Chef Ptomaine

I was kinda opportunistic back in my early kitchen days/daze - my gear carrier was a green pickle bucket: plenty of room for a knife roll, a tool roll, maybe a rolling pin, various garments, etc. Each blade would be in a protector, so everything was safe - even if not particularly stylish. (Though as soon as I peeled the labeling off, I had a new place to share my gallery of stickers....)

I'd bypass S.F. entirely if I were only looking for authentic Mexican (well, except for some of the Yucatecan places that are opening up) - I think your best bets around the immediate Bay Area are along International Blvd in the Fruitvale District in Oakland, including El Huarache Azteca* [for huaraches & weekend-only lamb!] or La Torta Loca [for sopes & champurrado, among other things]. (About safety in the Fruitvale: evidence of conspicuous consumption may get less-conspicuously consumed by others - flash the bling-bling if you can afford to lose it or fight for it; that being said, other than some teen street racers, I'm never bothered by anything in this lively AND family-oriented neighborhood.) For a tour from Antioch, I'd head north, along the delta (on Hwy 160) to Rio Vista, turn left on Hwy 12 to link up with Hwy 113 then head north to Woodland - and the Cuatro Milpas Taqueria [534 Main St] for some real Mexico City-type quesadillas & panbazos. The drive itself would be a nice way to see a part of California that gets missed even by locals. From there you'd be on your way to Sacramento, Gold Country, or just returning to the Fruitvale for a block-by-block discovery of the nabe's eats.... Buen provecho, Richard Berkeley/SF, CA *http://www.futbollocal.com/el_huarache_restaurant_menu.html

Well, if price is the overwhelming factor, and kiddie preferences must be indulged, here are a few possibilities: CHAINS pizza - Round Table Pizza [next to the Safeway (which has serviceable deli - should you decide to eat al fresco, rather than dine inside), across from Fort Mason] - Pizzeria Uno [Lombard @ Steiner] burgers - Burger King [in the Presidio - with a phenomenal view of the Golden Gate] - Johnny Rocket's [Chestnut @ Pierce] - Mel's Drive-In [Lombard nr Steiner] + Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers [3344 Steiner St. nr Chestnut] NON-CHAINS Chestnut Street offers a number of possibilities that aren't too darn pricey, but they all vary in quality & in accommodations - while I'd be inclined to grab a burrito (@ Los Hermanos) or a sandwich (@ Lucca Deli) & head to Marina Green to eat on the bay, I realize it's a little tougher with li'l ones. These places would offer some choices AND have some room for families - China Village [2263 Chestnut] used to be very reasonably priced, and had wide variety of menu items - even if there was little that was particularly distinctive - but I haven't been there in ages - Bechelli's Coffee Shop [2346 Chestnut] is great for lunchtime breakfasts (yes, and burgers) There's plenty more in the neighborhood - it all kind of depends on any other parameters you might have. Buen provecho, Richard Berkeley/SF, CA

It's been ages since I gave up on getting bolillos here in Califas - it's SO much easier to NOT complain, and just book myself a flight to go visit kinfolk, suck up all the tortas and/or teleras/bolillos I can stomach, and come home for all the non-Mexican nibbles I also love. Why ask why? (Of course, it's never that simple - even my American relatives will occasionally tempt me with what they claim is a good "authentic" bolillo...how often I've felt like Charlie Brown, lured by the Siren-Football-Holder Lucy!) P.S. Will the tardiness of my first posting go on my permanent record?.... P.P.S. And - truth be told - as good as bolillos are, neither they nor "good ol' American" hot dog buns, can hold a candle to a proper German Broetchen for wrapping around a Wurst, sausage, wiener, or 'dog.' P.P.P.S. And you heard it here first: authentic American barbecue [KC, Memphis, Carolina - wherever it come from, it don't matter] will take off like a rocket in the international community when it gets divorced from the nasty slices of sponge loaf that get served with it outside the south. In a baguette, a pita, or even rolled up snug in a grilled flour tortilla [as a "barbecuerrito"?] - why use a bad slice to clean that paper plate when you could just save all that sauce to begin with?

Call me silly* for leaving the kitchen/bakery with my response - but is it at all possible that the seeming superiority of the French baguette has to do more with your prejudices? This discussion seems to parallel the great (yet tedious) pizza or bagel debates [sure, it's the water...can you all return to NYC now?] - as long as you project your own subjectivity to the process, how could any bread compete with a French baguette? My personal standard for white bread is the bolillo or the telera of Mexico, sandwich rolls that are pure ambrosia at the point they're tossed HOT by the basketload into waiting bread bins in neighborhood bakeries. (And variations in size DID make a difference in flavor.) By the time all the oven's heat has dissipated from one of those divine mini-loaves, it is already acting as a sponge to absorb whatever ambient schmutz there may be in the air** and heading downhill fast. We routinely bought our bread fresh in the morning, toasted leftovers for lunch (for those who hadn't switched to tortillas), and bought fresh again for dinner. I understand that my early days spent in Mexico City may interfere with my acceptance of the yuppie/foodie gospel according to Escoffier (and, no, we haven't forgotten about Maximilian, or the French Olympic team bringing its own water back in '68...), but the baguette hardly seems the apex of the bakery arts. Do blind taste tests even prove that bread aficionados can consistently pick out their preferred loaves? I have to imagine that a good French baguette is more about going to France to enjoy it than anything inherent in the bread. Buen provecho, Richard Berkeley/SF, CA *well, call me anything but late for dinner... **wait - how's THAT for the reason French baguettes are superior? There's less ambient schmutz reabsorbed to mess up the flavor?