TrelayneNYC

We started on dinner prep for reasons you'll see shortly. 1 lb. carrots. Trim, peel and slice into matchsticks. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle lightly with salt. Add: 1 shallot, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, smashed and ground to a coarse paste. You can do this with a mortar and a pestle, or if you don't have one, the flat of a chef's knife. Smash the garlic clove with the heel of your hand or with pressure atop the knife. Mix in a little coarse salt, then proceed to pulverize the garlic clove so that it becomes a paste. We like ours a little chunky. 2 tsp. toasted cumin seeds and 2 tsp. toasted coriander seeds. Toast the seeds in a pan, then either grind with a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder. Grind to a coarsely-textured powder. Combine carrots with: shallots, garlic, toasted cumin and coriander seeds, the juice of one Meyer lemon, a pinch of red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper to taste and 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Marinate for 6-7 hours. To be continued... From "A Platter of Figs" by David Tanis, page 282.

Dinner for seven: BBQ ribs, St. Louis-style German potato salad with pancetta, bacon and crispy shallots Green salad with cherry tomatoes, radishes and homemade ranch dressing (1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 tbsp. each chopped parsley, dill and chives, a pinch of ground mustard, a pinch of paprika, salt and black pepper) Cheesecake Fruit salad

After enduring a nearly hour wait, we satiated ourselves with some Korean BBQ last night and we're making plans to return. Banchan. Clockwise from bottom center: cabbage kimchi; sesame oil; shredded potatoes; quick cucumber pickle; mung bean sprouts; daikon radish kimchi; dish with sesame oil; seaweed salad; another type of kimchi I wasn't able to identify; squid and Asian pear kimchi; lettuce leaves; mountain yam with chile paste and sesame oil; fermented bean paste. Pork belly. Left: shrimp with vegetables. Right: boneless short ribs. Han II Kwan 1802 Balboa Street (19th Avenue) Outer Richmond

I'm sure this will be a smashing success just like Eataly was back in 2010, when Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich opened their first store in New York, but a small voice inside me keeps asking "which part of Chinese cuisine has omakase sushi?" "China Live: A Food Emporium of Epic Proportions in San Francisco's Chinatown" by Jonathan Kauffman on sfchronicle.com

we're there every weekend for the farmers' market. I'm partial to the lady who makes the bomboloni and cannoli right outside the Imperial Tea Court. Also special mention to the empanada vendor. Love their braised lamb in Malbec empanadas.

Sure, but it's not his type of food or I would have already done it. He wanted to go to Gary Danko and the result of that trip is on the GD thread. He wasn't a fan of Kin Khao. Too spicy and the black rice pudding dessert weirded him out. Which reminds me, I need to return for lunch soon. I was all set to go today but I forgot to bring my camera this morning. Drat.

Now that I live here, I'm going to try to book myself a seating at Atelier Crenn and Saison sometime this year. They've been on my "to-go" list for some time now. Hopefully these places will admit one person. My partner is on a limited income and would definitely balk at the idea of a meal that costs $500+ per person.

We loved it when we visited last year. Gratin of broad beans with tomato and feta cheese Mixed citrus salad (Cara Cara oranges, blood oranges, tangerines, Medjool dates, candied walnuts) Stewed goat, with ouzo, artichokes and orzo Full-flavored and not at all gamey as goat can sometimes be to my palate. Roasted branzino -- the star of the show, as it should be. Loukoumades -- traditional Greek doughnuts with honey, cinnamon and walnuts. This was so sweet, we could barely finish half of it. Galaktoboureko -- semolina custard in filo, with candied blood orange and cinnamon ice cream. Similar to the Greek doughnuts previously pictured, this was way too sweet for my palate. I was bored after three bites. Kokkari Estiatorio200 Jackson Street (Front Street)Jackson Square

Saturday was date night at L'Ardoise, a local bistro. I would have posted pictures but they didn't come out well, not to mention the lighting wasn't as great. Sunday night: bigos Clockwise from top, center: 2 tomatoes, diced; 1/2 lb. lamb stew meat; 1/2 lb. fresh kielbasa, sliced; 1 lb. sauerkraut, drained; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1/2 lb. pork stew meat; 1 lb. beef stew meat; 7 tbsp. unsalted butter; porcini mushrooms; 1/2 lb. shredded cabbage. Clockwise from bottom right: 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced; porcini mushroom soaking water; 1/2 cup chicken stock; 1/2 cup Madeira. Melt 3 tbsp. unsalted butter in a Dutch oven, then add onion and apple. Sauté for 5 minutes or until onion is translucent but not browned. Add porcini mushrooms, then sauté for 1 minute. Add cabbage, sauerkraut, tomatoes and mushroom soaking water. Remove from heat. Mix well. Melt remaining butter in a separate pan and working in batches, brown the meat. Add meat directly to the Dutch oven, then mix well. Deglaze the skillet that you browned the meat in with the Madeira, making sure to scrape up all the browned bits. Once alcohol has evaporated, add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 2-3 minutes. Pour chicken stock mixture atop the vegetable-meat mixture in the Dutch oven. Add kielbasa slices, then season with salt and black pepper. Add 4 whole allspice. Mix well. Bake for 90 minutes, covered, in a pre-heated 350 F oven, then bake uncovered for 30 more minutes. "Bigos", from "A Quintet of Cuisines" by Michael and Frances Field and the Editors of Time-Life Books (1970), page 101.

We found our experience not as good as it could have been. But don't take it from me, especially since I'm someone you've never interacted with. My taste is unknown to you. It's a long way of saying that I'll let my pictures speak for themselves. We arrived early, and they didn't seat us until 50 minutes later, 20 minutes past our reservation time. When I asked what was taking so long, I was told "Well, you arrived early." That's not the point -- we had a reservation time of 9 pm and it's now 9:20 -- does everyone who comes here get seated late? Strike #1. Furthermore, we were seated at the bar and no staff came by to alert us; I had to get up to go speak to the host. "Thai soup" -- while it reminded me of tom kha gai and hit all the right flavor notes, I was asking myself why are we eating pseudo-Thai food in this restaurant? Not exactly an auspicious beginning. Strike #2 was that it took nearly 5 minutes *after* being seated before we received the menus, and when they brought us the menus, they also brought us the first amuse-bouche. It felt like a weird combination of: (1) we're being rushed and (2) we're being punished. Buckwheat blini, salmon, osetra caviar. Well-made blini -- perfect, actually. Like butter-flavored clouds. Seared foie gras, caramelized onion, poached rhubarb. Plating doesn't exactly inspire confidence, a theme you will see repeatedly throughout. Was prepared well though from what little I tasted. Figs, arugula, fennel, Gorgonzola cheese. Average salad, nothing special. Seared scallops, morels, English peas, Madeira.Excellent, from the bite or two I stole off of B's plate. Lamb loin with farroto, Medjool dates, carrots and chermoula. The lamb was well-cooked. The plating sucked, the sauce was oversalted (basically, if you can taste it, it's too much), and the accompaniments slapdash. At this point, I was starting to become irritated. This is a restaurant that is supposed to be in the vanguard of San Francisco dining and for the prices that are being charged, it everything should feel like perfection from the moment you step inside to when you depart. This was not it. Also, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is it with all the square plates? Cheese cart. Sauternes. Louisiana butter cake, peaches, huckleberry compote, vanilla ice cream. Amateurish plating. Cake itself was "fine". Maybe I ordered wrong. Flourless chocolate birthday cake. I suppose it might have been a good restaurant -- in 2005. Oh, how the mighty are fallen.

Here are pix from the night we went in June 2016: Caesar's salad. B pronounced it very good and dressed just right. Croutons were better than his. House-cured anchovies, with celery, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and coquillo olives. Zuni roast chicken, with bread salad, pine nuts and currants. I would have liked a touch more acidity in the vinaigrette. Very good roast chicken but no crisp skin. Moist, very flavorful. Madeira and Banyuls. Buckwheat crêpes, with cherries, noyaux ice cream, almond praline. Nice and sweet, and the crêpes were perfect. Zuni isn't unique, but it is very good for what it does and that's really all that matters. We'll be back, for sure. Zuni Cafe 1658 Market Street (Rose Street)

Blue Plate is an "underrated" restaurant according to Eater San Francisco. Well, I can tell you that we threw away $80 on the night we went on underwhelming food. Maybe it's underrated for a good reason. Bibb lettuce salad with tahini vinaigrette, strawberries, avocado, pumpkin seeds and dukka spices. B pronounced this combination as "unworkable". Monterey Bay squid with charred eggplant, treviso radicchio, chicken skin, harissa and nepitella.The harissa overwhelmed all other elements to the point that it was a one-note dish. Horrible execution and plating. Grilled escarole with linguiça sausage, balsamic vinegar and burnt orange. This might have been fine were it not swimming in grease. A main of oyster mushroom casarecce with smoked chicken, with preserved lemon, fines herbes, baby leeks, summer truffles and pecorino was probably the best thing we ate that night...and that's saying something. By the way, B left half of his plate untouched. That's the plate in the background in the pic above BTW. We took one for all of you so none of you have to come here. Blue Plate 3218 Mission Street (29th Street) Outer Mission

This menu shows part of what's ridiculous in the San Francisco food scene. Admittedly, it's from a place in the Ferry Building which counts tourists as part of its income. Even if you discount that, it's a bit much (for me). These are the "beignets" in mentioned in the pic above. One batch of 8 for $10. We wanted one but were told that was impossible.

Earlier this month, B took me to San Jalisco which will probably become my favorite Mexican place in SF. Carne asada. Portions are huge for what they charge. Pozole. First time I had it too. Rich, porky with just the right amount of heat. Definitely would order it again. Relish plate for the pozole. Clockwise from bottom: shredded cabbage, radishes, lime wedges; chile pepper; chopped onion; Mexican oregano. Shortly afterwards, a waiter came by with a dish of tortillas, fresh from the oven. Tres leches cake. Desserts are not their strong suit and B suspects that they may be prepared at a Mexican bakery. This was the driest version I've ever had. I ate about half and that was enough for me. San Jalisco 901 South Van Ness Avenue (20th Street) Mission District http://m.sanjalisco.com/home.html

Well well, I just discovered the photo editing options on this site. I'll certainly be making use of those more often too. It saves time because what typically happens is that I fiddle with the photos in Picasa before uploading them to DonRockwell.com. I didn't know that I could shrink them on here and that's useful to know. Oh, about the photo. My partner (let's call him "B" for now, in the event you haven't been reading my posts and you might not know who he is) and I have date night once a week. Lately, we've been exploring cheap eats in the City. This is a dinner from last Friday at one of our favorite cheapie Chinese restaurants, Red Jade. Pictured are some flash-fried soft-shell crabs with chili, garlic, scallions and cilantro. In the background is a plate of beef with snow peas.

Garofolato (Roman pot roast with cloves and prosciutto). Green beans with Meyer lemon and anchovy.

We should have ordered some Peking duck. There was a cart that came by and the bird was all mahogany, lacquered and just gorgeous. Next time...

We went to Yank Sing today for a belated Chinese New Year celebration. BBQ pork buns. Soup dumplings, served with ginger shreds and red vinegar. Chicken-stuffed mushrooms. Turnip cake. Spareribs with sesame. Shrimp dumplings. Mushroom dumplings. Pea shoot dumplings. Sea bass with rice wine and soy. Pork and shrimp siu mai. Fried shrimp. Chicken feet. String beans with dried shrimp and XO sauce. Egg custard tartlets. Orange jello. $219 with tax and 20% tip for a party of four people. Not bad at all, actually. Very reasonable in my never humble opinion although others will probably disagree on that point. Yank Sing Rincon Center 101 Spear Street (Mission Street) Financial District

Thanks Pat. We have leftovers in case anyone wants to fly to San Francisco and come over. I almost never make pastry and the success of that recipe has given me new confidence for next time.

Finally found a place in San Francisco that serves great coleslaw. It's harder than it sounds. Most places skimp on the acidity. Kate's Kitchen 471 Haight Street (Fillmore Street) Lower Haight

That was followed up tonight (Sunday) with: chicken-tarragon pot pie and fennel salad with shallot vinaigrette.

This weekend we had comfort food because of Friday's events. I'm sure you can figure out what I mean by that. Roast chicken with roasted vegetables. The inside of the chicken was seasoned with salt and black pepper, and was stuffed with parsley, sage, fresh bay leaves, thyme, crushed garlic cloves and half a Meyer lemon. We served that with some cauliflower that had been simmered in lightly salted water, then drained and dressed with extra-virgin olive oil, Meyer lemon juice, salt and black pepper.

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Saturday: herbs, carrots, Cara Cara oranges, broccoli rabe, potatoes, duck fat, pork sausages, fennel, mesclun, scallops, red snapper. There might be a few things I've forgotten to include.

Last night: Sausages with seedless grapes from "Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine" by Lidia Bastianich, page 311. Potatoes fried in duck fat with garlic and parsley Broccoli rabe sautéed in duck fat with garlic Meyer lemon-almond cookies