We effectively ate our way across (a very small portion) of San Francisco...we clearly need many more days and weeks there. On the recommendation of
Amy Hahn and Forrest Proper, we had dinner our second night at
Kokkari (where Amy's brother is the manager). It was Greek at its very best.
We went with
Brian Cassidy after the first day of set-up. We spent far too long looking over the menu, failed completely to make reasonable choices and resorted to taking a tapas approach and ordering nearly all the appetizers. The highlights were: for Suz, the zucchini cakes; for Brian, the fried sardines; for me, the grilled octopus...and the spanakotiropita was exceptional. We finished the meal by splitting a Galaktoboureko (semolina custard in filo with Meyer lemon spoonsweet and creme fraiche ice cream) and Milo Furnisto (baked cinnamon and walnut stuffed apple
with masticha gelato. Finally, we all had a cup of their greek
coffee, "stone-ground coffee heated over hot sand" (see the
second photo, showing the "coffee maker"). Absolutely wonderful.
While we were banging around SanFran, we also had more than our share of dim sum (thank you
Kan's and, especially,
Hang ah Tea Room) and some very good other bits of this and that. Also notable was
The Chieftain, a very good Irish pub with the best fish and chips I've had in a long time...
On our last day, we were invited to dinner by friends in Woodside at
The Village Pub. Woodside is a village in the loosest definition of the term and the Village Pub is...er...not a pub. It is, however, one of the very best, most interesting, restaurants we've been to in a very long time.
First off, while sending out special little treats is nice and relatively common, the VP gilded the lily. First, before
anything else arrived, the chef sent out a shot of a sort of lobster bisque...lovely. Between the appetizers and the dinner, he sent each of us out a ravioli (Meyer lemon and robiola cheese). Finally, he sent out a small basket of beignets after desert. Also, when the three of us ordered appetizers, the chef sent out a small greens salad (walnut oil vinaigrette) for Suzanne, so she would have something to fiddle with (it was, I'm told, delicious).
My appetizer was the Dungeness crab salad, pictured here. A mass of Dungeness on a bed of gelled blood orange reduction, off the the left is a lovely little julienned apple and blood orange salad. Simply exceptional.
My entree was a grilled Moroccan spiced quail with glazed carrots and toasted almond couscous. Two boneless (save their wee legs) birds on a bed of couscous. It was, without a doubt, the best quail I have had...well...pretty much for as
long as I can remember. Unbelievably good.
For desert, I had the Meyer lemon mousse bar, balanced on a sliver of pound cake and topped with wafers of sour lemon meringue. It was very nice and a great counter to the spices of the quail. That said, Suzanne's desert (see image) was exceptional. She had the "Opera Cake", a mocha buttercream with chocolate ganache. It tasted *better* than it looked...no small feat.
Our host brought two bottles from his cellar, thought we only opened one of them (as we were approaching having to make the trek back to SFO for our departure. Before we ordered, our server decanted a bottle of Chateau Clos Saint-Martin - Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, a wonderful bordeaux that worked well with everything we had...and was, in its own right, simply wonderful.
It was an amazing way to end a wonderful week in San
Francisco. We had had such fun, all week, catching up with friends and colleagues...and eating and drinking all about town. To finish with old friends and such a wonderful meal was just a perfect end to the week. I hope they will come East, so we can return the favor...else there is always next year.
Addendum: On Saturday night the "young members" of the ABAA gathered to drink and shout at each other over the all too loud pub music that played in the back ground at
Vesuvio's. It was great fun, though the absinthe was unnecessarily sweet and not chilled enough for my taste. Images can be found at my
Facebook page.
Before we went arrived at Vesuvio's, we had dinner (with Brian Cassidy and
Garrett Scott. Just a few doors down from the bar, there is a storefront japanese/sushi place that looked clean, empty (earlyish) and...well...open. So in we
trooped. The sushi was great, the spicy tuna was pretty much the spiciest I've had and, best of all, they served "Monkey Balls". How can you not order them...just on principle. We ordered one that Brian and I split...it was remarkably good cool, raw fish within halved balls of deep fried (very quickly) rice balls. The moral is, never pass up a chance to have good, hot monkey balls...
I should get one or two more SF ABAA posts up in the next 24 hours or so. Too many balls [sadly not monkey] in the air...as usual...
Labels: book fairs, great clients, great food, random bits
This is the most recent work by David Wolfe, of Wolfe Editions fame. He is one of the best letterpress guys I know and I never cease to be surprised by what he creates. I love that he does not limit himself to presswork.
I have spent the last several weeks working on a project that has been remarkably interesting. The collector was a bibliomanic, in the classic sense. He was a historian, an archivist and a passionate book collector. He also evolved into an obsessive collector. 
I love getting surprises in the post and the holidays are typically the best time for such things. This year has been the best ever (at least from a chocolate standpoint). We received a banner number of cards and notes (though have not yet sent our own....very pathetic). We received the usual bit of Harry and David, fruit, fruitcake and passable chocolates...BUT THEN....
