Wednesday Whistle Wetter: Numero Cinq

Since I've been slacking (heavily) on the frequency of my blog posts, today I will take the time out to feature about 1000 different bars from those for the "food centric" to "dives," and everything in between. However, I will be cheating.

Throughout my culinary explorations and restaurant spelunking, I've loved the convenience and "quick fix" that customer reviewal services such as Yelp, UrbanSpoon, and CitySearch all provide when I'm in an unfamiliar place, or simply can't decide on what I feel like eating for a given meal. However, the problem with many of these services is that they often attract what I'll call, "one sided customers." These people have such a one sided experience, whether it be amazingly great or unbearably terrible, that they take to the internet to spew their uncensored feelings about how you should "run away from," or "immediately visit" an establishment. Not too often do you get the unobjective, bare boned and honest opinion of what to expect when visiting a restaurant or bar.

However, the people you should be looking to read an establishment review from are the professionals. Those who live and breathe food and drink, and who get paid to do it. Local critiques, writers, and foodies that can often be found writing for local magazines and newspapers are the people that you should trust. It only makes sense, right? Who knows the local area and has a more developed palate than a food writer for the San Francisco Chronicle? Exactly - no one.

The Oakland Tribune, East Bay Express, SF Examiner (just to name a very few) all have their own "food" sections with feature articles and professional restaurant reviews, however I've long been dedicated to digging through the San Francisco Chronicle @ SF Gate to get to their "food and drink" segment. Along with the inclusion of restaurants and bars from the entire Bay Area (from Berkeley to San Jose), the SF Chronicle also contains the Top 100 Restaurants list written by famous restaurant critique Michael Bauer - which I wait for every year like Christmas morning.

In recent years, the SF Chronicle has also written up a yearly list (updated every so often) of the Top 100 Bars in the Bay Area. With the drink culture just as prevalent as the food culture here in the Bay Area, it only makes sense, right? Here's the part where I write about 1000 bars at once:

http://www.sfgate.com/wine/article/Top-100-Bay-Area-Bars-Food-centric-3674577.php

Told you I'd cheat. This awesome list in particular is the SF Chronicle's list of Top 100 "Food Centric" bars in the Bay Area, however there are more categorized lists that I had no idea existed. The lists include:

Top 100 Bay Area Bars (general) 
Top 100 Bay Area Bars for Cocktail Masters
Top 100 Bay Area Bars for Beer Mavens
Top 100 Bay Area Bars for Spirit Curators
Top 100 Classic Bay Area Bars
Top 100 Bay Area Wine Bars
Top 100 Bay Area Dive Bars
Top 100 Bay Area Sports Bars
Top 100 Bay Area Tiki Bars (! Right?!) 

Now go out and enjoy, for your drinking pleasure. There's all kinds of bars, with even more drinks to be had and tried out there. If you have the right amount of drinks, who knows, maybe I'll see one of your drunken 1-star or 5-star reviews on Yelp later this weekend.

Cheers!

Bay Area Weather, BBQs, and Bread Salad

For the first time since Summer officially started, I think this past week was maybe the most "summer-esque" weather we've gotten so far here in the Bay Area. Cloudless, wind free, moderately warm California weather that we all take for granted has made its return, while Middle America roasts in triple digit weather and the East tries (but fails) to escape the dreaded humidity. For us Californians, warm weather really translates to less motivation to work and more outdoor fun, however, through the eyes of a food obsessed pit of hunger (my stomach), all summer means is a season of fresh fruit and BBQs.

The Chung house took advantage of the BBQ weather this past weekend as I spent what felt like my life savings at the local Farmers Market, buying pound after pound of fruit. From strawberries to apricots and literally ~3 pounds of cherries, I spent money like I actually had a savings to brag about, all before I even got to vegetables.

With my arms sore from carrying fruit, and my wallet light from...being used, I started talking to a vendor about how awesome and easy BBQ-ing is. We started talking about how anything and everything tastes great after being BBQ-ed, even fruit and vegetables. In a combined pitch at trying to get me to buy his vegetables, as well as a genuine attempt at continuing our conversation, he started telling me about how I should try to make Panzanella, an Italian bread and vegetable salad. Obviously I was intrigued.

Long story short, I arrived home with just as many vegetables as fruits and a determination to make and try Panzanella. Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients
Good olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 large ripe tomato, cut into 1-inch cubes
10 large basil leaves
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1 red onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 3 large pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 3 large pieces
1/2 small ficelle, cut into 1-inch thick slices


Directions
Prepare a charcoal grill with hot coals. Brush the grilling rack with olive oil.

In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, mustard, vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

Place the cucumber, tomato, basil and capers in a large bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss together. Set aside.

When the grill is ready, brush 1 side of the onion slices and the peppers with olive oil. Place them, olive oil side down, on the grill and cook for 4 minutes. Brush the other side with olive oil, turn them over and continue cooking an additional 4 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the grill and place on a cutting board. Slice the peppers 1/2-inch thick, separate the onion rings and add them both to the cucumber mixture.

Brush the bread slices on both sides with olive oil and toast them on the grill until golden. Add them to the cucumber mixture. Pour the reserved vinaigrette over the vegetables and toss together. Serve warm.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/grilled-panzanella-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

This. Recipe. Rules. Not only is it delicious, it's really light as the dressing is made with champagne olive oil (a very unique flavor). And, grilling vegetables brings out a completely new taste as opposed to any other method of cooking.  I learned 2 very important things in this past week through my Panzanella adventures:

1. Bread salad, or panzanella, is something that should be a part of any chef's repertoire - home or professional. It's just too delicious and easy to not be, and can be cooked in any setting at any time. If BBQ-ing is out of the question, you can always broil your vegetables instead. All you need is a BBQ or oven and a knife for your ingredients, and you're more than well on your way to making a delicious vegetable dish. Speaking of which number 2....

2. I will feed my friends, family, and especially children (in the future) panzanella. Especially my children. If they'll be anything like I was as a kid - a stubborn, picky eating, handful - panzanella will be my trick to wiggle vegetables into their mouths. Even the youth can't deny its deliciousness!

Try this recipe. It's cheap and quick, and I wouldn't be surprised if you're enthusiastically writing about it after dinner (like me).