melkor

During a meal at Michael Mina a friend brought a bottle of 82 Bordeaux with her and we had the sommelier comment that it was from his birth year

It'll all come down to storage for that bottle - if the bottle has been well stored it'll be good. Stick it in the fridge overnight and pull it from the fridge 20 or 30 minutes before you serve it. The wine being from the communist era is going to be far more oxidized than current bottles - I'd serve it with some nuts or a simple dessert.

The best thing about Corti Bros is their wine selection - where else can you pick up german rieslings from good vintages with 5 to 20 years of bottle age for reasonable prices? They also have a good selection of older port.

Can't remember the cross street, it's down the street from Alegrias on the other side of the street. It's a pizza place, I don't know if they serve any North African dishes. We didn't ask and it's been a couple of years. Maybe they do now. I've only recently heard of these places (not that means anything, I don't exactly have a finger on the pulse of SF) that also serve a few Maghribi dishes as a side line, someone told me for immigrant cabdrivers especially. ← The pizza place was 'Green Pizza' on Jones.

Does one of the Algerian places have a red headed Algerian working there? On Lombard? ← I don't know of this red headed Algerian staffed place on Lombard - what's the cross street? I'll go check it out.

Melkor, I certainly agree that there are more Thai restaurants in the US than Ethiopian, and agree that you won't find Moroccan or Ethiopian in a small town. But I'm pretty confident that there are more Ethiopian than North African restaurants. Philadelphia has at least five Ethiopian restaurants, and two North African (both Moroccan). Seattle has like eight. There are maybe a dozen in DC. There are at least a couple in Minneapolis and one in Ann Arbor. I don't think that any of those cities are as well represented by North African cuisine, and what North African there is is Moroccan. I've lived in all these cities except DC and I've never seen a Tunisian or Algerian restaurant. ← Algerian and Tunisian restaurants are often hidden. My favorite Tunisian place in SF had no sign or name, the menu was made up entirely of pizza and wraps. They always had a tagine of some sort, roast lamb, and mergez, and they had couscous on a semi-regular schedule - you just had to know to ask for it. I have no explanation for why that was the case.

So apparently the question of why North African food isn't more popular can be answered by saying that it is more popular. On that note, let me know where I can find decent roast lamb and mergez in San Francisco.

I don't think there are more Ethiopian restaurants than North African restaurants, Moroccan restaurants certainly qualify as North African. You are no more likely to find an Ethiopian restaurant in rural Utah than you are to find a Moroccan place - but you can probably find Mexican, Chinese, and Thai food in rural Utah.

Get a pair of under-counter fridges and put some butcherblock on top of them - you'll end up with a little less fridge space, but you get the window back and pick up some more counter space.

I've got to agree with Russ, go for the cafe.

Melkor Regarding your SYSCO comment, I'm stepping out and revealing my ignorance here: is this true? You're not kidding? I had no idea. When you say buy everything, does that include pre-prepared items or just the raw ingredients, or a mixture of both for that particular cuisine? ← From the furniture to heat-and-serve dishes. They can even come out and train your staff. Why do you think the brown sauce at thousands of 'Chinese' restaurants in strip malls across the country tastes exactly the same?

cellartracker as ademello points out is by far the best option.

People seem to be much more accepting of spicy than they are of sweet dishes. North African food is sweeter than it is spicy, it isn’t well known, and because there are so few of them, it can be difficult to find ones serving good food. Tagine is the newest North African restaurant in SF, the owner is Moroccan, the menu looks good but the food is mediocre. Two of the other North African restaurants in the city have recently closed. The popular ethnic cuisines are all available from Sysco - you can buy a Chinese, Thai, Indian, Mexican restaurant over the phone and have a truck show up with everything you need to open the restaurant. The same isn't true for North African, Korean, Filipino, Peruvian, or any of the other lesser-known ethnic cuisines. Halal meat is harder to find and more expensive; line cooks need to be trained; the FOH staff needs to learn a new cuisine; it just isn’t a simple process to open a North African restaurant serving good food. Never mind how hard it is to find and educate customers. We are also overlooking the role that the Vietnam War played in making Asian food in general successful here in the states…

Bring a bag lunch. I was driving out to sac once or twice a week for a few months and had no luck finding anything worth a 2nd visit. You can get a decent beer at the pyramid brewpub. Good luck. I hope you find something good to eat, I'll be out that way again in a few weeks.

So what is your theory?

I think it all comes down to there being a critical mass of people from any one country to support the restaurants cooking quality authentic food long enough for the locals to discover it. There are a handful of North African restaurants in SF, but the one really good one closed after the woman cooking moved back to Africa. Mexican food is far more prevalent in the southwestern part of America than it is in Canada – larger immigrant population and it doesn’t hurt any that there is easier access to ingredients.

It would be quite easy to do here in California, an awful lot of what we eat each year is local - our largest source of food during the summer is our garden. That said, not being able to drink wine from all over the world would be a deal breaker. Besides, someone might object to me going for a 90 mile drive for pizza...

Most stores mistreat their cheese, gourmet groceries are no exception. If you are lucky, you'll find a cheese shop with a clue.

With tax and a 20% tip, two tasting menus with no beverage will run you $311. My price estimates always include wine

For your anniversary, hire a car service and have them drive you the hour and change each way to either the French Laundry or Manresa - honestly nothing in the city comes close. Michael Mina is far more trendy than it is delicious, and while you won't be shepherded off to a noisy bar you will likely end up sitting in a hotel lobby waiting for your table. Given the price tag of a high-end meal is going to run $400 to $1000+ for two and that it is a special occasion, the extra cost of car service will be well worth the improved experience you’ll find either in Yountville or Los Gatos.

The list of equally nice restaurants in the area is 0 lines long. Tomorrow you'll have a better shot since July 1st they will be taking reservations for August 31st and Sept 1st (since there is no June 31). Twice as many tables available cant hurt your chances. If you aren't able to get a table, ask to be put on the waiting list, give them a cell phone number to reach you at, and explain that you are coming in from out of town and provide them with the dates you are available. It really is worth all the hassle.

Cuisinart counter-top thing with a built-in freezer, because a friend gave it to me, and great. I've had an icecream maker with a freezer bowl for years and have always been happy with the results but this one does a much better job. It doesn't frost up on the sides, the finished product has a better texture, and its much easier to clean.

I brought home a new icecream maker last night, this thread was timed perfectly!

This thread is as good a reason as any to make some sorbet. I picked up some last-of-the-season meyer lemons at the farmers market Saturday, sorbet seems like good use for them. Make some simple syrup (1c sugar, 2c water, bring to a boil and chill) Juice the lemons (1c juice) Mix the juice and the syrup together and pour into the machine. Half an hour later this is what it looks like. I had to have a scoop before putting the rest of it in the freezer.

Sorbet in general has no dairy, sherbet does. Is sorbet included in this?