Category Archives: Restaurants & Reviews

Vik’s Chaat Corner and Market in Berkeley

Sign outside of vik's chaat corner in berkeley

My husband, Steve, took a day off work recently, so we made an afternoon trip to Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley.  I’ve written about this place in the past, but not since they moved to their new, deluxe accommodations further down 4th street.  2390 4th street, to be exact.

Interior of Vik's Chaat Corner in Berkeley

Interior of Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley

It’s still industrial-like, but larger, more open, light and modern.  Long stainless steel tables and sturdy grade school chairs offer plenty of eating real estate for the crowds that show up to munch out on superior Indian snacks.

Cooking stations at Vik's Chaat Corner in Berkeley

Cooking stations at Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley

Chaat (think of it as Indian tapas) has become quite popular in the US over the past decade, and a number of chaat houses have cropped up in the Bay Area, but Vik’s was an early one and is still the best, in my opinion.

Steve at Vik's Chaat Corner in Berkeley

Steve at Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley

This is my go-to place when I want something spicy.  Or something without meat.  Or when I’m alone, because it’s a great place to eat and read.  It’s controlled mayhem at noon, so a meal comes complete with entertainment if you decide not to read.

Vik’s menu says that “chaat” means “to lick.”  I believe it.  I’ve been licking my chops here for years.

The weekend is the best time to visit, food-wise, because they offer their full menu – but I can’t deal with all the people.  I forgo the chaat with animal protein for more comfort.  The weekday chaat is completely vegetarian, unless they offer a weekend special.  Often they have the keema samosa listed as such – but don’t count on it.  I can tell, you, though, that the vegetarian chaat is wonderful, and if you must have fish, chicken or lamb, you can get one of three daily lunch plates that contain beast.

Chaat at Vik's in Berkeley

Chaat at Vik’s in Berkeley

If you’ve never been, go with a couple other people and order an assortment to share so you wind up with several breads to dip into various sauces and condiments.  For example, most of the masala dosa potato stuffing is in the middle of this long crepe affair, so you can tear off plain pieces of the dosa on the ends and apply them to whatever looks good to you on other plates.

The average cost of an item at Vik’s is in the neighborhood of $6, so it’s a great place for a cheap meal, but one thing to be aware of is that almost everything has some heat.  This would not be a good place to take people who cannot tolerate a slow, steady, pleasant burn.  If in doubt, ask.

On this visit, Steve and I ordered:

Keema samosa.  These pastry-wrapped “pies” are stuffed with minced lamb and peas and served with mint chutney.  The samosa at Vik’s are always stand-out.  No kidding.  This includes the vegetarian (potato) version.  You get two per order and they’re nice and fat – juicy and never greasy.  Vik’s achieves real complexity in their dishes, and the deeply-flavored samosa fillings are a perfect example.

Keema samosa at Vik's in Berkeley

Keema samosa at Vik’s in Berkeley

Masala dosa.  The dosa is a crepe made of ground rice and dal (lentils) and it’s stuffed with spiced potatoes.  On the side there’s coconut chutney and sambar, a subtly-spicy warm lentil sauce.  This dosa is large and hangs over the plate it’s served on.  The potato stuffing in the masala dosa is different than the one in the samosa, so don’t have any qualms about ordering both items.  I love the coconut chutney, which is cold and has a slightly sweet edge.  It’s also nice to add an item that does not include the ubiquitous cholle (chick pea curry) on the side.  The lentil sauce gives a little variety.

Masala dosa at Vik's in Berkeley

Masala dosa at Vik’s in Berkeley

Potatoes inside the masala dosa at Vik's in Berkeley

Potatoes inside the masala dosa at Vik’s in Berkeley

Bhatura cholle.  This is a huge puri (puffed, fried bread made of fermented wheat) served with chick pea curry and Indian pickles, which are pungent and hot.  The puri is the “bhatura” and the chick pea curry is the “cholle.”  This is a dramatic and savory chaat item that is a must when I’m involved in a trip to Vik’s.

Lunch special B, which was chicken korma.  Lunch specials come with a small serving of the main dish, roti (flat whole wheat bread), papadam (thin, brittle, chick pea flour bread), some kind of dal (lentil sauce), rice, raita (cold yogurt sauce) and pickle.  Lunch specials work well when you share because one provides three dipping options for crepes or bread.  Steve is a big fan of these plates, while I’m more interested in chaat, figuring I can get a chicken curry elsewhere.

Lunch plate at Vik’s in Berkeley

If you go on the weekend, I suggest trying:

Kathi kabob.  This is an egg-covered paratha wrap with boneless chicken chunks, onions and cilantro and comes with mint chutney.  Paratha is a relatively thick, flaky, buttery whole wheat flat bread.

Lamb baida roti – a wrap made using roti and spiced ground lamb filling.  The filling, which is also used in the keema samosa, is über-savory and addictive.

They have a couple of new items on the menu, but what I really liked seeing was salty lassi!  I’m not a mango lassi kind of girl.  Their version of salty lassi has herbs.  Interesting.  Never had lassi?  How come?  It’s a yogurt drink and serves as a foil for the hot food.

Salty lassi at Vik's in Berkeley

Salty lassi at Vik’s in Berkeley

It’s worth mentioning that Vik’s has a full sweets counter.  If you like milky sweets, try a couple of the squares that look like solidified milk.  They’ll be really sweet – like sweetened condensed milk – and may have pistachio or rosewater in there.

They carry my fave:  rasmalai.  These paneer (milk curd) dumplings in sweetened milk should be tried by all.  The thing you might find odd is the texture.  Unfamiliar textures seem to be a nonstarter for many people.  Come on!

Steve and the parental unit love gulab jamun.  The best way for me to describe these is to call them large donut holes saturated with, and swimming in, syrup.

They don’t have kheer (rice pudding), as far as I know, and if you order it in any restaurant I’ll come after you.  It’s so easy and inexpensive to make at home there’s no reason to buy it.  I’ll post my recipe soon.  Milk, sugar, rice and a couple drops of rosewater.  That’s all you need.

Now that I’ve covered the Chaat Corner, let me tell you about Vik’s Market, which you must walk through to get to the restaurant.

Items purchased at Vik's market laid out on a table

I spent about $25 on all the stuff in the photo.

What I bought:

-4 imported spice mixes that will season several meals each.  Tandoori chicken, butter chicken, chicken masala, and dhanshak masala.  100 grams – AKA 3.5 ounces – apiece for about $1.50 per.  None of those pretty, little, expensive, American-made packets for me.  Check out my posts about this here and here.
-400 grams of cashews.
-Small bottle of rose water.
-Fenugreek leaves and seeds (methi).
-One jar of avakai mango pickle (little, pickled, raw mangos with chili and spices)
-One jar of lime pickle.
-Half-kilo of dried chick peas.

For Indian home cooking, a well-stocked Indian market is a must.  Not only are the prices great, but they have everything you need and then some.

The next time you eat at Vik’s, check out all the aisles of the market just for fun.  The imported pickle products alone are worth the price of admission.  Even when you can find these at the supermarket, the prices are insane compared to Vik’s.

My Dog Won’t eat Chicken McNuggets

berry the akita-chow mic glaring at me

“I want my cheeseburger!”

My companion, Berry, the actual akita-chow mix behind Akitachow.com, has to go to the vet regularly due to his allergies and skin condition.

When you adopt a dog it’s kind of a crap shoot in terms of vet bills, but you can count on shelling out lots of cash for your “free” dog.

The important thing is, of course, that your dog is healthy and happy, with everything else being secondary, but there are numerous non-life threatening conditions that’ll cost you a fortune over time.

Berry seems to have a few of these.

We have to keep on top of the ear situation, in particular.  Allergies inflame his ears.  He scratches and impacts them with stuff by jamming his toes in there.  The ears get infected.  Once he even punctured his eardrum.  It’s impossible to catch this early on each time, because you can’t watch what’s going on 24/7.

Well, there we were at the vet again today, which is a big pain in the ass because he’s terrible with other dogs and creates general mayhem there.  He has to be muzzled because he gets kind of scary when you mess with him too much, he’s all stressed, and he sucks the air out of any room he’s in (and the car!) with his non-stop hyperventilating.

I feel terrible for him because he hates going to the vet, and I feel terrible for me because it’s a huge production to take a non-compliant, 105-pound dog where he does not want to go.  I feel terrible for the techs, because, as he is being treated in the back, I can hear snarling, people saying, “It’s OK, Berry!,” and then something large crashing into a wall, which shakes the walls of the waiting area.

Although he’s over 11 now, he’s as strong as an ox.  Compact and all muscle.

After these vet visits, I take him through the McDonalds drive-thru for a plain cheeseburger, and I have a coffee while he gobbles that down.  Since he’s getting older, I thought I would get him something with a little less fat to digest, and I heard there were chicken breast sammies available.  I ordered two Classic grilled, one plain, and six McNuggets, in case he hated the sandwich.

My sandwich had an anemic chicken breast that looked, well, shellacked.  There was a slice of tomato, which was not half bad, and a lettuce leaf.  The whole wheat bun had no texture, but I guess that’s the idea.  When I took a bite the contents slid out due to a large blob of mayo hiding under the lettuce that created a landslide effect.  I suppose if you tell them to go light on the mayo, and to actually spread it on the bread, it’s the best thing to have if you find yourself at a McDonald’s for some reason.

I tore a piece of the plain sandwich off for his nibs in the back seat, and he took it gingerly but promptly spit it back at me with some velocity.  The piece of chicken and bun went flying over my shoulder and down my shirt.  Nice.  I dug everything out and tried again, but no sale.  I don’t blame him.  The roll and chicken were almost identical in color and texture.  When you’re accustomed to a cheeseburger and get something like this, I guess a poor reception is to be expected.

Then I tried with a McNugget.  This he was so suspicious of he wouldn’t take.  When I thought he was going to take it, I let go, and it bounced to the floor of the car.

I ate one of the McNuggets – which I don’t think I’ve had since Steve and I used to get them at the East Village Mickey D’s back in the early 1980’s.  Tasted like the same chicken flavored cellulose stuff it was back them.

I later tried to give him the rest of his sandwich and a couple of McNuggets via his dog bowl, but he never even looked.

He’s been glaring at me since we got back home, saying, “I want my damned cheeseburger!”

Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Locanda da Eva in Berkeley, CA

Locanda da Eva in Berkeley, CA

Locanda da Eva
2826 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley
(510) 665-9601
Details:  Mostly Italian; emphasis on sustainability and local ingredients; dinner only; full bar and great wine menu; street parking and pay lot nearby

Locanda da Eva opened in Berkeley in July, taking over a supposedly “cursed” space that housed Mazzini Trattoria, Zax Tavern and Maritime East in recent years.  Prior to that, Casa de Eva, a Mexican place and inspiration for the current name, was there for 37 years, so maybe the space just needs to find its legs again.

The other night I tagged along to a PR dinner with GraceAnn Walden of The Yummy Report, allowing me to give you a first-look review here in my modest venue.

The locale was pleasing to me, being a number of blocks from where Telegraph meets the Cal campus and away from serious parking mayhem.  There were few other diners that Wednesday evening, but it’s a bit far-flung to catch campus-related foot traffic.  Two of the few were Joanne Weir and her husband, so there was certainly quality if not quantity.

Locanda da Eva is what my father would have called “CALM-fter-bul,” which is “comfortable” for people of a certain age who grew up in New York City.

There’s plenty of medium-toned wood and the lighting is subtle.  I’m always grateful when I don’t see fixtures hanging at eye level over tables, being photosensitive.  It means someone is actually thinking about function.  The warmth blends with an airy feel due to the generous spacing of tables and chairs, and the kitchen is open to view.

Nude paintings a la Eve and olive branches hang throughout.

We spent a little time at the bar.  GraceAnn investigated cocktails and chatted up the bartender, while I indulged in a sweet and rich glass of Navarro Gewürztraminer grape juice.

I’m not qualified to talk about mixed drinks and bar culture, but I can tell you the seats are comfy and that I’d probably visit often to have a glass of wine if I lived in the immediate ‘hood.  It’s very civilized, and I love the wine menu, being a fan of Italian reds.  While it’s not a menu that caters to the masses, the masses would have a hard time going wrong here.  Wines have been carefully selected to complement the menu, and there are a number of reasonably-priced options.

An interesting thing about Locanda da Eva is that its owner, Robert Lauriston, is a food writer.  He’s blogged and written reviews for SF Weekly, and contributed to other Bay Area publications, like East Bay Express.  I know him mainly from Chowhound, though.

Some years ago I had a short but intense fling with Chowhound, which I threw over for a long-term relationship with Facebook.  As I recall, there was nary a Bay Area thread without Robert Lauriston commentary.  His well-stated contributions showed significant macro and micro-level knowledge of the Bay Area food scene and food in general, and were comprehensive in their attack of the subject at hand.  Knowing this made certain things about my dining experience at Locanda da Eva make sense.

Case in point:  words.  The wine menu is eight pages long, has an introduction, there’s a paragraph about each wine, it’s dated on the lower left-hand corner, paginated on the right, and perfectly formatted.  The daily dinner menu provides all you need to know, from practices related to values to the price of Locanda da Eva T-shirts.

I loved seeing “…complimentary Acme bread by request…,” thinking that perhaps one should not take bread service for granted.

Bread with fancy olive oil at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Bread with fancy olive oil at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

The dinner menu had good variety in terms of apps and entrees, and there were several pizzas and pastas.  Provenance is king here, so adjectives, many of them formal, were peppered throughout.  It wasn’t just “kale,” but “wilted Dirty Girl kale,” on the second pizza down.

We had a nice young man as our server.  Efficient and friendly – he kept an eye on goings-on at our table and orchestrated the arrival of selections so that we were neither rushed nor waiting.

Locanda da Eva does not provide butter for bread.  Instead, they offer olive oil for dipping – for a $2 fee!  The oil was fruity, peppery and fine, but not worthy of a surcharge.

If you want to avoid dry bread, you have to pay.  Not in keeping with the generosity of spirit that should be at the heart of every eating establishment, is it?  Come on – provide butter and olive oil under that old “cost of doing business” saw.  Geez.

UPDATE – 9/15/10:  Robert Lauriston contacted me to let me know that olive oil would now be complimentary upon request.  Nice!

We selected several appetizers, a pasta and two entrees, and were able to choose a gussied up vegetable side with each entree – a nice touch, given that they listed at $5 to $6 each a la carte.

Execution was very good – and this with a meal involving several cooking styles and ingredients requiring a knowing hand, like albacore tuna.

Flavors were bright and distinct, and most things were well-seasoned.  You need to ask for salt and pepper here, by the way.

Pork trotters at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Pork trotters at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

The fried pork trotters with roasted corn and Poblano peppers ($9) was wonderful.  You’ve never had them, you say?  Trotters, as the name suggests, are pork feet with part of the shank attached.  They’re cooked until the meat falls off the bone.  The meat is then used in a preparation that takes advantage of its gelatinous texture – a by-product of cooking down the tendon.  At Locanda, the trotter meat/jelly is formed into little blocks, coated and fried crisp.

The coating on my square o’trotter encased its deeply flavored, silky contents perfectly, and provided a textural contrast.  The corn bed added a sweet crunch.  If you order only one appetizer here, make it this one.

Bresaola at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Bresaola at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

The house-made bresaola ($9), served with crostini and pickled veggies, was a little bland and too dry – even for an air-dried beef product.  You may want to have lemon wedges and olive oil handy.

Calamari at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Calamari at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

The local calamari with avocado, garbanzo beans, lemon-herb vinaigrette and senise powder ($11) was tasty, but chick pea-heavy.  The fresh calamari – though cut incomprehensibly small – were nevertheless cooked perfectly.  The vinaigrette was nice and light, and everything in this salad – which is basically what it was – married well.  A bright, well-seasoned dish that lacked in its main ingredient.  By the by, I had no idea what “senise powder” was.  When I plugged it into Google, my first hit was Locanda da Eva!  A little more research showed it to be Peperoni di Senise – peppers from Senise, in Southern Italy, dried and ground into powder.

Strozzapreti at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Strozzapreti at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

It’s an Italian place, so we had to try a pasta dish, which they split for us.

The strozzapreti with roasted eggplant, chiles, tomatoes, lamb sausage, herbs and ricotta salata ($16) was a beautifully executed dish.  The “priest choker” pasta – like long cavatelli that twist and curl a bit when cooked – arrived perfectly al dente.  The sauce was a rich, thick ragu peppered with bits of mildly spicy sausage and eggplant.  There was lots going on here and it all melded perfectly – like a good Bolognese.  And, like a good Bolognese, it was not overly saucy or tomatoey.  GraceAnn commented on the moistness of the ricotta salata shreds, which seemed more like fresh mozzarella.

The glass of wine I chose to accompany my meal – Ricci Bonarda El Matt 2008 – worked spectacularly with this dish, by the way.

Albacore tuna at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Albacore tuna at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

I have to hand it to the kitchen:  they put out a well-seasoned and expertly cooked piece of albacore tuna.  If you’ve ever prepared this at home, you know there’s a  narrow margin between sashimi and Starkist – even when working with a fresh, beautiful piece of tuna.

The griddled local albacore with roasted Italian sweet peppers, basil, and grilled summer squash ($19) was GraceAnn’s entree, but I wished I’d ordered it – which is a first.  I never, ever, select salmon or tuna as my entree because I figure I can overcook them myself for less than half the price.

This was nice and rare, and the whole peppers were charred outside and tender and sweet inside.  I didn’t bother with the squash.

Fried corn at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Fried corn at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

The Brentwood (what the hell, when you got it, flaunt it, I guess) fried corn on the cob with salsa verde maionese ($6 a la carte, but you can choose this as a side with an entree) tasted like grilled corn.  I would not have guessed it was fried – not greasy at all.  I thought it needed a little salt, and the sauce was a little sweet for my taste, but I was happy with this rustic, straighforward side dish.

Chicken & ricotta meatballs at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Chicken & ricotta meatballs at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

I chose the braised chicken and ricotta meatballs with kale, onions, sumac, cumin and Grana Padana ($18), which was übersavory.  There were five cloud-like meatballs in a broth that was concentrated and salty and needed some kind of neutral, absorbent foil – like bread, potatoes or pasta.  While I liked the flavor and even the soft texture of the meatballs, I found the dish to be overworked, with the integrity of individual ingredients lost in a heightened state of umami.  I would order this again only as a “table” entree.

Fried potatoes at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Fried potatoes at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

I had hoped to use the side of fried potatoes with pickled cabbage and Calabrian chiles ($5, same bit about the entree) as a textural contrast to my meatball entree – envisioning a batch of crispy potatoes straight out of a sizzling frying pan.

The fried potatoes turned out to be more like tired roast potatoes that had been warmed over.  Bland, too, and a real letdown.

On impulse, I had a latte and the peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter gelato, bitter chocolate ganache and sea salt ($8) for dessert.  The ganache almost froze on the gelato, which I liked, and the cookies were buttery and light.  There was not too much salt here, which I appreciated, given the volume of fine-dining desserts these days with sea salt.

Peanut butter & choco chip cookie dessert at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Peanut butter & choco chip cookie dessert at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Our server noticed that I wasn’t drinking my latte, and apologized if it wasn’t up to snuff.  “No, it’s fine – just taking my time.” said I.  I like that he asked, though.  I liked it a lot.

Robert Lauriston is invested here in every way possible – you can’t help but see that – and Executive Chef Huw Thornton clearly runs a strong kitchen.

An interesting menu, forward-thinking food values, a well-thought out wine menu and a great space should add up to a win for Locanda da Eva – as long as there’s willingness to adapt to what their location may ultimately dictate.

I’d like to go back and try a few other things – if they stop charging for olive oil.  That olive oil thing sticks in my craw.

UPDATE – 9/15/10:  Robert Lauriston contacted me to let me know that olive oil would now be complimentary upon request, so my craw is officially clear.

OysterFest 2010 at Waterbar in San Francisco

drakes bay oyster with open shellMy friend, GraceAnn Walden, asked if I wanted to join her at OysterFest 2010 this past weekend, an annual event held at Waterbar in San Francisco.  She was to serve as a celebrity judge for various competitions at this “celebration of the sustainable oyster,” benefiting the San Mateo Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, an organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of “oceans, waves and beaches.”

Being part of an event that includes me and thousands of oysters on the half shell is the stuff of dreams, so, yeah, I’m there.

So many things in life disappoint.  So many things sound good on paper.  I told my husband and son, “If I don’t get to eat a ton of oysters I’ll be seriously pissed.”  Let’s face it, there are few things worse than being teased by a small qualtity of something you really, really love.

OysterFest at Waterbar in San Francisco on 8/31/10 with view of hills brothers coffee company sign This celebration delivered – and how.  The sponsors were clearly generous with money, time and product.  Event-goers were tagged with a pink wristband, armed with a stem glass, and turned loose on the oysters and wine.

Before I made my way to the oyster stalls, I took in the whole gestalt.

First off, the weather cooperated.  It was breezy, sunny, and not too hot.  Second, we were right on the bay with the mightly Bay Bridge almost on top of us.

Under the bay bridge at oysterfest 2010 held at waterbar in SFThe setting was ridiculously post card, and made me think how wonderful it is to live here.

They decked out the party space nicely.  If you’ve never been to Waterbar, it’s one of two Rincon Park restaurants Pat Kuleto opened a couple years back – near that Oldenburg and van Bruggen monstrosity, Cupid’s Span.

Waterbar and Epic Roasthouse, sister restaurants, one surf and the other turf, sit adjacent to each other with an attractive outdoor space between them that blends into Rincon Park and the walking path behind them.

Maison Beausoleil stall at OysterFest 2010 in San FranciscoPlenty of chairs and tables were set out.  Even when the crowd swelled at about the midpoint, competition for seating was not particularly fierce.

We got there right at the start, so food and drink flowed freely and there were no lines.  I was very happy that the food was all oysters, all the time.

Drakes Bay stall at OysterFest in San Francisco 8/28/10Oysters were shucked on the fly at stalls representing farmers sponsoring the event.  Drakes Bay Family Farms and Maison Beausoleil – the former right here in Marin County and the latter from New Brunswick, Canada – served up God knows how many oysters.  Those guys were quick, too.

Nice that both Atlantic and Pacific bivalves were offered – all sustainably farmed.

You could eat as many as you wanted.  The smaller Beausoleil oysters are clean, briny and a little smokey-sweet, so I had a goodly amount of those.  Drakes Bay are larger and stronger in flavor – also very good – so I didn’t hold back at that stall either.

The idea was also to take five ‘sters over to the sauce station, try all five sauces, and then vote for your favorite.  I have no idea which sauce won because I didn’t hear the announcement.  I liked sauce 2, but usually don’t want much of anything on a good oyster.

Sauce station at oysterfest 2010 in san franciscoRestaurant sponsors (all Kuleto-ville, save one, Nettie’s Crab Shack [closed], unless I missed something) provided small plates starring one or more oysters – with little filler, for the most part.

Epic Roasthouse put out my favorite dish of the day:  a killer fried Drakes Bay oyster on a skewer with fried green tomato.  This “brochette” apparently had “homemade pork belly.”  Not sure how you make pork belly at home, and, if there was some on any one of the four I ate, I couldn’t detect it.  I loved the remoulade-like sauce, though, and the oysters were big and fat and perfectly done.  The tomato chunks were sweet and plump and coated in crisped-up cornmeal, as were the oysters.  GraceAnn picked two up for me when I was holding our table, and I went back later for another two.  When I was on BART riding home, I kicked myself for not getting a last one for the road.  Sheer bliss.

Waterbar cranked out humongous grilled oysters with pickled cabbage in a light, buttery cream sauce.  I think.  If there was a card on the table I didn’t see it so I can’t swear to the sauce.  I didn’t know what to make of this.  It was interesting, but pickled cabbage – sauerkraut, more or less – does not play well with others.  The oyster’s flavor was lost in confusion.

BBQ oyster from Waterbar at oysterfest 2010 in SFI was happy the water station was across from the Waterbar booth – and water is mainly what I drank.  While there were numerous wine tasting stations, I decided to stop with the wine after my slug of Twomey 2009 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc.  It was a drag to deal with the one wine glass I was issued while trying to eat oysters by hand as I walked around.

Waterbar stall at oysterfest 2010 in SF and grill full of hot stones and oystersFarallon doled out Vichyssoise oyster shooters, which I believe contained both potato and leek and were finished with celery.  The chef rattled the contents off to me but I was already in some sort of coma from the sun, the sea air and many oysters, so I’m not sure I grasped it all.  This was a tasty little viand and a good idea for the setting.  Rich, though, so I had a total of one.

Farallon stall at oysterfest 2010 in san franciscoNettie’s Crab Shack made little fried oyster po’boys with all the trimmings.  The oyster on mine was not as good the one on the Epic Roasthouse brochette, but nothing to kick out of bed.  I went back to try another to see if I perhaps wound up with a nonrepresentative oyster on my first sammie, but, sadly, this stall closed up shop early in the game.

In between grazing and hanging out in the sun drinking beer, GraceAnn served as a celebrity judge for the oyster eating and shucking contests.

GraceAnn Walden at oysterfest 2010 in San Francisco judging eating contestEating contests are always a wonder to me.  I don’t really get them, but I must be in the minority.  Here there were five people who ate oysters as fast as they could for three minutes.  Each of the five celebrity judges tracked one participant.  GraceAnn wound up tracking a young woman who entered the contest at the last minute, egged on by the crowd when an empty space at the table was offered up at high volume by the MC.  The winner ate over 80 oysters, with the middle ground being in the 40-something range.  Most memorable to me was GraceAnn encouraging her contestant by shouting, “Don’t chew, just swallow!”  Indeed.

One of the platters made during the oyster shucking contest at oysterfest 2010 in SFThe oyster shucking contest included shucking and arranging said oysters on a platter with other seafood under duress.  The platters, judged not only by aesthetic appeal but also practical concerns – like ease of getting at crabmeat and shrimp – were sold to the highest bidders at the end of the competition.  There were four contestants:  three chefs from sponsoring restaurants and one amateur.  The amateur won.

The winner of the oyster shucking contest at OysterFest 2010 in San Francisco with celebrity judges

The winner of the oyster shucking contest, Greg Babinecz, at OysterFest 2010 in San Francisco with celebrity judges

Judges Roland Passot, Narsai David, two Alice DJs, Matty and Icky, and GraceAnn conferred for quite some time before making a decision, and the winner was thrilled.

Celebrity judges conferring at OysterFest 2010 at San Francisco's Waterbar

Celebrity judges conferring at OysterFest 2010

The supportive and cheering crowd gathered close around the long tables used for the contest, so it was a blast.

Shucking contest in action at OysterFest 2010 in San Francisco

Shucking contest in action at OysterFest 2010 in San Francisco

I could have done without the surf music.  The band, Drifting Sand, was good, but I experience even good surf music like a mild toothache:  I just want it to stop.

ChicoBag’s “Bag Monster” wandered around the event.  He’s a guy wearing a suit of 500 supermarket plastic bags, reminding us how many of these blasted single-use things the average American uses in a year, and that they wind up everywhere they shouldn’t – like shorelines.

Bag Monster and GraceAnn Walden at OysterFest 2010 in San Francisco

Bag Monster and GraceAnn Walden at OysterFest 2010 in San Francisco

GraceAnn and I left shortly before the event ended and were both in need of a nap.  We wondered if there was something about oysters that makes a person sleepy.

Like lemon juice in a wound, I had to stand all the way to the East Bay on BART, and then flung myself on the bed when I got home.  Steve, my husband, channeling his Mother, said it was “the salt air and the sun.”  Matthew, my son, not even looking up from whatever video game he was playing, told me he had “no intention of feeling sorry for someone who just got to eat alot of oysters for free at a fancy restaurant on the water.”

The final word:  If you are an oyster-on-the-half-shell kind of person, you should run to this event in 2011.  Not only will you satisfy a yen to an unprecedented degree, you’ll help a worthy organization.  Just arrive early to avoid the lines, and drink more wine and beer than I did!

Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco

Graceann Walden and Tyler Florence at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco

Wayfare Tavern
558 Sacramento Street
San Francisco, CA
(415) 772-9060
Click on link above for current hours

SF Bay Area food writer and personality (to say the least), GraceAnn Walden, asked me to dine with her at Tyler Florence’s new restaurant, Wayfare Tavern, as part of a public relations meal.  While Wayfare Tavern had been getting some good press during its flagship first month, GraceAnn is so outrageous that you’re guaranteed a good time regardless, so of course I accepted.  Once GraceAnn’s review is published, I’ll link to it here.

With celebrity-chef owned places there’s always that “hype versus substance” factor.  And there is significant hype surrounding Food Network icon Tyler Florence, whose easy-on-the-eye countenance seems to be everywhere these days.  Seriously, he’s got one foot firmly planted in Rachael and Martha territory – and I’m not just talking about pots and pans at Macy’s.  There’s even a Tyler Forence iPhone app now.

Now, just because he’s cute and a TV star and selling a whole bunch of stuff doesn’t mean he has no chops.  This one-man megalopoly is a culinary graduate of Johnson & Wales, and worked his way up by sweating it out on the line for years down South and in New York City before being “discovered.”

I bring all this up because the adoring public tends to lash out at people it makes famous.

The idea that celebrity chefs aren’t “real” has been kicking around for years.  Most of them are – even if they haven’t been spending much time in the kitchen.  This is true of all chefs-on-the-rise:  the more responsibility they take on, the less time they have to stand in front of a stove.  No reason to apply a higher standard to Tyler Florence.

For me, it boils down to motivation and commitment.  Heart, if you will.  If a restaurant is opened solely to make a quick buck with no respect for local culinary traditions, and Mr. Big is never in situ unless he’s there to sell autographed cookbooks, I’d rather they both stay out of San Francisco.

I was pleased beyond measure that Wayfare Tavern has gravitas and did not disappoint.

If you didn’t know Tyler Florence owned the place before walking in, I don’t think you’d be able to tell, given how schtick-free it is in that regard.  I’m not surprised.  This is the first of three restaurants the chef is planning to open in the San Francisco Bay Area, which he now calls home.  It’s clear he wanted to do right by The City.

What we have here is a turn-of-the-century San Francisco tavern-themed restaurant that’s all all dark wood, stuffed wildlife and fireplace.  I half expected A. P. Giannini to pop in for a dozen oysters after a hard day at the Bank of Italy.  Giannini may be long gone, but suited bankers from Bank of America and other money houses around the corner on Montgomery Street occupy bar stools on weeknights, so he’s well represented.

The bar was busy.  Aproned bartenders call out greetings to regulars as they enter the restaurant, reminding me of the old, dark wood, man cave-type establishements I used to visit when I worked on Wall Street in New York City.  As the evening progressed, a mixed crowd of lovely people filled the first floor to capacity.

We were seated on the first floor directly in front of the fireplace and perpendicular to the open kitchen.  Goodies were flying out of the kitchen – including Chef Florence, who greeted GraceAnn with a big smile and a hug.

Let me get this out of the way here and now:  Tyler Florence was friendly, accommodating and good-humored throughout the evening, regardless of how often he was pestered.

He’s clearly invested here – passionate about the ingredients he’s working with and his dishes.

Wayfare Tavern’s one, all-day, menu is in keeping with its theme, so there are plenty of old school options.  Entrees like hangtown fry nod to San Francisco’s past, with Southern influences from the chef-owner’s roots popping up in offerings like fried chicken and banana pudding.  If you’re looking for evidence that this is a modern-day California restaurant, you’ll find it in the long list of creative appetizers, and there are indications throughout the menu of a commitment to ethical food practices.

If you’re not able to find an entree that pleases you, you can have a burger and fries.

Service at table was top-notch.  Our server was skilled, competent, friendly and fun.  We had a very small table, so finely-tuned orchestration added to our enjoyment of the evening. The hosts were polite, if a little selective in who they were really nice to, so it soothed my ever-so-slightly ruffled feathers to be treated so well by all other staff.

First things first, let me rave about the popovers they serve in place of bread.  They’re what an Acme sour baguette is to Wonder bread.  I think this is the best popover I ever had, and I’ve had many.  Craggy, crisp, golden-brown and substantive with a moist, egg batter-webbed interior.

We started with a dozen assorted oysters (market price), which were outstanding in terms of freshness and flavor.  The Fanny Bay were subtle, with that slight cucumber finish, and the Barron Point were sweet and creamy.  The oyster tray smelled like the sea as it sat virtually under my nose on our small table.  Mignonette and cocktail sauces provided.

Raw pyster selection at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco

Our parade of appetizers started with the deviled eggs ($9 for 6 halves), which were creamy, soft and mild.  Comforting, as deviled eggs should be, but we agreed the kitchen is too timid with the mustard for our liking.

Deviled eggs at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco

I was thrilled to see steak tartare on the menu – and I suppose the nerve to put this on an SF Bay Area menu is part of the same nerve responsible for the taxidermy.  Wayfare’s version is made from grass-fed, corn-finished beef fillet and served with a raw, organic egg yolk on top.  This is the first time I had grass-fed beef as tartare, and I was surprised at the mild flavor.  The texture was a bit mushy, though – as if the fillet had been overpulsed in a food processor.  The generous half-portion was $16, and you’d spend more than that to make it at home.  If you’re scared of tartare, this would be a good place to try it.

Steak tartare at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco

The Monterey Bay sardines ($14) were  plump and tasty, with a bright garlic-lemon sauce.

Monterey Bay sardines at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco

I’m glad the salt roasted bone marrow ($14) was split in two, because it made sharing this luscious dish easy.  Molasses crostini came on the side – a master stroke.  The molasses added bittersweet, chocolate-coffee notes that worked well with the marrow.   I would have liked more than two crostini on the plate, though.

Marrow bone appetizer at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco

The hangtown fry ($18) included a wonderfully light omelet and perfectly cooked bacon – but the oysters were a disappointment.  Traditionally, oysters in a hangtown fry are partially cooked and then folded into the omelet.  This is a deconstructed fry, as most of them are these days, with bacon strips and fried oysters served atop a plain omelet.  Hangtown fry lives and dies by oysters, and these were significantly overcooked and limp, and their breading lacked flavor.

Hangtown fry at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco

There was robust, meaty flavor in the Wayfare Burger “Le Grand” ($18), made from a “proprietary grind” of four cuts of grass-fed, corn-finished beef – including short rib and ribeye.  Cowgirl Creamery’s Mt. Tam cheese, bacon and roasted onion enhanced the whole affair.  Normally I’m against all those burger add-ons when there’s really good meat, but they all worked fine, as did the homemade brioche bun.  The accompanying fries – fried in peanut oil – were good.

Organic fried chicken ($22), one of Tyler Florence’s signature dishes, was moist and flavorful from the buttermilk brine.  Served mostly boneless and with lemon wedges for squeezing, it could have been more crispy.

Fried chicken at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco

The side of creamed corn ($8) was excellent.  Whole kernal corn cut from the cob arrived in a light, flavorful cream sauce with smoked olive oil and chive blossom.

Although full, there was no way I was leaving without trying the house-made salted caramel ice cream.  It’s quite salty, and normally paired with the pineapple upside-down cake ($8).  I was too full for the cake, so I just had the ice cream, which I enjoyed thoroughly.

GraceAnn had the banana pudding, which is Tyler Florence’s father’s recipe.  I didn’t taste it, since I’m not a custard kind of girl, but GraceAnn was pleased – though you’ll have to read her review for the skinny.

After the meal I wandered over to BART in the evening air.  While crossing over California Street toward Market, a woman crossing in the other direction looked over and said, “You look happy tonight!”

Indeed, and not just because I drank half a bottle of 2008 Tyler Florence Split Rock Vineyard Pinot Noir ($115).  Actually, I had more than half.  I love a nicely-balanced Pinot!