Zare Takes a Stand, Pastry Wars in North Beach, and Gay Celebration Dining
Hoss Zare, owner-chef of Zare at Fly Trap in San Francisco, is of all the Iranian ex-pats running restaurants here the most outspoken about his support for the dissidents in Iran. The very first thing he did in support was to start printing his menu on green paper.
On his menu he explains the color this way: “For those desiring freedom in Iran, green is the color of choice.”
Zare has six sisters in Iran and two brothers, one in the United States and one in Norway.
A couple of years ago, he suffered a loss in his family in Iran that appears to have been politically motivated.
These days, he speaks to his sisters on the phone, but they only make small talk.
“I always feel that there is a third party listening,” he explains.
“What the rulers there want is a huge Islamic dictatorship with a strong military base,” says Zare.
Photo by John Benson
Both Victoria Pastry and the Italian French Bakery
(1501 Grant Ave, San Francisco) are about 100 years old.
Although Rich Pinocchi, owner of Italian French for more than two decades, sold the bakery to Giovanni Toracca and Tony Ching, Pinocchi is still overseeing the baking.
Italian French has always been known for its bastone loaf, a club-shaped sourdough loaf, delivered to restaurants all over San Francisco.
Although, Italian French has always baked pastry, like biscotti and muffins, they are now producing a variety of cookies including the yummy “ugly but good”
(brutti ma buoni in Italian), almond paste with pine nuts, individual fruit tarts, Danishes and a selection of muffins.
What’s news about these products is that they were always part of the product line at Victoria pastry. How those recipes migrated to Italian French is that Joey Ruiz, a long-time baker at Victoria left and was subsequently hired by Italian French, apparently bringing some recipes with him.
No big deal, right? For cookie lovers it is a big deal because the same cookies that are sold at Victoria for $17.50 a pound are $9.50 a pound at Italian French. Individual tarts are $4.25 at Victoria and $3.50 at Italian French. Holy sweet tooth!
We were unable to reach either of the owners of Victoria on what they think of Italian French copying their pastries or to get their reaction to the rumor around the Beach that Victoria is looking to franchise.
Besides the original Victoria store, they have a branch in Corte Madera and also bought Stella Pastry shop in North Beach a few years ago.
I spoke with Andrew Freeman, of the marketing and public relations firm of Andrew Freeman & Co about the upcoming Pride celebrations in San Francisco.
The City expects 1 million people to celebrate the entire weekend, with 60 percent of the celebrants coming from outside of San Francisco.
Freeman said that all the hotel rooms are filled. As far as restaurants he says that the gay community is very hip to dining and will mostly be trying the newer places.
“All the dining places in the Castro are always packed and the restaurants in hotels will also do very well,” he explained.
But he added most of the dining out would be Friday, Saturday, brunch Sunday, and Monday.
“On the day of the parade, Sunday, most people just grab something around the Civic Center,” said Freeman, “a taco and such. And following the parade, there are lots of after-parties.”
Because of “Top Chef,” Freeman said that he thought celebrants would be patronizing Scala’s, Absinthe as well as Orson because all three of the women chefs at those establishments are out.
“I think the Pride celebration here really positions San Francisco as the world capitol of gay events,” he enthused.
The Pride Flag. The colors symbolize: red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunlight), green (nature), blue
(harmony), and purple/violet (spirit).
Okay, we’re all getting healthy, right? Not so, reports AdAge in a recent online posting, quoted in part.
Consumers say they want healthy options but are unlikely to actually order off the healthy menu.
Many restaurants are bending over backwards to offer lower-calorie options including KFC, which launched grilled chicken this spring.
"There's definitely a dichotomy between what people say they want and what they actually do when it comes to healthy restaurant eating," Maria Caranfa, a registered dietitian and director at Mintel Menu Insights, said in a statement. "Over eight in 10 adults told us it's very or somewhat important to them to eat healthy, but when it comes to dining out, most people are really looking for taste, texture and experience."
According to Mintel, price was also a deterrent in selecting better-for-you meals. As cash-strapped consumers tighten their belts, they're choosing cheap and tasty comfort food.
Mintel found that only one in five consumers rank a food's health attributes as an important factor when choosing dinner. But 77% of them thought about "taste," and 44% considered "hunger satisfaction." And a particular problem for restaurants: while roughly 75% of those surveyed said they would like to see more healthy options, only 51% order from those selections.
Is that like the old joke, ordering a diet drink with strawberry shortcake?
For more information about GraceAnn’s tours of North Beach, Chinatown, The New Mission, and Nob Hill, visit www.graceannwalden.net or contact her at gaw@sbcglobal.net.
To read GraceAnn’s monthly column in Northside San Francisco, “Chef’s Chat”.
“I always feel that there is a third party listening,” he explains. 
No big deal, right? For cookie lovers it is a big deal because the same cookies that are sold at Victoria for $17.50 a pound are $9.50 a pound at Italian French. Individual tarts are $4.25 at Victoria and $3.50 at Italian French. Holy sweet tooth!
The Pride Flag. The colors symbolize: red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunlight), green (nature), blue 
