The Slow Food Guide to San Francisco And the Bay Area: Restaurants, Markets, Bars (Slow Food Guides) Review

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The Slow Food Guide to San Francisco And the Bay Area: Restaurants, Markets, Bars (Slow Food Guides) ReviewLet me start off by saying that the New York edition of the Slow Food Guide is superb. It's like the notebook of a few exceptionally informed diners, sharing their best spots. The New York Guide even bested the highly-esteemed Michelin Guide to New York Restaurants, released the same year to much fanfare.
After moving to San Francisco, I immediately sought the SF edition to lean the culinary landscape of my new home. My first experience with the book was not so good though. A dim-sum restaurant marked inexpensive (dim-sum is usually cheap!) turned out to be very expensive. My friends were upset. I was upset. I'm not sure if this was because of a typo or just bad research.
One mistake is forgivable, but the subsequent recommendations I followed didn't fare much better. Some picks were just lackluster and some were less exciting than restaurants I had found on my own.
So it was time to start leaning on my foodie friends to show me the best eats in town. When I started finding really exciting places, just out of curiosity, I checked to see if they were in the guide. Had I missed them before? Nope. They're just not mentioned. After a while I quit consulting the guide and have relied on word of mouth since.
To summarize:
1. Sketchy research
2. Bland restaurants
So ultimately, I'm confused. I don't know how Slow Food could produce such a good guide for New York City and such a poor one for San Francisco.The Slow Food Guide to San Francisco And the Bay Area: Restaurants, Markets, Bars (Slow Food Guides) Overview

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Savoring San Francisco: Recipes from the city's neighborhood restaurants Review

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Savoring San Francisco: Recipes from the city's neighborhood restaurants ReviewThis book is fabulous. Even for people who don't cook, the book is a great restaurant guide to San Francisco. I love the historical backgrounds of the neighborhoods. Very well written, with a sense of style, opinion, and irreverence. Very SF! I also find the layout, type treatments, and color very pleasing and easy to navigate. The beautiful black & white photographs give a great sense of the neighborhoods without being clichéd.
Ron Rifkin, Oakland, CASavoring San Francisco: Recipes from the city's neighborhood restaurants Overview

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The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen Review

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The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen ReviewAmerican Boulangerie is a terrific find. The recipes are easy and really work. Everyone has purchased a beautiful cookbook only to find that in practice the recipes are too complex for the average cook or that even when perfectly executed, they simply do not work, I'm pleased to report that is definitely not the case with American Boulangerie. For anyone in the Bay Area make sure to try the canneles de bordeaux (fabulous!) and then make them yourself with the recipe in this book - you will be impressed!The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen Overview

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The Chowhound's Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area Review

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The Chowhound's Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area ReviewWhether you are a tourist who wants to eat like the locals or a Bay Area native, this book has the most compact yet comprehensive list of ideas for delicious dining in a unique, humorous and easy-to-read format.
As a long time Bay Area resident, I found myself using it immediately
Things I love about the book
-It's lightweight, so I can carry it my purse
-There are tips about places I frequent that I didn't know about
-Great cross indexing. It's very easy to use.
-It doesn't have the same tired general knowledge tips
-Really amazing that not only is SF and immediate areas covered, but that the entire Bay Area is nicely represented.
It also captures the essence of Chowhound of having fun while finding something wonderful to eat.
I've traveled quite a bit and bought many guide books. This is one of the best and most useful books I own.The Chowhound's Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area Overview

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Food Lovers' Guide to Atlanta: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings (Food Lovers' Series) Review

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Food Lovers' Guide to Atlanta: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings (Food Lovers' Series) ReviewI originally bought this book because I know Malika. I brought it into work because my team is mostly from out of town, and they go back to this little book of goodness every Friday to help them make plans for the weekend. Thanks, Malika, for compiling this jewel. When does your next edition come out?!Food Lovers' Guide to Atlanta: The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings (Food Lovers' Series) Overview

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San Francisco Food Lover's Pocket Guide (Patricia Unterman's San Francisco Food Lover's Pocket Guide) Review

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San Francisco Food Lover's Pocket Guide (Patricia Unterman's San Francisco Food Lover's Pocket Guide) ReviewThis inspired little book paid for itself many times over during my recent six-day unplanned stay in San Francisco. Divided by neighborhood, it led me to many inexpensive but delicious restaurants near my hotel on Market Street, and tipped me off to others (including cafes, bakeries and delis) while walking and biking around town. The index also introduced me to Russian and Mexican eateries, plus creperies and wine bars I never would have found otherwise. It's compact enough to carry around so you have it when hunger strikes. I also took Ms. Unterman's advice to trek over to Berkeley to the (relatively affordable) Chez Panisse Cafe, which was the highlight of my trip.San Francisco Food Lover's Pocket Guide (Patricia Unterman's San Francisco Food Lover's Pocket Guide) Overview

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Bouchon Review

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Bouchon ReviewExpectations for Thomas Keller's new book `Bouchon' are very high, and I firmly believe he has exceeded them. The book sets new standards for the foodie coffee table fare as well as confirming Keller's reputation as one of the country's foremost culinary artists. The book is larger, heavier, and better than his first cookbook on the cuisine of his flagship French Laundry. There are several things that make this an excellent book for all people who love to cook.
First, the book is a superior reference work of bistro dishes and how to prepare them. It is certainly not complete, but then I think no cookbook in the world will ever be a complete reference to any subject, as every culinary subject changes daily due to changes in provisions, historical research, and the enormous variety in how even one dish is made from place to place. For example, both `Bouchon' and Tony Bourdain's recent book on bistro recipes from Les Halle has five (5) dishes containing mussels, yet no two are the same dish. For all of the virtues of Bourdain's book, Keller's book is superior as a reference to the overall style of cooking if only because he and his editors rigorously give both French and English names to all dishes.
Second, as amazing as it is to say this, lots of dishes in `Bouchon' are actually easy to make. The initial roast chicken recipe is literally not much more complicated than carefully prepping the carcass and sticking it into the oven. Keller does not even baste the beast and it is done within an hour (for a 3-pound bird). And, all this with the cachet of making a Thomas Keller recipe. Almost all the salads and `openers' dishes are equally as simple, as long as you have high quality ingredients.
Third, the pantry chapter of recipes is a more complete reference for making stocks and other sauce bases than I have seen anywhere else. My former gold standard for stockmaking recipes was in `The Zuni Café Cookbook' by Judy Rodgers. This is better by giving recipes that are just as good, better written, and a more complete collection of stocks than I have seen anywhere else. The only thing I would possibly add to this chapter would be a recipe for a court bouillon. But, the recipe does appear in the book as a part of the recipe for a shellfish platter. Other sauces such as a mignonette sauce and a cocktail sauce also appear `in situ' along with appropriate dishes with which they are used.
Fourth, the book is simply packed with important culinary techniques. Most of these are not the sort of thing which will find their way to the quick tips pages of `Cooks Illustrated' or `Gourmet' as they are not shortcuts, but more painstaking ways to improve what is probably already an excellent dish. One dramatic example is Keller's twist on braising where he segregates his flavoring vegetables at the bottom of the Dutch oven under a layer of cheesecloth before adding the meat and the broth. In this way, it becomes very easy to remove the finished meat from the veg and retrieve the broth with little or no odd floating bits of celery leaf or thyme branch. A more simple technique is the recommendation to transfer finished stock to the filtering device with a ladle rather than simply pouring the stuff into the chinois. The force of the uncontrolled flow will force some unwanted particles into the filtered stock. It is all about little details piled up upon one another, which separates good from great cooking.
Fifth, Keller's interpretation of bistro cooking is uncompromising. One dramatic example of this is his claim that America has forgotten how to make a proper quiche, if it ever did know in the first place. The cardinal sin is to make a quiche in a pie pan. This is no surprise, as Julia Child in `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' gives the same warning. What is more surprising is that while most Americans probably use a tart pan with sides of no more than an inch and Child recommends a flan or cake pan with sides up to 11/2 inches, Keller states that you need a 2 inch tall pan to make a proper quiche. A more subtle difference is in his technique for preparing his pate brisee. Virtually every pie crust recipes I have ever seen calls for cutting in butter to leave lentil-sized bits of butter in the mix. Keller insists this is a mistake for a quiche with a wet custard filling, as the pockets of butter create weaknesses in the dough that may break through before the custard filling has firmed up.
Although the book contains many simple recipes, there are also many classic recipes such as boeuf bourguignon, which are literally essays in classic French cooking. Tony Bourdain's recipe for boeuf bourguignon requires 10 ingredients and two concise paragraphs to describe the method. Keller's recipe calls for 43 ingredients in 5 different component preparations, not including the veal stock preparation. This recipe is the poster boy for Keller's take on bistro cooking, which is technique and constant refinement by filtering, skimming, and straining. While the authors have been painstaking in translating the professional's practiced eye and nose into English, this cooking is still about constant attention to the state of the dish as it cooks, and of recognizing the right time to move from one stage to the other. It is this dish where if Bourdain did it at the French Laundry his way, he would be fired on the spot.
This book is so large that it will probably be unwieldy to cook from in the kitchen. Open, it is large than two of my cutting boards together. Still, I cannot overstate how valuable this book is to someone who loves to cook and to read about cooking.
Very highly recommended.Bouchon Overview

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Tartine Review

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Tartine ReviewUpdates August '08: Just wanted to reiterate how successful these recipes are. Since my first review, I've baked several more cakes, a couple of tarts, and the brioche (of 3 versions I've tried, by far my favorite, better than the version in Baking with Julia). This book has a large section of bavarian style cakes, and I credit the authors for this becoming my very favorite type of cake. I've tried the passion fruit-lime cake and also the strawberry bavarian, and they came out so delicious, light, ethereal even. The lemon curd recipe is also delicious. This is my go-to baking book now, especially for cakes. The recipes really highlight quality, fresh ingredients, and they're never overly sweet or fussy. In addition to the weddings cakes (mentioned below), I've brought Tartine cakes to friends, family, and the office, and--assuming they are being honest--everyone says they are among the best they've had. I believe them because I agree, and I give full credit to the authors for that.
One note, however, is that the basic cake recipes produce more batter than needed to fill the pan. For me, this usually means a 6-inch cake for the freezer, which is a treat.
Usually I try not to review any book until I've cooked at least 3 recipes from it (which is often 3 more recipes than some of the highly-ranked cookbook reviewers around here try). Technically, I've only prepared 2 from this book: croissants and tres leches cake. However, that cake involved the recipe for a coconut chiffon cake, caramel, and vanilla pastry cream, in addition to the syrup and cream for assembling the final cake. That, coupled with the intricate nature of the croissant recipe, gives me enough evidence to say that this is an excellent baking book, a great addition to any baker's collection.
I've tried croissants before, struggled with the technique, and failed to approximate the taste of a good, buttery, proper croissant. I followed the detailed instructions here exactly, and I got exactly what I want. My French husband approved, and my mom and sister and I ate them up far too quickly. The dough wasn't easy, but it made a true croissant. I especially like Tartine's extra touch of baking them a little darker than most other recipes.
As for the tres leches cake, I'll say nothing as to its authenticity, since I wouldn't really know. As far as the recipe, though, it's utterly manageable: instructions and measurements are accurate and clear. The results: absolutely delicious, maybe the best non-chocolate cake I've made. The coconut chiffon is moist and tender, and the coconut syrup, caramel, and vanilla pastry cream make it so moist, flavorful, and satisfying. Another touch I liked was the small touch of lemon juice in the caramel. I haven't made it before, but I don't recall this as a standard addition in recipes I've seen. But it was definitely worth eating with a spoon. Probably a dozen or more people sampled this cake over the weekend, and they all loved it.
I look forward to trying the devil's food cake and the brioche, and I'm confident that they'll turn out as well as what I've made so far.
Added later:
I also tried the devil's food cake recipe (Which includes recipes for the cake, caramel, ganache). It was a bit involved, but the directions were again very clear and spot on: I knew what to look for and even my first try came out great. I ended up making about 4 batches of the recipe and using it for my brother's grooms cake. Had raves from dozens of people.
Also, ended up using the tres leches chiffon cake for part of the brides cake, which also got tons of great feedback.
I look forward to working through this book even further.Tartine Overview

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