cookingwithamy

Thanks everyone. We are going to go to Kappa for an "omakase" meal. They don't do kaiseki and Hama-ko no longer does it either. At $70 I hope it'll be plenty special for a birthay dinner!

Since you're taking BART, you can enjoy shopping and people watching at Union Square, Maiden Lane and a bit of south of Market. You can also go to the SF Museum of Modern Art which is a few blocks away or Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Crissy Field is pretty but you'd have to take a cab it's not walking distance. Around Union Square I would recommend Scala's Bistro or Campton Place for upscale California with more Eurpoean influence than Asian. http://www.scalasbistro.com/ Scala's is not very expensive but fun, all their dishes with lamb are outstanding http://www.camptonplace.com/ Expensive but one of the better restaurants in the City. For even less expensive and more fun, check out Belden Place an open air passageway closed to traffic. http://www.coastnews.com/restaurant-guide/belden.htm Not "California" per se, but good Spanish, reasonable inexpensive French and Italian places. I like Plouf and B44 best. Plouf is mostly seafood though... One more idea! Go down to the San Francisco Ferry Buidling Marketplace! http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/ Good food, gorgeous architecture and wonderful views of the bay. This is a top spot for anyone who has even a passing interest in food. Bookstores, local food purveyors, restaurants, it's along the waterfront so you can see the City and the bay beautifully from there.

Well, I thought I might be able to get to the bottom of this by contacting MB and this is the outcome: The gate goes back to the origial review. I did a round up several years ago where it earned 4 stars. -----Original Message----- From: Amy Sherman Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2004 9:40 AM To: Bauer, Michael Subject: La Folie discrepancy online I notice that in the thumbnail it gets 4 stars, but in the actual review only 3 1/2, what gives? Still, I don't quite understand the discrepancy--the rating should be consistent with the most recent review. Maybe it will change given the attention it's drawn...

Nice post. Your comment about "meditation" struck a chord. I recently wrote an article for http://www.spooncore.com called "Kitchen Meditation" I've always thought culinary schools should require students to go do some real kitchen grunt work before they show up for classes.

I've been to Kyo-ya at the Palace Hotel now I'm looking to try another place for a birthday meal. I've heard Kappa and Hama-Ko both do them on request. Has anyone been? Reviews? Are there any other options I should know about? Sanruku and Osome used to do them but no longer....

I loved the book too. I already was an admirer of Jacques Pepin and the book really gave me some added insight into what made him the person and chef he is. Especially why he is so frugal! I thought he came across as quite humbe as opposed to the Jeremiah Tower approach, taking credit for everything and discrediting those he worked with along the way. The early stuff when he was a child during the war was especially terrific and the tidbits about people like Craig Claiborne were quite revealing. In the same vein I have enjoyed some other food/memoirs. Apricots on the Nile by Colette Rossant, the two Ruth Reichl books, Apples at my Table and Tender at the Bone.

I love Boulevard but I have NEVER gotten out of there for $40 a head! I just ate at Luna park last night and it's as good as ever. Fun place to take out-of-towners. The entrees are all under about $15 and they have terrific appetizers and desserts. Very San Francisco and not in a touristy area. You can check out the menu and make reservations at www.lunaparksf.com

I finally bought one of those Thai sticky rice steamer baskets and made Thai sticky rice for the first time. I soaked 1 1/2 cups of sweet rice overnight--steamed it for about 20 minutes then mixed it with about 1/2 a cup of coconut milk a few tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt. It tasted great (with mango of course) but I realize I am missing the drizzle of sauce that goes on top. Has anyone else made this? Any ideas for the sauce? Is it just more thickened and sweetened coconut milk? Thanks!

Sorry to disappoint you, but I have no intention of posting examples of what I consider bad food writing. This was not intended as a discussion of what is and isn't bad, simply a question as to why there isn't better food writing out there. If you don't agree, that's fine, everyone has a right to their own opinion.

Thanks for the list. Much obliged, I am hanging onto it. Likewise if FG wants to post his list as previously mentioned, I'm all ears.

Just to set the record straight, this is EXACTLY what she said. I never said everyone should be able to write like Jeffrey Steingarten, that's just perposterous. I just said I find food writing to be lacking, and wonder why that is. I'm sorry I mentioned anyone by name because it wasn't the point in the first place. Aside from some nastiness, there have actually been some interesting points made. Thanks to those of you who weighed in without attacking me and my question. I'm not sure I'll be starting any more discussions here anytime soon though...

I'm stunned to hear that someone who is a one person food department for a regional newspaper claims to not know what good writing is. I'm also somewhat surprised to hear all the demand for examples of the good stuff. Actually I have had several discussions with chefs and foodies about the San Francisco Chronicle and the general agreement is that Marlene Spieler is one of the it's saving graces. But to answer FG's question the Chron in general is a perfect example of food writing out of touch with the average Joe. I'm not sure who it's in touch with at all. I have no qualms about what makes for good food writing--it should interesting, appealing, informative and somewhat entertaining. No great mystery there. And sure there are some good writers out there, in particular Marlene Spieler, Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain, Jeffrey Steingarten, Mark Kurlansky, Ruth Reichl, Patricia Wells, and Fran Gage are some of my favorites. None of them pander to what they think an audience is looking for. My point is that food writing isn't the same as writing about the weather, it's not just factual accounting but should stand on it's own merits. I just don't find that most of it does. Is food writing even covered in journalism school or only in some culinary schools? I do hope that FG is right about the public demanding better writing though.

As a long time Gourmet subscriber, I got the sense from the re-design that there must have been lots of focus group input--I can just imagine the verbatims--"let's have more quick meals with 3 ingredients!" It's gotten kind of low brow in the past few years actually, and that rock star cover really was emarassing. Does it reflect the cult of the celebrity chef or are magazines like Gourmet truly struggling to find an audience?

What's your definition of "basic culinary knowledge"? I actually think that some of the better writing comes from unlikely places. Nigella is a good example. Of course you can argue she does have basic culinary knowledge--she's just not a "chef".

Well if you want to put it that way, fine. Personally I wonder if food writers suffer from the same thing that movie reviewers do--from becoming so jaded that they are no longer in touch with joe average who only goes to the movies once a week or once a month. Same thing for those who create and test recipes. Do we need more chefs to take up writing? More professional journalists to tackle the subject of food? More outlets for good food writing than the newspapers and magazines dedicated to the subject today? What's the solution?

I agree, but still feel food writing is held to even less journalistic integrity than other writing, or is it just me? I've even read "The Best Food Writing" and was underwhelmed by most of it.

Present company excepted to be sure, but I find most food writing at the major newspapers horrid. There are some exceptions of course. But so much of it is lousy. Why is that? I really can't speak for the non-English language food writing and being in the US I read more stuff from here than Canada, Britain, etc. I'd love to hear from some of the folks who post here regularly and I admire quite a bit. In other words don't take this personally (in other words, assume I like YOU just not everyone else)