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 [...]

  Notes & Observations from the Bistro IPA Fest: Pliny the Younger is the Apple iPad of beers – with all the hype, it can’t possibly live up to your expectations. Yes, it’s a very, very good “triple IPA” (if there is such a thing, but that’s a sacred cow for another time.)  Could I [...]

  Aaaaaaand we’re finally here. Welcome to 2010 SF Beer Week. The opening gala got of to a great start.  Given the number of events this week, I’ll be giving thoughts and observations in bullet point, line cook format.  Be sure to keep an eye on Humphry Slocombe and my twitter feeds all week to see [...]

Ramen seems to be the dish of the moment, and is getting a lot of ink spilled over its joys. And why not?  It’s the perfect “this economy sucks” dish, featuring a blend of the unfamiliar and comforting, handmade ingredients. It just begs for every chef to put his or her personal spin on it, [...]

Incanto’s “Leg of the Beast” dinner is like a tribal dinner, with a community coming together to enjoy the spoils of the hunt. It helps that rather than gather around a fire, we sat sit in Incanto’s newly redone dining room.  Still, the sense of community and fun that comes from eating family-style is great, [...]

One of the highlights of putting together a big beer dinner is getting to work closely with local breweries to select a special beer to pair. In this case, I was welcomed back at Drakes Brewing in San Leandro. Host by Brewmaster Brian, we had the rare opportunity to taste from their barrels, and put [...]

I’ve always found that food is one of the best ways to get to know a new culture.  So, in order as part of an immersion into the culture of Mexico (my first trip to Mexico!) Eli and I headed to the Mexico City’s San Juan Mercado – one of the largest food markets in [...]

Let me start with this: Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head are some of my favorite breweries.   They are two of the most successful, widely available success stories of the craft beer movement.  One is a bit conservative, one a wild child, coming together to brew a collaboration beer – Life & Limb.  The beer(s) [...]

My friend Erik Ellestad is a man on a mission: he’s trying to systematically drink his way through the entire Savoy Cocktail book, and endeavor that no doubt requires a strong liver, and a stronger dedication to the cocktail than I possess. But he isn’t like your neighbor who liked to  ”play mixologist” and mixes [...]

I returned to the scene of the crime at Mission Street Food this past weekend.  Chris Ying, who is one of the original taco truck cooks of the whole Mission Street Food enterprise took over the kitchen to serve Mission Stoned Food, which was described as “a munchie space station here to rain tender morsels down [...]