Discovering San Francisco

[Carolyn Tillie]

After three years of living amidst the grape vines, I am going to be moving into San Francisco proper -- near Japantown. I have never lived in a large city (always the country or the suburbs) and the culinary possibilities are very exciting. I am maintaining a ton of wine country writing contracts so my fine dining experiences will not diminish throughout Napa and Sonoma counties, but over the next few months, as I explore my new neighborhood, I thought I would share...

I am excited because the world of ethnic food -- which is so illusive in Napa and Sonoma -- is being returned to me at last. That, and the concept that there are people in this world who will bring food to your front door after you call them!

I'll keep this thread alive as I walk the neighborhood and eat at all the surrounding digs. I have already enjoyed the Kobe Burger at Harry's Bar at 2020 Fillmore. While not a restaurant, Boom Boom Room, on the corner of Geary and Fillmore is my local bar for late-night jazz and blues.

Last night, boyfriend Kevin suggested a slice of pizza from local pizzeria Mozzarella di Bufala however they are owned by Brazilians and instead we had delivered a fabulously spicy Feijoada Completa, thick with black beans, chunks of smoked pork and beef, rice, collards, and farofa (yucca). Kevin lived in a Brazil for while and said that it was a 6 on his feijoada scale -- I loved it and am terribly curious what a 10 would be, thrilled that I can have Brazilian food delivered!

[melkor]

Congrats on the move, there are plenty of good places to eat within walking distance in and around Japantown - a major improvement from wine country where nothing is walkable.

[eje]

Carolyn,

Wow! That is exciting!

Welcome to San Francisco, I hope the change suits you!

I don't get over to that neck of the woods all that often beyond periodic stops at J-Town for hard to find Japanese items. It will be great to learn more about it.

Already, I've learned something new, that Mozzarella di Bufala delivers Brazilian food. Cool!

-Erik

edited for grammar.

Edited December 15, 2005 by eje (log)

[ludja]

Carolyn,

...

I don't get over to that neck of the woods all that often beyond periodic stops at J-Town for hard to find Japanese items.  It will be great to learn more about it.

...

←

Same here, I look forward to reports of your explorations...

Perhaps walking distance depending where you're located are also the restaurants and wine bars on Hayes, west of the Civic Center.

Enjoy learning about your new neighborhood and becoming a city girl!

Nice to able to drop in to the Boom Boom Room on off nights.

[dragonflychef]

carolyn

greetings hope all is well and your move suits you, my wife and I have always been suburb and rural people as well , but she also had the oppurtunity to live in Brazil as well as when we both lived in manhattan, we miss the wlaking and finding culinary treasures just as you have found , our neighborhood pizza place, the thai place for whole fish , the perfect pastrami and matzo ball soup , all the four star restaurants, le bernardin, jean george, whole crispy duck , and the best cuban pork for 4.50 anywhere, we wish for you all the same treasures we found durin our big move to a big city , wine country will miss you and so will we, come eat when you can ,

preston - nichole

ps we are closing for month of jan, to do some work and cleaning , coming to work for gary danko for 5 days , love to hook up for some insiders food visits

[yakiniku]

In the Japantown mall, Mifune, and for a true Japanese experience, the little place on the bridge between the two malls.

They don't serve traditional Japanese food there, but my friends from Japan love it for comfort food and the Japanese periodicals on every surface.

[Raoul Duke]

Been a few years but Japantown had a nice little sushi bar with sushi boats that floated by, for you to choose.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Thanks for all the tips -- being a Japan-a-phile, I am looking forward to eating through EVERY Japanese restaurant in J-Town (even if they are owned and operated by Koreans).

Tonight's venture was to Miyako at 1707 Buchanan Street - up one of the walkways opposite the J-town mall. Decent enough Maki and Temaki but hardly awe-inspiring. Still enjoyable nonetheless, with fresh ingredients and great service.

[Carlsbad]

I would suggest you explore Clement from beginning to almost the end. The stories change, but the food is usually excellent.

[loiosh]

In the Japantown mall, Mifune, and for a true Japanese experience, the little place on the bridge between the two malls.

They don't serve traditional Japanese food there, but my friends from Japan love it for comfort food and the Japanese periodicals on every surface.

←

It's called "On the Bridge" at least the last time I was there. Good cod roe spaghetti.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Quick stop last evening at the Fillmore Grille for cocktails and an appetizer. The crab cakes were respectable enough with a number of interesting sauces under the nestled fennel and beet greens salad. The drinks were slightly on the weak side however. Beautiful interior with high-back, hidden booths. Looking forward to going back and sampling more off the menu.

[Carolyn Tillie]

A little more exploring over the weekend.

An appetizer and cocktail at Winterland.

Then on to The Pride of the Mediterranean (1761 Fillmore St.) for a little hookah smoking... Having the Winterland appetizer working to whet the appetite, I ordered some grilled Greek Kaseiri cheese (Kevin warned me the food was bad but I figured, 'how bad can someone ruin grilled cheese'?) Shame on me - one bite of rubber bad cheese and a mediocre hookah and we were outta there... A vodka martini at Harry's successfully killed the flavor of the hookah and most of my appetite.

Sunday brunch was spent at Powell's Place, (1521 Eddy St.) as we were dining with an 80-year old black, gay, jazz musician, Stanley, who lives across the street and this is his hang-out. I guess I could say that the restaurant is clean and they try hard, but it seems they can't keep servers and ours was decidedly distracted. Stan and I shared some Salmon croquettes to start but they were nothing other than canned salmon patties like my mother used to make (scary). Then both Stan and I ordered the catfish with greens, yams, and mac-n-cheese. Kevin had beef brisket which was smothered in some canned BBQ sauce. The catfish was far from fresh and rather rubbery and while the brisket was tender and well-shredded, the sauce killed it.

Trying to recover from Sunday's brunch, we did much better by shopping at the local Nijiya Market (1737 Post) for dinner, buying fresh crab and a selection of mushrooms for dinner. I marveled at their bounty of pre-preparedJapanese edibles and considering the number of people filling up their baskets, I won't hesitate to try any of them, from mochi to sunomono. Also, an amazing selection of sakes and artisan soy sauces. This will probably become my local market for fresh meat, seafood, and vegetables.

[eje]

Trying to recover from Sunday's brunch, we did much better by shopping at the local Nijiya Market (1737 Post)...This will probably become my local market for fresh meat, seafood, and vegetables.

←

Nijiya is the market on the corner of Post and Webster in the Japan Town complex, isn't it? I am addicted to the house brand of organic soy sauce and have to restrain myself from going crazy in the shochu/awamori aisle.

There is another smaller market across on the north side of post and about a block and a half east that is also fun to check out. The last time I was over, looking for asian citrus, the other market had a little better looking produce than Nijiya and I believe slightly better prices.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Tonight's impromptu stop was at Tommy's Joynt on the corner of Van Ness and Geary.

I had to stop -- I drive past it almost every day and the outside building is painted with such garish, hideousness that it almost beckons.

I guess it is an institution in this town and there are some things to be said for it; the beer selection is truly amazing, including Chimay on tap and a tremendous selection of rare, bizarre imports.

The decor is frightening, to say the least. The world's largest salad serving set dangles above one's head like the Sword of Damocles. Beer steins ranging from several inches in height to several feet. Red and black-painted walls and ceiling with most of the paint chipping away (make sure it doesn't fall into your food).

The food? Well, I can say it IS affordable and interesting. The entire establishment reminded me a great deal of Phillippe's Home of the French Dip in Los Angeles with food akin to circa 1950.

Kevin had the Polish sausage with heavily-cloved sauerkraut and a boiled potato for $4.95. I opted for roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy and a salad for $7.95 (expensive, by all accounts). Honestly, we spent more money on the alcohol than we did on food.

I would go back, though. If just for the atmosphere and to people watch. The food is cheap, simple, and an experience. I had a great time.

Edited January 13, 2006 by Carolyn Tillie (log)

[eje]

Tonight's impromptu stop was at Tommy's Joynt on the corner of Van Ness and Geary. 

←

I used to ride the Golden Gate Transit bus from Marin to San Francisco on a daily basis. Often there would be convicts heading to San Francisco, I guess on work release or just out of prison, still in their orange duds. For some reason I never figured out, when I overheard their conversations, Tommy's Joynt was always their first priority.

I suspect their second priority may have been the Mitchell Brothers, so perhaps it was just proximity.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Tonight's impromptu stop was at Tommy's Joynt on the corner of Van Ness and Geary. 

←

I used to ride the Golden Gate Transit bus from Marin to San Francisco on a daily basis. Often there would be convicts heading to San Francisco, I guess on work release or just out of prison, still in their orange duds. For some reason I never figured out, when I overheard their conversations, Tommy's Joynt was always their first priority.

I suspect their second priority may have been the Mitchell Brothers, so perhaps it was just proximity.

←

Coincidentally -- speaking of convicts -- I am being taken to Delancey for breakfast this weekend which (I guess) has ex-cons as waiters.

And you are right -- the Mitchell theatre would make sense for an ex-con, after having eaten at Tommy's.

[castironchef]

San Wo's!

[Carolyn Tillie]

I have the distinct advantage of having a job that only requires me to work four days a week. Being able to choose my day off is an easy choice - Fridays means that I always have three-day weekends. Friday was spent walking up Fillmore for a little pampering (a nice day in the salon) and a special lunch afterwards. Across from the salon was Chouquet's (2500 Washington Street) which seemed the perfect choice, considering the proximity...

Kevin had a burger which, while not quite as good a meat quality as the Kobe beef at Harry's, had the distinct advantage of incredibly fresh tomatoes, grilled onions, and a bounty of goat cheese. Great fries, too! I had a Salade Gascogne with Duck Magret, Melon, Artichokes, and Pinenuts served with a honey mustard dressing. I'm usually not a fan of honey mustard but this was a whole-grain mustard and the tanginess worked well with the sweet melon and bounty of pinenuts. Pretty decent winelist by the glass as well.

Dinner on Friday evening was sushi at Kansai (1737 Buchanan Mall). We tend to always order cold, unfiltered sake and was shocked when it was served in water glasses. BIG water glasses. Maybe that accounted for the sushi tasting especially good as two glasses of sake later, I was thrilled to discover the television feed behind the bar showing my beloved Sumo wrestling. The sweet shrimp was a favorite here.

A late-afternoon jaunt back through the Japantown mall on Saturday put us at Izumiya (1581 Webster). Quite mediocre here and I won't bother returning. We started with gyoza which were soggy and flabby. The Oshitashi was watery. A simple spider roll was rubbery. The saving grace was the grilled eel on rice, which is really hard to screw up and I was craving something grilled.

[alanamoana]

the pickles are good at tommy's! other than that, it is a little scary at that place...but fun people watching.

i'm so jealous you're living in sf. i miss that town. you have a lot of exploring to do.

for "young and hip" i don't know how polk street is doing these days, but there were a few nice places to check out.

i used to live on polk at sacramento. bob's donuts was across the street from my apartment and when i'd come home late at night they'd be frying them up and the scent was irresistible. i'd get a huge apple fritter and devour the entire greasy, sweet, sticky fried dough in about 2 minutes!

[The Blissful Glutton]

I lived in SF for 5 years before moving back to the East coast. So many great places to go. Mifune is def. a must for good soba in Japantown and there is this little sushi place that only seats around 20 folks. Hama or something. Can't remember. Wonderfully fresh sashimi. Are you new to SF in general? If so, I could provide you with many ideas. I was a chef there so I was pretty tuned in. Happy eating.

[Carolyn Tillie]

My final move out of Napa occurred over the weekend -- after a 24-hour packing blitz and word of a death in my family, I arrived in the city on Saturday evening way too hungry and exhausted to want to wait for anything to be delivered. A new sushi restaurant opened two weeks ago just under the apartment I moved into; Sushi Boom II on Fillmore near Webster (the original is on Geary).

We ordered the spicy tuna roll (mediocre at best - the tuna had been ground into a paste which I found quite mushy). Their maki "Geary" was a California roll topped with unagi. The unagi was downright cold and seemingly barely grilled so I found this quite unappetizing. A spider roll was filled with soggy fried soft-shell crab so I only had one bite.

Lastly, I ordered a tempura appetizer (wanting *something* hot to eat). This was sort of a breaking point in hoping for something close by that might be acceptable, to no avail. The vegetables were cut way too thick (a carrot which was cold in the middle) and was not served hot enough. I think the oil they fried in was not hot enough.

Won't bother going back...

[Carolyn Tillie]

For some very odd reason, the Boom Boom Room was closed last evening -- needing a jazz fix and being hungry, it seemed a good enough excuse to finally head to Biscuit and Blues, where I had been wanting to go since before my move into the city.

The appetizer sampler seemed a reasonable offering; yam fries, chicken wings, corn and shrimp fritters, and biscuits. I'm not usually a chicken wings fan (something about the hated sports bar mentality or something) and no one else was interested so I finished them all; instead of a sickly sweet, bbq-style coating, the glaze was both spicy and piquant. I'm not a spice fan but I enjoyed these. The fritters were also quite good; crispy on the outside with a tender filling. The yam fries were the clear winner (although I miss Joachim Splichal's version with fried ginger). The real disappointment came in the biscuits themselves. Cold, pale, and dense with a meager honey-butter spread that accompanied them. The sampler plate was served with three sauces; a cucumber cream dipping sauce, a mango ketchup, and something with jalapenos that I didn't bother trying. Too full to order fried chicken or jambalaya...

The highlight of the evening was obviously the jazz. This is a great club for accoustics and Ron Thompson, the performer last night, was fabulous. I've gotten to know the guys at that Boom Boom Room well enough that I don't have to pay a cover, but on the occasions where a $10 cover is acceptable, I'll gladly head to Biscuit and Blues. The drinks, also, were quite butt-kicking...

[Carolyn Tillie]

An afternoon shooting pool at a local dive-bar found me across the street from Alaturca, a Turkish restaurant at 869 Geary. Being lately enamored of all foods Turkish (via meeting Musa), I had no difficulty talking Kevin into a light afternoon snack...

Not being terribly hungry, we opted for a hot appetizer; Ispanakli Borek, made of yufka dough and baked with feta cheese and spinach (basically, a spanikopita-like concoction of a light, buttery pastry and not-quite-enough filling) and a meat pide of sucuk (a chorizo-like sausage) and a mixture of cheese. The pide was somewhat like a thin, open-face calzone. I regret that I did not ask what the cheeses were as they were quite flavorful and rich (Mozzarella-like but seemingly sheep or goats-milk based). There was a dried spice on the table that included dried thyme and mint which added to the flavor and both the appetizer and pide were served with a side of salad (mostly shredded cabbage and lettuce with diced bell peppers and tomatoes with a vinaigrette).

It was interesting that late on a Sunday afternoon, in a mostly full restaurant, we were the obviously only non-Turkish diners in the establishment and that made for somewhat aloof service. Kevin's biggest complaint was that everything seemed a bit dry; but he likes foods with sauces.

Looking forward to going back and trying some more substantial entrees and platters.

[Carolyn Tillie]

A lovely Sunday evening was shared with eG Brit Andy Lynes... After years of correspondence, it was fabulous to meet an old friend. We started with cocktails at the Cafe Monaco which is my favorite spot in the city for such things...

We then headed to Andy's hotel, The Hotel Vitale, to dine at their restaurant, Americano. Not one that is usually impressed with hotel food, the Americano was very impressive and worthy of a visit for those not staying in the hotel. Being there on a Monday evening showed relatively peace, but apparently Friday and Saturday nights are quite happening.

We started with a glass of Domaine Carneros Blanc de Noir because Andy doesn't get to try enough California sparkling wines. For me, this was paired with a salad of blood orange, avocado, fennel, and greens. Fresh, clean and well thought-out. Andy had a grilled artichoke salad that I did not try. The waiter insisted that we try the salad of the day, a confit of duck with kumquats and a huckleberry dressing. After the freshness of my salad starter, the confit seemed heavy and too rich. Neither of us could finish it...

My entree for the evening, suggested by waiter Ben, was fresh Wala served with two small, crispy horseradish puffs, wilted spinach, fresh baby beets, and Kalamata olives. The Wala was firm and buttery, with all the accompanying flavors coming together quite nicely. I had this with a glass of Alsatian Riesling, the name of which I didn't even bother to get -- I was just enjoying the evening and the company.

Having seen them emerge from the kitchen earlier (despite the waiter's suggestion of a sorbet sampler), I couldn't resist the fresh fritters served with dipping jam and melted chocolate. Ethereally-light and sugar dusted, I showed great restraint by only eating a few and taking the rest home for breakfast...

A note on the Americano's decor; dark, olive-colored walls are contrasted with warm wood floors and a bar made up of river stones. It is elegant and austere, but warm and inviting in its sparcity. The kitchen space is open and the light bar above the service area is decorated with various shapes and sizes of cream-colored lamp shades. There are touches of modern art throughout the hotel and restaurant and if you ever go, make sure to look at the paintings which are mounted on the ceilings. They are quite disconcerting at first, but I could not keep from glancing up at them and ultimately welcoming them as guests to our meal.

[Andy Lynes]

Cafe Monaco is a very cool spot I have to say, especially as I was able to down a few cold Heinekens for the first time on my otherwise resolutely gourmet road trip from LA to Napa. Fine artisinal wines and grand crus are all very well, but sometimes you just can't beat a beer.

The Vitale is a beautiful hotel (on the inside at least, I know the building itself has attracted some negative comments) and don't they just know it. I'm all for cool interiors, but I'm not quite so keen on cool welcomes. Nevermind as the service in the Americano restaurant couldn't have been warmer. The sparkler went down a treat with the artichoke and salt cod starter, a combination of two of my favourite things (how did they know?).

I ducked out of a probably too young and tannic cabernet with the help of my knowledgable dining companion so that a perfectly bloody hanger streak with some sauted/roasted potatos and mixed veggies was matched to a deliciously fruity Californian Zinfandel. I finished off the glass with some slightly sweaty cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery which came with a startling array garnishes. A few grapes were all I needed.

The fritters were outstanding and stood up well in comparison to The French Laundry's donuts. I liked Americano a lot, although the jurys still out on those ceiling paintings. A very fun evening and great to finally meet up with Carolyn after all these years (five - but who's counting).