San Francisco - Alison Bing [120]
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TRACI DES JARDINS: CHEF & RESTAURATEUR
What’s so special about the food here? You’ll notice a lot of Bay Area restaurants proudly name their producers on menus, like we do (at Jardinière; above). Sometimes farmers introduce chefs to new flavors; sometimes we see an ingredient on our travels we ask them to grow. I grew up on a farm, and I really appreciate that creative partnership with producers.
With such abundance, why the focus on sustainability? In the past five years a growing awareness among consumers has driven the market for organics. If people are paying attention to what they eat at home, they’re going to bring that awareness into restaurants, and demand different choices: organics, fair-trade products, free-range meats, seafood that’s not at risk. This makes our collaboration with producers even more important.
What’s new on the SF menu? There’s been an evolution in the Bay Area style of cooking around local, seasonal produce that Alice (Waters, of Chez Panisse, Click here) started. Our food has evolved to be much more simple, with ingredients starring on the plate – it’s more of the Italian school of combining five or six ingredients perfectly, instead of an overly layered French style.
Unusual items spotted at local farmers markets? Lately I’ve seen a lot of Jerusalem artichokes, gem lettuces and all kinds of heirloom carrots – red, white and thumb carrots. We’re lucky that almost anything can grow in California, and because there’s such a high demand for specialties, some items that used to be hard to find are now really easy to come by.
Where do you take foodie friends? The Ferry Building, followed by a trip to the MH de Young Memorial Museum and Golden Gate Park, and Crissy Field for spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Traci Des Jardins is a James Beard Award–winning chef and a restaurateur at Jardinière (above).
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CAFé ASIA Map Asian $
415-581-3630; 200 Larkin St; 10am-4:30pm Tue-Wed & Fri-Sun, to 8pm Thu; 5, 6, 7, 21, 31, 71, F, J, K, L, M, N; & Civic Center;
Rest those museum legs on the sunny outdoor balcony, and let your tastebuds do the trekking. You might pause at the green-tea soba-noodle base camp, or head for the spicy Korean pork sandwich. Adventurous eaters attack hearty Tibetan lamb and lentil stew, nibblers chill out with Thai green papaya salad, and dawdlers refresh with green tea and Pocky.
DOTTIE’S TRUE BLUE CAFé Map American $
415-885-2767; 522 Jones St; 7:30am-3pm Wed-Mon; 19, 38; & Powell St; Powell-Hyde
Consider yourself lucky if you stand in line less than an hour and get hit up for change only once – but fresh baked goods come to those who wait at Dottie’s. Cinnamon pancakes, grilled cornbread, scrambles with whiskey fennel sausage and anything else off the griddle are tried and true blue.
PAGOLAC Map Vietnamese $
415-776-3234; 655 Larkin St; 5-9:30pm Tue-Sun; 5, 19, 31, 38, 42, 47;
Right in the hard heart of the Tenderloin is this inviting nook that’s all warm wood and candlelight. The seven courses of beef may be overkill for anyone who’s not a famished gaucho from the pampas, but the sugarcane shrimp and barbecued chicken are sublime. Pagolac also does a good pho with meatballs and bo tai chanh, lemon-marinated rare steak slices as extravagantly beefy as a Polk St men’s bar.
SHALIMAR Map Indian $
415-928-0333; www.shalimarsf.com; 532 Jones St; noon-midnight; 2, 3, 4, 27, 38
Follow your nose to tandoori chicken straight off the skewer and naan bread still bubbling from the oven; vegetables are leaden, so don’t hold back on the succulent tandoori chicken that jumpstarted the whole fluorescent-lit Pakistani restaurant scene. Watch and learn as foodies who demand five-star service elsewhere meekly fetch their own water pitchers and tamarind sauce from the fridge.
LAHORE