"SanFrancisco" news and stories

If the locavore movement is trying to shed its elitist image as an exclusive province for those who can afford $5 for a handful of locally grown strawberries, then it's not getting much help from the Wall Street Journal.

A recent article on WSJ.com focused on the two-month-old Foodshed Project in San Francisco. The project's goals are laudable: each year, farms within 100 miles of San Francisco produce $10 billion worth of food; the Foodshed Project is trying to get more of that food to local tables rather than having it shipped all across the country.

But it seems that the movement that's all about cutting out the middleman and connecting eaters with the source of what they eat is discovering the importance of, well, middlemen.

As the Journal puts it: "In the Foodshed program, a few dozen farms sell their produce via Ben and Annie Ratto, a husband-and-wife team who act as middlemen between farms and food distributors. Those distributors...pick up produce from small farms at the Rattos' warehouse in Oakland and deliver it to customers. Mr. Ratto and the distributors each charge a markup -- typically 10% to 15% for Mr. Ratto, while the distributors add a charge, currently $5 per case of produce."

If all those markups seem destined to put the label of "locally grown" on par with "luxury," then take a look at Foodshed's nascent client list, which includes high-end Bay Area catering company, Living Room Events, and the epitome of luxury itself, the Ritz-Carlton, where locally grown strawberries "typically end up in guests' continental breakfasts."

As Marie Antoinette might have put it today: "Let them eat Chilean blueberries!"

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are embarking upon a Bento Boom. The prettily packaged (often very elaborate) box lunch has been around in Japan since the 1600s, has its share of obsessives stateside, and now boasts an upscale San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneur as its, uh, bentoperson. Meet Peko-Peko (Japanese for "hungry").

How can a simple, typically cheap boxed lunch go upscale? Well, owner Sylvan Brackett's restaurant background is at Alice Waters' famed local eatery Chez Panisse. His tribute to the food of his childhood -- his mother is Japanese -- do not come cheap. When they're so gorgeously presented in beautiful "to go" boxes, or on traditional servingware when catered, we'd be inclined to shell out the $25 minimum. (Full disclosure: We sampled Brackett's incredible potstickers as college acquaintances). Seasonal, organic ingredients might include Marin Sun Pork Kakuni (soy and sake-simmered pork belly) with chrysanthemum greens or a layered box of Dungeness crab, pork cutlet, local pickled ginger and Brackett's house-brined umeboshi (pickles).

Though gourmet bento has not yet charmed all of America, Brackett studied the cuisine in Japan and declares, "Beautifully laid out food is common there." How does Mom feel about him taking the casual food she served him as a tot and bringing it to the Alice Waters crowd? "She thinks it's amusing."

Another legendary American drinking/dining outpost is under threat of demolition. San Francisco's Tonga Room, located in the Fairmont Hotel, may be forced out after more than seven decades of pushing Mai Tai and pu-pu. It seems the tower of the Fairmont in which the Tonga and its adjacent Hurricane Bar located is slated for redevelopment into condominiums. Plans for the new construction do not include the restaurant.

No definitive word has been said, but blogs and forums are buzzing over the developments and petitions are circulating to save the tiki landmark. Now, some may say that the Tonga's food is somewhat meh or the drinks are overpriced, but who can argue with an indoor rainstorm? Or an indoor lagoon with a band floating on a little raft playing luau music? Multi-headed goddesses and a buffet in a canoe?

The Tonga underwent a big-budget renovation only last year, so it seems silly to tear it down now but, hey, it also seems silly to build luxury condos during a real estate downturn.

Exactly one week from today, I'll be in San Francisco taking a class in artisan bread making at the San Francisco Baking Institute. I'm so excited that I'm positively giddy.

I've been planning this trip for some time, and I do have some ideas about how I'm going to spend my free time in the city. However, there's only so much you can learn from tourist websites, so I need your help: if you have any suggestions on food related destinations I want to hear from you. What are your favorite San Francisco foodie haunts? Where would you eat in the city? Where would you go for food souvenirs?

I'll have a lot to do while I'm in San Francisco, but your suggestions will make the trip even better!

Have you ever gazed out at your backyard and wished you had the time to install and tend an organic vegetable garden (but your busy life prevents you from making the initial investment of energy)? If you're in the Bay Area, you can now outsource your vegetable gardening needs. A new business has started recently, called MyFarm, which will come out to your house, scope out your available space and amount of sun and create a personalized vegetable garden to suite your needs.

The initial installation runs between $600 - $1,000 and then you pay a weekly service charge for maintenance (depending on the size of your yard). They'll also leave a basket of freshly harvested veggies on your doorstep for you (that will often include produce from other, abundantly producing backyards). For those folks who don't know where to begin in creating their own organic vegetable garden, I can see how this could be a valuable service, especially in these days when it's important to know just where your veggies are coming from (they'll even manage your compost pile for you).

[via SFGate.com]

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