tahini Cookies

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Chocolate chip cookies get an Arab twist with homemade halawa, sesame-like fudge, that gets folded into the dough and dotted on top.
Chocolate chip cookies get an Arab twist with homemade halawa, sesame-like fudge, that gets folded into the dough and dotted on top.

Growing up in Massachusetts with a mother forced to flee war in both Gaza and Lebanon, Reem Assil not only wears her fierce Palestinian and Syrian pride on her sleeve, but profoundly infuses it into her cooking and baking.

That’s why her new cookbook “Arabiyya” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy, is not merely a collection of more than 100 recipes that dive deeply into her Arab roots, but a testament to her hard-won battle to bring them to the forefront in all that she does.

The book’s title means “Arab woman.” And Assil exemplifies that inherent strength, never afraid to champion her Arab community at-large, starting in college, when she idealistically thought she could solve the issue of peace in the Middle East. When she realized that futility, she dropped out of school, and headed west to the Bay Area, were she became enthralled with its diversity and social consciousness.

It was here that she got the notion to start her own bakery, having grown up breaking bread at the table communally as the ultimate way to bring people together.

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Dining Outside at the Revered Californios

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Californios' astonishing banana with caviar and dulce de leche.
Californios’ astonishing banana with caviar and dulce de leche.

How fortunate is San Francisco to have the only Michelin two-starred Mexican restaurant in the world?

Exceedingly.

Now, chances are that in your lifetime, you’ve had more than your fill of tacos and tostadas.

But not the way they and other dishes are interpreted at Californios.

This is Mexican cuisine that is elevated, elegant, exhilarating.

Last year, Californios relocated from its snug spot in the Mission District to a roomier property in SoMa, which formerly housed Bar Agricole. Following a remodel and the throes of the pandemic, it opened its doors earlier this spring.

The chic outdoor patio.
The chic outdoor patio.

While Bar Agricole didn’t really make use of its sizeable front patio, Californios certainly has. High walls encircle it, painted deep, matte charcoal gray like the restaurant’s interior. Steel beams run across the top, from which large light fixtures dangle. In case of rain, there is a retractable roof, with space between it and the top of the walls to allow for air flow.

Executive Chef-Owner Val Cantu in the kitchen at Californios.
Executive Chef-Owner Val Cantu in the kitchen at Californios.

My husband and I sat at one of the white tablecloth-draped tables outside, which had heaters both above it and to the side to provide ample warmth, no matter how chilly the evening. Done up with potted plants, the patio has a chic starkness to it.

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Three Great Things to Do in May

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Chef Ravi Kapur of Liholiho Yacht Club designed the new pool-side menu at the Rosewood Sand Hill. (Photo courtesy of the hotel.)
Chef Ravi Kapur of Liholiho Yacht Club designed the new pool-side menu at the Rosewood Sand Hill. (Photo courtesy of the hotel.)

Check Into the Rosewood Sand Hill for Liholiho Yacht Club Noshes

Now, here’s a great excuse for a staycation on the Peninsula if there ever was one.

The Rosewood Sand Hill has partnered with Chef Ravi Kapur of San Francisco’s Liholiho Yacht Club on a new poolside menu that’s available now through the end of summer.

Imagine nibbling on furikake-dusted Kennebec potato chips to dunk into caramelized onion dip; a tuna poke bowl with with avocado, radish, spicy aioli and radish sprouts; a yacht burger crowned with pineapple, bacon and kimchi; and a fried chicken sandwich garnished with cabbage slaw, pickled jalapeno and avocado ranch.

It’s the perfect excuse to relax at the newly redone pool area with flowers galore, plus a beachy-style bar.

The posh pool area at the Rosewood Sand Hill. (Photo courtesy of the hotel.)
The posh pool area at the Rosewood Sand Hill. (Photo courtesy of the hotel.)

And it saves you a trip to San Francisco to enjoy Kapur’s Hawaiian-influenced food, especially with Liholiho temporarily operating out of a Mission District space for takeout and delivery only.

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