Nojo

February 12, 2012

It's been a tough weekend, full of allergy-induced sickness, boo. The only real fun thing I managed to do was check out the new Japanese izakaya place in Hayes Valley called Nojo. Nojo was getting great write-ups, so Will, Abe, Wendy W, Wendy C and I went to see if the reviews were right.

Here are the various items we ordered, including the pork jowl kushiyaki:

Salad of cauliflower, baby rapini, radicchio, katsuo bushi, onion and soy-caper vinaigrette:

Skewers of chicken drummie, breast (with garlic-barley and miso butter):

Miso soup with kuri squash, nettles and Shimeji mushrooms:

Gyoza with negi, yellow foot, meyer lemon and shoyu broth:

Tempura of Tree oyster mushrooms, sweet potatoes and meyer lemon:

Bacon-wrapped green onion (negi):

Chawanmushi with dungeness crab, nameko mushrooms and yuzu:

White miso-glazed trout with shungiku, and forest mushrooms:

Dessert of buckwheat and beer crepes with ginger-muscovado syrup, white miso ice cream and fuji apple compote:

Dessert: Chocolate caramel pudding with matcha cream:

Nojo sundae with black sesame ice cream, hachya persimmon and peanut thunder crackers:

I loved this meal, the food was good and reasonable. Fun to share, great vibe. My favorites were the pork jowl, Chawanmushi, trout and chocolate pudding. Yum!

I will definitely be back at Nojo.

Katharine's Birthday

February 7, 2012

On Tuesday night, a bunch of us gathered at Katharine's house to celebrate her birthday with a potluck.

Happy Birthday, Katharine!!

Commonwealth Club

February 6, 2012

On Monday, I got to attend an event at the Commonwealth Club for a luncheon discussion with FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.

Dr. Hamburg gave a talk, followed by an Q&A session moderated by former Genentech President of Product Development and current Chancellor at UCSF, Sue Desmond-Hellmann.

It was a fantastic event and it reminds me that I should keep better tabs on what seminar/events occur at the Commonwealth Club.

Hops & Hominy, Celebrity Autobiography

February 5, 2012

On Saturday night, Will and I met up with Robert & Sue Hee for dinner at the new southern food restaurant called Hops & Hominy. We were going for an early dinner and then heading over to the Marine's Memorial Theater for a show as part of the SF Sketchfest.

When we arrived at Hops & Hominy, we were informed that the water main was broken, and the kitchen was not allowed to cook until it was fixed. We only had a short window of time before the show, but we hoped for the best. Hops & Hominy is one of the few new restaurants focusing on a Southern food theme.

Thankfully, the water main was fixed and we could have dinner in time! I had the Fried Chicken with macaroni and cheese and braised collard greens:

Side of roasted brussel sprouts and bacon (notice a food theme lately?):

Will had the pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and potato salad:

Robert had the alligator po' boy:

Trio of cornbreads:

We finished dinner just in time to scoot a few blocks away to the Marine's Memorial Theater for the 2012 edition of "Celebrity Autobiography". In this show, comedians and actors read verbatim from actual autobiographies written by celebrities. The fantastic line-up of readers included: Fred Willard, Florence Henderson, Laraine Newman, Luke Perry, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Rachel Dratch, with co-founders Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel.

The show was hilarious, even better than last year. They read from autobiographies of David Hasselhoff, Kenny Loggins, Madonna, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, LL Cool J, Barbra Streisand, Cher, Mr. T, Dolly Parton, Ricky Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie Fisher.

Hi-larious!

Jasper's Corner Tap & Kitchen

January 26, 2012

On Wednesday night, Will, Ian and I headed to Jasper's Corner Tap & Kitchen as part of the 2012 Dine About Town program. We met up with Robert, Key, Wendy, and Kier. Jasper's Corner Tap is a new gastropub on the border of Tenderloin and Union Square.

Key had a little beer sampler:

A couple starters for the table, starting with some poutine:

The Devil's Egg sampler (romesco, "Caesar Salad", garden vegetable):

Washington mussels with chorizo, onions, fennel and cider:

For dinner, I had the Pressed half chicken with polenta, mushroom ragout, and broccoli shoots:

Side of brussel sprout petals with bacon:

Dessert of butterscotch pudding with cocoa nibs, sea salt, and warm chocolate chip cookies:

Jasper's is a good gastropub, and food was good, but not amazing. Great space for a happy hour!