SF Food Carts in Bernal Heights Tonight

Tonight I took my out-of-town cousin to see the food carts in Bernal Heights. For the rest of you out-of-towners, here's a quick run-down: It's no secret, the street food trend is the biggest thing to hit SF since track bikes. Here's how they work- food carts generally roam the streets or set up shop in some popular park or mission street corner. They are predominantly run by young relatively hip creative types and assorted ex silicon valley tech workers (sf food carts used to be almost exclusively run by economically disenfranchised ethnic minorities and sold mexican food and bacon dogs). Since the crackdown by the city, it's often a secret where they will be and all of them utilize social media tools-Twitter- to reveal their location (often with only an hour or two notice). The idea is with little consistency in their location, they won't get caught without a permit. And it helps build the hype among hip customers who like to feel in-the-know. Tonight we caught up with the lumpia cart whose freshly deep fried shanghai style mini-lumpia was pretty spot-on. Doing lumpia to-order is a great idea, although a deep-fryer is somewhat less portable than say a cooler full of creme brulee. Anyway, lumpia- hot, crispy, fresh, porky goodness with a sticky sweet chili sauce and pretty damn authentic too ($3/order of 6). My favorite was the gumbo guy. If there could be any wish, it would be for a little more heat- temperature and spice. Although I am understanding about the portable constraints and for 5 bucks an on a crisp november evening, the andouille, chicken combo hit the spot! Also on the scene was the evil jerk cart (pictured below with two happy kabob eaters), toasty melts, and some awesome chai lady I didn't get the name of. More resources: sf street food and Chowhound's Non-staurants list

Biking and Banh Mi at Ba Le

Just biked over to Banh Mi Ba Le on San Pablo in El Cerrito today for lunch. I got the usual #2 combination and it was great as always. The crunchy pickled carrots and radish were so fresh and crisp, not at all soggy or wilted as in some banh mi places. I also appreciate how this place doesn't skimp on the pate! Vegetables and meat content aside, I have to say the downtown Oakland Ba Le has better bread. Hot and toasty and crispy outside, toasting just a few minutes more really makes the sandwich. Looks like the debate is still hot over the best banh mi in Oakland Chinatown: Ba Le, BC Deli, or Cam Huong. Personally, I'm very against Cam Huong after getting stale bread there once. Not sure if they've improved since then but haven't felt the need to risk veering from Ba Le. In case you're not having enough trouble deciding, here's a Bay Area Banh Mi Google map to broaden your choices.

Best Drip of the Week: Local 123's Don Mayo

This morning's cup at Local 123 wins best drip of the week! Actually, possibly of the whole month (and I've drank a lot of drip this month). Their special drip, Don Mayo, comes from Costa Rica and is fantastic- very smooth and slightly sweet with a strong (but no overpowering) caramel buttery taste. I often find the taste changes as the coffee cools and towards the end of the cup there was also a nice earthy citrus. The best part was the clean finish. I also tried their apple caramelized ginger muffin which was standout, having all the best things about a homemade muffin- moist, with big pieces of chewy caramelized ginger. Also pictured here is my friend Kara's first Local 123 Latte with a shot of single-origin Sumatra, Dolok Sanggul, that Freida described as having notes of cheesecake and berry. Not sure how much cheesecake came through but Kara loved it.

Coffee and Snacky Food Tour with Dad: Part 3

Day 2 with my dad was also the most powerful October storm in half a century. Only a storm like that could slow us down. Barely. We started the morning parked on the sidewalk outside Cafe 504, significant because they serve Ritual alongside Blue Bottle. They use Ritual exclusively for espresso however and Blue Bottle exclusively for drip so it's not precisely comparable. We were abit disappointed with the way they did their drip coffee, a cup of hot water from the tea dispenser unceremoniously dumped onto a ceramic filter. Yes, the beans were freshly ground but hard to tell if the filter was damp, etc. Definitely not as elegant as Local 123 and far from the style of Blue Bottle themselves. The homemade (all their goods are homemade, no sourcing) strawberry lavender scone was alright for a scone, but the lavender could've been more fragrant in my opinion.
Having gotten a later start today, we were ready for something more substantial after the somewhat disappointing scones..

My dad was particularly struck by the lack of signs on the door at Bakesale Betty's. But the long line out the door in the rain gave them away. The crisp spicy perfect crust on juicy chicken cutlets made their somewhat soggy ironing board tables absolutely charming. And the warm and friendly atmosphere inside was filled with community bonding over this chicken sandwich.
Heaping bowls of crunchy cole slaw came out from the back with slivers of jalapeno, onions, fresh cabbage and a light oil-based dressing. Not using mayonnaise helped protect these sandwiches from becoming a soggy mess. Not like they were ever in any danger of that though..
Onto dinner! By 5:30pm it had stopped raining just in time for Dopo to open their doors. Of course we had to start with their salumi platter. I was a sucker for the stronger and more pungent salamis. I also think their Mortadella actually beats Boccalone, despite some of the buzz about Boccalone's Mortadella. I thought Dopo's was much more flavorful, some may say meat-y or pork-y, but I love that. I have been meaning to try this though.
The other standout was of course, Dopo's duck pate. It was a chunkier country-style pate with a whole piece of seared duck breast in the middle and the entire thing was wrapped in Speck. Absolutely phenomenal. My mouth's watering just writing about it. Perfectly seasoned and game-y in the best possible way.

When I asked our server how to choose between the pork chop or the flank steak, she said "Pork Chop!" with much enthusiasm and no hesitation. The best kind of recommendation. The host brought over our pork chop which had two bones and huuuuge, saying she got us an extra good piece since she knew we were sharing and noticed our pictures. I wonder what we would've got if we started taking notes! ;) The chops were wrapped in thick juicy sugar sweet bacon that had a spectacular crunch. The entire chop was so juicy, we cut it with our table knives. I was wondering why they didn't bring us meat knives. It's cus we didn't need them!

This picture does Dopo's pig fat and farm egg pizza NO justice. The fat was diced into big chunks, just like eating the best part of the bacon with none of that lean meaty stuff to get in the way. It was also surprisingly spicy. I believe it was a spicy red pepper tomato sauce. And the egg perfectly fried sunny side up on top. I wish I'd taken a picture of the bottom which was charred black with just the right amount of crispy. It was equally delicious for breakfast the next morning. I'd go back anytime just for this. I'll probably be there again within the week.
It was a short walk from Dopo to Lush. We walked right passed Fenton's without looking back and yes, it's all it's rumored to be. My only disappointment is they were out of both the Strawberry and the Basil I've been hearing about. But I had the coffee chip which was fantastic. Not too sugar sweet or sticky, a full slightly bitter coffee flavor. It was a perfect end to our porky meal!

Coffee and Snacky Food Tour with Dad: Part 2

After the Ferry Building, we headed to the Mission straight to Philz for cup #3. Phil gladly made us two cups of something very delicious (adding heavy cream made it even more so) and shared rumors of his new store opening in Berkeley (yay!).
Our next stop was just down the street at Humphrey Slocombe's. I'd been meaning to go there ever since I first heard about their Prosciutto ice cream, made from Boccalone's Tasty Salted Pig Parts. Unfortunately not in the case today, but we did get some fantastic savory flavors, including Salt-N-Peppa and McEvoy Olive Oil. The Jesus Juice, red wine and cola, was a little weird (even for me!) but I loved the other two. Now that I've tried it, I think they're definitely better than BiRite (see below). It's true their flavors aren't as generally accessible as BiRite's and they usually have a smaller selection but that's good for me, I love the weird stuff.













Leaving Humphrey Slocombe's, we drove down Valencia towards Ritual and Four Barrel, just to check them out. By this time, we were entirely coffee'd out, I couldn't believe it! Anyway, Dad liked Four Barrel's layout with the roaster in back, and I spent the time noticing the definitive style of SF's coffeehouses- large open layout w/ concrete floors and unfinished wood. Especially to a foreigner, the look is particularly distinctive- no Corinne Bailey Rae coffeehouse crooner music, electric fireplaces or starbucks loungers in sight.










Finally ready to eat again, we headed for Tartine's. To our dismay, there is no bread on Mondays! And no Banana Cream Tarts either. We made do with Berry bread pudding and an apple pastry, which had a divine crust. And we asked our neighbors if we could take a pic of their Coconut Passionfruit Cake.


























We walked up to BiRite Creamery, stopping by the store to peek at their deli and sample Kyoho grapes, which we decided would make a great ice cream flavor. This trip, I was actually a little disappointed in BiRite. Perhaps the case was a little too cold today or their flavors were a tad too sweet. I got my usual Salted Caramel and Honey Lavender, but after Humphrey Slocombe's, they had a hard time standing up.
Finally dinner time, we aimed for Ino Sushi in the Japantown mall, my absolute favorite sushi place for the way they toast the seaweed on their rolls. This makes their Shishamo handroll with the crispy fish and fresh Kaiware sprouts something to truly crave. Sadly, Ino's closed on Mondays. Instead, we walked into On the Bridge for Japanese comfort food. Also crave-worthy, but for totally different reasons. I got my usual Mentaiko spaghetti. Always delicious. We also tried their seafood spaghetti and a curry pizza that I'm still feeling confused by. Maybe a thinner crispier crust for the crispy seaweed and curry? Japanese curry spaghetti, I totally get but I still think the pizza was a little odd. The good news is Day 2 included some to-die-for pizza at Dopo. Report coming soon!

Coffee and Snacky Food Tour with Dad: Part 1

After much research on Chowhound, I was ready to start my jam-packed 48 hour food tour with my dad. We focused on coffee and snacky-stuff. Unfortunately we didn't make it to every place on my list. Here's the list, for reference:

Coffee:
Blue Bottle
Philz (original location)
Ritual (or Four Barrel?)
Local123 (Berkeley)
Cole Coffee (Berkeley)

Snacky Treats:
Boccalone (and other Ferry Building spots)
Miette (Hayes Valley)
Mission Pie
Tartine
Creme Brulee Cart
Humphrey Slocombs
Bakesale Betties for fried chicken sandwich (Oakland)
Ici (Berkeley)
Lush Gelato (Berkeley)

Dinner:
SPQR, Sozai, or Berretta (Day 1)
Dopo or Wood Tavern (Day 2)

We started at Local 123, a new cafe in my neighborhood, for a couple of drip Flying Goat coffees with owners Freida and Katy, who I've been bragging to my dad about for months. I had my favorite Guatemala blend, Finca San Jose Ocana, bright and clean, my favorite way to start the morning. (My first cup of this is what made me first fall in love with this place). We also got a cup of the Sumatra and the Boa Sorte. I prefer the latter for its tang. We drank our coffee with Local 123's homemade carrott nut muffin, an egg sandwich on their homemade scone, and a cranberry morning bun. I just heard they source their morning buns from Hopkins Bakery, a pleasant surprise near Monterey Market in North Berkeley.

By 9:30 am, we headed for cup #2 at Blue Bottle at the Mint Plaza. We got one Yemen and an Ethiopian Sidamo small Siphon pot. I love the interior of this cafe. Sitting here feels like sitting in my dream kitchen- bright, open, airy, cement floors and stainless steel counters- and of course my dream kitchen will always smell like freshly ground coffee.

Next Stop, the Ferry Building, for more Blue Bottle and other goodies. At Boccalone, we sampled their Salumi cone. It's true, their Mortadella is fantastic. I also especially enjoyed their brown sugar and fennel salami. Also made stops at Cowgirl Creamery and sampled some Cypress Grove Humbolt Fog, and Miette.