Welcome Back Trotter

Hidden amongst the alleys of North Beach 15 Romolo is hands down the neighborhood’s least chaotic bar. Its obscure alley location, and modest sign- unique given its close proximity to the mega wattage that defines Broadway St., make Romolo easy to miss. Most prefer its mellow atmosphere to the police monitored, stripper-filled streets of North Beach. But, if you’re looking for a relatively mellow night out, that may or may not end in arrest and/or getting pimp smacked, (depends on how long you stand on Broadway at 2 am) you now know where to go, just don’t tell anyone. Duck into the narrow alleyway, and just below the Basque Hotel you’ll find this simple bar. Its decor is vaguely reminiscent of a speakeasy, but the cocktail and food menus are completely post-modern. Chef Jake Kwan’s menu emphasizes fresh, local ingredients and is becoming what some might call adventurous. Its newest addition, crispy pork trotters are made from pig feet meat. Blanched and braised the meat is the minced and formed into a log. Made to order, like everything else on the menu Kwan slices two patties from the ol’ log, and pan fries these little piggies to crispy, golden brown perfection. The pickled vegetable garnish, made of carrots, celery, radish and red cabbage provide some much needed acid and fiber to this high fat, and likely fatal dish. Just try and ignore the chest pains after eating two plates of these. Survey says DELICIOUS. (415) 398-1359, 15 Romolo Pl.

Heart De-livers

It makes perfect sense that a wine bar named Heart serves liver. You might need an extra hanging around the newly-opened Mission District wine bar. This minimally decorated, but charming bar features bottles to boot, food done by Dogpatch geniuses, (and probably millionaires by now) Kitchenette and communal tables. The decor consists of whatever art is currently being showcased, and a wall of strategically placed wine bottles that lead the eye into the bar to a counter with a cash register where you order before sitting down. We order the Chopped Liver, chopped beef liver in chicken liver mousse served with schmaltz toasts and a tasty little egg salad made with parsley, olive oil and shallots. What arrives is a nicely plated loaf of what looks like påté, covered in aforementioned egg salsa. I also order a glass of the 2008 Muscato D’Asti, that is best described as a riesling soda. Fresh and fruity, it is listed as a desert wine but bartender Robbie, suggested it and if I know one thing its trust the man with a wine key. So the liver is palatable, virtually no “organ meat” taste. The crispy toast counters the mush that is all liver dishes. If kids grew up eating this well-spiced dish, liver and onions might not have such a bad rap. But, order it to share. I do not recommend trying to eat this plate alone, it is very rich. And, FYI, Heart serves their wine in mason jars. Stemware is available, but if you ask you’re totally “that guy” and no one likes him. <3

What's Meat Got To Do With It

In an effort to make this blog more culinarily diverse we are eating things we would never consider under any other circumstances. For instance, on a recent trip to Ike's Place in the Castro we tried the Vegan Paul Ruben. Okay, alright. So technically it's not really vegan. I ordered it with dirty sauce because, let's be real you can't go to Ike's and not get dirty sauce, thanks. There is the option, however of "vegannaise" for a truly vegan experience, but I eat meat and like dirty sauce, sue me. At any rate this toasty little number comes with shredded lettuce, tomato, red cabbage coleslaw, red onion, and pepperoncini stacked under a pile of vegan turkey, vegan cheese, and (insert spread of choice here). When I think of a reuben the main thing that excites me is the corned beef. But this sandwich, like most at Ike's, is really effing good. In fact, few people would even know it's vegan should you neglect to mention the V-word. Seriously, DELICIOUS. And, if haven't been to Ike's, you can't beat Tina there, but you can beat meat. 3506 16th St, (415) 553-6888

Hot Tots

The experimental bacon food trend still lingers on the San Francisco scene. Bacon popcorn, potato chips and cupcakes are but a few examples of the recent bacon mania. But finally someone creates the ultimate bacon cross-pollinated food and does it right. Chad Newton of the TL's Fish and Farm has gifted us Hobb's Bacon Tater Tots. That's right, tots. Like the ones found in the freezer section of the supermarket but with bacon, and not frozen. Chad's are made from whipped, not shredded potatoes with bits of the salty, swine meat embedded inside. They are rolled in breadcrumbs, and then deep-fried--in bacon grease one hopes-- to a perfect crisp. The texture is crunchy outside, creamy inside and gluttonous through and through. If you're anything like me you feel a touch of dieter's guilt comparable to that of a Catholic schoolgirl. But then your pleasure sensors take over, and any negative feelings you might've had just melt away. Hopefully, any extra lbs. will be just as easy to get rid of. These bad boys are served in a tiny cast-iron dish with ketchup and topped with chives. Survey says, disgustingly DELICIOUS. Get there early, you can only get them in the bar during happy hour. There will be no sharing of these tots. So tell your friends, in Napolean Dynamite fashion, to "Go find your own!" Flippin Sweet. 39 Taylor St, (415) 474-3474

Are You Game?

Dining in Vegas makes a Bay Area transplant feel like a spoiled brat. Eating out in this town, I am suddenly more grateful for local produce from California's fertile soil. Even in the "upscale" restaurants of Vegas the food lacks. Why? Not necessarily because the chefs are inept or because the menus are off, but the taste of flown in, pales in comparison to farm fresh. I didn't realize just how much until we discovered Tender, a new Steakhouse at the Luxor Las Vegas. It's a good thing this town's culture is centered around cocktails or else they might not have any. K.C. Fazel's wild game trio, a nightly special, is made up of boar, venison and antelope meats. I couldn't tell you what the meats taste like because they were all slathered in a barbeque sauce that masked the true essence of the game. Texture wise these dishes were all wrong. The antelope is extremely fatty, and feels like chewing chunks of lard. The venison though tough, is tasty. The sauce goes well with the saltiness of the meat. If I didn't already know I was eating boar I might mistake it for a beef steak, it's not very gamey. Overall, very disappointed in the trio. My initial excitement about the dish was reduced like pan gravy at first bite. DISGUSTING. 3900 Las Vegas Blvd. South, (702) 262-4852

Tomato-Tomahto

Sorry to have gone all MIA, but sometimes you've got to make like Casper and get ghost. Where did I disappear to? Las Vegas, known to some as Lost Wages where fortunes are sometimes made, but mostly lost. Nevertheless, while off the radar Disgusting or Delicious stays on my mind and without further a do I present to you a potato chip unlike any other. I discovered Zapp's Creole Tomato Potato chips in an AmPm on Las Vegas Boulevard while making a booze run for the room. (Well, actually a mixer run; we had plenty of booze). Spiced with a hint of Tabasco, the chips are thick cut and incredibly crunchy as chips should be, but a bit greasy. They taste exactly like salt & vinegar chips but dipped in tomato sauce. The Tabasco flavor is barely there, as these chips are not at all spicy. I feel duped. I got excited at the sight of tabasco. Envisioning it on chips had me daydreaming in the middle of AmPm. But, once I got these back to my hotel room I, like so many ladies in Vegas, was let down. Not disgusting because I love salt and vinegar chips but definitely not what I was expecting. False advertising to the max, but still good so don't trip, potato chip. 3873 S Las Vegas Blvd, (702) 736-1682

Sweet Cheeks

Randomly wandering into a place and discovering a new hang out is one of very few things in life that truly thrill me. This is how it happened for The Corner and I. Open from 9am to 1am on weekends, the newly opened wine bar, coffee shop, restaurant hybrid is a fresh face in the Mission. The graphic wallpaper, painted black accents and upstairs seating make The Corner an inviting and comfy place to people watch over a few glasses of wine, or peruse the internet on their free wi-fi while sipping locally roasted Four Barrel coffee. Both the lunch and dinner menus are extremely reasonable. But, to make the most of your experience come during happy hour and stick around for dinner hour. Ask your server for chef Alexander Jackson's off-menu nightly special for the culinary equivalent of a mushroom trip for the tongue. Tonight it's beef cheeks and oxtail served over garganelli pasta in a sherry-vinagrette sauce and topped with goat gouda. Taking meat parts that are usually reserved the garbage can and transforming them into something great is no easy feat, but this simple and DELICIOUS cheek/oxtail dish is just that. Though a bit vinegar forward, (I suspect from being soaked in vinegar for days and boiled down to soften the tough cuts), the shredded meat is flavorful, fork tender and chewy, but not tough, like a well-made pot roast. Paired with the sherry vinaigrette sauce sprinkled with a few carrots and oregano(?) the perfect bite is a mouthful of flavor combinations that just won't quit, even after you've swallowed. Though the mood of this place is somewhat silly, what coming out of the kitchen can hardly be categorized as tongue-in-cheek. 2199 Mission Street, (415) 875-9258