Category Archives: Rants & Raves

Because sometimes I am not sure what will come out of my mouth- so Rants & Raves us my melting pot of commentary

East Coast “Market Mall” meets Market Street

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Seems that Myriad Market Hall’s first vendors are in place and open for business. I stopped by on my way to Joe’s Barbershop for my usual saturday morning shave and had some extra time and (more importantly I found parking in front) so stopped in to check it out. 

Loved the space; it’s open and industrial meets an urban trendy type thing. Sorta reminds me of the old school classic  “indoor flea market stalls” gone hip (or hipster if you prefer). 

According to Inside Scoop , “the team behind the Myriad is Jordan Langer, Pete Glikshtern and Jeff Whitmore (Jones, Oddjob, Empire Room, the Midway). Rather than a glorified food hall, the inspiration for the project comes from places like New York’s Chelsea Market and market halls of Europe, where one can find a variety of small businesses under one roof.” Being a former east coaster; I got it immediately. 

The coffee offered at Cro was rich & dark, the crepes across the way were getting freshly wisked up as the coffee brewed. 

They have on deck craft cocktails (or take home cocktail kit) at Mrs. Jones and healthy snack options at it’s RAW Juice Bar, with more rolling in from Antonik’s BBQ, Church Street Flowers, and Gambrel and Co. Butcher opening in the coming weeks.

I’ll agree with the 2175 Market’s website on this; “Come, relax and enjoy the market hall vibe.”  Note: The do have a web site , but still seems to be under revision. 

Myriad Market Hall
2175 Market Street, San Francisco
Http://www.themyriad.com
http://www.2175market.com/

Oh Charlie

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Our Charlie Brown tomato plants keep growing.


Who knew these poor suckers weren’t gonna gondown without a fight.


Now to keep remembering to water them. Might be time to add the tomato cage..

Old School Lunch as a Post-Urban Walk Day

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Lunch today hit the spot; after a short walk from the Saulsalito Ferry dock, we decided on a visit to The Lighthouse Cafe. Now this is an old school – diner style spot. Nothing fancy or glam. In fact its barely got room for some booths/tables & counter. But the food rocks. Check out the “dance” the cook team do, as the three of them navigate the open grill/prep area. With a casual and welcome feel, it’s bound to feel like you are a regular from day one. 

I had the dish called the Great Dane; underneath this perfectly egg is an incrdibly cooked round of ground beef, homemade pickles & beets alingside perfect morning potatoes. 

Paul  went classic with the house chicken club; but this isnt your “sliced chicken loaf” version, instead its got thick bacon and fresh, real lemon marinated chicken breast cooked right in front of us.


This is definately an “insiders favorite” worth sharing. 

The Lighthouse Cafe, 1311 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 94965.  (415) 331-3034

http://www.lighthouse-restaurants.com

Rocken old school Turkish and Lebanese flavors done right at Agora

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On a recent visit here to DC for work, I got a chance to visit with some friends. On Friday night after a long workday my pal picked me up and we decided to take a walk for dinner. Not having reservations we were not really sure what we would find at 8 o’clock at night. We came by the restaurant, which he had tried before and spoke highly of, so figured we would give it a shot. Even without reservations, they really did great effort to fit a deuce in. Which in a busy city like DC or San Francisco you more often find the less then engaged hosts working the door barely raise an eyes when they say no reservation? 30 to 45 minutes wait and then they look back at the book. 
We were seated fairly quickly and by 830 had something to nibble on and wine at the table. The waitstaff could not have been more friendly or conscientious; while it was clear who was our waiter was, they definitely had a tagteam approach with other waitstaff walking by, offering to clear or bring something. So you had a feeling of being attended too without being smothered.

Dishes are tapas style which means several opportunities to taste lots of things We managed to polish, off between the two of us, six different dishes. I think the average they recommend is 2 to 3 per person. But ask the wait staff. They were great at suggesting (and telling me what I missed to note for next time). The octopus by the way was fork tender! Something not as easy to manage as sime think. The flatbread was crisp and lamb rich. Overall a win win place for drinks, md week dinner with pals, girls night out or special occassion. 

1527 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20036

Web: http://agoradc.net/

Menu: http://agoradc.net/menus/dinner-menu

Hard verses firm

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Started checking out the difference between “american” style biscotti v. “italian” style recipes. 

No butter or oil yields a harder bite to the cookie and allows for thinner cuts and longer bake.
Today’s version: an adapted recipe for italian style Dried Cherry, Orange peel & Anise version.

  

Cookie time

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Started checking out the difference between “american” style biscotti v. “italian” style recipes.

No butter or oil yields a harder bite to the cookie and allows for thinner cuts and longer bake.
Today’s version: an adapted recipe for italian style Dried Cherry, Orange peel & Anise version.

Easter Bread; the Saga of the Risen

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Yes.. Its a bundle of something …Because not only does my Mom’s Easter Bread dough recipe use “active live yeast” instead of dried (which was harder to find than you would think) ,  it also indicates that prior to the first rise overnight; you need to make the “sign of the cross” over it and then swaddle it in a blanket too…

Did I mention how much I hate the chemistry of baking. It’s true. I will cook over bake anytime. But I wanted to see how close I could make mine to hers.

And 8 hours later (or was it 9 months because it sur looks full term) a very “risen” dough is ready to handled for a second short raise before shaping and baking.

Unwrapping the baby after 8 hours.

And now for a short 3 hour rise

All done… Oven on

 Now it’s time to shape & bake

A little egg wash

Maybe a little color..

Going classic

 

  and 30 minutes later

But my oven runs hot so the next batch goes in at 325 degrees

Otherwise the taste and texture is good. I can taste the citrus and sugar,  it’s dense with out being heavy. Will be perfect for toasting or as use in a bread pudding if I get tired of eating as is. 



Full recipe to follow shortly.

Night Terrors

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Channel surfing and landed in “Night Train To Terror” with Paul tonight. A bizarre portfolio of the 80’s; reflecting all the angst, hair, blood & gore, scream queens, claymation special effects, good vs evil, clothes you don’t want to admit you wore, skin shots and more.  

Definitely was the kind of “train wreck” that you want to cover your eyes, yet can’t control the urge to keep your fingers open just enough so you could peek through.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087798/

http://youtu.be/EY-6Ba9PPnQ

Easter Family Dinner Prep

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Planning for family dinner Sunday with cousins before they leave the Bay Area. So first up; my version of Pear & Cornmeal cake with Rosemary Sryup (gluten, dairy & soy free).

  

Fresh out of the oven with a few modifications; I substituted 1/2 olive (4 tablespoons) oil & 1/2 corn oil (3 tablespoons) for the butter and used dairy free milk (lactaid free milk works too) treated w/lemon juice to stand in for buttermilk.

For the main recipe; 
https://bitetheroad.com/2013/12/28/pear-cornmeal-cake-wrosemary-syrup/