My weekend trip to San Francisco

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Took BART into San Francisco on Saturday, and hung out mainly on Market Street around the Westfield Centre.


1. Tom, please pack your knives and go.

I ate at 'wichcraft, a sandwich specialty cafe opened by Tom Colicchio, head judge on Top Chef. I ordered a 1/2 tuna salad sandwich and tomato soup. Ten dollars. The sandwich was "pole-caught tuna with fennel, black olives, aioli & lemon on baguette." It was quite disappointing. First, there was no contrasting texture, like minced red onion or pickle or celery. And Baguette is the wrong bread for tuna salad. Bite into a baguette and a salad mixture flows out like baby ****. Whole wheat or dark rye would be much better. The seasoning was salty, without an iota of sweetness for contrast.

A similar problem with the tomato soup. It had a nice picante kick in it, but the great thing about good tomatoes is the acidic/sweetness duality. Zero sweetness in this soup. Too salty. I'd much prefer the red pepper tomato soup in a carton from Trader Joe's.

For a sandwich shop, the tuna salad should be a slam dunk. Perhaps other sandwiches are good there, but this one gets a fail.

The place was minimalist, bare floors, tall ceiling, wooden rectangular tables for a warehouse look and feel. Hate it.

The only good thing was a lemon-coconut cookie I bought on the way out. It was top notch.



2. I went to check out The Container Store. Stores that sell just one product are kinda cool. For the most part, this store sells just containers. It made me think of George Carlin's routine about people and their "stuff."


3. I saw this older asian lady wearing sunglasses. I'm almost positive it might have been Yoko Ono.


4. When we caught BART back home, it was filled with Giants and Dodgers fans -- with lots of middle aged guys wearing baseball jerseys. The Giants had won 2-1. I wish Dodgers and Lakers fans would stay the **** in LA.

[Chuck Bao]

I have to humblely disagree with you there. Baguette and tuna go so great together. Crunchy outside and juicy inside. To be truthful, I come away from a meal that I didn't stain my shirt, it really wasn't that good. Yeah, I am that much of a pig.

Of course Dodger and Laker fans are pigs of a completely other color.

[texaspokieokie]

dodger fans are OK.

i've been one for over 60 yrs.

[C&CDean]

Fruity/artsy sandwich shops just don't do it for me.

There is one in Purcell though (well how artsy fartsy can it be in Purcell, USA?) - Janet's Eats and Sweets - that has some pretty killer chicken salad. Has grapes, walnuts, and a bunch of other stuff in it. They serve it on a croissant. They're proud of their sandwiches though.

[swardboy]

Why Dean, I didn't know you were part of the arts and croissant crowd.

[JohnnyMack]

Why Dean, I didn't know you were part of the arts and croissant crowd.

Not only that, but he smokes a lot of pole too.

[Chuck Bao]

Fruity/artsy sandwich shops just don't do it for me.

There is one in Purcell though (well how artsy fartsy can it be in Purcell, USA?) - Janet's Eats and Sweets - that has some pretty killer chicken salad. Has grapes, walnuts, and a bunch of other stuff in it. They serve it on a croissant. They're proud of their sandwiches though.

Count me among the artsy fartsy fruity types. And, I am going to have to try Janet's the next time I go through God's Country and Purcell, Oklahoma. Personally, I am just nutso crazy about smoked salmon with wasabi sandwich on a split bagel.

[Chuck Bao]

This reminds me of a very unfortunate meal that I had with my mom a couple of months ago at a Subway. We ate at the train station in Fort Worth. The menu was a bit perplexing with all of the choices. The very patient young African-American woman was trying her very best to help, but my mom was getting all stressed out by the choices and then yelled "I want white bread". The young woman to her credit just cocked her head to one side and asked "What?" Palm to face for me and then I gather enough wits to point out that white bread wasn't on the menu, but maybe Italian bread would be just fine.

[Phil]

Dunno about the sandwich place, but Colicchio's steak joint in Vegas is top-notch. You know how he bitches about seasoning on the show? The man knows what he's talking about. No salt and pepper on the tables at his steak place, because the food is properly seasoned from the kitchen.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Chicken salad with fruit and nuts has potential for a great sandwich.

There was this yogurt shop on main street in Norman in the 80s, across the street just a bit from Norman High, that had a great chicken salad sandwich. Grapes and toasted slivered almonds in the mix. I ordered it everytime I went there.

[Chuck Bao]

Dunno about the sandwich place, but Colicchio's steak joint in Vegas is top-notch. You know how he bitches about seasoning on the show? The man knows what he's talking about. No salt and pepper on the tables at his steak place, because the food is properly seasoned from the kitchen.

OH MY GOD! Forget about the tip. It is all about respect for the chef.

Do not ever salt or pepper your food without tasting it first?

I got into a really serious problem in Tokyo by dipping my sushi in wasabi before trying it. For the record the sushi chef adds wasabi to the sticky rice before adding the raw fish. If you add additional wasabi, you are basically insulting him and you don't want to do that, ever. I don't know Japanese and I don't know Japanese curse words, but I think I caught it.

[diegosooner]

I've always heard, "give the chef a chance" before reaching for the salt and pepper.

[olevetonahill]

Dunno about the sandwich place, but Colicchio's steak joint in Vegas is top-notch. You know how he bitches about seasoning on the show? The man knows what he's talking about. No salt and pepper on the tables at his steak place, because the food is properly seasoned from the kitchen.

God Forbid anyone grab that Freakin A1 carp

[Sooner04]

Dunno about the sandwich place, but Colicchio's steak joint in Vegas is top-notch. You know how he bitches about seasoning on the show? The man knows what he's talking about. No salt and pepper on the tables at his steak place, because the food is properly seasoned from the kitchen.
My Grandpa is a tremendous griller of steaks. His marinade is fantastic. Years ago, I asked him if he had any Heinz 57......

I have yet to make that same mistake anywhere EVER again.

[Crucifax Autumn]

Anyone who's ever cooked knows better than to ask that.

[C&CDean]

I grill a pretty decent steak myself. I have had some of the kids' friends ask for ketchup or A-1 without taking a bite. I always say "put the steak back on the platter. There's hot dogs or hamburger in the freezer. Go cook you one. You ain't gonna ruin one of my steaks with ****ing ketchup."

On a sidenote, doleo came out to help haul hay a couple times last weekend. I worked that boy pretty hard. Anyhow, momma goes and gets some Jo's Pizza to feed the boys and doleo puts ****ing ketchup on his pizza. WTF?

[Sooner04]

I grill a pretty decent steak myself. I have had some of the kids' friends ask for ketchup or A-1 without taking a bite. I always say "put the steak back on the platter. There's hot dogs or hamburger in the freezer. Go cook you one. You ain't gonna ruin one of my steaks with ****ing ketchup."
Yeah, see, I was about six when I asked for the Heinz 57. I've been eating steak correctly ever since!

:)

[Red October]

Take the BART to Millbrae, go to Fiddlers Green pub and get the fish-n-chips, and as many Carlsberg's as you can handle. Please tell them I miss them and hope to be back soon. Also, the best meat market i have ever been to is right around the corner at Kimberly's fine foods, get the lamb chops.

That was a cool place to live the short time I was there.

[texaspokieokie]

kinda like to be there now, cause it's nice & cool.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Take the BART to Millbrae, go to Fiddlers Green pub and get the fish-n-chips, and as many Carlsberg's as you can handle. Please tell them I miss them and hope to be back soon. Also, the best meat market i have ever been to is right around the corner at Kimberly's fine foods, get the lamb chops.

That was a cool place to live the short time I was there.

Thanks for the tip. That's nice to know about a good place to eat near the airport.