Category Archives: Chefs

The Buzz on Bar Agricole

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You simply can't go to Bar Agricole without having a cocktail.

San Francisco’s Bar Agricole has definitely got it going on.

The winner of this year’s James Beard Award for “Outstanding Restaurant Design,” this one-year-old, South of Market Street establishment fairly exudes coolness behind a fortress-like redwood fence that fronts a spacious courtyard for eating al fresco, and an herb garden for use by the kitchen and bar.

The building’s warehouse-like facade of concrete and corrugated metal gives way to a long, narrow  interior. It’s made more inviting by an entire expanse of wall made of reclaimed whiskey barrel oak planks, as well as massive sculptures hanging from the ceiling that look for all the world like swaths of billowing fabric but are really hundreds of glass cylinders fused together.

We expected a youthful, hipster crowd when my husband and I were invited to dine as guests of the restaurant recently. But what we didn’t count on were the many middle-aged and beyond diners who also were having a great time over food and drink.

Our server explained that was nothing out of the ordinary for this restaurant. Turns out that Generation Xers and Yers rave about the place so much that their parents can’t help but want to check it out, too. How’s that for the ultimate sign of cool?

The restaurant has an industrial-chic vibe.

As ethereal as it looks, this is all glass.

After unfurling denim napkins at our bare wood table, we were all set to order a cocktail. After all, you can’t go to a restaurant that’s named for a type of rum made from freshly-squeezed sugar cane juice and not order a cocktail. Especially when proprietor-mixologist Thad Vogler is so meticulous about the freshness and precision of his cocktails that he also makes five types of ice to keep them cold.

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More Scenes From SF Chefs Food Wine 2011

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Flower + Water's twist on classic tortellini en brodo.

When it comes to contemporary cooking in the Bay Area, what’s old is definitely new again.

That was decidedly evident in the “Culinary Innovation Demos” at the Westin St. Francis last week, held for culinary industry folks, as part of the third annual SF Chefs Food Wine event.

The demos, hosted by Jim Poris and Beverly Stephen (both long-time editors of Food Arts magazine), featured Chef Brandon Jew of Bar Agricole in San Francisco and Chef Thomas McNaughton of Flour + Water in San Francisco doing riffs on classic, old-school dishes.

Thad Vogler, mixologist of Bar Agricole, got the party started by passing out Cooperstown cocktails to the audience — a refreshing, herbal-forward libation made with gin, two kinds of vermouth and pineapple mint grown at the restaurant.

Thad Vogler of Bar Agricole explains his philosophy about cocktails.

Bar Agricole's Cooperstown cocktail.

The classic aperitif originated at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria to prime the palate for the meal to follow. At Bar Agricole, the drink is refined with large cubes of ice, specially made to lessen dilution and keep the drink extra cold. It’s also served in a super thin glass made in Japan to enhance the sipping pleasure.

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Scenes from SF Chefs Food Wine 2011

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A bevy of chefs cut a chocolate cake depicting San Francisco's skyline to signal the start of SF Chefs Food Wine. How many chefs can you name?

To kick off the start of the third annual SF Chefs Food Wine extravaganza last Friday night on Union Square in San Francisco, no simple little ribbon-cutting ceremony would do.

Instead, Pastry Chef Lori Baker — who owns Baker & Banker in San Francisco with her husband, Chef Jeff Banker — created an astounding devil’s food cake cityscape complete with chocolate buildings to depict the Transamerica pyramid and an assortment of other iconic landmarks, including her own restaurant.

On their marks, a who’s who of celeb San Francisco chefs — including Chris Cosentino of Incanto, Emily Luchetti of Farallon and Waterbar, Mourad Lahlou of Aziza, and Russell Jackson of Lafite, as well as famed New York restaurateur Drew Nieporent, who flew in just for the occasion — grabbed knives to cut into the cake to signal the start of the three-day food and wine celebration.

That was preceded by the traditional sabering of a champagne bottle, as Cosentino looked on with knife envy, having sabered a champagne bottle with a Russian sword at his own wedding.

The entrance to the tent on Union Square.

Close-up of the cake made by Baker & Banker restaurant.

Lori Baker and Jeff Banker of Baker & Banker pose with Russell Jackson

Chef Chris Cosentino of Incanto addresses the crowd.

The ceremonial sabering of the champagne bottle.

When the doors opened to the enormous tent pitched on Union Square, 1,200 folks piled inside to sample wines, cocktails and gourmet noshes prepared by 35 Bay Area chefs and to groove to the sounds of Chef Joey Altman’s band.

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A Tale of Determination at LarkCreekSteak in San Francisco

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Ismael Macias’ path to becoming the new head chef at LarkCreekSteak in the swank downtown Westfield San Francisco Centre was anything but smooth.

Hired as a dishwasher at sister restaurant, One Market in San Francisco, when he was in his mid-20’s, Macias quit after two weeks because the work was just too grueling.

And that’s saying a lot, given that the now 36-year-old Macias has been working since he was 6 years old. One of 14 kids born to a family in Mexico, he immigrated to the United States at age 25 without knowing any English. For years, he worked two jobs while going to school.

The folks at the Lark Creek Restaurant Group must have sensed his potential. They kept calling him to come back to work. Again and again. All told, they hired him, only to have him quit yet again — a total of seven times.

Chef Ismael Macias of LarkCreekSteak. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)Lucky seven it was, though, as Macias returned to One Market, where he worked his way up to become a line cook, then sous chef. Last year, he came on board at LarkCreekSteak, where earlier this spring, he was named its head chef.

“My Mom cried when I told her that I got the job,” he says.

It’s one thing when a restaurant has a great story to recommend it. But what’s on the plate still has to be worth walking through the doors. In both cases, LarkCreekSteak delivers.

Recently, I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant to try the menu under Macias’ direction.

Soft jazz plays on the sound system in the dining room, warmed with maple and blonde wood, large framed images of squash and wheat, and servers decked out in stylish yet laid-back navy striped shirts and black pants.

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WOW Truck Wows Food TV

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The WOW Truck draws a crowd as the "Eat St.'' crew films the scene.

If you were in the vicinity of San Jose’s Bernal Park last night, you might have noticed a line — a long line — of hungry folks.

That’s because the WOW Truck was parked there at E. Hedding St. at N. 7th St. for business of a rather exciting kind.

The food truck, which serves up Filipino fare, was being filmed by a crew from the Cooking Channel’s “Eat St.,” which is here in the Bay Area to put togeter a future episode that also will star a couple more kitchens on wheels, including San Francisco’s Le Truc.

Chef Tim Luym, co-owner of the WOW Truck, takes time out from the filming.

WOW Truck, co-owner Tim Luym, passed out free pineapple fritters (turon) to folks who braved the long wait in line to purchase his popular silogs ($7) — plates of garlic fried rice heaped with your choice of meat (everything from corned beef to pork sausage to SPAM), as well as pickled green papaya salad and an over-easy, cage-free egg.

Patrons also were chowing down on the truck’s tacos ($4) and burritos ($7.50) garnished with calamansi pico de gallo. And nobody could resist the signature adobo wings (three for $5).

The "Eat St.'' crew at work.

Periodically, the camera crew would come by to zoom in on folks taking bites of their food, especially if they happened to be young, attractive women, if you know what I mean. Hey, it’s TV, right?

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