Restaurant Recession Tactics, Chilayo’s Salsas and Kara’s in Napa …  

Recession? OK, we’ve been trying to ignore it. But when you hear what the big boys (read chains) are doing, local restaurants with their three-course prix fixe sound like the tip of the iceberg. There certainly seems to be a price war booming in America’s casual restaurant scene.

Casual dining in chain restaurants is a multibillion-dollar-a-year entity, employing millions. In the list below, the number of units range from the Cheesecake Factory with 123 to Applebee’s with 1,923.

Here are some of the budget boosters, as originally reported, in part, in Nation’s Restaurant News:

• Chili's On April 6, the chain will offer a "10 meals for under $7" deal.

• T.G.I. Friday's — Friday's began a promotion featuring 10 entrees priced at $9.99 — in some cases a 29 percent price cut. But it’s only until April 8.

• Applebee's — Since mid-November, the chain has offered a "2 for $20" special of two entrees and one sharable appetizer.

• Outback Steakhouse — For months, the chain has marketed 15 meals for under $15, starting at $9.95.

• Cheesecake Factory — A "Small Plates and Snacks" menu includes a $4.95 pizzette.

• Chevy’s — Chevy’s is offering an extended happy hour in most locations Monday–Friday, 3–7 p.m. with $3 drinks and appetizers.

On the top tier of chains, here are two special recession busters:

• P.F. Chang’s — Have a four-course dinner for two for $39.95.

• Morton’s — Dinner for Two … $99.99 (Caesar or Morton's salad; two single-cut filets; choice of two: broiled sea scallops, colossal shrimp Alexander or jumbo lump crab cake; one signature potato, and one fresh vegetable to share.)

Reading about all these chain deals, I decided to discover if there are any discounts in the nabe I know best, North Beach. In coming weeks, I’ll survey the Mission, Sunset, Richmond, and Downtown.

In North Beach, Joe DiMaggio’s Italian Chophouse (601 Union Street) is offering their happy hour $5 menu in the bar, all day Sunday. Choices include specialty cocktails, glasses of wine, and appetizers like pizzas and fritto misto. Tuesday–Saturday, it’s happy hour from 3-6 p.m.

Rose Pistola (532 Columbus Avenue) is offering a happy hour menu, Monday–Thursday from 3–5:30 p.m. with cocktails and beers reduced in price by 30 percent — a mixed drink would be $6; an artisan beer $3. As for eats, the offerings are all reduced by 30 percent, also with a pizza for $12, tartare for $10, and their famous skillet-roasted mussels for $9.

Piazza Pellegrini (659 Columbus Avenue) created just for the month of April, “The Frugalisto,” a new meal deal offered Monday–Friday, 11–7 p.m. The April special meal includes a bottle of red or white house wine, insalata mista, and a choice of one of the chef’s three daily special entrées. The cost is $20 per person; minimum two persons.

Bargain of the Week: Last week, I was cruising down Chestnut Street, looking for Miette (the new pastry shop), when I stumbled on Chilayo, a Mexican fast-casual place that  took the place of Andale (2150 Chestnut Street) several months ago. I slid over to look at the menu and read that they have a happy hour from 3–6 p.m. It was five minutes to six, so I tied up Cosmo the wonder dog on the patio and zipped in to place my order.

I got guacamole and chips, $3, a glass of Ochoa white wine, also $3, and a gigantic serving of white fish and octopus ceviche for $6.50. Can we say yummy dinner for $12.56, plus tip?

One big draw for me is the array of salsas — an astounding eight varieties. Here are the flavors:  Casera with roasted arbol pepper, cucumber, avocado and tomatilla, mango, inferno with roasted habanero, cruda with purple tomatilla, pineapple, and roasted pumpkin seed.

I flavored small portions of the guac with the different salsas. Fantastic!

Intrigued, I called the owner, Jorge Saldana, who also owns Tlaloc in downtown S.F. and Cancun in Berkeley.

Did I learn some interesting things! Saldana farms six and half acres in Guerneville, and his place supplies organic produce to his restaurants. He grows a special purple tomatilla and 25 heirloom tomatoes. Like me, he’s crazy about Brandywine, Sweet 100 and a golden cherry.

Saldana says he’s working on the decor. I can’t wait to go back, happy hour or not. 

Cooking in Novato

Fresh Starts Cooking School, a project of Homeward Bound of Marin, debuts in April with a lineup of classes featuring local bounty and celebrated chefs. The classes are for the community and help support Homeward Bound.

Based at The Next Key Center in Novato, the school opens April 6 with an interactive demonstration class, “Farmers’ Market Salads for Spring,” with Chef Rachelle Boucher and healthy eating educator Sue Weiss ($49).

Cookbook author and chef Joyce Jue offers upcoming classes on homemade Thai curries and Vietnamese cooking (also $49).

Besides earning revenue for the agency, its culinary job-training course (Fresh Starts Culinary Academy), will offer a way for students to deepen their training and gain work experience.

“As a center built by the Marin community, The Next Key is a special venue to link Homeward Bound and its residents to the whole community through the nurturing bond of food,” says Mary Kay Sweeney, Homeward Bound’s executive director.

Homeward Bound also operates its Fresh Starts Catering business at the center, along with producing Halo Truffles from Callebaut Belgian chocolate and Halo HomeMades, a sister line of salsas, jams and preserves.

An event space that includes a demonstration cooking space stands at the heart of the center, which includes 32 studio apartments for homeless adults engaged in job training and education programs.

A full calendar of events plus online registration is available at the Homeward Bound Web site. Truffles and HomeMades can also be purchased there as well.

Speaking of Sweets …

The last time I was hanging out in the Oxbow Public Market, Kara Haspel Lind from Kara’s Cupcakes was cruising the space with her husband and babe in arms. Napa’s one-stop shop for the best in artisan local food, wine, produce, and casual dining has just announced that Kara’s Cupcakes will open on April 7, becoming the newest vendor in the bustling public market in downtown Napa. The market just celebrated its first anniversary.

I first experienced Kara’s cupcakes when I was early for a dinner date at Hime with the “haircuts” (the Rivera boys from Rivera Public Relations), and stumbled into the opening party for her first shop at 3249 Scott Street (at Chestnut) in San Francisco in 2006.

These days her cupcakes are available in two San Francisco locations (the other is Ghirardelli Square) as well as Palo Alto, Santana Row in San Jose, and now in Napa’s Oxbow Public Market location.  Oxbow Public Market is located at 610 & 644 First Street, Napa.

My favorite Kara’s cupcake is her Fleur de Sel, a chocolate cupcake with caramel filling, ganache frosting, and fleur de sel crystals on top. It might be even more enticing to know that Kara’s delivers orders of two dozen or more in Napa. Hey, how about Marin, Kara?

Island Food in Santa Rosa

I try to cover the six? nine? Bay Area counties, but a girl has to rest some time. That’s why I dig reading Heather Irwin’s Bite Club blog in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Here is her latest news, in part:

A new Puerto Rican restaurant is in the works at 400 Mendocino Avenue in downtown Santa Rosa.

Tina Jackson and her business partner, Jacqueline Roman, are hoping to have the restaurant up and running by May. The vibe will be casual sit-down Puerto Rican dining with a bar.

They've named the restaurant El Coqui, in honor of the island nation's mascot, a small tree frog. Jacqueline, who will be running the food side of the business, is a native of Queens, NY and comes from a long line of Puerto Rican cooks — which lends some serious cred to the venture.

Menu details are still in the works, but … they're planning on featuring lots of plantains, steak, beans, and rice.

The restaurant has set up a Web page so you can track their progress here: http://www.myspace.com/elcoqui2eat

E-mail: graceann@yummyletter.com