Best Things I Ate Last Month: May 2011 edition

[pane]

Hamburger at Citizen's Band

Great meat (and not too thick) cooked medium rare, nice bun from Pinkie's, house-made pickles added as a layer under the patty deliver a crunchy, dill punch. Knock out.

Josey Baker walnut levain

Sick. I got two loaves for a party at my house, and served a couple just sliced up, others as a bruchette with homemade ricotta and blistered cherry tomatoes. I thought there would be leftovers to make tartines in the a.m.; I thought wrong.

Abalone with burdock root and salsify dish at Sons & Daughters

I didn't love much else that I tried here, but this was delicious and memorable. The texture of the abalone was lovely, and the castleveltrano olives pinged nicely against the other flavors on the plate.

B-A-N-A-N-A-S waffle at Starstream's Saturday-only waffle fest

A dense waffle with sparkly caramelized turbinado, house-made ganache, "torched" banana and creme fraiche. I look forward to eating this again very soon.

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Sons & Daughters
708 Bush St, San Francisco, CA 94108

Starstream
1830 Harrison St, San Francisco, CA 94103

[budnball]

The yeasty, perfect crusted Acme bread at Osteria Coppa. The best part of a really good meal!

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Osteria Coppa
139 S. B Street, San Mateo, CA 94401

[10foot5]

Sandwiches

Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Carrot Slaw w/ Cumin on a La Farine baguette from Southie

Porchetta from the Porky cart (Plum)

Non-sandwiches

Szechuan beef tendon from China Village

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La Farine
6323 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618

Southie
6311 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618

[JasmineG]

Speaking of sandwiches, the fried fish sandwich that I had at Wood Tavern in May definitely goes on my list. The Wood Tavern/Southie crew sure know how to make great sandwiches.

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Wood Tavern
6317 College Ave., Oakland, CA 94618

[artychokeasana]

Five things come to mind this month:

multiple flavors from Mr. and Mrs. Miscelaneous especially Pink Squirrel and Candied Violet

Moylan's Imperial Stout @ The Public house-I've never tasted such an unusual and complex beer-Ever.

The Mac and Cheese in the press dining room of the SF Giants-just like mom used to make (if my mom was a mac and cheese maker) classic cheesey, melty gooey goodness.

nd finally two from the home front:

Grilled whole salmon bought from the Pillar Point docks

26 finally fresh caught abalone from the waters around Sea Ranch, dusted in seasoned flour, sauteed and then dressed with a squeeze of lemon. god bless my hunting, fishing, diving BIL.

[wolfe]

Is that #26 on your list or 26 abalone, possibly over limit.

[artychokeasana]

yikes! definitely would be over the limit-it's a typo of unknown origin.

[wolfe]

I hope so.
http://sonoma.patch.com/articles/sono...

[josquared]

The lemon quark and white cheddar cheese - Spring Hill Cheese, Petaluma

The sourdough cheese roll - Cheese Board, Berkeley

Strawberries - Saechao's Family Farm in Fairfield

The rum cake - unknown co-worker of my Mom's (oh, so good - I admit I had thirds on this one)

This is outside of the region, but I guess I should mention the Rhubarb Lime Cardamom Yogurt I had at Jeni's in Dublin, OH

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Spring Hill Cheese
4235 Spring Hill Rd, Petaluma, CA 94952

[Windy]

fluffy fresh tofu at Sushi AKA Tombo; also crunchy sea cucumber sashimi in seaweed

Lola's Blend coffee beans from Catahoula

candied violet ice cream at Mr and Mrs. Miscellaneous; followed closely by Kika's Treats ice cream at Mr and Mrs

German-style rye bread, delivered to my friend's house by the baker. [e-mail]

pork in kim chee soup from Namu (CSA--not sure it's on the menu)

lamb sweetbreads at Commonwealth

meatball bahn mi at Irving Cafe Too

sliced raw kohlrabi from Mariquita farms dipped in Japanese miso dressing

and just north of the border: fish and chips with horseradish cole slaw at the Crazy Norwegian in Port Orford, OR.

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Catahoula Coffee Co
12472 San Pablo Ave, Richmond, CA 94805

Namu
439 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA 94118

Irving Cafe & Deli Too
4845 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94112

Sushi Aka Tombo
1737 Buchanan St, San Francisco, CA 94115

Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous
699 22nd St, San Francisco, CA 94107

Commonwealth
2224 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110

[Ruth Lafler]

Thanks for reminding me about the ice cream at Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous -- yes, they were delicious!

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Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous
699 22nd St, San Francisco, CA 94107

[Windy]

And I should have mentioned: they were both Ruth's. Thanks for sharing them.

[Ruth Lafler]

I can pick 'em!

[chocolatetartguy]

Root beer float - my house - Faygo root beer, Haagen-Daz Vanilla ice cream, 4 ice cubes - frosty, sweet goodness.

Taro soup - Le Petite Cheval - cubes of soft taro is a slightly sweet chicken broth - made by cook for the staff (and me).

Shortbread cookies - Patisserie Phillipe - lighter than most shortbread plus lots of butter.

Shrimp and chive dumpling - Good Luck Dim Sum - nice green bite and sweet shrimp

Multi-layer mousse cake - Sasha formerly of Sweet Adeline's - too rich to keep eating, too good to stop - I had 2 pieces and would have had a third.

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Good Luck Dim Sum
736 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118

Haagen-Dazs
472 Sun Valley Mall, Concord, CA 94520

[mhuang]

Lobster Ramen at Ramen Halu
Shrimp and Pork Belly Tacos from Eat on Monday (food truck)
Takoyaki and Seafood (Uni, Crab, Ikura, Squid) Bento Box from the Mitsuwa Umaimono Fair

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Ramen Halu
375 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA 95129

Mitsuwa
675 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA

[DezzerSF]

The horseradish crisp, trout roe, chive and faux shark fin soup at Benu

Fried chicken and waffle at Murray Circle

Chong Qing chicken wings at Dong Bei Mama

Cured anchovy with egg bruschetta at Barbacco

Pork Sisig and milkfish sinigang at Tribu Grill

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Tribu Grill
235 El Camino Real, San Bruno, CA 94066

Murray Circle
601 Murray Circle, Sausalito, CA 94965

Barbacco
230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Benu
22 Hawthorne St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Dong Bei Mama
4737 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94118

[pane]

Can you say more about the chong qing chicken wings?

[DezzerSF]

Perfectly numbing and spicy, chopped wings on the bone. Slightly better than Spices!, way better than the boneless ones at Z&Y.

[mikeh]

Carolina catfish with cornbread purée, field pea & crawfish chowchow, and crispy pig ear at the Sean Brock / Husk special dinner at Plum.

Taro buns at Hong Kong Saigon Seafood Harbor in Sunnyvale.

Spit-fired pork at Cotogna.

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Cotogna
490 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

[Robert Lauriston]

Carolina catfish with cornbread purée, field pea & crawfish chowchow, and crispy pig ear at the Sean Brock / Husk special dinner at Plum.

Classic deep-dish at Little Star.

German breakfast at Gaumenkitzel.

Cheese slice at East End Pizza.

Shrimp rice noodle rolls at Yank Sing.

Burger at Zuni.

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Yank Sing Banquet & Catering
101 Spear St, San Francisco, CA 94105

Plum
2214 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612

Little Star Pizza
1175 Solano Ave, Albany, CA

Gaumenkitzel
2121 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702

East End Pizza
1650 Park St, Alameda, CA 94501

[foodeye]

Just in the baked goods realm: the Kouig Amans (couldn't eat just one) made by Starter Bakery; the asparagus foccaccia, made with salty cheese and a generous sprinking of red pepper flakes at Acme/Ferry Building; Della Fattoria's pan integrale, with a nearly burnt crust from the wood burning oven, a tender interior and just the right amount of salt in it.

Also been hooked on the pistachio/almond nougat sold at the kiosk across from Out the Door in the Ferry Building.

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Della Fattoria
141 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma, CA 94952

Out the Door
1 Ferry Bldg Plaza, San Francisco, CA 94111

Starter Bakery
1552 Beach Street, Suite R, Oakland, CA 94608

[Ruth Lafler]

The asparagus has been exceptionally good this year -- I wonder if the cool, wet spring had an effect?

[artychokeasana]

Truly, this year's asparagus have been outstanding. Oddly, of late I can only find the super thins sized at our local markets.

[Ruth Lafler]

Diablita pizza at East End Pizza, Alameda.

The new Dark Chocolate Caramel with Black Sea Salt bar at Trader Joe's.

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East End Pizza
1650 Park St, Alameda, CA 94501

[JasmineG]

That chocolate bar is out of this world, seriously. I had a chocolate bar like it that I got in Paris (that is like, only sold at one chocolate store in Paris and then in Normandy), and have been mourning that bar for a year. This TJ's one isn't quite as good, but it's up there.

[Ruth Lafler]

Vosges makes a very similar bar -- I'd be interested to do a side-by-side comparison because they are very close (expect the Vosges is three-four times the price (depending on where you buy it) and not widely available). http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/produc...