Life Begins at 30

San Francisco Restaurant Run-Down

There's a conversation going on over at Chowhound and participants are separating restaurants into several categories.  Here's my list, with a bit of a twist on the categories.  There is no priority within the category - the restaurants are just listed how they came out of my head.

Restaurants that I know to support local farmers are marked with an asterisk (*). 

You'll probably notice that I don't have a ton of super high-end restaurants on the lists.  I feel much more comfortable at the mid-level places, especially in San Francisco.

I'm not a meme girl, but if I were, this would be a fun one to pass around - dontcha think?

My creme de la creme:
*A16
*Coco500
*Zuni Cafe
Bodega Bistro
*Pizzetta 211
Absinthe   
Maki
Pesce
The Helmand
*SPQR

Favorite Hole in the Walls:
My Tofu House
Yummy Yummy
Darbar
San Tung
El Tonayense Taco Truck
La Palma Mexicatessen
Chavo's
La Corneta
*Primavera Stand at the FPFM

May be a favorite, but I need to go a few more times:
Alembic
*Delfina
*Pizzeria Delfina
*Kokkari
Cav
Ino
*Rubicon
*Canteen
Dosa
*Foreign Cinema
*Slanted Door
*Spruce
Koo
Sebo

Liked it better the second time
*Piccino
*Nopa

Underwhelmed by, but may retry given the overwhelmingly positive reports:
Bar Tartine
Maverick (I've gone for brunch only)
*Incanto (retried in 1/08.  No longer underwhelmed.)
*Nopa (moved up 12/2007)
Piccino (moved up 11/25/2007)

Underwhelmed by, and no plans to return:
*Bacar (pre Robbie Lewis)
Acquerello
Ozumo (pre Mike Yakura)
Cassis
Nua

Cannot wait to go to:
*SPQR (Moved up, 10/1/07 then moved up again 11/7/07)
Sebo (tried 02/08.  Moved up.)
*Quince

Haven't been, and want to go:
*Aziza
Ame
Ducca
Bar Crudo
Spork
Perbacco
Ritz Carlton Dining Room
Myth
*La Folie
Terzo
1550 Hyde
Zushi Puzzle
Nua (moved, 11/7/07)

Parking Day!

Hey y'all, it's San Francisco Parking Day -- a day in which members of the community create temporary park spaces in parking spots around the city.  The photo above is the parking space that was created as joint effort between Bonnie Powell / Ethicurean and Curbed SF (that's Bonnie in the photo).  I had a couple minutes to see it this morning, and it's a very cool urban chicken display.  If you have a chance, check it out on 3rd between Brannan and Bryant before 3.  More info on Ethicurean.

I'm on the bandwagon

I'm a bit stubborn. 

Anyone who knows me and is reading along is probably chuckling right now, as "a bit" is probably an understatement.  It runs in the family.  One day, my mother asked the ex how the three generations of women in our family are alike.  He deadpanned, "well you're all stubborn!"

Weird things make me dig my heels in.   When it comes to food, I get incredibly stubborn about going to places that are wildly popular, or that everyone seems to love.  I don't want to be one of the herd of cattle, all shuffling off to the Cheesecake Factory, so I often try and find a lesser known restaurant or one that's not as popular but just as good.

This was the case for years with La Super Rica Taqueria in Santa Barbara.   It's the taqueria that Julia Child allegedly loved when she lived in Santa Barbara.  It's the taqueria that was mentioned by Michael Vaughn on Alias when he was trying to woo Sydney up the coast on a vacation with him.  It's the taqueria that is on the top of the "must go" list of many Californians.  Every time I drive by LSR, there are lines out the door.  And so I got stubborn.  I found excellent tacos nearby and decided that I wasn't missing much by never going there.

Last December, I drove down the coast with my friend Jeanne.  She and I were both going to visit our respective families in Southern California, and so we decided to make a fun road trip out of the journey.  The theme of this road trip?  Tacos along the coast.  It was a fun drive, and I believe we tasted 20 tacos over two days.

One of the highlights of the trip was La Super Rica.  I took a deep breath, and prepared myself not to like it.  When we snaked through the line and into the door, I noticed fresh tortillas being made in the back.  My resolve began to crack a bit.  By the time we got to the counter, we had broken our "two tacos per location" rule and tried four tacos.  The one that stood out -- the one that still makes my mouth water 10 months later -- was calabacitas in a dark sauce with pork. Delicious with an herbal flavor made from a generous helping of epazote, the taco was one of the best that I've had this year ("I think it was epazote," Jeanne said when I just called her to fact check, "I don't remember, I was in a taco haze.").

I stopped by LSR for a second time yesterday.  It was late afternoon so the line was relatively short, and I had an article that I'd been wanting to read, so I didn't mind the wait.  After about 10 minutes, I tucked into my rajas taco and a taco of pork adobado -- a marinated pork with chiles.  Rajas has been my dish of the summer, and I have made it several times at home.  This rendition had a small amount of heat and was runny with cheese and studded with onions.  Though it didn't make for a very good picture, the result was delicious and worth jumping on the bandwagon for.

La Super Rica Taqueria
622 N. Milpas Street, Santa Barbara
Closed Wednesday

(P.S. - I'm home!)

Mediterranean Fruit Fly in the Bay Area

Thanks to those of you who answered the (now closed) poll about whether I should let you know when I've written something elsewhere.  As a result of the poll, I will be letting you know when I write anything interesting on other parts of the web.

Today, I posted news of the Mediterranean fruit fly that has been found in Solano County on Bay Area Bites.  This information will affect those of us who shop at Eatwell Farm at the farmers' market, as they are in the produce quarantine area. 

It's been a great trip in Southern California, but today my thoughts are headed north and I'm on my way back home.  After a brief stop in the Central Coast, I will be back in San Francisco later in the week!

A Quick Question for You

I was about to post a quick note saying that I wrote something at Bay Area Bites this week that I am particularly proud of.   I try to refer you to other sites relatively judiciously -- and I don't do it every time that I write somewhere, but I am curious:  Do you want to know when I post elsewhere, or would your rather only read my original content here?

Take the poll and let me know!

Happy Interruptions

TASKS

• Full-time job that is extremely busy right now.
• (Secret Project #1)
• Movie + tacos with Grandpa for his birthday.
• Oversee the September 2007 Eat Local Challenge.
• Plan a dinner party for 15 people in a few days.
• (Secret Project #2)
• 365 project.
• Set up a family photo for Sunday taken by a great photographer friend of mine.

It's interesting to be so busy while I am in Southern California.  Often, my trips here are fairly calm and I see lots of different friends and family.  This trip is the opposite -- it's busy and frenetic and full of task-filled days and evenings when I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow*

Last night, I was in the middle of three projects, on the phone trying to work on Secret Project #1, and I got a call from my mom.  I tried to ignore the answering machine as I was on the other line, but it's hard to ignore someone repeating "Pick up the phone" about 20 times in a row.  I picked up the phone.  "Break out the lemon and the wasabi," she said.  "I was given some free, local albacore tuna from my hair dresser.  He was slicing it in the back of the salon."  My mother is much more cautious about sanitation and germs than I am, so I decided not to question her about the wisdom of eating raw tuna that was sliced in a hair salon.  It was darn delicious, and we inhaled the whole piece. 

When I am in San Francisco, my life is rather controlled.  Living by myself, I'm quiet when I want to be, and social when I want to be.  Being here, though, that organized quiet is thrown out the window.  My days are full of happy interruptions.  Mom is usually following me around the house and wanting to talk about that blog or this gossip.  My aunt and I are usually giggling or rolling our eyes at something my mother is saying.  When I'm not at the house, I've been hanging out at a happy local coffeehouse that is usually a scene of one sort or another.

Yesterday, I sneaked away from my computer for about an hour to check out the brand-new Bixby Knolls Farmers' Market.  It's not a destination market, but it's going to be a great one for the people in that area.  There are plenty of vegetables, fruits, herbs and even a balut vendor**.  I picked up my first pomegranates of the season to make a cocktail syrup for the aforementioned dinner party, and then headed back to emails and projects and to do lists.

This is not a post complaining about my busy-ness.  Anyone who knows me is aware of the fact that I am usually happiest when I am barely keeping all the balls in the air.  And the chaos right now feels electric.  I am completely out of my comfort zone with some of the projects, and I think that is when I grow the most.

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* Except for last night, as my brain was full of Jack's math homework -- something involving getting the numbers 1-25 using only four 9's.

** The balut vendor knows his audience.  He didn't even put down his newspaper when curious Caucasians stopped by his booth.  His body language said, "You don't want what I've got." 

The best part about eating local in Southern California?  Two words: local mangoes.  Normally at this point, I would have a lovely picture to show you, but I have managed to inhale each and every one before I could take a photo.