Gastronavigation: Four Days in San Francisco (part 1)

Still adjusting to being back on Eastern Standard Time - California was a welcome change of scenery (though not particularly pace) and after spending a great weekend in Yosemite Park, M and I hopped across the Bay to San Francisco. He'd put a lot of thought and time into the Yosemite leg of our trip, and basically left the "city" part of the trip up to me. Which meant...

On our first day, we hopped on a bike tour out of Hayes Valley with a company called Streets of San Francisco - it was a blast, and although a lot of companies try for the "cruise the city with a cool friend who lives there already" vibe, these guys pull it off completely. We had a blast, and due to an ingenious route called the Wiggle (would I kid?) we did dodge the worst of the hills. Post Half Dome, my legs were very grateful for this reprieve.  It helped that our tour guide, Josh, was as savvy about food trucks as he was about the copious amounts of street art around the city's downtown.  

Lunch on our bike tour day found us darting under the San Francisco Chronicle's building for a small Off The Grid event - in the alleyway beneath the building, five or six food trucks waited. Food trucks, from what I could glean, have been booming in SF for the past two years, and as the trend is fairly new to Waterloo Region, it's inspiring to see what two years of ingenuity looks (and tastes) like.

It was tough to choose what to order, so Mike waited in line at The Chairman for steamed and baked bao, and I headed over to The Taco Guys' truck (right) for a summer squash taco and a Maui fish taco.  The summer squash taco and the pork belly bao (Chinese baked bun) with pickled daikon were standouts - summer-bright and packed with flavours that were at once comforting and unique.  ...mmm, pickled daikon.  We ate them too quickly to take pictures!

That said, both of these food trucks have a pretty serious food enthusiast following - we were glad to have the chance to try them at a smaller event. We found these food trucks again at the larger food truck gathering on Friday evening, and the lineup for the Chairman looked like it might be twenty to thirty minutes of waiting in line, easy!

At the end of the tour, we found ourselves back in Hayes Valley and wandering over to Smitten Ice Cream and its Kelvin machines that turn fresh cream and locally sourced ingredients into ice cream by using liquid nitrogen.  M was intrigued by the science, I by the sweet corn with berries ice cream. Though sweet corn was a flavour I chose for its quirky factor, bypassing salted caramel, which would normally be my YES PLEASE, NOW? choice, it was a worthy experiment. (And the blackberry sauce was perfect.) The texture of the ice cream, which the shop notes is less 'icy' than most ice creams as ice crystals don't have a chance to form in the flash-curing from the liquid nitrogen, is very smooth, allowing the delicate flavour of the sweet corn to shine through. Unusual, but yummy.

Day two, and M and I were en route to the Ferry Building's Farmer's Market... until, as we chilled out on a streetcar (we'd figured we'd take the scenic route) a bright green truck in the Financial District caught our eye.

"It's called the 'Nom Nom Truck," I explained as we waited at a stoplight. "If I don't get off this streetcar and check it out, my foodie friends back in KW (and some of our climbing buddies) will disown me."

M only laughed, following me across the road.



We split a lemongrass-chili banh mi (Vietnamese submarine sandwich; right) - the guy who took our order was great and split it in half for us. These are one of my favorite kinds of sandwiches, as I enjoy the collision of tastes, from the fresh, crunchy cucumber and carrot matchsticks to the sweet heat of the lemongrass chili chicken - the add-on of their vegan vegetable pate was brilliant. It added a savoury, earthy quality to the sandwich in the best of ways, and was completely different from anything I'd tried on a banh mi before.  (Now, to start talking with KW's own Givral Deli to see if they'd make something similar...)

 The Ferry Building's market is definitely a fantastic experience - not least because I was able to track down one of my favorite Japanese foods, okonomiyaki - with a Korean twist at Street Food Namu, Namu Gaji's traveling booth. (M has a picture of me smiling with said second breakfast in the minute before devouring it, but he's notorious for never uploading his pictures.)



Kimchi made for a satisfying twist on the pancake-like treat I'd enjoyed in Japan, and while I still think that Osaka-style okonomiyaki is my favorite, I floated around the Ferry Building somewhere around Cloud Nine.  M & I marveled at the wide variety of specialty mushrooms and their colours; my photo doesn't do the brilliant, burnt-orange-crimson colour of the lobster mushrooms justice!


I also got a kick out of the grow-your-own-mushrooms on display under massive bell (?) jars, and there were kits for sale, but I can't imagine Customs taking too well to my bringing one home as a souvenir!


At left is the inside of the Ferry Building. It reminded me of Chelsea Market in NYC on a variety of levels, and it was fun to have a fellow wanderer (M) with me, this time around.

We snacked on everything from airy vanilla bean marshmallows to a tall glass of Cowgirl Creamery milk - the latter of which was simple perfection, and probably a wiser treat than the home-made donuts in every shade and flavour just down the hall. (Another trip!)


Part Two will come; I'll leave you with a fun piece of chalkboard art:

Review: Bhima's Warung

I'll admit to not quite understanding Bhima's Warung for some time - the storefront was quirky, but never drew me in. And so it was, until a coworker-of-sorts told me about how his first reaction to one of their desserts was anger.

Anger, he said, with the kind of smile usually reserved for talking about things like Sherlock on BBC or the band Teenage Fanclub. The gulab jabon, he told me, were beyond decadent. Spice-scented, donut-like morsels drizzled with rose syrup and gold dust, served with a house-made cinnamon-cardamom ice-cream... Anger, because upon his first bite, he knew they wouldn't last long and they were three steps past delicious.

Now I was curious.

So M and I circled our anniversary on the calendar, M scrawling "Bhima's Warung" across the square. We had a date.

We arrived on the late side, closer to 8, smiling back at the friendly hostess and trying not to stare too openly at the open-concept kitchen. I'd love to return and sit at the bar and absorb the goings-on, perhaps with another Castro in hand - not the politician but an enticing cocktail featuring a 7-year-old rum and fresh passion fruit - just to have a different view and perhaps pick up an idea or two.

After yo-yo-ing around the appetizer menu, we dove in blind with the bhima's bocas: an appetizer platter featuring the chef's selections. At just over $40, it's an investment - but oh, was it a wise one.

Good food takes time; the time that the chefs took to prepare the various elements of the platter gave M and I some time to catch up (March has been hectic, and doesn't look to be changing its pace!) That said, the wait was not unreasonable, and when it arrived, the platter required its own table.

A small table, true, but still.

My photo doesn't do it justice - my camera has nearly given up the ghost, and the lighting at Bhima's certainly leans towards "romantic" (that said, ten points for the real orchid sprigs on the tables!)

But back to the food. Everything was tasty, and brought different flavours to the mix. From the earthy tofu, sweet pineapple, and peanutty flavours of the gado gado (which, I decided upon second bite, was scrumptious and should be eaten more often) to the crispy vegetable pakoras and their dynamite spicy tamarind sauce - they're the more spiky entities in the middle of the platter in the picture, and along with their dipping sauce, were one of the standouts - we enjoyed every bite. Even, to my surprise, the freshly shucked oysters. They've never been my seafood of choice, but was willing to give them another try. This likely had something to do with their topping, a cool, compelling blend of ginger, lemongrass, chili, and garlic. I'm glad I did.

A special kudos to the chefs who prepared the dipping sauces; I wish I'd been less hungry when I started so I'd have paid more attention to the distinct elements of the sweet and sour sauce intended for the peanut-encrusted prawns beyond noting that I'd have happily eaten it with a spoon. (KW chefs take their sauces seriously, it seems, and Bhima's is no exception. ...the mango butter, served with a chicken/scallop dumpling is also to live for! From Little Mushroom's 40 Creek BBQ sauce to the blueberry mustard down at 41, I can remember leaving catering events and restaurants alike waxing poetic about sauces. I don't remember having done that before moving here.)

Somehow, we ate our way through the platter, but we're both hearty eaters, it was late, and it was dinner for me; M's hollow leg is the stuff of legend. Portions are large - we'd been eyeing two desserts but could only find room in our collective hollow legs for one.

When she brought our dessert out, I told M the story about my coworker; after our first bites, we agreed: he was absolutely right.

Oddly enough, I found that the ice cream was the standout element for me - cinnamon and cardamom are a heady, sweet-spicy-earthy combination that I'd happily try again. But with at least four other homemade ice cream varieties offered at Bhima's, it might be a while...

Gastronavigation: Chianti, Sugarbowl (Edmonton)

I have to admit it: when I went back to Edmonton for Christmas, I had a food list.

I'm not saying that Culina's dark chocolate and blue cheese steak, or the Hardware Grill's lobster mac & cheese, or Da-De-O's sweet potato fries, or the Manor's spinach salad, or Duchess' macarons are the best in the city (though you won't steer wrong if you order them at all), but I missed them, just as I missed walking around the River Valley or trying to figure out (as I do yearly) whether I shoot left or right in my family's yearly road hockey games.

(For the record, I shoot left.)

Having my sister gift me with a "Sister Lunch" was a bonus! However, something we're known for, and should have expected going in, is what we tend to call "adventure" and what a more honest person might call "getting lost/distracted/detoured and ending up somewhere else altogether". We were headed to Hudson's on Whyte for bison burgers (bison being on my list) and to watch one of the World Junior hockey games (hockey games being, always, on my sister's list)... only to discover that said pub was closed for renovations!

So it was with hungry eyes that we turned our eyes westbound down Whyte, succumbing to the warmth and nostalgia (and $7.99 all-day pasta specials!) featured at Chianti.

Chianti is a Whyte institution, hosted in an old Post Office and easy to spot as it's capped by a green-roofed clocktower. It's one of the first restaurants that I remember visiting, so it was, in part, nostalgia that steered our steps. I've had family dinners and birthday dinners and first dates and breakups and hey-we're-just-friends lunches hosted under its tall ceilings, looking out onto the Ave or taking in the classical prints and neon printouts of upcoming concerts. I don't know if I've ever wandered off the pasta menu (there are a lot of options!) but while it's by no means haute cuisine, I've always left very happy and full!

After sharing a couple of laughs with our server (who was an old soccer teammate and friend of my brother's) I ordered the Fettuccine Fulminante: thick homemade noodles with baby shrimp, smoked salmon, onions, and black olives in a curry-cream sauce, and my sister, craving pesto, ordered the Penne alla Pollo with chicken, tomatoes, and peas.

Her dish was tasty - although peas strike me as unconventional, they added a sweet note to the savoury flavours of the tomatoes and basil pesto - but the Fulminante is an old favorite and I dug into it with gusto. There's something awesome about the rich, smoky combination of the olives and salmon combined with the yellow curry sauce (something that I probably should have figured out how to cook by now, but there's also something to be said about going out!) Defeated after eating about two-thirds of the generous serving, I declared myself too full for a shared order of Da-De-O's cajun sweet potato fries (we'd toyed with the idea pre-lunch), and trekked across the river so I could introduce my sister to Duchess Bake Shop.

Strike two - the bakery was closed between the 1st and 10th of January - but I did get an interesting photo of their gingerbread Notre Dame!

Not to be fazed by this setback, we rallied and turned even further west to Vi's for Pies, whose tasty soups and knockout desserts I discovered far too late in my days in Edmonton. Unfortunately, they were also closed for the holidays!

Fortunately, the Sugarbowl welcomed us warmly, and a square of banana cream pie and a massive serving of bread pudding were soon in front of us. The banana pie was smooth and tasty, and was probably the wiser choice given that we'd just eaten pasta - but I hadn't had bread pudding in ages and couldn't resist. I'll return and defeat it, one day, or share it with a friend: delicious and formidable, topped with soft, real whipped cream and peppered with raisins, banana, and caramel, it's a great decadence for a cold day, and effectively added itself to my Food List for future trips.

While the Sugarbowl's hard seats don't look like you could spend hours in them over coffee, portabella burgers, or exotic lagers without losing feeling, they are oddly comfortable, and service is quirky, quick, and personable. With its proximity to the University, most diners were either students or professors, but it shouldn't be dismissed, with its awe-inspiring beer list (it's even longer in real life), exposed brick and wood walls, and casually stylish staff as for-hipsters-only. The Sugarbowl has been around since the '40s and has been a "Belgian-style cafe" since the late 80s, serving up microbrews and unique ales far prior to the current fascination for beers beyond Bud. It's definitely worth a visit.

This day, complete with detours, was a perfect gift - a chance to literally gastronavigate for a few hours and take someone awesome along with me.

Review: 41

41 can't help but make a good first impression. From the stylish, warm interior characterized by exposed brick, high ceilings, plush booths and fresh alstroemeria on every table to the way the maitre d' put a commendable amount of work into finding my family a table (that said, dinner reservations are recommended!), it's easy to tell that this place was created as a labour of love.

41 is a revisioning of a classic kid on the block - it opened on April 15, 2010 - although head chef and proprietor Peter Martin stayed on board from when it was known as Peter Martin's 20 King. From a quick menu survey, 41 has kept 20 King's focus on gourmet dining featuring a variety of meats while expanding in the direction of "gourmet comfort food".

That said, while the food is delicious, the wine list solid (Dad was pleased to note a favorite Malbec), the fries addictive, and I wish I could adopt or learn the secrets of the person who makes their smoky, chipotle-tinged ketchup or spicy blueberry mustard (the latter sounds crazy but it is a thing of beauty) there is room for improvement.

Firstly, the website is in need of updating; most of the dinner menu entrees are listed on the website as anywhere from 1-4 dollars less than what we paid during our visit, and the dessert menu "singles" are around $7 (although a chocolate/vanilla cookie has been added). Prices go up; that's part of the business. But when they do, I believe it should be the restaurant's responsibility to let potential customers know what they're in for.

Service for the most part was solid, and everyone has their rushed days, but literally dropping a soup spoon on the table in front of my dad before rushing away without a word? Not so much. And at least tonight, 41 suffered from unattractive side plating and a minimal serving of sides on the Wild Boar Schnitzel (which three of us ordered; my siblings did much better with the buttermilk mashed potatoes and fries that came with their dishes.) Also, I'm naive enough (and visit St. Jacobs' market enough, where they're readily available and not that expensive) to expect that when a menu says a $25 entree is served with fingerling potatoes, there will be more than two or three, and they'll be plated attractively. The fennel and beets served with the potatoes were a sweet-sharp counterpoint, but I couldn't help but want a little more.

My favorite main course was the chicken Kiev - a great mix of flavours and the chicken was perfectly cooked; as well, the sarsaparilla short ribs had the best plating and melted off the bone (yum to the root beer jus; another unlikely mix that turned out deliciously!) The wild boar schnitzel was good and filling, but pounded thin enough that it was hard to discern any boary flavour; M enjoyed it, but he noted quietly that "it could have been anything."

(We're coming back for the 20Kinger burgers and fries - we watched way too many emerge from the kitchen to not give them a try!)

And the evening ended on a positive note: dessert!

My sister's sweet tooth is legendary, and she closed in on the creme brulee; rich, creamy, and with a smooth, strong vanilla flavour... I almost kept it upon my chance to try it. I chose the lemon tart, which was a knockout too, nicely contrasted by a small bowl of raspberry sorbet. M was the only guy at our table to join us in dessert, and chose the triple chocolate tower with Bailey's cream on the side; I'm not much of a chocolate dessert girl, but with a white, milk, and dark chocolate layer, it was beautifully presented and not too heavy (key, as schnitzel is sneaky; it doesn't look like a lot, but we were both very full at the end of the night!)

Having awesome desserts swayed me, in the end; 41 has a ton of potential, and there's something to be said for supporting locally owned and operated businesses, too. I just hope they update their website between now and then.

Review: Cafe O

Much like seasons, some foods are tied to times in your life. We can't help it; pairing certain foods with certain occasions comes naturally (it's what's in season) or sometimes with help from local vendors (it's what's available at the sporting venue; hello there, arena beer).

Short story long, almond-paste desserts will always hearken back to elementary school Christmas concerts; one of the moms at the school also ran a bakery, and would bring these amazing desserts with puffed pastry, slivered almonds, and almond paste in the middle in large rings of delicious to help fundraise for the school. Every year, my family would buy one, and my siblings and I would be on rations, lest we eat it all in one sitting. (It happened. Once.)

Since then, I've looked for something with a similar taste, having never been able to find its equal (or the name of the original). Last Saturday, I was delighted to find that Cafe O's almond croissant was one of the closest matches to date.

Light yet substantial, sweet yet not cloying, the crispy pastry complimented the smooth, almondy filling perfectly. I'm no pastry expert, but I was a very happy camper from my first bite on! M's cinnamon twist looked delicious, too.

My Mont Blanc chai was, perhaps, ambitious, but I have a weakness for chai and candied chestnuts (and the Symposium amaretto chai had been delicious) so I went for it. Unfortunately, while enjoyable, it KO'd my considerable sweet tooth and lacked the richness I had been hoping for from the chestnuts, or the spice-heavy aromas that I've been hooked on since Remedy Cafe first introduced me to chai. Maybe chai is milder on this side of the Canadian Shield?

The experience in overall was really lovely. Cafe O will see us again; they serve an array of impressive sweets, tarts, and cakes that all but ask to be sampled. The staff are all welcoming, friendly, and knowledgeable (and seem like family). As a plus, the wi-fi worked well, much to M's delight (but they have limited outlets, so stake out your table if that's why you're there!) and the atmosphere is comfortable, well-lit, and quietly stylish. Points for the deep-set, swiveling armchairs.

If you're looking for a chill place to catch up with friends over coffee and a pastry, Cafe O is a great addition to the options that K-W offers.

Review: Symposium (Waterloo)

Symposium is a good place to curl up in the evening with a dessert and a friend, a date, or a book*.

I was lured in by a "cake tour" - seriously, who refuses an offer like that? - and ended up spending a great summer evening talking over Colossus chocolate cake and their signature Chocolate Brownie cheesecake. Yum.

If you like your chai lattes mild in flavour but with a spiked twist, the amaretto chai is worth a try. It's definitely not as spiced as other chai I've tried, but this makes a tasty after-dinner drink.

*Unfortunately, depending on how busy it gets, some small print on their menu notes that tables may be limited to 45 minutes - I'm not certain if, or how often this happens, though.


Note: The above was first posted on urbanspoon on Sept 2, 2010.

Addenda: I've since been back to Symposium twice; once for cake (the Turtle cheesecake this time around; tasty, but could have been nuttier) and once for a book club meeting, during which I mulled over a Blueberry Tea (delicious, but served with a 2% creamer on the side, which puzzled me. Generous servings of tea and amaretto, though, and reasonably priced.)