Malik

A quick web search leads me to believe that you're talking about Silver Restaurant at 737 Washington Street, which according to this website is open 24 hours. Unfortunately, CitySearch lists the restaurant as closed. That's really too bad, because Chinese food would have been a nice alternative to the usal diners. At least one other restaurant on that webpage has closed, Steve the Greek. There are a couple of decent choices in the Mission on that page though, El Farolito and Taqueria San Jose are open until 3am and 4am respectively on weekends, and I've heard good things about their food. Another option to consider would be Osha Thai Noodle Cafe, 696 Geary St at Leavenworth, they're also open until 3am on the weekend.

First off, I'm not particularly impressed with the NY Times article. The article starts of with: It's really silly to imply that small plates restaurant are a new thing around here, or that the restaurants listed in the article are a good sample of SF small plates restaurants. The Small-Plate Club article from the NY Times a couple of years ago did a much better job on this subject. Small plate restaurants might have been a new trend in SF four years ago, but today they're ubiquitous not only here, but up and down the West coast (all the way to Vancouver). As for the restaurants listed in the article, I agree with the above posters that Chez Papa is the best of the lot. It's one of my favorite mid-range French bistrots in the city right now. Baraka, which has Morroccan/Spanish influenced food, is pretty good though not particularly worth a trip out to Potrero. Tallula, the Indian/French small plates restaurant in the Castro, is interesting but if you want truly authentic Indian small plates, head over to Vik's Chaat House in Berkeley. I'd skip The Last Supper Club altogether, I had a very disappointing meal there. There's a ton of better restaurants in the Mission to go to instead, including Luna Park which is owned by the same people. I haven't been to Chez Spencer yet so I can't comment on it. By the way, of the restaurants mentioned in the article, only Baraka and Tallula are true small plates restaurants, the other three are regular restaurants with appetizers (small plates), entrees (large plates) and desserts. If I were to recommend small plates restaurants in the Bay Area, I would start with Chez Nous and A Cote, and probably add places like Grasshopper, Isa, Andalu, Cesar and Bacar. Another interesting twist on the concept are the Japanese small plates restaurant, in particular at the higher end Ozumo and Le Poisson Japonais (currently closed but hopefully reopening this summer).

Good suggestions here, especially Emmy's Spaghetti Shack, it's one of the spots I like to hit for a late dinner on a week night and they serve the best spaghetti with meatballs I've had in San Francisco. I also like Bacar, especially for the wine list as you mentioned, but I always forget to think about them for a late meal. I'll have to keep them in mind next time I eat out late. Haven't tried Scala's, but I really don't like Blowfish: the atmosphere is cool, but the sushi does not hit anywhere near the mark.

After one too many late nights out in the city, I'm wondering what is the best place to eat in SF after the sun goes down. In particular, the categories I care about are: 1) After 10pm 2) After midnight 3) After 2am 4) After 3am My current favorites for a weekend night: 1) After 10pm Lots of choices in this category (though not as many as I'd like). I'd probably choose Zuni, but there's a quite a few competent restaurants top pick from. 2) After midnight Globe. This is the category that separates the men from the boys 3) After 2am For me, it comes down to a choice between Steps of Rome (Riggatoni Arrabiata or Straccetti with Potatoes, followed by a Hazelnut Gelato or a Tiramisu) or Kelly's Burger (hard to beat a good juicy burger with steak fries after a good night of drinking). Pim told me about a late night soup joint on Broadway, but I forget the name. I've been spotted a few times ordering a slice of pizza at Cable Car Pizza on Valencia, certainly nothing I'd consider during regular business hours. 4) After 3am Now the pickings get really slim, with the all night diners being just about the only places still open. I'd give a nod to Sparky's, but at this point it's mostly a matter of personal preference, as none of the choices are very satisfying.

I believe that Hog Island has opened an oyster bar at the Ferry Building. Have you had a chance to try it yet?

Yes, we did get a few puzzled look from some of the vendors. My favorite question was "Do you guys own a restaurant or something?", to which I'd answer "No, we're just really hungry." The lettuce heads were the Live Gourmet butter lettuce, which come with roots and dirt still attached. $17.50 for a dozen, unfortunately they don't have a smaller size box (but they had some read leaf lettuce looking thing at $10 for 6). About half price compared to the $3 that they go for in a regular grocery store. The arugula, at $9.50 for a four pound box, was not as great a deal, I think from now on I'll stick to buying it as I need it from Trader Joe's: they sell their pack of organic arugula for $3, I think it's a pound's worth, but it may only be 12 ounces. I didn't have enough room at home for all the lettuce heads, so I made myself a butter lettuce, arugula and scalion salad last night, with a Meyer lemon and olive oil vinaigrette. A nice cap to a weird but really interesting night. We found out that the market stays open until about 10am, though the vendor we talked to said there's not much stuff left at that time on Fridays, but other weekdays should be fine. I think we should plan an eGullet breakfast and wholesale market shopping trip.

Sorry for picking up on the tangent, but that translator in the opening scenes of Lost in Translation was absolutely hilarious. One of the funniest scene I've seen in a while. And the rest of the movie is quite good too, though not nearly as comical.

I had dinner with a friend at Gary Danko yesterday. We had a very good meal, just as we did the previous time we ate there. I really think that food wise, this is the best value in high end restaurants in the Bay Area. The wine prices on the other hand are on the high side, which means the overall bill is not quite as good a value. We arrived at 9:10pm for a 9pm reservation, and were told they were running behind so our table was not ready yet. I brought a bottle of wine, which the hostess promptly took away after asking me if I had any specific instructions for it. While we were waiting near the bar area, she asked us if we wanted a glass of champagne while we were waiting. I had a glass of the Brut (Comte Audoin Dampierre Cuvee des Ambassadeurs Brut, a small producer I had not heard about before), and my dining companion had the Rose (Perriet Jouet Brut Rose). The champagnes were served in ordinary non-crystal glasses, which was a bit surprising considering the prices we were being charged ($16 and $18 respectively it turns out). We were seated around 9:30pm, in the smaller room to the left of the entrance. The room is a bit quieter than the main room, but having eaten there both times I've been to GD, I'd like to try the main room next time. Shortly after we sat down, while we were perusing the menu, the amuses came. It was a soup of winter vegetable (I forget which one, as it was recited to us very quickly) with foie gras and sage oil. Deliciously creamy and tasty, though just a touch too salty. Bread and butter came soon after. I agree with Stone's assessment, the bread is at best ordinary, I think most French places around town have better bread. The butter was fine, I still prefer the Celles-sur-Belles butter from France that I have at home. I remembered ExtraMSG's advice of ordering what's on the suggested tasting menu, as those dishes are often the best that particular night. The set tasting menu consisted of the glazed oysters, followed by salmon for the fish course, venison for the meat course, the cheese course and I believe the figs and berries for dessert. I tried to stay as close as possible to this menu, but I went for a four course meal, electing to skip dessert. My dining companion also chose a four course meal, and in her case she chose to skip the cheese course. You can see a sample Gary Danko fall menu on their website, though there were quite a few changes in the actual menu last night (the main ingredients of each dish were the same, but the preparation and the accompaniments were often different). For the first course, I had the Glazed Oysters with Leeks, Zucchini Pearls and Osetra Caviar. Four oysters in a rich broth, with a generous serving of Osetra on top of each oyster. This was a great dish, possibly my favorite of the night. The oysters are barely cooked, so they still have the wonderful briny taste of the sea, as does the caviar. The sauce and the bits of vegetables bring it all together. A definite winner, my only complaint would be that like the amuse, it was also a touch too salty. My friend had the Seared Foie Gras, Caramelized Red Onions, Figs and Huckleberries. A very good sized piece of foie gras, seared perfectly, in a sweet reduction with caramelized onions, figs and berries on the side. We both really liked this dish, but I found that the components tasted better separately than together. In particular, the foie gras and sauce went very well together, but onions and the figs took away from the foie. I was happy to see that unlike most restaurants, there was no supplement for this dish, even though it was quite a large serving. I didn't feel like having salmon, so I veered away from the set menu for one course and ordered the Roast Maine Lobster with Chanterelle Mushrooms, Edamame and Tarragon instead. I felt like having lobster, as I don't get to eat it as often as I'd like in California (I'm too lazy to make it at home, and find it overpriced in most restaurants). Another dish that I really enjoyed. Half of a small (1.25 lbs?) lobster, with half the tail (cut lengthwise) served still in the shell, but loosened so that the meat can be accessed easily. Meat from a claw served on top of a shell piece from the head. Accompaniments were mashed potatoes in addition to the mushrooms and the endemame beans. The lobster meat was cooked just right, so it was not rubbery at all, very tender and sweet tasting. The chanterelle mushrooms were very good, and the mashed potatoes went well with the rest of the dish. I asked the sommelier to pick a white wine to go with the dish and pour me half a glass (the wines by the glass are offered in full glass and half glass format), and he chose the 2001 Kistler "Les Noisetiers" Chardonnay. Very big, new world style wine, with lots of oak and malolactic fermentation. I'm not a big fan of the style, but the buttery nature of the wine was a good match for the lobster. The other fish dish we had was the Branzino Sea Bass with Cornmeal Cake and Braised Fennel. This was the first disappointment of the night. A hollow fennel bulb with a crispy cornmeal cake in the center, and two almost-crispy fried pieces of bass on top, and some sauce on the ouside of the dish. Because of the way it was cooked, the bass was on the dry side. The fennel and the cornmeal cake tasted OK, but not particularly interesting. We probably should have skipped this dish and ordered either the grouper or the scallops instead. For my main course, I went back to the set menu of the day and chose the Juniper Spiced Venison. I forget the exact name of the dish, but it was served with sweet potatoes and some small tart juniper berries on top. I ordered the venison medium rare, and based on the comments above, made sure to tell the server that I wanted them to err on the rare side if needed. The two venison medalions came back slightly more cooked than medium rare, but it didn't deter from my enjoyment of the dish, as they were still very moist and flavorful with good texture. I was a bit surprised that unlike venison that I've had in the past, this one didn't taste very gamey. I normally dislike sweet potatoes, but these ones (the orange kind) had a wonderful soft velvety texture, and were not too sweet. Another dish that I enjoyed a lot. My friend ordered the Duck Breast, which was served with duck hash, spinach, a tiny carrot and a couple of green beans, and some puree that I forget now. I was too full by that point to try much of the duck, but the little bits of the dish that I did try, including the meat, were all very good, except the duck hash that I found too salty (though it might have gone well with the rest of the dish, I only tried it on its own). Since my friend didn't have the energy to finish the dish either, they offered to wrap it for us. After a little break (the dishes had all come very close together, probably because we were just about the last seating for the night), the cheese cart and the dessert came. The cheese cart consists of about 15 cheeses from around the world, and the diner gets to pick four of them. I went with relatively safe choices, and chose a couple of goat's milk cheeses from France, a triple creme cow's milk also from France (very similar to a Brillat Savarin), and a sheep's milk cheese from Portugal. They were served with very thin slices of a dark bread with walnuts, as well as a small bunch of red seedless grapes. The bread was much better than the one served with the rest of the meal. I really enjoyed the cheeses, and for the most part I felt they were at the right ripeness level. My dining companion had the trio of creme brulee for dessert, which was very disappointing. The vanilla creme brulee was much too sweet, and didn't have much vanilla flavor to it. The butterscotch one was a bit better, mainly because it wasn't as sweet, but it wasn't particularly interesting. The chocolate one was the best of the bunch, but I don't think that creme brulee is the right vehicle for chocolate. Overall, this dessert was a major disappointment, I've had much better creme brulee in a number of establishment in the Bay Area (with my favorite being at Fringale). The meal ended with a plate of petits fours, but I was full by that point, so I only tried one of the chocolate ones. They also wrapped these to go, and put it in a bag along with the duck that we hadn't finished and some pumpkin candy (I didn't catch exactly what it was) in a golden foil package that they seemed to be giving out to every table as a parting favor. The wine service for the wine that I brought (a 1989 Gruaud Larose) was quite good. We were given Spieglau Authentis Bordeaux glasses, which were perfect for the wine, and the corkage fee of $25 seems quite reasonable for this caliber of restaurant. I was disappointed in the wine itself, it was rather muted on the nose, and while it had very good balance, the tannins on the finish were still too bitter. It did get better in the glass when I aerated it for a while, so I suspect it needs to age a few more years. I might buy another bottle to open in five years or so, it should be at its peak around then. When the bill came, I was a bit surprised to see that I had been charged $18 for a full glass of some Chardonnay I didn't recognize. I think that this was actually meant to be the charge for the half glass of the Kistler chardonnay that I got with the lobster course. The sommelier was already gone for the evening, so I wasn't able to find out if I had been over charged for the glass, or if that was the correct price. This brings me to my main complaint of GD, which is that the wine prices are too high. A lot of the bottles seem to be prices at four times retail, especially at the high end (such as mature Bordeaux), which is very high for the Bay Area. The wines by the glass also have very high markups: we were charged $16 for a glass of the Dampiere Ambassadeurs Brut, which is available at the Wine Club for $25 a bottle, and the Perrier Jouet Rose for $18 a glass can be found for $40. As for the service, it was very professional and competent, but like a previous poster, I felt that the dish descriptions were being recited with no spontaneity at all. Our server seemed a bit tired and rushed, but I think it's understandable given how late it was by the time we were seated. Overall, it was another very good meal at Gary Danko's, I definitely plan to visit again in the future. The total, including tax, tip and corkage, was $260 for two (but not including the cost of the wine bottle itself), not a great bargain, but a far price nonetheless.

I'd suspect most Parisians would pick a city in France, either the one they're from originally, or Paris itself, or Lyons. The French are often surprised to hear that there is good food to be had outside of France... Good point about international cities, I have noticed that a lot of large cities in the world have made huge progress in the last 5 or 10 years on the food front. In Canada for example, the food scene is much more vibrant nowadays in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. I've travelled in South America a little bit, and Buenos Aires and Santiago are nothing to sneer about either. I think we're witnessing an explosion in the quality of restaurants across the world, I'm not sure if it's due to globalization or not, but things are definitely improving all over.

I use evaporated milk for my flan (creme caramel) recipe, it definitely works better than real milk or half and half. The flan just has a denser, more creamy consistency, due to the low water content of evaporated milk. The recipe is very simple, and other than eggs, only uses ingredients from your pantry. Ingredients For the flan: -2 cans evaporated milk -4 eggs -2/3 cups sugar -1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract For the caramel: -2/3 cups sugar -A little water Preparation: Make a caramel by heating 2/3 cups of sugar in a saucepan, adding just a little water. Heat the caramel until it reaches a nice deep brown color. You have to stop before it smokes and becomes black, else it will be too bitter. Poor the caramel in the baking dish you are using for the flan, and be sure to line the entire bottom of the dish. Let the caramel cool until it becomes hard. In a sauce pan, heat up the two cans of milk and mix in the sugar and vanilla. In a mixing bowl, beat the four eggs. When the milk is just starting to give off a little steam, pour the milk slowly into the eggs, stirring the mixture at the same time. Then pour the mixture into the baking dish that has the hardened caramel at the bottom. Bake in a 350F oven in a water bath (i.e. put the original baking dish in a larger dish filled with water). Bake for 45 min if your flan is 2 inches thick, 1 hour for thicker flans. When the top of the flan is solid to the touch (it will feel a bit like soft jello), remove it from the oven and let it cool for a few hours (you can cover it if you want). Once it's cool to the touch, put it the fridge for a few hours (overnight is fine if you want to prepare this a day ahead of time). At serving time, use a thin knife to loosen the edges of the flan, and then turn in upside down onto a large plate. The caramel will have melted and will give off a fair amount of syrup, so make sure your plate is large enough. Voila!

Would it not depend on how much money you had?

I mean that when you compare restaurant-cities on an international level -- such as NY v. Paris -- the Japanese restaurants in Paris aren't a consideration. They're there, but they're primarily of local significance. In other words, it's a slam-dunk that Japanese food is better in New York, on the whole or/and at the top level, than in Paris? But what about North African and Middle Eastern cuisine in Paris? hmm. i'm actually a little suprised japanese food isn't better in paris at least. I've never been to a top Japanese restaurant in Paris, nor have I ever heard of one. Given that there are not a lot of Japanese immigrants in France, I wouldn't expect many good Japanese restaurants. Overall, I suspect your're more likely to find good Japanese food in South America than in Europe, as there's a much more sizeable Japanese community in places like Peru, Brazil and Chile.

I guess my longwinded post didn't make clear that I would nominate New York, San Francisco, Paris and London, but without a specific criteria, it would be hard to choose among them. Within North America, I'd also give an honorable mention to Vancouver. They don't quite have world class food, especially when it comes to breadth, but the restaurant scene has really exploded there lately. Tojo's and Vij's would have to be considered among the top Sushi and Indian restaurants on the continent, and Ouest and Lumiere are very competent on the French food side.

I agree with Fat Guy on the Paris comments. I frequently have this argument with my friends who live in Paris, it's very disappointing to see how poor the non-French restaurants are in Paris. As Pan pointed out, they do have very good North African and Lebanese restaurants, probably better than any other city in the West. However, beyond those cuisines, both the selection and the quality are very poor. It can even be hard to find a good Italian restaurant in Paris. Also, the French do not seem to care too much about authenticity when it comes to Asian restaurants, you can still find lots of places that "specialize" in Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai cuisines (i.e. all three in the same restaurant!) For high end restaurants, I would put Paris ahead of New York though. The majority of high end restaurants in New York serve French food, and I think the Michelin three star restaurants in Paris are for the most part better than the NY Times four star restaurants in New York. After all, how many New York restaurants serve such world class food that people travel to NYC just to eat there. In the middle range, I like the breadth and quality in San Francisco better than in Manhattan (SF is a city of 750,000 people, so Manhattan is a more fair comparison than NYC). By mid-range, I mean places that come in below $50 for a meal without wine. If one were to compare the entire Bay Area to all of New York City, I think it would be harder to choose. I'm suprised that no one has mentioned London yet. The food scene there has definitely improved over the years, and on the ethnic front, London probably has the best Indian food outside of Asia.

Chez Panisse Cafe is definitely among my favorites. I know you want to forgo Chez Panisse, but the Cafe is really worth a try. It's much cheaper than its big sibbling downstairs, it's open late, and it's really good california cuisine. In a similar style, there's also Rivoli in Albany on Solano Ave, I'd describe the food as Cal-French. Very good and not too expensive. The East Bay also has a lot of really nice small plates restaurants in the mid range. My favorite is A Cote in Oakland on College Ave, which serves French inspired small plates. They don't take reservations though, so the wait can be long on weekend nights. The food is very good and reasonably priced, and I like their wine list, which has fair prices and a good selection by the glass. Other small plates restaurants worth trying include Grasshopper in Oakland on College Ave, right near the Berkeley border. They serve small plates with an Asian influence, similar in price to A Cote. The food is really good here too, but the wine list is not quite as elaborate as A Cote's. The bakery next door, La Farine, is among the best in the East Bay. Finally, Cesar in Berkeley on Shattuck Ave, right next door to Chez Panisse, is a very good modern Tapas restaurant, similar in prices and quality to the previous two places. Lots of interesting choices of wine by the glass. I strongly second the recommendation of Vik's Chaat House (Allston and Fourth) for inexpensive but very tasty Indian street food. Unfortunately, they're not open at dinner hours. Try them on the weekend, when they serve some meat dishes, though the lineups can get pretty bad. Chaat Cafe on University near MLK in Berkeley is also very good for North Indian food. Breads of India has its fans, but I've always found the food rather bland and uninteresting, so I would not recommend it. For Pizza by the slice, try the Cheeseboard on Shattuck in Berkeley, or its offspring Arizmendi on San Pablo in Emeryville. Very tasty though non traditional pizza specials every day, no choices though. If you prefer East Coast style slizes, try Arinell's on Shattuck near University in Berkeley, they recently reopen, and fans claim it's the closest thing to a NY slice in the Bay Area.

Who cares? Would you really trust Zagat ratings more if they were subjected to an independent audit? Enron and Worldcom were audited (albeit one could argue about the indepence of their auditors), and look where that got them. It's just a food guide after all. I think that experienced diners will know what to expect from a Zagat guide regardless of what the Zagat methodologies are exactly and whether they were audited or not. Granted Zagat has a disproportionate influence in the marketplace in the US, but then again so does the Michelin guide in France, the New York Times in NYC, etc...

I agree with ExtraMSG, Zagat is much more useful than people on this board are willing to give it credit for. Yes their food rankings are not all that reliable, but then again, who's are? I have Zagat To Go (the Palm version) with DB's for various cities across the world, and just the listings with addresses and phone numbers make it worthwhile. The ratings and haikus are just bonus info on top. I never use Zagat anymore to choose which restaurant to go to in San Francisco (though I used to when I first moved here), but it's a god send when travelling, especially if it's a short trip to a city that I don't know very well. I find that with Zagat, as with all guides, you have to be aware of what their strength and weaknesses are, and take that into account when using their reviews. For example, I find that for the most part, Zagat guides do a poor job rating ethnic restaurants, as the best ones are often either ignored altogether or severely underrated. They do a much better job on European and American cuisines. I have filled out a Zagat survey in the past, and I agree that I found that restriction to be by far the biggest shortcoming. I definitely think that being given a choice of 0 to 10 would be much better than the current 0 to 3, as it's almost impossible to differentiate restaurants properly on the smaller scale. One recent concern I do have with Zagat guides is that they seem to be abandoning smaller cities (Portland was dropped in 99, no new guides on Hawaii since 00, Vancouver or Dallas since 01), which is precisely the places where I find their guides useful. The guides on large cities like LA, San Francisco, New York, London, Paris have much more limited value to me, as I can find many more sources of information for these. I wish Zagat would stop trying to produce guides on Movies and Music, and instead try to broaden their geographic coverage.

I like Burgermeister. I've only been to the branch in the Castro, but the original branch is in Cole Valley. They pretty much do just burgers, and are quite good at it: Burgermeister 138 Church St San Francisco, CA 94114 Phone: (415) 437-2874 I thought Kelly's, which is mentioned above, was also pretty good, though I like Burgermeister better. Another small SF chain to try is Burger Joint. They use Niman Ranch for their beef, but I think it's a notch below Kelly's. Moe's in North Beach is a classic, but I have not been back there in years. I don't think Barney's is all that bad, as long as you stick to the basic choices. I think I had just a plain cheeseburger with a side of curly fries, and it was decent. Zuni's burger, which is widely mentioned in any talk of SF burgers, is a nice dish, but it's not really a traditional burger because of the focaccia bun and the shoestring fries. So I would not really put it up with the other burgers mentioned in this thread.

I'm not a big drinker of California Cabs, but I'll chime in with one more vote for Phelps Insignia. I have always liked the ones I've tried, and in the crazy price structure of Napa wines, it's actually not a bad value.

I think that the Slanted Door website explains it better than I do: So it looks like the Embarcadero venue will be just abandoned altogether. I've seen the new location in the Ferry Building, right by the Ferry Plaza farmer's market, and it's quite nice, right on the water with a good view of the East Bay. As for popular restaurants that start out in the Mission and then move while converting their old location to a cheaper menu, that seems to be a trend right now. In addition to Slanted Door (which unfortunately is taking two years to reopen their original Mission location), Butterfly did this recently by moving their restaurant to the Embarcadero (in the spot previously occupied by Lapis), yet keeping the old location open with a cheaper Vietnamese street food menu. I had dinner at "Butterfly Mission" on Friday and it was quite good and much less expensive than the old menu. Watergate in the Mission is also moving, this time to Nob Hill, and they're planning to keep the old location open as a cheaper restaurant that they'll call Watercress.

According to the latest Zagat newsletter:

I have the Riedel Overture Magnum glasses. The Riedel Overture series, as well as the Riedel Wine series, are "non-leaded" crystal, or in other words just plain glass. I'm happy with the Overture Magnums, they're decent glasses and quite strong (have not broken a single one yet in a couple of years of use). But I paid about $6 a stem for them, and with the current Amazon deal on the Spieglau glasses, I'm not sure if the Overtures are all that great a value.

A smaller clarification yet, the link brings up only those among the most popular restaurants in the Zagat survey that can be booked through OpenTable. Most popular SF restaurants as per Zagat: 1) Boulevard 2) French Laundry 3) Gary Danko 4) Aqua 5) Chez Panisse 6) The Slanted Door 7) Chez Panisse Cafe 8) Bistro Jeanty 9) Delfina 10) Farallon Food-wise, the top two rated restaurants are Gary Danko and French Laundry (both 29 for food), followed by Sierra Mar (in Big Sur), Masa's, the Ritz-Carlton Dining Room and Chez Panisse at the 28 level. Fifth Floor, which has gotten some good reviews on this board, is only rated as a 25 for food, though in Zagat's defence, the surveying for the 2003 guide is actually done in early to mid 2002.

The Wine Angels report was discussed in a thread on this board back in May.

What makes white zinfandel so popular is that the grape juice is not fermented all the way, so one ends up with a sweet wine with low alcohol: around 9% alcohol typically, compared to 12-15% for most wines, and 3% residual sugar. The wine is therefore fresher and more enjoyable to novices, which has made white zinfandel one of the best selling wines in America, with most of it concentrated in a few labels like Beringer and Sutter Home. The most common method of making white zinfandel today is to blend fully fermented wine with unfermented grape juice, in something like a 3:1 proportion. See this Sutter Home link for the history of white zinfandel, including it's accidental invention.