Culinary Muse

Dinner at Manka's

It is dark and romantic in a Grimm’s fairy tale enchanted forest way. Manka's in Inverness is completely ‘of the place’. It conveys the idea of terroir from the moment you enter the rustic hunting and fishing cabin turned inn and restaurant through dessert. Manka’s will literally transport you from the 21^st century to a much slower time when folks could only buy food that was available locally and there was no electricity. Camp for adults? A rather luxurious camp that my friend EM describes as “what Ralph Lauren wishes he could do”.

The Best Hot Chocolate

I have your best interests at heart. I am still trying to find the best hot chocolate in San Francisco. Well, I had a great one the other day at TOWN HALL. Served in a large cup with a side of whipped cream. $8.00. Well, still cheaper than a flight to Paris.

Of course, if I could be anywhere in the world right now tasting chocolate it would be with David Lebovitz on his Chocolate Tour of Italy. Check it out!

TAGGED!

Amy, from Cooking with Amy, has tagged me with the Cookbook meme.  We had a fun lunch together today at Red Door when she asked me if I would mind being tagged.  Sounded like a good excuse to give my cookbook collection a critical perusal.  Here goes:

1. Total number of cookbooks I've owned:  over 500 stare at me from the bookshelves as I type.
2. Last book I bought:  Will Write for Food by Dianne Jacob.  This is a frank look at the food writing business.  Also a great 'how-to'
3. Last book I read: same
4. Five cookbooks that mean a lot to me:
Life Magazine's Picture Cook Book, 1958: What little girl in San Leandro in the 60s wouldn't have fallen in love with all that gorgeous food and all those glamorous people?
Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts: My friend, Tom Peccoraro, was the assistant to Joe Fox at Random House in the early 80's. Tom sent me every cookbook that he could.  This was my favorite.
Patricia Well's Food Lover's Guide to Paris: DUH!
The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook by Anna Pump:  This is where certain other East Hampton types who write cookbooks get a lot of their inspiration.  A brilliant book.  The best chicken potpie recipe ever.
The SOHO Charcuterie Cookbook by Francine Scherer & Madeline Poley:  Where are these folks now that we really need them?  Who needed celebrity chefs when you had this kind of brilliance in the kitchen?

5. Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog?  At the risk of breaking the chain, I am going to ask readers to send me their five favorite cookbooks and why.  The last time I passed along a tag I felt as though I was trying to sell used Mary Kay cosmetics.

More thoughts on The Red Door Cafe

(NOTE:  This is a small piece that I wrote for my food writing class this morning.  Just consider it further musings.....)

This is not about food, per se.  It is about the power of charm and warmth and how some places just have a ‘vibe’.  A new café opened in the neighborhood last Friday.  On my way home from the market this morning around 9:00 I popped my head in the door to get a glimpse and sense of the place.  Ahmed, the owner, came running over to welcome me in.  He excitedly told me about his immediate success as though we were old friends.  Apparently, the moment they had opened on Friday, there had been a line out the door.  He explained how everyone had worked so hard, how he had begged the dishwasher to stay later, called in friends to help, and that he had to go shopping for more food mid day because they had run out.   He said his vision for the place is Paris, 1930.  He thrust a huge mug into my hand, told me to help myself to coffee and to sit.  ‘You’ll see’, he said.   What I saw were people streaming in as if this had been their regular hang out for years: young hip people, old hip people, the occasional street person and a few church ladies.   There is a sort of magic at work in the space that seems to be drawing people in.  People who didn’t even know they wanted a cup of coffee.  I am looking forward to calling it ‘my place’.

Restaurants: The Red Door Cafe

There are some folks who are born to be in the hospitality business.  Ahmed Moniem is one of them.  Warm and full of charm he has just opened the Red Door Café on the corner of California and Larkin Streets.  It, too, is warm and full of charm.  It reminded us of Paris, circa 1930.  But not some weird Las Vegas or Disneyland version of Paris.  We just know that we are now destined to spend foggy San Francisco days nestled in a cozy corner, sipping our lattes, eating and writing.  For those infrequent warm, sunny days there is outside seating.  We haven’t had a chance to try the food yet but we just had to let you know ASAP about this great new addition to the neighborhood.  THE RED DOOR CAFÉ, 1494 CALIFORNIA STREET, 415-447-4102.

Restaurants: Dining with Mother at The Buffet

My Mother’s favorite ‘dining experience’ has always been the ‘buffet’.  As a child of The Depression, I think she is overcome with joy and relief when she sees dish after dish spread out before her with a sign that reads “Take all you can eat but eat all that you take”.  Because it was a good way for a single mother in the 60’s to feed her child and herself inexpensively, my childhood was full of these buffets or, as we called them in San Leandro, “Smorgy’s” (short for smorgasbord?).  Our favorites were the “The Pipers” on Mac Arthur Boulevard and the less expensive “Perry Boy’s Smorgy” on the other side of the tracks in the Marina.