Over the weekend, I begged for some advice about dim sum in the Bay Area, with only Yank Sing and Ton Kiang as names that I had from Michael Bauer's List of the Top 100 Bay Area restaurants. Thank you to all for your suggestions! However, I ended up at Yank Sing anyway because our host couldn't stop singing its praises. He warned me that there would be some of the traditional dim sum like shiu mai and chicken's feet, but there would also be what he called "gringo dim sum." I was worried, but the new-fangled "gringo dim sum" was just as good as the OG. The photo tour is after the jump...

Over the weekend, I posted a picture of Monkey enjoying a Mandarin and soda during Happy Hour at a downtown LA restaurant and bar that's heavy on steaks, and asked you to guess where he was. No no no, it's not the Standard! Monkey wasn't on the guest list for the rooftop bar. Monkey was across the street at...Nick & Stef's Steakhouse of Joachim Splichal's Patina Group.

Now Monkey is on a road trip, and has motored into the Bay Area. For Friday Happy Hour, he was in downtown San Francisco enjoying another Mandarin & Soda in an almost all-black, wear-your-sunglasses-inside bar in the lobby of a swanky hotel. Just inside the front door, the ceiling goes all the way up to skylight, which at Happy Hour, lets some waning sunshine in. The bar has a list of about 40 "signature" cocktails (doesn't that defeat the idea of "signature?"), several of which include: the Wondertini (Chopin vodka with a splash of Bonny Doon Muscat Vin de Glaciere), San Franhattan (Johnnie Walker Black, Amaretto di Saronno and dash of cherry juice), and the Dot Com Bust, which is a glass of tap water on the rocks.

We also ordered French fries, which came out in a paper cone resting in a wire frame, mostly because we needed to sober up. The drinks are fairly strong, and had Monkey singing the alphabet backwards!

Where is Monkey having his Mandarin and Soda?

As if oil and gas prices weren't enough, now the heavy rains and cold weather in northern California have made fruits and vegetables expensive. Lettuces are at an all-time high, and it's difficult to find many things that are normally abundant in springtime.

In restaurants, there's gourmet salad at Mixt Greens and a new Japanese vegan restaurant, Cha-Ya, in Berkeley. Hanazen is the closest thing to sushi houses in Japan, and the Inside Scoop reports that Upper Noe has more Italian restaurants, Budo will re-open as Cuvee Napa with the move of former chef James McDevitt to New York, Home restaurants is undergoing staff changes, and Le Colonial has a new menu.

Recipes this week include: Turkey Trattoria Meatballs and Turkey Pineapple Salad to help stay thin, Avocado and Tofu Salad, Rhubarb Strawberry and Hibiscus Fruit Soup, and Japanese okonomiyaki.

Olivia Wu revisits Shanghai.

Yesterday's Wine section of the San Francisco Chronicle put out a great feature about a mini-controversy surrounding corkage fees around the Bay area. Restaurateurs charge a fee to diners who bring their own wine. However, the loss of revenue for the restaurant isn't always made up by such a fee. The issue wasn't about how much restaurants were charging. Some restaurants are bypassing the corkage altogether and simply disallowing BYOB. Bay area diners are more than a little upset, especially with such a strong, long and deep tradition fueled by wine country's proximity.

Personally, I have no opinion other than that the restaurateurs can do what they want. Diners, as well, can do what they want. If a restaurant does not allow you to bring your own wine or charges a prohibitive corkage, and you have a fabulous bottle that you want to drink, give your business to someone else who will welcome you.

What do you think?

[photo: San Francisco Chronicle]

No newspaper worth its weight in matzo doesn't have a story related to Passover. The San Francisco Chronicle dishes out some artichokes and fiery horseradish sauce. To change up the sweets filled with matzo, potato starch makes a sponge cake covered with berries.

It started with the Ferry Building Marketplace at Embarcadero, and now gourmet "food malls" are sprouting up all over the Bay Area.

The CIA at Greystone has expanded its program to include a full-fledged culinary program, just like its New York headquarters.

On the dining scene, watch the chefs at Rogue Chefs. John Bentley's gets a re-visit and an updated review, as does Cortez.

Baseball season has kicked off, and at Bay Area stadiums, the food has kicked off, too, with offerings beyond hot dogs and peanuts.

Pan-roasting the last of winter's vegetables gets praise, with a recipe for caramelized vegetables.

Thomas Keller is building a tiny empire over in the Napa Valley

 

 

American diners got pretty excited when the Michelin Guide for New York was released last fall. Now, the organization that reviewed 507 restaurants in New York has announced its plans for a guide on the opposite coast: San Francisco.

San Francisco is abundant with excellent dining opportunities from Chez Panisse in Berkeley to Thomas Keller's French Laundry, but even New York, with its own wealth of stellar restaurants, had but four restaurants that were awarded Michelin's top honor of three stars. Thomas Keller's NY restaurant, Per Se, was among them.

The guide is due to be published in October of this year, and the anonymous reviewing group of one American and four European inspectors have already started making their way around the Bay Area.

So I forced one of my friends to snatch a copy of this past Sunday's edition of the San Francisco Chronicle with the knowledge that the Sunday magazine would have the annual Bay Area Top 100 Restaurants. I got it in the mail this morning, and was excited to look through it, but the first thing that caught my eye was the story about a Burrito Eater.

Charles Hodgkins is the Burrito Eater. His website, www.burritoeater.com, is basically a food blog in which he chronicles his quest for the "nine mustache" (out of 10) rated burrito in the Bay Area, ranging from Baja Fresh to holes in the wall. When he started, he thought he would have hit them all by the time he had eaten from 50 or 60 taquerias, but he says that there are over 170 places to get a burrito from a walk-up style stand. His top two favorites are Taqueria San Francisco and Papalote.

I wonder if Charles has ever pondered the idea of coming to Los Angeles.

So I'm poking around trying to motivate myself to plan a trip up to the Bay area sometime in the next few months, when what to my wandering eyes do appear, an announcement that SF Dine about Town is here!

The San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau and Visa are sponsoring this city-wide, month-long event that is now in its 5th year. There are almost 100 Bay Area restaurants that are participating by offering a three-course prix fixe meal at lunch ($21.95) or dinner ($31.95) or both.  Reservations specifically for SF Dine About Town can even be made via OpenTable.

I think the event is purely a promotional thing for both the Convention Bureau and Visa during a month which is typically slow for restaurants. Works for me, because a few of the restaurants are on my SF To-Dine List (A16!). Although, now I need to find a way up to SF. Unless we can convince Visa to do the same thing in LA!