San Francisco Magazine’s “Best of the Bay,” Father’s Day Pig Roast & More

Posted on by 4 comments

Salmon crudo bites at last year's "Best of the Bay.'' (Photo by Dana Underwood)

Party Hardy at “Best of the Bay” with A Food Gal Discount

San Francisco magazine will celebrate its 12th anniversary with a major bash, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. June 28.

Get ready to nosh, sip and shimmy at its annual “Best of the Bay” party at City View at the Metreon in San Francisco.

More than 40 restaurants will be dishing up gourmet eats, including Central Kitchen, 1300 on Fillmore, Wo Hing General Store and Waterbar. Participating wineries include Ceja Vineyards and Envolve. DJs and bands will play as you can dance the night away.

The event is a benefit for Family House, which provides a home away from home for families with children undergoing cancer treatment at UCSF Children’s Hospital.

Plates of Asian slaw at last year's soiree. (Photo by Marcie Franich)

General admission tickets are $100; VIP tickets are $175 (which gives you access to the party one hour early, plus entrance into the VIP lounge and cigarillo bar, and a digital swag bag). Food Gal readers can get a special discount: $90 for general admission tickets or $160 for VIP tickets. Just use the code: FOODGAL. Deadline for the discount is midnight June 18.

Presidio Social Club Celebrates Father’s Day with A Grand Pig Roast

Treat dear ol’ Dad to a most memorable barbecue dinner at Presidio Social Club in San Francisco.

On Father’s Day, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. June 17, the restaurant will host its sixth annual “Pig Roast Soiree.” Not one, but two Yosemite Valley pigs will be roasted on the back patio in Caja China box grills.

Read more

Seamus Mullen’s Favorite Blueberry Cake

Posted on by 18 comments

Good-for-you blueberries shine in this easy cake.

Chef Seamus Mullen was working grueling hours just after opening his Boqueria restaurant in New York, when he woke up one night with hip pain so agonizing that he had to dial 911.

The then 32-year-old chef spent the next three days hospitalized, with doctors running every test conceivable until they discovered the cause: rheumatoid arthritis.

The auto-immune disease causes the body to produce too many white blood cells and attack itself, causing painful and debilitating inflammation.

For a chef who works long hours on his feet, it was devastating news. But Mullen vowed he would not let it get the best of him. Not even when he competed on “The Next Iron Chef” three years ago, making it to the final three. The frenetic experience, though, led to another rheumatoid arthritis flare-up, leaving him unable to move quickly around the set. He was eliminated, and returned home in a wheelchair.

But Mullen fought his way back, making changes to his life, including in his diet. He doesn’t believe that food can cure illness, necessarily. But he does believe that what you eat can improve your sense of well-being.

To that end, he’s written “Hero Food” (Andrews McMeel), of which I recently received a review copy. Arranged by the seasons, it spotlights the 18 ingredients that have made a dramatic difference in his life, including almonds, parsley, fish and olive oil.

It’s no surprise that blueberries — rich in Vitamin C, manganese and antioxidants –make an appearance in the book. Specifically, in “Mutti’s Blueberry Boy Bait,” a cake that his grandmother started baking for him when he was just a tot. It’s based on a recipe by a 15-year-old girl who competed in the junior division of a Pillsbury baking contest in the 1950s.

I couldn’t resist the name, which appears to be apt, given that my husband was as endearing as can be after having a slice warm from the oven.

Read more


Posh New Look for Carmel Valley’s Marinus, Williams-Sonoma Chef Demos & More

Posted on by Leave a comment

Spring risotto at Marinus restaurant. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)

Marinus Restaurant at Bernardus Lodge Gets A Modern Redo

Marinus, the signature restaurant at the luxurious Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley, debuted a brand new look late last month.

Gone is the Old World-feel. In its place, a new, elegant, coastal California look with an over-sized farm table with a profusion of flowers underneath hand-forged iron chandeliers and French sconces.

Chef Cal Stamenov remains at the helm with a new menu, emphasizing the bounty from the enlarged on-site organic garden that includes more than 250 varieties of fruit-bearing trees, bushes and vines.

The elegant new dining room at Marinus. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant

The menu is divided into the categories of: “Farmed & Forged,” “Seasonal” and “Traditional.” Both a la carte dishes and a five-course prix fixe ($125) are available. Enjoy such dishes as black chanterelle risotto, and Monterey Bay wild King salmon with English peas and celery root puree.

Save room for desserts by Pastry Chef Ben Spungin that includes a “Chocolate Terrarium” of chocolate mousse, hazelnut cake, chocolate streusel and strawberry sorbet.

Gear Up for SF Chefs

The annual San Francisco extravaganza of food, wine and spirits known as SF Chefs doesn’t roll around until July 30-Aug. 5. But tickets are already on sale to the multifaceted event that takes place in and around Union Square.

Read more

Souvenirs from New York

Posted on by 13 comments

Pasta with truffle cream -- dinner from my New York souvenirs.

Some people tote home T-shirts or snow globes from vacations.

Me? I’m prone to do that on occasion, but more often than not, my souvenirs involve food.

I love nothing better than scouring supermarkets or specialty food stores to bring back a real taste of the place I’m visiting.

When I walked into New York’s Eataly last month, I knew I’d hit paradise for edible memorabilia.

The multi-restaurant food emporium brims with the flavors of Italy. Bringing back some of the wondrous gelato, cheeses and specialty beef would be out of the question, of course. But dried pasta was definitely do-able. I scoured the plentiful pasta aisles there to find one that would withstand being shoved into my carry-on without getting badly crushed or crumbled. I hit upon the Alta Valle Scrivia Trofiette ($4.80). The sturdy Ligurian durum wheat pasta is a slender, tightly twisted 1 1/2-inch sliver that has a hand-rolled look to it. Traditionally, it’s tossed with pesto sauce.

Read more

Take Five with Chef Justin Simoneaux of the Boxing Room, Who Proves You Can Take the Boy Out of Louisiania, But Not Louisiana Out of the Boy

Posted on by 9 comments

Chef Justin Simoneaux stand in front of the specials board at the Boxing Room in San Francisco.

Executive Chef Justin Simoneaux wears his heart on his sleeves.

His tattoo sleeves to be exact.

Take a close look at the artwork on this 27-year-old’s arms and you’ll understand what’s near and dear to this chef of San Francisco’s Boxing Room.

On the right arm of this Southern Louisiana native is a tiny front-page of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. That’s accompanied by all the makings for a crawfish boil (potatoes, crawfish and crab) and the Cajun ”holy trinity” of onion, bell peppers and celery.

On his left arm is the cityscape of New Orleans, the bayou and gravestones of dearly departed ones.

At the Boxing Room, part of the Absinthe Group of restaurants in San Francisco, Simoneaux cooks up the food of his beloved Louisiana: gumbo, deep-fried alligator, Southern fried chicken, and duck and sausage jambalaya. Before that, he honed his skills in Mediterranean cuisine at Coco500 in San Francisco, and the Moss Room at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

Crisp crackers with pimento cheese.

The dining room at the Boxing Room.

Last week, I had a chance to sit down with him to talk about how his roots and his upbringing (his mother was only 18 when she gave birth to him) have influenced his career, which started when he took a job as a dishwasher at age 15 at a restaurant near his high school.

Q: Are you cooking the food of your childhood here?

A: It’s the food I grew up eating, but I’m using my training to better the recipes. Don’t tell my Mom and Grandma I said that.

Q: You learned how to cook from them?

A: In Louisiana, everything centers around food. My Mom and Granny made gumbo and stews. My grandfather boiled crawfish and did a lot of grilling. I’d always be like, ‘Ooh, what is that smell?’ I was intrigued from an early age.

Q: Did you always know you wanted to be a chef?

A: When I worked as a dishwasher, then as a line cook, I just fell in love with the adrenaline and energy. I came out here for culinary school (California Culinary Academy) with the intention of going back to Louisiana afterward. But I’ve been here seven years now and love it. I feel like I have two homes now.

Q: When you go back to Louisiana to visit, is there something you just make a beeline for that you’ve just got to eat first?

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »