Category Archives: Great Finds

Kitchenette — Sammies in an Unlikely Locale

Posted on by 14 comments

Forget your cute little cafes with the chic, outdoor tables to take a load off at lunchtime.

Some of the best al fresco dining in San Francisco can be had at an actual concrete loading dock, where you might find yourself digging into your gourmet sammy as an exhaust-spewing UPS or Fed-Ex truck pulls up right beside you.

Of course, I can only be talking about the offbeat and charming, Kitchenette in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, a short drive from the W Hotel.

You gotta love its slogan: “Spontaneous organic covert nourishment.”

That about sums up this cash-only, tucked away spot that’s only open 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. weekdays.

It was opened last year by a group of chefs that have worked at some of the Bay Area’s top establishments, including Chez Panisse, Ad Hoc, Incanto,  and Betelnut. With that kind of pedigree, you know you’re not getting some slapped together cold cuts.

Nope, the limited menu changes daily and features primo artisan, organic ingredients.

The  menu is posted daily on Kitchenette’s Web site, and usually includes a choice of two or three different sandwiches such as a fig wood-smoked pastrami one or fried eggplant on anchovy-garlic bread; possibly a salad; house-baked cookies; and a creative, house-made beverage such as lemon verbena-chrysanthemum Arnold Palmer.

Read more

Million-Dollar Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Posted on by 30 comments

OK, not quite. But this is as far from a box of Kraft as it gets.

We’re talking mac ‘n’ cheese with lobster. Lots of lobster.

And it’s $59.

OK, did you pick yourself off the floor yet? Did you close your jaw back up? Pop your eyes back into their sockets?

This is the famous Port Clyde Lobster Mac & Cheese from the Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. that’s already been touted in the pages of the New York Times; and O, the Oprah Magazine.

The company was founded in 2000 in Maine by Cal Hancock, whose grandmother founded a lobster restaurant in 1946 in Ogunquit, Maine, which still remains in the Hancock family. The company now offers a wide variety of gourmet lobster and seafood products.

I was fortunate enough to receive samples recently of the Lobster Mac & Cheese, an extremely decadent rendition of the classic comfort dish.

To say that it’s rich is like saying Lady Gaga is an eensy bit flashy. But then again, there is not only cheddar mixed into the shell pasta, but mascarpone. Plus, the topping of panko bread crumbs gets a good dose of herb butter, lemon zest and Parmesan.

Read more

Bovolo Will Bowl You Over

Posted on by 17 comments

It’s no big deal these days to snag a decent latte and a nice pastry inside your neighborhood bookstore.

But how about being able to pick up a best-selling novel, a glossy mag, and a plate of dreamy pasta carbonara?

Yeah, not many bookstores can boast of that. But Copperfield’s Books in downtown Healdsburg sure can. That’s because past the front door, past the shelves of books, and all the way in the back of the store, you’ll find Bovolo, a sunny restaurant that makes everything from scratch from locally grown ingredients and specializes in the meat-of-the-moment, pork.

Bovolo, the sister restaurant of Zazu Restaurant & Farm in Santa Rosa, is a tiny 24-seat cafe big on charm.  It makes its own bacon and salumi from heritage pigs, as well as its own fabulous gelato. It features “Fish Frydays,” the only day of the week that pig makes room for fish. Corkage is also free for Sonoma County residents. Enter through the backdoor at 9 a.m. before the bookstore opens, and you can enjoy a rustic breakfast of fried sweetened goat cheese turnovers, a breakfast pizza or a black pig bacon, egg and cheese sammy.

Just be sure to time your visit well, as Bovolo is open only until 6 p.m. on weekdays.

The hubster and I made it there just before closing to enjoy an early dinner.

Read more

Dynamo Donuts Are Dyno-mite

Posted on by 37 comments

A donut is a donut, right?

Not in the hands of San Francisco’s wickedly good Dynamo Donuts, a short drive from the Holiday Inn Civic Center.

You’ve seen the lines. You’ve heard the swoons.

Let me tell you, it’s all justified for these gourmet donuts that come in such unusual flavors as Chocolate Rosemary Almond, Lemon Sichuan, Banana De Leche, and the much-ballyhooed Maple Glazed Bacon Apple.

First off, these are not teeth-gratingly sweet like so many other donuts. I know that’s hard to believe, given that they all come with a hefty dose of glaze or shower of sugar on top. But the flavors are actually balanced and quite intense at times. For instance, bite into the Candied Orange Blossom, and your mouth will come alive with an explosion of citrus flavor that’s so audacious, you can’t help but let out a yelp. The orange flavor gets revved up from candied orange zest inside the donut, as well as orange blossom glaze smeared over the top.

Second of all, the texture of these donuts is remarkable. It’s not just a round of airy pastry. Rather, a Dynamo donut has height, along with an almost brioche-like quality that makes for a quite rich and tender crumb.

That these donuts are so spectacular comes as no surprise when you realize that they’re the brainchild of Sara Spearin, a pastry chef who honed her craft at Postrio, Hawthorne Lane, Stars and Foreign Cinema, all San Francisco landmarks.

There are about 16 different donuts, selling for $2 to $3.50 a piece, depending on the type. About seven are offered daily with the bacon one available every day by popular demand.

Good thing, too, or there surely would be riots over this super puffy donut that has apples  in the batter, which have been sauteed in bacon fat, as well as a maple glaze that’s studded with crisp bacon bits. It’s salty and sweet. And if you try one, you’ll want another one immediately.

Read more

The Art of Wagashi at Minamoto Kitchoan

Posted on by 18 comments

Cupcakes, cookies, French macarons.

So yesterday.

For unique sweet treats that will truly surprise and tantalize, step inside Minamoto Kitchoan, a Japanese confectionery store that has locations in downtown San Francisco and in San Jose’s Mitsuwa Marketplace plaza.

The stores specialize in wagashi, handmade, intricate sweets made with mochi, azuki red bean paste and fruit. Traditionally, they were designed to be served during Japanese tea ceremonies. With their sweet flavor, they are the ideal accompaniment to a cup of hot, fragrant, astringent green tea.

Minamoto Kitchoan receives a shipment every two months from Japan. The wagashi are shipped frozen in a state-of-the-art process that renders them much colder than in any home freezer, yet doesn’t impair their delicacy.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »