I Food U Food: Food Review Blog

Bay Area Blogger of the week # 63



Here's a fresh approach to reviewing food. Instead of reviewing the restaurant experience, I Food U Food rates and writes about individual dishes. You can even see how many times each menu item has been ordered which gives an insight into the writer's habits and tastes. As someone who is fascinated with what other people really choose to eat, and tries to keep a record of everything I consume, this is the fascinating kind of extra detail I welcome.

Other local blogs and food sites that crossed my radar this past week:

Feeding My Enthusiasms
cucina nicolina
YummySF
Word Eater
sf foodie
Group Recipes



PS Today is Oscar Day and I'll be watching it chez them. For the first time ever, I am very excited. Whilst I have worked on Visual FX nominated movies before, none of them has ever actually won the gold statue. This year two of the movies I worked on - both Pirates and Poseidon - have a chance. If Superman Returns wins, I am going to be in a right old strop, I warn you. I am actually rooting for Pirates to come up trumps because Fred worked on that too which means we'll be able to have a double celebration.

Archives
2005 | A Food Quiz


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

I Food U Food: Food Review Blog

Good News re SF Blog Restaurant Reviews

And Bay Area Blogger of the Week # 62

"but I suspect you could melt some decent fontina over dog food and make yourself a nice meal" (A few reservations on Wichcraft)


A Few Reservations is a new local blog writing about dining out in San Francisco from a non-meat-eating point of view...

Even in my beloved left-wing, local-produce, low-mileage, Alice Waters-worshiping city, it's tough to find a genuinely exquisite vegetarian meal. Especially if you're dining out with non-veg friends. So out of the vegetarian ghetto and into the mainstream I go, delicately picking my way across the city's best menus. It's one thing to review a restaurant when you can eat everything they offer. It's another to test the mettle of their solitary "alternatives". Be warned, though. I'm gonna eat some fish along the way. Because there are times when I just can't hack another night of Pasta Primavera.

Do You Blog San Francisco Restaurant Reviews?
Then You Need BlogSoop!

In 2006, Doug at BlogSoop started to build a comprehensive site for food blogs and restaurant reviews. BlogSoop's database of nearly 5000 restaurant reviews, created by tracking over 100 blogs, provides an easy means to access the best food content allowing users to search by neighborhood, cuisine, zip code or restaurant name.

Currently limited to New York the site, which launched a couple of weeks ago, wants to add San Francisco to its roster. If you're a Bay Area food blogger interested in having your restaurant reviews included in the Soop, drop Doug a line. Details here.


I am beginning to lose track of all the local food blogs - there are so many now.
Here is a list of food blogs in and around (and missing) the area I've recently come across and which I don't think I have mentioned before...

Verdant San Francisco Vegetarian Food & Comics
Cooking with the Single Guy | Restaurant Reviews, Recipes, Seasonal Shopping Tips
The Short Exact Guide | To Fine Dining in San Francisco
Simcooks | Cooking Made Easy, by a Singaporean in the Bay Area
Project Foodie | Large undertaking by person keenly interested in food
YumSugar | Cook & Entertain with Style & Ease
Eat, Eat, It's Good For You | Food, Drink, Culture...Whatever
Guinnah | Vegan Cooking form Nancy in Lafayette
What Did You Eat? | The first question asked by my family on any occasion
Savoring the Moment | Cookbook author Mindy Toomay's Blog
Cafe Fernanado | Missing San Francisco :(
The Food Diva | Celebrity Chef in the making
Yogurt Land | See What's Cooking Here



PS It's the year of the pig? Every day is the year of the pig to me. Bacon, ham, salami, coppa, pork shoulder, sausages, more bacon... mmmm....

Archives
2005 | My Mum would love Tabla (and I miss it badly since I no longer work in Marin)



© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

Good News re SF Blog Restaurant Reviews

Under the Covers with Ryan Tate

Bay Area Blogger of the Week # 61



If Marcia is the Queen of Scoops in the Bay Area, then Ryan Tate must surely be the King. Ever since The Chronicle's Food Section's "Inside Scoop" column went down hill after the departure of its writer Amanda Berne, I have been looking to other sources for a more rounded view of local restaurant news.

Between Tablehopper and Tate's blog, Covers, which is in the business of writing about local restaurants and hotels, I've found a good balance. Since Tate writes about this stuff for a living, his blog has a drier less-gossipy approach. I'll let him tell it in his own words...

"I am a staff reporter at the San Francisco Business Times, a weekly newspaper where I cover hospitality and East Bay real estate.
At the Business Times, we aggressively pursue exclusive "scoops" through in-the-field reporting and extensive face-to-face networking.My reporting focuses on San Francisco's world-leading restaurants and hotels, which are fast becoming global businesses complete with celebrity chefs and owners. I also investigate political and business stories in the fast-growing cities on the eastern side of the San Francisco bay, including Oakland and Emeryville."

He's well worth the read. You are bound to find out some things that perhaps I already knew but maybe you didn't. Or let Ryan remind you about exciting things you'd read last year, but had completely forgotten all about. Or have him initiate a bout of depression with reports like this. If that's the direction San Francisco is heading in, I may as well move back to London. Whatever he's writing about, if you like to be one step ahead of the gossip, add his blog to your RSS reader right away.



PS - Do we have room for another San Francisco-based Dining and Gossip Blog? NYC-based Eater seems to think so. If you are a witty writer with your finger on the pulse of the local restaurant scene, who has always fancied yourself as a local food blogger but hasn't quite gotten round to it yet, Eater is looking for an editor to write and manage their forthcoming title, Eater SF. The job comes with some kind of salary and, I imagine, some kind of ready-made audience too. I'll be interested to see what develops from this since generally, unlike the Food Bloggers in New York who can come across as competitive and gossipy, Food Bloggers in the Bay Area seem gentler and more community driven. Which reminds me, I must wrap up this post shortly to attend the food blogger volunteer day at the San Francisco Food Bank...

Other Resources & Further Reading

I have split my google calendar (links can found on my blog roll) into two parts:

The first is a Food Events Calendar where I record details of any food events that catch my eye, like the 1st Annual Artisan Cheese Festival I picked up a flyer for this morning at the Ferry Building. Just because something is listed on this calendar, it doesn't necessarily mean I am going to attend the event.

The second is Sam's Personal Food Diary which is probably of interest only to weirdos who like to pry into other peoples' eating habits. OK, you're not weird, it's natural curiosity. Right now I use this calendar to make quick notes about restaurants I have visited and the food I have eaten there, and to list recipes I have tried out. When I am in a good place (January) I also note my daily food intake and if I remember (today!), I keep a note of my food spends because I want to find out more about the cost of my food.

Google's Calendar defaults to 'week' mode but I recommend 'month' mode for easier viewing. You can change the default under 'settings'.

Thanks to my friend Del who just emailed me to let me know her mother had contacted her with the news I just had a mention in French newspaper Le Figaro. C'est excitent!
Here is the quote she sent me:

"Sam,blogueuse culinaire basée a San Francisco,a trouvé un compromis.Sous chaque table chroniquée,elle indique le nombre de visites faites dans l'établissement"

Archives
2006 | A classic Fijian Dish - Kokoda
2005 | Music in My Kitchen


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

Under the Covers with Ryan Tate

Washington Square Bar & Grill meets...

...Bay Area Blogger of the Week, #60



Our new friend, my Bay Area Blogger of the Week, Beth Spotswood is funny and smart and gorgeous and perhaps a little brave given that she invited us, her previously virtual-only friends, to her Birthday bash at the Washington Square Bar & Grill last night.

Despite having once lived for 18 months only two blocks away from this old-school San Francisco eatery, I'd never been before. But I was noticeably impressed. Our bartender, who served us aperitifs was all smiles, friendly and witty to boot. And when the 25 of us sat down to dinner, everything ran more smoothly than I would ever expect from an establishment providing dinner for such a large and boisterous group. We were even allowed to order a la carte despite being warned to expect a set menu. The food is not revolutionary but it doesn't need to be. This is the menu where you'll probably find something you will simply just enjoy eating. I ordered a tuna tartare and linguine with clams which were nothing extraordinary, but Fred's succulent Asian Spiced Baby Back Ribs with Tamarind-Ginger Barbeque Sauce and Peanut Cabbage Slaw were something I might have to return for. His carbonara was irresistible too, I think I ate more off his plate than I did off of my own. The Washington Square Bar and Grill did a stellar job of catering for a group and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a destination for large celebratory occasions.

And as for Ms Spotswood, although she writes about Top Chef from time to time, I can't really pretend she is a food blogger, but if you live in the Bay Area please don't pass up on her witty commentary and her love for Gavin Newsom over at her hilarious blog I'll Flip You. Flip You For Real.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH



Washington Square Bar & Grill : 1707 Powell St at Union St, San Francisco, CA 94133,
Telephone (415) 982-8123

Local Resources
Other local bloggers in attendance:
Jackson West
SF_Mike
Eve Batey

Archives
2006 | Noodles? For Sunday Brunch?!
2005 | Scrambled Egg on Toast with Prosciutto

Washington Square Bar & Grill meets...