Oysters Under the Sun

We're having some summer weather this weekend in the Bay Area, so that got me out of my hot apartment and outside to check out Saturday's Oysterfest in San Francisco's Marina district.

The annual festival is a big outdoor party that's a perfect summer event. And yesterday's weather really complied, with a lot of sun and heat, but luckily a breeze to keep things cool. Although a lot of people did huddle under the view spots of shade, there were only a few spots like that. By 3 p.m., everyone was just under the sun exposed to the heat, music and beer. Not necessarily in that order.

I got to the Oysterfest early since I didn't buy an advanced ticket. As always, there was a line at the will call section and I just strolled over to the empty cash tickets section. (I would have only saved $4 if I bought an advance ticket if you take into consideration the processing fees online.) Since I got there early, the food booths weren't officially open. Of course, I didn't know that so I walked around looking for food and accidentally walked behind to the prep area and found these workers shucking away for the expected crowds to come.

Being a fair, I found the typical fair food, which you know what that means. Lots of fried foods! Yikes. I keep forgetting about that. There were fried oysters (natch!), garlic fries, and fried calamari. But there were also corn on the cobb, those huge smoked BBQ turkey legs and baked empanadas.

I ended up starting with the BBQ pulled pork sandwich. It was actually a huge plate of cole slaw and an open-faced pork sandwich. It was hard to eat, but actually really good. The pork was really tender and wasn't super drenched in BBQ sauce, which I don't mind. And the cole slaw was really good, nice and tangy. This was pretty filling but that can't stop me from eating ...

... oysters, because you know it was the Oysterfest. Here's my plate of barbeque oysters. You know what? I realized that I've never eaten BBQ oysters despite my professed love for oysters. I guess I've usually just eaten them raw (or a few times fried when I was young and foolish). So I was a virgin with eating BBQ oysters. But I loved it. It was nice and plump but cooked because it came off the grill, but still had the look and feel of raw oysters. I polished this half dozen in a dash.

There were a parade of oysters on plates all day long. And of course a few fried items to go with it and lots of beer to drown them down.

There wasn't a whole lot to do at the Oysterfest other than to eat and listen to the music and work on your tan (a lot of people were doing that). But there was ONE cooking demo in the afternoon. It was put on by Chefs Sean Eastwood and George Giacobbe. I'm not sure where they're from. They didn't say. But Chef Eastwood demonstrated a Louisiana po boy sandwich. Yes, more fried foods!

That's Eastwood on the left and Giacobbe on the right, getting ready to pass around the po boy sandwich they just made.

There were a lot of live music. After some hard rock bands (not my kind of music), there was the headliner: Michael Franti, who's kind of a blues band with New Orleans influences. They were a lot of fun and the crowds really seemed to enjoy them.

The festival attracted all types, including a few four-legged friends who got the chance to enjoy an event with their owners. But no oysters for them!

It was a perfect day for the Oysterfest. Despite the high temperature, it didn't feel too hot because of the breeze. It got crowded in the afternoon, but by then I was all set to leave. The price of admission is a bit high when you consider that it doesn't include food, which you end up spending more to buy once inside. But on a nice day, there's no better way to spend the weekend.

Oh, forgot to mention that the Oysterfest took place at the Grand Meadow at Fort Mason. Where else in the city can you get all these people in one area and give them such a great view?

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Test Kitchen: Spicy and Sticky Baby Back Ribs

In the May edition of my recipe testing from the pages of Food and Wine magazine, the majority of you voted on having me test out the Spicy and Sticky Baby Back Ribs recipe. That’s a perfect choice with picnic season starting up soon!

The recipe is actually from New Orleans chef Donald Link, who was featured in the May edition for his use of spices in his recipes. Apparently, he uses a lot of spices in his baby back ribs rub (like eight) but the recipe boiled it down to five. You can get the recipe from the Food and Wine Web site here. Of course, in my testing—being the Single Guy—I cut the measurements in half to reduce the servings. How did it hold up? Well, come into my kitchen and see…

I have to say, most of the ingredients are pretty common in most pantries. I had most of the spices already, except for dry mustard. I never cooked with dry mustard and didn’t realize it came in this form. Now, I actually had a container of old mustard seeds and I guess theoretically I could have pounded it down into powder form, but I decided why make a mess? So I just bought a small canister.

The testing actually started the night before because you have to make the spice rub and then coat your baby back ribs, then cover with foil and let sit overnight in your refrigerator. I rubbed it all over ribs I got from Whole Foods, and I have to say they looked really pretty, I think because of the brown sugar crystals.

The next day I was ready to cook the ribs. Again, you have to plan ahead because you have to cook the ribs for 3 hours at a low temperature (250 degrees). While I had the ribs in the oven, I worked on the BBQ sauce. It was super simple, just combining all the ingredients in a saucepan and then letting it simmer until thick (recipe says about 30 minutes but it took a bit longer with my pot).

After three hours, I brought my ribs out and started to coat them on both sides with the BBQ sauce. But they were so tender that they started to fall apart when I tried to flip them. I guess because I was cooking fewer ribs than what the recipe called for, I probably could have cut back on the cooking time by maybe an hour. Another thing I realized is that it really didn’t make sense to coat both sides since the back was mostly bone and really didn’t need sauce. So I would suggest just basting the top and not worry about flipping it. Then it went under the broiler to get some nice brown and crispy parts.

Because I was doing the whole “flip both sides” theory under the broiler, my ribs actually spent more time in the broiler than necessary (recipe says 10 minutes but I think I did 10 minutes each side), so my version turned out a bit more black than brown. But they were definitely bits of crispy caramelized parts.

As you can see, my ribs didn’t turn out the perfect color because of too much time under the broiler, but it definitely was fall-off-the-bone tender.

My tips and warnings about this recipe:

1. The hot sauce you use really will make the difference, I think, on the taste of your ribs. If you like extra spicy, then use a really hot hot sauce. The recipe didn’t specify what kind of hot sauce to use. I ended up using what I had in my refrigerator, which was actually an old bottle of hot sauce I bought from Vietnam that they use to squirt over pho soup noodles. It’s more of a sweet hot sauce that I like, and so it was perfect for me in the ribs.
2. Like I said, the ribs get so tender it’s hard to flip over to baste both sides, so just baste the top side with the meat and forget about the bones underneath.

Ease of cooking: I thought this was a really easy recipe to make. It definitely takes a lot of time and planning because of the fact you start the night before with the rub and then the long time in the oven. It’s a great dish to make on a slow Sunday, which is what I did. I really liked the idea that you could have grill-like food such as ribs that comes out of the oven. (That’s a big plus for me since I have no grill or patio where I live.) (Picture to the right is from Food & Wine pages.)

Taste: I was expecting a lot of complexity in the sauce because of the different spices used, but their individual flavors were a bit muted except, of course, for the hot sauce. It tasted initially like any other BBQ, but I did feel that as I ate it, I got hints of different flavors in the back of my mouth. So very subtle. I wouldn’t say the taste was “wow, this is different” but more like “hmmm, not bad.”

Overall Grade: A-

Take a minute and vote on the poll on the upper right column to tell me which recipe from Food and Wine’s June edition I should cook up in my test kitchen.

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Dish on Dining: Eureka Restaurant and Lounge

A Night of Revelations at this Castro Spot
4063 18th St., San Francisco
Castro neighborhood
PH: 415.431.6000
Open nightly for dinner
Reservations, major credit cards accepted
www.eurekarestaurant.com

A couple of weeks ago, I organized a dinner with a group of gay men for the annual Dining Out for Life, a fund-raiser for the Stop AIDS Project. So I thought it would be appropriate to eat in the Castro area. Yes, I am that predictable.

Problem is, I don’t really have a favorite restaurant in Castro. That was a topic of discussion during our dinner about the lack of buzz-worthy restaurants in a neighborhood that supposedly has the audience with the discretionary funds to support such restaurants. Then I remembered that my friend Foodhoe had a couple of nice dinners at Eureka Restaurant and Lounge, so reservations were made and notices went out.

Eureka serves American cuisine in an elegant but cozy spot on 18th Street. The place looks like a former home that was turned into a restaurant, although that was probably many years ago because there were several restaurants in that spot before Eureka opened up a few years ago.

I always felt Eureka seemed a bit on the high end — both in price and styling — so it kind of intimidated me. But lately, in tune with the economy, Eureka has been offering special deals and value portions to attract the crowds.

I was joined for dinner by Tom, Billy and Peter, who all met for the first time. Meeting strangers for dinner can make you feel apprehensive, but the casual and friendly setting of Eureka struck the right tone to help us feel at ease. And of course, we could always talk about the food.

After a few starter drinks and orders of wine, we each ordered some first courses. Tom got the Beet Salad with Frisee, Arugula and Ricotta ($9), which was a huge plate of ruby red beets. Billy ordered one of the daily specials, which was a plate of Grilled Fresh Sardines with White Bean Puree ($10) served with crostini. The sardines looked huge, and Billy liked the way it was cooked but had to work a lot to get out the tiny bones.

I ordered the Marinated Shrimp with Arugula, Crispy Shallots and Capers ($12). This huge salad was lightly dressed in a lemon vinaigrette that punctuated the cacophony of flavors on the plate. The crispy shallots provided a crunchy contrast to the meaty shrimp. I was really surprised by the simple but elegant way everything worked together.

For our main courses, I ordered the Grilled Duck with Wild Rice ($19). It was served with grilled sweet gem lettuce and eggplant pear fritters. Some of you might know that I’m not a fan of eggplant, which I often call the cardboard of the vegetable family. On this dish, they actually looked like burnt hash browns because they were nearly blackened. But ironically, burning the eggplant helped mask the fact that they were eggplant, so I guess that’s a good thing?

Otherwise, everything else on the plate was done well. The duck was glazed with a balsamic-cumquat concoction that was sweet and tart but not overly so, and the meat was cooked to the right level of medium. And there was enough of everything to be quite filling, not unlike the Wild Mushroom Ravioli with Truffled Mascarpone ($18) that Billy ordered.

I joked with him that I never feel full eating ravioli because you undoubtedly get just a few ravioli pieces in a big plate drowning in sauce. Billy’s plate actually did have quite a few raviolis and he says he was more than filled with his course.

Both Peter and Tom ordered the Roasted Pork Tenderloin with braised Savoy cabbage and garbanzo beans ($19). The dish looked great, and Peter seemed to enjoy it more than Tom because of the cumin. (Peter=cumin fan; Tom=not)

We topped off our evening with dessert, which continued to build on the evening of good conversation and food. Tom ordered a chocolate cake and Peter and Billy both got the bread pudding, which everyone enjoyed. I went with the Meyer Lemon Tart (no surprise) and was immediately impressed by the presentation in which the luscious-looking tart was offset on a frosted glass platter.

The platter was beautifully decorated using a stencil that created negative leaf patterns using powdered sugar. I’d never seen such a creative approach to plating. The tart itself was just as impressive, with a nice balance of sweet and tart all in a flaky crust.

We sat in the back of the restaurant, which faced the patio that must be popular during the spring for brunch. This somewhat private room was oddly situated past the galley prep kitchen — so every time you walked through, someone in the kitchen had to yell out an alert so everyone would stop and avoid pouring hot liquid on you. I didn’t really mind this because the professionalism of the service staff really made you feel that you’d always be taken care of.

Eureka really was a eureka moment for all of us, especially me who never knew there could be a place in the Castro that was both comfortable and entertaining while delivering on the food.

I guess I do have a favorite restaurant in the Castro after all.

Single guy rating: 3.5 stars (Cozy in Castro)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

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3Bucks: Custard Tart -- $1.15

Read more about this classic from Golden Gate Bakery at 3Bucks Bites.

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On the Trail of the Crème Brulee Cart

Sunday morning. The sun’s already up before me. Marty Gonzalez on KRON is saying something about the wind shifting in Santa Barbara. That’s good news for the firefighters. They are my heroes.

I wash up and make my instant oatmeal. Don’t hate me for being lazy or needing fiber.

I fire up my laptop and check Twitter. As usual, Rob Thomas has tweeted a dozen times already. That guy cracks me up. He has so much to say. But when does he write songs? I want to tweet him back, but I can’t. I am not a stalker.

9:25 a.m. Tweet from Crème Brulee Cart. “I’m making crème brulee for you and for yo’ momma or yo’ baby’s momma! Dolores park 3pm.”

Yes! Must check out Crème Brulee Cart in the city. This advance notice gives me time to get into San Francisco and hunt down the cart.

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2:30 p.m. I get off the 22-Fillmore bus and walk over to Dolores Park. It’s a beautiful sunny day, but the breeze is an enemy to my shorts that I decided to wear because Marty Gonzalez promised a warm day. Dang microclimate in the Bay Area!

Everyone is out enjoying the sun. Some brave guys are lying out shirtless. Don’t they know they can get wind burn with their sun burn? The young. They are foolish to their invincibility.

I sit on a grassy spot and wait, listening to that ukulele “rainbow” song from IZ playing on my Blackberry. Am I the only one here for the Crème Brulee Cart? Everyone doesn’t seem to care.

3:01 p.m. No sign of the cart. I see guys pushing ice cream carts around. A guy in uniform (the park police?) asks one guy for paperwork. Did the crackdown scare away Crème Brulee guy?

I walk around. Ugh, stupid new sandals are hurting my feet. I limp around the park. Others stroll by walking aimlessly as well. We make eye contact at times, and give each other that knowing nod. If this were the ‘80s, this would be called cruisin’.

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Up along the hill under the trees I see some people gathering. Yes, that must be it! I walk closer, but not quickly because I don’t want to draw more crowds or look too anxious and because my dang feet still hurts.

As I draw near, I see a guy in a puffy white chef’s hat and white chef’s coat. Crème Brulee Cart! I found it! The line isn’t that long, but the few people there already are busy snapping photos. What!? More food bloggers? Word has spread. The Crème Brulee Cart is here. It’s an only-in-San-Francisco moment, so everyone wants a photo.

I snap away as well. But I know my photos will tell a story. Or at least make this post 78 percent more interesting.

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When I finally reach the front of the line, I ask how much because there’s no sign with the price.

“Three dollars,” says the Crème Brulee guy, a man with white-blond hair and a ready torch in hand. He has different flavors every time, and today he’s serving up Chocolate Grand Marnier, Bailey’s, White Russian (which he calls “Caucasian”), and the traditional Vanilla Bean.

I get one vanilla bean and a Bailey’s. I ask Crème Brulee guy how many he usually makes, and he says it takes a long time for him to make the little tin cans of crème brulee. I feel sorry for him that he has to work so hard every morning and I just make instant oatmeal.

Crème Brulee guy seems a bit shy or a man of few words. Then he tells me he made 80 this trip, and when I ask about his appearances on the weeknights after work, he says he may try to come out later for a traditional “after dinner” crème brulee serving as opposed to the pre-dinner service in the alleys of the Mission District that he’s doing now with his brother, Magic Curry Cart.

Crème Brulee guy sprinkles sugar on top of my two tins of crème brulee and fires up his hand torch, quickly browning the top layer. I give him my cash and pick up a spoon, juggling the two crème brulees in one hand while looking for a spot to enjoy my afternoon snack.

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Using my spoon, I crack the crystallized top. The thin layer was a quiet, quick break, like the cracking of a fragile piece of blown glass. I try the Bailey’s first and it’s rich and thick, and still quite cold. I don’t taste a strong alcohol flavor, but I enjoy it.

Then I try the vanilla bean, and the crystallized top was, again, the perfect thin layer. It tastes almost the same as the Bailey’s, and this is when I decided I should have gotten the chocolate for a nice contrast. Still, the richness of the crème brulee was as good as any restaurant and at half the price.


As I walk to BART to catch my ride home, I see a line stretching out Bi-Rite Creamery. On most weekends, I would probably jump in line for its creative flavors. But today I was full of the taste of custard and the satisfaction of surveying San Francisco’s street food, which seems restricted to the Mission. Which seems appropriate because for today, it was mission accomplished.

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In the photos above, I purposely didn’t include any close-up shots of Crème Brulee guy (nor did I use his real name) because he works without a permit. So I don’t want to be the guy who gets Crème Brulee guy in trouble and thus depriving everyone of this wonderful, underground treat.

The Crème Brulee Cart can be found on most weeknights after work in the Mission District and on weekends at Dolores Park. To find out when he’ll be out and the exact location on each day, you have to follow Crème Brulee Cart on Twitter to get updates.

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Single Guy's Planner

The Single Guy is tired. I just feel like I’ve been doing too much lately, but the list of events just keep getting longer and longer. Here are some upcoming events, but I can’t say whether I’m going to any. I may soon have to change the name of my blog to Cooking With the Old Tired Single Guy.

May 11-18. San Francisco Cocktail Week. This is the third year for this event, and there’s no better place than San Francisco where bartenders (oops, mixologists) are libation gods. Go to the official Web site for a list of activities, including a gala closing event at Jardiniere. Other related events include a special night on the history of pisco (my favorite) at Pisco Latin Lounge on Thursday, May 14.

May 13, Wednesday. Grilling at Bloodhound. Chef Ryan Farr of 4505Meats is like a traveling road show lately after being spotted at events like the latest Meat Paper’s publication release and another event at Coffee Bar. Next stop is the bar Bloodhound, where he’s pairing up with Taylor Boetticher of Fatted Calf. The duo will apparently butcher a pig and then grill it up. Everything starts at 5:30 p.m. For more info, call 415.863.2840.

May 14-24. SF Chefs’ Strawberry Week. This is the third in a series of special event weeks to promote San Francisco’s restaurants (the previous ones focused on heirloom tomatoes and Dungeness crab). Book a reservation on OpenTable at a participating restaurant during the week and get treated to special menus highlighting the luscious spring fruit. And if you pay for dinner with a Visa Signature credit card, you get a free copy of the strawberry cookbook. Go here to find out more.

May 16-17, Saturday–Sunday. Castroville Artichoke Festival. I love artichokes and everyone knows it comes from this California coastal town. I’ve never been to the festival (and probably won’t given how I don’t have a car and am generally lazy right about now) but I bet they throw a fantastic party. I bet you could even find artichoke ice cream! Go to the official site for more information.

May 16, Saturday. Ghiradelli Square’s Uncorked Wine Festival. Closer to home is the Uncorked Wine Festival at Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco. From 1 to 6 p.m., you can check out live music and chef demos, and it’s all for free — unless you want to actually try some wine. Then there’s a $50 charge for wine tasting tickets. For more information, click here.

May, 16, Saturday. 10th Annual San Francisco Oyster Fest. Now this sounds interesting because I love oysters. If the weather's nice, expect crowds to pack themselves into Fort Mason's Grand Meadow for some oyster eating, beer, and cooking demos. There's a charge to get in ($30 at door) but you get a discount if you buy advance tickets. Go to the official site for ticket info. (And BTW, love the music on the site.)

And the following are a ways off, but worth mentioning if you want to plan now:

June 1-15. Dine About Town. The second half of this year’s Dine About Town is gearing up for a big summer hoopla with participating restaurants offering up pri-fixe lunches for $21.95 and/or dinner for $34.95. Go to OpenTable to see which restaurants are participating and make your reservations early for the popular ones.

June 14, Sunday. East West Eats. This food gala is a fund-raiser for the San Francisco Chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, which encourages young Asian-Americans to be reporters, TV anchors, or even, um, bloggers! Tastings from restaurants like Slanted Door, Betelnut and Butterfly will be showcased at the San Francisco War Memorial’s Green Room. Longtime favorite Martin Yan will be a featured chef. Since it’s a fund-raiser, tickets are pretty steep at $85, but if you purchase one now before June 1, you can get in for $75. Go to the group’s site to find out more and to purchase tickets.

Whew, I’m exhausted just thinking about all these events. Time for a nap.

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Blossoms for Mom

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Hawaii’s State Flower as Snack

A co-worker recently asked me if I tried dried hibiscus sold at Trader Joe’s. This isn’t some dried flower that you can put on your desk at work, but actual candied fruit (is a flower a fruit or vegetable?) like dried apricots or pineapples. She brought a packet into work one day and shared it among everyone (more like pushed it on everyone) so much so that I thought maybe she got kickbacks for every packet sold.

Still, I was a bit intrigued, mostly because I’m born and raised in Hawaii and grew up surrounded by the hibiscus flower. It’s so identified with the state that it’s the official state flower.

In the last year, I’ve seen several food products made with hibiscus, mostly beverages like sparkling juices and tea. There’s a growing connection between the hibiscus flower and health benefits such as lowering cholesterol. As for the dried hibiscus at Trader Joe’s, I still can’t understand how they get this …

… to look like this?

The dried hibiscus looked almost like some sea creature instead of the beautiful flower that it is. Plus, I wondered what they did with the stamen in the center?

The packet sells for only $1.99 (for 4.4 ounces) and I have to say it’s the kind of snack that grows on you. Initially, I thought it just tasted like any dried fruit with just the flavor of sugar detectable (there was no floral fragrance, but then again the hibiscus is not the most fragrant of flowers). Then I noticed that I enjoyed it more and more as I ate one after the other. Then I passed that line from enjoying it to realizing I just gave myself a stomach ache from eating all that sugar.

Plus, I still couldn’t get past the feeling — because of the flower’s shape — that I was eating baby octopus or something with tentacles.

While I guess it’s exotic to eat something as different as a flower, I’m still not sure I’m a fan of this floral treat. Bring on the cupcake!

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Dish on Dining: Bar Bambino

Sophisticated Italian in a Neighborhood Setting
2931 16th St., San Francisco
Mission District
PH: 415.701.VINO (8466)
Open Tue.–Thu., 11 a.m.–11 p.m.; Fri., Sat., 11 a.m.–midnight; and Sun., 5–10 p.m.
Reservations, major credit cards accepted
www.barbambino.com

You know how a restaurant opens up and gets so extremely popular and then you can’t get around to going to it so a few years pass and then when you check it out it’s like a totally new restaurant to you? Well, that’s how I felt walking into Bar Bambino for the first time recently.

Bar Bambino is a tiny Italian-style restaurant that opened in 2007 in the opposite end of the Mission neighborhood, away from more bustling spots along Valencia and Guerrero Streets. When it opened, it attracted the hip crowd with its sleek interiors and the food styling of Chef Elizabeth Binder. Like all hot spots, they didn’t take reservations so people had to wait and create more buzz in the front.

When I arrived a couple of weeks ago, the place was quiet and it was like I was entering some undiscovered neighborhood gem. Despite being open a few years, everything looked sparkling new.

I met my friend David for an early dinner, and I told him about the patio seating and how it would be cool to check it out. Apparently, it’s so cool that you need a reservation to eat outdoors in the back of the restaurant. We didn’t think we needed reservations when dining so early, but David was able to convince them to seat him in the patio before I arrived.

The patio is a pretty large space with warm wood panels running across the walls and a plastic covering, which makes it a usable space any time of the year. Unfortunately, the day we dined in the patio was when we had the heat spell in the Bay Area (we’ve had some funky weather lately) so the plastic covering acted like a greenhouse effect. (I’ll explain how this affected dinner later.)

We were greeted by our server, who was enthusiastic—both in the way he greeted us and his apparent love and knowledge of the wine and food menus. It was clear that he had a deep knowledge of Bar Bambino’s eclectic all-Italian wine list and how diners should properly appreciate its Italian-inspired menu.

While at times I found our server’s “enthusiasm” a bit like being lectured on the proper way to dine at Bar Bambino, I did appreciate how accommodating he was in helping me select a wine by letting me have a few tastes. And later when I inquired about the oddity of having an olive oil tasting with dinner (you pay to try different Italian olive oils), he brought out some trays of olive oil for me to understand the experience.

As for the food, David and I shared a few dishes. We started with the Fava Bean and Pea Tendril Salad ($8), which was this bright and beautiful ode to spring. The pea tendrils mixed with the truffled pecorino and were brightened by the honey vinaigrette that had a welcomed tartness for balance. It was like an extra zing in the salad. The fava beans all ended up at the bottom of the plate, but there were enough of them to enjoy the freshness of this seasonal ingredient.

Next came the Egg Bruschette ($11.50), which was two pieces of grilled bread topped with soft-poached eggs and Parmigiano-Regianno. I liked the fact that there was a slight acidic taste in the bruschette, which really helped to cut into the egg and cheese. But the poached egg was inconsistent in texture. One egg was nearly hard boiled and the second was more like soft boiled. (I ate both because David avoided the egg yolk and stuck with the whites.)

After our starters, we ordered some pasta. David really wanted to try the pasta with broccoli rabe because he makes this a lot at home and wanted to see if a restaurant version could be any better. I was dying to try the rabbit sugo because I love rabbit and anything slow cooked. So we ordered both.

Bar Bambino’s pasta dishes are on the small side, so it’s the perfect portion if you decide to have a pasta course before your entrée. (I wouldn’t recommend just the pasta as an entrée since 1) that’s not how they do it in Italy and 2) it’s not large enough to fill you up unless you order a bunch of other small dishes.)

The Pappardelle with Sugo di Coniglio ($14.50) was full of flavor and well worth trying. The house-made pasta draped the braised rabbit ragout so well, acting both as a complement to the meat and a vehicle to carry it on your fork.

The Bucatini with Heirloom Rapini ($12.50) was equally enlightening, but in a different way. The cooked rapini—did you know rapini is the same as broccoli rabe? I just learned that from David—clumped together in a good way so that it could cling to the thick bucatini. This dish was both comforting and hearty.

At this point, David and I were questioning our decision in having two pasta dishes. While both were good, the heat of the hothouse garden made it a bit difficult to have much of an appetite. (In fact, several people came and went because they decided they couldn’t eat in the patio with the heat.) So when our final course of the Puglian-style Braised Lamb Shank ($18.50) arrived, I was ready to stretch out and take a nap.

The lamb shank was very Flintstone-like with the huge bone, and it was served with nocellara olives, which David declared “the best olives I’ve ever tasted.” I don’t know if he was joking or not because the olives were pretty good but then I noticed on the menu that in the description of the dish, the restaurant states that the dish is “finished with the best olives you’ll ever taste.”

Either way, it was pretty darn good, and the lamb shank was fall-off-the-bone tender. Still, I wasn’t blown away with the flavors. Braised in white wine and cinnamon, the tastes were generic to me, like I’ve tasted them in other braised meats before.

We actually took home several parts of our dinner. (We also ordered a side of pan-roasted artichokes, $6.50, which were perfectly cooked with pancetta.) So this meant there really wasn’t any room for dessert.

Despite skipping dessert, our meal at Bar Bambino was very satisfying. I enjoyed the surprise flavors in our pastas and starters, and appreciated the care taken in providing a genuine Italian eating experience. Bar Bambino looks more like a hip Manhattan spot rather than a rustic Italian restaurant, but the food gives it its Italian creds.

Single guy rating: 3.75 stars (California twist to Italian)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

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In the Kitchen: Making Mapo Tofu

I’m back in front of the camera with another food demo/video. Sorry for the lack of videos lately, but I’ve had a hard time thinking up things to demonstrate that can be both educational and fast to do within the 10-minute YouTube limit on videos.

But I had a jar of kim chee in the refrigerator recently and that made me think of one of my favorite dishes that I do make quite often—partly because it’s so easy and partly because I love eating it.

I guess my Korean-style Mapo Tofu could be considered my signature dish. I’ve used this dish as my demo when I first submitted an application for “The Next Food Network Star” a few years back (still waiting for that call). It’s really easy to make, which is why I make it often during the weeknights for dinner. There are only three main ingredients (ground meat, tofu, and kim chee) and you can make it in less than 10 minutes.

It’s so easy that I thought I’d prove it to you by creating this video that shows all the simple steps. The actual recipe can be found in my original post here. Over the years, I’ve found that I’ve used the silken or soft tofu more often than the firm (medium). The soft tofu totally makes this a comfort food dish. Enjoy!

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Sweet Tweets

OK, so I might be late to the party, but at least I'm fashionably late. ;-)

I'm now officially tweeting. You can find me at twitter.com/singleguycooks. How is this different than just being one of my Google followers? Well, the Google feeds let you know whenever I post something new to my blog. But with Twitter, you get my random stream of food consciousness. Since I started my blog about three years ago, I find now that everything I do outside of work is somehow related to food. So now you can tell by following my tweets.

I may not tweet as often as, say, Tyler Florence or Rob Thomas, but I think you'll get an idea of what I'm up to. You'll also get previews of my blog because most of my activities end up being an official blown out posting here. So with my tweets, it's like you're in my inner circle as I develop blog posts.

You can go to Twitter and log in to follow me and get my tweets, or you can always just check out my latest tweets in the tweet wire on the right column. See you in the tweeter-verse.

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Live Brown Chicken at Civic Center Farmers Market

Last Sunday I was at the Civic Center Farmers Market in San Francisco and decided to get some shots of this long line of people at the back of a flatbed truck filled with yellow plastic crates. What were they waiting for? Live chicken. Talk about fresh meat at the market!

I've noticed that this truck selling live chicken have been at the market in the last few months, and there's always a line of people, mostly Chinese people looking for a live chicken or two. The chicken seller (what do they call them?) would basically grab a live chicken from the yellow crate and stuff it into a brown paper bag and then into a plastic bag before handing it over to the customer.

I never got close enough to figure out how much the chicken cost (believe me, it smells so bad with all the chicken poop you don't want to get too close to that truck) but the chicken seem to sell out by noon.

Now, some of you might cringe at the idea of buying a live chicken, mostly because that undoubtedly means you have to butcher the chicken when you get home. But I grew up with my parents buying live chicken and then cooking it for us for dinner. My dad did the butchering and my mom did the cooking. I had the unfortunate job of plucking off the feathers after my dad butchers it. (He would plop the dead chicken into a pot of hot boiling water and that makes it easier to pluck off the feathers, but I still remember the awful smell of wet feathers.)

Despite the bad memories of plucking wet chicken feathers, the fresh chicken my mom made for dinner was always really tasteful with a nice texture to the meat. I've never really eaten anything like that again as an adult. So even though I'll probably never buy a live chicken because I could never butcher it, I do see the benefit of eating a fresh chicken -- both for the taste and your health because you know how it was prepared.

OK, so did I turn you into a vegetarian yet? ;-)

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Dictator Ben … I’ve been called worse

I’ve reached dictator status. And if this was about a WWII video game I would be so stoked right about now.

But actually, I’m a contributor to this new site called 3 Buck Bites, created by the people behind Citysearch. The site is perfect for today’s economy because it features food finds for $3.99 and under.

For the past month, I’ve been sending in my “discoveries” from around the Bay Area that are $3.99 or less. And let me tell you, it’s a real challenge to think of good food worth talking about in that price range for this area!

I’m not sure why, but 3 Buck Bites call all their contributors “dictators.” I guess it’s because we’re dictating what’s worth eating, or maybe it’s because we’re just generally pushy people and know it alls?

So far I’ve been posting food I’ve blogged about, like this pizza slice, this ice cream hot spot, this macaron in Napa or this sweet corn tamale. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post a comment or send me an email. For now, check out the site because if you want to see food porn every day, it’ll be front and center with each closely cropped photo! Consider that an order! ;-)

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