Mar 2007

Ferry Building Marketplace – San Francisco

March 16, 2007
Cuisine: International

One Ferry Building
San Francisco, California 94111

Phone: 415-693-0996
Website: http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/

The Gastronomer: The Ferry Building, located on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, is truly a gastronomic paradise. The Marketplace brings together local farmers, artisan producers, and independently owned and operated food businesses under one architecturally beautiful roof. The Astronomer and I felt like little kids in a candy store and wanted to try a bit of everything.

The Astronomer: It was a rare sunny day in San Francisco, and the quality of the food was on par with the quality of the weather. Our first hour was spent perusing the available options and consuming as many free samples as possible. The number of vendors was somewhat smaller than at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, but nearly every stand looked like it would offer an ideal lunch. I decided that the wisest approach would be to order small dishes from several different vendors.

The Gastronomer: Our first stop was at Japanese Deli – DELICArf-1. I ordered a lunch plate with two salads and one main entree ($9). For one of my salads, I chose the Hijiki and Soybean Salad – Hijiki mixed with dried soybeans, edamame, konnyaku, daikon, wild mizuna, fried tofu, and kuko (wolfberry). For my second salad, I chose the Spicy Burdock and Lotus Root Salad – a spicy mix of braised burdock, lotus roots, and konnyaku (mountain potato) tossed with thin slices of white onion, celery, julienne carrots, and wild mizuna. Both salads were vegan. For my main entree, I went with the Tofu & Chicken Patty with Hijiki – Free-range chicken and organic tofu patty with hijiki seaweed and carrot served in a sweet soy sauce. My Japanese lunch plate was fresh and flavorful. The salads were out of this world, I really need more seaweed in my life. I kept thinking as I was eating that this is what food should be–healthy, delicious, and creative!

The Astronomer: I began my four course adventure by ordering two fried items, the Potato Croquette ($1.50/ea) — delicately fried Russet and Yukon gold potato and sautéed onion croquette and the Sweet & Spicy Chicken ($1.25/ea) — marinated chicken, lightly fried, served with sweet & spicy sauce. These were petite, but well worth the price. The chicken had just the right amount of flavor. The potato croquette reminded me of a crab cake–it was lightly breaded and balanced the chicken nicely. The Gastronomer thought the croquette tasted like an onion ring.

Delica Rf-1 on Urbanspoon

The Astronomer: To compliment my Japanese appetizers, I stopped by Acme Bread Company and ordered a ham and cheese croissant (totally food porn, right?). It was an entirely different flavor–powerfully cheesy, but also deeply sensual. For around $3, it was quite a deal.

The Gastronomer: For my first dessert, I went for a Chocolate Croissant ($2). The croissant was perfectly flaky, I enjoyed peeling away each layer and having them melt individually in my mouth. In the end, I was left with lots of chocolate and only a thin layer of croissant, which was completely decadent.

Acme Bread Company on Urbanspoon

The Astronomer: My search for desert took me to the Miette Patisserie, where the chocolate madeleine ($0.75) looked irresistible. I also ordered a miniature creme fraiche scone ($0.50). We ate our desserts outside in the sun–the madeleine was delicious, much like a slice of my favorite chocolate poundcake, and the scone also hit the spot. What could be better than chocolate with cream? Perhaps chocolate with cream and fruit.

Miette Cakes on Urbanspoon

The Gastronomer: Even though we were both pretty stuffed after our first round of desserts, we decided to go all out and have some gelato too! We ordered the smallest size with two flavors–I chose Dulce de Leche and The Astronomer chose Blueberry. We asked for separate cups because blueberry and caramel do not mix well. The Caramel was good, but nearly melted. The overly soft texture sadly took away from the flavor. However, I did appreciate Ciao Bella’s authentic Italian square spoons!

The Astronomer: I ordered a scoop of blueberry, which actually tasted like it had been made with real berries. Delightful.

Ciao Bella on Urbanspoon

The Astronomer: All in all, I would highly recommend the Ferry Building for those in search of a tasty and economical lunch, a sampling of champagne and caviar, the world’s most fibrous pancakes, or simply a nice walk along an avenue overflowing with pleasant aromas.

The Gastronomer: If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in the Bay Area, do your tastebuds a favor and head to the Ferry Building.

Mar 2007

Beard Papa's – San Francisco

March 15, 2007
Cuisine: Desserts & Bakeries

865 Market Street (Store FE16)
San Francisco, CA 94103

Phone: 415-512 6776
Website: http://www.muginohousa.com/

Caramel Cream Puff ($1.95)

Gawd, Beard Papa’s is so good. On a recent trip to San Francisco, The Astronomer and I stopped by the newest addition to the Westfield San Francisco Centre to check out Bloomingdales and the most wonderful food court in America: The Food Emporium. Although every vendor looked delectable, we only grabbed a quick bite at Beard Papa’s because we were due for dinner soon. The prices at this location were about 20 cents higher than in New York City, which I found pretty surprising. I normally order the Éclair Cream Puff, but decided to try the Caramel daily special.

The pastry shell was crisp as I bit into it and soft within. The custard tasted just like caramel and was not overly sweet. I love how the abundant amount of custard piped into the puff causes it to ooze. Truly, the perfect cream puff. When will Papa come to Philly and San Diego? Hopefully soon.

Beard Papa on Urbanspoon

Mar 2007

Thịt Kho – Caramelized Braised Pork and Eggs

Thit Kho is a Vietnamese dish rarely found in restaurants, but served in all Vietnamese households. My grandma traditionally makes this dish with water rather than coconut juice, but my aunt likes the consistency the juice provides.

  • 1 pound pork legs with skin
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons nuoc mam (Vietnamese fish sauce)
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 ounces coconut juice

Hard boil eggs and set aside. Cut pork into 1″ x 2″ pieces and set aside.

In a thick-walled pot or dutch oven, add the sugar and stir until it melts. [You can add in a tablespoon of water to the sugar if you’re cautious about working with caramel.] Cook the sugar until it turns a deep golden hue. Add in the pork and cook for 3-5 minutes on medium-high heat until the meat is evenly coated with the caramel, but not cooked through.

When the pork is evenly coated with caramel, add in the pepper and fish sauce. Turn the heat to low and stir the pork  for 5 minutes to absorb the flavors. Add in the coconut juice and bring to a boil. Add the eggs to the pork mixture, cover and cook on medium heat for 35-45 minutes or longer for tenderer meat—make sure that the eggs and meat are submerged under the cooking liquid. Adjust the seasonings to taste before serving.

Serve warm over white rice.