Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant (San Francisco wine shop report #1)

Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant (a.k.a. "FPWM"), as its name suggests, is located in the Ferry Building nearby the Embarcadero Center in the Financial District. Owned and operated by well known wine experts Zachareas and Granoff, FPWM is a full service vendor of all things wine. It boasts an impressive array of wines from around the world. In my view, their strength is in mid-value range, say from $25 to $70. Although pretty much all major wine regions are represented, there is noticeable emphasis on California and French wines. If you love French whites, FPWM is likely to please you. On my most recent visit, I saw all types of vin blanc - Burgundy (especially Chassagne-Montrachet), Vouvray, Sancerre, Pouilly-Fouillse and Pouilly-Fume. California reds are also well represented, though pinot noirs (not so surprisingly) get more love than other varietals. There are good selections of other new world regions, especially Australia and New Zealand. There are even a fair number of champagnes and other bubblys like prosecco and cava, and a small section of fortified wines like port, madeira and sherry. If you like the sweet stuff, they have a small section of desert wines as well, including some low-end sauternes. One weakness is the italian section. On my last trip, i saw just one brunello (2002), few good chiantis, and some decent barolos. One caveat: if you are into really high end stuff, or classics, you are not likely to find any here. FPWM definitely strives to find the best value in the mid-range sector. It does not cater to collectors or connoisseurs of classical wine. You are not going to find premier crus top Bordeauxs, 2001 Brunnello riservas or even top-line super tuscans like ornellaia or sassicaia. Aside from the wine floor, they've got a nice wine bar where you can sample any of their wine or try any of their preset flights. You can bring food from any of the restaurants in the Ferry Building; there is also a nice artisan cheese shop (Cowgirl Creamery) just a few steps down the hall. FPWM also offers a series of afforable wine classes (usually in the $50 range) year-round, usually on topics like the basics of wine tasting and food pairings. They also have a wine club; i think they charge something like $38 a month for a couple of bottles. http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/ferry_plaza_wine_merchant.php

This is my first report on a wine shop. I'll reguarly post reports on more wine shops in San Francisco and East Bay.

A "How To Cook" book from ... Wine Spectator ??

If you've ever wanted to buy a comprehensive cookbook, one that does more than spew out a bunch of recipes and actually tries to teach you something about cooking in a systematic way, but have found those books (like the 7-inch hardcover published by the CIA) a bit unwieldy, you gotta get the September 30, 2007 issue of Wine Spectator, aptly titled "How To Cook." It tells you (virtually) everything you need to become an adequate cook, from getting the right equipment and putting your mise in place, to how to poach, roast, grill, bake, braise, steam, boil, fry and stew, not to mention toss a few salads and puree some soups. It's got a good section on how to prepare the basic sauces used in french cooking, and also a section on how to prepare, maintain and use good stocks, the key, in my opinion, to competent home cooking. And at $5, it's certainly a sensible investment for your kitchen or library. It's a great "cooking 101" for the uninitiated but eager.

La Farine opens a second shop blocks from my house!

La Farine, long recognized in the Bay Area for its fine french breads and cakes, has arrived in the Dimond District (where i live) of Oakland. I don't know the exact street address, but it's on Fruitvale Avnue, just south of MacArthur and across the street from Farmer Joe's. Their morning bun and chocolatine taste as good here as it does at their original College Ave. location. I've also tried their fig tart, which was just excellent. Those Oaklanders (yours truly included) lamenting the lack of good sources of food can now celebrate the newly developing food row on that block of Fruitvale, with the recent additions of Farmer Joe's, Pete's, and now La Farine. Hooray! http://www.lafarine.com/

Fifth Floor (San Francisco)

For my 35th birthday in september, my wife and i went to the Fifth Floor restaurant at Hotel Palomar (12 Fourth Street, San Francisco). True to its reputation, everything from the decor and service to the food reeked of unabashed, in-your-face elegance. With 35 being something of a milestone birthday, we decided to go all out and each ordered the 7-course chef prix fixe with wine pairing. (a cool $200 per). If nothing else, it was a long meal with plenty of variety. The deal with this "chef's tasting menu" is that for a party of two, you each get a different dish for each course! Add to this the 2 free amuse-bouche thingies, and we each got to taste a whopping 16 dishes. (and 14 wines). What a load of food. The food certainly reflects the restaurant's stated ingredient-driven philosophy. Simple and elegant, while restrained and expressive at the same time. In particular, the yellowtail sashimi and salmon dishes really let the ingredients shine through. The fact that we got two different plates for each course was especially useful when we came upon the obligatory fois gras course. We got served a warm fois and a cold fois, and i was saved the dilemma of choosing which version of the fatty delight to indulge in. Not even the fact that we were given a couple of pours of the lofty ice wine (one from canada and the other from alaska), rather than a sauterne could detract us (significantly) from the enjoyment. There were though a couple of not so memorable plates. The lobster tail dish in particular fell short on the excitement scale. It was just too bland and perhaps even unimaginative. All in all, it was highly enjoyable experience, and worth the big bucks. I'm not sure if Fifth Floor is on par (in my humble opinion) with the other french greats in the city like Gary Danko or Fleur de Lys, but a superb joint nonetheless. http://www.fifthfloorrestaurant.com/

Top Chef, Season 3.... Can't believe it's already over.

Hung, Dale and Casey. What a battle to the finish line. Well, sort of. After the early favorite Trey fell victim to fluky circumstances and got knocked out early, Hung remained consistent throughout the season. Casey slowly shed her image as the token hottie and asserted herself into the mix more and more as the season wore on. By the final five or six, it became apparent that it would come down to a Hung v. Casey battle right down to the wire. Also, lurking in the background as a strong dark horse was our coiffure-challenged, Sarah-Nguyen's-best-gay-friend Dale. To me, he showed the most raw passion and fortitude among all contestants, except for maybe Hung. All in all, i think the judges got it right this season. My only notable objections were the untimely departure of Trey and the belated nixing of Sara the "Cheesemaker." Gawd, has there ever been a more annoying contestant on Top Chef? As for the final showdown, i was a bit disappointed that Casey couldn't quite put it all together, but in the end, the big bucks went to the most deserving dude. This season also had its share of entertaining side stories: the Joy & Howie love fest, the thinly veiled character development of Casey as the attractive, soulful and likeable girl-next-door (when in fact she could get as downright nasty as anyone), the belated attempts by Hung to please the masses with his newly found humility, etc. etc.... I could go on and on. In the end, another highly entertaining season of the best show on TV. Can't wait for Season 4. Oh, by the way, you should check out blog entries by Anthony Bourdain, er, the "guy with the most enviable job on TV", on Top Chef. http://www.bravotv.com/blog/anthonybourdain

Whole Foods arrives in Oakland!

Last weekend, I went to the new Whole Foods at the corner of 27th and Harrison in Oakland. What a gigantic, sprawling, megawarehouse of foodstuffs. I was mesmorized from the moment i walked in. I went there to buy a few chickens and ended up spending 90 minutes looking around. The meat & poultry section was fairly complete and the service was good. They've got a separate seafood counter and also a charcuterie, which apparently needs some fine-tuning. I was trying to get some prosciutto. There was no number system and the service staff was slow and confused. After waiting about 10 minutes, i moved and just got some ham in the packaged frozen meat section. I'm sure the kinks will be worked out though. The wine section seemed fairly comprehensive. I saw some big reds (like a few cru bourgeois Bordeaux reds, barolos, shiraz), medium bodied reds (some rhone blends, a bunch of chiantis, a few brunellos, and a bunch of pinots), and a good mix of whites (california chardonnays, burgundy whites, loire whites such as vouvray, sancerre, puilliy-fume, pinot gris, etc.). I didn't see any chateauneuf du pape though, which was actually what i wanted to get.