Report on Heading to San Francisco

[Kerry Beal]

Coffee at Blue Bottle in the Ferry Terminal Market - followed by lunch at the Slanted Door.

Crispy vegetarian imperial rolls.

Dragon well 'long jing' green tea for hubby, hong kong milk tea for me.

Grass-fed estacia shaking beef.

Jasmine rice of course.

rodoni farm brussels' sprouts, pioppini mushrooms. Now I despise brussels sprouts - but the waiter talked a good game. And he was right - they were quite exceptional.

[rotuts]

Id be very interested in your thoughts on that grass-fed beef. its taste, etc etc.

granted all beef is not the same ( chime in PB ) grain fed or grass fed.

this is something Id like to learn about.

on the 'sprouts cooked right they can be exceptional. not usually.

[Kerry Beal]

Here you go Dave - Tout Sweet. Not as big as it looks in the pictures - but a very clean looking space - lots of white. Three or four flavours of pates de fruit - tasted a couple - not enough acid added I'd say - they needed a bit of punching up. Oh yeah - and I got you some macarons.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Walking home from the streetcar we followed an alley that brought us to the north building of the Moscone Center. Look what I found -

Hubby had a chocolate cream filled one - vanilla for me.

No lines like the store in NYC.

[Kerry Beal]

Id be very interested in your thoughts on that grass-fed beef. its taste, etc etc.

granted all beef is not the same ( chime in PB ) grain fed or grass fed.

this is something Id like to learn about.

on the 'sprouts cooked right they can be exceptional. not usually.

Don't know about the difference between grass fed and grain fed really - this was perfectly nice beef - tender because of the cut and how rare it was - but I don't know if I can taste the grass vs the grain.

[Honkman]

Id be very interested in your thoughts on that grass-fed beef. its taste, etc etc.

granted all beef is not the same ( chime in PB ) grain fed or grass fed.

this is something Id like to learn about.

on the 'sprouts cooked right they can be exceptional. not usually.

Grass fed beef (without grain finish) will give you a much stronger natural beef flavor whereas grain fed has a much more buttery flavor.

Edited January 18, 2013 by Honkman (log)

[patrickamory]

Was the Slanted Door a revelation?

[Kerry Beal]

Not really - excellent food - but then I've had a lot of excellent Vietnamese food in the past - some of it in Vietnam. Well - except for the brussels sprouts - enjoying them would be considered a revelation!

[dhardy123]

Here you go Dave - Tout Sweet. Not as big as it looks in the pictures - but a very clean looking space - lots of white. Three or four flavours of pates de fruit - tasted a couple - not enough acid added I'd say - they needed a bit of punching up. Oh yeah - and I got you some macarons.

Awesome Thanks!

[Kerry Beal]

Dinner tonight was at Bluestem Brasserie - compliments of Ecole Chocolate - this was our celebratory dinner - the school having been in business for 10 years.

Light was pretty low - had to use the flash on most pictures.

Had two drinks this evening - the first a Honey Badger - described as american honey bourbon, maker's mark, BBQ water and lemon. The second a sidecar (which came with a sidecar) - brandy, grand marnier, lemon - quite sweet.

Three apps were brought to be shared - grass fed beef sliders, crisy chicken wings with a tamarind sauce and tuna tartare on cucumber.

A watercress salad with compressed honeycrisp apples, grapes, fennel, spiced walnuts and a cider vinegrette.

I opted for the pan-roasted sweet potato gnocchi - cavalo nero, hazelnuts, mushrooms, meyer lemon brown butter and parmesan. Quite yummy.

Dessert was a jar of assorted cookies - some interesting items for sure.

[dhardy123]

Dessert was a jar of assorted cookies - some interesting items for sure.

What kinds of cookies?

[Kerry Beal]

Dessert was a jar of assorted cookies - some interesting items for sure.

What kinds of cookies?

All sorts - there were some little chocolate chip, I had something akin to a rum ball with hot pepper in it, there were some little peanut butter squares (but baked like a cookie in a square), the same with ginger, there was something like a white truffle.

[weinoo]

Dessert was a jar of assorted cookies - some interesting items for sure.

Does everything have to come in a jar now?

[mkayahara]

found this:

http://redboatfishsa...ere_to_buy.html

if the SF map doesnt show up in this link, type San francisco CA a bout 8 places show up.

cheeers

Found it - Sur la Table had it, as well as a grocery and butcher in the Ferry Terminal Market.

And, uh... how many bottles did you pick up?

[Kerry Beal]

found this:

http://redboatfishsa...ere_to_buy.html

if the SF map doesnt show up in this link, type San francisco CA a bout 8 places show up.

cheeers

Found it - Sur la Table had it, as well as a grocery and butcher in the Ferry Terminal Market.

And, uh... how many bottles did you pick up?

They are teeny little bottles actually - but I guess it's like a 'finishing' fish sauce. Bought two initially - said to hubby that I'd regret it if I got home with only one for myself and Anna. He of the common sense suggested I get two more. So four. Want one?

[rotuts]

250 ml? cost more than you thought? that one?

no whole foods in CAN? discerning country as Ive always known.

hope your bag doesn't get dropped !

Edited January 19, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[Kerry Beal]

250 ml? cost more than you thought? that one?

no whole foods in CAN? discerning country as Ive always known.

hope your bag doesn't get dropped !

Yup - 250 ml. They were $7.50 each at Sur la Table and under $6 at the other place. I don't think Whole Foods in Canada carries it. Although their online list of places that sell it is clearly a bit skint.

My bag will contain well padded and ziplocked bottles of all sorts - so indeed hope it makes it home safely. I've had a few leaks in trips past. There was the one of 21 bottles of single malt that leaked on the way back from Scotland - all carry on in those days. We smelled like classy rummies.

I picked up a 375 ml bottle of St George's Absinthe and a regular sized bottle of Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao to protect too.

[Kerry Beal]

Today's obligation is a luncheon here in the hotel for the graduates of Ecole Chocolate. We faculty will be placed at each table to answer questions and facilitate conversation. Not sure whether I should go for the interesting breakfast today or the interesting dinner - but betting lunch won't be too exciting.

[mkayahara]

found this:

http://redboatfishsa...ere_to_buy.html

if the SF map doesnt show up in this link, type San francisco CA a bout 8 places show up.

cheeers

Found it - Sur la Table had it, as well as a grocery and butcher in the Ferry Terminal Market.

And, uh... how many bottles did you pick up?

They are teeny little bottles actually - but I guess it's like a 'finishing' fish sauce. Bought two initially - said to hubby that I'd regret it if I got home with only one for myself and Anna. He of the common sense suggested I get two more. So four. Want one?

If it isn't too much trouble, I'd love one! Thank you!

[Kerry Beal]

No trouble at all!

[Kerry Beal]

Headed back over to the Ferry Building this morning cause we woke so early. Market was in full swing.

Roli Roti truck was up and running - Porchetta not quite ready - but chicken available. Perfect for breakfast.

Walking around afterwards looking at the various Good Food award winners - I was approached by Alan McClure (Patric Chocolate) to say hi. Some will recall A Patric from his Demo on Bean to Bar chocolate here on eG.

Alan won 3 awards this year.

Grabbed some lovely dried figs as well as a bottle of Ransome Old Tom.

[Tri2Cook]

Nice breakfast!

[Chocolot]

So glad you went to the market. My favorite spot in San Francisco. Keep reporting--I'm living vicariously through your posts.

[Kerry Beal]

So glad you went to the market. My favorite spot in San Francisco. Keep reporting--I'm living vicariously through your posts.

Ruth - Tom at TCF says hello. Apparently you talked him through his first guitar sale!

[Kerry Beal]

Since it was a short walk from our hotel - decided to take annachan's advice and try Martin Yan's restaurant M.Y. China.

The man is quite the showman - he didn't stop schmoozing the entire time we were there. He signed cookbooks, had his picture taken with the punters, sang happy birthday...

Who do you think they tried to drop the drink with the flower in front of? Mai Tai for the hubby.

Monkey King for me.

Pork Belly sliders - not as good as the momofuku version.

Spring rolls.

Scissor cut noodles with boar.

Forgot the hubbies salad with chicken and pomegranate seeds.