It’s happened again – I’ve fallen head over heels in love with a new restaurant – and her name is Frances.  Tucked away on a quiet corner on 17th street, just ending into the Casto, this tiny, typical “neighborhood restaurant” is anything but typical.

You see, the ongoing problem I have when visiting a restaurant is I want to try to order everything on the menu.  I don’t know when the next time I’ll be back is, and when I do come back – especially at market driven places – the menu will have dramatically changed.  It’s now or never.

It’s the top section of the menu at Frances that’s made me fall so hard.  ”Bouchées” are akin to small plates – nicely priced at 6.50, it’s easy to look them over, and just order one of each for the table to share.

A few of my favorite bouchées:

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My first underground farmers market, both as a vendor and attendee was great fun.  We sold pickled grapes and green garlic, and sold out of baked mochi and two kegs of ginger beer (the nonalcoholic variety.)   It was crowded, but everyone seemed to be in high spirits.  The door was well regulated, leading to one hell of a line around the block, and just barely enough space to move around inside.

As the event wound down, we took stock of what was left of our refrigerator pickles (about 25% of what we brought!) and decided there was only one thing to do: barter.   Which was great – we got cakes, truffles, bbq pork sandwiches, cupcakes, granola, bacon bbq sauce, macaroons, kombucha, homegrown beets and more, all in exchange for a few pickles.  This is the sort of participation and attitude that makes this event such a success, and such a pleasure to be a part of.

Thanks to everyone who bought our wares, and don’t forget to refrigerate your pickles!

More pictures:

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Every time I’m near a well stocked cheese counter, I poke around, looking for an elusive round of Cowgirl Creamery’s Sir Francis Drake.  This rare cheese is brought about by accident.  When a batch of Mt. Tam doesn’t set correctly (or something – I don’t entirely understand it, and the Cowgirl Website doesn’t offer any clues) the cheese is washed in Beaume de Venise (a fortified wine) and finished with a free currents on top.

The resulting cheese has the creaminess of Mt. Tam, but with a funky edge – not a harsh as Red Hawk, but with a slight briniess that everyone says reminds them of the sea (i agree.)

But what to drink with it?

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It’s just like latkes and dreidel, only porkier.

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While traveling around Mexico, we found most of the beer to be exactly what you’d expect – typical export lagers.  Thin watery, mass produced versions of classic lagers, dumbed down till they taste of almost nothing, and cry out for a slice of lime to add some, any flavor.

One bright spot in this sea of yellow is Baja Brewing, in the little seaside town of San Jose del Cabo. Nestled amongst tourist art and jewelry stores is a small brew pub, producing craft beers in the new American tradition.

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After weeks of planning, hours of tasting, and an unknowable number of phone calls to brewers confirming their beer would be there, the “Mostly Barrel Aged Beer Dinner” went off without a hitch.  As usual, Scala’s Bistro and The Sir Francis Drake pulled of this huge feat without breaking a sweat.

“Enough preamble, get to the food porn!” you’re saying.  I hear ya.  I’ve got a lot of pictures, so pour yourself a big beer, get comfy, and let’s jump right into the good stuff, shall we?

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More pictures from Toronado Russian River Night…

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More pictures from Magnolia Cask Night…

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The people have spoken, and they are saying: more beer ice cream.

Jake, Sean and the rest of the team at Humphry Slocombe have made some great ice cream, but they didn’t do it alone.  The local brewing community really got behind this experiment in frozen goodness, and provided the base beers for all of the flavors.

Kicking in the good stuff are: Dogfish Head, Speakeasy, Bison, Fifty Fifty, Valley Brew, Triple Rock, Drakes, Shmaltz, 21A,  Firestone Walker, Beach Chalet, Thirsty Bear, Lagunitas, Uncommon Brewers, Blue Frog, Trumer, Shiner, Bridgeport, Moonlight, Iron Springs, Eel River, Bear Republic, Sierra Nevada, and Magnolia.

Umm, yea.  It’s a lot of beer.

I am also very proud to be presenting my first show of beer photography!

All of the prints are available for a limited printing run for $40 each.  They’re 11 by 14 inches, and printed on matte photostock.  The perfect valentine’s day gift for your hop head lover.  They’ll be available for pickup at Humphry Slocombe after ordering – so no shipping.  Peruse the photos and purchase here.

Some of my favorite flavors to pass through the cold case have been: 21A Monk’s Blood with Figs, FiftyFity Eclipse Bourbon Stout, Magnolia Old Thunder Pussy and most recently, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid with Bacon (really.)

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Notes & Observations from MeteVeza’s Beerunch (Part of SF Beerweek 2010):

• I’m a fan of their Yerba Mate IPA.  Nice IPA with a delicate hand for a clean herbal finish.  Combined with the new attractive packaging, it’s a nice local spiced beer for the hop lover.
• The perfect weather continues to hold out.
• As Jeremy of Shmaltz pointed out: great biscotti, paired with Moonlight’s Burnt Toast and Magnolia’s Smokestack Lightning.
• Another topic of discussion that broke out at the table: pairing beers with vegetable-driven dishes.  Discuss.
• Fried crunchy things are always delicious.
• The add the correct amount of capers to smoked salmon, cover the salmon in capers till you can barely see it’s pink flesh.  Bravo on getting it right.   Also the Dogfish Pangea pairing was a natural choice.
• I’m seeing a lot of beer industry people at lots of events – not because they’re involved, but because they want to be there.  That’s the kind of attitude that makes this week such a pleasure.

Pictures from the Beerunch on the bay:

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