The Gricia Pizza: Pizzeria Delfina of SF

Remember when I mentioned Spring poking its head around the corner in the shape of a cheese? And how the word fresh starts to have meaning again after the winter starts to fade into a memory?

In San Francisco, the restaurants all have a close ear to the ground, carefully listening for the latest, freshest seasonal produce pushing its way through the earth. The seasonal menus change so fast that your best bet is to read the daily menu or twitter feed and then frantically rush over there like eating there is part of the Amazing Race and hope that you get there before they sell out of whatever magic they produced that day. Yup, that just about sums up the typical dinner plan of an SF foodie. Or me, at least.

I should mention that I have since revisited my signs of Spring’s arrival after eating a pizza that highlighted the delicate flavor of fresh spring onions on the "Gricia" pizza at Pizzeria Delfina. Not the young green onions or scallions, but the more mature stalks with fat round bulbs like these. The second I stepped out the door after paying the check (and after scribbling an embarrassingly crazy note on the back professing my love for Craig Stoll’s superb pizza genius), I vowed I would drop all plans and leave my typing mid-sentence to get over there if I ever saw it again on the special's list.

It’s a humble pie, really—the unassuming kind that sneaks up on you as your dinner company catches you staring out at the wall with glossy eyes as you concentrate on its sneaky flavors dancing around in your mouth. Now, there is no tomato--it's a white pie. But, here is the real shocker--there is no cheese, people. No cheese!

Photo courtesy of nosaladasameal.(I had no camera with me when I had bolted out of the office to get my hands on this pizza, so I am so thankful for those who came more prepared than I did.)

Like all good pizza, it starts with the perfect wood-fired crust that bubbles around the edges—the kind that screams “we know what we are doing, here. And we mean business”. They scatter small shavings of salty guanciale and a noticeable amount of freshly cracked black pepper for a little kick and then cover it with long, thinly shaved ribbons of spring onions that roast in the high heat until they curl up and tuck into themselves. Then—get this—just as it comes out of the searing hot oven, they pour a small drizzle of cream over the whole thing, which melts into the sweet onions creating a delicate lacy sauce. Ping!

It's true, i like to replicate a restaurant dish when I can to save money, in the event that an oven that burns above 500 degrees isn't required. Despite my mom saying "quit spending you're money eating out" (we obviously have different priorities), I'd sell my personal belongings to shell out $16 to have this pizza if it came down to it.

That is all I can say about that. I just noticed it is on the menu today at the Mission location. I’m out.

Underground Market: The March Results

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for coming out to support our foodie community at the underground market! It was a total success. We sold out of the fresh home brewed ginger beer, the hawaiian coconut mochi and about 75% of the pickled grapes and green garlic that we had made.

Photo courtesy of Jesse of beerandnosh

I handed out samples of pickled grapes to many people who were excited to try something new and I convinced quite a few people to venture out into the unfamiliar and try the Hawaiian adaptation of mochi. Some may have wiggled their noses in doubt, but, wouldn't you know, you all had such nice things to say and I'm so proud of you for having a go.

I won't lie--it was still crowded (over 1,200 people came!) and there were still lines, but people came out with smiling faces and generally seemed pretty happy and interested in trying what everyone had to offer. And, boy, was there plenty to choose from! Gluten-free items, raw food, laotian Nam Khao, granola, jams and jellies, fermented and pickled goodies, local honey, foraged mushrooms, all sorts of baked goods, sasparilla, fresh homemade salsas, dips, cheeses and charcuterie, kombucha, spices, breads and drinks...But I have to admit that it was, above all, the sense of community that made it all worthwhile. Let's face it, most of these vendors are not in it for the money as they operate on a small scale and have small profits margins of maybe $75 - $300 -- and that's only if you just consider the material costs and assume free labor and time. Instead, they do it for the love of food and for the love of sharing their work, passion and talent with you. So, thank YOU, for making it possible by supporting all of their hard work! It really means a lot.

It was my first time as a vendor and I had a great time. I even got to meet some of my readers, including the founder of Foodgawker.

I believe these markets will continue in monthly installments so look out for the next one!

Sir Francis Drake Cheese: Cowgirl Creamery

When I was in high school, my friend, Jolene, used to frequently profess how much she loved cheese. Cheese?! I thought. With my limited exposure to artisan cheese, I imagined simple images of cheese--big wedges of cheddar cheese or mozzarella or maybe even heaps of string cheese. It sure didn’t seem all that exciting to me.
Fast forward almost ten years (omg, my 10-year high school reunion is this summer!), and now I love artisan cheese and living in San Francisco provides me with daily access to arguably some of the best cheese in the world from Cowgirl Creamery.

The announcement of Spring comes in many forms. For some, it’s the datebook’s announcement that that Daylight Saving Time begins on March 14 and that the first official day of Spring is March 20. Maybe you’ve noticed the asparagus standing tall and colorful beets showing their pretty faces around the market. Or maybe you live where it snows and you spot the first speck of green and can actually start to feel your toes again. But for me, it happens when I am wandering around the ferry building and, hold up!, I spot the spring’s first rounds of St. Pat’s. It’s a cow’s milk cheese covered in mossy green nettle leaves that lend a really earthy flavor and aroma. It is so highly celebrated in this community that you can even come on down to 18 Reasons for the Saint Pat’s release party on March 11.

But, if you want to know the real cheese secret, when late March or Early April rolls around, keep your eyes peeled for a sneaky little triple cream cow’s milk cheese called the Sir Francis Drake (or “SF Drake”, if you’re among the cult following). It’s exceptionally creamy and buttery with a hint of sea salt brine flavor. In fact, sometimes Whole Foods even carries it in early-March...

People go crazy over this stuff because, as it is explained to me when I question its limited supply, it has something to do with their signature Mt. Tam production going awry, which produces “just the right kind of bacteria” needed to produce this cheese. So they bathe the rind in a French fortified wine called Beaume de Venise and press in a few currants and BAM! Magic. If you let it ripen a little, the edges will melt into a rich, buttery goo leaving a thicker cakey consistency in the middle. And, I hear, it's salty ocean flavor is really prominent with the right beer pairing.

Get some. If you’re lucky.

Underground Market: March 6

Last month's underground market hosted by ForageSF was such a success that all of the vendors sold out of their items! It was so crowded you could barely move through to even see the vendors. I did, however, manage to purchase the most unique brownie I had ever had! We met a man who milled his own acorn flour and then roasted the flour until it developed a rich, nutty roasted flavor and then used that flour to make these pitch black brownies that had a unique, almost savory flavor. I loved them!

Anyway, the next market is on Saturday, March 6 from 5-11pm at 9 Langton Street in San Francisco. And I am so excited to tell you that I will be a vendor, along with my amazingly talented friend, Elianna.


Elianna and I are going to make a couple of homemade kegs of fresh ginger beer, lots and lots of jars of spiced pickled grapes and possibly even some hawaiian baked goodies like coconut mochi!!! These pickled grapes (an idea inspired by Seattle's Boat Street Cafe) are a k-n-o-c-k-o-u-t. They are just a tad sweet and warmly spiced with mustard, cloves, black peppercorns and freshly smashed cinnamon (which makes a huge difference, I swear). They really pop with flavor and would be the perfect addition to salads and cheese plates. I've even heard through the grapevine that Fish & Farm serves pickled grapes as a garnish for cauliflower soup, along with toasted almonds, olive oil and chives. What an idea!


Inspired by our pickling madness, my friend Jesse even made some pickled green garlic, which would really complement a nice charcuterie plate.

And, have you ever had fresh ginger beer?! Yes, its non-alcoholic, but it is packed with flavor. Jesse is the mastermind behind this one. We juiced up an enormous amount of fresh ginger (even the lady at the farmer's market asked me what I was going to do with that much ginger!). Then we added some freshly squeezed lemon juice to knock down the spicyness of the ginger and added just a little bit of sugar to please the palate. We put it all in a keg and pressurized it until it carbonates. Also, on Saturday morning we will spike it with some more fresh ginger juice to really jazz up the flavor and bring it to the front just before we serve it up over ice. Believe me, you're gonna want to try some!

We're pretty darned excited about these things and we would love for you to come check out the market!!! See you then!

Arizmendi Bakery: SF

I love mornings. I love the promise of mornings: it's early enough to get all sorts of things accomplished and any thing is possible. But it's also early enough to savor and enjoy the art of doing nothing, which, I admit, is not a luxury I get often (you and me both, I'm sure). Yesterday I slept in until about 9 am and it occurred to me that I had the whole morning to myself with nothing to do. Yeeeees.

My friend, Eli, recently told me that Arizmendi makes an apple-sage sourdough on saturdays that "gives meaning to bread". Now that is a statement. Arizmendi, my second favorite bakery in the city sliding in just after Tartine, is a sister co-operative bakery to the famous Cheeseboard Cooperative in Berkeley. In addition to breads and bakery goodies, each of these places have a vegetarian pizza that changes daily (and I have been known to sometimes plan meals around their pizza calendar). I tossed a book in my bag and grabbed my trusty Tea Tiger full of Cream Tea and headed out into the February gray with a sourdough goal in mind.

Apple-Sage Sourdough: Tiny diced apple bits are folded into a soured dough and speckled with flecks of fresh sage.
It's not really a savory bread, but it isn't exactly a sweet one either. The apples and sage provide a nice balanced flavor, which starts to grow on you with each bite. I bought a loaf for Eli as a surprise she is sure to love...

I should probably admit to you that I arrived at the bakery around 10 am and it took a-l-l of my will power to not order the pizza of the day for breakfast--spinach, red onions, feta cheese, lemon and thyme oil, parsley and parmesan cheese. This got MUCH easier to do once I caught a glimpse of the scone selection and saw that they had my favorite scone.It's made with cornmeal for a fantastic texture with just enough butter to create a delicate crumb. Then they fold in some dried tart cherries and generously sprinkle sugar on the top to create a thick sugar crust. It is the perfect scone. Really. Perfect.

SF Gate published a recipe from the Cheeseboard Collective back in May 2006. I tried it hoping for the magic of cornmeal cherry scones to fill my kitchen, but instead it was a total disaster. The butter ratio was so high that the oven just melted the heaps of scone batter into buttery pools of goo. It could have been due to the fact that I didn't use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, but I think it was likely due to the fact that I used soymilk with some vinegar instead of true buttermilk. Maybe I will try again.

Or maybe I will just hop back on the train and head back to Arizmendi...Maybe on a Friday when they make a Fig-Fennel Sourdough.

SF Beer Week 2010: I survived!

I've been busy. Busy drinking beer. Learning about beer. Eating beer ice cream. Even learning what work and effort goes into custom blending a beer. As you might imagine, ten days of beer events is a lot. I can't even quantify how much beer was consumed because my liver and I are not on speaking terms.

I mean, I like beer (certain kinds of beer--usually the rare expensive stuff), but I am by no means a beer geek--I just learn about beer by hanging out with the real beer geeks. I think the beer community can sometimes be a little intimidating, but once you show you are eager to learn and taste, these incredibly generous people really open up their welcoming arms. It truly is a friendly atmosphere. For example, a friend of mine even has a whole blog, femALEist, dedicated to sharing a female perspective on her beer explorations! I like it.

I thought I might document the events I actually attended so I can remember for planning for next year. Ok, here we go:

Feb. 5: SF Brewers Guild Opening Gala

Feb. 6: New Belgium Brewing Co. at Toronado
I want to share with you that this brewery makes an incredibly amazing-and rare-sour called Love that I had been pining for again since I had first tried it a couple of years ago before learning it isn't bottled and I would likely never see it again. You bet I ordered a couple 4 oz. pours. Or four.
We also trekked out to Humphrey Slocombe to get a flight of 4 beer-flavored ice creams for $4.50 (what a deal!).

Feb. 7: Lost Abbey & Port Brewing at Toronado
I got to try yet another rare beer called Veritas 007, which is a delicious sour ale with cabernet-franc grapes.

Feb. 8: A night with Lost Abbey Head Brewer Tomme Arthur at City Beer Store
I had the two best beers I have ever tasted--Double Cherry Red Poppy (a Flanders Red made with copious amounts of tart cherries) and Framboise de Amarosa (a sour beer just soaking with raspberries). I told Tomme that he could easily rope in the entire female population into beer love with these two gems.
Photo gallery party for Jesse Friedman of Beerandnosh at Humphrey Slocombe. Proceed to consume yet another beer ice cream flight.

Feb. 9: City Beer Store (I shamelessly drag my friend, Eli, back to get my hands on more Framboise de Amarosa).

Feb 10: Mostly Barrel Aged Beer Dinner by Beerandnosh
(Yes, that is a photo of me kissing Jake Godby of Humphrey Slocombe. Think of it as love, from all of us, for the brilliant work he does).

Feb. 11: Collaboration Beer Dinner with Sean Paxton aka The Homebrew Chef

Feb. 12: much needed break

Feb. 13: much needed break

Feb. 14: Valentine's Dinner by The Wild Kitchen (not a beer event, but beer was had nonetheless)


Dear Morgan: Please stop this madness. Love, Your Liver.

The Best Veggie Burger: Plant Cafe Organic

I have never been much of a burger person; I’m not one to get crazy burger cravings, as those things go. It’s likely largely due to the fact that I haven’t eaten red meat since about the 5th grade. In these last couple of years, I’ve been coming around to the idea of veggie burgers. Not the commercial kind, but the homemade variety. I have been known to make a mean lentil walnut burger, which I like served with a side of sweet potato fries. Or pickles. Or pickle fries, if I could figure out how to make such a thing!

When my friend, Lindsay, claimed that this place called The Plant Café Organic had the best veggie burger out there, I was intrigued and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Like I said, you’re more likely to find me swooning over things like extremely fancy vegetarian food or flaky roti rolls stuffed with tikka masala or even a "PB & J" sandwich made with pistacho butter and apricot jam and a semi-soft cheese smooshed between grilled bread.

But, this "plant burger" is no ordinary or traditional burger. For one thing, it isn’t firm or hold together quite like a patty. It’s soft kind of like the texture mashed potatoes. And they recommend getting it on grilled sourdough, although you can get a sprouted whole wheat bun if you need to. But what I find most intriguing is its main ingredients: lentils, mushrooms, beets, cashews and bulgur wheat. Sounds iffy, at best, right?! But it’s not iffy at all—it’s delicious and I even got several omnivores to confirm it. It’s like those five divergent ingredients got together and started up a band to rock out with something new. The combination of flavors all working together to comprise the burger is really satisfying!The grilled sourdough has a nice slather of tasty garlic aioli (possibly made with a vegenaise base) and the burger is topped with these delicious sticky roasted red onions, lettuce and a slice of tomato. And then you can add on other things like sautéed mushrooms, cheese and avocado.


We also loved the raw blueberry "cheesecake" made with blueberries, cashews, young coconut, agave nectar, coconut oil, vanilla, sea salt, coconut and dates. It is drizzled with a blackberry pepper sauce that is a puree of blackberries, agave nectar and freshly cracked black pepper.

And, wouldn’t you know it, a new location just opened up right across the street from my work at Pine Street and Front Street!

VEGGIE BURGERS A LA THE PLANT CAFE ORGANIC

INGREDIENTS:

* 2/3 c. pre-soaked bulgur (soaked for at least 4 hours, then measured)
* 3/4 c. pre-soaked red lentils (soaked for at least 4 hours, then measured)
* 1/3 c. raw cashews (blended into a powder)
* 1 c. beets, trimmed and washed
* 1 c. white mushrooms, diced
* 1/2 tsp. sea salt
* 3 Tbsp. olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

* Preheat oven to 450 degrees and bake the beets for about 45 minutes or until very tender.
* Allow beets to cool slightly, then peel off skin and dice them.
* In a skillet, heat one Tbsp. of the olive oil and sautee the mushrooms over medium-high heat until cooked (you can add a sprinkle of water if needed since the mushrooms will instantly soak up the olive oil).
* In a food processor, combine diced beets and sauteed mushrooms, lentils, bulgur, cashew powder and sea salt.
* Form mixture into burger patties.
* Heat olive oil in a skillet or griddle on medium high heat. Cook burgers, but try not flip more than once to avoid burgers falling apart.

Serve on grilled sourdough bread or buns with your favorite toppings!

UPDATE: I revamped this recipe here.