Monthly Archives: August 2011

More Scenes From SF Chefs Food Wine 2011

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Flower + Water's twist on classic tortellini en brodo.

When it comes to contemporary cooking in the Bay Area, what’s old is definitely new again.

That was decidedly evident in the “Culinary Innovation Demos” at the Westin St. Francis last week, held for culinary industry folks, as part of the third annual SF Chefs Food Wine event.

The demos, hosted by Jim Poris and Beverly Stephen (both long-time editors of Food Arts magazine), featured Chef Brandon Jew of Bar Agricole in San Francisco and Chef Thomas McNaughton of Flour + Water in San Francisco doing riffs on classic, old-school dishes.

Thad Vogler, mixologist of Bar Agricole, got the party started by passing out Cooperstown cocktails to the audience — a refreshing, herbal-forward libation made with gin, two kinds of vermouth and pineapple mint grown at the restaurant.

Thad Vogler of Bar Agricole explains his philosophy about cocktails.

Bar Agricole's Cooperstown cocktail.

The classic aperitif originated at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria to prime the palate for the meal to follow. At Bar Agricole, the drink is refined with large cubes of ice, specially made to lessen dilution and keep the drink extra cold. It’s also served in a super thin glass made in Japan to enhance the sipping pleasure.

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“Fire It Up” and A Food Gal Giveaway

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How about some coffee with that meat?

The next morning you brew a cup of strong coffee, you might want to save a few cups for dinner.

Not to drink, but to grill with in this wonderful Espresso-Powered Barbecued Brisket, which features coffee three ways — in a rub, marinade and finishing sauce.

How’s that to perk up a meal?

The recipe is from the new cookbook, “Fire It Up” (Chronicle Books” by food writers, Andrew Schloss and David Joachim. It features more than 400 recipes for the grill, including Pork Tenderloin with Candied Clementine and Rosemary; Sesame-Crusted Chicken Paillards with Seaweed Salad; Wasabi-Drizzled Mussels Grilled with Green Tea Fumes; and Smoked Deviled Eggs.

I love the flavor of coffee in baked goods, so I was eager to try it on meat.

The roasted notes of coffee do indeed play well with the smoky taste of grilled beef, amplifying its meaty nature.

Make a rub by mixing finely ground dark-roast coffee with smoked paprika, dark brown sugar, ground ancho chile and lemon zest to rub all over the brisket.  Allow to marinate at least eight hours.

When ready to cook, take a little of the leftover rub and add brewed coffee, molasses, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar to make a mop to baste the meat with. After the meat is done, serve with a sauce made from more brewed coffee, ketchup, dark brown mustard, honey, citrus juice, and a dash of hot pepper sauce.

The result is bold beefiness with a beguiling tangy, earthy, subtle spicy kick.

It’s a dish sure to wake up any weekend grilling rut.

Contest: I’m thrilled to be able to give three Food Gal readers each a copy of the cookbook, “Fire It Up” by Andrew Schloss and David Joachim. Contest is open only to those in the continental United States. Entries will be accepted through midnight PST Aug. 13. Winner will be announced Aug. 15.

How to win?

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Scenes from SF Chefs Food Wine 2011

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A bevy of chefs cut a chocolate cake depicting San Francisco's skyline to signal the start of SF Chefs Food Wine. How many chefs can you name?

To kick off the start of the third annual SF Chefs Food Wine extravaganza last Friday night on Union Square in San Francisco, no simple little ribbon-cutting ceremony would do.

Instead, Pastry Chef Lori Baker — who owns Baker & Banker in San Francisco with her husband, Chef Jeff Banker — created an astounding devil’s food cake cityscape complete with chocolate buildings to depict the Transamerica pyramid and an assortment of other iconic landmarks, including her own restaurant.

On their marks, a who’s who of celeb San Francisco chefs — including Chris Cosentino of Incanto, Emily Luchetti of Farallon and Waterbar, Mourad Lahlou of Aziza, and Russell Jackson of Lafite, as well as famed New York restaurateur Drew Nieporent, who flew in just for the occasion — grabbed knives to cut into the cake to signal the start of the three-day food and wine celebration.

That was preceded by the traditional sabering of a champagne bottle, as Cosentino looked on with knife envy, having sabered a champagne bottle with a Russian sword at his own wedding.

The entrance to the tent on Union Square.

Close-up of the cake made by Baker & Banker restaurant.

Lori Baker and Jeff Banker of Baker & Banker pose with Russell Jackson

Chef Chris Cosentino of Incanto addresses the crowd.

The ceremonial sabering of the champagne bottle.

When the doors opened to the enormous tent pitched on Union Square, 1,200 folks piled inside to sample wines, cocktails and gourmet noshes prepared by 35 Bay Area chefs and to groove to the sounds of Chef Joey Altman’s band.

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A Tale of Determination at LarkCreekSteak in San Francisco

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Ismael Macias’ path to becoming the new head chef at LarkCreekSteak in the swank downtown Westfield San Francisco Centre was anything but smooth.

Hired as a dishwasher at sister restaurant, One Market in San Francisco, when he was in his mid-20’s, Macias quit after two weeks because the work was just too grueling.

And that’s saying a lot, given that the now 36-year-old Macias has been working since he was 6 years old. One of 14 kids born to a family in Mexico, he immigrated to the United States at age 25 without knowing any English. For years, he worked two jobs while going to school.

The folks at the Lark Creek Restaurant Group must have sensed his potential. They kept calling him to come back to work. Again and again. All told, they hired him, only to have him quit yet again — a total of seven times.

Chef Ismael Macias of LarkCreekSteak. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)Lucky seven it was, though, as Macias returned to One Market, where he worked his way up to become a line cook, then sous chef. Last year, he came on board at LarkCreekSteak, where earlier this spring, he was named its head chef.

“My Mom cried when I told her that I got the job,” he says.

It’s one thing when a restaurant has a great story to recommend it. But what’s on the plate still has to be worth walking through the doors. In both cases, LarkCreekSteak delivers.

Recently, I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant to try the menu under Macias’ direction.

Soft jazz plays on the sound system in the dining room, warmed with maple and blonde wood, large framed images of squash and wheat, and servers decked out in stylish yet laid-back navy striped shirts and black pants.

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An Ode to Potato Salad

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My favorite potato salad recipe.

I did not grow up in a plentiful potato salad household.

With some families, summer is just not summer without a big bowl of potato salad chilling on a shelf in the fridge week in and week out for barbecue get-togethers or sleepy Sunday lunches on the patio.

Growing up, potato salad was a rarity for me, though. My Chinese-American parents never made it. But now and then, my Dad would pick up a plastic pint container of potato salad from the local grocery store to eat on weekends with sandwiches at lunch time.

I remember snapping off the plastic lid to find soft, diced potatoes smothered in mayo with a tiny bit of crunchy celery and piquant minced pickles mixed in. I’d scoop out a tablespoon or two to enjoy, savoring its creamy coldness as it hit my tongue.

Nowadays, I do make my own potato salad. But not very often.

It’s still a once-in-awhile summer treat to me. When you don’t prepare it all the time, you want the one you do make to be something special. This one definitely is.

It used to be served at Gordon’s cafe in Yountville, a family-owned joint that was a favorite of locals and tourists for its generous sandwiches and comforting entrees — all made from topnotch ingredients.

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