Szechuan Delicacy: Hot and Spicy Pork Shoulders

As a lover of spicy food, I revel in Szechuan cuisine, especially the Hot and Spicy Pork Shoulders ($16.95) at China Village in Albany (Pictured in the forefront).

The meat from the pork shoulder falls right off the bone, as it is cooked for 6 to 8 hours and braised to perfection. You can alter the level of spiciness to your taste. It's best paired with plain white rice as the sauce of this pork dish is rich with spices, bok choy, chili peppers, and star anise.

Another notable item on the menu is the Szechuan Style Spicy Beef ($9.95, pictured upper left from the pork shoulder). Dry-cooked and spicy, you'll find yourself using your chopsticks to pick out those delectable bits of beef among the red chili and green beans.



Location: 1335 Solano Avenue, Albany

Sunday-Tuesday: 11am-9:30pm 

Wednesday-Thursday: 11am-10pm

Friday-Saturday: 11am-11:30pm

Loco for Taqueria Los Gallos Express

An all-you-can-eat chips and salsa bar is probably my favorite (and most lethal) aspect of authentic Mexican restaurants.

At Taqueria Los Gallos Express, you can eat in and find yourself constantly going back and forth for more of this addictive luxury or while waiting for your take-out order, stuff tiny pastry bags to the brim with crispy, shiny, freshly made tortilla chips.

I went to one of their four locations in Concord, which sits on a stretch of fast food joints and restaurants that will satisfy your hunger for anything without burning a hole in your wallet...but if cheap authenticity is what you seek, then this restaurant is a solution. 

At Los Gallos, you can get a lunch special with your choice of a main component (quesadilla, taco, crispy taco, tamale, or enchilada) on a plate alongside beans and Mexican rice plus a soft drink for $4.99. 

Pictured on the left is the Tamale lunch special. With this combination, they can only offer it to be filled with chicken but regardless, you'll devour the fresh, flavorful, comforting food that I, personally, had severely missed while living in France. I'm still making up for it. I heart tamales. I kind of wish I could have taken pleasure in unwrapping a tamale from its steaming husk. 

The Taco lunch special, shown right with Al Pastor, is just as satisfying. With there just being one taco, a lot of meat is piled on top of it -- something that no one can ever complain about. 

Both dishes also give you more reason to get those amazing chips to sop up any soupy, beany remnants. 

Locations (and they're referred to by number, I went to #4): 

#1: 1950A Grant Street, Concord 

#2: 2118 Willow Pass Road, Concord

#3: 1974 Contra Costa Boulevard, Pleasant Hill 

#4: 4350 Clayton Road Suite A, Concord 

Light Lunch Fare: The Musical Offering Café and Bistro

The Musical Offering Café and Bistro is a short cry from the south side of the Cal Campus. They offer a selection of morning baked goods, espresso drinks, salads, and sandwiches. Sounds awfully a lot like a Starbucks layout, right? Think again. This establishment is actually part-restaurant and part-classical CD store, and is sometimes used as a venue for academic talks (famed social anthropologist and UC Berkeley professor Judith Butler has spoken here before).

Pictured on the right is the Roasted Eggplant and Caramelized Onion ($7.50) sandwich with Provolone cheese, balsamic dressing, and tomato. It's served with a small green salad. The flavors are well-balanced and the ingredients are incredibly fresh. It's the perfect size for a light lunch, one that you can savor for while. 


Their Tuna Niçoise ($8.50), also pictured, is quite substantial, with a half a cup of tuna placed in the middle of a melange of Blue Lake green beans, white beans, tomatoes, capers, Kalamata olives, garden greens, and red vinaigrette dressing. A small sprinkle of lemon brings out a perfect harmony of the flavors. 

Location: 
2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
Monday 8am-5pm
Tuesday- Friday 8am-8 pm
Saturday 11:30am-8pm
Sunday 11:30am-5pm

Autumn in San Francisco Calls For a Warm Specialty's Cookie

Sometimes we find ourselves walking around San Francisco and are succumbed to the fog and biting wind that autumn brings. We escape the cold to grab a cup of coffee most of the time, but sprinkled throughout the city is Specialty's Café and Bakery. Though they serve soups, salads, and sandwiches, they are famously known for their incredibly fresh selection of heftily dolloped cookies. 

With seven locations in San Francisco, you can run into one easily if you're in the downtown area. They also have stores all over other parts of the Bay Area and southern California. 

With this many locations you can find out which store has the freshest cookies by checking out their website's Cookie Radar. I found this out when I accessed their mobile site on my iPhone. What's additionally amazing is the fact that you can narrow it down to where your favorite cookie is hot off the press.


Speaking of which, it's hard to choose a favorite but the ones that tops my list of favorites would have to be the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip and Milk Chocolate Chip. Pictured on the right is the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip cookie. Notice how the chips melt all over the paper. Imagine that in your mouth. It's pure magic. Wash it all down with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee, and you're all set to continue your chilly trek in the city. This isn't Mrs. Field's. You'll probably even forget her existence after you've had a bite out of Specialty's.

The Peanut Butter and Snickerdoodle are excellent as well.




San Francisco Locations: 

22 Battery Street
500 Howard Street
101 New Montgomery Street
369 Pine Street
1 Post Street
505 Sansome Street
150 Spear Street 


For other locations, refer to their website.
 

Tartine: Nom Nom Nostalgia

I first heard about Tartine Bakery & Cafe from my lovely editor Anne while I was an intern at California magazine. She raved about their Lemon Cream Tart, and given that she is quite the foodie and I forever have a hankering for French boulangerie/pâtisserie fare, I had to go check it out. 

Tartine is owned by a chef couple, Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson. They both share their culinary experience from France through their rustic goods -- wood fired brick oven breads, French pastries, and savory quiches. This bakery was established in 2002,and their talents earned them James Beard Award nominations in 2006 and 2007, before finally winning the award in 2008. 


Upon arriving at Tartine, there is a line out the door. It's not a big establishment and it's rather cramped inside but it all looks like a good sign for a great find. 


You pay for expertise and quality here, so be prepared. 

For instance, the Lemon Cream Tart is $6.25. Yep, the little beauties pictured on the right. But it's worth every penny. It's wonderfully tart and that tartness is cut really well by the small dollop of whipped cream. An edible flower petal is an adorable added touch that tops off this insanely perfect dessert. 

I wanted to see how their Croissants stack up. And it's pretty much this: Parisian croissants on steroids. At $3.75 each, it's well worth the buttery, flaky goodness that I came to appreciate while living in Paris. Every bite took me back to those days.

The Valrhona chocolate-clad Friand ($2.90) is petite but richly dark and indulgent. You can't help but feel sinister when you take your first bite into it. 









What I look forward to trying next time: 
 

Croque Monsieur ($9.75) 

Quiche ($4.75 per slice) 

Location:

600 Guerrero Street, San Francisco

Monday 8am-7pm/ Tuesday, Wednesday 7:30am-7pm/ Thursday, Friday 7:30am-8pm/ Saturday 8am-8pm/ Sunday 9am-8pm

  

My Trucks of Choice at Off the Grid

Off the Grid is a food truck meetup event that happens every Friday evening at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. It started last fall and has been a hit ever since, including their smaller installments at the Ferry Building, Civic Center, North Berkeley, and San Mateo.

It can be incredibly windy at Fort Mason, seeing that it is by the Bay. There aren't many seats available within the food truck circle, but there are picnic tables just beyond it for bigger parties. A lot of families arrive and stay during the first part of the evening, and then trickle out as the sun goes down and the younger crowd moves in. It's a great place to meet with friends, or run into new people who share your love of food and the food truck movement. Live music varies every week as well.

Pictured on the left are Sisig Nachos from the truck Senor Sisig. Filipino food never really has made itself very prominent in the culinary limelight, but luckily its cuisine is very food truck-able. Sisig is cubed pork marinated in vinegar that has been broiled and fried. Turning it into a nachos dish is just genius. They top it off with jalapenos, tomatoes, sour cream, guacomole, cheese, and french fries. It's the perfect hangover food. ($9)

JapaCurry offers a delicious Tonkatsu Curry, and at $8, it's a great value. Tonkatsu is breaded and fried chicken or pork cutlets. You wouldn't want to waste the spicy green curry (you can go mild if you'd like) and will probably find yourself drenching the rice in it. Most food trucks offer small portions for a pushy price, but this definitely plays fair. 

El Porteño has great empanadas. $4 gets you a Pollo Empanada, whereas $5 gets you Carne or Jamon y 
Queso. My favorite is their chicken (pollo) empanada, which is filled with Fulton Valley all-natural chicken, chicken chorizo, raisins, and olives.

Location: Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, every Friday from 5pm to 10pm 

Buy Right: Bi-Rite Gourmet Organic Ice Cream

My parents swung by Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco and brought back two incredibly delectable pints of Salted Caramel and Strawberry Balsamic ice cream. They are $8 a pop, but worth every bit. Across the street from the market is the Bi-Rite Creamery, which constantly garners a line around the block. But if you've had and know what you want and want to bring your favorite flavor back with you, head to the market. They use sustainable, organic ingredients in their handcrafted small batches of ice cream. Pick up each pint and you'd be surprised to feel how light it is.

Though this is my first time having it and therefore I've only had both of the above-mentioned flavors, the Strawberry Balsamic flavor is by far my favorite. It's a creamy, harmonious combination of the classic strawberry flavor and a slight tang from the balsamic vinegar. 

Almost devoured. 

The Salted Caramel flavor is fantastic as well. Like the Strawberry Balsamic, it's light and airy but packed with an excellent, can-do-no-wrong marriage of salty and sweet. Combining this and the Strawberry Balsamic is not a bad idea either, in fact I encourage it.

Looks like we're leveling with the Strawberry Balsamic remnants.













Location:

Bi-Rite Creamery: 3692 18th Street (@ Dolores), San Francisco
Sunday-Thursday: 11am-10pm
Friday-Saturday: 11am-11pm

Bi-Rite Market: 3639 18th Street, San Francisco
Everyday: 9am-9pm