Chef Ravi Kapur, formerly of Boulevard and Prospect, brings his homegrown version of ohana (Hawaiian for 'family') to a pop-up restaurant he is calling Liholiho Yacht Club. The pop-up is happening at Citizen's Band in San Francisco for a total of four Monday nights. I attended the second dinner and there are two more scheduled with a possibility for additional ones in the future. The menu pulls from dishes that Kapur created with his friends in mind: the idea being to bring people together, eat family style, and enjoy each others company—without having to be an 'over-the-top-foodie experience.'
“In Hawaii, everyone seems to cook. It's a function of survival. Cooking isn't intimidating.” Kapur brings the easiness of his native Oahu to his menu, with dishes like tender pulehu beef tongue and smoked tako (octopus) easily shared between friends. Discussing the idea behind the pop-up, Kapur says, “I'm cooking with flavors I grew up with and not having to fit my inspiration into a fine-dining context.”
Though the food intentionally steers away from being 'fine dining,' the decade that Kapur spent as chef de cuisine at Boulevard and then executive chef at Prospect is evident in the dishes' execution: they look simple, but each of them has multiple ingredients that have been lovingly prepared for days before the pop-up: kimchi to accompany the main courses fermenting in the kitchen, three kinds of radishes pickling before being sliced onto appetizers, sugar caramelizing for the short-rib glaze.
Liholiho Yacht Club’s menu is fixed price, with no substitutions, set at $65 per person which includes tax and tip. The price tag might seem hefty, but considering that both the appetizer and the entrée courses include five dishes per person, there are two desserts, and all of the ingredients are high quality, your full belly will thank you after you 'grind'(Hawaiian slang for 'eats').
Sitting down at a cozy table at Citizen's Band, the first noticeable feature is the relaxed atmosphere. Even the servers have warm Hawaiian smiles and Mauna Loa music plays through the speakers. Tables are filled with groups of friends "talking story."
"When I was just on Maui, I was talking story, I mean 'hanging out' (he quickly corrects himself for my Californian ears) with my Uncle George," Kapur said. "He was telling me about how when he was younger, and racing Hobie Cats, he and his friends would throw parties to pay for their supplies. They would go down to the beach and throw a party--fire up the grill, ice down the beer, and get a band to play," reminisces Kapur. "They would charge a modest price--the intention was to make enough money to allow them to do what they loved. They realized they needed a name for their 'organization' and he lived on Liholiho street so decided to name it Liholiho Yacht Club. I loved the name and the idea: to throw a party to allow you to keep doing what you love."
About the future of the pop-up, Kapur says there is "no grand plan, no long term goal," though he expresses admiration for Citizen's Band owner Chris Beerman for "taking care of his neighborhood first," and says one day he hopes to be able to do the same in the neighborhood he's lived in for 15 years: the Mission.
Ravi Kapur hanging with a table of diners at LLYC.
I’d recommend dining at Liholiho with a few friends. Portions are adjusted for smaller parties, but there’s something so inviting about the platters of Asian-influenced Hawaiian soul food. The Korean-style fried quail with a red Fresno chile barbecue sauce is especially noteworthy. The idea of digging into platefuls of soy-date glazed shortribs, fermented-miso sauced Brussels sprouts, and thin, tenderly-grilled beef tongue is even more appealing when you’re with a few friends, washing it all down with several communal bottles of Sapporo or Asahi beer.
The dishes for each course arrived all together, the five dishes took up most of the room on the table. The appetizer course dishes consisted of: small bites of potatoes in a white-miso vinaigrette, finished with steelhead roe and crispy potato skins; cold roasted sunchokes with large, dried nori flakes on a stripe of seaweed "ranch"; spicy clams in a red Thai curry sauce peppered with crispy strips of pig ears and larger chunks of the ear meat floating in the broth; and pungent house-smoked tako, cut nicely by spicy pickled radishes, sesame oil, and plenty of sesame seeds to give the dish a nice crunch that offsets the soft tako.
Don't eat a late lunch before dining at Liholiho Yacht Club, you'll want to save plenty of room for the deep-fried half-quail and the sweetly salty pork ribs. The vegetable sides accompanying the dishes have a fermented tang to them, and everything is self-served over a bed of sticky shiitake rice that's been steamed in a lotus leaf, Chinese-style.
“The food I'm cooking is very personal and influenced strongly by my childhood,” says Kapur on a Sunday afternoon as he brines pig ears that will eventually get thin-sliced and deep-fried to accompany a steaming bowl of clams during the appetizer course. “There's a lot of nostalgia on the menu. Eating smoked tako is one of my earliest food memories. Malasadas...they're everywhere. The ones I looked forward to the most were at the Punahou School carnival... that's the school Obama went to!”
The Greenwood/Phinney Ridge neighborhood in Seattle is rich with great coffee shops, artisan ice cream, cafes, burger joints, neighborhood bars, antique stores -- even a Tibetan monastery. It is quite strollable, charming, and easy to get around. Next time you're in Seattle, it's time to venture away from downtown into some of the Northern neighborhoods, and this is as good a place to start as any. When traveling, there's such an inclination to start with the main tourist sites (The Space Needle, Carkeek Park, Discovery Park, The Ballard Locks) and those things are all wonderful. But much like San Francisco, Seattle is a city built around its neighborhoods. Not many folks live right smack downtown and the neighborhoods offer such rich history, lively cafes, libraries, zoos, and new small businesses. It's time to branch out, and Greenwood/Phinney (or Phinneywood as its often called) is the best place I can think of to start.
Chocolati European-style Hot chocolate at Chocolati
This local chain of chocolate shop/coffee bars opened in 2000 and now they have locations in Greenwood, Greenlake, Wallingford, and inside the Seattle Public Library. I've fallen pretty hard for Chocolati, largely because of their cream truffles (made with fresh cream and dark or milk chocolate and very little else) and European-style drinking chocolate. They sell their hot chocolate in bulk to take home, and do traditional espresso drinks and drip coffee as well. The Greenwood location just got their beer and wine license, so it's also a nice mellow spot to come in the evening and wind down with a glass of Cabernet. During the day, Chocolati is, hands down, the best place in Greenwood to get a little reading or studying done: there is ample table space, good light, and a warm wintery ambiance that lends itself well to settling in with a book from the library across the street.
Hot Chocolate and Truffles at Chocolati
To visit: Chocolati
8319 Greenwood Avenue North
Seattle, Washington 98103
(206) 783-7078
Hours: Monday - Saturday: 7:30 am - 11:00 pm
Sunday: 9:00 am-11:00 pm
Phinney Market
Phinney Market is the kind of place you wish would open in your neighborhood. They offer morning coffee, light pastries and egg sandwiches to begin the day and graduate to a cafe-style lunch menu, and a more substantial dinner service. The space is large and bright, with high ceilings, a long bar and a big communal table. On a typical day, there are Phinney Ridge moms and kids, young couples on dates, and neighborhood folks taking a reprieve from the demands of the day. And this is the place to do it--food wise, everything is solid.
Caleb's Blue Burger with Painted Hills Beef
The blue cheese burger served on a Macrina brioche bun is perfectly juicy with just the right amount of blue cheese and mushrooms, and the House Beef Chili served with sour cream and and a wedge of baguette is filling on the coldest of February afternoons.
Phinney Market's Beef Chili
And from 3-5 p.m. they offer Happy Hour prices on some of their most popular dishes, making something like the 1/4 pound burger a mere $4! With local roasters True North coffee and local beers like Hilliards and Iron Horse this is a place you not only want to support because the food is so darn good, but you feel good doing so, too.
A la Mode Pie
There is a surprising lack of good pie in Seattle. I haven't quite figured out why seeing that there is certainly no lack of coffee shops and tea bars. But the pie landscape is certainly getting better ever since A la Mode Pie opened on Phinney Ridge. Previously an online delivery service, the demand became too great and owner Chris Porter decided to take the plunge and open a shop.
Seemingly Endless Choices at A la Mode Pie
A la Mode offers at least 10-12 flavors of pie at any one time, with seasonal variations making an appearance on any given day. Customers can purchase pie by the slice, as well as whole 9" pies which are made-to-order using organic, locally-sourced fruits.
Apple Pear Pie
As an apple pie aficionado, I have to say that their Apple Pear Pie is quite good. It's made of sweet, tart Washington apples and organic D’Anjou pears with a little freshly grated ginger, and a dash of cinnamon. Where some apple pies tend towards a soggy bottom crust, A la Mode's apple pear pie has a crust that's perfectly crisp from the top down and a filling that's spiced just enough (not too much cinnamon and a slight hand with the ginger). The apples and pears remain slightly crisp, and the crust is buttery and flaky. This is a very fine slice of pie, indeed.
A Big Wedge of Peanut Butter Pie
The slice of peanut butter pie was wonderful as well, although this one is really meant for sharing: rich, dense peanut butter filling topped with a light chocolate frosting sprinkled with chopped peanuts. It begs for a cup of coffee which they have plenty of along with comfortable seating, good people-watching, and even pints of Bluebird ice cream to take home with you.
To visit: A la Mode Pie
5821 Phinney Ave N (across from the Zoo)
Seattle, WA
(206) 383-3796
Hours: 7am-7pm, daily
Herkimer Coffee
Herkimer Coffee says that their "purpose is to create a coffee experience of the highest possible quality." Within this mission, they sell wholesale and have two retail shops. The Greenwood shop is light and airy with a variety of espresso drinks and pastries (including Mighty O Donuts!). For anyone pondering Herkimer for wholesale, they offer individualized cuppings so the subtleties and nuances of each bean and roast can be experienced and understood. Their website offers excellent Home Brewing Tips and a nice Roaster's Blog that details the different flavor profiles of coffees they've recently brought in. While it does tend to be young kid/parent central here (not really the best place to read or study, especially on the weekends), I'm always struck with how affordable Herkimer is. Each espresso drink comes with 2 shots, so a small latte starts at just $2.68. This makes a traveling wallet or a local Seattle wallet very happy, indeed.
To visit: Herkimer Coffee
7320 Greenwood Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98103
(206) 784-0202
Hours: Mon-Fri 6am-6pm; Sat-Sun 7am-6pm
Bluebird
On a cold February day, ice cream may seem like an unlikely choice. Unless, of course, you realize that if you waited for the perfect, hot ice cream day in Seattle it could be a long wait. And at Bluebird, you're met with uber-creamy, irresistible flavors including the CB Peanut Butter made with fresh roasted organic Valencia peanuts, Chocolate Pudding, or the Elysian Stout made from Dragon's Tooth Stout, brewed next door at The Elysian Brewery. Or perhaps a hand-crafted milkshake and a board game is more your style? Regardless, Bluebird uses all-natural dairy from local Washington and Oregon cows, and they're constantly experimenting with new, seasonal flavor combinations (forcing you to visit often). As if that weren't enough, there are rumors of a back patio and a beer license so they can start doing dessert floats in the summer. All good things.
To visit: Bluebird
7400 Greenwood Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98103
206-588-1079
Hours: Daily 12:00 pm to 10:00 pm Summer Hours:
Sunday - Thursday 12:00pm - 10:00pm
Friday & Saturday 12:00pm - 11:00pm
Jonny Raglin and fellow Saloon Keeper Jeff Hollinger partnered with Bill Russell-Shapiro’s The Absinthe Group to open Comstock Saloon on the ever-busy corner of Pacific and Columbus Avenues in North Beach in 2009. Raglin and Hollinger created the bar program, and chef Carlo Espinas handles the classic menu: Hangtown toast, beef shank & bone marrow pot pie, and house made Cheddar crackers with pepper jelly. Comstock’s design, menus and staff uniform all reflect an earlier era, and the building’s history can be dated to 1907.
Raglin is from Harrah, Oklahoma and got his start at the Cajun restaurant Pearl's Oyster Bar while attending the University of Central Oklahoma. After graduating, he traveled to Europe and worked in Irish pubs. In 2001, he began working at Stars, where he learned from Dan McCracken “how to make proper cocktails with fresh juices and seasonal ingredients.” After Stars closed in 2003, he joined Incanto and worked with Chef Chris Cosentino. The next year, Raglin joined Absinthe Brasserie & Bar’s bar team, and began working with Hollinger to develop culinary-like cocktails inspired by the classics. From 2005 to 2009, he oversaw Absinthe’s bar program as Bar Manager. He designed cocktail menus for Nopa, DOSA and Maverick, through his own company, Proper Potion Consulting.
Raglin is a member of the United States Bartender’s Guild association. In 2007, he was selected as a StarChefs “Rising Star Bar Chef.” He lives in Bernal Heights with his wife Sara Spearin of Dynamo Donuts fame, and their two sons, Henry and Arlo. Raglin met Spearin at Stars, where she was the pastry chef and they have been married for six years. On a recent visit, Raglin crafted a Bamboo cocktail (recipe below) on a Free Lunch Friday at Comstock, which was paired with a Scotch egg salad. The free lunch promotion means anyone who buys two adult beverages can try Chef Espina’s lunch plate for free; other recent offerings in the rotation were fried chicken with mashed potatoes and chicken and dumplings.
What was it like having Anthony Bourdain visit Comstock for his TV show, The Layover?
We’ve been very busy ever since and we were already busy. Right after the show aired we had to hold the door on weekends. The Layover is one of the better shows because it’s for tourists who specifically travel to eat and drink.
What do you think about the mixologist label?
It’s a really old term. I don’t call myself that. I don't think it’s a bad word. I’ve bartended for 16 years now and always considered myself a bartender. Why would I change that? Everyone wants to talk about the esoteric ingredients in their drink rather than talk about life.
How do you divide Comstock’s Twitter duties @ComstockSaloon?
It goes to whoever’s on duty. We do twitter throughout the week, mainly to say what the free lunch item is [for Friday].
What are your favorite eating spots?
Sara and I work very opposite hours. It’s a lot of handoff. Our son is in preschool now, so there’s not a lot of date night going on. We manage our time and bank account these days.
What are your favorite spots to shop for food?
I like Good Life Grocery, Whole Foods and fish from Mission Market. We supplement most everything with biweekly trips to Trader Joe's. There are some things that Trader Joe’s does well and ultimately it’s the price that wins out. When we lived on Capp Street before moving to Bernal, we lived at Rainbow for their discount days, and we used those Rainbow phone book coupons. Living in Bernal, you’ve got to get in a car.
What’s new with Proper Potion Consulting?
Ever since Jeff and I opened up Comstock, I haven’t had much time. When I do some consultation, it’s kind of cool because I get to know about places before they open.
What is your guiltiest food pleasure?
I’m not guilty but bacon is probably my biggest one. I’m not the type that wants bacon on everything, but I do want three bacon strips a day. And Bourbon Whisky. That is a pleasure I should definitely feel guilty about.
Any news for 2012?
This year we’ll travel to Maine, near the Canadian border. We own a portion of a family cabin and have been doing a remodel. It will be Arlo’s first time. We didn’t take a vacation last year.
We’re anticipating having an even busier year because there will be a Dynamo kiosk at Crissy field. [Mayor] Ed Lee is our landlord, so as soon as we get the papers signed, it should happen. We thought we’d be running by spring. There will be two deliveries a day, and production will still be in the Mission.
What is it like running Comstock?
Jeff and I had thoughts on what the space would be: a classic spot where you can dress up and have fun. We continue to come back to the end commodity, which is fun. I would never recommend to anyone to open a restaurant, kids or not. The risks involved here in the city are great. Maybe in another city. It’s a lot cheaper to do business in the East Bay. Here, it’s high rents, high utilities and health insurance. If you saw what our water bill was here, it’s crazy. A lot of doing business here is about labor and healthcare. As a company, we just offer full health benefits via Kaiser. I think it’s great to offer healthcare.
For the future, we’ve talked about eventually opening something more foodcentric, like a café.
Which places do you watch and visit?
I see so much more comfort cuisine in San Francisco. New York has these amazing fine dining restaurants and fine pizza slices with very few mid-range places. San Francisco has embodied more variety for a long time. There is Benu, which is very successful. Then you have Ron Siegel at Parallel 37 now doing something much more approachable.
The really cool one who was able to diversify is Commonwealth. Valencia Street blows me away. We ate at Tacolicious and it’s awesome. All that tequila? That makes me happy. Their fried fish taco was so good. No one’s really trying that here. In Southern California, they do fried tacos well, but here?
I go to Mr. Bing’s because it’s right across the street from Comstock.
Family photo -- biking at Ocean Beach. Courtesy of Jonny Raglin
What is your favorite meal to have with your family?
Most often, we cook at home. Our culinary extravagances have definitely toned down. Last night, I took chicken roulade home from here [Comstock], which was awesome. Carlo’s food is not delicate so it travels well. It still tasted great. My youngest will eat about anything. The older one has food allergies and is very picky, but he’ll eat the bacon donut [from Dynamo Donuts.] I raised the boys on bacon because I do the mornings with them. Honestly, before Sara, I wasn’t that great around the stove. Now I feel confident with my skills. All it takes is Fatted Calf bacon to make us happy.
Bamboo Cocktail: courtesy of Liza Gershman
1.5 oz. medium dry Amontillado sherry (we use Pemartin)
1.5 oz. dry vermouth (we use Sutton Cellars)
1 dash Angostura bitters
garnish with a twist of lemon.
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir for about 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish. Serve.
P.S. Keep your sherry and vermouth refrigerated for optimum freshness.
Much ado has been made of the new permanent home of Wise Sons -- the first Jewish deli in the Mission and, arguably, the only Jewish deli in San Francisco worth eating. The powerful but petite eatery’s proprietors, Evan Bloom and Leo Beckerman, have become local media darlings, featured everywhere from a fiery hot chef competition, to blogs, newspapers, and upcoming in Sunset magazine and perhaps on local TV show Dine and Dish. I myself, giddy after finding the long-craved 2nd Avenue Deli-quality eats of my people, gushed about them in this public love letter earlier this year.
But while the excitement of the experience has tongues wagging (mmmm…could we get some tongue on the menu, please?) what has not been fully explored is the uncompromising heritage and quality of the food. “We’re not a factory,” explains Beckerman. “We’re all about education -- keeping this food and this culture alive and sharing it. The level of attention and detail we put into our work,” -- brining and smoking the meat, baking the rye, preserving the pickles and jams, and making every single thing in-house from scratch or buying from top-quality local purveyors who do so -- “this is truly slow food. That’s what people deserve.”
Wise Sons interior. Photo by Stephanie Rosenbaum
Bloom and Beckerman grew dissatisfied with their careers in construction management (Bloom) and non-profit medical development (Beckerman), and came together because of their love for food. Through kitchen experimentation and recipe development, the menu is a continuing work in progress. Its influences come from a number of sources -- the glossy cookbooks of Joan Nathan and Secrets of a Jewish Baker, as well as spiral-bound DIY cookbooks from synagogues, Jewish community centers, temple sisterhoods and the like, “each featuring six different recipes for Matzo Ball Soup, all slightly different, as well as Mrs. Schmendrick’s Husband’s Favorite Soup,” says Beckerman.
The Wise Sons menu also owes a huge debt to Oliver, a family friend who was monumental in developing the house recipe for bialys (“Ollie’s Bialys,” quips Beckerman), as well as hand-written recipes on 3x5 index cards from Beckerman’s grandmother’s recipe file. “I went through that box with her before she passed away and asked her if I could take the ones I wanted. That was a nice passing on of recipes.”
Nothing served, however, is verbatim of any written formula, family-derived or otherwise. The challah is on the sweet side, and even though Wise Sons is not a kosher eatery, they opt out of butter in the recipe to keep it parve. And because it’s 2012, it’s topped with flaked sea salt just to make it awesome. And while Beckerman, who oversees most of the baking while Bloom takes on the meat and the savories, wanted to make his grandmother’s babke with nuts, raisins, and meringue, they opted for chocolate instead. “We ended up going in a different direction,” says Beckerman. “As soon as you put in nuts and raisins, it narrows down the audience. People have allergies.” Right. This is, after all, San Francisco and not the 1947 Lower East Side.
The brisket for the pastrami and corned beef is cut to Wise Sons’ specifications by Creekstone Farms in Kansas. But why not use what’s local and grass fed? Beckerman unapologetically explains, “The truth is that we found out that grass fed animals are much smaller and too lean, and the pastrami doesn’t come out as nice. There aren’t enough cows in the Bay Area to do what we do,” -- which, on an average Tuesday at their Ferry Building kiosk, can easily mean 150-200 lbs. of beef and still a lengthy line-up of customers craving Reubens.
Photo: Stephanie Rosenbaum
Beckerman and Bloom’s brand loyalty for ingredients is unbending. The chicken soup starts with Mary’s or Fulton Valley. The matzo and matzo meal is Streits. The flour is Giusto’s. And, true story: I wanted to buy a whole babke to send to my mother for Chanukah last December, but I was out of luck because the particular Guittard chocolate used in the recipe -- E. Guittard 72 percent cacao -- wasn’t available. And rather than settle for a chocolate substitute, Beckerman told me, there just wasn’t going to be any. This is the same reason you’ll only find bagels on Saturdays -- when Beauty's can deliver them. “I’d rather serve no bagels than crappy bagels,” he says. “Do you want twice as much of something half as good?” Wise words, indeed.
Although the details of this ongoing story have yet to be fully revealed, it spotlights cultural stereotypes often associated with dining etiquette. While North Americans and Northern Europeans deem that transferring edibles to the mouth with a metal-pronged stick is somehow more refined than using the utensils we were born with, members of the many cultures who have been eating with their hands for thousands of years beg to differ.
Africans, Arabs and Indians (to name only a few) describe in rhapsodic terms the advantages of eating with their fingers: the sensuous connection to the food, the feeling of sharing and community, practicality (in that it’s easier to pluck that last bit of meat off the bones) avoiding waste, even a lingering aroma on the fingers to sustain the memory of a marvelous meal.
After reading scores of impassioned comments that the above mentioned article garnered, I felt compelled to conduct my own interviews to get a first-hand perspective on this cultural divide, followed by a hands-on lesson (see video clip below.)
photos courtesy of Vijitha Shyam of Indian food blog Spices and Aroma
Vinita Chopra Jacinto grew up in Northern India and is now a chef instructor at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. She feels strongly that Indian food tastes best when eaten with one’s fingers. She tells me that Indians eat with their hands because they believe that food is, “more than just protein, carbs and fat it nourishes the mind, intellect and spirit. Eating should be sensual and mindful, employing all the senses: sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. Using your hands gives you a tactile connection with your food.”
Jacinto clarifies some regional differences, “In the North, where breads are commonly consumed, you tear a piece of bread and wrap it around your food. While, in the South, rice is combined with curries, and each mouthful offers a unique blend of flavors. Traditionally in Southern India, plates are made of disposable, recyclable, banana leaves. Using a knife and fork on a banana leaf would shred your plate.”
Significantly, all cultures that shun silverware maintain a set of rules for eating with the hands. Before the meal, the hands must be washed, wiped or even rubbed with sand, as desert Arabs do. But the foremost rule is that only the right hand is employed for eating.
“The left hand is never used for that,” Jacinto says, “It is considered unclean.” In principle, at least, this is because the left hand is saved for bodily cleaning. Another taboo Jacinto cautions against is jutha, or double dipping your bread into a communal dish of food.
“The secret to gracefully eating with your fingers,” Jacinto advises, “is to use your thumb. For example, a small amount of rice is formed into a little pile on your plate, blended with one or more bits of curried lentils, vegetables, meat or fish, and then picked up with a twist of the wrist, held onto by the fingers and maneuvered right up to your mouth. But don’t put your fingers into your mouth.” she instructs, “Just use your thumb to push the food inside.”
Fharzana Elankumaran, founder of I Heart Curry, where she teaches Indian cooking classes, also grew up eating with her hands in Bangladesh. “I appreciate this way of eating because you have more control over your food,“ she says. “For example, if you’re eating fish or chicken, you don’t have to worry about cutting with a knife around the bones. When you use your fingers, you can get every last bit of meat and so waste less. It’s an expression of the great respect we have for the food.”
In her Indian cooking classes, Elankumaran encourages students to eat with their hands, but finds that it may be a challenge for first-timers. “ Sometimes my students tell me their hands get tired, because they are using a whole new set of muscles.”
Yemeni dish at Oasis Market and Restaurant
On a shopping trip to Oakland’s Oasis Market and Restaurant, I spy manager Rassam Sharif eating his lunch by hand. It’s a Yemeni specialty, fahsa (cooked boneless beef topped with whipped fenugreek, with a salsa-like sauce). Sharif kindly demonstrates his technique: he tears off a bit of tandoori bread, dips it into the meat and salsa, and brings it to his mouth with 3 fingers. Sharif prefers eating by hand because, he says, “You have more connection to your food. With a spoon, it’s just like shoveling something into your mouth to get full. In Islam, we are taught that the Prophet said to eat from your own side of the dish, slowly, with the right hand, just until you are not hungry. It makes you take your time and be mindful of what you’re eating.”
Enough talk, I decide, it’s time for me to get some hands-on tutoring.
Luckily, my request for cross-cultural dining instruction interests Mostafa Raiss El Fenni, owner of Berkeley’s Sahara Home Décor. He invites me to stay for lunch and we sit on intricately carved and painted chairs amid his stunning collection of Moroccan carpets, ottomans, embroidered textiles, brass lanterns, conical clay pots and delicate tea glasses.
Mostafa Raiss El Fenni -- Moroccan food
Raiss El Fenni, a former Cal student and chemist, whose shop promotes the works of artists from his homeland, tells me, “Eating with your hands is about sharing,” and as the youngest in a family of 12 children, he got a lot of practice doing that. There is an intimacy formed when you all eat from the same dish dipping in small pieces of bread, he explains. “ And if you find a piece of meat close to you that’s especially good, you can share it with your neighbor.”
“Does each person take the piece of meat and bread onto their own plate?” I ask.
“We don’t have individual plates. We are a very collective society. But if we invite guests over who are not familiar with this way of eating, we show them how it’s done.”
Watch my lesson in eating with the hands, Moroccan style:
Filmed and Edited by Kim Aronson
In the college dorm, it was a bit of culture shock for Raiss El Fenni that each student ate his own sandwich. “I couldn’t get used to eating by myself. So, I just waited with my food until they were done, and then said, “Hey, want to share? Eventually they got the idea and would offer to share some of their sandwiches with me too.”
Raiss-El-Fenni also hosts Moroccan parties in colorful Berber tents set up outside his shop. Parties range from mint tea and pastries to an all-out catered feast with live music and belly dancers. And of course, he will encourage your guests to eat with their hands for the true Moroccan experience.
Tanjia Moroccan Restaurant
After my tasty lesson, I invite my husband out for a Moroccan meal and tell him I’ll show him how to eat with his hands, so we head over to Tanjia, an Oakland Moroccan restaurant we haven’t yet tried.
We enter the lovely blue and red interior with low couches that let you sit close to your dining companion. But I am disappointed to see the tables set with forks and knives. When I tell the server we hoped to eat in Moroccan fashion, she gladly takes away the silverware and returns with a pot of water and washes our hands.
The first course is an assortment of delicately spiced salads: carrots, eggplant, cucumbers, tomato and bell pepper. Easy to scoop up with chunks of home baked bread. But with the arrival of the lamb and eggplant and chicken with honey and prunes, which are so meltingly tender you can tell they have cooked slowly for hours, my husband chickens-out of the hands-on approach and, to keep him company, I ask for two forks. It’s not so easy to change a lifetimes's eating habits.
Owner Jamal Zahid recently took over the restaurant from his brother, Said who started Tanjia in 2000. It has always been a “silverware optional restaurant” but seeing the reaction of a younger generation of customers not used to the traditional Moroccan way of dining sans utensils, Zahid decided-- as an act of hospitality to his guests-- to set the table with forks and knives, a reversal of his brother’s default setting. Personally, Zahid favors eating with the hands as a way to feel connected to the food and savor the meal slowly.
Ethiopian platter and injera - Cafe Colucci
At Oakland’s Café Colucci Ethiopian restaurant, by contrast, forks are nowhere in sight. Injera, the spongy, slightly sour, crepe-like bread made from the teff grain, functions as tablecloth, plate and utensil and the food is served family style, atop a large injera circle. “Eating is almost a sacred ritual,” says owner Fetlework Tefferi, whose award-winning restaurant just celebrated its 20th year. Besides the rules of hand washing and right hand only, she adds another from her native Ethiopia, “Once the tray of food is laid on the table, no one rises until all are done and the tray removed. We chew slowly, with closed mouths and a calm dignity. The food is sacred. It’s not polite to rush through your meal.”
Again, eating with the hand is more than just a mechanism to get sustenance into the mouth. “On certain occasions,” explains Tefferi, “we feed each other by hand, it’s called goorsha and it’s a loving act, an endearment. You might feed a child who is not eating enough or a guest you are entertaining. But if I were to make a bite for a man, “she chuckles,” I need to make sure it’s a big, well-packed roll of injera. I guess it’s a macho thing.” She adds, “We usually don’t eat alone. If you are in a restaurant in Ethiopia, for example, and the people at the next table get served first, they will probably ask you to join them or at least take a few bites with them. That kind of sharing is what holds us together.”
Tefferi demonstrates how to tear off a small square from the rolls of injera in the basket. She describes the technique as “wrap and roll.” You lay your piece of injera over some food and use all your fingers to gather up the filling and twist it into a little packed pouch, which you may dip into several different dishes on the tray. Our platter today has collard greens seasoned with black cumin, cabbage with carrots, potatoes with ginger, garlic and turmeric, lentils in red berbere sauce, yellow split peas in turmeric sauce, Ethiopian cheese and kitfo, a highly seasoned raw meat dish.
“Children are taught to make a bite of food that’s just big enough to fit in their mouth all at once, without stuffing their cheeks and to eat only with their right hands.” Tefferi remembers her mother training her left-handed brother by having him sit with his left hand behind his back.
“In the restaurant, we get 97% American diners. If they ask for silverware, I tell them it will be $10 extra,” teases Tefferi, with a twinkle in her eye, “ I just want them to try eating with their hands.” This gracious cultural ambassador wants to encourage more people to appreciate the 3000-year old cuisine of her homeland. “We need to revisit the way people used to eat; how much they cared and believed that whatever they put into their mouths was sacred,” says Tefferi. “The aroma is important too. Even after you wash up at the end of the meal, the scent of the food remains on your hand. Later, you might hold up your hand to someone else and say “Smell my hand, see how good the food was!”
(It was and I did.)
"Eating with a fork and knife is like making love through an interpreter”
-- attributed variously to Prime Minister Nehru and the Shah of Iran
Related links:
A recent study says babies may eat better when they feed themselves with their fingers
Stepping through the doors of Bergamot Alley, the newest addition to Healdsburg’s food and wine scene, I’m greeted with a warm hug from the hostess. A long hug. Let me backtrack. I’m from Healdsburg, a fifth-generation rarity who moved to San Francisco almost 10 years ago and only travels back home sporadically. Every time I do, though, I find that another friend, or pair of friends, or group of friends, has opened up or is planning on opening up a cool new spot in my hometown. Bergamot Alley is one of them.
The brainchild of Kevin Wardell, formerly a sommelier at flour + water and A16, and his partner Sarah Johnson, Bergamot Alley looks like it was born of a machine shop and an artistic city-slicker. The lofty space on Healdsburg Avenue was formerly a jumbled antiques mall filled with woodstoves and tractor parts, and the original brick walls have been carefully exposed. The 17-foot ceilings are finished in their original tin from 1896. Because the building is one of Healdsburg’s oldest, Wardell says, it has a certain landmark status that inspired the décor. In the walls: a wooden brick here, a tin patch there, small iron bars jutting out at random angles. The “wallscape” somehow works together, with a collection of air gardens climbing the bricks and vending-machine bouncing balls shoved onto the ends of the iron bars to turn them into functional coat and purse racks. A plaster wall that divides Bergamot Alley from its next-door-neighbor sports decals by Telluride, CO-based artist Nathan Frerichs, the whimsical squid and octopus looking as at home here in the Dry Creek Valley as they would on a T-shirt sold on Haight Street.
Bergamot Alley owners Sarah Johnson and Kevin Wardell. Photo: Kena Frank
Bergamot Alley is intended to be a “bar without a bar,” says Wardell. “There’s no division between the customer and the people who work here,” he says.
“We wanted to have a space that really felt like a community room, where the flow of the people and the energy is uninterrupted by a bar.”
Large, community-style tables that can fit up to 10 people are hand-welded with kick-plates made from WWII-era hot-dog bun baking trays. The chairs are from elementary schools, with taller legs welded to them to elevate the drinker to barstool height. The vibe: all-encompassing and welcoming. Whether you’re a local, a tourist, or a “new local” with a chateau out in the valley and perfectly mucked designer Wellingtons, you’ll feel at home here.
“We wanted to avoid the ‘me versus you’ of the typical bar,” says Wardell.
“That works great for tasting rooms, but we’re inviting a community-based dynamic here.”
In Healdsburg, it's rare for a wine bar to serve non-local wine; to not serve any Californian wine at all is practically sacrilege. Yet that's what Bergamot Alley does! But because of Wardell and Johnson's deep respect for, and involvement in, the local community, their decision to focus on interesting foreign wines is a welcome breath of fresh air through the old-growth Zinfandel vines--not an affront. Aside from an entirely Mediterranean wine list that offers a large selection by the glass, there's a wide selection of microbrewed beers, the Alley's concession to keeping the locavores happy. All draft beers are local, and a medical refrigerator full of eclectic American 750’s and Bombers like Allagash Curieux (Portland, ME), Brother Thelonious (Fort Bragg, CA), and Lagunitas’ Cappuccino Stout (Petaluma, CA) is designed to be self-serve.
Customers are encouraged to grab their own beers as servers bring around stacks of glasses, contributing to the general picnicking atmosphere. Completing the picnic vibe will be a snacking menu, due to debut on March 1.
Some of the best chefs in town, all friends of Wardell, will be contributing to Bergamot Alley’s menu. Expect offerings from the owners of Zazu, Scopa, and Diavola on the “jars and tins,” menu, which will feature items easily shared amongst friends at one of the Alley’s long tables or taken to go with a bottle of semi-sparkling Provenza “Turbiano” Rosato Groppello and enjoyed outdoors at one of the many surrounding wineries’ picnic areas.
The menu will include handmade pickles, pates, rillettes, cheeses, local flatbread crackers, and sweets, as well as imported Mediterranean items like olives and boquerones. The grab-and-go (or grab-and-stay!) menu is designed to be paired with the wines, all of which can be purchased by the bottle and taken with you. Bottles are stacked up eight feet tall on repurposed fitting shelves salvaged from a local machine shop. Wardell's impressive wine list reflects his years of experience as one of San Francisco’s top Italian-wine sommeliers, showcasing wines from all over Italy, France, and “any country that touches the Mediterranean Sea.”
In the “porn room,” (the staff’s affectionate name for the rare & exotic wine room) the rules are not so strict. A repurposed barn door is counterweighted to slide upward on pulleys, leading the oenophile into a naturally-insulated space made from vintage sliding-glass doors. Ninety percent of the wines are sold at a relatively low cost (between $65-$120), a screaming deal for a wine geek who’s looking for an interesting bottle like a 1982 Casetta "Vigna Ausario" Barbaresco with some bottle age on it.
The proprietors’ enthusiasm for community, groovy art, and eclectic wines is expressed in every aspect of Bergamot Alley, from the collaborative efforts put into the funky interior design, the menu offering tastings from their well-known chef friends, and the hugs at the door from a local hostess who seems to know everyone who walks through the door—or will by the time you leave.
Peeking into the "Porn Room." Photos: Kena Frank
Disclaimer: Ella Lawrence worked with Kevin Wardell at A16 restaurant and considers him a close friend.
Seattle is a quick flight from San Francisco, and while Portland gets a lot of the food buzz these days, this Northwest city has a lot to be excited about. As you all know, we're so spoiled (or blessed, depending on how you look at it) with the variety of farmers markets, food shops, restaurants and cafes in the Bay Area. Le Pichet fits right into this picture of locally-sourced food, clear point of view, heavily edited menu, and deliberate aesthetic. Next time you visit Seattle, you must pay a visit to this sweet, understated French-style cafe. You'll feel both at home right away and as if you've stepped into a Paris of a different era. Sensing both familiarity and intrigue is, if you ask me, a most welcome feeling.
Jim Drohman and Joanne Herron opened Le Pichet in 2000 ("Le Pichet" means "The Pitcher," the ceramic vessel in which simple, traditional French neighborhood spots served wine). The 32-seat restaurant specializes in French food with Chef de Cuisine, Brent Harding, at the helm. In opening Le Pichet, Drohman left a career as an Aeronautical Engineer and Herron a long career in the service industry. Both were drawn to French food and French culture, and found a welcome home in the Pike Place Market Historical District -- a spot that feels a bit more touristy and urban than quaint and European. But they're doing something right. On weekends, you'll often find it difficult to squeeze into a table, and couples sit with a bottle of wine and a little charcuterie late into the evenings.
Cherry Almond Brioche and Housemade Yogurt
Mornings at Le Pichet aren't for everyone. Le Casse Croûte menu is served all day long, and is really what you'll have in your hands if you stroll in for breakfast. What I like about this menu is they do it their way. This is not a typical American breakfast: you won't find over-stuffed omelettes (or omelettes at all) or platters of bacon and pancakes. What you will find is strong coffee, wonderful baguettes with butter and jam, housemade yogurt with honeyed walnuts, lovely housemade pastries, and a variety of meats and small sandwiches. At 11:30 p.m., Le Dejeuner menu is introduced with more salads and main plates. And at 5:30 p.m. a heartier dinner menu is available with main entrees including roast chicken, Penn Cove mussels, and whole roasted trout. The atmosphere is always the same: convivial and inviting yet quiet and understated.
Oeuf Plats, Jambon et Fromage - Broiled Eggs with Ham and Gruyere
I prefer it in the mornings; you can sit for a few hours reading the paper, people watching, and drinking cup after cup of coffee. I also adore that it's really in the heart of downtown, a skip away from Pike Place Market, and yet it feels like a secluded respite far outside of the city. Next time you're visiting, go see for yourself.
Le Pichet
1933 1st Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206) 256-1499
Hours: Everyday, 8am - Midnight
Other Quiet Spots for Breakfast in Seattle:
Volunteer Park Cafe: Good absolutely anytime of day (those cookies!), VPC is wonderful in the mornings for a slice of quiche at the big, rustic community table. Their caramelized banana brioche and breakfast panini are also quite popular (did I mention you should get a cookie to go?)
Cafe Besalu: Ballard's neighborhood bakery has the flakiest croissants in the entire city. Not many seats and often a line out the door, everything here from strong lattes to savory scones are worth waiting for.
The Fat Hen: The Fat Hen is a relatively new spot in the North Ballard neighborhood housing Delancey and Honore Bakery, and it boasts simple breakfast and lunch items including baked eggs, housemade granola and yogurt, and coffee cake and other little sweets.
Macrina Bakery: Macrina is a Seattle classic. Their rocket muffins are pretty wonderful as are the Italian plum roll and morning buns. Much more of a bakery than a sit down cafe, they're well known for their breads, pastries, and granola.
Eltana: Eltana is a new discovery for me and while I think the space itself is sterile and uninspired, the hand-rolled wood-fired bagels and housemade spreads and schmears are incredible. When I decide to sit and stay, I always order the Shakshuka (Israeli pepper, tomato, and egg stew). It's hearty, warm and perfect for sopping up with a rustic bagel.
Glo's: Down-home and unfussy. Endless cups of coffee and the best Eggs Florentine in the city. A little gem in Capitol Hill.
Owner Harmony Fraga behind the bar at The Social Study
Part café, part wine bar, The Social Study, is the latest addition to the spate of new venues opening up in the Lower Fillmore neighborhood, and will be sure to delight coffee and jazz lovers across the city.
Serving locally-roasted Four Barrel espresso and coffee as of January 11, the groovy lounge fills a long-vacant space formerly occupied by a cannabis club on the corner of Geary at Fillmore behind Won Mi Korean BBQ. I stopped by the day after it opened on the advice of a friend who works next door and immediately wished that I could spend all day working in this café rather than in an office downtown. The high, vaulted ceilings have windows that go almost all the way up the walls, letting in plenty of light for such a small storefront.
Stepping through the almost unmarked front door (luckily, a sandwich board points thirsty guests in the right direction), my first impression transported me directly to my grandfather’s library. A long community table that could seat 10-12 people is just inside the tall front windows and the rest of the space features a unique take on bar tables -- the entire wall from the front door to the back of the lounge is covered with a quilted blue faux leather, out of which seats and tables fold out down (think 1960s airline jump seats).
Along the top of the wall, behind the register, running along the beams of the exposed brick wall on the other side of the building, and decorating many of the open spaces are books, books, and more books. A varied library that includes titles from all genres is available for leisure reading while hanging out in the café, and free wi-fi will sustain those who can’t bear to leave their laptops at home during coffee time.
In the mornings, The Social Study serves homemade pastries like crumpets, croissants, sticky buns, and one-mouthful-only chocolate croissant bites. The small selection is a testament to the tastiness of the pastries (on a foggy Thursday morning there were only a few pastries left by 10:15am): large, fresh pecans stud the glistening top of a caramelized sticky roll, and the slightly uneven texture of the croissants promises a hand-rolled, fresh-baked taste that doesn’t disappoint. Owner Harmony Fraga, East Bay native and former bar manager of Farmer Brown, plans to bring in a larger selection of pastries soon, but until she finds the perfect combination (great taste, made in San Francisco, preferably in her neighborhood, with fresh, local ingredients) The Social Study is baking their own.
But it’s not all coffee and pastries at The Social Study. Like any good European-influenced café, the place gets livelier as the day wears on. Beer, wine, and house-made sangria replace morning beverages, and the menu gets an upgrade starting in the afternoon. “Study Snacks” like charcuterie and cheese boards go great with a draught Guinness, and roasted fingerling potatoes are a healthy (and local!) alternative to the fast food French fries available a little bit lower down Fillmore street.
"Study Snacks." Photo: The Social Study
The record covers that adorn the walls are more than just decoration: The Social Study has a serious collection of vinyl. From jazz to R&B to hip-hop and Motown, the record library is as varied as its library counterpart, and the music in the café does a great job of matching the ever-shifting mood of the neighborhood.
The pace picks up even more on Friday nights, when live music takes the place of the vinyl selection and DJ Doc Fu steps behind the turntables. More music is promised, too--there’s been talk of a live house band (called Hot Pocket) playing in the lofted area above the main floor on Saturday nights. Although The Social Study doesn’t have a full liquor license (though Fraga says that’s in the works, along with a regular movie-screening night), I think it’s kind of nice. A beer and wine bar is a mellow addition to what can be a rowdy part of town, and when you want to step out for a cozy bite in a place that feels like an extension of your own living room (and face it, who can afford a place with an actual living room near Fillmore street?), The Social Study is just the place to be.
The Social Study
Address: Map
1795 Geary Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94115
415.292.7417
Open daily, 8am-11pm.
I had never tried an Ike's Place sandwich until this past Friday night. I had, of course, heard about the infamous original location and its long lines of patrons sparking drama in San Francisco -- so much so that the hubbub even made it into the pages of The New York Times. But by the time the dust had settled and they comfortably settled into a new space, then opened other locations, it had fallen off my radar.
But then I heard the good word that an Ike's Lair was coming to the Uptown District of Oakland, right in Franklin Square.
With Plum, Plum Bar and Bakesale Betty's second location as neighbors, and Hawker Fare, Trueburger and Luka's Taproom & Lounge nearby, it's a burgeoning food enclave that's drawing lots of attention. Here was my easy opportunity to finally taste one of Ike's creations for myself.
Ike's Lair opened its doors in late January (its website doesn't reflect its Oakland location yet), a bright space with cartoon renditions of a devilishly grinning Ike at every turn. And there's their slogan writ large on one wall:
Ike's Lair has a smaller menu than its San Francisco counterpart, but it's still daunting. It took my husband (a fellow Ike's newbie) and I a full 10 minutes to study the extensive menu. (It reminded me of the first time I went to Shopsin's in New York City, which probably has the most mind-blowing menu in the world.)
We opted for four half-size sandwiches (all priced at $5.95) to get a good sampling of its offerings: the SF Giants pitcher-inspired Matt Cain (roast beef, turkey, salami, Godfather sauce, Provolone cheese); Paul Reubens (the real name of the actor who portrays "Pee-Wee Herman") with pastrami, homemade poppy seed coleslaw, French dressing, Swiss cheese; The Bakesale (their nod to Bakesale Betty's fried-chicken sandwich with American cheese); and the Meatless Mike with vegan meatballs, marinara sauce and pepper jack cheese. I had originally ordered the (co-founder of Yelp) Jeremy Stoppelman sandwich (breaded eggplant, green pesto, habanero, grilled tomato, Provolone cheese), but alas, they had run out of eggplant.
We went with the standard toppings (lettuce, tomato, and their creamy Dirty Secret Sauce that's like an aioli but more herbaceous) and none of the "extra dirty" options of mozzarella sticks or jalapeño poppers since we didn't want to get too decadent on our first trip to Ike's. Same for the beer-battered onion rings and zucchini. Checking out other people's orders, though, they looked tempting -- as did the Cake Monkey pastries in the case.
There's no indoor seating at Ike's, but there's plenty of room out front. I'm sure it'll be packed in warmer weather.
On our way back to our place, I overheard some folks say, "There's always a huge line at lunchtime that goes down the block." I guess this location shares the same busy crowds as the SF mothership, but as we're in the Bay Area -- Ike's has smartphone apps that you can use to place your orders ahead of time. (I'm sure this will come in handy on Superbowl Sunday; I imagine Ike's will be racking up a lot of business that day to feed hungry football fans at parties.)
By the time we got home, I was starving. I think I wolfed down the delicious The Meatless Mike, which I had ordered on their Dutch crunch roll, in less than a minute.
The Bakesale, however, was a pretty weak homage to its predecessor and won't give it a run for its money anytime soon. Unlike Betty's esteemed sandwich, this had a small slab of limply fried chicken that sorely needed the spicy, vinegary tang of her coleslaw.
My husband had the same reaction to the Matt Cain, which he thought was a pretty average combination of flavors. Good, not great.
The Paul Reubens was quite tasty, though, and the best of the bunch. I'd definitely go back for that.
I wouldn't say that I'm a diehard fan yet -- I'm still partial to Bakesale Betty's and Genova's Delicatessen -- but there's lot more for us to try at Ike's. (Unfortunately this website, which supposedly lists more sandwiches, wasn't working.) Perhaps I'll finally make a pilgrimage to the Castro location now that I've got a basis for comparison.
Ike's Lair Address: map
2204 Broadway
Oakland, California 94612 Phone: 510-338-6789 Facebook:Ike's Lair Twitter:@ikeslair Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 7 pm
Prather Ranch Meat Co., well known in the Bay Area for their quality meats humanely-raised on small ranches, has opened their first takeout eatery in the Ferry Building. Located right next to the Prather Ranch Meat Co. retail store, American Eatery features meaty American comfort classics like dry-aged burgers, sausages, chili, ribs, grilled steak sandwiches, even pork scrapple.
The Stonebreaker
The first thing to catch my eye on the menu was The Stonebreaker. Named after PRMC founder, Doug Stonebreaker, this ten napkin burger is essentially a poutine burger, loaded with fries, melted cheese curds, and gravy. When I asked chef Erica Holland-Toll the inspiration behind the burger, she said:
"When I was hired to open The American Eatery, I knew I wanted to use Doug's last name on a burger or sandwich, but it had to be a big bold sandwich to stand up to a name like Stonebreaker. Doug always says he's a meat and potatoes kind of guy and it was an easy jump from that comment to a burger with french fries on it...the cheese curds and gravy came about as the next logical step, and suddenly The Stonebreaker came to life."
Well this burger was definitely big and bold. The flavor of the dry-aged beef lived up to Prather Ranch's reputation, although it could have used a heavier hand with the salt. The cheese curds were an interesting touch, lending a mild tang and creamy melt to the burger. The meat gravy made everything deliciously messy. And the pile of fries on top just pushed this burger over the edge into gluttonous beauty.
Chuck Wagon Chili Cheese Fries
The Chuck Wagon Chili Cheese Fries also required another ten napkins or so. Smothered in sweet and smoky chili made with hearty Prather Ranch chuck and creamy Rancho Gordo heirloom pinquito beans, the handcut fries sported all the fixings -- sharp cheddar, scallions, and sour cream.
Hot Dogs
The Chuck Wagon Chili is also available on its own, or as a burger topping. I'm sure once the American Eatery gets its organic hot dogs going too, you'll see a Chili Cheese Dog on the menu.
Steak & Egg Sandwich
I spied the Steak & Egg Sandwich on the rotating weekend brunch menu and had to try it. Grilled skirt steak on an Acme torpedo roll served with an organic fried egg from third generation family-owned and operated Glaum Ranch, swiss cheese, roasted Far West Fungi mushrooms, and mushroom mayo…this upscale breakfast sandwich was full of gooey, saucy, meaty, hearty lovin'. I thought the steak could have used a bit more salt, but all in all this was a great sandwich full of savory juiciness. American Eatery makes great use of all the fresh produce and quality products from their neighbors, and this sandwich is a shining example.
Braised Pumpkin & Leeks
While this menu is obviously geared towards meat lovers, don't count out the seasonal veggie offerings. The Braised Pumpkin & Leeks were perfect – buttery, creamy, and sweet, complemented with toppings of sage, pine nuts, dried currants.
The Meat Shop
Prather Ranch's new set up in the Ferry Building has made it infinitely easy to get some good meat into your life. At the meat shop, pick up your raw meat goodies. Around the corner, pick up your cooked meat goodies to eat on the spot, or prepared meals to take home (like a container of meatballs, or pulled pork, or marrow butter pats).
For design geeks, you may be interested in learn that most of the wood used in building the new storefront comes from an 1880's barn on Prather's Bella Vista ranch. If you look closely, you can still see holes bored by bullets and woodpeckers from days of the Wild West. Also, the lights fixed above the service counter are clad in genuine, hand-forged "diamond point" barbed wire, which was also reclaimed from the ranch.
A different breed
Prather Ranch Meat Co. has long operated on the philosophy of supporting a whole animal sales model. With the opening of American Eatery, it seems they've completed the circle, allowing them to serve their customers along the entire journey from raw ingredient to ready-to-eat home-style meals. While there are a few touches to be ironed out (heavier seasoning of meat, crispier fries), I'm looking forward to seeing the new eatery hit its stride. With its focus on high quality ingredients raised with care, it fits seamlessly into the Ferry Building. The American Eatery represents the final expression of gratitude for all the hard work of the small, sustainable farmers and ranchers who make it all possible.
We stand for the whole hog – and the entire chicken, the complete steer, and the total lamb. Our goal is to offer high quality, sustainable, humanely raised meats in support of a whole animal sales model. This approach allows us to support small ranches while offering all our customers the peace of mind from knowing where their meat comes from.
-- Prather Ranch Meat Co., "A Different Breed of Meat Shop"
ADDRESS American Eatery
1 Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 391-0420
Liholiho Yacht Club’s menu is fixed price, with no substitutions, set at $65 per person which includes tax and tip. The price tag might seem hefty, but considering that both the appetizer and the entrée courses include five dishes per person, there are two desserts, and all of the ingredients are high quality, your full belly will thank you after you 'grind'(Hawaiian slang for 'eats').
