Lamburger

This weekend was an unexpected weekend. By that, I mean I actually had two days off after expecting to have to work Sunday.

So, while you may expect to see pictures and a review of Gyenari, Culver City's new upscale Korean BBQ, what you get is lamburger.

For the record, Gyenari turned out to be better in most ways than the DayGlo lounge look would seem to belie. We had BBQ, and while it was no K-town, and Venice's Wharo (beware the auto-play music) has more variety on its BBQ menu, it was pretty good. It's hard to go wrong with grilling up your own marinated beef, spicy chicken, and sliced pork belly. The banchan was somewhat pedestrian, but serviceable, seeming fresh and probably palatable to the movie-going audience they would expect on a Saturday evening. The japchae was actually quite good, and the drinks were tasty, if not terribly strong. We will go back primarily to try the bibimbap, which is served dolsot, and we love us some crispy rice.

Sunday, we went to the Mar Vista market as usual. Breakfast was empanadas from Empanada Factory, a Venice institution that now has a location on Robertson in Beverlywood. They were good, but I'm still sticking with Empanada's Place. Granted, I have only had them right at the restaurant, and the Factory's pies are better there, too, but Empanada's is closer to home (at least the one on Venice is), has a huge variety, and they have a tango website that is also posted in Russian.

Anyway, after BBQ, we were done with beef for the weekend, and I've been eating a lot of fish at work, so we grabbed some of the early spring sugar snap peas, and resolved to get a pork tenderloin at WFM. I've been burned this way before, and there was no tenderloin again this weekend, either. Not wanting to bother with slower-cooking cuts, pork was out. Surprisingly, chicken and turkey have become pretty pricey lately, and to our surprise, ground lamb (on special) was really inexpensive. As I looked at it, I remembered that I had some buns in the freezer from our last burger go-round, and I had just turned to BoW to suggest it when she began to ask me how I felt about lamb burgers. Believe what you want about the secrets to a successful marriage: much like Bonaparte's army, it marches on its stomach.

I seasoned the meat with garlic, salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce, and fresh rosemary from outside the back door. We got some really amazing stilton, which I crumbled and sandwiched between patties to make inside-out double doubles. Grilled buns, ketchup, mustard, pickles, and arugula. That's how we like them. If you were there, you'd be welcome to put anything on them you wanted. Father's Office can eatmee. 

Serve with Aussie Shiraz, and watch highlights of the TDU or perhaps some Flight of the Conchords. Good on Allan Davis for showing the young guys how it's done.

Xanthantastic!

One of my coworkers is Japanese. At least her mom is, and she grew up there, so that's Japanese enough for me. As you can imagine, I am constantly bugging her about food. So, when she went home for the New Year holiday, she took pictures of her meals for me. Her relatives laughed, but for me, that slideshow when she got back was better than all the porn on all the internets in all the universe. It's not like she went to Michelin-starred establishments either. Lots of home cooking and real-deal meals with friends and family. 

Of course, she also brought back goodies to share with the entire crew.

Mostly sweet, some salty, all packaged in brightly colored, easy-rip plastic. The big fun of the pile, though, was the make-it-yourself candy sushi kit.

As you can see, the instructions were, shall we say, inscrutable, so it was good I had my friend to help.

There was a little packet of powder for each ingredient and a big block of black chewing gum to roll out into sheets of "nori". It was like Wylie Dufresne designed a chemistry set for kids.

According to the instructions, we measured out water into the mixing tray and added the mysterious powders, the most fun of which had to be making the "ikura", a technique with which we are both familiar thanks to Top Chef.

From there, it was easy to assemble. Probably easier than real sushi with sticky rice. Unfortunately, I got involved with some work thing and had to let ML finish, but the results were worth it. If I had done the assembly, they might have looked as bad as they tasted!

Christmas by the Bay

The first couple of times I went to San Francisco I was not that impressed. I was spending time working at Davies Hall, which can only be described as an abomination inside and out. I trust that even the most recent round of acoustic treatment has done little to remedy that. I guarantee that it still looks like a sports arena outside, especially set as it is among the Beaux Arts buildings of the SFWMPAC. Worse, we were working on a Christmas record in June with (fellow Hoosier) Vance George and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. That tree says it all, doesn't it.

Anyway, I had a really great vegetarian meal at Millenium, which just happened to be in my hotel, and a delicious Anchor Steam on tap. I went out to have a smoke afterward (I was young...) and got to talking to some other people. When they asked where I was from and I replied Los Angeles, the said that they were sorry. At that time, the crazy good Thai food that our producer, the inimitable Lolly Lewis, took us for in the Tenderloin wasn't enough to make up for the sting. I stayed a week and got the crabs then took a bus back home.

Future trips to work in Marin County only served to bolster my image of San Franciscans as uppity, and the hangover from my 25th birthday still throbbed in my head as I made my first pilgrimage to the Haight (why does it play Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun?!?!) and Amoeba. But even Amoeba couldn't undo the hypocrisy I felt typified the city when I saw that Baby Gap there. 

I'm older now, and maybe have lost some of my idealism. I've watched as Wicker Park and the Ukranian Village lost Sophie's Busy Bee and with it, much of its soul. I've seen what Guiliani and Michael Eisner hath wrought in Times Square. I got priced out of Venice during the real estate bubble of the oughts. I guess what I'm saying is that with my iPhone in tow and my cat securely locked away at home with a litter robot, my soulless yuppie ass has now figured out that San Francisco is one of the best restaurant cities in the world and I should just enjoy it for what it's worth, not what it's reputation or history may claim.

We are lucky enough to have friends who are lucky enough to benefit from parental largess in the form of an awesome Victorian in Cow Hollow. The future-Mrs.-Stretch was in town for a convention, leaving Stretch, BoW, and I free during the days. We filled those days mostly with mountain biking which, despite some protestation from BoW, was spectacular and rewarding. What she doesn't realize is that it's just as hard for Stretch and I, we just don't want to look weak in front of her. When we ride alone together, we usually have at least one good cry.

Anyway, the food is supposed to be the point of this entry that I started 10 days ago, so I'll start at the beginning. We went to dinner with some friends of JT at Allegro Romano in Russian Hill. Great service, good food, and an off-the-list Barbera that was as affordable as it was delicious. To really solidify the SF experience, the hippy cab driver was actually listening to the Grateful Dead and smelled like Otto's jacket. Breakfasts revolved around huge bowls of coffee at La Boulange, the local outpost of a SF chain. Snacks were generally underwhelming, but mostly that was because we were usually too tired and hungry from riding to go very far afield.

The main meal of the trip came in the middle, so I'll skip ahead to the other highlights for a sec. We grabbed some dim sum on our way out of town at Canton Dim Sum and Seafood south of Market. The previous night, we met Count Reeshard at Shalimar, a delightful Indian spot in the Tenderloin. Rarely do restaurants live up to their hype, but the recommendation from the Count made me think that this one would. And it did. Chased with delicious Taj Mahal from the liquor store on the corner, the curries were as delicious as the staff was surly. This is not a place you go for ambience. This is real food, real fast, real cheap, and real delicious. Our cabby said that it was a cabby hangout, and that we should ask to sit where they do, in the back. I expected a South Asian version of King of New York, so we passed.

The middle night, we were on our own, so we decided to follow the advice of some friends and head to Richmond to try out Burma Superstar. Clearly, this place also lives up to its reputation because there was a 2 hour wait for tables. We put our name and cell number in then did a spin around the block. Lots of interesting SE Asian fare, but nothing with the draw of the Superstar, so we went back to post up and see how the progress was going. That's when we noticed the sign advertising their new venture just up the street. Well, I was born to have adventure, so we followed up the block.

What we found was B Star Bar. Looking at the menu, we knew we were in for a treat, so we went in, sat down, ordered some Soju mojitos, 

renkon chips (so delightfully spicy with ichimi togarashi), 

and the house pickles (slightly sweet, and just briny enough -- not vinegary, but real homemade pickles!) to keep us busy while we decided what we were really going to eat.

By this point, our server was beginning to get a little uncomfortable with my enthusiasm and picture-taking. Whatever, I was on vacation and staring into the mouth of deliciousness.

We decided to have soup and a main course. BoW started with the wonton, a wonderful clear broth with lots of fresh veggies and beautiful, tender pork and shrimp wontons. Nothing special, you may think, but satisfying on a cold night and bursting with fresh flavor. 

I had the samusa soup, which tasted just like it sounds: curried flavors in a thick broth based on potatoes and chick peas. For texture, they added fresh veg and chunks of falafel. Man, it was good. I got misty. I went back and forth between savoring bites and eagerly anticipating our main courses.

Was it silly for us to get BoW soup and then jook? Maybe, but man, that was some seriously good rice porridge. And it had meat balls. Those meatballs had meatballs on their meatballs. They were completely different from the stellar polpette that Chef David treated us to the previous week, but every bit as satisfying.

The truly amazing dish, though, was my pork belly. It was perfectly cooked, falling apart into strips of glistening moistness while retaining the caramel crisp glaze of the fatty layer on top. There was a chocolaty flavor that I couldn't quite put my finger on until later: tea. It was kind of like they marinated it in sweet Thai tea. This flavor was supported by a harmonious spice mixture of mostly star anise and clove, yielding a complete olfactory experience in addition to the gustatory.

I was so high from the food, I let BoW talk me into stopping across the street at The Plough and the Stars for a nightcap. It was a Green bar, and it felt pretty homey. Of course, we got some Jamesons and settled in to drinking while members of Tipsy House and friends informally played traditional music at the end of one of the long communal tables. Well, the food high began to wear, and the whiskey brought back the hater in me, and soon the incessant compound-triple made me want to go. We flagged a cab, and who should be driving but our hippy friend from the first night. I guess maybe this town isn't so bad after all.

Catch Up

No, this is not going to be a posting about the ubiquitous American condiment, the Malay or Chinese fish sauce, or even the Dolce Group restaurant. This is about the fact that I have been lazy about posting, and owe you some pictures.

On Boxing Day, we decided we wanted sushi as a sort of antidote to the meaty goodness we had been wallowing in. The house still smelled like a roast, after all. Still, we wanted homey, so we went to Kaizuka and sat at the bar. As usual, we started with a bottle of Onikoroshi, which is when they always start to love us.

BoW always wants monkfish liver at Kaizuka, so we started there. Kind of bold for an appetizer, I know, but we cleansed a bit with a tangy, citrusy salmon skin salad after that. Then it was on to the fish. There was delicious halibut with a yuzu dressing and pink peppercorns.

Then we had yellowtail in a ponzu with just the right amount of jalapeño.

Then we had this, which I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Obviously, the Onikoroshi was doing its job. We had three bottles in the end....

I also somehow managed not to get a picture of one of my favorites here: the Spicy Tuna on Crispy Rice. It kicks ass all over Izakaya by Katsu-ya, especially that half-burned, half-raw abomination that I saw my friend Lisa eating for lunch the other day. We also had some spicy salmon that the chef wanted us to try. It was a good idea.

We ended with some nigiri sushi. The snapper was probably the best fish of the night: incredibly buttery and very, very fresh.

The sweet eel sauce is something we all crave from time to time, except, oddly, for my Japanese friend...

And uni for dessert.

Then they brought us actual dessert, compliments of the chef. This was a trend that would continue through the weekend. It's hard for restaurant right now. If you're in a position to do it, go eat out. They'll be grateful.