Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Farmer Brown & Coco 500, San Francisco

Quick Bites

Farmer Brown: 25 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, (415) 409-3276

My good friend Brian Sullivan has been busy designing and creating the very cool interior for new Soul Food restaurant, Farmer Brown. Last night Brian treated us to a very tasty dinner there. I am not going to say too much about it since Tablehopper wrote such a great review of it only yesterday and I couldn't put it into words more eloquently. It's funky, it's fun, my shrimp po-boy was very tasty, Fred's fried chicken could not have been more juicy and cocktails were totally slurpable. (Thanks Brian!)


Coco500:
500 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, (415) 543-2222

Yesterday really was my lucky day. Lunch was the belated birthday gift from a dear blogging friend. But it was more than just lunch, you see, we needed to settle a dispute. Catherine claimed last week that Coco500 just might be her favourite restuarant in town. I have no argument with that, having been there no fewer than four times this year, it's obvious I am pretty fond of it too. The argument, you see, was about which was better - their squash blossom flatbread or their new cured salmon pizza which I described, just after eating it for the first time last week, as follows:

"It was a really thin pizza topped with thin slices of lemon, creme fraiche (I think), capers and wafer-thin slice of fennel. They covered it with slices of house cured salmon just for the last minute of cooking- leaving it in the oven long enough only to gently warm it, the salmon didn't really 'cook' at all. Then they topped it with dill, tarragon, some little green sprouts, chicory, flat leaf parsley and celery leaves. It was so unbelievably divine, words can hardly express how delicious. I loved the way the bitterness of the lemon and chicory played against the softness of the salmon and cream."

Naturally we ordered them both and pitted one against the other. They are both so tasty, it isn't easy to pick a favourite, but I am still siding with the salmon, and Catherine still gives the squash blossom the edge. It's a tough call either way. (Thanks Catherine!)

Want to bump into a food blogger? Coco500 might be a good bet. Quite by chance, Catherine and I bumped into our partners in crime, Fatemeh and Joy, there yesterday and we know that the mysterious NS is regular too, although we haven't had the pleasure of actually meeting him just yet.



PS - Apologies to those of you who are reading Becks & Posh using Safari on an Apple Mac. I have received reports that on recent posts the type face is appearing to be very small. I have no idea why this is happening. I wasn't aware that I had changed any setting that would cause this to happen and since I don't have a mac, it is difficult for me to track down the problem. Thank you for your patience. You could try and use the Cntrl + keys to resize my blog in the meantime. Thanks.

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Farmer Brown & Coco 500, San Francisco

13 Comments:

  • At 21/6/06 10:15, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi Sam! Today's Safari report: the past three posts still show up with small text, but today's is back to regular size. How bizarre.

    I'm heading to Coco500 tomorrow night.... will have to have a little salmon vs. squash blossom taste test of my own! :)

     
  • At 21/6/06 10:23, Blogger Sam said…

    aha - thanks jeanne - that is good news because i did something differntly which means i might have an inkling about what could have been causing the problem. I dont know why it caused the problem but I think i have sussed what caused it.
    Excellent.

    enjoy coc500 and be sure to report back!!! Btw - i don't recommend doing the Coco500 pizza taste test AND Farmer Browns on the same day,just in case you were considering it. Too much good food!!!

     
  • At 21/6/06 12:56, Blogger Amy Sherman said…

    Going to Coco500 next Friday for dinner, but now I'm wondering is lunch a necessity too? What if the pizza isn't on the menu? I can't believe theyv'e been open for a year and I've yet to eat there...

     
  • At 21/6/06 13:02, Blogger Sam said…

  • At 21/6/06 13:22, Blogger wheresmymind said…

    Sounds pretty interesting...what type of Salmon was it?

     
  • At 21/6/06 13:44, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    thanks sam - followed your suggestions and had a delicious lunch!

     
  • At 21/6/06 14:15, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Thank goodness back to normal. You sound as though you are having a good time still celebrating that b'day. Its the summer solstice/ longest day here but is actualy not very bright.

     
  • At 21/6/06 15:40, Blogger Delphine said…

    need a mac?


    You are welcome at home whenever your want :)

     
  • At 21/6/06 20:11, Blogger NS said…

    Wow, had I known that four of my favorite food bloggers were under the same roof all at once, I would have shown up as well!

     
  • At 21/6/06 20:56, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Amy, never fear - there are always a pizza and a flatbread on the menu at dinner.

    That said, while I'm not a HUGE fan of salmon, I was totally wowed the last time they had the Harvest pizza -- fresh grapes adorn that pretty piece of dough.

    Obviously, it stands to reason that that is a fall dish and, to be honest, the only pizza I really adore there.

    Otherwise, it's all about the flatbread there.

     
  • At 22/6/06 10:45, Blogger Sam said…

    wmm- it is a house cured salmon - so it isnt 'cooked'. it is cold cured so it has the texture of smoked salmon.

    Alison - I am so glad you ejoyed it.

    mum - we are having a heatwave and I am wilting.

    del - merci beaucoup.

    NS - we were actually studying all the other diners wondering if any of them might possibly be you.

    fatemeh - you can't diss the salmon pizza until you have tried it. Catherine was surprised and impressed despite the fat for her it didnt win over the flatbread. I am not a salmon person - i hate it cooked, which is why the first time I had it I had to established that it wasnt cooked. If you like smoked salmon, lemon, pizza and slightly bitter salad greens and scented herbs , I am pretty sure it would be a hit. If that's your kind of thing It's so fresh. I really do love it.

     
  • At 22/6/06 13:22, Blogger NS said…

    Well, all of this talk about COCO500 has convinced me that it's time for another visit, so I'll be heading back on Saturday for an early dinner!

    By the way, Sam, have you ever tried the smoked salmon pizza at Spago's in Palo Alto? I first sampled it many years ago, and I suspect that it may have been one of the earliest renditions in the Bay Area. It was relatively straightforward -- smoked salmon, lemon creme fraiche, a bit of dill, and caviar -- but it was fantastic. I haven't had it in a while, but it remains my favorite version...

     
  • At 22/6/06 20:51, Blogger Catherine said…

    Hi Sam,

    I use Safari and this post was normal size this time for me too!
    Re: Coco 500, I had the Spinach with braised garlic pizza and it was really great! I'll have to go back and try the squash blossom - it was appealing in its originality. The Coastal salad with coriander vinaigrette was absolutely worth trying!

     

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