New Brunch, New Restaurant, Curry Tasting At A Jeans Store, and More Happenings

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Bubble & Squeak with jalapeno gravy and poached eggs. (Photo by Mark Leet Photography)

EPIC Roasthouse on San Francisco’s waterfront is now serving weekend brunch. Cornmeal waffle with crisp apple-smoked bacon, Bubble & Squeak with jalapeno gravy and poached eggs, and Dungeness crab Benedict are sure to wake you up in style.

The EPIC Bloody Mary with house-pickled vegetables and a lavender sea salt rim or a non-alcoholic Gold Rush (homemade watermelon syrup and seltzer water) will quench your thirst as you take in the view of the bay.

Cornmeal waffle with apple-smoked bacon (Photo by Mark Leet Photography)

If you’re more a night person, Jack Falstaff in San Francisco has just launched a new Happy Jack Hour, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Specialty cocktails like the Chef’s Side Car are $5, and can be enjoyed with bar bites such as spiced lamb meatballs and farmers market heirloom tomato salad.

Heirloom tomato salad at Elements Restaurant & Enoteca (Photo by Tom Fuller)In downtown Napa, Elements Restaurant & Enoteca has opened. It’s a project by former Intel executive Rich Poliak, Chef Charles Weber (formerly of Zuzu in Napa), and Noel Burke (former general manager at Julia’s Kitchen at Copia in Napa).

The menu features global small plates, such as oxtail terrine with a salad of summer roots ($9), “liver and onions” (foie gras and onion confit, $16), and fruit soup with eucalyptus syrup ($7).

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Amano — Chocolate From A Former Scientist

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Amano chocolate bars

Art Pollard is a scientist by training. His specialty is search engines. In fact, his code is on most of our computers, in one form or another.

He’s also a chocoholic. More than 10 years ago, he started studying the science of chocolate. And two years ago, he started sharing his chocolate handiwork with the sweet-tooths of the world.

Thus was born Amano Artisan Chocolate. The name in Italian means both “by hand” and “they love.” It’s Pollard’s way of saying he hopes what he handcrafts will be loved by all who try it. He works with cacao farmers to improve their growing, fermenting and drying techniques. In return, he says he pays them three to four times the going market price — well above “fair trade” level.

He chose Orem, Utah for his factory, believing the high altitude (4,441 feet above sea level) and dry climate have beneficial effects on the chocolate. His 2-ounce bars ($6.95 each) are available online.

I’ll use my patented scale of 1 to 10 lip-smackers, with 1 being the “Bleh, save your money” far end of the spectrum; 5 being the “I’m not sure I’d buy it, but if it was just there, I might nibble some” middle-of-the-road response; and 10 being the “My gawd, I could die now and never be happier, because this is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth” supreme ranking.

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Want to be a TV Chef?

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Who doesn’t these days, right?

Well, Silicon Valley’s KTEH-TV is looking for its next TV chef to star in its “Cooks with Garlic” live show. You have until Sept. 15 to apply. Send a note explaining why you should be cooking on TV, and an original recipe you want to prepare on the show.

Email Garlicrecipe@KTEH.org or send to: Garlic Recipe, KTEH, 1585 Schallenberger Road, San Jose, CA 95108.

For complete contest rules, go to http://www.kteh.org/tv/productions/cooks/garlic.jsp.

Free Seedlings and Chocolate — Catch Them If You Can

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Dagoba's popular lavender blueberry chocolate bar. (Photo by Crystal Munoz)

Representatives of Dagoba Organic Chocolate of Oregon will be handing out free chocolate bars and herb seedlings in six locations in San Francisco and Berkeley, today through Sept. 13.

The catch? You can find out the general locations and the dates, but not the exact times the freebies will be handed out. Dagoba says it’s a stealth, guerrilla-type operation to maintain the sense of surprise. (Uhh, I’m sure that makes sense in some universe.)

Be on the lookout in Justin Herman Plaza and Union Square in San Francisco today; the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco on Sept. 6; Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Sept. 7; the University of California at Berkeley campus on Sept. 7; and the Berkeley Farmers’ Market (Center Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Way) on Sept. 13.

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A Muffin That’s Like A Donut

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Cinnamon-buttermilk muffins

When I worked on the San Jose Mercury News Food & Wine section, you always knew it was going to be a good day if any Beth Hensberger baked goods were being photographed in the studio for an upcoming story.

That’s because once the photos were done, we’d all dive in, eagerly tearing off hunks of pie, cobbler, cookies or breads to nibble. They never ceased to make us smile and swoon. That’s because Beth’s baked goods are always filled with abundant love and expertise.

A former Bay Area caterer and a veteran cookbook author, Hensperger is a baking authority and one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. We still keep in touch by email. And whenever I make one of her recipes, I always think of my dear friend whose sweet tooth is matched only by my own.

Her cinnamon-buttermilk muffins are as comforting as you can get. They are dipped in melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar. I used organic cane sugar, giving the topping an even darker contrast to the golden muffins. But regular granulated sugar also works fine.

The batter, Hensperger says, is similar to ones for donuts, giving these muffins a cake-like texture. Muffins that are like donuts, but without the frying? Does it get any better than that?

Cinnamon-buttermilk muffins

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