Top Tastes is my usual run-down of tastes over the past two weeks, (scarily) revealing just how much I eat. Rather than being a list of all-time favorites (another thing altogether), it’s highlights since my last newsletter, often from new openings. Many don’t make the cut, either a revisit or simply just not as stand-out as the dishes mentioned.

I’m head-over-heels for Jannah, with so many “top tastes” there in the short week it’s been open – going back for more and will share soon.

Enjoyed an opening party at Five in Berkeley’s Hotel Shattuck (striking historic space with Corinthian columns, giant windows and chandeliers, redone in black & white with hints of red), but was only able to try a couple bites (hooray, truffled egg salad!) Looking forward to getting more acquainted with the Scott Howard menu.

I hit the new Moroccan spot, Aicha, spent a late night at Home of Chicken and Waffles in Oakland (can’t wait for Gussie’s to open here in SF!), yet another lunch at Schmidt’s (opening all day starting this week, from 11a-11p, Tue-Sun), dug the gorgeous space, if not subpar food at Horatius (but nice stop for Ritual Coffee and Sweetie Cups cupcakes), had decent pastries and caramels at Sweet (tasty but WAY too hard caramels), and umpteenth visits back to Tartine, Pirate Cat, Dosa on Fillmore, La Mar Cebicheria, Spicy Bite, Bittersweet, and Saturday mornings with Juicy Lucy’s and El Buen Comer at my ‘hood’s (Noe) Farmers Market.

SAVORY – VEGETARIAN

• A meal at the house remains among my favorite possible meals in the city. Seafood and Asian fusion reach their pinnacle in this tiny restaurant whose daily specials are often as memorable as their standards. Any meal here should always include the rightly famed Seabass ($24), and this visit, specials included heartwarming Grilled Monterey Squid ($10), silky Hamachi Sashimi Salad ($11), and Seared Albacore ($25) with creamy mustard sauce and a fresh crab California Roll draped atop. But this time I want to wax eloquent about the house-made Udon: the Sea Bass always comes with Garlic Noodles, but you can order a side if you’re not inclined to share. Classic Wasabi House Noodles with Flatiron steak ($17), are equally as good Vegetarian ($14), loaded with veggies and savory tofu. This is “comfort food” fully realized.

SAVORY – MEAT

•  Mojo himself is reason enough to get thee to the alley next to Nickie’s in the Lower Haight, but there’s also his hot dogs and Mission Poppers (bacon-wrapped jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese). Aptly named Hot Dog Alley (on Haight near Fillmore) with home-made sign, he’s been in operation just a handful of days, describing his hours as “always here”. Hot Dogs are named after SF ‘hoods and come simple, wrapped in bacon, topped with chilis ($3.50). Those Mission Poppers ($1) are dangerous. Mojo grills ‘em up as you watch, singing along to hip hop tunes blaring on the radio as his ebullience radiates. “If you’re even thinking about getting yourself into some trouble, you come and talk to me”, he tells a pre-teen boy picking up a dog, encouraging him to stay real. Spreading the love, uplifting spirits, all with a skillet, a makeshift tent and hot dog stand.

•  Dinner at sexy, sensual Gitane… gets better every time. From Piquillo Pepper stuffed with Dungeness Crab ($13) to Sardinas en Escabeche ($1o – how I adore sardine filets!), the effect of the Moroccan/Spanish cuisine is in keeping with magical surroundings. My taste buds were happiest with the Bastilla ($12), usually a favorite of mine, served here in three empanada-like phyllo wraps with shredded duck and chicken with pine nuts and golden raisins.

SAVORY – SEAFOOD

• Swell recently moved into my beloved Bar Crudo’s (now on Divisadero) charming closet of a space on Bush Street. Carrying on the crudo tradition, the menu is half raw specialties, half “warmed”/cooked dishes. I find dishes tried from the latter average but raw plates very good to exceptional. Top two are Salmon Carpaccio ($12) with wasabi mascarpone, yuzu tobiko, green onion, basil (lovely variation of traditional cream cheese and salmon) and dynamic looking and tasting Scallops Roulade ($9.50), raw scallops wrapped around julienned Granny Smith apple, topped with yuzu aioli and wasabi tobiko. Sitting at the minuscule bar with European regulars and effusive staff is transporting.

• Despite a memorable dish of plump, little squids stuffed with chorizo, Calamares Rellenos ($18), I’d return to Bernal Heights’ Peruvian haven, Piqueo’s, just for warm and filling Humita Dulce ($13), a huge sweet corn tamal with a slightly spicy mole and bits of Tiger shrimp. House Sangria is the perfect partner.

• “Six Until Seven” Happy Hour (4:30-7pm; 6 small plates, 6 drinks, $6) at classic Farallon is a good excuse to take in the jellyfish lamps, sumptuous raw bar, and pampering service without a full sit-down meal (that works, too). Oysters remain $3.25 each, with or without happy hour, from WA Totten Inlets to New Brunswick Beausoliels. On the $6 menu, there’s PEI Mussels with chorizo, tomato, basil and Dungeness Crab Cakes with piquillo pepper coulis. I’m partial to plump Cornmeal Fried Oysters with lobster relish paired with a strong Cabrito Blanco Margarita.

SWEET

• A marriage of dessert and drink, Venezuela’s Santa Teresa Araku Ron y Coffee Liqueur is an aged rum, rich with coffee notes, distilled from molasses, in memorable, hip packaging. Over ice cream? Divine.

This issue’s Top Tastes in DRINK

Jalisco Flip at Rickhouse

COCKTAILS

• Rickhouse had my number from the get-go. How could it not? From owners of my regular stop over the years, Bourbon & Branch (sans password and reservation) and nearby Cask, this FiDi beauty debuted on July 1st to a packed house, with atmospheric, Old World space (ceilings and railings made from old Bourbon barrels, naturally), and gracious staff and bartenders. I want to cheer just leafing through the awesome menu (visually and in selection) of flips, fizzes, punches (punch bowls for groups), every kind of cocktail one could desire. Stand-outs? Besides being delighted to see the Favala, which I loved as a Bourbon & Branch special (check out “Drinks” in my last Top Tastes), after tasting eight different Rickhouse cocktails so far, my tops are a Rye Maple Fizz ($9) with rye, lemon, organic maple syrup, egg white, Angostura bitters and soda, and a Jalisco Flip ($12), a dessert-like (but not heavy-handed) blend of El Tesoro Anjeo, egg, organic maple syrup, aromatic bitters, freshly grated nutmeg. It’ll  surely be a pleasurable pursuit working my way through this menu (more in my SFBG Appetite column).

• I can’t say happy hour crowds and haphazard, if well-intentioned, service at Oakland’s new Penelope does much for me (currently only open weekdays), but the food is gourmet and mostly under $10 (paninis, salads and soup), with drinks using an interesting mix of fruits and veggies, like the namesake Penelope with tequila, beets, apples, pears. Though not as nuanced as my favorite cocktails, I enjoyed the refreshing heat of a Jicama Reposado ($9) with fresh jicama, habanero-infused reposado, salt rim and cucumber rinse.

• Clock Bar is always a classy experience, from chic, candlelit setting to drink creations from master behind the bar, Marco Dionysos. One of Marco’s greats, which I should have tried well before now but just got to is Snap: Canton ginger liqueur, Hennessey, lime, pineapple, allspice dram. It’s fresh and Fall-like, while redolent with island breezes. Amazing.

CHAMPAGNE

• A bottle of champagne from family-run Ployez-Jacquemart in Ludes, France, is biscuity, bright and earthy all at the same time. I felt lucky to be able to drink a bottle of small batch vintage.

COFFEE

• There’s yet another great coffee house on the way: but for now, Sightglass is our newest source for fine espressos, cappuccinos, coffees out of a garage in its soon-to-open space. I miss Four Barrel’s humble alley service before its slick cafe took over and will eventually have to miss Sightglass‘ friendly garage service.  But there’s much to look forward to when they do open: brothers, Jerad and Justin Morrison’s backgrounds include working with Blue Bottle and Four Barrel, and the open 1924 space will have a Chemex brewing station and a cupping table so us coffee fanatics can ‘geek out’ even further.

• More to come on my new Middle Eastern favorite from YaYa chef, Yahya Salih. It’s called Jannah and on the drink tip alone, the unusual fruit juices and coffees are worth a stop. I’ll focus on coffee for now: though there’s regular and Turkish, my choice is the Arabic Coffee ($2), aromatic with cardamom, the sludge at the bottom a soft mix of almost chocolaty espresso grounds, not overpowering as in some Turkish coffees I’ve had. I ate it with a spoon. As you can see from my photo, a book and an Arabic coffee equal a contented afternoon.

NEW ORLEANS

“As soon as I arrive to how it all fits together, I have to fathom out the ’system’ of the city, have to walk, sniff, observe, sit in the buses and trams, make the city my own.” – Cees Noteboom, “Nomad’s Hotel”

Back for yet another installment on the one and only New Orleans (last article was on French Quarter food and before that, Fauborg Marigny & Treme neighborhoods)…. I write as many of our cities best bartenders and drink writers are there for Tales of the Cocktail – an attempt to assuage my longing to be there. This time, it’s off to the Uptown, Garden and Carollton districts of the city for more incomparable discoveries.

Uptown/Garden District

Uptown and Garden District sit along the East bank of the Mississippi River, easily accessible from downtown by the St. Charles Streetcar line. There’s a wealth of 19th century homes (those front porches are classic Southern), moody, decrepit graveyards and Magazine Street, with its countless blocks of hip shops, spas housed in Victorians, markets and great food. Walking through the neighborhoods, taking in the idyllic homes and laid back feel of Magazine, especially at twilight, made me almost want to move in.

RESTAURANTS

•  Dick and Jenny’s is probably one of my top three meals in New Orleans (saying a lot since I had so many noteworthy ones) – a truly fabulous, down home place worth taking the cab or streetcar (plus a few blocks walk) for. An indoor patio with retro rocking chairs and benches welcomes you for drinks during the wait (note: they don’t take reservations). Love frog legs, fried green tomatoes (always), soups (like Black Bean Chorizo Lime or Creamy Sweet Potato & Sausage), and seafood entrees.  Save room for Key Lime Pie (I always do!) This place feels like a true Southern restaurant: homey, inviting, heartwarming, while playfully youthful.

DRINKS/MUSIC

•  Columns Hotel: musty, creaky old mansion inside (dark woods and old couches), expansive porch with columns, oak trees and the St. Charles Streetcar clanging by outside. I’d heard this was the true Gone with the Wind experience  (which immediately hooked me), with live music (call ahead as there often isn’t) and mint juleps. You don’t have to tell me twice. I have to say these are far from authentic Mint Juleps (not served in julep cups, but in tall glasses, muddled like a mojito – for shame! We’re in the South, after all! Next time I’ll tell you where to get THE best juleps… hint: his name is Chris McMillian). They do invoke the common NoLa habit here of not measuring alcohol pours so it’s heavy on the bourbon and refreshing, though not noteworthy. You’re buying the setting rather than fine cocktails. Paired with a fat cigar and a breeze in the old oak trees, it’s everything I hoped it would be.

•   One of NoLa’s legendary live music venues, Tipitina’s Uptown showcases New Orleans incomparable music, everything from Zydeco to hip hop and blues. And here you see legends (and locals) like Dr. John perform regularly (note: no seating; smoking is allowed – be forewarned!)

ICE CREAM and FOOD SHOPS

•   La Divinia Gelateria is truly divine. Two locations (Magazine Street and the French Quarter) make creamy-as-heck gelato from scratch. Not only serving robust cappuccinos, gelato flavors are unique, even for me, who has many adventurous ice cream options at home (like Humphry Slocumbe). Divinia makes one of the best Bananas Foster ice creams ever – tastes like ripe banana with a hint of brown sugar and rum. Creole Cream Cheese and Louisiana Mush Melon represent local flavors. Lush Sweet Potato? Brilliant. Absinthe Sorbetto? Right on! Saigon Cinnamon, Carrot Ginger Mascarpone, Candy Cane Stracciatella, Aztec (Dark Chocolate, Cayenne, Honey)… the list goes blissfully on.

•   Ah, Creole Creamery. Another brilliant shop with local flavors I can’t find anywhere else, rich beauties. There’s Creole Cream Cheese, Red Velvet Cake, Pink Peppermint Pie, Caramel Chicory Chocolate, and Scotch Bonnet Citrus. Bring on the butterfat.

•   As gorgeous aesthetically as its products are in taste, Sucre confirms this is an ice cream town, though the bakery and chocolates  housed in this pastel dream of a shop are just as good or even better than the ice cream. Chocolates include a Chicory (chicory coffee & dark chocolate), Peanut Butter & Jelly (strawberry jam, PB, dark chocolate), or Meuniere (brown butter in white choco ganache, coated in dark chocolate).

•   The Savvy Gourmet would fit right in here in the Bay Area. Part cooking school (with demos and hands-on classes), part gourmet foods and cookware shop, they also cater, serve and deliver meals.

Carrollton

Taking the St. Charles streetcar way out gets you to the tiny Carrollton neighborhood which is worth a detour for two reasons: neighboring  Jacques-Imo’s and Maple Leaf Bar. Get off the cable car at Oak Street and hit the dynamic duo, preferably on a Tuesday night (though be forewarned about waits to eat at Jacques-Imo’s) for Rebirth Brass Band’s weekly show at the Maple Leaf. Prepare for friendly body-to-body crowds, a cover charge ($10 when I went, no drink minimum), and in the case of Rebirth Tuesdays, they are miked (?!) so ears will bleed. Even with earplugs, my ears were ringing a good couple hours later. But it’s a quintessential Nawlins’ experience and Rebirth, one of the great brass bands, simply rocks (note: they’re playing here in SF at Great American Music Hall on July 24 and 25). Jacques-Imo’s is similarly quintessential: with swampland decor, Cajun Zydeco music on the stereo and festive diners, it’s a friendly, party-like place for a meal. Hello, Alligator Cheesecake (trust me, it’s one-of-a-kind!), fish entrees and Fried Green Tomatoes with giant shrimp. In fact, everything here is giant so plan on sharing and under-ordering, please, or like me, you may go to bed with a food-hangover that leaves you afraid of food for at least a day. Pace yourself and you’ll have one hell of a meal.

In case you’re in the area during the day (especially a hot one), there’s Gelato Pazzo on the same street with classic Italian gelato, though I prefer all three spots I listed in the Uptown/Garden District for ice cream.