Food, food, and friends

One of the distinct advantages of coming to San Francisco for the Macworld Expo is the myriad of restaurants and variety of ethnic and local cuisine available. It is entirely possible to live here, eat out at a different place almost every night, and still not scratch the surface of what’s cooking in the various hoods around town. From the eateries downtown to Chinatown and neighborhood bistros, no appetite will go unsatisfied. Of course, with the internet, nothing is secret anymore so finding just what’s up your culinary alley at the moment is a breeze.

Lucky for me I have friends living here who know some of the more famous places, and a few great out of the way joints. I’d like to tell you about two of them in which I had the pleasure to drink and dine. Will Porter, my old friend who knows every good place to eat in the area, was my guide for lunch.

One of the oldest places is in North Beach, a neighborhood famous for its bistros, bars, and eateries. It’s called the North Beach Restaurant on Stockton Street. Don’t let the unimaginative name fool you. Inside is a sprawling place featuring a large bar and several dining rooms, with white starched table cloths and napkins draped over the tables. Specializing in Tuscon cuisine, each table is home to a bottles of fine olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

An older distinguished looking man wearing a waiter’s tuxedo greeted us after we were seated by the mater de. He was very happy to serve us, and proud to tell us of the specials for the day including the fresh fishes and vegetables along with the chef’s special. Another waiter brought us crusty Italian bread to nosh while we perused the extensive menu. Lots of choices in meats, chicken, fish, and pasta made the decision almost difficult, but eventually we opted for the petrole, which is a type of sole. It was one of the fresh fish of the day.

I had a glass of house cabernet which was very smooth and tasty. We decided to split a spinach salad, which they split for us on separate plates. It had a wonderful hot bacon and oil dressing drizzled sparingly over the spinach leaves which left it tasting fresh and smoky.

Then the entree came and we were ready. The fish was lightly battered and sauteed in a lemon butter combination. It was done perfectly. To compliment the fish, servings of broccoli and rice completed the plate. Each item was prepared exactly right. Tasty, fresh and delicious. Will and I were both delighted with the quality of the food, and the professionalism of the service.

One thing: It ain’t cheap. Lunch, for both of us with only me having the cabernet while Will had water, came to $72. Yeah, I know. But how many times do you get to eat in one of the oldest restaurants in San Francisco and enjoy one of the best dining experiences anywhere? Luckily, Will had a coupon he got off the internet. It was for $50 so I sprung for the remaining $12 + tip. To me, and maybe because of the coupon, it was worth every cent. I’d go back, but ONLY with a coupon, thank you.

That evening two more friends picked me up from Moscone to have drinks and dinner at another remarkable restaurant. I hadn’t seen Babo (Rob, but it’s a long story) and Linda since last year’s Expo. It was homecoming once again and I was eager for conversation and their company.

As we drove away Babo asked me if I was hungry. I was still satisfied, both physically and spiritually, by my extraordinary lunch, and thinking wherever we went was going to be anticlimactic. I suggested going somewhere casual where we could drink, talk with no fear of laughing out loud, and eat some decent food.

It took us a few minutes to find the restaurant and park. It’s not easy at 5:30 PM on Divisidero at Hayes, but we lucked out half a block away from the place. The name on the door was strange. Looking inside through the window revealed a large room with a very long bar. My kind of place. We entered “Nopa.” I found out later from our waitress that the name was made up by owners and chefs Lawrence and Allison Jossel. Nopa stands for either No Parking or North of the Panhandle. Take your choice.

We didn’t have reservations and seating for dinner wasn’t for another hour or so. The greeter wrote down our name for our future table and invited us to go to the bar. She didn’t have to ask twice.

The stools had large square softly padded seats covered in some kind of suede microfiber. Very comfortable. We were immediately greeted by the bartender who handed us a menu with all of the available cocktails and beers and a few wines.

She sure knew her business. She suggested a wine for Linda who needed a little guidance. With the expertise of a surgeon she mixed Babo a drink I never heard of called Sazerac, a mix of rye whiskey, St. George absinthe, and Peychaud’s Bitters. I don’t like whiskeys at all, but upon his urging I tried it, and damn, it was good. The beers available were from around the world and I was familiar with only one of them. I opted for the oatmeal stout by McAuslan “St.Ambroise”, dark and rich. We were on the way to relaxing and personal stories flowed like fine wine.

After a couple of drinks we were quietly and personally summoned to our table, again with real linens. We were then handed the wine list, a four page affair featuring bottles, half bottles, and individual glasses of wines from all points of the globe. Some of the bottles were several hundred dollars while others were in the under-hundred range. Half bottles were little more than half of the whole bottle, and glasses were anywhere from $6 to $10. Again, not cheap, but this ain’t Mogen David, folks.

The dinner menu was another story. Very upscale, which was welcome in context with the relaxed and informal atmosphere we were enjoying. Appetizers included marinated olives, mussels with tomato and grilled bread and aioli. We opted for the flatbread of house cured panceta, melted leeks and St. George. Delicious and bountiful.

For entrees I let Babo and Linda order. The only thing vaguely familiar to me was the grass fed hamburger. They finally settled on Moroccan vegetable tagine, toasted almonds and lemon yogurt; seared duck breast with green lentils, barhi dates, walnuts and mustard greens; housemade canelloni, ricotta, sausage, chard and parmesan.

I’m not a gastronome and I’m not going to go into a long diatribe on each dish. After the appetizer I didn’t think we could eat another bite. Wrong. The food was so well presented and delicious we could have kept eating if they would have kept bringing it. Every morsel was delectable. There was nary a drop left. We were sated and fulfilled.

When Kelly, our waitress, asked us if we wanted desert we just laughed and said yeah, right. She heard that a million times, I’ll wager. We acquiesced to “look” at the desert menu. So we looked. We oohed and ahed, wondering what the pecan tart with “smoke and whisky” ice cream would taste like. Then there was the blood orange upside down cake with green cardomom ice cream and candied kumquats. Since the three of us decided at exactly the same time that ” you only live once” we chose the bittersweet chocolate pot de creme with earl grey shortbread and candied orange cream, with three spoons. Oy.

When Kelly bought it I thought it was kind of small. But it was not small in flavor, and it was rich beyond rich without being too sweet. A bang-up finish to a bang-up evening.

Again folks, it wasn’t cheap. The bill came to about $150, which included the drinks at the bar before dinner and a glass of wine each with dinner. And it was worth every penny. After all, you only live once, and how often do you get to share that kind of evening with some of your oldest and dearest friends?

If these places don’t float your boat you’re bound to find something that will in San Francisco. My favorite city, for the food, sheer beauty of its architecture, and cultural diversity. Y’all come down now, y’hear?