Category: San Francisco, California

Posted on April 6, 2010

I’ve lamented in the past about San Francisco’s lack of sufficient soul food restaurants. I might find some good fried chicken at one restaurant and tasty mac and cheese at another, but a restaurant hitting every southern classic nail on the head has been hard to come by. Until now.

Located in the Tenderloin, farmerbrown is where the great dishes of the south meet the organic and sustainability-consciousness of the west coast. When I visited with a large group, we waited at the bar while our table was made ready. I enjoyed a Scrimshaw Pilsner while I took in the warm, hip vibe. The crowd is young here, with a fantastic playlist to match. (farmerbrown often has a DJ as well.)

Once we were seated, cornbread and honey butter was served, which comes with every meal.

These were light and fluffy to nibble on while we waited for our appetizers. Next came the fried okra.

I’m a huge fan of okra, and wish that more people appreciated this often-overlooked vegetable. These were crispy without being too oily, and the creamy sauce on the side was the perfect compliment. I could eat these all day.

Our potato steak fries with aioli arrived next.

These were good but I found myself wishing for more okra instead. The sauce was a nice compliment, but overall this wasn’t very flavorful.

Next came my entree: Rocky Range fried chicken with macaroni and Tillamook cheddar cheese and collard greens.

Internet, the trifecta of perfect chicken, mac and cheese, and collard greens all at one restaurant has been achieved. Whatever spices they’re putting in their chicken at farmerbrown, they need to keep doing it. The chicken was so juicy, the skin was so crispy, I hardly knew what to do with myself. And the mac and cheese? So creamy. Best of all, it didn’t form into a stuck-together mass once it cooled down, the way some mac and cheese does. Oh, and the collard greens were tender and lip-smackingly seasoned.

I walked out of farmerbrown stuffed and content. I can no longer complain about a shortage of soul food in San Francisco. farmerbrown has a Sunday brunch buffet too which I’ve heard is fantastic (and yes, they serve their fried chicken for brunch as well). Next time, I’ll check that out. I can’t wait to go back.

Posted on April 2, 2010

Hayes Valley is one of those San Francisco neighborhoods that I rarely venture to, and I really don’t know why. It’s a lovely neighborhood, and happens to be chock-full of restaurants. When I found out that Destino serves grilled beef hearts, it’s all I needed to hear to make the trek to this cute little restaurant on Market Street.

Destino serves Latin American tapas with an emphasis on Peruvian cuisine, all of which I’m crazy about. Service is friendly and prompt here, and our group’s dishes began rolling in only a few minutes after our order.

We started with the causa con picante de camarones.

A Peruvian potato torte topped with tiger prawns and spicy prawn reduction sauce, the torte was colder than expected but the shrimp were juicy and succulent. “Picante” might be a relative term here, though, since the shrimp weren’t very spicy.

Next came the filet de bacalao and arroz de acietunas.

The black cod was encrusted with plantains and served alongside olive rice, toasted almonds and aji amarillo salsa. The cod was incredible: subtly seasoned and cooked to perfection. The aji amarillo provided a nice kick of heat.

Our third dish was the Peruvian chicken empanada. How can you not order empanadas when you see them on them menu?

Unfortunately, we were pretty disappointed in this dish. The empanada was undercooked and the filling was pretty flavorless. Even the sauce on the side couldn’t save it.

Our next order to arrive was the one I had been most looking forward to: anticuchos de corazon.

Anticuchos de corazon, or grilled beef hearts, are one of my favorite foods and here they were served with an aji panca reduction, green garlic and Peruvian choclo. Choclo, or large Andean corn, is hard to come by and they were a good accompaniment to the hearts. The grilled hearts themselves a little overcooked and the sauce overpowered them, but the pickled onion topping was wonderful.

Our next dish was the churrasco.

The grilled sirloin was topped with a chimichurri salsa and Maldon sea salt; simple and cooked just right. This was my favorite dish of the evening, and the chimichurri provided just the right kick of spice to the beef.

But we weren’t done yet. Our sixth tapa was the chile relleno.

Stuffed with ground sirloin and cheddar cheese and topped with chipotle salsa and citrus crème fraiche, the chile relleno was smoky and hearty. Despite so many different flavors happening in one dish, it really worked.

We ended our meal on a sweet note with the banana bread pudding.

You can’t really go wrong with caramelized bananas and caramel sauce, and the pecan crunch was a nice touch too. The pudding was moist and even though I’m not a big fan of desserts, I was all over this one.

Destino’s menu can be hit or miss but the food is imaginative and the ambiance is worth the visit. Just make sure to factor in extra time to look for parking, which can be difficult to find. Which reminds me, maybe that’s why I don’t go to Hayes Valley all that often.

Posted on March 23, 2010March 26, 2010

Zaré at Fly Trap bills itself as “Mediterranean cuisine with modern Persian influences.” While that’s true, much of the menu is also a refreshing take on Iranian cuisine, light years apart from the home-cooked (but equally delicious) fare that I grew up with. Located in San Francisco’s SOMA district, the restaurant’s interior oozes a swank, warm vibe that compliments the high-end Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare.

When I visited with a group of friends, I was told we had to try the Minted Memory cocktail, composed of Bombay gin, Pim’s No. 1, lemon and minted vinegar syrup (or sekanjebin, in Persian). Deliciously not too sweet and not too sour, I made a mental note to revisit Zaré’s list of Mediterranean cocktails on my next visit.

Next came our appetizers. We started with a smoked salmon amuse-bouche, garnished with a tiny dab of crème fraiche and fresh dill.

Our next dish was the pistachio meatballs.

Served with a harissa, honey and pomegranate glaze, Iranians may recognize this as kofteh. Ordinarily I’m not a huge kofteh fan, but this was wonderful. The meatballs were hearty but moist on the inside, and the glaze was more tangy than sweet, which I prefer.

Next came our yogurt-marinated flatiron steak kabob.

This was served alongside a radish-flecked herb salad (a modern take on the Iranian sabzi that is served with most meals), mast-o khiyar (or minted yogurt and cucumbers) and lavash flatbread. Kabob is comfort food to me, so this kind of presentation was such a departure from what I typically associate it with. Not that I minded, though. The steak was tender and marinated to perfection.

I had the morel and spring pea risotto as my entree. I’m not sure if it was because I was already stuffed from incredible appetizers, but this was my least favorite dish of the meal.

I loved the morel mushrooms, but the risotto wasn’t warm enough and the consistency was thicker than what I’m used to. Still, the flavors were good.

I couldn’t really eat anymore past this point, but we ordered a plate of profiteroles for dessert.

Rich and decadent, these chocolate ice cream-filled babies are totally worth it if you can spare a little extra room in your stomach.

Zaré at Fly Trap is a refreshingly unique take on an ancient and delicious cuisine that isn’t innovated nearly often enough. The thought and heart put into these dishes is evident in the way they’re served and if you happen to see the owner and chef, Hoss Zaré, while you’re there, you’ll know what I mean. His sense of hospitality and the menu full of surprises means there is always something new to look forward to at Zaré.

Posted on March 21, 2010

It’s amazing how I managed to live in San Francisco for several years and yet never visited El Metate. Until now, that is. Tucked away on Bryant Street in the Mission, El Metate is fresh, affordable and casual. The service is super friendly, so I never mind waiting in what is often a long line to order my burrito.

Now, I’m usually a taco person, but at El Metate, it’s all about the burritos. Specifically, the chile Colorado burrito.

Stuffed with a warming red chile sauce, steak and potatoes, it’s one of my favorite burritos, hands down. Potatoes might seem out of place in a burrito, but not here. The mouthwatering spicy sauce brings everything together and for reasons that I can’t quite put my finger on, it just works. Paired with an agua fresca, it’s a deliciously satisfying meal.

El Metate’s ambiance is cheerful, with a light and airy dining area that can get pretty crowded. The crowds are worth it though; after all, this might be the only taqueria in the Mission where I’ll happily forgo my usual order of carne asada tacos for a burrito instead.

Posted on February 7, 2010

Baby Blues BBQ bills itself as a “hybrid” barbecue restaurant: they serve a Memphis-style rib alongside sauce from North Carolina. Not hailing from the south, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Tennessee and Carolina barbecue, but if it’s anything like what Baby Blues BBQ serves, I can tell you that it’s delicious.

Located right between San Francisco’s Bernal Heights and Mission districts, Baby Blues BBQ has only been around for a couple of years, having first established itself in Venice Beach before moving up north. When I visited, I had already heard rave reviews about its mac n’ cheese (or what was endearingly described as crack n’ cheese).

The wait was long when I arrived with my group; in fact, we must have waited a good half an hour before we were seated. I didn’t mind; the crowd was fun and the staff was super friendly. We enjoyed a couple of beers and perused the menu until we were seated.

I chose the Texas-style beef rib, which comes with a choice of three fixings. I went for the cornbread, collard greens and mac n’ cheese.

The ribs come covered in a dry rub, and there are spicy sauces on the tables to dress things up if you like some heat to your meat. I dug right into my Flintstones-sized rib and the tender beef practically fell off the bone, to my delight.

I was a little disappointed in the mac n’ cheese – the noodles were a bit mushy and the sauce wasn’t very flavorful. I fully admit that I am in the minority when it comes to my opinion of Baby Blues BBQ’s mac n’ cheese though. The collard greens were good but not excellent, but again, this is a matter of personal taste. I like my collard greens with a hit of vinegar; these were more spicy.

But let’s talk about the cornbread. Hands down, this was the best cornbread I’ve ever tasted. It was fluffy, moist, sweet, and just about every adjective I can think of to describe perfect cornbread. It was the stuff cornbread fantasies are made of. Seriously, I cannot overemphasize how delicious this cornbread was.

Baby Blues BBQ is a great spot for a fun, casual and heavy meal. (Did I mention the portions are huge? No? Well, they are.) If you’re looking to get your fill on southern-style barbecue, you’d be hard pressed to find a better option in the neighborhood.