I just noticed a clear typo in line 2 of my post about Persian New Year. Nowruz, as the New Year, began on Sunday, March 20,2022 at 8:33am , not Sunday March 29 3033 at 8:33 am, as I previous typed.
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As promised, hee is the 52-minute audio of the KQED FM 88.5 radio segment this morning about Bay Area Cheese Culture with host Alexis Madrigal.
Guests:
Vivien Straus, founder and managing partner, California Cheese Trail
Jenna Coughlin, head cheesemaker, Tomales Farmstead Creamery
Miyoko Schinner, founder, Miyoko’s Creamery
Cecilia Phillips, coordinating producer and reporter, “Check, Please! Bay Area” TV show, KQED
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Aw, I wish you delivered a little further. It sounds amazing, but I work by Fisherman’s Wharf and live in the EB.
https://twitter.com/John_Birdsall/status/1505640452032065536
Known for its traditional rice cakes, the owners of Benkyodo in San Francisco’s Japantown announced their retirement and plan to close the shop after 115 years in business. Kenny Choi reports. (3/23/22)
Now, Imana is shooting for the stars by opening her first legit restaurant at 326 23rd Street in the spot formerly occupied by Daughter’s Diner. According to Hi Felicia’s Instagram page, which describes the restaurant as “vulgar fine dining,” it will be open Saturday through Tuesday. The Chronicle reports that “there will be one dinner seating at 6:30 pm. The restaurant will serve a $195-per-person, 14-course tasting menu with optional beverage pairings." Imana has described the food as “market-driven Mexican fare with Japanese and Spanish influences,”
Bar Comal is located at 550 Grand Avenue, Oakland. Contact comalnextdoor.com/location/bar-comal/, 510-422-6625. Hours: Dinner: Tues.-Sat., 5-9 p.m.; Brunch: Sat. & Sun., 10-2 p.m.
The couple says they would like to keep the bakery’s legacy alive and may continue to create some of the most popular Vital Vittles products while also creating her own items. “There is some relief that possibly this new business owner will be able to do what [the Trans] weren’t able to do, and keep it going because she has other products. So I’m a little more hopeful than I was like eight months ago," Schwin told SFGATE. It’s unclear when the sale of Vital Vittles will be finalized or when the new owners will get their operations up and running.
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Verna McGowan, owner of Calypso Rose, was eager to open a stand at Public Market — so much so that she didn’t look at any other spaces. A native New Yorker of Caribbean descent, McGowan will serve spins on Caribbean food, like fried plantains and oxtail stew made with allspice, orange peels and cassareep (a molasses-like syrup made from cassava root). Calypso Rose will join popular Public Market vendors such as Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement, Pig in a Pickle and Super Duper Burgers.
Calypso Rose is expected to open this summer in the Emeryville Public Market. The Market is accessible by the AC Transit Transbay Line F from San Francisco, AC Transit Lines 57, 29, and 36. Those taking BART can connect with the free Emery-Go-Round shuttle Shellmound/Powell line at the MacArthur BART station.
It’s not going far. Owner Toriano Gordon is opening a larger, full-service restaurant at 1500 Broadway in downtown Oakland, in July. The original location at 500 Lake Park Ave., near the Grand Lake Theatre and Lake Merritt, will close then.
Chez Noir. Opening summer 2022. 5th Ave. 2 NW San Carlos St., Carmel. cheznoircarmel.com
Calistoga’s Tank Garage Winery clocked in more than 5 million views for a video showing the staff cleaning just-fermented wine out of a tank and drinking from it during harvest season. In another, with 3.8 million views, the staff is seen crushing grapes “I Love Lucy”-style, an ancient winemaking technique called foot treading. Brasswood hasn’t had any videos go viral yet, but Marquez said those that highlight the beauty and uniqueness of the winery’s estate have done best for them. They’ve led to a few wine tasting reservations from new visitors who said they discovered the brand on TikTok.
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SPOTS MENTIONED
Dumpling Time Express
55 Division St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Dumpling Home
298 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Dragon Beaux
5700 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121
Tea Hut
1541 Sloat Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94132
Dumpling Kitchen
1935 Taraval St, San Francisco, CA 94116
Shanghai House
3641 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
SPOTS MENTIONED
Pineapple King Bakery
1915 Irving St, San Francisco, CA 94122
San Tung
1031 Irving St, San Francisco, CA 94122
Shanghai House
3641 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121
Mamahuhu
517 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118
Tea Hut
2815 California St, San Francisco, CA 94115
Garden Creamery
3566 20th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Dumpling Home
298 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Ken
252 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Naya Dessert Cafe
535 Octavia St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Urban Ritual
488 Fell St, San Francisco, CA 94102
SPOTS MENTIONED
Garden Creamery
3566 20th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Smitten Ice Cream
904 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Bi-Rite Creamery
3692 18th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Mitchell’s Ice Cream
688 San Jose Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110
Churn Urban Creamery
2646 San Bruno Ave, San Francisco, CA 94134
Polly Ann Ice Cream
3138 Noriega St, San Francisco, CA 94122
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You can listen below. Catch the podcast every Monday at sfchronicle.com/spicy or via your favorite podcast provider. I’ll also be doing a live podcast recording this coming Thursday (3/31) evening at 7 p.m. with mycologist and TikTok star Gordon Walker, which will be livestreamed online.
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Kinara Fusion Kitchen, [607 Geary St, SF], a Pakistani restaurant in the Tenderloin, came closest to the Goldilocks ideal of bespoke ingredients and a good topping-to-crust ratio. Part of Kinara’s globe-trotting theme, the pizza is served alongside dishes like fries covered in tikka masala sauce and crushed Takis and ribs cooked with tandoori spices. Each pizza ($14-$15) is big enough for two people to share, and the delivery version is even bigger.
…
Popular South Korean chain Mr. Pizza turns out pizzas like the “Romantic Combo,” which “captivates the heart of a woman” with its dinner-and-dessert toppings of shrimp, steak, sweet potatoes and streusel. Brazilian pizzerias like Capricciosa D.O.C. in Rio de Janeiro commonly top pies with a combination of mozzarella, gorgonzola, Parmesan and Gruyere cheeses and often include ketchup on the side for a la minute saucing.
Beyond luring people to Jade with bonbons and new confections — a line inspired by San Francisco will include fortune cookie chocolate bars — Fong also plans to throw events. First up will be speed dating, followed by potential mahjong nights.
Jade Chocolates. Opening Wednesday. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. 607 Grant Ave., San Francisco. jadechocolates.com
McGowan also promises a Guyanese-inspired oxtail stew and a couple of curries. “There’s a big difference between Indian curries and Caribbean curries,” McGowan said. “The difference is there’s a lot more turmeric in Caribbean curries than your traditional Indian curry,” as well as coriander, allspice, garlic and healthy amounts of cayenne pepper.
If she didn’t hit Swensen’s, her ice cream parlor list is incomplete. 
Black Sheep co-founder Sunny Kumar sees opportunity in wild game. After perfecting lamb — it took 2½ years to develop the first version — he plans to tackle duck and wild boar.
To make the lamb, Black Sheep takes animal tallow from Tunis lamb, a New Zealand breed, through a biopsy to understand its fat and mouthfeel. The company determines which flavor compounds it needs to replicate, and then finds plants that produce those compounds as well. Black Sheep then sources those compounds from plants, ending up with a ground meat-like product bulked up with pea protein.
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Ramadan begins on Saturday, April 2 and ends on May 2 with the Eid al-Fitr holiday, and the organizers of the Bay Area’s HalalFest have created a restaurant schedule for those looking for a place to break fast at night with an iftar meal, or an early suhoor, pre-dawn meal.
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Sad to hear that the traditional mochi shop Benkyodo will be closing down this week [maybe already closed?] Their rice cakes were excellent! Too bad there aren’t many in the next generation interested in continuing these artisanal ways (though understandable as it’s demanding work and not that profitable; even in Japan traditional crafts struggle to be handed down.)
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Janelle Bitker, formerly at the East Bay Express and SF Eater, is the new food and wine editor at the SF Chronicle. Also, they will be hiring a new deputy editor and food reporter soon.
https://twitter.com/JanelleBitker/status/1510000837363310600
Friday evening, Off the Grid food trucks were back at Fort Mason in San Francisco after a 2-year pandemic hiatus. Andria Borba reports. (4-1-22)
You can take the new bus rapid transit line along Van Ness to get close to Off the Grid at Fort Mason.
After several years and hundreds of millions of dollars, San Francisco’s first rapid transit corridor on Van Ness Avenue is officially open Friday, April 1.
Janelle Bitker yesterday in the SF Chronicle about Ok Deli opening this summer near the MacArthur BART station in Oakland.
The offerings changed every week, as he [Chef Albert Ok] converted classic dishes such as Japanese okonomiyaki into a hand-held format and added Asian flavors to familiar sandwiches. A riff on a Cubano, for example, featured spicy Korean pork and rapini kimchi. The pop-up operated weekly out of Mago in Oakland until last October, when Ok decided to focus on finding a brick-and-mortar home. That fall, Chronicle critic Soleil Ho put it on their list of the Top 25 restaurants in the Bay Area.
Ok’s Deli. Opening this summer. 3932 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. www.instagram.com/oksdeli
Luke Tsai will be on KQED FM radio 88.5 on Wed April 6 at 9:40 am talking about the demise of Chowhound. I wonder if anyone else will be on?
I’ll try to post the audio of the show in a day or two.
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Janelle, another vet of the East Bay Express, moves up in the world of food writing. Her father, Steve Bitker, retired last year as the morning sports anchor at KCBS radio for 30 years. Her husband, Jeremy B. White, writes about California politics for Politico’s California Playbook.
Her coverage of the Bay Area, particularly the East Bay, has been very good.
Congrats, Janelle.
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Many of the seders are on the first night of Passover, this year Friday, April 15, but there are also a number of second-night seders on April 16.
I think @zippo1 has posted about them previously, but if you live in San Francisco (or close by) it’s probably worth subscribing to Omnivore Books newsletter to get updates about events. They don’t bombard you with spam or promotions. Probably the best cookbook store in SF. I’ve been to 1-2 events and they’re generally fun, casual and well run.
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