“Three hundred small pleasures make people happier than one magnificent one.” – Daniel Gilbert, Harvard Professor

I have to let you know of some important changes this month… ones I’m excited to share with you.

First, I just started writing a weekly online food/drink column for the San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper – subscribe to it by RSS feed or bookmark the page for my weekly updates on restaurant and bar openings, events, cookbook signings, great deals and fun food news in the Bay Area. You can read my column from the Food & Dining page or the Arts and Culture blog.

Secondly, I’m launching a revamped, updated website (thanks to Mr. Daniel Stumpf) which should be easier for searching through past issues or by key words (e.g. cities, food types, neighborhoods, restaurants names, etc…) Let me know what you think!

**If you forward my Perfect Spot website to food/drink/travel loving friends and five of them actually sign up for my monthly newsletter (email me the names of the five who sign up or have them mention you referred them), and I will give you a FREE “Package One: The Perfect Meal“, based on your request I’ll send you a couple options for a great meal (e.g. trying a different brunch spot, date night, eating authentic Vietnamese or Ethiopian, finding a bakery, exploring a new neighborhood, whatever you wish).  Subscribe/unsubscribe here and have those who might be interested sign up!

Every month, I share Top Tastes, favorite new dishes, drinks and bites from my culinary explorations. The Established features the ultimate dive bar/BBQ/Sausage joint, Broken Record. In Imbiber, we hit Retro Bars, Part Two.  Wandering Traveler ventures into five cool Los Angeles finds from gelato to coffee to Jewish deli.

I’d love your feedback on any spots you visited from my site… don’t forget, I can help you with trips, outings or explorations by creating personalized itineraries, whether for an evening, a day or a whole vacation (check out my “Services” page).

Let me guide you to the perfect spot!

Virginia

“We… became aware that we have higher quality conversations at restaurants than at home. It’s as though we rise to the occasion by selecting worthwhile, less mundane subjects to discuss when eating out…” – Mimi Sheraton, “Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life”

SAVORY – VEGETARIAN

Since Inner Richmond’s classic Clementine was taken over last year by chef of the nearly perfect Chapeau! (1408 Clement Street, between 15th and 16th Avenues, 415-750-9787), it, too, has become a place for a spectacular French meal at a reasonable price. Chef Philippe Gardelle is one of my favorites, and when I want flavorful romance virtually in my food, I go to one of his two bistros. On a recent visit, instead of ordering the usual poisson or duck entrees (both top-notch, by the way), I decided that post-Escargot, my entree would be the one vegetarian option. The simple moniker of Vegetable Napoleon ($20) in no way hinted at the satisfaction derived from this dish. Beautiful visually and in my tummy, the little mountain of barley, lentils, almonds was topped with an artichoke dome, drizzled with creamy cauliflower and a green curry sauce, decorated with dried golden raisins and cranberries. C’est Magnifique!

SAVORY – SEAFOOD

Let’s talk about the Sashimi course in Kaygetsu’s eight-course Kaiseki menu ($98). The night I was there it was an impeccable wild yellowtail, tai snapper with lemon and fatty toro with 24k gold flakes on the top. Every piece, from flower to radish to fresh seaweed, was edible – and props for serving REAL wasabi, which I can’t get enough of! Despite meticulous presentation and outstanding food, I’m not sure if the Kaiseki menu (the only choice most nights), is worth the massively steep cost (with drinks and tip, dinner for two is easily $300!) I hear it’s a better deal if you go on Tuesdays or Sundays for their a la carte sushi menu.

Ah, the house delights me every time with its cordial service and most of all, fab-fresh Pan Asian food. It’s really one of the best restaurants in SF, despite the zero-frills, cramped dining room. A long-standing neighborhood gem oddly situated in Italian-centric North Beach, their rightly-famed Sea Bass with garlic ginger soy sauce will convert, as it did me many years ago. On a recent crystal-clear Winter’s night, I ordered a starter special: very lightly fried, medium-rare Scallops, with caviar, green apple slivers, microgreens and creamy lemon drizzle ($11). Mmmm…

SAVORY – MEAT

At Nopalito, Nopa’s brand new “sister” Mexican restaurant, I find the Carnitas ($14) tender, generously-portioned and ideal with the pairing of housemade tomatillo salsa and tortillas.

Roxie Food Center (1901 San Jose Avenue at Havelock Street, 415-587-2345), a dodgy corner market in Mission Terrace, serves up a mean Hot Pastrami & Swiss on a Dutch Crunch roll. The $5.99 “Junior” size is plenty large enough for one, as far as I’m concerned. Join nearby cops and locals getting sandwiches to go.

SWEET

At my upscale Vietnamese fave, Bong Su, an unbelievable taste that’s not on the menu but should be (ask for it!): rich Dark Chocolate Sorbet (yes, sorbet) with hints of star anise, cinnamon, cardamom and cayenne, prettied up with a Brandy Crisp.

DRINK

Pisco Latin Lounge – Three cheers for Pisco’s El Carajo cocktail ($12)! Made with Veev Acai Liquor, St. Germain and an Aji amarillo pepper served on the rocks, the whole pepper is wedged, plump and bright, on the glass’ edge. It’s subtle in spice, rich with the aroma of fresh pepper skin, sweetly balanced with St. Germain.

SoMa’s new hunting-lodge-chic bar, Bloodhound, has a minimal but well-crafted cocktail list (all $9, $1 off during Happy Hour), plus some choice beers, including a handful of Belgians. At this point, I can’t get past the din created by the weeknight happy hour crowd – maybe it mellows out later in the evening? – especially when there are so many low-key spots (my preference) around town to imbibe excellent cocktails. Too bad, as I like the rustic walls, antlers, leather couches and friendly bartenders. I thoroughly enjoyed their Ward 8, its citrusy tart of lemon and orange the happy sibling to Bulleit Bourbon and housemade Grenadine.

BROKEN RECORD
1166 Geneva Avenue (between Edinburgh and Naples Streets)
San Francisco, CA  94112
415-963-1713
http://brokenrecordsf.com

If you can’t hang with dive bars or aren’t willing to venture into the far reaches of the Excelsior, Broken Record may stay off your radar.  But you’d be the one missing out.  Parking is easy, so why not?  Go, and you may, like me, not only keep returning, but become downright giddy with the dynamite combo of top shelf, 150-plus whiskey selection (at crazy-low prices), surprisingly great cocktails, and killer housemade sausages and BBQ, which haunt your nostrils from the moment you enter. This is truly a “diamond in the rough” (emphasis on the rough).

As a bar, it’s divey-comfortable, replete with pool table, darts, jukebox and knowledgeable, affable, tattoo-covered bartenders.  It’s dim but not dirty, mellow early evenings and weeknights, bustling at Friday’s Happy Hour with $2 pitchers of Pabst. The owner, Jason King’s, passion for the brown stuff (the aforementioned whiskeys, bourbons, scotches) shows in his impeccable selection. If you’ve wanted to sample top-notch whiskeys at lower prices than almost any other bar around town, this is place to hone the taste of your inner connoisseur.  They make a beautifully-balanced Sazeracs and a dreamy Manhattan, not to mention Hot Toddies to warm a chilly night… and all for merely $4-5 on average, a rarity at this quality level.  The shock comes when you realize they didn’t skimp on ingredients: yes, that’s St. George Absinthe rinsing your Sazerac glass!  Hey, even I can be a big spender (and tip generously) here.

Then there’s the food.  Head down the hallway to the down-home back room (plus charming outdoor patio) with mismatched booths, tables and chairs, an easy place to bring a group of friends.  Everything is made with care and all under $7.50. Housemade Sausages include spicy Alligator ($7), Hot Links ($5.50), Venison with Cranberries and wine ($6), or my fave, Wild Boar with apples and wine ($6).

Biscuits ($1.50) with honey butter are unjustly good – I’ve tried sharing them and it doesn’t go over well.  Order your own.  Hush Puppies (lightly fried cornbread balls, made here with a touch of cheese and jalapeno, $4) or Buffalo Wings loaded with tender chicken meat, served with blue cheese and celery sticks ($6), are perfect for sharing.  Specials might be a hearty bowl of Crawfish Etouffee ($6), mixed with savory rice and finely-browned roux – no skimping on juicy chunks of crawfish.  BBQ sandwiches ($7.50), Pulled Pork topped with slaw or addictive Beef Brisket with pickled onions, secrete a smoky tenderness soooo good, in a North Carolina-style (read: vinegar-based) BBQ sauce.  I finish with Toffee Crack (75 cents) – a dark chocolate toffee wafer – again, housemade.

I start drooling as soon as I walk into this place, knowing I’ll be treated well (the chefs remembered me by my second visit), enjoy a round of games with friends, and find my wallet unharmed by reasonable prices… I’ve spent $40 on four people and we ate like kings.

RETRO BARS, Part Two

It’s no secret I’m sold on all things retro. Besides calling me Renaissance Woman, some friends say I was born in the wrong time. I shoulda been a 1940’s/1950’s siren… at least in my dreams. I’ll take the freedom and independence of today, though in an ideal world (and I do try!), I’d fuse the modern with the bohemian and poetic, with clothing and music of past decades, with vintage furniture/décor, classic cars, old movies and martinis. I’m a sucker for a restaurant or bar where I can walk in wearing my red/leopard peep toe shoes with seamed stockings, while Ella, Sinatra, Billie, Louis… weave their magic.  Here’s to a few places where this is possible, embodying the spirit of more stylish days.  I’m thankful for bars where you can dress up IF you feel like it, but this is still California, after all, so for those who get less of a kick out of slicking up, anything goes, really.  Last month was Part One.  Now, Part Two:

1930’s SUPPER CLUB

Bix – A stunning dining room hidden off an alley in the Barbary Coast streets of FiDi (Financial District to you), Bix folds you into its 1930’s supper club atmos the moment you enter through lush, velvet curtains. Think sipping a Dark & Stormy while live piano jazz trills (nightly, with a jazz trio on Fridays and Saturdays). Meet me at the sweeping wood bar under the giant painting?

Shanghai 1930 – Take your supper club Asian-style? No problem. We got it at Shanghai 1930. I love this non-trendy but classy swank stalwart from the moment I walk down the red-carpeted staircase into the sultry bar area.  They serve solid, upscale Chinese food and cocktails ($9 – $7 during happy hour, M-F, 5-7pm), and nightly live jazz (except for Sundays when they’re closed).

RETRO ITALIAN STYLE

Tosca (242 Columbus Ave; 415-986-9651) – This may be the most well known of the list, a San Francisco classic since the 1930’s with it’s legendary “secret back room” where none other than the likes of U2 and Sean Penn hang out (good luck getting in unless you’re friends with high-profile movie or rock stars). When in North Beach, nothing makes for a better night after jazz or a hearty Italian meal than ordering legendary “house cappuccinos” (not coffee but, rather, brandy and hot chocolate, gone undercover since Prohibition when these very drinks were served by the thousands). The décor is old-world Italian with red booths, weathered walls, a long wood bar and a jukebox with a heavy dose of Italian Opera (think Maria Callas) or crooners like Dean, Louis Prima, and, of course, Frank.

RAT PACK VEGAS

The Ambassador – I wish the middling cocktails ($9 average) were as good as the shimmering, black-against-brick-walls atmos… go late on weekends for DJs and party central (no thanks, for me), or go (like I do), on a weeknight to have one of the luxurious, black leather booths with retro telephone (yes, it works!) all to yourself.  Get cozy in booths under sparkling chandeliers and mirrors while soaking up the Rat Pack Vegas vibe.

Los Angeles

Having lived in Orange County/LA area a good portion of my life (with family still there), I head down South regularly, exploring LA haunts as much as I can, struggling much more in OC to find high-caliber food and drink but always on the hunt.  My recent visit provided yet more experiences worth sharing…

DRINK

Seven Grand – The sad news is, this bar isn’t in my neighborhood.  The good news is, it’s the best one I’ve been to in LA yet?  There are a few mixology-caliber (at least from what I hear) spots I haven’t yet been able to visit (soon!?), but up till now, my foray into the LA mixology scene/cocktail renaissance has produced nothing compared to what I experience regularly in SF and NY (LA still often heavily factors in the vodka/fruity-sweet kind of cocktails popular in the ’80’s). Seven Grand, however, changes things. The space, for starters, couldn’t be cooler. In an old building in the heart of downtown LA (still desolate streets at night though they continue to try and bring more residents to the area), the grand staircase, lined with animal heads is almost creepy but wins you over as you pass a cheesy hunting diorama display midway into the musty, deer-head, pool table, old-fashioned wallpaper bar.  I like the corner wood booth tucked away to the left of the entrance or happily sit at the bar and let the bartenders shake up something special.  Their whiskey selection is thorough, if pricey.  When it comes to cocktails, the selection is minimal, sticking to straightforward classics, which I actually rarely have seen in LA up till this point, but have long been common in NY and SF (or New Orleans): Mint Juleps, Sazeracs, etc…  It’s good to see those done well in LA.  After chatting, the bartender mentioned an off-the-menu special, the oddly named “Big Mac“, made of Bourbon, Lemon, Blackberry and Cranberry with plump, juicy blackberries… an invigorating, balanced imbibement.  LA may get into the game yet.

LAMILL Coffee Boutique – Coffee is done oh-so-well in SF and when the king, Blue Bottle Coffee, secured a $20k siphon machine for their cafe, articles were written in the New York Times on down about this amazing test-tube display from Japan, the only one in the US, making coffee by an ancient, slow-brewing method. We’ve seen the craft accelerate here years back – I never have to drink a bad cup in my hometown.  I was intrigued by LAMILL’s menu, as it employs a number of the methods we’ve long seen in the Bay Area, like Chemex (hand-drip through a paper filter), Eva Solo, French Press and Siphon brews.  Each is brewed individually at your table, from a variety of beans around the world – both bean and brewing method, your choice.  There are special drinks on the menu, seasonal choices (like eggnog) or with pairings (like a gourmet jelly donut).  I already like Silver Lake, the neighborhood LAMILL is located in, but was even more impressed by the chic dining room and prompt service.  A slew of laptop writers seem odd in this setting and the food overpriced for what is trying to be both coffee/tea cafe and mid-range restaurant.  I love the concept but found each coffee I tried somehow disappointing, mediocre, lacking robust flavors of the best in SF and in Italy.  I decided to also try a specialty drink for a taste range, but found the coffee overly sweet and syrupy, reminding me more of Starbucks than of a quality coffee boutique.  But I only got to taste a few coffees, and at barely over a year old, I still want to give it another shot.  I sense it might be one of those LA, “style over substance” deals.  Maybe my expectations were too high, going as a coffee nerd all jazzed up at the sight of mini-siphons at each table.  The concept seemed fun, playful… but, of course, the coffee quality and taste has to match.  I really want to love you, LAMILL.  Maybe next time.

FOOD

Pazzo Gelato – A choice Silver Lake ice cream joint with some of the better gelato in LA.  They let you try flavors so don’t be shy.  I was won over by the addictive, smooth Banana Hazelnut.  They do a rich Egg Nog around the holidays and their European Yogurt is delectably tart, while Chocolate Tangerine gives a nice variation on the Choco Orange combo (one I adore).  Plus, it’s right off the 101 Freeway so easy to pull off and get a scoop.

Phillips Bar-B-Que, 1517 Centinela Avenue (near Beach Ave), Inglewood, 310-412-7135 – As is true of the best BBQ, this place is a dump where you walk up to a window and order your Que to go. I just eat it in the car, because where else are you gonna go in Inglewood (there’s also two other locations: Mid-City and Leimert Park)? Often named the best BBQ in LA, it’s probably the best I’ve had in LA, though not the best anywhere.  Friendly and down-to-the-earth, I find Phillips the real deal.  Smoked links?  Aw, yeah.  A good, spicy sauce compliments the meat with a slice of bread to sop up the extra sauce.

Brent’s Deli – So there’s a yuppiefied, chain-looking Westlake Village locale, or the real-deal original in Northridge.  Northridge is WAY out of the way for most of us, but I almost say it’s worth it to try this decades-old classic with pretty much the best corned beef on rye or pastrami on the West Coast.  Jewish/New York diner classics abound, sandwiches are huge, there are blintzes, chopped liver, and Jewish deli classics.  It’s a worthy detour heading out of LA on my drive back North.