Arinell's Pizza - Valencia @ 16th - San Francisco

This place has one of the better slices in S.F. by far. Thin crust pizza that is one of the only New York style slices you'll find outside of Manhattan. There are a number of places in S.F. for sit down pizza. Pizzaria Delfina is my favorite. But? For a slice that is hot and excellent? This place is impossible to beat in S.F. Know a better place? Well, by all means tell me and I will be happy to check it out. Sometimes when I am on the bicycle and in dire need of a slice I will take a detour to get a slice of cheese and a coke. I know. I know. It's so terribly crass to miss out of a caprese salad or mixed greens with goats cheese. Yet? Yet, still. This is an exceptional slice and it pairs well with a soda... Really, it does. Don't believe me? Go and check it out. You will be stoked. This place has been offering bicycle fuel for riders in the mission for years and years before the first fixed gear rolled down Valencia.

Go there! The place rocks. (Speaking of which the place is staffed by local metal heads who will be playing Slayer and taking no prisoners if there are any antics at the counter. I once saw a pizza dude there chase some tip jar theif down the street after pulling the guys shirt off. It was an exceptional show of force and reminded me that it is not nice to mess with a tip jar. Tip these guys, they work hard. Try to rip off their tip jar and you'll get the smack down!)

Tonkatsu Tonki, Tokyo - Quite Possibly the Best Place on Earth.

Tonkatsu Tonki - Meguro station. Exit the station, cross the street to the left and walk down the hill. On your left side, past the bus stop, you will find a pachinko parlor. Take a left there and look for the entrance to Tonkatsu Tonki.

I've written about this place so many times, trying to explain... What is it about a place that serves only pork? A place that not only looks identical to my early food memories of 1976 when I went there as a child, but, yes... Some of the same people still work there. I am not joking. This place has Zen like simplicity and incredibly accuracy and consistency in food excellence. There is nothing like it. You walk into the doors and give your order to a man dressed in white. Behind the counter there is a process in place. The breading guy. The fry guy. The really, really old guy? He is the slicing guy. He cuts the perfect tonkatsu just before it's plated and served.

No time to wax terribly poetic just now. (This blog entry will morph as I delve into old essays I've put together for friends traveling to Japan for the first time) Suffice to say that this is *always* my first meal in Tokyo. I plan my flights to avoid Tuesdays (they are closed on Tuesdays). I hit Narita, take the train into Shibuya station and then cab it to a hotel. From there I shower, change and get right back to the Yamanote line for a quick ride to Meguro station. From there? Yes, that meal I can only dream of while living in America. There is great tonkatsu all over Japan, but nothing like Tonki's. The tonkatsu is served with shredded cabbage. Cabbage so sweet it pains me to eat cabbage upon my return to the U.S. You think I'm joking? Over stating my point? No. Not in the least. Sitting at the counter, whenever your desire, there is an endless stream of pickles, rice, cabbage and miso with fatty pork. You will never leave here hungry and each bite is cherished... The anticipation alone is overwhelming. As the 'oshibori' - hot towel - is placed in front of me when I first sit at the bar. Again when a bottle of Kirin arrives with those perfectly polished peanuts. Finally when they place the 'hire-katsu' in front of me? True religion.

Going to Tokyo? There is only one place that I would *never* miss. Tonkatsu Tonki. I've sent a steady stream of converts there over the years and sitting here now, far, far away? Trust me. The minute I book my next flight to Japan the anticipation of that next perfect meal begins.

The Rebirth of The Boulder Creek Brewery

In the early 90s I lived in Boulder Creek, a refugee from the crowded surf scene in Santa Cruz. Beautiful mountains with towering redwoods and a jade green river… An incredible place with a ‘lost in the mountains’ feel only a thirty minute drive along the winding Highway 9 to Santa Cruz. And? The Boulder Creek Brewery. Back in the day? The holy grail of microbreweries in California. I know. I looked and I looked hard to find others as good as this one. In the eighties the microbrewery revolution hit and micro brew pubs began to pop up all over California. Flavorful and potent beers were all the rage and The Boulder Creek Brewery was a small gem nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I moved to the area for several reasons. One of the most important was because I could ride my bike to the brewery and this seemed like a damn fine reason to leave the coastal fog behind. The pub grub was great and the place was always festive with live music and a friendly staff. When I moved to town I really didn’t know anyone, but with access to the brewery it really didn’t matter. The brewery was, to borrow from the British, a “public house,” and felt like a warm extension of my home.
Times change and places change. I moved to San Francisco and left the bicycle rides to the brewery behind. Still, fond memories. Any time I’d pass through there would be a stop at the brewery. Warm summer days and motorcycle rides would have a very simple destination. The Boulder Creek Brewery. An hour and a half ride from my house in Bernal Heights, but absolute glory on the winding, twisty roads through the redwoods. Nothing like it and nothing like the destination waiting with cold pints of the Lompico Gold IPA and a 'Boulder Burger.'
Over time the Boulder Creek Brewery changed. The food wasn’t as good as it was in the glory days. They’d often run out of the Lompico Gold. (which, considering my long ride from the city, drove me to distraction) The Oatmeal Stout was put on a nitrous tap (bad idea) and seemed to lack that rich tang of coal coupled with the power of diesel fuel. Yes, the amazing beer had changed too. The beers were once the best in California. By far. Yes, I’d gone to Humboldt County and then driven all the way to San Diego in search of surf and in the quest of the perfect pint. Back in the day? There was no brewery as good as The Boulder Creek Brewery. It was my little secret. Sure, you could go all the way to Hopland and have a pint of fresh Redtail Ale at the Hopland Brewery. Yep, they were “the first brew pub in California.” It wasn't as good as The Boulder Creek Brewery. It was glorious and then things changed. The food wasn’t getting better, in fact for a while it was bad. But just as I was about to write them off for good? Well?
Things changed again when Judd Anthony took the reigns as their new chef. Things changed a lot. The food at the brewery took an immediate turn for the better with Judd in the kitchen. Quality. Cioppino night? Fresh sea food. Really fresh and tasting so good the other night that I wanted to order more and more and more. I was not expecting this. I had kind of given up on Boulder Creek for a great meal. The changes keep coming. The specials are luring me back. Sliders, soups, and most recently the Deep Fried Prawn Po-Boy Sandwich heaping with peanut coleslaw… This has to be one of the best things I’ve had in a long, long time. Yes, it is that good. Yes, the food is now back to the quality of “the good old days.” In fact it might even be better. This new Po-Boy reminds me of some of the food I’ve had in New Orleans. Rich, Cajun flavor enhanced by the comfort foods that often come best when they are fried. New Orleans was where I once had fried chicken, a platter of deep fried pickles and a can of ice cold beer for dinner. Deep fried pickles? Something I had never heard of before this trip to New Orleans and, frankly, thought you would only find in New Orleans. You can not imagine how excited I was to hear that Judd put them on the menu! A platter of deep fried pickles with a spicy sauce? Ahhh… a bit of New Orleans in Boulder Creek? Absolute perfection! Menu changes with creole inspiration and perfect execution? Ahhhh, it really doesn't get better than this.
So, times change and right now times are looking really good at The Boulder Creek Brewery. The food alone is reason enough to make the trip from either direction. The beer? My money is on the Dragon’s Breath IPA. I still miss the Lompico Gold, the 'old school' Oatmeal stout and the seasonal beers (like the Belgian Whit beer they used to make in the summer flavored with orange peel and coriander.) But? Is the beer good again? Yes, it certainly is good. The new brewer seems to understand that in the mountains we like our beers strong. At a bit over seven percent, The Dragon’s Breath IPA is an axe wielding and fire breathing beast. Recently 'The Winter Warmer' was a stand out as well... Cheers to that and cheers to many more moments of brewing magic that will be coming out of the stainless steel cauldrons nestled in the redwoods. If you love beer and if you’ve ever dabbled in the home brew arena you should go there mid week and chat with the brewer as that heavenly aroma of fresh wort brewing fills the room with warmth and the promise of a potent pint. You’ll know it’s “the day” when you approach the brewery and find plastic buckets of freshly spent grain outside on the sidewalk…
If you haven’t already gotten the message let me make it perfectly clear: The magic is back at The Boulder Creek Brewery! Get over there for amazing food and fresh mountain beer.

Ramen - In S.F.? Go to Suzu!

Ramen. Ahhh, such a perfect and simple Japanese noodle dish in a bowl. I once heard the Japanese obsession with noodles to be similar to the world’s passion for pizza. Yes, perhaps... In Tokyo there is certainly more diversity in the ramen arena than I have seen in pizza. There is also that nagging issue of quality. Can you actually get a decent New York style slice outside of Manhattan? Real Italian pizza beyond Italy? I’ve tried and being somewhat pizza focused have found bad slices the world over. There are some countries, like Thailand, where I don’t even bother to try. Other places, like San Francisco, where I am continually on the hunt. [Pizzeria Delfina on 18th has got it nailed in a timeless homage to thin sliced Italian perfection] But ramen? Ramen is also tough here on the west coast… So, similar to finding authentic pizza here I have spent years of great frustration seeking out a decent bowl of noodles here often lamenting my time living in Tokyo where it was effortless to find exceptional ramen…
If you have not seen Juzo Itami’s film ‘Tanpopo,’ then you certainly need to for a better understanding of the Japanese noodle art. Ramen is many things coming together to form that perfect meal on a cold winter’s night. From the broth to the noodles to the thinly sliced pork and pink and white spiral of soft sliced fish cake. Ramen, with it’s diversity of flavors, ingredients, style and approach often reminds me of the diversity of Tokyo itself. Throughout the centuries Tokyo has pulled the best flavors, style and design from many countries to create an overwhelming and tasty whole. Yes, and of course many of my ramen memories come from perfect meals taken in somewhat cramped quarters enveloped in that perfect warm meal. The steaming cauldron of broth creating an aroma therapy which soothes, nurtures and heals me. Noodles are an undeniable allure. Ask an Italian what they think of pasta and you may notice their eyes glaze over as they wax poetic… Ask a Japanese about Ramen and you’ll find a similar passion for what may be more the national dish than even sushi.
Ramen, and it's unquestionable 'after glow,' is similar in many ways to the experience of soaking in a Japanese bath. An exceptional bowl warms me in a very real way that is comparable to soaking in a hot tub. You leave the ramen place just like you leave the tub. Warmed from the inside and with that perfect glow. Granted a good meal always makes me feel happy and warm, but the heat of the broth coupled with the spice of ‘shichimin’ keeps the warmth going even as I walk away from it’s source. Ahhh.. ramen.
So, where to go in San Francisco? Thus far I have found only one place that is perfection. Suzu. They are located in the Japan Center immediately downstairs from Kinokuniya Bookstore. The broth. The noodles. I am not sure quite how they are pulling it off, but I once read they make their noodles fresh daily. This certainly helps. One might guess that their broth is a closely guarded secret. If you go there I’d highly recommend the ‘miso ramen with extra chashu.’ A bottle of Sapporo and ‘edamame’ to start and you’ll experience perfection you’d normally need to fly to Tokyo to find.

Diving for Scallops on The Channel Islands

Fresh Scallops from The Channel Islands

Mike Skurko

The Channel Islands. I’d been thinking about diving here for years, but just never got around to it. After picking up a book called ‘50 Places to Dive Before You Die,’ I found there was only one dive site in California they recommended and that was The Channel Islands. The book mentions everything from ice diving in Antarctica to cave diving the sonotes of Mexico. From the Maldives to Wakatobi in Indonesia… Yep. Yet only one site in California? I find this amazing and I find this somewhat hard to believe after all the diving I’ve done in San Diego, Monterey and in the kelp beds of the Sonoma coast hunting for abalone and sea urchin… So, Wallin’s Dive shop is arranging a trip out there and I am quickly locked in for a three-night live a board on The Truth, based out of Santa Barbara. Perfect. Now, a bit of research…. They have lobster. They have scallops. Oh, this is going to be excellent! Typically dive boats take me to marine preserves. Beautiful, but you can’t gather anything for dinner. Tragic. I see all kinds of tasty things out there while diving amidst many of my favorite (and unwilling) participants in the Tsukiji Fish Market of Tokyo. All of my years of diving for abalone I have often thought about scallops. Nothing quite as exciting for me than rolling into an excellent restaurant and seeing scallops listed as the specials of the day. Day boat scallops. Diver scallops… Nice. Perfectly pan-fried in butter at Blackbird in Chicago… Memories of Hayashi Tempura of Tokyo and the freshly shucked live scallop held by Saito-san before he smacks it and presents the incredibly fresh scallop, alive and moving in his hand moments before dipping it in batter and then quickly into the oil before it’s served moments later. The best scallop memory of late…
I am thinking of this while loading my dive gear on to The Truth. Will there be scallops? Can I realistically grab some lobster as well? I’ve been told grabbing lobster is not easy. It also requites a separate fee and some additional gear. I opt out and purchase a simple “ocean enhancement” tag, aka the scallop stamp so that I can legally harvest ten scallops per day on our three day dive trip. We are all on the boat the night before our 4am departure. I find my bunk and am soon dreaming of panko and fresh, fresh scallops.
The next day I am up before the dawn and in the galley while the two deck gals begin to prepare our breakfast. It’s dark out there and impossible to see anything outside of the brightly illuminated cabin. I fumble with my new dive computer and it’s one hundred page manual. I was told this computer was “intuitive. “ I am having a hard time believing this. Coffee. I have, of course, brought my own. Pre-ground at home and now steaming in a plastic Melita filter. The smell of morning coffee is one of the best smells I know. That lightly acrid smell the assurance of a warm welcome to the day ahead. The day where I will be gathering scallops among the sea lions and towering kelp beds of the Channel Islands. Nice!
Soon we are well into the day after a full, and surprisingly tasty, meal on The Truth. Our group of divers struggles into wetsuits and dry suits. Tanks are attached to BCs and gear is checked and re-checked. I am in a two piece neoprene wetsuit. It’s a 7mm and is my standard suit for abalone diving. I am a bit concerned that diving with tanks in deeper waters will chill me to the bone. Oh, well… I am stoked! We are at Wilson’s Rock somewhere off the tip of Santa Cruz Island. We drop into the choppy waters. Seems to be a good current at the surface and I wait at the anchor line for my fellow divers to get in the water. They take way too long and I am pulled up and down by the anchor line. Finally we decend and into these jade green waters we go, now breathing bottled air. The sound of the regulator, almost pneumatic, hissing in and out with each breath. Into the fuzzy green depths. Down the anchor line into the waters. Visibility is not great. Certainly not the “upwards of 60 feet…” that the book had promised for this time of year. Nope. It was closer to ten to fifteen. Similar to what I am used to this time of year on The Sonoma Coast in Northern California. Soon I am at the bottom diving with boulders and schools of fish. Sea urchin are everywhere. Incredible. I’d like to bring some ‘uni’ home as well… Still, I am looking for the perfectly camouflaged scallop. Between rocks and, while filter feeding, a mouth of orange should be visible. The idea is to clean them under water with a butter knife. You slice the muscle and the shell opens for a quick cleaning. The deck hands assure me this is “easy” and let me take a kitchen knife from the galley. “Just don’t lose it.” I quickly lose it. Now that I’ve lost my knife I am starting to see scallops everywhere. Similar to hunting for wild mushrooms in the forest there is this magical moment where you really begin to see them everywhere…
I return to the boat with one purple uni, spines moving, and a scallop in it’s shell. This is only the first dive of what will be ten dives around the Channel Islands. I see harbor seals and sea lions and dive with ling cod, vermillion (red) rock fish. There are fish and the towering kelp that rise 70 to 100 feet from the rock bottom to the shimmering surface. It is beautiful here. I am focused on the scallops. After losing one butter knife I go with ‘old faithful,’ my abalone iron, and spend the bulk of my dives with my head under rocks looking for scallops. I don’t find many of them, but when I do, then the challenge of prying them off the rocks begins. It is not easy. Abalone are really pretty easy to pop off the rocks. The only challenge there is that you can only get them while free diving and so, well, you do tend to need to return to the surface quickly. With scallops they are wedged in and even with a tank of air it took a real effort. Each dive. Every dive. I went down there to see cool and beautiful things and to bring back scallops. Some dives I would come up with none and on others maybe two or tree. Back on the deck I would pry them open with skills I learned shucking oysters from Tomales Bay. Careful, very careful… If you slip it is pretty clear that the dive knife will stab into the hand that holds the scallop. The shells are also razor sharp on the inside and I did manage to cut my hands a few times from the shell…
After three days of diving and rooting around the rocks for hours I came home with eleven plump and beautiful scallops. Ahhhh….. Dinner plans with my parents. Dianthe and I roll over to their house with scallops in a zip-lock baggie. I’ve had these so often in restaurants, but never this fresh. Never from scallops I went out to get myself. This is the best. I pan fry some of them in oil with a bit of garlic. The others are breaded in panko and quickly fried in canola oil with a splash of sesame oil. Fresh scallops from the Channel Islands. Rare on the inside and incredibly tasty. It is amazing that it’s taken me this long to get to the Channel Islands off the California Coast. Abalone taste incredible, but these scallops? They are so fresh and so good… I really need to get out there again. I need more scallops!

The Cheap Date - Lunch for under $5

Not all food is expensive. Some food is quite cheap and tasty. Lunch for under $5 is not an easy thing to pull off. Really, it is a challenge. There are some options and I am going to find them any place I can from S.F. to Santa Cruz and back. OK, sometimes I will need to spend a bit more than $5 for lunch, but there is no way this will be elevated beyond the budget breaking $10 lunch. Sometimes these lunches will need to forgo a beverage or a side order. There will, most likely, never be anything for dessert. Sorry, but if you are looking for a cheap lunch you do not get to order the crème brule and an espresso. Nope. Sorry, this is all about getting a decent mid-day meal for as little as possible. Yes, if only this article were based on the street foods of Hanoi. Yes, I know you can get multiple courses and dessert. I know. If we were in Tokyo we’d simple eat onigiri or bento box snacks and get some incredibly sweet canned coffee… Or, for that matter we could get a bowl of udon noodles at just about any major (and some minor) train stations… Sadly we are not in Japan or Vietnam. We are in California and, so help, me there are lunches out there for under $5. Good ones.
So, I am in Boulder Creek., The Santa Cruz Mountain town, with not terribly many dining options. There are, however, some good options for the cheap lunch. The photo is of a deli sandwich from Johnny’s Supermarket. Yes, this fine meal did in fact cost a bit more that $5, but still at $5.49 with tax this is a fine meal. In fact, I have found you can even split one of these and still feel quite satisfied that you’ve had a decent meal. (and you will still have a bit left over in the collective budget for an Arizona Ice Tea (tall can’s are .99 cents) and a bag of BBQ chips (another .99 cents)
The sandwich of choice at Johnny’s is a smoked turkey with provolone cheese and the works. I like everything on these but NO mayo. Pickles, mustard, peppers…. Also, a very nice touch is to ask for bacon as an additional meat treat. Gives a perfect crunchy feel to what otherwise might be soft bites of turkey and bread. Always best to get this one on sour dough bread. Not sure why this works so well to accompany the yellow mustard, but it is a perfect fit. Do not stray from this regimen…
So, if you are in Boulder Creek (en route to Santa Cruz on the scenic redwood highway) be sure to pop into Johnny’s for a sandwich. Yes, I know it’ll cost a bit more than $5, but it is unquestionably one of the tasty meal options around here and you can, and should, take your sandwich down to the river and marvel at the jade green waters and towering trees. Ahh… so, nice to have a meal with a view. You can’t beat it. Hop in your car and make it happen!

Sociale - Pacific Heights, S.F.

I have been to Sociale once for dinner and twice now for lunch. The food and service have been consistently excellent.

Most recently I was at Sociale for lunch. I had an heirloom tomato salad with thinly sliced basil and the flank steak and fries. Simple food, prepared elegantly and flawlessly. The actual cut of meat was outstanding and it was lovingly prepared medium rare. Simple food is always a great opportunity to rate a restaurant. It really amazes me that it is possible to ruin a good cut of steak. Yet, I have seen this done. Or, possibly a worse offense. Is to ruthlessly overcook a really bad cut of steak. The first and only time I ate at Scopazzi’s in Boulder Creek they had some terrible hack burn the outside of a C grade New York steak leaving the inside raw. Was that intentional? Did the cook hate his/her job and every single person eating at the restaurant? I can only hope so as that might have explained the terrible meal I had there… Oh, well. Now, I am comfortably seated in the outside brick patio of Sociale. An oasis of calm in the busy shopping hub of Sacramento Street. A place where one can effortlessly spent two thousand dollars on a single pair of sheets with terribly high tread count. An impossible area to find parking for a car and an excellent place to negotiate terms for custom cabinets to be designed and installed. It was never an area of the city where I spent too much time. Now, I know there is a small gem of a restaurant I may come more often…
So, the food. The heirloom salad was perfect. Luscious, velvet heirlooms. Two varietals, both valentine red. A simple oil and balsamic dressing and the aforementioned thinly sliced basil. Complaints? Well… I grow tomatoes and typically eat them right off the vine. So? My tomatoes never, ever see the inside of my refrigerator. Ever. So, these were slightly chilled. Hard to say if this is simply a personal preference, but I would like my heirlooms at room temperature. Is that feasible? Possibly not in a commercial restaurant. The steak? Well, there are no other ways to describe a perfect steak. It was absolute perfection. Drop whatever you are doing. Put away your iPhone, iPad or laptop and boogie on over to Sociale. A perfect meal awaits.
The wine? On my first visit I had a Bareberra d’ Asti. A bottle of unquestionably the best Barberra I have ever had. A pity I don’t have my tasting notes within easy reach. You’ll find the staff is very well versed in their wine list and can help guide you to ensure a perfect pairing with your meal. On the following two lunches I had a single glass of Barollo and on the next visit a Chiantti. Both wines were picked by the waiter to pair with my meal. Both choices were spot on excellent. (my general rule of thumb is to always defer to your wait staff if you are not very familiar with the wine list)
The scene? Quiet, calm luxury. A late lunch ensures some opportunity to relax in the Zen like calm of Sociale. The wait staff seems perfectly timed checking in only as needed to ensure your meal is without a hitch.
So, yes. I will be coming again and again. Sociale has been consistently excellent. Three separate meals and three opportunities to enjoy fine dining in a plush setting. Go there and you will be very happy you did. Try and find parking in the immediate vicinity and you will not be very happy. I would recommend you take a taxi or ideally a Vespa Piaggo. Or a Lambretta 200 for that matter… Italian scooters and food generally pair nicely…