Dish: Grapefruit and jicama with red cabbage, pickled carrots and candied pecans, $11. Great combination of sweet and citrus. Love this salad.
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Japanese eggplant at The Slanted Door in San Fran
Dish: Chue farm spicy japanese eggplant with green onions and coconut milk, $10. Sweet, warm, and delightful. And we love the fall hue to the dish! If you would like the recipe, click here.
Bobby Flay loses spicy chicken wing throwdown to Colette Burnett of Super Wings NY
Throwdown: Bobby Flay challenged Colette Burnett, a Trinidad native and owner of Brooklyn Super Wings NY, to a spicy chicken wing throwdown. Colette’s wings have been voted as “Best Wings in Brooklyn 2010.” So Bobby was up for some stiff competition. Colette was ecstatic, almost to the point of tears, when she saw Bobby walk up to her to throw down the challenge. That was perhaps the best reaction of a contestant ever!
Dishes: Colette Burnett made her Caribbean style chicken wing with her tamarind sauce for cooking and her signature dipping “lava sauce,” prepared from fresh herbs (not dried). To make the lava sauce, take a 1/2 cup of olive oil, 6 cloves of garlic, 1 cup of mayonnaise, 1/4 cup of vinegar, 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of sugar, cayenne pepper, and, finally, the “secret sauce.”
Meanwhile, Bobby made a Caribbean style, jerk wing with rum-brown sugar glaze. Click here for the recipe
Judges: Margo Lane of the Grill Village in Manhattan and Ramin Ganeshram, author of Sweet Hands: Island Cooking from Trinidad & Tobago. The judges liked both dishes, but preferred the authentic Caribbean chicken wings by Colette.
Winner: Colette Burnett of Super Wings NY. Congrats, Colette!
Spice Kit, best banh mi sandwich in San Fran?
Resident Foodies say: We tried out the banh mi sandwich place Spice Kit, which opened this summer at 405 Howard Street downtown. Will Pacio (pictured above), last from Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry, founded Spice Kit. Fred Tang is the chef and runs the kitchen. Will’s very friendly and the place definitely has a good, inviting atmosphere. We discovered the place after reading American Airlines magazine, which ran a feature on the best banh mi shops in the country.
Spice Kit offers French Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, Korean ssam, and pork belly buns. We tried out the roasted pork banh mi with pate and really loved it. The ingredients (cilanto, pickled carrots, daikon radish, jalepenos, cucumbers) are very fresh, perhaps fresher than your typical banh mi place. The pork shoulder is naturally raised and marinated in lemongrass and spices. The French baguette was perfectly toasted–crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside. You definitely can tell that the guys at Spice Kit put a lot of care into the ingredients, while keeping the prices pretty reasonable. We could eat these sandwiches everyday!
We also tried the pork belly buns, which we liked, but not as much as the banh mi.
Emporio Rulli, Union Square in San Fran: almond brioche
Resident Foodies say: Emporio Rulli is right in Union Square in San Francisco and is a favorite among travelers, especially from Europe. This almond brioche was beautifully baked, and delightful to consume.
Was Check Please Chicago’s review of the Ba Le Bakery on target?
BBQ pork banh mi sandwich
Resident Foodies say: After Check, Please! Chicago reviewed the Vietnamese sandwiches at Ba Le Bakery yesterday, Resident Foodies decided to give it a try. While the French baguette was outstanding (both crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, as the way it should be), we were not as impressed with the filling inside. The pork was a little bit stringy, and we couldn’t taste anything barbecue about it. The cilantro, daikon, and Jalepeno peppers were all good. Frankly, the sandwich might have tasted better without the bland pork. But, hey, maybe for a sandwich under $4.00 we are asking for too much! It is a bargain and definitely a great change to the typical lunch sandwich.