On seeing.

Mostly things are not that way, that simple and pure, with so much focus given to each syllable of life as life sings itself. But that kind of attention is the prize. To be engrossed by something outside ourselves is a powerful antidote for the rational mind, the mind that so frequently has its head up its own ass - seeing things in such a narrow and darkly narcissistic way that it presents a colo-rectal theology, offering hope to no one.
-Anne Lamott, "Bird by Bird"

there it is.

Happy Mother's Day! Hope that everyone had a good one.
We went to Sam's Chowder House in Pacifica...or Half Moon Bay...or El Granada..well, it's on the way to Half Moon Bay.For the last couple of years, my parents have been making a tradition of heading down to Half Moon Bay for Mother's Day Brunch, but due to the most recent disappointments in both Cetrella and Pasta Moon, this year they opted for Sam's Chowder House, just up the road in El Granada on Hwy 1. Sam's is pretty much your typical neighborhood seafood restaurant focused on good food and fresh flavors - the executive chef, Lewis Rossman puts his emphasis on seasonal, local and sustainable food. The emphasis is California classic - using good ingredients negates the need for heavy sauces. Chowders have less cream, and freshness takes precedence over richness. (Plus, Rossman is sort of a hottie, we saw him while we were there. Cu-ute)
Don't let the exterior of the restaurant scare you away. While rather pedestrian looking from the outside, inside -the hardwood floors, outdoor seating and large open oyster bar and kitchen are refreshingly modern. This is most definitely a family place (kids abound everywhere), but would also be a good destination date restaurant with the beach a few steps away and outdoor firepits and deck overlooking the seashore making for a romantic quiet spot.
House drinks on tap sounded interesting (esp. the limeade with Hangar One vodka), but I had coffee. Starters were: Oysters Rockerfeller and Polenta Fries - ahhh, sorry, forgot to take pics of this. Oysters Rockerfeller is a pretty classic preparation; baked oysters with cream, cheese and spinach. There are five to an order, and they're pretty darn delicious, especially with the house sourdough. We also had an order of the polenta fries, which were tasty - thick cut sticks of polenta about an inch around and 6in. long, piping hot and cheesy. But as there were only 4 of them to an order, probably not something I'll plan on ordering again.
Entrees:I had Sam's World Famous Lobster Roll. Apparently voted one of the 5 best sandwiches in the world by some Food Network contest, this would probably be on my list of one of the things to eat again before I die. An entire buttery roll stuffed full of lobster meat, mixed with a little bit of celery, dill and more butter - served with kettle chips and coleslaw. While in New England, the lobster roll is traditionally served on a hot dog bun, Sam's does them one better and serves their roll on a crusty, soft, white roll number. I can't even tell you what this tastes like other than a freshly made bakery bun. It's to DIE for. Every bite of that crispy, greasy roll with the sweet lobster meat and crunchy celery made me want to gasp. It was THAT good. And you have to eat it all together. I was delicately picking at the spare pieces of lobster with my fork, until I picked up the sandwich and took a proper bite. After that, I didn't want to share. But I did. Sprinkle some malt vinegar on those chips and you're good to GO!Mymymy ended up ordering a bowl of the New England clam chowder and the poke. I didn't get a taste of the chowder, but it looked good. The quality of the fish in the poke was incredibly fresh, but everything was overpowered by the tortilla chips which I think were house made. They were really..."corny" and the delicateness of the tuna and any marinade was lost behind the overwhelming fried corn taste of the chips. I think scooping up a bite with my potato chips would have made more sense. Mr. Jones just got the fish and chips that were served with the same coleslaw that my lobster roll came with. Again, it looked like he enjoyed the dish. The fish looked well cooked and the fries crispy. Then again, how hard is it to screw up fish and chips?
The Germ ended up ordering the grilled escolar with white beans and cabbage. The only part he didn't like was the black olive tapenade on top. He took a couple of bites and told me, "I wish I knew what he was trying to accomplish with this dish." And I snagged and bite and sort of agreed. I wasn't really sure what was supposed to be going on. The escolar is a lovely piece of fish - juicy and oily. It was grilled nicely and kept it's flavors, both the natural juices and the smoke from the grill. The white beans were huge and tasted fine, but there seemed to be something missing. I wanted either a citrus acid in there or a fattiness - from pancetta maybe, that was just missing. Lastly was the summer berry pudding. A concoction of cake, fresh summer berries with a swath of sweetened creme fraiche (or marscapone) on top with a sprinkling of crystalized orange peel on top. All four of us split this as we were pretty stuffed from everything else. (and the 2.5 loaves of bread we tore through) It was light and quite delicate in taste, even though the berry flavors were bright, I didn't feel like I was eating a gut bomb of food. As a summer pudding, it was quite delicious and not as heavy as a cake or piece of pie.

All in all, I really liked Sam's Chowder House and spending the day with the fam. It capped off a great weekend that started with Bi-Rite ice cream and Keane on Friday night (I hung out with the Krantz who had an extra ticket due to illness) and chillin' with some of the Niners, then a beautiful Saturday in class tackling some Sondheim and then onto Sam's with some Star Trek afterwards.
Go see Star Trek, it's frickin' AWESOME, btw. The special effects are crazy good and Zachary Quinto as Spock...well, wufh, let's just say - SEXY. Sexy Spock. That's amazing, because Chris Pine is really cute, but Quinto...aiyiyi. And thankfully Winona Ryder has a minimal amount of screen time. Just...go see it, John Cho, Simon Pegg and Zoe Saldana also make fantastic character choices.

Which goes to show...even alone, we're not lonely. We're never really alone unless we chose to be.
please god, let me not be jinxing this: "I'm not the same, I am afraid. I'm scared to death, to love the way i once did. If I surrender would it hurt me like it did back then? ...maybe it's time to let him in, start my heart over and let this new chapter begin. with him. well, there it is...yes, there it is." - Keys, Scott Alan

PSA

I'm sort of tired of people alternately fetish-sing then hating on Asian girls (even me).

Get over your own damn insecurities.

STFU already.

Even me.

Spring..again. huzzah!

Welcome back Spring! We missed ya. Oof, I took this on my walk to work the other day and there was a dude playing cello at the fountain and it was so gorgeous and 70s and peaceful and umph...happiness. I did NOT want to go to work on this day. I wanted to sit my ass on the grass and sunbathe and be funemployed - so I pretended for about 15 minutes. But then I remembered...I like shoes.

So much good stuff has been going on! I'm still finding new and inspirational books to read, it's a little sick and I need to stop cause my brain is going to essplode. By the way, today's Wayne Dyer is AWESOME.

Surround Yourself with High-Energy People

Choose to be in close proximity to people who are empowering, who appeal to your sense of connection to intention, who see the greatness in you, who feel connected to God, and who live a life that gives evidence that Spirit has found celebration through them.

So I'm still reading the Twyla Tharp book and in chunks when I can really take the time to absorb all the fantastic bits. I really feel like it's NOT pleasure reading. It's almost like reading something for class, and every word that she writes is so amazing that I need to literally set aside time to read it. I tried reading it in a little gap before work one day and ended up being pissed at myself that I had to stop because I was getting so into it. So I'm only about 1/3 of the way through. What's still so interesting to me about what I consider "New York" artists is the sense of restraint and restriction that I feel so many of them still live their lives by. It's as if one of the requirements to be a real artist is to eat/sleep and socialize very little. I understand dedication, but eschewing lunch? That's a little wickety whack to me.
I also started reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott after finding it in my parent's library. I went through the first 65 pages last night and had to stop in order to write a lunch room entry. It's ridiculously good. Bird by Bird is a writer's musing on the art of writing, and you will get absolutely absorbed into the stories. One part manual, one part autobiography and one part inspirational tome, Bird by Bird makes me want to be a writer, which is crazy cause girl-don't-need-to-do-more-than-she-doin'-right-now, but hey, here's to dreaming. This poem just hits all the right spots for me:

Sometimes hidden from me
in daily custom and in trust,
so that I live by you unaware
as by the beating of my heart,

Suddenly you flare in my sight,
a wild rose blooming at the edge
of thicket, grace and light
where yesterday was only shade,

and once again I am blessed, choosing
again what I chose before.
-Wendell Barry, "The Wild Rose"

And then there's THIS book. I was looking in the quasi-career section today because I left about an hour early for class and I was thinking of writing a book like this (yes, please ignore all the 180s I've done during this one blog post alone) and picked it up. I'm glad that someone FINALLY wrote about the reality of relationships - that there are sinks of dirty dishes and times when you want to throttle your partner to death and it's OK. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't and the REALITY of realtionships doesn't mean that right after you get married you walk into happy fairy fluffy cotton candy magic sprinkles land. I've been in horrid relationships and I've been completely content and satisfied single, it's just about perspective, I suppose. I think one of the most single important lessons that I've learned about love is, no matter how short or long, it's always worth it. So don't ever turn it away just because it'll end. Everything ends, it just matters what you make of it while it's there. You are here to love, so LOVE.

so sayeth the cup.

"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating - in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life." - Anne Morriss

native

I've been reading some SF-centric blogs and realized, that as a native, I've never posted my favorite things about being a native. Here goes:

• the long ass pier close to the ferry plaza
• new castro farmer's market. totally chi-chi, poo poo, but I got the most fabulous raspberry square there today from the pastisserie stand. delicious
• stern grove summer concerts, all day picnics - amazing
• golden gate bakery egg custard tarts
• ocean beach
• fillmore street jazz festival
• new steinhart - that whole building is amazing from the rainforest dome to the basement waterway and green roof. spectacular.
• el toyanese trucks
• Mission Street Food
• samovar
• Cafe Du Nord and Slims
• Blue Bottle Coffee + Philz
• mission street murals
• haight street craziness
• ti couz
• ambiance
• The F line cars - though they run slower than molasses
• and somewhat begrudgingly...Gavin.
• CounterPULSE
• pizzetta 211
• wondercon
• the darkroom
• bi-rite creamery and the indian ice cream parlor on valencia and polly ann's
  
• the CNY parade and treasure hunt
  
• Also see: OnlyInSF
  

Salt House

Short post: this food made me want to dance in my seat. And I did.

Long post: So after my dad's quite charming admission of, "Hey, we're busy on Friday night." and hopeful plans with others that fell through, I decided to call up the guys and we busted a move down to Salt House for my ACTUAL b-day.

I completely forget where I got the idea from to head to Salt House, but I have a feeling it may have been from Joey's Flickr (she takes some of the best food pictures I've ever seen) - I like how the web description of their website starts, "From the same jackasses that brought you Town Hall..."



Well, I dunno about jackasses, but I have to say, this was some of the best food I'd had in quite some time. Nopa was good, this was FANTASTIC. That's not to say it wasn't all fun and games. It was pure living hell trying to drive the 10 blocks from Potrero Hill to SOMA - mainly we kept trying to skirt the commuters in the rain, but at one point Nim and I ended up driving the wrong way past what we thought were a bunch of parked cars. It wasn't til we saw the turn arrows in OUR lane facing the wrong direction that we were all, "OH! Whoops!!" and "ahhaa! Holy crap!" We did get quite good parking, as all the spots open up at 6pm on the street. The bathrooms at Salt House are unfortunately shared with the nightclub next door and are therefore cleaned appropriate to the clientele. And the happy hour bar definitely deserves the bomb for the noise level - note to designers, industrial design equals many many hard surfaces for sound to reverberate off of. But other than that...

Service: first of all, OUTSTANDING from beginning to end. Even though I think we had two separate servers and the restaurant was incredibly busy. We're talking stress level busy. But all the staff was amazingly attentive, made great suggestions, never overbearing or stuck-up. Perfect. The open kitchen and cool oyster shucking area were also great attractions to watch while we noshed on homemade pickles and the pain de mie.

First courses:
Trio of Fois Gras
So Ohm was the one who ordered this, and I'm becoming quite impressed with his expensives tastes lately. He's also the one that ordered a glass of 12 year old Glenlivet. Moward, Nim and I had no idea what the difference between a single malt and a distilled malt was (same barrel vs. different barrel) so we amused ourselves by looking it up on Wikipedia.
The fois was quite good (and it's soon to be banned in California, stupid PETA people) and included a torchon of fois - which was basically a terrine of pate - but it was so smooth and rich that I closed my eyes when eating it. A seared piece of the liver served over a kumquat compote and a smoked duck breast salad. Ok, I was all for the pate and the smoked duck. In fact, the latter packed quite a smoky kick, but one piece was PERFECT. The kumquat compote tasted a bit like marmalade, so I stuck to the smear of quince paste on the side.
This photo combines our other two appetizers: in the background a nicely mild rinded goat cheese with more of the quince paste, sliced green apple and red pears with crostini. I had a bit of each and this plate was simple but deceivingly delicious. The fruit was perfectly ripened and went well with the mellow cheese, crisp crostini and the intensely flavored paste.

But next was the POUTINE. Poutine is a Canadian import. Generally, it is a dish of french fries with a sizeable handful of cheese curds, smothered in brown gravy. The Salt House version is a bit more refined with the excellent fries served with a melted layer of white cheddar, parsley and then spooned on top, tableside, a wine enriched short rib gravy. Knock my head off now and take me to paradise, I want to eat this when I die. You'd think the combination would be gross, but it's delicious. Once you have a taste, you don't want to stop.

As Mike said, looking first at the poutine and then at the fois gras: "I like that we're eating at both ends of the dining spectrum." (heh, that's how we roll)

Entrees:
Nim and I both had the lamb loin. This was absolutely the most fantastic lamb I'd had in a really long time. Each piece was moist and flavorful, with a great sear on the outside and a gorgeous pink color on the inside. Even though the serving looks small, because each bite packs a lot of flavor, you don't feel like you're missing out. I also liked the little bits up at the top corner. It made me feel like I really did get all of the lamb that was available.
The lamb was served atop a turnip fennel puree and fresh English peas and a red wine demi glace. Each of the items complimented the richness of the lamb well: the freshness of the peas, the sweet mellowness of the puree and the tangier sweetness of the sauce. But the perfect accompaniment, to me, were the four little braised lamb shank stuffed ravioli that came with the dish. The flavors of each of these was so incredibly layered that ever time I ate one, I started dancing in my chair. I can't really describe the flavor other than an explosion of sweet, well spiced, juicy shreds of meat inside a perfectly al dente pasta.


Then there was Moward's seared halibut on top of peas and carrots with a pork reduction drizzled around the side and slices of braised pork belly on the side.
The flavors were quite amazing. And as Moward said:
"I like it when my fish is served with PORK." (I guess it would defeat the purpose if you were Catholic, but otherwise the flavors work really well)

Background: Ohm had himself a more subdued entree of white polenta and spring veggies. He said that the combination was really well balanced. Nim kept calling it risotto.

The Bean said her entree of seared tuna was excellent. I think what made me the most curious was the combination of veggies - arugula and whole nutty grains underneath were visually really interesting - although taste wise I would have been really curious. The Bean also noted that the sauce drizzled around the edge of the plate was too salty.





Dessert: Mmm...my favorite course.

Banana cream pie with creme fraiche top, medjool date caramel, fresh bananas and butter pastry served with homemade nutter butters.

This was the favorite of both Moward and Ohm. I really enjoyed this dessert; especially since the creme fraiche atop the pastry was so refreshing.




Next up was the hazelnut chocolate pot de creme: this dessert was silky and unctous. I love when you tell the texture and consistency of a dish just by dipping your spoon in. This was like eating a gorgeous silky pie filling. Note the cocoa nibs atop the whipped cream. I liked the salty hazelnut layer as a good match to the richer and mellowed chocolate layer.
This was a very deceptive dessert, you would think that you only had about two spoonfuls, when in reality, it was so addictive that you ended up having about six.


We also shared the cookie platter out of which the chocolate chip was the best and the oatmeal raisin a close second. The oatmeal raisin had a ton of nutmeg in it which I really enjoyed, but the other three cookies seemed like afterthoughts. The texture was overcooked and the macaroon was...well I think I don't like coconut that much.

But at the bottom of the photo? The caramel bread pudding with sauteed pears and rum sauce pooled at the bottom of the bowl? My hands down favorite. The vanilla ice cream on top just made everything in this bowl a PERFECT bite. I would come back to Salt House just for dessert and just for this one dish. Again, this was one of these dishes that had me dancing in my seat.

Classic American food with a twist. Everything coming out of this kichen looked and smelled amazing. Service was wonderful and the bill was pretty reasonable. Afterwards we headed back to Ohm and the Bean's place where we proceeded to watch 3-4 episodes of the Venture Bros and I slept on the couch. Thus endeth a wonderful b-day weekend.

Salt House
Category: American (New)

Neighborhood: SOMA
545 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94104

(415) 543-8900

www.salthousesf.com