Flavor Boulevard

After so many years, and it’s been only a little over three years for me, of actively paying attention to food, I’ve become, unrighteously and shamelessly, somewhat of a food snob: very few things can excite me. And yet, it doesn’t take much more than a sandwich to keep me up at night (that, and my research). Originally, I had a draft for Off the Grid in North Berkeley, then I let it stew for centuries because I thought oh well, it’s just a food truck event, a new fad in town, who knows how long it will last. I still don’t get the name of the event: ten or fewer food trucks and hundreds of Berkeleyans gather where Shattuck meets Rose every Wednesday evening, from 5 to 9. Lines form, some short, some long. I still don’t get all the raves for Cupkates (or any cupcake trucks for that matter). There were things I regretted buying, and things I would never stand in line for. But there’s this sandwich, powerful enough to drag me back to Off the Grid, to stand in line, and to finish my draft.

It’s the Notorious PIG, from the Brass Knuckle.

The people in line pronounced it “Pea-Eye-Gee”, I don’t know why. You have to spell out the letters because they’re capitalized? It makes sense to me to be just “pig” because it’s roast pork ham on a waffle. (UPDATE: now that Bob has explained, I know why: I’m just not American.) Anyway, it’s %##$@&* GOOD. The soft, pristine, plump layer of pork. The light, fluffy crisp of the waffle. And the rosemary in the waffle. Oh dear.

Hapa SF had some yummy chicken adobo. Fins on the Hoof had some terrible peach and goat cheese salad.  Cupkates has some seriously sweet cupcakes.

Last time I spent ’bout $40 on various things here. Next time, it’d be $40 on the pork waffle sandwiches alone.

This Saturday August 21 (11am-7pm) there’s some massive fun street food fest going on in the Mission District, next to Garfield Square, San Francisco. I counted 52 “vendors” for the chow, which spans all five continents (well, not including Australia, and Europe and Asia are two) and covers the menu from appetizers to desserts.

The majority power seems to split between los cocineros of Hispanic descent from the Southern hemisphere and the culinarians of the Far East. Colorful dapples here and there are West African (Purple Hibiscus of Nigerian American chef Chukuduwebe), classic Southern comfort (Zella’s Soulful Kitchen of chef Dionne Knox), hot dogs (Let’s Be Frank) and waffle sandwiches (Brass Knuckle), just to name a few.

Tasty. I can’t go, due to graduate school difficulties. (Why is it one day only?) Which is why I will make it to the Oakland’s Eat Real Festival (ERF) the weekend after against all odds. Mark my words.

Thankfully ERF is 3 days long, Aug 27-29, at Jack London Square. And there are way over 52 “vendors” this time, some also participate in La Cocina’s SF Street Food Fest. Maybe I’ll try the Kung Fu Taco Truck, not that I’m crazy about tacos or anything (quite the opposite).

Not street food related, Walnut Creek sees its first annual culinary tasting event, Savor Walnut Creek, this September 2nd from 7pm to 11pm.  Admission ticket is $25 with 2 tasting tickets included, then each participating restaurant will provide $4 and $8 menu options for additional ticket purchase. Tempting, but it’s a week night.

I’d never thought I would walk an over-two-mile round trip just for food. But Carolyn Jung at Food Gal convinced me that A Taste of North Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto just sounded too good to ignore, and with a mere $25 ticket it was well worth the ankle exercise. Granted the weather turned its cold back on us, we couldn’t drag our feet to all 27 locations, nor were we enticed by the smell of wine, we felt good at the end of the day knowing that our tummy was full, a beggar’s tummy was appeased (with a cup of Greek soup from Soop, a lime-chipotle drumstick from Poulet, and a square of brownie from Andronico’s), and we found a new favorite.

The marathon started off creamily with Bistro Liaison‘s Quenelle souffle – salmon and scallop mousse in a lustrious shrimp sauce. Captivating from the very first bite. Oh, guess what? It’s not on the menu.

Taste of Himalayas – Most Generous Tasting “Sample” ever. We were allowed full freedom to load our plate with whatever our eyes desired.

Taste of Himalayas - Lamb momo and orange dessert

Taste of Himalayas - vegetable samosa, momo, and pakora

Both the lamb and the vegetable momos (dumpling) are adorable pockets of goodness. The pakora (deep fried vegetable) hits the grease spot. The samosa is utterly beany. The unidentifiable bright orange dessert feels like fish roe.

Crepevine – The Least Expectable Taste. Its cute facade sugarcoats a trendy menu with international crepes that fare more or less like Subway sandwiches: edible, not bloggable.

Crepevine - Salad and Greek crepe with feta cheese, roasted almond, spinach, and calamata olives in tsatziki sauce

Chick-O-Pea’s (in Barney’s) – The Nicest Service. We arrived just as they ran out of falafels, and the owner offered Mudpie a beer while waiting for the new batch.

Chick-O-Pea's/Barney's - Falafel with hummus, tahini, and zachuq

(We didn’t take the offer.)

Cha-Am – what can I say, Thai food is comforting.

Cha-Am - chicken pad thai

Chocolate Tasting at M. Lowe & Co. Jewelers – Most Beautiful Sample.

Chocolate tasting at M.Lowe & Co. Jewelers

The taste? See’s Candies‘ truffles are better.

Alegio Chocolaté – Most Educational Tasting. Also our first try of whole Chile finest chocolate bean, bitter just like a roasted coffee bean. The enthusiastic host is a man of hand and mouth, as we Vietnamese would say: chopping and crushing chocolate bars into bits, speaking expeditiously about each kind’s origin and composition, grabbing onlookers’ quizzical attention with the busiest, most irresistibly chaotic display of the brownish hues.

Alegio Chocolaté - chili pepper dark chocolate

The 80% dark chocolate flavored with chili pepper pictured above is only for the bravest. We took the challenge. Then Mudpie sheepishly tasted a darling chocolate covered peppercorn and felt sick for the rest of the journey. Lesson learned: sometimes cute looking things can kill you.

Also snuggled in the Epicurious Garden with Alegio Chocolaté are the aesthetic Chinese Imperial Tea Court, where we had a taste of puerh tea and some uberspicy hand-pulled noodle…

Imperial Tea Court - cold noodle and onion pancake

…and the beautiful takeout Kirala 2, with a sample of sake maki (tuna) roll, Californian (crab and avocado) roll, and potato croquette.

Kirala 2 - California roll, sake maki roll, and potato croquette

Soop – housing the Most Expensive Banh Mi’s.

How about Soop with banh mi?

Unfortunately the banh mi wasn’t on the tasting menu. Instead, the 4oz greeting of Avgolemono soup is undeniably proper: Greek soup with shredded chicken and long grain rice in enticing lemon flavored chicken stock thickened with egg.

Gregoire – Best Dessert of the whole event. Possibly the best dessert I’ve had in a long time.

It’s just a takeout, but it’s not just a takeout. Despite the chilly breeze, people queue up for its delicious fine tastes, changing seasonally, and perhaps for a friendly joke or two with the chefs to warm up your mood.

“So Mai, just what is your new favorite?”, you may ask. The pork belly sandwich at Trattoria Corso. Look out for a post on this Florentine exquisite in the near future.