Steve Shasta Legendary Foodie

can you talk to us about differences in color of white tuna? i've had it super white, some pictures show it pinker. is one better? does this affect taste? why is one pink and one white?

white tuna is almost wholly farmed. it is very unusual to find wild white tuna in a restaurant.

the style of farming (including diet, environment) can have a slight change in the general color of the meat... but what i really think is that in any fish, depending on which cut the chef is serving from makes the biggest difference. behind the cheek (the belly) is usually fattier (you actually see the sinews) and paler. as you progress back towards the tail the meat has more musculature and less sinewy bands of fat and is generally darker. in and around the ribs is generally darker too.

super white and sinewy is usually the most expensive, but it's all a matter of taste. i tend to like more "medium" cuts of fish as they tend to have the best of both worlds.

lol @ waving rice gif

http://www.riceball-omsb.com/img/logo.gif

aww it doesn't wave when I post it like that

it's waving at me!

ok tehresa... there's something else at play that i did not think about. non-jp sushi bars will serve "super white tuna" which is actually escolar. escolar contains the same substance as found in Olean/Olestra and in not so gentle terms, may cause a bit of the poopy-pants. this fish is snow white and ultra-fatty and I would avoid eating it in either raw or cooked state. it is considered a junk fish in japan, only used for bait but some non-jp sushi bars will serve it.

will it def be labeled as 'super white tuna' or just as white tuna? like, for example, i've often wondered if, when ordering a white tuna/scallion roll, they really use white tuna, or if they use some substitution fish because they think if it's in a roll you won't notice it's not the real thing.

that all depends on the chef. IM me with the name/loc of restaurant pls.

oh i didn't have anywhere specific in mind (i have not even eated sushi yet here!), just a general question.

steve,

i had an unusual roll the other day that the chef made for me. it was clam and something else soft. could it have been sea urchin? i was always told sea urchin tasted like a zit, and this was not salty or zit-like at all. any ideas what the other seafood might have been (it was def not fish).

also my newest addiction is AMBERJACK. what do you think of that fish?

vahid

local sea urchin from socal tastes sweet, salty with a bit of rose-petal. i've never eaten a zit so compare that? also, you should ask your chef and not me what he put in your roll lol.

i don't really eat rolls. rice is one of the cheapest foods on the planet. most sushi rolls are 60-80% rice with the scraps of fish that you can't serve as nigiri and sashimi stuffed in and usually disguised with massive quantities of sauce or mayo so you can't tell how long they've been sitting around and then charge you $5-12 a pop.

amberjack is good. if it's firm, you say "pichi pichi". i caught some really good amberjack when i went fishing last month and we dominated it in a serious way.

i had some amazing peruvian ceviche with sea urchin. it tastes like the sea. really. not a zit. it should taste fresh and oceany but not fishy and gross.

amberjack sounds like a beer.

where did you catch the amberjack, steve?

peruvian sea urchin is firmer, smaller and a little bit more bitter than SoCal sea urchin. <3 4 all time.

we caught amberjack around here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.957999,79.013672&ie=UTF8&ll=26.228759,127.362442&spn=0.151523,0.308647&z=12

♥♥♥♥

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruh0TJJopn8

steve shasta if someone told you that you could only have sushi, blue jeans or baseball in your life, which would you choose

or boredoms

or wakeboarding

that youtube skit is from 2002? maybe 2001? by the comedians named Rahmens. They made about 30 of them, not sure why that is the most reposted.

- sushi is actually not my favorite food, it's just the one that people ask me the most about.
- jeans are kinda peripheral to what i do for a living.
- baseball is america's pastime, can't think of a nicer way to relax than watching a game.
- boredoms were a great band, they debuted their "Super-" material on my radio show and I saw their last cohesive show as a proper band so they shaped a lot of my mid-late 90s music listening.
- but wakeboarding is my real passsion, just pure unadulterated shredding and shralping of freshwater wakes and ramps. just one thousand percent ecstacy multiplied by one millionth of a percent awesome.

Congrats on not having your job move out of the City, Steve.

ok but steve what is the most integral to your personal brand???

thx mw, we need to have drinks at uva. also was shocked to see bar crudo reloc'd to divis while i was gone wtf!

i have my own brand of wakeboarding clothing.

can u wakeboard with jeans on

or is it dangerous?

catching fish in his teeth for nigiri l8r

yes, wakeboarding nigiri brand is dangerous.

Uva is awesome. I'm becoming a regular. Haven't been to Bar Crudo but I'm down for it. Haven't been since Bush Street.

steve shasta legend

lemme know dude, i am down for going back to uva. the owner ran front of house at the dining room @ RC for many, many years and is a total bro.

It's not Boris, is it?

nope, ben

Aha. Yes. I actually just met him last night.

ok, now i know why yr confused. ben is the chef at uva, maybe not the owner.

Nice dude. He was covering the bar while my main barkeep, Chris, is in NY.

omw to q&a and lunch with David Chang (note: not a fan)

knives out!

haha look fwd to hearing how this goes

hey, how did lunch with David Chang go? he seems like kind of an aggressive bro in interviews

meh he was (like Bourdain) deeply apologetic and backpedaled for his dismissive comments on SF cuisine (paraphrased: "I call bullshit on SF, every restaurant you get a naked plate with a raw fig on it")... i guess it makes good press, ultimately it was a press move to get attention on his recent cookbook. he's bff with Cossantino (another dude whose hype outweighs his talents a la Bourdain) who can be really annoying, but wasn't too bad that day.

he was talking about Vegas (as a potential expansion) and i asked him if he thought he'd ever consider the West Coast proper (with the insinuation that his french-asian cuisine may have taken late 2000 NYC by storm but there are no shortage of in LA/SF) and his answer was essentially "there is no room for Celebrity Chefs in LA/SF", like that the age of Wolfgang Puck/Spago is gone and moved to Vegas so why go to LA. It was lame. Bah.

Seems like he's aiming for a TV spot or talking head/guest judge role.

Let them all go to Vegas/TV. Who needs'em?

i thought the vice tv thing of him and jose andres was pretty funny. seems like kind of an asshole but i cant think of a good/famous chef who isnt.

also i like momofuku but i am a philistine who wears prewashed denim so

yeah, seems like his passion for branding and business may outshine his talent and passion for food. but good for him, because besides manhattan i can't think of anywhere else in the world where you can get away with charging $16 for a bowl of ramen (and not even a good bowl at that, he admitted he doesn't even make his own noodles) and people line up down the block.

in singapore (a city with a similar cost of living as NYC) you can get an equivalent bowl of ramen for $2-3. in tokyo (a city with a higher cost of living as NYC) you can get a exponentially better bowl of ramen for $5-10.

fwiw i think a lot of people line up for food that isnt the ramen--the prix fixe dinner is usually quite good imo

i mean dont get me wrong a lot of people like the ramen but ive had way way better experiences w/ the other stuff

so want those noodles from the no reservations show where that guy made them from hand and jumpin up and down on the pole thing. i think it was in Hong Kong.

chinese lai-mein (aka what japanese call "ramen"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohriMWXD9EQ

korean style (ramyeon):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3owp8PFKuw

I'd actually kind of welcome him as a talking head, I've about cycled through the current ones and have a short attention span. Did you interview Bourdain too, or just picking up on him from his speaking stuff and his rep? I was a sucker and paid to go see him speak locally, but he was about twice as entertaining as the show has been for me lately. Pretty well-articulated views about what makes food good, followed by a little too much fan service.

no bourdain this time, just recapping a quote from a panel that DC and AB were at.

mind if i blog?

so my cousin and wife and kid daughter are in town and want to grab an early dinner. they ask me to pick. she has (what i presume are psychosomatic) allergies to peppers, onions, gluten, and a wide variety of other foodstuffs.

he works his ass off for a prestigious university, she is 30+ years old, but still in school doing an advanced psychology degree of some sort. she's a trust fundee, big as a house, won't let go of the baby (what i figure out must be some parenting fad), just super amazing person to observe.

i think of 3 dining options near their hotel. one is vegetarian, one is asian fusion, and the other is a basic seafood. all are pretty regional and worthy of a gander for out of towners. all are very safe for those with dietary restrictions/disorders.

at the last minute as I'm arriving my cousin texts that his wife "isn't feeling very good, would like to stay close and how about Cheesecake Factory?". note: cheesecake factory is further than any of my recommendations.

no problem. i haven't eaten there in a good decade and whatever. so we wait 45 minutes for a table with all other types of tourists who aren't feeling very experimental in a city that offers perhaps the best food in the USA.

we get sat, she immediately orders an artichoke dip for what i assume is the whole table but upon being served she demolishes the whole thing single handedly. wow. that's about 5k calories. then she orders a light salad with extra blue cheese dressing. and then gets cheesecake. 3 refills on the jumbo diet coke. nice work. i had ridden 112 miles on my bike earlier that day and i don't think my system could have handled all of those calories.

anyways, cousin drops a hint that they're pregnant again because there's some clause in her trust fund that if she produces a male heir before her younger sister (who just got married), then they win the jackpot (whereas now they're just kinda rollin').

guys, just thinking baout this~~ kudos 4 reading.

no bread?

i read it twice o_o

eatin' for 2

submit that shit to the new yorker

no bread. atkins baby!

wow.

i want to go back to sf and eat again soon!

um, not what your cousin-in-law ate.

haha atkins!

you are kidding about the atkins thing right

it is like a perfect punchline

gluten, guys

in a city that offers perhaps the best food in the USA.

u stand by this? i'm often blown away and so super stoked to live here for the food. i've had amazing meals in ny and la (usually at a batali restaurant), but since i don't live in any of those cities, i don't get to try enough places to compare.

tbh, i wasn't thrilled w/momofuku ssäm bar. o and seriously, when was there ever a time you had a plain plate w/a fig on it here? that's just some bullshit line he thinks'll get press. the closest i've had to that was a tomato "appetizer" at chez panisse - another place i think the hype GREATLY overshadows it's food. i get that she was doing all the local, organic foods first and was hugely influential to what we're eating now, but seriously, i've had hundreds of meals based on her ideas way better than the 2 times i've been there.

anyways, cousin drops a hint that they're pregnant again because there's some clause in her trust fund that if she produces a male heir before her younger sister (who just got married), then they win the jackpot (whereas now they're just kinda rollin').

this!!!!!!!

also i assumed there was something bready she used to dip into the artichoke shit, right?

this makes me feel sick.

she'll be glutin' alright (xxp)

more like glutton

u stand by this? i'm often blown away and so super stoked to live here for the food. i've had amazing meals in ny and la (usually at a batali restaurant), but since i don't live in any of those cities, i don't get to try enough places to compare.

how's this dawg, when batali was here, he said that Quince served not just the best pasta in the country, but the best outside of Italy. straight faced, no jokin, real talk.

here's a pic of some freshly made tagliatelle snapped from Quince's chef's table:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2239/2225000463_b6df525546_b.jpg

LA does fast food really, really well. and certain ethnic foods are the best in the country (mexican, japanese, korean, chinese, ethiopian) but on a whole I think SF (bay area) is perhaps the best. chicago has nordic, polish, italian and mexican... pizza & hotdogs. new york is the best if you can afford to eat at Per Se, Daniel, L'Atelier, Le Bernadin, Blue Hill every night... but ethnic food is strong in italian, greek, polish, indian, mediterranean, german. NorCal has seasonless yearlong best produce in the country and highest quality farms and best restaurant (as rated by michelin, gayot, zagat, and most significant food writers).

seriously, when was there ever a time you had a plain plate w/a fig on it here?

two spots: chez panisse (peaches!) and zuni (lol figs!). the thing i don't understand about the sudden criticism of Alice Waters (and I said it at least 2x on the ile thread on her)... SHE'S BEEN DOING THIS FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS WHY DO PEOPLE CARE NOW?

ya. went to zuni on friday w/moms. another place i've never been wowed by.

yeah, their relationship is really odd. my cousin is a great dude and i will always <3 and support him, but seriously have no idea what he's dealing with on a daily basis behind closed doors. crazy crazy stuff, she's had a rough life emotionally but the fact that the gravytrain has always pretty much fostered the damage just doesn't help matters.

steve, where can i eat that is amazing yet affordable when i go to sf next year?
i think there's a thread on sf but whatever.

zuni: widest selection of oysters in SF, decent bloody mary and i love their caesar salad. get the chicken if you're in a big group and share it 4 ways. but other than that, kinda safe chez-panisse lite west bay institution for the past 25 years. you think they're coasting on their reputation? holiday weekends can be rough tbh, esp fridays.

i don't like oysters :(

oh wait that was to jax

the tadich grill is a pretty fun spot (oldest restaurant in SF, been around since 1849.) i really liked the magnolia & the monk's kettle, if you like gastropubs. i won't gabbneb this thread up too much, though, shasta is the expert.

steve, is fior d'italia any good?

off the top of my head:

$3 saigon sandwiches
$4 good luck dim sum
$5 in-n-out
$8 cordon bleu
$10 san tung
$15 burma super star/b-star/mandalay
$20 ppq dungeness island

excellent! you have covered lots of bases with that.

tadich is an institution: sand dabs, cioppino and a martini. it's like a touristy place that's also popular with locals (cf, swan's oyster depot, scoma's). those places will out live us all. classic, classic sf.

magnolia i've been meaning to try again since omar praised it on his visit. it's cool it's reinvented itself as a gastropub but i've never been hungry and in the upper haight in a long time.

fior d'italia is expensive italian and pretty touristy. i have had the veal scallopini a few times and it's pretty amazing. they're probably better known for being an old SF restaurant then their cooking, not sure when/if I'd ever go back (on my dime).

monk's kettle sponsors my team and i get a discount but even still it's too pricy for what you get. i think you can do better at a place like Le Trappe in north beach which is seriously underrated and always seems to be empty strangely. hope they stick around. if they were in the mission, they'd be packed 94/7.

do you know how hard it was to call you omar and not gear! btw. haha

This is a great thread, thanks for your words Steve.

maybe like calling you steve and not gygax!

some of my go to affordable but amazing faves:

Pizzaiolo (in oakland)
Universal Cafe
Serpentine
burma superstar
broken record (bar w/best burgers in city and amazing whiskey list)
la ciccia (sardinian)
la taqueria (best mexican in city)
crepes a go go (super cheap, served in a trailer near the shitty clubs near my house for all the drunkies to eat after partying all night)

i need to take you to my new fave tacqueria in south city dude. blows anything in SF away by a large margin. almost east LA good.

haha my "roger goodell" identity in between the two obv never caught on...

o, steve, have you been to juan's place in berkeley? pretty close to LA style stuff too. and they do a stupid birthday thing where they play this crazy mariachi bday music really loud and put a sombrero on you and give you a fried corn tortilla w/cinnamon on it like those chips at taco bell. every time u go there it's at least 3 people's "birthday"

la style sitdown that is

is your place el tapatio or something like that? i've had carnitas from there that are amazing.

yup that's it. also, i'm beginning to question your taste in mexican food duder. :-P also, i'm shopping for your xmas present. :-D

steve, my night tonight ended in disco fries & chicken fingers--is that the kind of meal you could enjoy, if the circumstances were right?

so want those noodles from the no reservations show where that guy made them from hand and jumpin up and down on the pole thing. i think it was in Hong Kong.

― carne asada, Tuesday, December 1, 2009 3:08 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I've been here! place is very good, a plate of noodles costs like $3-4, very reasonably priced. also have been to the roast meat restaurant featured on that episode, as the two restaurants are in the same part of HK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJFdRJ06fz4

god, the goose part of that video was like porn.

cio with this trash talkin Alice waters, my bro cooks there

My own list w/ a major focus on the places near my house/old work:

$3 Saigon Sandwiches (seriously the best deal in the city)
$4 Rosamundes
$5 One of the taco trucks (Compadres or Toyanese)
$8 Mangosteen (filet mignon w/ garlic noddles or any of the soups)
$10 Halu (get the Lavaramen or any combo of yakitori)
$15 Burma Super Star
$20 Suppenkuche

i had ridden 112 miles on my bike earlier that day and i don't think my system could have handled all of those calories.

Steve Shata legendary roadie

how do you guys rate Delfina pizza? went there when we visited SF a couple years ago and it compared favorable to similar NYC pizza places. i thought it was better than Mozza in LA, which was OK but my pizzahound son & father-in-law didn't dig the bread-y crust there at all.

Pizzeria Delfina is another sponsor and honestly, their pizza is good, but their sides are really great: sardines, tripe and mussels in particular. It's also a total zoo at all hours which makes it hard to be a patron.

another "classic" SF institution that I've done a 180 on is Tommy's Joynt. I don't know why but I got it in my head several years ago that the food here was no good but I recently came around to it again and it really is an awesome place:

http://www.tommysjoynt.com/foodmenu.jpg

err... click thru http://www.tommysjoynt.com/foodmenu.jpg

I'm going to show my Richmond District bias here, but I like Pizzetta 211's pizza a lot more than Delfina. Agree that Delfina's sides are pretty great though.

Tommy's Joynt is great. Totally one of those locals and tourists agree spots!

Steve do you rate any of the new-fangled carts (creme brulee, evil jerk, etc)?

Tommy's is awesome.

Has anyone been to Contigo on Castro at 24th? It's really quite good.

I walked by it on my way to Firefly a while ago. It looked good.

I've been twice: raight after they opened and two weekends ago and, while it was good the first time, it's even better now.

Frances on 17th between Noe and Sanchez just opened and I want to check it out.

alex please change your username if you're gonna be posting on food threads

hemorrhoids flambé

Really should be hemmorhoid salumeria.

cio with this trash talkin Alice waters, my bro cooks there

― crazy farting throwback jersey (gbx), Wednesday, December 2, 2009 6:59 AM (3 hours ago)

is he *cooking* or just slicing up peaches and figs to drop on to empty plates? :-P

recent rash of street food i'm not feeling. i've had the mission street food truck, creme brulee cart, banh mi ($6!!! and lousy), korean tacos, chicago hot dog (by jaxon's haus), chez spencer (mediocre escargot and sweetbreads)... do bacon dogs count?

in related news tamale lady is up to $4 wtf.

"alex please change your username if you're gonna be posting on food threads"

No fun.

thatttts better

is he *cooking* or just slicing up peaches and figs to drop on to empty plates? :-P

― ♪♫(●̲̲̅̅̅̅=̲̲̅̅̅̅●̲̅̅)♪♫ (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, December 2, 2009 12:33 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha, i think he's buying/prepping? he works in the day, so

i keep hoping that if i come to visit the bay he will ~hook me up~ w/some dope eats

What's with the Korean taco 'craze'?

oh also the banh mi cart is two white hipster dudes and a white hipster girl who was:

wearing an ao dai http://images.google.com/images?q=ao+dai
wearing a nón lá http://images.google.com/images?q=Nón lá
and yelling "hi-yaa!" and posing in kung fu poses and saying that their banh mi will "love you long time"

maybe aiming for a sponsorship from Vice?

http://images.google.com/images?q=Nón+lá

sb'd ILX code for this

suggest bahn

oh crap i did it wrong

"What's with the Korean taco 'craze'?"

Is this here too? Adam was telling me about the LA version this weekend.

what is it? i'm just picturing korean bbq in a tortilla

ugh i bet this is them amirite

http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/MrhbrTAJhtOsbfp9GLRETA/l

http://www.yelp.com/biz/schlomos-banh-mi-cart-san-francisco

the big korean truck in l.a. is kogi, which i actually haven't had b/c i don't want to wait 45 minutes in line for a taco. also the folks who run kogi seem to be dbags.

"Honestly, the banh mi was delicious, and you can't beat the $5 price."

Uh what?

Like I'm pretty sure every banh mi in fucking SF is less than $5 (okay maybe some Slanted Door bullshit is more, but whatever.)

haha, that's them.

korean taco: kbbq beef, kimchee, rice in roasted, salty seaweed "tortillas"

the big korean truck in l.a. is kogi, which i actually haven't had b/c i don't want to wait 45 minutes in line for a taco. also the folks who run kogi seem to be dbags.

― jØrdån (omar little), Wednesday, December 2, 2009 1:52 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's tasty and they are totally sweet ppl from my interactions with em

Frances on 17th between Noe and Sanchez just opened and I want to check it out.

going here on thurs.

i've had the chicken adobo cart, and i'd rather have the wife's.

i've walked by tommy's and it smells pretty good. what should i get?

delfina pizzaria is meh, Pizzetta 211 is pretty great, but honestly Pizzaiolo is putting all other places like this to shame.

i've avoided the kogi temptation since i read this:

http://foodshethought.blogspot.com/2009/05/asian-fusion-food-truck-gives-smack.html

sounds like a right cunt

i'm trying to figure out who sounds worse in that article.

"Hi! I am a free-lance writer/blogger working on a piece about the
gastro-truck revolution..."

def the kogi douche, though food bloggers are disgusting savages etc

what do you expect from someone attending Food Writing Boot Camp

i got a new username at the very least.

"i've walked by tommy's and it smells pretty good. what should i get?"

It's all good. Most of the daily specials are great as is the buffalo stew/chili and corned beef/pastrami/bratwurst sandwiches.

Ate there twice when I was in SF last year. (Convenient since my hotel was next door.)

whutf is "gastro-truck"/"gastropub"

Come December 15th, a new burger truck is expected to hit L.A.'s streets. Grill Em' All pays homage to Metallica and other rock n' roll bands through their rotating menu.

For example, the Molly Hatchet, described by Grub Street Los Angeles as "seared fennel sausage gravy, bacon, and maple syrup" or the "The Reigning Bun, a Slayer-friendly burger with pepper jack cheese, four pepper relish, and lemon pepper crème fraiche." Additionally, H-100s will be tator tots filled with cheese.

You can follow them on Twitter at @GrillEmAllTruck.

Another food truck is getting ready to roll out this week. The Asian Soul Kitchen is the creation of food and entertainment industry pros Akiko Konami and Richard Wright, and will offer up traditional Japanese dishes as well as inventive fusion items and soulful fare ("a little bit o' Asian and a little bit o' Soul").

On the menu are things like Yakisoba (a veggie-friendly noodle dish), Nikujaga (hearty beef stew with noodles), Salmon Korkke (a salmon-potato croquette), Lollipop Chicken, Asian Sliders, and Lettuce Wraps, along with side dishes like Southern Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey, Spicy Creamy Mac & Cheese, and Braised String Beans, along with a few rice dishes.

http://www.adrants.com/images/waffles_dinges.jpg

^^parks near my local grocery stores. so far i've not been tempted to try "dinges"

I would totally eat all these dinges

huh. That truck has "wet dinges" and "one last dinges"

what is a dinge? this is what i found.

dinge 2 US derogatory slang. n. (Social Science / Peoples) a Black person. adj. ( Social Science / Peoples) of or relating to Black people

"dinges is belgian for toppings or whatchmacallits" says the truck menu.

"dinge" is pretty antiquated racist slang, as in "dingy -- dark dirty unclean"

whutf is "gastro-truck"/"gastropub"

― luol deng (am0n), Wednesday, December 2, 2009 2:24 PM (1 hour ago)

http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/16cm05/1116/33-18-GastropodTorsion-L.gif

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_house#Food

i've avoided the kogi temptation since i read this:

http://foodshethought.blogspot.com/2009/05/asian-fusion-food-truck-gives-smack.html

― jØrdån (omar little), Wednesday, December 2, 2009 1:58 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

u know i wrote a piece on them and approached them cold too and they were awesome to me. i got in kind of early tho by total chance and i think they were deluged with stuff not soon after cuz of the NYT article so i could see them having less patience. and the way that blogger did it is NOT the right way to go about it.

iow find a better way to say it than "you guys are awesome, please fill out my homework assignment"

the blogger >>> the kogi douche

it's like, really, who gives a shit? be fucking pleasant to people even if they're not doing it exactly 100% correctly. how hard is that?

i'll give you that someone representing the taco truck acted douchey in a private email. but like... do you really care that much?

i mean, people act like assholes in kitchens and various strata of the food industry all the time. what're ya gonna do??

are you really going to boycott the whole business cuz someone was bitchy to a blogger??

i don't really care that much, i just add it up with waiting 45 minutes for a taco.

45 + 5 extra bitchy penalty minutes

haha i was going to say i think omar is probably trying to think of good excuses that he hasnt gone to the truck besides his laziness

i also hear that kogi raped and murdered a girl in 1980

listen next time you're in l.a. i'll take you for a blue corn quesadilla made outta bacon

kogi bryant

What's the name of the place in the Mission that makes 'tacos' where the tortilla is sliced jicama?

Sounds like something nasty papalote would do. Hate that place.

delfina pizzaria is meh

― jaxon, Wednesday, 2 December 2009 18:58

ORLY... care to expand on this?

i don't think it's that good

thx 4 yr reply~~~

┌∩┐(◕_◕)┌∩┐

basically

glad i could help :D

hey shasta i'm thinkin about being in yr area sometime this summer

where i should i go if i'm not yet a doctor

it's been too long for me to make a valid review. i just don't remember loving the pizza. people say get the apps. they were ok. mighta been too hyped. too long a wait. too cold outside. too crowded inside. who knows?

should i go back? what should i get?

are you only repping them because they sponsor you?

went to Lolo again last night. mex city/turkish owners/food. on 22nd across from make out room last. wonderful. have you been?

didn't we just talk about being too jaded on food?

"last night"

hopin i can trick my pal into gettin me a discount on chez panisse

(btw, is it regarded at all anymore? i am not a legendary foodie)

evan, reposting from upthread.

off the top of my head:

$3 saigon sandwiches
$4 good luck dim sum
$5 in-n-out
$8 cordon bleu
$10 san tung
$15 burma super star/b-star/mandalay
$20 ppq dungeness island

― ♪♫(●̲̲̅̅̅̅=̲̲̅̅̅̅●̲̅̅)♪♫ (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, December 2, 2009 6:37 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

some of my go to affordable but amazing faves:

Pizzaiolo (in oakland)
Universal Cafe
Serpentine
burma superstar
broken record (bar w/best burgers in city and amazing whiskey list)
la ciccia (sardinian)
la taqueria (best mexican in city)
crepes a go go (super cheap, served in a trailer near the shitty clubs near my house for all the drunkies to eat after partying all night)

― jaxon, Wednesday, December 2, 2009 6:48 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

My own list w/ a major focus on the places near my house/old work:

$3 Saigon Sandwiches (seriously the best deal in the city)
$4 Rosamundes
$5 One of the taco trucks (Compadres or Toyanese)
$8 Mangosteen (filet mignon w/ garlic noddles or any of the soups)
$10 Halu (get the Lavaramen or any combo of yakitori)
$15 Burma Super Star
$20 Suppenkuche

― We call them "meat hemorrhoids" (Alex in SF), Wednesday, December 2, 2009 5:14 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i think the two of you should ride your bikes across the GG bridge and hit up Fish. a bit overpriced, but pretty great food right on the water.

http://www.331fish.com/food/index.html

$20 Suppenkuche

― We call them "meat hemorrhoids" (Alex in SF)

i average about $40-50 here ime... haha.

thx jax!

are you only repping them because they sponsor you?

haha i spend 15 hours a week with their logo covering my buttox.

hopin i can trick my pal into gettin me a discount on chez panisse

(btw, is it regarded at all anymore? i am not a legendary foodie)

― dome plow (gbx)

uh since basically every significant restaurant in the nation carries "organic, local, farm-fresh, free-range, seasonal" product i would say that Chez Pannise is as regarded as ever!!!!!

it's excellent. good bars up in sf too.

excellent!

the magnolia on haight is a great brew pub, toronado is an even better bar (with a sausage stand next door, you can take the sausages over to the bar even though the two business are separate.)

i STILL haven't been to Magnolia by the way!!!*

*perhaps cognitive dissonance as the last time I went there was ~10 years ago, a week after my auditions for this band to tell me that I didn't make the cut Y_Y haha.

hahah. my friend rachel designed one of their album covers

i've never been there either. probably cognitive dissonance as it's on the corner of haight and masonic

i went there on during sf barleywine week and got smashed pretty well. good food, excellent barleywine. tried to get into toronado but it was nuts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0U8bNi-kqs

barleywine will FUCKYOUUP majorly ime.

hahah. my friend rachel designed one of their album covers

― jaxon, Wednesday, January 6, 2010 6:49 PM (4 minutes ago)

OH HAI JOREL AND PH1LTW0

hey so i might be in san jose and/or san fran late febs early march

where should i eats?!

if you were friends w/grady on fb you'd know that i posted this on one of his "i'm coming to san fran" statuses: , we don't call it san fran, and neither should u (frisco too, ugh)

yeah is anything going on mid-feb? i think i may go up there once my show opens.

looks like barleywine fest is then. is this a big haight deal or mostly just toronado?

slocki you should eat sparks at the 500 club with jaxon, alexinsf, michaelwhite and adamirl.

jaxon and the bedmonsters

hey, im not going to SF anytime soon, later

big deal afaik, magnolia brews their own barleywine

in general, san jose has the bay area's best mexican, indian and vietnamese cuisine.

on the higher end: manresa has to be the best restaurant in the bay area that people don't talk about. been here 2x not expecting much and was really impressed.

best ramen too: santouka (jp chain) in the mitsuwa market.

in mountain view, there's a record store called rasputin's where you can dine on the dried, flecked chicken pox of a man named shiroibasketshoes... for free!

i wonder how old dude is, this is pretty uhhh niche:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYJsSyHkLxE

(tza: can we move this to 77 plz?)

s1ocki, i know your proclivities to the swine. u may want to check out http://www.incanto.biz/ (in the castro. getting a lot of hype for the chef and use of offal) and http://www.boccalone.com/Salumeria (in the ferry building, which you shouldn't miss)

o steve, i didn't realize there was a santuoka in the bay. i kept trying to get folks to go to it when we were in LA, but it never panned out.

all suggestions look awes.

*drools*

wait crap didn't see old shiroi there

dear shasta what do you think of this guy:

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/resolving-to-open-a-restaurant-by-april-1/?8dpc

s1ocki, i know your proclivities to the swine. u may want to check out http://www.incanto.biz/ (in the castro. getting a lot of hype for the chef and use of offal) and http://www.boccalone.com/Salumeria (in the ferry building, which you shouldn't miss)

― jaxon, Wednesday, January 6, 2010 7:34 PM (3 hours ago)

fwiw: incanto is square in the middle of noe valley (wtf jax), and is highly, highly, highly over-rated IMHO!!! sorry i'm a 100% hater on that douche.

or instead of spending $25 (before tax, 18% tip and 7% mandatory california restaurant health care benefit surcharge! lol yuppies) on a couple bites of pork loin served to you by a douchef with frosted tips, you can get yourself a 1/4 suckling pig in chinatown for $15 pp. (or split a whole one 4 ways for about $50). i recommend new golden daisy or yee's in c-town, but you gotta out-wrestle the local ladies for a table. insane roast duck also available at both places. throw out a "ne ho ma" to the front of house and see how far that gets you, can get brutal at times, not for the faint of heart.

if you want charcut/salume: SPRUCE in presidio heights (?) is my pick BEST in SF for cured/dried meat/saucisson sec. 100% house made on the premises, i am a sucker for coppa and theirs is highly recommended.

back to san jose recommendations, i asked my SO for her quick 3 recommendations and she said:

Naglee Park Garage
Mariscos La Costa
Dosa Cafe

scott, that list gave me a headache, glad i'm not opening up a restaurant in the '10. my only word of caution w/r/t those "sustainable fish" lists... the one out here on the west coast (provided by the monterey bay aquarium) was exposed as being not exactly truthful when recommending certain species; it was determined that the institute was advising american farms over international farms under the guise of sustainability but it was really just domestic lobbying of (arguably) inferior quality farmed fish. kinda lost a lot of credibility after that.

lol ya. sorry noe. i actually looked up who that chef was and realized he was on some dumb Chefs vs. City show. that said, i went and the food was pretty good.

Incanto's not that bad at all, Steve.

What's the name of the Italian place near the Old Mint? My neighbors are italophiles the way I'm a francophile and they said it was quite good.

ate at momofuku last night, thought of you shasta

cured tasmanian sea trout with horseradish creme fraiche over an apple consomme w/ trout eggs
nugget potatoes w/ bacon and a poached egg
chicken wings
peppermint soft serve w/ caramel cookie crumble

no complaints

I made Cockaleekie Soup for a group dinner last night, tried to stay as close to my mom's recipe as I can remember...

+ slow cooked 2 whole chickens
+ remove chickens (drain juice for stock #2)
+ removed meat from skin, neck, back, giblets, cartilage, bones
+ shredded meat by hand, then squeezed some lemon/lime juice on top, covered in a tub, set in fridge
+ tossed skin, neck, back, giblets, cartilage, bones into stock pot with water and salt (stock #1)
+ took 4 big leeks and chopped off the dark green tops and threw those in stock pot, keeping leek bottoms separate (stock #1)
+ simmered stock pot overnight, strained stock from solids in the morning and throw in the refrigerator. (stock #1)
- skim fat off stock #1
- heat stock #1 on stove top, bring to boil
- rinse rice and barley then cook in soup
- once rice is al dente, take down to simmer
- slice leeks and bring separate pan to a boil with add stock #2, add leeks (I charred the leeks for about 1 minute for "depth")
- combine contents of both pans
- season soup with thyme and parsley
- add shredded chicken until warm
- serves 8pp (plus leftovers)

Went to Boulevard last Friday, going to Gary Denko tomorrow - it will have been a rich, savory, filling week.

Steve, how does adding shredded chicken make something warm?

until the chicken's warm yo. how are blvd and danko doing? i haven't been to either in years.

max how sour was the sea trout dish? i count 4 sour components...

not too sour at all! horseradish was nicely muted, consomme was from a sweet apple

shasta that looks like a sick soup. word.

i made my first boeuf bourguignon the other night and i think itwas the best thing i have ever made.

Blvd was great. I hadn't been in eons but it's still a great, warm, friendly room and the food was fantastic. Never been to Denko so I'm looking forward to it, though I have to admit, the richness of all this food is kind of daunting. I don't really eat that way anymore.

Have you been to Bushi Tei?

i made cock-a-leekie soup once! i used the recipe from the st john cookbook - it had brisket in it - is that normal? id never had it before

dude the cockaleekie at st. john is top notch A++++.
i wanna go back so bad.

mw, bushi tei is my friend's dad's place. i haven't been back there in years either tho... save room for the cheese cart at danko (i know you will!)

ive never had the cock-a-leekie there but yeah that place is classic for all time. st john bread + wine is prob my most visited restaurant ever

This weather really puts me in the mood for Japanese food.

I have several friends who have told me it's the best cheese cart they've ever seen.

js: does the StJB+W have the bone marrow app? i could eat about 2 of those singlehandedly and still have room for the pig.

mw: the guy who originally composed the cheesecart at GD opened Cyrus in sonoma a few years back and that place is really worth a peak if you're ever up in that corner of the bay. i was in japan 2x in 2009 and haven't really craved j-food as much since... it's just so much better (and cheaper) there.

m.white, please get the frog's legs at danko. they are fucking AMAZING.

shasta: nah the problem w/ b+w is for some reason they never have the bone marrow - it's annoying too since everything else is pretty much the same, except b+w is more casual + therefore cheaper (the reason i visit it more often). did you have the whole pig when you went? we got that just before xmas + it was one of my most straight up enjoyable meals in a long time

I had bone marrow last night at Alembic. Mmmmm.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3005/2571248861_7c8d393178.jpg

yeah! my #1 homegirl picked me up from heathrow and took me straight to st. john for a huge feast. it was insane. we finished the whole pig even though there were only 6 of us (i think it was a suckling, rather than an adult). that was easily the best meal i've ever had in the UK. restaurants of that caliber rarely have me wanting to come back so direly.

xp: okay stop that now, i haven't eaten today.

Steve, intereseted in hearing opinions about any of the places I ate on my recent trip to SF:

Turtle Tower
Golden Star
Toyose
Katana-ya
Dottie's
Lers Ros
Brenda's
Papalote
La Cornetta
Schmidt's
Los Jarritos

Favorite things I ate were the schnitzel at Schmidt's, the pork shoulder at Lers Ros, and the kimchi fried rice with egg/ wings at Toyose.

interested in anyone else's opinions also.

Where did you visit from Mizzell?

Turtle Tower is pretty good Northern Vietnam style pho.

Golden Star is Saigon style pho.... their stock pot (according to their chef) has been working on the same stock base since they've opened, they keep adding to it and skimming off. It's the deepest broth in SF imo. They have good bun bo hue (the spicy red noodle soup) as well. I like them better than Turtle Tower.

Toyose is good, it's basically a Korean food parlor in someone's garage. Nothing fancy, just solid K-pub fare and good for groups looking to unwind after work... the problem is if you live anywhere except the Outer Sunset, this place is pretty inconvenient.

Katana-ya is lousy to average ramen. I used to eat here a lot when they opened but the quality went downhill pretty fast, not sure if they've got it back together. It's popular, there's usually a line, but I can't wait in line for average at best food.

Dottie's (True Blue?) - Off the top of my head, I can't remember this place. Is it the soul food brunch place in the Tenderloin? I had jury duty a year ago and I think I came in here, but can't remember much about it. Alex in SF may know better.

iirc, dotties was just straight diner in TL. nothing special

i HATE papalote w/a passion. fuck 'healthy' mexican food w/no flavor. all the chix dig this place

been meaning to hit up schmidt's for a while now.

I was in town from nyc.
Dottie's true blue is in the tenderloin (on jones maybe) and is basically a diner with a few flourishes. It seems to be very popular, but I thought it was just ok.

I think I could live on average ramen: I enjoyed katana-ya, but not any more than the places i go in nyc (ippudo, men ku tei, rai rai ken). and we only waited about 10 minutes.

i was kind of wary of papalote due to the healthiness of their menu, but the chili verde and the maybe chipotle salsa was very flavorfull.

schmidt's was great.

Lers Ros I have not been to, I'm not huge on Thai food in general (too sweet for me) but I love pork shoulder so I may need to check this out.

Brenda's: Ok I think I may be mixing Dottie's up with Brenda's? Brunch spot in the TL? Not sure which one I went to anymore!

Papalote: my vegan friend swears by their tofu burrito. I really love the orange salsa that comes with the chips.

Schmidt's... is this the HUGE german place downtown? I went years ago... I'm not sure I had the schnitzel. I have a really good German place down the hill from me that I'm loyal to.

Los Jarritos and La Cornetta I recognize the names but would need to see them to trigger any specific memories.

Sorry I can't be more helpful!

ippudo is 100x better than katana-ya.
there's only one ramen chain i like better than ippudo and that's santouka, they may have one in jersey?

brenda's is new orleans style brunch(they serve kinda bad, heavy beignets, but the one filled with crawfish is good).
that orange salsa is the one I'm talking about.
the Schmidt's i went to is on Folsom, which I guess is in the Mission?

you don't need to be helpful, i was just curious to hear opinions. thanks.

yeah, all the other shit (long wait, stupid decor) keeps me from going to ippudo more often, but it is the most delecious.

ippudo is around the corner from my regular wednesday night hang but i've STILL never been.

Steve, schmidt's is the more casual spot that's owned by walzwerk on like Folsom and 20th. We should grab lunch there some fri when I start eating red meat again (feb, I'm assuming)

I was thinking of Schroeder's Cafe... super old German place downtown.

Turtle Tower = good pho, but I always prefered far preferred Mangosteen down the street. There is a Turtle Tower in my neighborhood, but I always go to Pho Garden.

Dottie's: good brunch place with really ridiculous lines (like every other brunch place in SF see Mama's on Washington Square, Boogaloos, etc). Great baked goods IIRC, but not a place I would waste an hour of my life waiting to get into.

Brenda's: also a good brunch place but with a significantly less ridiculous wait. This was an old lunch haunt of mine when I worked near Civic Center and it's reasonable with good portions. Biscuits and homemade jams/jellies are really good.

La Cornetta: is clean. That's all I remember.

Schmidt's: been to Walzwerk and its awesome so if this is anything like that then it's ++++

Although I prefer Suppenkuche to Walzwerk so maybe it's just +++

Is Los Jarritos the place down on Folsom or South Van Ness?

South Van Ness

Ll0yd C0le loved that place last time he was in town. I've been meaning to check it out but I have all sorts of easy-to-get-to good Mexican food near me.

imo walzwerk >>> suppenkuche

hard to beat their soljanka soup, the roulade is also incredible

They're both pretty great. I just slightly prefer the ambiance and beer selection at Suppenkuche (which also has a stellar Sunday brunch btw.)

I was kind of underwhelmed by Gary Denko's. It was good, very good even but considering all the hype I've heard for so long, I didn't really think it that monumentally outstanding, apart from the soufflé, which was as good as any I've ever had. The oft-touted cheese cart had one solitary cheese I didn't know (an Irish blue called Cashel) and while it was very good and the cheeses were nicely ripened, I've had far more interesting selections. Plus they had one kind of bread. Even at my house I wouldn't serve a real variety of cheeses with just one bread. Wtf?

I forgot one: Tony's Pizza Napolteana in North Beach. It was pretty good. Worth going just to stare at the incredibly attractive lady pizza maker (she is apparently going to the pizza competition in naples this year).

I went to Tony's last weekend. Not bad, actually.

You'd think there would be a picture of this incredibly attactive lady pizza maker on their website (or Yelp) wouldn't you?

I met the owner at Tony Nik's before they opened. He studied in Naples.

The guy making pizza's in the kitchen is not that attractive. Kind of looks like the dude who played Tony Blair in the Queen.

Tony's is hyped to the max... They have this one kind of pizza that they only make 73 orders of per day, and that pizza has WON the grand prize at Naples if you can believe that. Momma Mia!

that's the margherita and it was very good, comparable to most good pizza places in nyc. for me, only two places have really risen above that standard, di fara and una pizaa napoletana (rip).

also the pizza at grandaisy is amazing, but different.

jaxon and i drove by schmidt's and la cornetta yesterday and i thought of this thread!

I was talking to my German/Seth Effrican friend last night and she loves Schmidt's. I may have to check it out.

dear shasta-
do you have any familiarity with kaiseki?
i am thinking of going to this yakitori place. i saw that yakitori has been mentioned on this thread, and would like more info about kaiseki (other than what is explained in the reader article linked that is . . .
thanks
jdc

yes, i did a 4 day kaiseki crash course outside Kyoto 4-5 years ago (?).

kaiseki evolved from highly intricate buddhist (zazen) monk's diets, prepared in many different courses, preparations and flavors. it's considered to be the most refined of japanese cuisine.

yakitori on the other hand, sometimes has the reputation of common street food sold out of alley stalls mostly to drunk businessmen and students... although there are some gourmet yakitori places if you seek them out.

i'll read your links now.

Well sounds like a lot of money tbh. But give it a shot if you're feeling it. Sounds like it could be a really rough interpretation of traditional kaiseki, essentially "ryotei": multicourse mid-high end cuisine repackaged as kaiseki.

Okay, just talked to some JP friends who were born and live in Tokyo but were raised in Detroit and they said that you can find authentic kaiseki there if you're interested. Might be more of an experience if you ask me? LMK if you want more info.

seems like the dude who is chef at the linked stuff has serious chops, but if u think over-rated then maybe i reconsider

his "chops" which you seem intrigued by, i am similarly alarmed by:

+ he last served kaiseki in japan in 1982 in roughly the kansas city/oklahoma city of japan.
+ since then he has floated around so many restaurants in so many cities, seems like he doesn't have the focus or discipline to commit to one singular entity/project.
+ the fact that in his middle age he can't come up with the $50k upfront to open his own restaurant is kinda telling.
+ seems like he may have burned a couple bridges in the japanese-american community seeing as he's now working for koreans or chinese owned establishments. not saying that's bad, just interesting imo.

also $110 there vs. Sugiyama in NYC (Sugiyama was the first sous chef at Nobu in NYC when it opened back in the 80s), where for that money you can get whole spiny lobster and (real) wagyu kaiseki... there's no question in mind where i'd rather eat.

idk, kaiseki from a yakitori chef is like expecting an Arzak egg from your local greasy spoon fry-cook. not impossible, but seems like a risk.

i want japanese foods.

some previous matsumoto discussion from LTH forum
seems if you call to arrange yr dinner you can tell them that you have financial restrictions to which they will tailor yr menu . . .
also my reading of the 2nd link seems like he's been preparing kaiseki or atleast elegantly plated/prepared multiple course meals the entire time since he emigrated to US.

and finally "He doesn't care about money," she says. "He just wants to work and party. He's been to the top already. He said, 'I have the spirit of the samurai. I don't care if I die.' You go into battle, you die. Good. For him there is no baggage. If people approve of his work he is happy."
this might explain why he don't just open his own place, but also could be read as 'he pissed off alot of powerful peeps and doesn't give a rat's ass'

truth be told that samurai line was what made me be like maybe we should eat there

you should not eat anywhere that DOESN'T have the spirit of the samurai tbh.

that's pretty roflmao, as samurai were BY DEFINITION feudal aristocrats tied to their daimyo (lords/masters). the first code of the kojiki bushido is like 1000 pages detailing the merit of honorable loyalty to one's master.

this guy must be confusing a wandering hobo or a town whore with a samurai. imo.

but yeah, sounds like this guy who has "no baggage" probably has quite a bit. just saying. but hey balla, you should go and let me know what you think about it? if you come to SF, I can get you a similar menu for <50% of that. shrug.gif

perhaps he meant that he has the spirit of the ronin.

his food may be the equivalent of deniro's french in ronin.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Y10B3QV9L._SL500.jpg

making yr dinnerz

yea i guess kaiseki is a tough topic for discussion as it's rooted in this buddhist monk ceremony. i read 'kaiseki' is translated 'stone in the bosom' cuz they would put warm stones on they bellies to simulate a full stomach in the context of a frugal meal served in the austere style of chanoyu which is a direct contrast to the luxury and oppulence of a high-end restaurant experience. this is the ryotei, amirite?

in my mind what this boils down to is confusion of nomenclature. so mostly i am confused by this matsumoto dude calling what he's throwin down kaiseki which it was likely 'inspired' by; when it really is is ryotei.

'when it really is ryotei'

ryotei is just multi-course mid-high end dining, usually classic japanese (yet not necessarily kaiseki).

kaiseki is (c/p from upthread): "many different courses, preparations and flavors" and is fairly formal and rigid in structure but here in america the concept of kaiseiki is stretched quite a bit and is often blurred to include kaiseki.

errr... that makes no sense, "blurred to include ryotei".

blah blah blah. just go and eat there and tell me what you think. try to find out where jp ex-pats eat, that's usually a good sign, but no guarantee.

SSLF,

i am in seattle. like ian, i want japanese foods. how do i shot

you should definitely check out Uwajimaya which is the biggest Japanese grocery store that I've ever seen. It's in the International District.

Shiki is known for serving fugu, kinda novelty but really good if in season (ie, now).
Nishino is high-end sushi.
Maekawa and Kushibar are both good izakaya, Maekawa is a cool space.
Samurai Noode and Boom Noodle both serve decent ramen.
I liked the chirashi at Kisaku.
We used to get the soba set at Aoki, not too shabby.
Musashi had decent curry rice.

There were two sushi bars in Belltown we used to hit but I think may have closed: Shiro's and Saito's... but it's been like well over 5 years since I've been to either.

thx shaster

we went to an good Thai place (Thai tom's) for a late lunch

I'll look into those ramen spots for lunch tomorrow maybe before I fly out

i had the best asian meal i've ever eaten yesterday. shumai starter followed by beef yakiniku and then a bowl of nato, all homemade by my friend, a very talented japanese pastry chef

my first time eating nato, was kinda intimidated at first - the smell was ridiculous - but quite enjoyed the sensation of having a gossamer film of fermented soy bean in my mouth for the next ten minutes

natto smells no worse then exotic cheeses and is super healthy for you. makes great breakfast food with a bowl of rice, pickled ume/cucumbers/daikon, sesame seeds and raw egg. i have a couple hook-ups with chefs who make their own... the fresh stuff always tastes better than the frozen kind.

"fresh" lol

also, that texture is described as 「ネバネバ」("neba-neba"), you should ask your friend to throw a neba-neba party with okra, umeboshi, natto yamimo and negaimo. it can get messy but a lot of interactive eating and hand-eye coordination haha.

the japanese i was with said that nato is probably the hardest food for westerners to come to terms with, and were quite impressed that i ate it without complaint

xpost

i'll ask about neba-neba, thanks!

yeah, natto and shiokara (fermented squid entrails) are notable "shocking" foods, yet neither compare to kusaya (a kinda obscure delicacy from the Izu peninsula), which instead of fermented soy beans is basically "fermented" (aka rotten) fish that they brine and then leave out for 3-7 days until it is so throat-gaggingly ripe it defies description. Seriously it smelt like roadkill/vomit/feces... which for Japan, a land of "delicate" aka subtle, dare I say "bland" flavor, is really a highwater mark.

they say the first time you eat kusaya is the worst and that subsequent (if any?) revisits are much milder, or perhaps certain versions/spins on the dish are more intense than others, but seriously, the example I was served was a real challenge for me (and I can heartily stomach things that make Andrew Zimmern gag/puke like Durian and stinky tofu).

i will say that after eating kusaya, i felt super-healthy and required very little sleep for a few days, although the smell of the food continues to emenate from your stomach after eating which, the night of consumption, regulated me to the couch, unfortunately.

years ago, i was watching Fear Factor with my mother over the holidays and one of the challenges was to eat 20oz. of shiokara and I told her that I actually really enjoy it and she was like "oh hell naw".

yr mom otm

also didn't make it to any noodle shops in seattle u_u

where are you? bozeman or missoula? chitown? i don't even know weirdly!

mpls!

haha wtf sorry.

a week on the west coast tho was eye opening

@.@

xpost
very in depth analysis of kaiseki menu at matsumoto's previous establishment baring his name describes the opening course with a mucilaginous mountain yam preparation and other seemingly unappetizing dishes makin me reconsider the whole kaiseki thing. at least my gurl, i don't think gonna be able to handle that, ya know

wow paying more than $50 for this baffles the mind. for $100pp in SF, LA and NYC you can maybe double or triple the value/quality. didn't read any of the text, just looked at the pix.

course #1:
just wanna say first off lol. this isn't kaiseki. it's just a course of frankly, cheap bar-food (japanese version of pub-grub).
the oyster shooter is an american thing. oysters are awesome tasting raw. throwing them in a heady broth of soy sauce and alcohol is like taking a nice steak, dropping it into cheeze whiz and deep frying it to oblivion.
the fermented squid is called "ika no shiokara" which is frankly you're grandfather's drunk food, if you had a japanese grandfather. like the oyster shooter, this is a far, far, far cry from delicate kaiseki flavors from kyoto. it's extremely salty and bitter.
yamakkake = ground mountain yam. it's great with a protein like red tuna, but imo the pairing with sea cucumber is not a harmonious one. could be wrong on that though.
from what it looks like mozoku = the seaweed in vinegar. japanese commonly eat over 50 types of seaweed, this kind is more of an okinawan thing (okinawa /= japan). again, this is common izakaya food. not fancy, not worth splurging on.
that clam thing doesn't ring a bell, unless instead of red-bean he meant red-miso (a no-no in kaiseki, but passable in this joint).

course 2:
sashimi. finally something you might find in a course of kaiseki. looks decent quality but the knife cut on the scallop sashimi crescent is totes amateur hour. i'm not talking wabi-sabi, more someone not paying much attention.

course 3:
already repeating an ingredient this early is kinda sad but mostly lol. more yamakkake drowning a poor crab/tofu terrine is heavy handed.

course 4:
good idea but sloppy.

course 5:
i'd hit it.

course 6:
goofy

course 7:
totally over the top. sushi after sashimi in a kaiseki is just clumsy and ill-advised. for the rice course, something like a small ochazuke with a light, comforting broth is par for the course. MORE vinegar (rice), more raw fish oil, more salt (soy sauce)...

course 8:
dude this is bad. don't spend money on this kind of stuff.

my review based on those pics: looks wack, unrefined, and sloppy. be glad you saved your money.

whoops, mozoku = mozuku

good. i guess when i travel to sf or la i might get my kaiseki on. and yo when i told my gurl about the mountain yam and squid entrails she made a face that made me rofl. say no go
a'ite shasta

prbz gonna try they yakitori tho

steve shasta legendary hater

does SS have japanese gut flora

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/04/japanese-guts-are-made-for-sushi.html

LMP
yes, i hate on mediocre pub-grub dressed up as "kaiseki". you got a question 4 me or just limp peanut galleryisms?

DYO
never had a problem with seaweed! weird that the article named sushi when talking about many varieties seaweed. maybe thinking rolls?

limp peanut

. it's just a course of frankly, cheap bar-food (japanese version of pub-grub).

Speaking of which, remind me to have you review the menu when Masu Izakaya opens.

that place looks kinda corny and safe tbh...

(yet i'll readily admit i'm really out of touch with chicago/midwestern food in general. my last two trips to the midwest were st. louis and kansas city and I did a lot of steak and bbq eating, not too much ethnic food (because frankly, I don't think it gets better than in SF/NYC/LA)... maybe polish and scandy food being the exception?)

...BUT two of my best buds in tokyo grew up in detroit but they both undergradded at northwestern and have always been foodies. her parents are back in japan but his parents stayed and still live in chicago so they still get out there quite a bit. I can ask him for advice (tho to be honest, he probably doesn't go out for JP food when he's back in chicago).

PS DUDES I KNOW HELLA MORE THAN JUST JP FOOD. LETS TRY NORTHERN SPANISH OR BASQUE OR MILANESE KTHX

dudebro, i think i'm gonna try to go to alinea next time i'm in chicago (august). friend of friend is friends w/achatz. so stoked. might not go out for months going up just to save the money for it

is your friend also named achatz lolz?

i ate a few times when g.achatz was asst CdC at TFL and it was insanely great! some of the best meals of my life.

Have you been to Contigo, Steve?

went for a private lunch with some foodie douchebags that i think i posted about upthread? it was underwhelming. what's your take MW? we need to HH @ Uva again.

I have friends 'round there and I really enjoyed myself both times I dined there. Good wine list.

I practically live at Uva these days.

Have you been to Bistro Central Parc?

I have not... do you prefer that to the frustratingly inconsistent L'Ardoise (sp?)

how does one become a legendary foodie

the scale never lies

xpost. talk a lot

i thought contigo was just fine (beautiful interiors) but i have no desire to go back

no really, do u just eat at restaurants all the time. i don't get it, how, why

http://www.gamequarter.be/forum/images/smilies/emot-iiam.gif

eat at restaurants, eat/cook at home, eat/cook at other people's houses.

basically be fat.

eat other peopl

yo SS have you ever been to ibiza in new haven

never been to new haven. drove thru once at night. sorry dawg.

dyao, tell me about teh best stocking tea in HK. i went to this place called Tai Hing that was supposed to be good, but I know there's better...

he's woken up naked on the beach in Ibiza in 1988

hmm what do you think about their menu

http://ibizanewhaven.com/menus.htm

I have heard the best stocking tea place in HK is in yuen long which is about an hour, hour and a half outside the city proper. have never been but I plan to go soon.

jax: TRAINSPOTTING

looks good dyao. i like that they mix up northern/catalan spanish in their menu, it's really pan-spanish despite the funny name.

Dude the bacalao in particular sounds insane. @ $58 I'd def spring for the degustacion. what was your exp like?

I have never been! I'm hoping I can eat there when I go back to the states for the summer.

How often do you get out across the bay (?):

my cousin-in-law (?) recommended this place to me, if you're craving western-europe:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunday_driver/sets/72157600220192965/

haha I'll keep that in mind next time I go (I've only been once)

I went to that place in yuen long and took this for you:

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae232/daggerlee/P4113770.jpg

pretty good but at the end of the day it's just black tea + evaporated milk!

yeah, "vietnamese coffee" is just coffee + evaporated milk. pretty ace tho

eh... i think there are many subtle differences wrt both actually.

for hkmt: the blend of black tea leafs (many places use different blends of as many as 7 different teas), the "stocking" filtration, and for cold teas whethter the ice cubes are made from water or from the tea itself (no dilution).

for viet ca phe: it's all about the coffee (chicory, like cafe du mond in new orleans), not evaporated but condensed milk, and i use one of those cheapo antiquated metal devices [ http://www.yowazzup.com/coffee/images/vietnamese-drip-coffee.jpg ] which is paperless so like a french press you get more of the soft oils in the coffee which paper filters absorb. you can dial in the density of the grounds that the water will drip through, and of course the type of grind too.

that said, thank you so much dyao! how long does it take to get there from central metro HK?

I had the cold milk tea and the hot one, the cold one used water ice cubes iirc and came with sugar already. both were pretty good.

(also viet ca phe usually uses robusta beans instead of arabica)

it takes about...hmm...45 minutes, and then you need to take a light rail to the stop (hung shui ku) which will be an additional 20 minutes....

I have not... do you prefer that to the frustratingly inconsistent L'Ardoise (sp?)

I like L'Ardoise but their menu is a little too shallow and too static and Bistro St. Geermain, though co-owned by the guy who once had my favorite French resto in SF, is depressingly mundane and mediocre. The couple that run Bistro Central Parc are sweet and most of the food is good, though some dishes are better than others. It's just a walkable local restaurant, but it's fun and I'm glad it's there.

Also:

"Lady Za Za: Meanwhile, in this week's upcoming pizzeria news, we have Sharon Ardiana opening up her second pizza spot. The chef/owner of Glen Park's Gialina (2842 Diamond St.) is looking to roll out Ragazza this fall in the old Metro Cafe (311 Divisadero St.).

Ardiana, who was in L.A. buying a fancy-pants oven and doing research at the lauded Pizzeria Mozza, says Neapolitan-style pies will remain the focus.

As for the spirit, since Gialina was dedicated to Ardiana's grandmother, Ragazza - Italian for "girl" - will be an ode to female chefs everywhere."

(sorry to interrupt you guys)

anyway according to this article there's another really reputedly great milk tea place in wan chai which is a hop skip and a jump away from central, much closer

haven't been though

Steve, intereseted in hearing opinions about any of the places I ate on my recent trip to SF:

Turtle Tower
Golden Star
Toyose
Katana-ya
Dottie's
Lers Ros
Brenda's
Papalote
La Cornetta
Schmidt's
Los Jarritos

Favorite things I ate were the schnitzel at Schmidt's, the pork shoulder at Lers Ros, and the kimchi fried rice with egg/ wings at Toyose.

― mizzell, Thursday, January 14, 2010 10:37 AM (7 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I came back and ate at a lot of these places again. New places:

Outerlands
Gochi (Cupertino)
Ippuko (Berkeley)
Cordon Bleu

of those 4, I've only eaten at Cordon Bleu which is a total dive but an all time fave. that meat gravy (kinda like bun rieu sauce?) is insane. that's a real crowd pleaser for the under $8 options.

Gochi I was curious about at one point but none of my JP friends in the south bay are fans of it so we'd always hit other spots.

yeah, it was amusing watching the lady work at cordon bleu, pulling meat out from under different parts of the counter and on to frill or into the fryer. it was delicious and huge portions.

Everything I had at Gochi was good, even the pizzas which I was wary of.

Speaking of which, remind me to have you review the menu when Masu Izakaya opens.

This place was pretty good (to my untrained palette) but closed within like four months of its opening.

went to outerlands like once a week before i left sf. suuuuuper simple menu, which basically works because there is bread involved in nearly everything and the bread there is always fresh and tasty

Y'all need to get off your asses and get to Benu. Fuck an Outsidelands.

Steve I think I've asked this before, but I am asking again in case the answer has changed since last time: best (price not really an object) sushi place in the bay area?

Best no-nonsense JP-style sushi bars:

SF: Ino
East Bay: Uzen
Peninsula: Sakae
South Bay: Sushi Tomi
North Bay: Hana

having coffee with rene redzepi at philz. Corey lee and Jeremy fox are talking stoneware.

philz makes you shitz

tell me about 'tuna bone'

you use a "kozara" (soy sauce saucer) and scrape out the marrow of the bigger ribs and it's kinda like a light fluffy tuna pate. you have to buy a lot of tuna in order to get a rib from a supplier so it's a bit more unusual unless it's a high volume or high price sushi bar.

thanks for the backstory. friend of mine claims a place on st marks has it and he 'knows the guy' so anticipating a trip this week or next.

wow tuna bone sounds cool

haha, i don't think that's the best translation into english, maybe tuna rib marrow is more apt?

yeah that makes more sense. i dont even know if i've even had fish bone marrow before, had fish liver for the first time the other day + enjoyed it tho

ankimo (monkfish liver) is pretty great. first time i had it was w/shasta

Yeah, it's awfully tasty

monkfish is the ugliest damn fish on the planet fwiw.

shasta in

monkfish liver is the liver i had! is that the only one ppl eat? had never heard of it before i saw it on the menu

(wasnt at a japanese restaurant tho, it was british)

himo (or kimo) of many fish are eaten, ankimo and muragai no himo are probably the 2 most common at sushi bars, you can get chicken livers at any deece yakitori. Duck liver is pretty dope, blowfish liver is toxic and you eat = you die.

anyways i went to costco at lunch and bought 10 jars of nutella for $31.45... good deal!

goodness!

muragai = mirugai, clearly i need an editor wtf.

sounds like a filling lunch

don't judge me

you're "nuts"! (nutella)

are you saying I'm nuts because my eyes are hazel? (nutella is made from hazelnuts)

haha

i picked up some AMAZING gianduia when i was in italy last year, got some jars where there were whole hazelnuts in it... dahroool.