Yum in Philly, B’way Wine Bar, Hoffbrau for Dogpatch
I’m still getting over New York, but the scent of lemon blossoms and roses as I walk the “king” (Cosmo) around the green belt where I live, brings me back to my love of California and specifically for where I live.
Of course, in my fantasies, I win the lottery and snag a rent-controlled apartment in New York in the Village, while still growing tomatoes in Marin.
Next month my business partner, Susan Dyer Reynolds and I will spill the beans on our dining and cultural excursion to New York in the June issue of Northside San Francisco. If you don’t live in San Francisco, you can read it online. In this issue, Susan begins the dialog with a comparison of food here and there.
One of the days we were back East, I traveled by bus to see my godchild in Philly. She is head of her own research team at the University of Pennsylvania. She took me to lunch at one of Steve Starr’s restaurants, Parc, a gorgeous French brasserie located on Rittenhouse Square.
I was not familiar with his restaurants, there and in Manhattan. If Parc is an example, I can see why the James Beard Foundation nominated him for Restaurateur of the Year. (Drew Nieporent, owner of Corton [where I have dined] and many other top-shelf restaurants, won.)
Parc takes the brasserie look to its roots. Boulevard here has the requisite tin ceiling and even cigarette burns on one of the windowsills, as well as faux ceiling stains, but Parc really looks and feels like it was airlifted off Montparnasse. Its tin ceiling has been faux-painted to look like a zillion Gauloises have been consumed there. Other features are turn-of-the-century-like light fixtures, tiled floors, and outdoor seating on good days.
We began our lunch with half a dozen oysters — three Blue Points from Rhode Island and three Cape May Salts, which were big and fat like our Hog Island oysters. Gee, oysters from New Jersey. Who knew?
We split an excellent steak tartare, hand-chopped with just the right amount of capers and anchovy, and topped with a quail egg.
The next course blew me away. As you can see in the photo, I ordered mussels and fries. What set this dish apart was that besides being cooked in wine, shallots and garlic, they also were perfumed with shards of bay leaf. Formidable!
Gudren, my darling goddaughter, ordered a beautiful Nicoise salad that included an ample serving of seared tuna. We split a less successful strawberry tart for dessert.
One San Francisco evergreen on Montgomery Street in North Beach, Tomasso’s, has been making wood-fired pizzas for more than 70 years. Agostino Crotti’s family took it over in 1973. His nephew Dario Zucconi has worked at Tomasso’s for 10 years as a waiter. He’s also a wine geek and has been offering tastings and wine dinners for many years through Tomasso’s Wine Club. And he makes award-winning wines.
Now Zucconi has a chance to open his own wine bar, The Vin Club, with small plates on Broadway in the space that housed Broadway Joe’s at 515 Broadway, near Montgomery. He’s had to jump through several hoops with a now-rescinded objection from the police department (the Broadway strip has had its share of shootings and stabbings outside the many dance clubs), and the usual objections from the NIMBY Telegraph Hill Dwellers, who like to flex their muscle at every new North Beach business. When’s the last time someone got unruly after tasting wine and cheese?
But if all goes well, Zucconi will throw open the doors around June 1 and offer salumi, cheeses and panini, plus 20–25 wines by the glass. Of course, he will feature his own wines,
The owners of The New Spot (632 20th Street at Third) in Dogpatch, Julie and Gilbert Rivera, will open a second place nearby at 2347 Third Street (near 20th), in the American Industrial Center.
Just the other day, I was in Dogpatch buying a purse at
Rickshaw Bagworks made right here in S.F. and fabulous, and got four of the Rivera’s pupusas (think stuffed tortilla) for my dinner: cheese with herb, steak, pork, and pork and cheese.
Their new place, Oralia’s Café, a stone’s throw from their original, will be mostly to-go. Julie Rivera says they will have hot meats for sandwiches, like hand-carved corned beef, turkey and pastrami, as well as organic green salads, a daily soup, and coffee drinks made with free-trade coffee.
“We’ll be using as many local and organic foods as we can,” explains Rivera. There will be a couple of tables on Third Street and places to sit and dine inside on an interior patio.
They hope to open on May 25 with hours Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–4 p.m.
I was cruising around Noe Valley and noticed that there was a for sale sign on Andiamo Gourmet Deli (649 Diamond Street near Elizabeth, 415-282-0081). Friends have been pestering me forever to try their meatball or chicken Parmesan sandwiches. Dang, and now they’re selling.
I spoke to Tom DiSerio, who is life partner and business partner for 22 years with Danny Forchione: “We’re retiring, taking a cruise and then going to dine around in New York,” says DiSerio.
But, he added, he doesn’t expect any deal to be finalized before the end of the summer. That’s a reprieve for me.
A couple of months ago, Coit Liquor suddenly closed its doors.
The present owner, Jeff Branco, who bought Coit five years ago, left town for Rhode Island and has filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Coit was family owned for over 45 years before Branco.
Branco has a degree in the science of viticulture from the University of Bordeaux, made wine for several wineries here and in Europe, and lastly for Justin Winery in Paso Robles.
His love of wine drove him to buy Coit. He tried to fashion a wine-tasting area out a corner of the shop, but the ever-vigilant Telegraph Hill Dwellers objected, so the compromise meant that tasting patrons weren’t allowed to sit. Whether that mattered is not clear. One industry insider told SCOOP that by putting the tasting bar in the window, Branco sacrificed valuable display space. Sad.
Now here’s what I call community spirit: Cathay Pacific Airways delivered business-class lunches to 90 seniors at the Self Help Lady Shaw Senior Center (1483 Mason Street) in Chinatown on May 7. Uniformed flight attendants served four courses, beginning with a salad of seasonal greens and an appetizer of salmon and prawns, followed by a choice of mouth-watering entrees: beef tenderloin with mushroom sauce, sea bass with enoki mushrooms and black bean sauce, or braised abalone with chicken and ricotta ravioli in a roasted red pepper sauce. For dessert, they enjoyed a silky, double chocolate mousse.
Cathay Pacific delivered the meals as part of an effort to promote volunteerism and raise awareness about food availability and the need to eat well. Not only did they serve lunch, but also they threw down a challenge to other corporations to also volunteer for the community.
The airline has donated a maximum of 10 exclusive dinner parties for 20 aboard their 747 aircraft at San Francisco International Airport. Groups can volunteer by June 30 at Self Help Lady Shaw Senior Center, Meals On Wheels of San Francisco, or Alameda County Community Food Bank. Upon successful completion of their volunteer effort, groups will be eligible to enjoy one of the 10 dinner parties. For more information, visit http://
www.cathaypacific.com/us.
Emmy Kaplan is opening a second Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack in the former Deuce restaurant in Sonoma. She and her husband, who live in Boyes Hot Springs, purchased the restaurant from owners Pete and Kirsten Stewart. Slated to open June 1, Kaplan’s chef is Eric Center. Expect lots of moderately priced food and of course, pasta. Enhancing the scene will be contemporary art and a D.J.
The other day I was watching America’s Test Kitchen, or what I like to call “cooking made uptight,” and was shocked to see the dynamic duo (snore) teaching how to cook Chilean sea bass.
Chilean sea bass (or Patagonian Toothfish) is on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch of don’t buy or cook because it is over-fished — plus the Environmental Defense Fund has issued a health advisory because it contains high levels of mercury.
Hmmm … unhealthy and an environmental sin. Tsk Tsk.
One of the days we were back East, I traveled by bus to see my godchild in Philly. She is head of her own research team at the University of Pennsylvania. She took me to lunch at one of Steve Starr’s restaurants,
We split an excellent steak tartare, hand-chopped with just the right amount of capers and anchovy, and topped with a quail egg. 
Now Zucconi has a chance to open his own wine bar, The Vin Club, with small plates on Broadway in the space that housed Broadway Joe’s at 515 Broadway, near Montgomery. He’s had to jump through several hoops with a now-rescinded objection from the police department (the Broadway strip has had its share of shootings and stabbings outside the many dance clubs), and the usual objections from the NIMBY Telegraph Hill Dwellers, who like to flex their muscle at every new North Beach business. When’s the last time someone got unruly after tasting wine and cheese? 
I spoke to Tom DiSerio, who is life partner and business partner for 22 years with Danny Forchione: “We’re retiring, taking a cruise and then going to dine around in New York,” says DiSerio. 
A couple of months ago, 
Now here’s what I call community spirit: Cathay Pacific Airways delivered business-class lunches to 90 seniors at the Self Help Lady Shaw Senior Center (1483 Mason Street) in Chinatown on May 7. Uniformed flight attendants served four courses, beginning with a salad of seasonal greens and an appetizer of salmon and prawns, followed by a choice of mouth-watering entrees: beef tenderloin with mushroom sauce, sea bass with enoki mushrooms and black bean sauce, or braised abalone with chicken and ricotta ravioli in a roasted red pepper sauce. For dessert, they enjoyed a silky, double chocolate mousse. 
Emmy Kaplan is opening a second 
The other day I was watching America’s Test Kitchen, or what I like to call “cooking made uptight,” and was shocked to see the dynamic duo (snore) teaching how to cook Chilean sea bass. 