The Year of the Dragon roars into town today, with two weeks of celebrations capped by the famous Chinatown Parade on February 11. Saturday, I attended a New Year’s themed buffet lunch and wok cooking demonstration by acclaimed cookbook author and San Francisco native, Grace Young, in Louie’s restaurant, a Chinatown institution.

Young —wearing a lucky red-colored top, as are many other attendees— greets her audience by reminding us that New Year’s is “the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. It’s about renewal, rebirth and family togetherness.” Of all the animals in the Chinese horoscope, the mythical dragon is thought to embody power and success. Those born under its the sign are believed to be exceptionally intelligent, creative, charismatic, fearless, lucky, generous, confident, innovative, passionate but unpredictable. No wonder millions of Chinese people are waiting to get married, start businesses and have babies this year.

The powerful dragon is a good symbol for Grace Young, a determined woman on a mission. Her goal: to rejuvenate authentic Chinese home cooking by keeping the wok tradition alive. “For 2000 years, the wok has been the iron thread that has bound Chinese culinary culture.” she says. “Now is the first time in his history that it’s at risk of being lost.” Non-stick woks are destroying Chinese home cooking,” declares Young passionately. “The food doesn’t taste right, because you can’t get it to sear and caramelize properly. It ends up braised and soggy. Non-stick cookware is not meant for the high heat necessary for stir-fries.” She prefers a flat-bottom, 14-inch carbon steel wok, with a long wooden handle, which can be seasoned to a warm burnished gold, like the one she is using today to make spicy long beans with sausage and mushrooms, a dish her mother taught her.

Besides coming to celebrate the new year with her family in San Francisco, Young is on a tour to promote and sign copies of her latest book, Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge, winner of the James Beard International Cookbook Award, which has taken her to Chinese diaspora communities around the world and steeled her resolve to share the secrets of the wok with as many home cooks as possible.

Young demonstrates how to judge when the preheated wok is hot enough (as soon as a drop of water evaporates on contact) then swirls in the oil and quickly adds her vegetables. One tip she imparts is to listen to your food cook, “That sizzle is the wok talking to you. If you don’t hear it, it’s not hot enough.” Her green beans turn out crunchy with a delicate, smoky wok flavor, which Young says sets it apart from stir-fries made in a skillet or non-stick cookware.

Meanwhile, upstairs, a Chinese calligrapher inks lucky characters on red paper, and the guests line up to fill their plates with lucky foods. Wilma Pang, one of the organizers of today’s event, under the auspices of A Better Chinatown Tomorrow, explains the symbolism of the foods arranged on the buffet table.

Many dishes are considered lucky because their Chinese names are homonyms for auspicious goals; others insure a good year because of their shapes or colors.

“The word for celery (choi) is a homonym for hard work,” Pang explains, and it portends the monetary result of all that effort. Green onions stand for intelligence; the turnip cake signifies that things will keep getting better. The apple means smooth sailing ahead and the tangerine is considered lucky because its orange color connects to gold. Its leaves represent growth and prosperity.

Although, many Chinese New Years foods vary by family and village, the one universal dish is crescent shaped dumplings. Traditionally, dumplings are made on New Years Eve by all the members of the family, working together. Their shape represents gold ingots and so symbolizes good fortune for the upcoming year. “The more you make, it’s like putting money in the bank,” says Pang. “And often, we hide a coin in one dumpling for a lucky diner to find.”

Pang points out the chicken with its head and feet still attached. “Very important to cook an entire chicken, for family togetherness.”

“See these cookies that open up with a smiling face, they represent happiness,” says Pang.

During the meal, there is one dish that has even the Chinese diners stumped. What are those roundish starchy vegetables? “Arrowroot,” Pang answers and holds up a fresh one, slyly smiling as she explains, “See this shape, with the little part that sticks out – that’s for having boy babies.”

After lunch, I have a chance to chat with Grace Young and ask her a few questions.

She grew up eating the traditional Cantonese foods her parents prepared. But at age 12, discovered Julia Child on TV and became fascinated with French cooking, and its entirely different culinary vocabulary. After apprenticing with French chef Josephine Araldo in San Francisco, Young moved to New York in 1979, and worked writing and testing recipes for General Foods. Then she ran the test kitchen at Time Life Books for 18 years, and produced more than 40 cookbooks that spanned the globe.

A chance comment from a cousin ignited the spark of Young’s passion to explore her own family’s culinary culture. Her cousin said, ”When it comes to Chinese cooking, I don’t even try because you can’t beat the Chinese take-out in San Francisco.” Young feared that if most second generation Chinese shared her cousin’s indifference towards learning to make the food of their ancestors, a wealth of authentic recipes and foodways might disappear.

For three years, she made numerous visits to San Francisco to learn her parents’ and family’s recipes. This led to her parents sharing stories about customs and traditions associated with the food, as well as tales from their lives in China that she had never heard before. Young’s first book, The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen, was published in 1999 and won the IACP Best International Cookbook. Young is proudest of this book because she feels it preserves traditional Chinese home cooking.

Is the dish you made today special for Chinese New Year's?
Not specifically, but it has mushrooms which grow quickly and so symbolize prosperity. I made this dish today because it’s one of my mother’s favorites. Now that she’s getting older and doesn’t cook, I’m so grateful I have recorded her recipes in my book. When I go back and reread them, it’s as if I can hear her still talking to me through the recipes. For all these years, she always made the New Year’s Eve meal and now in the last few years I am able, through my book, to make it for her. It’s ironic because I always thought that I was writing for the next generation. And in a million years I never dreamed I would give this back to my mother. When I make her a special New Year’s dish, like turnip cake, her face lights up, because food is memory.

Is there a certain dish you always have for New Year's eve dinner?
Fish is the standard dish at the end of the meal. The word for fish “yu” means wish and signifies abundance. It is essential to serve the complete fish, with the head and tail attached to ensure a good beginning and end to the year. Traditionally purchased live from a tank where one can pick out a strong swimmer, the poached fish with scallions and ginger is served as the last course of the New Year’s Eve feast, but not completely consumed. The leftovers are eaten the next day, so that its abundance will spill over into the New Year. Lobster, as the king of the ocean, represents the energy of the dragon. But any seafood is auspicious. Shrimp, whose name ha sounds like laughter, represents happiness; the shells of clams and scallops resemble old Chinese coins and therefore portend prosperity. Also, the clam shells open as you stir fry them, signifying a new beginning.

What's the difference between the Chinatowns in San Francisco and New York?
For me, San Francisco Chinatown has such sweet memories. My father was a liquor salesman and so the owners of every restaurant and shop knew him and gave us a special welcome. Plus, the produce in California is so much more abundant and pristine in quality, especially the Asian vegetables. I love the hustle bustle and energy of shopping on Stockton Street. When a grocer brings out a new box of baby bok choy or snow pea shoots and rips it open, all of a sudden everyone lunges towards it with frenzied excitement and all these hands try to grab the freshest greens.

As we finish our interview, I accompany Grace on a short walk to The Wok Shop, a bustling little warren, filled chock-a-block with woks, gadgets and cooking accessories, whose owner Tane Chan graciously provided the seasoned wok for today’s cooking demonstration.

“This is the best wok store in the whole country,” says Grace as she leads me right to the tower of carbonized steel flat bottom woks (only $24.95). And I gladly buy one. No use resisting the power of the dragon.

Loyalties, divided! I'm a second-generation Jersey girl and the daughter of a dedicated New York Giants fan. Mostly when I think of my dad, I see him in a chair in the den, comfortably plowing through the Star-Ledger and the New York Times, section by section, smelling of Old Spice, coffee, and newsprint. But he was also a rabid sports fan, and basketball, horseracing, and football were his sports. He spent a lot of chilly winter afternoons huddled in the stands with me and my sisters, a blanket wrapped around our shoulders as he tried to explain what was going on between the wide-shouldered men scurrying like ants around the Astroturf. Yes, they were the New York Giants, but they played at the Meadowlands, on our turf, and everyone assumed that North Jersey, where we lived, was kind of a sixth borough of New York City anyway.

My sister Amy has come late to her birthright as a Giants fan. She doesn't have a lot of team fellowship out in Minnesota, where she lives; the recent triumph of the Giants over the Green Bay Packers was celebrated mostly for the whipping the Packers took, since any dedicated Minnesotan despises the Packers, longtime arch-rivals of the home-team Vikings. But she found a Giants jersey somewhere, and now she wears it around town in lonely pride. (She felt the same way when Obama won, four years ago. While Oakland erupted in cheers, cruising, and fireworks, her posh Minneapolis suburb tallied its Republican losses behind closed curtains.) "I hope you'll remember your roots!" she says about Sunday's game, only half-joking.

But I left New Jersey in 1990, settling in San Francisco for the next 12 years. Yes, there was a brief boomerang back to New York City for a few years in the mid-2000s, but I returned to Bernal Heights in 2008, full of a winter longing for backyard Meyer lemons and fresh Dungeness crab, convinced that this was my home. My girlfriend, a lifelong Californian and hometown-team fan of the Sharks, the 49ers, and the San Francisco Giants, swears by the five-year rule. After five years in a new place, she says, you have to leave old allegiances behind and adopt your new city's team as your own.

Mostly, I'll be rooting for the 49ers because I know everyone in the Bay Area will be super-excited if they win, and a Superbowl frenzy always gives a city a little lift, something to talk to strangers about in the supermarket check-out line. But I hope Eli Manning and the rest of the boys in blue give the Niners a good run, something worth munching through all those ads for Ram trucks and Coors Light.

Ah, yes, football and food. This year's 49ers are not the high-living Chardonnay-sippers of the Joe Montana era; in their blue-collar workshirts, they're following the working man's attitude of coach Jim Harbaugh. And Candlestick Park hardly offers the wine and sushi of AT&T Park, although there will be a clutch of local food trucks serving the tailgaters outside the park on Sunday (in Bud Light Plaza, naturally).

Never one to miss an East-vs.-West rivalry, food blog Serious Eats has a tongue-in-cheek scoreboard of NYC vs. SF eats, tallied in four quarters for burgers, sandwiches, pizza, and ice cream.

According to New York writer Ed Levine, NY bumps out SF in the burger category, thanks to a bunch of fancy-pants taverns and their dry-aged prime beef offerings; just hearing about the meaty glories of Marlowe, Zuni, Rosemunde's Tuesday special, and Joe's Cable Car doesn't sway a guy with Shake Shack in his backyard, apparently. There's a dual-city tie for sandwiches, with Bakesale Betty's fried chicken sammie scoring equal touchdowns with Katz's pastrami.

But wait, New York wins for "pizza diversity"? How can this be, when there's no mention made of San Francisco's great innovation, Indian pizza, the best meeting of East and West since Marco Polo brought back noodles from China? Sorry, New York, you may have an infinite number of greasy slice joints, but no one does garlicky, spicy, cilantro-y cauliflower on a cheesy crust like they do at the corner of Mission and Cortland.

We do get the edge for ice cream; even a Giants fan like Levine is forced to admit that "SF is one helluva ice cream town these days," thanks to Humphrey Slocumbe, Bi-Rite Creamery, Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous in Dogpatch, Three Twins, Ciao Bella, and Straus Creamery's excellent soft serve. And this in a place where the summer temperatures rarely cruise above 65 degrees--take that, you sweaty New Yorkers! His final foodie's score? New York wins burgers and pizza, San Francisco wins ice cream, and so New York nosh beats San Francisco eats by a single point.

For which I have one word for you, Mr. Levine: avocados. Ever tried to get a decent ripe avo in an NYC supermarket? Ever tried to find a saucer of guacamole for less than $12 in an NYC restaurant? I have, and you know what, New York City? Epic fail! Avocados grow on trees here, and it shows. Avocados, Meyer lemons, Casa Sanchez chips, Anchor Steam beer: Who's got it better than us? Nobody!

San Francisco 49ers Guacamole

Honestly, why would anyone settle for some questionable green goop in a tub when you can make your own in 10 minutes with nothing more than a bowl, a fork, and a few of our buttery, nutty California-grown avocados? If you want to go totally local, look for Bearss limes in the farmers' market. Green and lime-y when underripe, yellow and more lemony when ripe, makes a good locavore substitute for tropical-grown limes. This recipe is adapted from my kids' cookbook, Williams-Sonoma Fun Food: Kids in the Kitchen.

Photo by Stephane von Stephane

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients
2 scallions (green onions), chopped
3 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
juice of 2 limes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, minced
5 or 6 sprigs of fresh cilantro

Preparation
1. In a medium bowl, mash the avocados roughly with a fork. I like my guac a little chunky, but if you like it smoother, just keep mashing. If you're making this in quantity, a flat, waffle-style potato masher is a good tool.

2. Mix in the lime juice, salt, and cumin. Add the chopped scallion and jalapeno. Taste for seasoning.

3. If not serving right away, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the mixture to cover and refrigerate. Taste for seasoning before serving, adding more salt or lime as needed.

4. Just before serving, pinch leaves off cilantro sprigs. Mix half the leaves into the guacamole, and sprinkle the rest on top. Serve with fresh raw vegetables and/or your favorite corn chips.

The current adventure actually started ten years ago, when our friend Sylvia learned we were about to leave on a trip to Paris. She pressed $50 into my hand, begging, “You have to get me two kilos of vanille des îles at Thé Mariage Frères.” Sensing my hesitation at possibly transporting a couple of kilos of some unknown (controlled?) substance, she whispered, “Try some yourself, you’ll love it.”

Turned out my friend’s drug of choice was an intensely flavored black tea infused with incomparable vanilla from Madagascar. And to procure it, my family wandered the winding streets of the Marais district of Paris to a quaint teashop with an elegant tea salon that served swoon-worthy pastries. Our then 9-year old daughter, Lila, fell completely under the spell of Thé Mariage Frères, as did my husband and I.

Thanks to a recent work assignment of my husband’s, the three of us are back again in Paris for a week. But this time—because of Bay Area Bites—I have an appointment to interview Monsieur Loris Thibaud, the man in charge of Thè Mariage Frères, in my role as journaliste amèricaine, and 19-year old Lila (a college sophomore and art major) will be my photographer.

When we enter, the teashop is abuzz with last minute shoppers. The walls are lined with hundreds of large timeworn tins labeled with mysterious names like fleur de désir, thé des impressionnistes and rose de porcelaine, from which white-suited clerks scoop and weigh the aromatic mixtures on ancient scales.

Monsieur Thibaud greets us and leads us up the narrow staircase to the little museum where we can talk tea in relative quiet among antique pots, canisters and baskets. He shares a little history:

As the oldest beverage in the world, tea began its reign in China 5000 years ago and moved on to Japan, Persia, the Islamic world, Russia and then to Europe in the seventeenth century. In 1665, after King Louis XIV‘s doctors told him tea would benefit his digestion, the King sent brothers Nicholas and Peter Mariage to Persia and Madagascar, respectively, to sign trade agreements and gather up the magical stuff.

Several generations of Mariages stayed true to the trade of tea importing and finally in 1854, Henri and Edouard Mariage commenced wholesaling to the restaurants and hotels of Paris. But despite the venerable looking, colonial design of the tea counter, this charming retail shop only opened in 1984 and currently, there are no more Mariage family members in the business.

The French take their tea as they take their wine: quite seriously and Thè Mariage Frères prints up a list of essential rules to make their tea correctly, which might actually come in handy since their collection of teas include black, white and green varieties from over 30 countries. But their specialty is fragrant blends, created much like perfume, by combining aromas and tastes, selecting from hundreds of scents: including the leaves, flowers, bark, seeds, roots, leaf-oil and fruit of an entire arboretum of plants.

After a bit of a wait in line, Lila and I are seated in the elegant tea salon, with its custard yellow walls and potted plants, surrounded by stylish patrons and their tea-fueled chatter. We order sandwiches first: melted cheese with smoked salmon and a smoked chicken with creamy spread, both served on greenish matcha tea bread.

In fact, Mariage Frères has pioneered the art of cooking with tea and every dish on their menu incorporates some form of tea, from tea flavored jelly, to tea infused rice and vinaigrette to a tart topped with pears poached in hibiscus tea, and a chocolate cream pie featuring bergamot, the essence of Earl Grey.

Each table sports a few of their exclusively designed teapots, which encase the black or white porcelain in a silver shell to help keep the tea warm (without need for a British tea cozy). Over the years, I’ve enjoyed a number of their teas, (especially black teas with fruit, like peach, mango or black currant.) But today, Lila and I return to our first love, the intoxicating vanille des îles.

The next morning, we are up early, exploring vintage clothing shops in the cobblestoned Montmartre neighborhood where we are staying. Lila notices the welcoming window of an adorable tea spot called MILK, which stands for “Mum in her Little Kitchen.”

No way we’re going to pass that up. So we head in for a mid-morning tea and toast that eventually leads to a decadent pistachio and chocolate fondant. The table is set with pots of homemade jam in flavors like strawberry mint or spiced clementine, plus a banana, date and coconut spread. The cozy space feels exactly like we’re sitting in someone’s 1960s kitchen, with Formica dinette sets in crayola colors and flowered dishes. Owner, Deborah Habib makes all the goodies daily in her kitchen in the back of the room. Her father is our server. Habib also sells cute accessories, arranged in niches around the room, which include a motley collection of paisley aprons, mushroom magnets and kitchen elves. Luckily, Lila has her camera along to capture the photogenic bric-a-brac.

I thought this story was just going to be about Mariage Frères, but it seems to be expanding. So I tell Lila, “If we’re going do more than one tea salon, we need to do three or four.” Tea parties have actually been a recurrent theme in our lives. A china cabinet holding my grandmother’s collection of English bone china teacups and saucers resides in a treasured corner of my dining room. When she was little, Lila loved giving tea parties, first for her teddy bears and then for her friends. Sometimes, in the more turbulent teen years, a shared cup of tea from a flowery teapot could call a momentary truce on eye-rolling or nagging. Now that she is away at college in Canada most of the year, our tea sharing opportunities have dwindled. What could be better than a mutual quest for unique Parisian tea salons?

Lana, a Paris native and family friend, who is the same age as Lila, suggests our next destination, La Fourmi Ailée. The robin’s egg-blue exterior of this intimate restaurant stands out amidst the historic buildings nestled in the shadow of Nôtre Dame. Its interior resembles something out of a fairy tale, with a whimsical painted ceiling of clouds, plenty of book-lined shelves, and a row of pre-loved teapots along the windowsill. Although a full lunch menu is available, we arrive after the kitchen has closed. The tea is good, but I find the pastries a bit odd: apple streudel with mushrooms?! It’s a sweet, funky place to sit and sip tea, especially if you are in your twenties, but my taste in Parisian tea salons runs more to gracious elegance.

We end the week in style, with a visit to a glorious tea salon in the spacious dining room of a 19th century mansion that is now a museum—Musée Jacquemart-André. Nélie Jacquemart and Edouard André were avid Italian art collectors as well as husband and wife. The opulent rooms of their former residence, filled with exquisite paintings, sculptures and furnishings, provide an intimate opportunity for visitors to engage with the works of art.

In their former dining room, the walls are hung with tapestries and the space is dotted by huge flower-filled, burgundy vases, that match the floor-length drapery and thick carpet. When we are seated, the tea service is polite and refined.

I pick a luscious wedge of plum pie and Lila chooses a decadent raspberry cream tart. We drink Ceylon tea, perfumed with aromas of strawberry, cherry, raspberry and redcurrant. Outside the windows, massive stone lions guard the manicured garden. The tea is fragrant, the pastry perfect. Lila and I sigh contentedly. This is a moment to savor.

(All photos, except this one, by Lila Volkas)

It’s no secret that we're spoiled here in the Bay Area due to an abundance of artisanal, locally produced gourmet specialty foods.

So, it's not a surprise that while attending this year's massive Fancy Food Show at San Francisco’s Moscone Center many of the favorite products I tasted were produced by Bay Area purveyors.

Here are my top six recommendations:
1. Wine Lovers Chocolate by Bridge Brands Chocolate
   The folks at Bridge Brands Chocolate based in San Francisco have taken two great tastes and paired them perfectly together: wine and chocolate. Their tins of various percentages of dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate claim to pair best with different types of wine. I tasted a few of the varieties and especially liked the ones that paired with Merlot and Syrah.

   

2. Chili Lime Tequila Tortilla Brittle by Anette’s Chocolates
   This Napa based brother and sister owned company have made a name for themselves with their Chardonnay, bourbon and beer peanut brittle products that are both salty and sweet. But their newest award-winning brittle is a savory one. It’s a little citrusy, a little spicy, and has a dose of tequila, tortilla chips and roasted pumpkin seeds. It’s a very different snack that’ll surprise you with its great texture and flavors.
3. Spicy Yuba Strips and Five Spice Tofu Nuggets by Hodo Soy Beanery
   Local foodies and chefs swear by Minh Tsai’s tofu products. Hodo Soy Beanery's artisan produced, organic, non-GMO tofu is higher in protein and fat than most others, resulting in a creamier, some say superior, product. The Yuba Strips, which are the skin that forms on top of steaming soy milk, have the texture of a thin flat noodle, so it makes for a great pasta alternative. Both the Yuba Strips and the Tofu Nuggets make for zesty, full-flavored meat substitutes that have an unexpected kick. Oakland-based Hodo Soy is now selling their products at select Costco stores in California so this superior tofu will be more accessible.

   

4. Lemon Cookie Ice Cream by Three Twins Ice Cream
   Petaluma produced and Bay Area born, this company’s ice cream is exceptionally creamy, decadent, organic and doesn’t contain things you can’t pronounce. Their Lemon Cookie flavor is their most popular, even beating out the perennial favorite, vanilla. It’s a delicious combination of lemon ice cream and vanilla cream sandwich cookies. I’m drooling just thinking about it.

   

5. Midnight Moon by Cypress Grove Chevre
   This Arcata-based cheese company produces the finest goat cheese you can find. Though they’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of their most popular cheese, the Humboldt Fog variety, it’s the Midnight Moon that steals my heart every single time I taste it. It’s a hard cheese that is creamy and has a gouda-like flavor, complete with salty crystals for texture. The salty bite and lack of gamey flavor makes this versatile cheese perfect for snacking alone or in combination with other items like fresh fruit. I’ve continued to declare it one of my favorite cheeses of all time.

   

6. 20th Anniversary Celebration Tea by Republic of Tea
   This Novato-based company has come a long way in 20 years. They now feature hundreds of different varieties of teas and have come out with two new ones to celebrate their 20th birthday. The one that stands out is their Anniversary Celebration variety that boasts black tea, sweet white wine grapes, and is infused with the essence of champagne. It’s a pretty clever and unexpected flavor combination for a tea. After all, what’s a birthday without a little wine and champagne?

   

Joshua Skenes. Photo: Mark Leet

Late last November, the restaurant Saison changed its seating and concept with something called “The Switch,” which was a move meant to transform the popular restaurant into a one-seating per night affair. Chef-owner Joshua Skenes and sommelier Mark Bright wanted to bring an intimate and intuitive experience to diners in their 18-seat space, and The Switch happened on the heels of the restaurant receiving its second Michelin star -- one of only six in the San Francisco Bay Area. An announcement on this change explained the updated take: “Saison’s revolutionary Chef’s Counter Dinners embody evolving trends in both the kitchen and in technology as the experience consists of 16+ complex courses.”

Chef Skenes is from Jacksonville, Florida and was named a Food & Wine “Best New Chef” in 2011. The San Francisco Chronicle awarded Skenes a Rising Star Chef mention in 2010 and the same year Skenes was celebrated as a StarChefs.com Rising Star. Skenes got his culinary professional start when he worked full-time for Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten while attending The French Culinary Institute in New York. Skenes worked in Boston at Troquet, and with chef Anthony Ambrose at Ambrosia. Chef Skenes then arrived on the West Coast and worked as executive chef for Chez TJ, in Mountain View. Skenes opened Stonehill Tavern in Monarch Beach for Chef Michael Mina next, and from there he moved on to restaurant and recipe R&D consulting back in San Francisco. Skenes lives in the Panhandle in San Francisco, and told Bay Area Bites somewhat mysteriously that “Martial Arts, forever” is his significant other.

What’s new?
Everything continues to change. We are in the middle of a snowball of evolution. It’s exciting.

What are your favorite spots to shop and find food?
The Saturday Ferry Building market and Sunday Marin market are both quite nice.
I also go to my foraging spots in the wild, or my garden but I can’t tell you where the spots are.

What are your favorite dining spots?
Cotogna -- whatever is on the menu for the day. [Wine director] David Lynch is awesome.
Dim Sum Sunday mornings at Mayflower.
Zuni -- the drinks are especially good.

What is your guiltiest food pleasure?
Ice cream.

Any news on projects besides The Switch?
A book has been in the works, and it’s all centered around fire. (The restaurant has the only Molteni stove in San Francisco.)

What are your favorite meals to have with your family?
A Thanksgiving feast together.
Going out to Z & Y restaurant in Chinatown.

Healthy Butternut Squash Soup

There are times for luxurious butternut squash soup laced with brown butter and then there are times for a more austere version that doesn't involve homemade stock, a gaggle of aromatics, bouquet garni, and tedious straining. This isn't a knock on the former -- she's an elegant special occasion soup, and you can taste the extra fuss that goes into her. Sometimes though, you just want an everyday soup -- a practical gal that's into healthiness, nourishment, and minimum effort.

For times like these, I turn to my Healthy Butternut Squash Soup. Comforting, satisfying, zero-guilt goodness, step right up. Did I mention, it only requires 3 main ingredients? Butternut squash, onion, chicken (or vegetable) broth. How wholesome.

The recipe is simple. Cut up the butternut squash and onion, and roast until soft and delightfully caramelized. The roasting takes some time, but it's dead time -- just stick it in the oven, set a timer, and go do something else. Then, bring your broth to a simmer in a large pot, add the roasted veggies, and puree. That's it!

Finish with a drizzle of EVOO or spoonful of plain yogurt for a little extra panache. Serve with some tomato focaccia or garlicky bread sticks if you'd like. (I do.) Simple, good, healthy -- it's hard to eat this without feeling self-congratulatory.

Butternut Squash Soup and Tomato Focaccia

Healthy Butternut Squash Soup
Comforting, nourishing, zero-guilt goodness, using only 3 main ingredients. You just can't beat that.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash
1 yellow onion
32 oz. chicken (or vegetable) broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Peel, de-seed, and dice the squash into roughly 1-inch cubes (doesn't need to be perfect).

Peel and dice the onion into roughly 1-inch pieces.

Place the squash and onion onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 45-50 minutes until squash is lightly golden and fork-tender.

In a large pot, bring the broth to a simmer. Add the roasted veggies. Puree using an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor. (If using a regular blender or food processor, work in batches so that your container isn't full to the brim, and be careful not to burn yourself). Finish with a drizzle of EVOO or spoonful of plain yogurt if you'd like, and enjoy!

Caleb Zigas of La Cocina, Ruth Reichl, and Alice Waters, at the Good Food Awards.

Ruth Reichl was standing in front of a gigantic American flag hanging like a banner along the wall of the Ferry Building on Friday, January 13th. It was a backdrop worthy of any Presidential hopeful stumping for votes in the heartland, but here, the stars and stripes were evoking not just Mom and apple pie but Mom's apple pie, and maybe great-granddaddy's moonshine, and now their kids' apple-whiskey chutney and curried cauliflower pickles. It was time to welcome the room of makers and media, gathered in San Francisco for the 2nd annual Good Food Awards, a celebration of the best of artisanal food production from coast to coast.

"Most of you are too young to have grown up in the white-bread world that I did," said Reichl. Every cheese was sliced and wrapped in plastic, all strawberries were huge and tasted like cotton. This changed, slowly, through the work of pioneers like Alice Waters, sitting off to one side of the podium, as well as dozens of other food pioneers. Reichl remembered the first time she walked into The Cheeseboard, in Berkeley and was handed a taste of Laura Chenel's Sonoma-made fresh goat cheese. Reichl lived on it all that summer, and knew that she had to meet the woman making something so new (to American tastes) and so delicious. Then there was "Artists of the Earth," an article she wrote for California magazine in the early 1980s, profiling nine men and women making a difference in the food world and beyond. "They are some of California's most valuable resources," she wrote then, "...perfectionists who work very hard not because they expect to get rich but simply because they expect to get the best."

Walking through Chino Ranch with Alice a few years later, she was amazed at the quality of produce surrounding them. Corn so sweet it needed no cooking. Strawberries so intensely fragrant that every fellow traveler on the small plane she and Alice were taking from San Diego to Oakland came up and begged for a berry off the flats they were carrying in their laps. "Every person said, 'I forgot strawberries could smell like that! Please, can I just have one?'" she recounted. "And I watched Alice give away that night's dessert for Chez Panisse, because how could she say no?"

"Back then, I never could have dreamed how huge the change was going to be. We now live in a country that has the best produce in the world...We are reclaiming our edible heritage. "Thank you for giving us the America we once dreamed we could have."

After this came the awards, 99 products in eight categories (coffee, chocolate, charcuterie, pickles, preserves, cheese, beer, spirits). There were no single winners; instead, each category had a fat handful of top picks, from seven coffee roasters to 14 preserve-makers. The winners, like food-world Olympians, got medallions stamped in the shape of the tools of their trade--a cleaver, a canning jar--strung on wide red-white-and-blue ribbons to hang around their necks.

It was hard not to feel a little hometown, homestate pride at the fine showing the Bay Area, and California, made in the final running. Two local beers made the cut, at opposite ends of the brewing spectrum: from San Leandro, Drake's Brewing Company's high-alcohol, rich-as-devil's-food Drakonic Imperial Stout, and from Petaluma, the Lagunitas Brewing Company's spritzy, grapefruity ale, dubbed A Lil' Sumpin' Sumpin'. In the coffee category, Equator Coffees from San Rafael won for its fair trade/organic Ethiopian Watadera beans.

In pickles, California snagged three of the 11 winning picks, including Farmhouse Culture's Smoked Jalapeno Sauerkraut, Emmy's Pickles and Jams' Turmeric Cauliflower, and the Devil Sauce made by Let's Be Frank, of grass-fed hot-dog truck fame. (And we'll give a California hug to OlyKraut, which was founded by Sash Sunday, a former San Franciscan who got into the kraut biz shortly after relocating to Olympia, WA. Plus, she makes nettle kraut!)

OlyKraut, from left: Sash Sunday, Alexia Crousnillon, Nate Massé (not pictured: Summer Bock)

We tied with New York in the cutthroat preserves category, winning for Artisan Preserves' Orange Honey Marmalade, Chez Pim's Blueberry-Golden Raspberry Preserves, and Wine Forest Wild Foods' Wild Elderberry Shrub.

Wylie Whiskey, from left: Matt Jones, Garrett Hale, Sarah Swearington.

It's a cascade of riches from our part of the Golden State: Costa Rican chocolate bars from Dandelion Chocolate in SF; white whiskey from Wylie Howell Spirits in Petaluma; Carmody (my favorite!) and whole-milk ricotta from Bellwether Farms in West Marin; yogurt cheese from Sonoma's St. Benoit, pork, rabbit, and duck terrine from Fatted Calf in SF and Napa; speck from Oakland wine bar/salumeria Adesso.

Dandelion Chocolate: Alice Nystrom, Todd Masonis

Come the next morning, many of the previous night's winners were out in force at the Good Food Awards Marketplace, a tasting/selling spread of tables organized by category set up under the archways of the Ferry Building. Reichl, who now runs the specialty food (and content) site Gilt Taste, was on hand with a keen appetite, even after a late-night dinner with Alice and friends at Locanda in the Mission. Already, she's tried the chilaquiles and shrimp ceviche at the Primavera market stand, and tells me, joyfully, of the "best breakfast sandwich" she's ever had, from 4505 Meats: a soft, buttery brioche bun piled with a maple-bacon sausage patty, an oozy-centered fried egg, and a frizz of snappy peppercress. Speaking of her talk the previous night, she laughed at the thought of trying to profile just eight makers now. "At the time, it was hard to find even eight people, enough to write about. I had to include a produce distributor, a guy who was raising pigs and lambs for Chez Panisse. Now, that would be ridiculous. You'd have to write an encyclopedia!"

If anything, she thinks we're underestimating the strength and staying power of the artisan movement. Already, the food makers' landscape has changed drastically in just the past five years. In the next five, ten years, what will it look like?

Kathryn Lukas of Farmhouse Culture

There's no doubt, though, that the movement is fostering ever-closer relationships between chefs, makers and farmers. These products, from basil vodka to sea-vegetable kraut, are only as good as their raw ingredients. Recounting a cabbage blight that decimated the California crop last year, Farmhouse Culture founder Kathryn Lukas quoted Let's Be Frank's Larry Bain, laughing, "It's hard when you're in business with God."

Preserves and Pickles -- Good Food Awards. Photo: James Collier

It's the second year for the Seedling Projects' Good Food Awards -- winners announced tonight at a gala at San Francisco's Ferry Building -- and BAB contributor Karen Solomon gives us an inside peek into the national food contest, which features sustainable foods made with real, authentic ingredients by local producers.

The concept behind the food competition is to highlight best in show in various edible categories from five regions of the country, this year prizes will go to makers of beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, pickles, preserves, and -- a new area -- spirits.

As was the case last year, many Bay Area food makers are in the finalists' circle, including Lagunitas Brewing Company (a lil' sumpin' sumpin'), Cafe Rouge (duck pate), Bellwether Farms (carmody and whole milk ricotta), Sightglass Coffee (Ethiopian shakiso), Emmy's Pickles & Jams (turmeric cauliflower), and Chez Pim (blueberry and golden raspberry jam).

Dozens of judges served as blind tasters; there were 926 entries from 46 states. Last year 71 producers won the honor of adding a Good Food Awards label to their products.

We spoke with Solomon, the author of Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It and Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It, about the awards.

What's your role with the Good Food Awards and why are you involved?

This year I was a committee member in the pickles category. We helped figure out the criteria for judging. Last year, the first of the awards, I was involved from the beginning with both the pickles and preserves committees. Additionally, I was a judge in the pickles category and a co-presenter for the awards in that area. For me, anything that spotlights the achievements of conscientious food artisans is a worthy cause. I like to see the little guy win big.

What kind of criteria are judges looking (and tasting) for in this contest?

When we judge pickles, we look for balanced, quality products that reflect their excellent ingredients. We want full flavor, but not too biting. We want a welcoming appearance. And for me personally, I want the integrity of the vegetables to be in tact. I hate mushy pickles!

There are a lot of Bay Area finalists again -- is that a reflection of this region as a mecca for food producers or the simple fact that the awards are based here?

I think it's a little of both. Since the event happens here, so locally we'll have the most fuel for the fire. And while the awards are spread over numerous divisions across the country, it's undeniable that a lot of great artisan food comes from here. The Bay Area has the right combination of interest, size, a year-round growing season, and affluence to support those undertaking artisan food.

How does a Good Food Awards winner label help food artisans?

I think it draws attention to a product on the shelf. It reflects the quality under the cap.

Slightly off topic question: Have you seen the Portlandia segment "We Can Pickle That!" and what do you make of it? Is it a cruel poke at a recently rediscovered Domestic Art, a bit of food-related fun, a sign that pickling is on its way to becoming a mainstream practice again, all of the above, or something else entirely?

I have mixed feelings about it. Of course it's funny and I'm a total sucker for such great humor. The clip and the website have been all over social media within canning circles, and most of us are laughing. Still, it stings a bit -- no hipster, no matter how aging one may be, wants to think he or she is a tired joke.

Details:

GOOD FOOD AWARDS RECEPTION

The Good Food Awards ceremony is tonight, Friday, January 13, at San Francisco’s Ferry Building. A limited number of tickets are available for Gilt City members. The catered reception will be hosted by Ruth Reichl.

Time: 8:00pm-10:00pm
Location: San Francisco Ferry Building
Price: $100
Tickets: Good Food Awards or Gilt City

GOOD FOOD AWARDS MARKETPLACE

On Saturday, January 14, there's an opportunity to taste the award-winning products by sustainable food producers from around the country, including Colorado cheesemakers, Utah chocolatiers, and Ohio picklers.

Time: 8:00am-2:00pm (8:00am-9:00am Exclusive Tasting)
Location: San Francisco Ferry Building
Tickets: Exclusive Tasting: $12 through Gilt City, General Admission: $5 at the door, Beer and Spirits Garden: $12 for 5 tastings, or Good Food Awards.

I love treasure hunts, especially if cultural adventure and sampling delectable goodies are involved, so I was eager to join Edible Excursions’ new Japantown tour. Although I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to Japanese cuisine, epicurean concierge, Lisa Rogovin introduced me to a novel set of sweet and savory yummies hiding in plain sight.

The former ad exec for Gourmet Magazine, whose company provides tasting tours of the Mission, Ferry Building and Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto, was recently asked by Japantown’s Merchant Association to add a tour of the 4-block area centered on Post and Buchanan. After having done her cultural homework, Lisa ushered a half dozen of us through the warrens of a pair of concrete mall structures that anchor Japantown, as well as some surrounding streets in order to educate and tantalize our taste buds.

Surprisingly, our outing began with a non-Japanese beverage, a warm sweet potato latte at Yakiniq Café, where owner Christy Hwang serves the traditional Korean comfort drink, made with sweet potato, syrup and foamed milk. Lisa informed us that besides Japanese shops and restaurants, Japantown encompasses a few Korean dining spots and even a Danish Bakery.

As we sipped our hot drinks in the funky, art-lined café, Lisa issued a gentle warning, “This will be three and a half hours of eating; so pace yourselves.” That caveat was promptly forgotten as soon as we drained our cups of foamy liquid.

On our walk to our next stop, Lisa gave us a short rundown on the history of Japantown, which began to take shape just after the 1906 earthquake when Japanese San Franciscans needed a place to gather for community support. At its height, it stretched for 36 blocks until WWII internment orders emptied the thriving neighborhood, uprooting its residents and merchants. After the war, many came back to rebuild their lives. In 1968, an urban renewal project bulldozed old Victorians and erected the imposing concrete buildings still at its center, whose fortress-like exterior may seem daunting to uninitiated visitors.

One artifact from the original Japantown that is very much alive is Benkyodo, an unassuming little diner and bakery, that makes traditional fresh mochi confections.

This family business opened in 1906, and is now run by brothers Ricky and Robert Okamura, grandsons of the original owner. Entering their long narrow café, we discovered a split personality: the right side features a low orange Formica counter, matching leatherette bar stools and a Coca Cola menu board with changeable red and black plastic letters that dates from the 50s. Fare and prices also seem to be frozen in time (hot dog $3.15, hamburger $3.10)—just the thing to attract a cadre of regulars. The left side is dominated by the bakery case, which on this late December Friday attracted a crowd of shoppers, standing in line to buy special handmade mochi and manju pastries for the New Year. We sampled chubby, chewy rice flour orbs filled with sweet red beans or blueberries.

Sadly, our next stop was a piece of Japantown history that was just about to close after 105 years in business, Uoki K. Sakai market. There we tasted an earthy hijiki seaweed salad and crunchy burdock and carrot salad from their deli while Lisa clued us in on preparing sushi rice using rice vinegar powder sold at the store. There are two other markets still left in Japantown.

From the oldest businesses, we transitioned to visit the latest addition to Japantown, the New People complex, a narrow, stylish white edifice which houses the SF Film Society, a café and retail stores such as Sou-Sou for tabi (divided shoes and socks) with bold fabric designs and Baby the Stars Shine Bright for Lolita frilly pink dresses.

We stopped downstairs at Onigilly for an updated version of the ubiquitous Japanese finger food, onigiri, balls or triangles of white rice wrapped in seaweed, which may be stuffed with pickled plum or cooked salmon. In Japan, these portable meals are sold in train stations, convenience stores and are as much a part of bento lunchboxes as our PB&J sandwiches.

Onigilly (a play the American pronunciation of onigiri) is the creation of Koji Kanematsu, the first male to go through La Cocina’s food business incubator program. He updated the traditional snacks using brown rice and fillings such as eggplant, hijiki and spicy scallop, as well as the traditional pickled plum. Onigilly also operates a food cart in Justin Herman Plaza and other locations around town.

After this substantial snack and a quick tour of the trendy shops in New People, we headed across the street to the Japan Center. As we entered the busy mall, Lisa, an engaging and knowledgeable guide who was inspired by her own cultural curiosity, told us, “You’ll notice we won’t be having any sushi, tempura or teriyaki today. I want to introduce you to new things and demystify some Japanese dishes that might be unfamiliar to you.”

Our eating adventure continued at Mifune Don, where we sat down for another mainstay of real Japanese cooking that is not commonly known to foreigners. Okonomiyaki is called a “savory pancake” but the name literally means “what you like” and is a tasty way to use leftovers. These large grilled discs usually contain some combination of eggs, shredded yam, cabbage, meat, or seafood, topped with a special brown sauce and squiggles of Japanese mayonnaise. They are sprinkled with bonita shavings, whose eerie 3-D undulations seemed to be waving at me, inviting me to partake in this hearty, vegetable griddlecake. My first okonomiyaki was a satisfying discovery and definitely will not be my last.

Then our group of locals and out of state visitors shifted into an intense assault on sweetness, starting with a neon-hued, mini Geisha float—green tea ice cream topped with red beans, green tea syrup and red mochi cubes at Carol Murata’s Café Hana.

For our second dessert, we strolled over to May’s Coffee Shop, run by Carol’s mother May Murata since 1973, to sample taiyaki, a fish-shaped sweet with a long history. In Japanese culture, the sea bream is considered a symbol of good luck and these distinctively shaped pastries are made by pouring waffle-like batter into metal molded trays and topping with red beans, chocolate or other fillings. The two halves of the fish are then folded together and cooked until golden brown. They originated in Tokyo in 1909.

Full of lucky fish pastries, we ducked into Nippon-Ya, a stylish shop specializing in omiyage, the artfully wrapped regional specialties that Japanese visitors commonly bring back from their travels for friends and co-workers. Beautifully boxed mochi in fruit flavors, plus cookies, tea and other souvenirs from all over Japan are their most popular selections. We were offered tastes of creamy chocolate mochi.

On our way out of the building Lisa pointed out shops that carry stickers, stationery and fashion and then impossibly announced that it was time for lunch. A 3-course lunch at that, with wakame, a slippery green seaweed salad, a pair of mini gyozas and a big bowl of steaming nabeyaki noodle soup with vegetables, fish cake, chicken, shrimp tempura and udon or soba noodles. The key ingredient of the soup is the dashi flavored broth and Mifune Bistro’s dashi had a strong, clear taste.

As I waddled out after lunch, much wiser and definitely much fuller than before I started the tour, I made mental note of the dozen new tastes I’d sampled, and wondered if this is how sumo wrestlers begin to build their girth.

Edible Excursions' Japantown tour is offered every Friday and the second Saturday of the month, from 11-2:30, for $85. Itinerary may vary.

Oftentimes the best, most successful businesses are those born from an understanding of a lack of something in a particular neighborhood. Such was the case with the Oaktown Spice Shop, John Beaver and Erica Perez's charming new spice shop in the Grand/Lakeshore neighborhood of Oakland. The first thing you'll notice about the space, once a men's clothing and shaving boutique, is the distinctly handsome aesthetic. The fixtures and shelving are all salvaged, and John searched high and low and pulled from his own personal collection to find the vintage scales and spice jars you'll see scattered about. It's the kind of space where each detail has been tended to, and you can sense right away that everything is in its rightful place. In that way, it feels very special. Very well-crafted. Very welcoming.

A Peek Inside Oaktown Spice Shop

During my time there, I tasted two different kinds of cinnamon, and smelled the freshest cumin and coriander I've ever come across. I also learned about Tellicherry black peppercorns, which John described as fully ripened with a more refined flavor than traditional black peppercorn. When I told him I wasn't aware there were so many kinds of peppercorns, he likened the difference to varieties of tomatoes and how drastically they can differ in taste. After talking with John for just a moment, you realize you're dealing with a man who really knows his spices and blends. From the common to the more obscure, you're in good hands here.

Star Anise and Nutmeg

When John found out I was a baker, we chatted all about different varieties of cinnamon and vanilla, and I'm so looking forward to trying them out in apple and pear pies. If you're used to buying bulk spices at Whole Foods or other upscale grocery stores you're going to notice two things right away when you walk into Oaktown Spice Shop: first the prices are far better. Second, the spices are far, far fresher. You can open up the jars and take a sniff and it's possible that you won't even recognize some familiar spices you use often. This happened to me pretty quickly. New Year's Resolution #62.

Spice Graters & Rows of Spices

As far as where they get their high-quality selection, John and Erica don't directly import any spices themselves; they work with distributors they know and trust, and have spices and herbs from all over the world including India, Africa, China, and the Mediterranean. When asked what the most popular spice has been so far, John doesn't hesitate to answer that the smoked paprikas practically sell themselves. Perhaps it's because such ingredients are being listed in more and more recipes these days or maybe because they're smartly displayed right by the register. Regardless, locals are snatching them up. Big time.

Smoked paprika shelf!

While they hold normal business hours now, they used to just be open on Saturdays while they worked out the kinks and got everything situated just right. Now that they're fully operational, John and Erica are starting to think about ways they can continue to reach out to the community and get people excited about spices. Erica and I talked about the possibility of having a booth at the farmers market, but for now they're taking things one step at a time.

Owners of the Oaktown Spice Shop helping customers: John Beaver and Erica Perez

When I asked how on earth you fall into the spice business, John mentioned how he used to work at a spice shop back in Milwaukee, where he's from, and couldn't stop thinking about opening a shop here upon moving to Oakland.

Cinnamon...and even more spices!

The neighborhood was a logical choice as the couple lives close by. But it was also a good business decision. There is strong foot traffic and being so close to the Farmers Market, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's inserts them into a dynamic food community with interested and eager customers who enjoy cooking, baking, and expanding their horizons. It's a win-win for everyone. And after a brief visit to the Oaktown Spice Shop last week, it's going to be an ongoing win for John and Erika.

Oaktown Spice Shop
530 Grand Ave., Oakland, CA 94610
(510) 201-5400

Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 12pm-7pm
Saturday: 10am-5pm
Sunday: 12pm-4pm
Closed Mondays

Website is still under construction; like them on Facebook to keep up to date.