"the san francisco chronicle" news and stories

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted Oct 5th 2009 @ 12:00PM

Olive oil-packed tuna salad. Photo: gezellig-girl.com, Flickr.

• Tuna packed in olive oil might cost 10 times the price of traditional canned tuna, but it's growing in popularity.
• A return to Frascati reveals one of San Francisco's "most charming neighborhood restaurants."
• The Chronicle's annual Bargain Bites feature outlines budget-friendly dining deals.
• France's Lavort cheese looks Victorian, but it's actually a modern and notable fromage.
• BBQ Smokehouse serves up meat porch-style -- outdoors in the Cinema 9 parking lot.
• Musing about the challenges of arm's-length cooking: preparing food when a herniated disc limits your mobility.
• The Sri Lankan spot Spicy Leaves balances heat with the three S's: salty, sour and sweet.
• Recycling isn't just for bottles and cans, but also cooking equipment like pans and cutting boards.
• 2007 is a delicious year for Chablis.
• The latest trend of the libation world: getting serious about chocolate concoctions.
• Commis' minimalist layout begs the question: "How little is too little?"
• Fish & Farm and Bar Bambino get busy selling boxed lunches.
• The Inside Scoop on the San Fran food scene, and openings.

Filed under: In Sixty Seconds

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted Aug 31st 2009 @ 12:00PM

Armenian cucumbers. Photo: e.t., Flickr

• Thin-skinned Armenian and Asian cucumbers are a curvy new veggie treat. Here are tips on how to pick and use them.
• A surefire Parisian pie crust? Sign us up!
  
• In the less-traversed lands of Sonoma wine country lies Santi -- a country dining spot with "pristine" food.
• Eat Real's event in Jack London Square falls somewhere between a county fair and a highbrow gourmet food fest.
• San Francisco's Tadich Grill suffers a fire sparked by its wood-burning stove, but its owners hope to be back in operation soon.
• Graham Greene might have been a notable scribe, but the mixed drink named after him is "heinous."
• From vegan to gluten-free, the Plant Cafe Organic -- located on the Embarcadero -- seems to do it all.
• On making a roasted tomato soup with a young tyke.
• An American Cheese Society competition declares Wisconsin the cheese state, followed by California and Vermont.
• Writer Tara Duggan revels in leftovers to whip up tasty lunches for kids.
• A new -- and currently nameless -- new dining hotspot gears up to take over the old Quince digs.
• The culinary achievements of the Mayans that changed our foodie world: chocolate, vanilla, corn, chiles, tomatoes, black beans, avocado, sweet potato, squash and papaya.

Filed under: In Sixty Seconds

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted Jul 27th 2009 @ 12:00PM

Trio of fruit ice creams. Photo: jessicafm, Flickr

• Don't want to make artisanal ice cream at home? The Chronicle offers a list of tasty San Fran hotspots ... er, cold spots.
• Alternatively, make paletas (fruity Mexican ice pops) at home.
• Michael Bauer weighs in on new eatery Fish and Farm.
  
• Want half a hog's worth of meat without breaking it down yourself? Grocery store Bi-Rite will take care of it.
• A close-up of James Freeman, the man behind Blue Bottle Café.
• Rosso di Langa makes for a "gentle introduction" to strong cheeses.
• The Cocktailian's current swig: a brandy-centric Cremona.
• Flour+Water offers inventive Italian fare.
  
• Quick bites: Lower Haight-style bagels, primo ice pops, a tapas cookbook and La Tortilla Factory's tortillas.

Filed under: In Sixty Seconds

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted Jun 22nd 2009 @ 12:00PM

A stalk of barley. Photo courtesy of Pardesi*/Flickr

• Barley inspires delicious obsessions, and a recipe for Barley with Walnuts and Roasted Spring Vegetables.
• Lies in advertising: Anti-microbials are slipping into our antibiotic-free meat.
• Coffee can kick food, like sleepy humans, into high gear. You can braise, rub and sauce with it -- and that's just for starters.
• Ducca's gets a new executive chef in Erica Holland-Toll, previously of Lark Creek Inn.
• A whole lot of love for the hot eateries and bars of San Francisco: Fly Bar gets a second location on Divisadero; Pleasant Hill's Sichuan Fortune House offers a plentiful menu of good eats; Outerlands dishes great food if you get there before it runs out; Foreign Cinema offers family fare with foreign flicks; Town Hall still rocks with notable service and Southern flavor; and Michelle Mah goes European with Midi.
  

Filed under: In Sixty Seconds

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted May 18th 2009 @ 12:00PM

• Five-Spiced Grilled Chicken is ideal for both quick and leisurely stints at the barbecue.
• Raise a glass to grilling season with these recommendations for wines that pair well with both grilled food and budgets -- each bottle is under $30.
  
• Sweet and tender spring onions are in season, and here's how to store and use them.
• Star alert: A guide to the kitchen migrations of San Francisco's brightest culinary lights.
• The Bay Area works up an appetite for a full menu of summer food fests.
• Who's the tangiest of them all? The Chronicle ranks the many brands of bread and butter pickles.
• Forget grape, chestnut or fig leaves: Robiola Incavolata, a goat cheese from Northern Italy, is wrapped in cabbage leaves.
• Grilling season means grilling cookbooks.
• Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery upholds a San Francisco tradition of fashionably unkempt dining.
• E&O Trading Company grabs Chef Arnold Eric Wong to head its kitchen
  
• Down markets mean that fine, cheap wine is due for a renaissance.
  

Filed under: In Sixty Seconds