original cynk

The magazine Real Simple has put together a nice guide of all the things you can do with some basic household items, such as:

• baking soda: clean ink and scuffs from the walls
• coffee filters: cover food as you microwave
• lemons: remove stains from a cutting board
• newspaper: keep a vegetable drawer dry and deodorized
• olive oil: instead of shaving cream
• vinegar: remove stickers and leftover goop on glass

I am an unapologetic live-to-eat (as opposed to an eat-to-live), and San Francisco is a dining heaven for peeps like me. The close proximity to fabulous farms as well as a foodie populace has incubated a uniquely scrumptious restaurant scene. Among the many delicious options, I have favorites, and here’s my top ten:

1. Sushi Ran : The best sushi I’ve ever had was here at Sushi Ran. Not only is it the kind of place that has 7 different types of tuna on a weekend night (many from the Tsukiji market in Tokyo), it’s also the only sushi restaurant in the area to score a Michelin star. To fully experience it, be sure to sit at the sushi bar and order the Omakase Sushi menu. The amazingly skilled and kind sushi chefs will whip up the most scrumptious sushi bites you’ll ever have, including my fave from last weekend, cherry wild salmon with cherry leaf. Also, the back kitchen does amazing cooked plates as well, including a truffle, sunchoke, and crab soup I still dream about.
2. Frances : Melissa Perello is one of my favorite chefs, and she recently opened her own restaurant in the Castro. Her cooking takes Californian cuisine to the next level, putting together unique combos of fresh local ingredients, more so than other restaurants. I love dining at places where I walk out feeling “clean” from the food, not heavy. This is one of those places. I recently had her ricotta gnocchi with fava beans, morels, and green garlic- you’d think it would be a greasebucket but instead, it was the perfect light plate of pasta. And don’t get me started on her desserts, which included my favorite chocolate mousse in the city.
3. Mom’s Tofu House : This is the best Korean food I’ve had in a restaurant in the US. It’s a tiny place near the airport, but their soon dubu (tofu stew) makes the drive there worth it. They use tons of silky fresh tofu in their stews along with lots of other fresh ingredients, and they get the flavor without much fat, which is what most Korean restaurants have to rely on. Also, during the summertime, they have My Favorite Dish In The World, nang myun, which is an incredibly refreshing simple spicy soup, served chilled with buckwheat noodles and cucumbers.
4. Bar Crudo : Combine a huge artisan beer list with spicy crudo and phenomenal fish tacos (the best in the city IMHO), and you have a happy hour that is worth leaving work early. Also, their uni and avocado toast along with their spicy creamy fish chowder would make anyone’s day mellow down to perfection.
5. Universal Cafe : A San Francisco brunch has lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, with light eggs and unique combinations. This is the reason Universal’s kicks butt. Their fruit plate has a generous amount of seasonal local fruits plus a toasted slice of crusty sourdough, topped with creme fraiche, honey, and cinnamon. My other favorites there are their soft scrambled eggs and toasted banana bread with cream cheese spread.
6. Samovar : Chai shouldn’t be a super sweet, overly spiced drink- it should be a wonderfully creamy and subtle mug of goodness, and the closest I’ve found to that is at Samovar. Pair that with their egg bowl with smoked salmon, which includes two perfectly poached locally sourced eggs over tea steeped brown rice with a ginger soy sauce, and you have the perfect teahouse meal.
7. Little Star Pizza : When I crave Chicago-style deep dish pizza, with tangy fresh tomato sauce, oodles of melted cheese, and a crunchy buttery crust, I head to Little Star. Or more likely, I order their vegetarian deep dish for pickup, and then have the perfect Sunday watching football/baseball/ice hockey eating pizza.
8. Pauline’s Pizza : When I crave a much healthier pizza, I head to Pauline’s and order a pizza that’s half their veggie special, half their meat special. Their toppings are grown on their farm in Berkeley, and combine that with a fresh thin crust and you get the perfect foil for unique combos such as cauliflower, garlic, and some-sausage-I-never-heard-of-before. And you have to get their house salads, which are also in funky seasonal combos, such as beets with blood orange and ricotta cheese on top of microgreens.
9. Fish : The best cooked fish I know of is Fish in Sausalito. Imagine fresh and sweet dungeness crab, over housemade linguine with ginger sauce. Or get their Saigon Sandwich over a salad instead of bread. They not only locally source their fish in a sustainable manner, sometimes you’ll even see a fisherman trundle in with a wheelbarrow on which is a huge fish on ice that they caught that day. I’ve sometimes been disappointed with their specials (generally with sizing for the price), but overall, it’s fabulous.
10. Slanted Door : I was lucky enough to taste their classic chilean sea bass at their original location… before that fish became endangered and the Slanted Door was one of the first to remove their signature dish from the menu out of respect for sustainability. I’m happy to share that the food has not diminished at all in their new location at the Ferry Building. I could wolf down gallons of their papaya salad, with a perfectly tangy dressing and crunchy onion bits, but then I wouldn’t have room for their delicate crab noodles or steamed vegetable buns (which is the closest to the Korean steamed mandoo dumplings I’ve found here).

As you may notice going through this list, the criteria that spells out an amazing restaurant for me is one that’s healthy (not too greasy- and yes, Little Star Pizza isn’t all that greasy despite being thick crust!), conscious of sustainability (locally sourced, organic, seasonal), and prepares dishes that I couldn’t cook myself after a trip to Whole Foods, Sur La Table, and Amazon.

What do you think? Any I missed? Any other plates you’d recommend?

In my quest for healthy yet filling and cheap yet delicious snacks, I have happened upon The One: the roasted sweet potato. I just slow roasted one in the office’s toaster oven (bogarting it for an hour and a half, but who toasts after noon?), and I am now contentedly stuffed with nutrients simmering happily in me belly. For less than a dollar. And less than 160 calories.

So to all of you fellow chronic hungrys out there, here is my list of wholesome snacks that fill you up without making you feel cheap and lousy:

• the sweet potato
• the hard-boiled egg
• the non-fat european-style yogurt
• the banana
• the oat biscuit (nairn’s in particular; the fruit and berries flavor especially)
• the buckwheat tea (okay, this is a bit cheating since you’d still feel hungry afterwards, but it staves off pangs for a little bit)
• the Annie Chun’s noodle bowl (korean kimchi rocks; hot and sour blows)