Chef Pallone is now out at Academy: http://newfillmore.com/2016/03/11/the...

This can't be a good thing, but I'm heartened to know the pizzas are still there. This was fast becoming my #1 neighborhood spot to duck into and I was enjoying the inventive dishes the chef was producing. I had a lovely deconstructed clam chowder there a little while back that hit all the right notes.

I passed by yesterday and see that the non-pizza side of the menu has been replaced with some red sauce al forno type items. Once they get a groove without the chef I'll check it out and report back.

Quick report.

I stopped by on Saturday, 11:50am and the line ran the width of the restaurant. It took about 30 minutes from the time at the end of the line to get our food. The food comes out quickly, but they seemed to keep things slow so tables would clear--seating becomes limited with such a crowd.

I split the 3 meat platter with my SO; we went for sausage (mix of beef and pork with a kick), brisket, and ribs. The sides were collard greens and mac and cheese. We threw on a [tiny] piece of dry cornbread for $2, damage was over $26.

The first thing I noticed when I got the food was that it was not hot. It probably came out lukewarm and cooled to room temp quickly. I'm pretty sure the sauces were still cold since they were probably pulled from the fridge at the start of service at 11:30am. This did not help the cause. I really liked the brisket as others mention, but not-hot fatty brisket can get pretty gross.

The ribs were not memorable and left me wanting. I could not detect smoke and they were rather dry as virtualguthrie mentions. I had to make a rack of my oven baked recipe yesterday to appease my craving. The sausage was good, with a nicely browned casing, but I like my sausage served hot! Again, the temp really killed it for me. Mac and cheese was ok, but the sauce was broken instead of creamy. The collard greens were well executed but both sides were really small. I must have had half a collard in that cup, which was not satisfying.

My favorite part of the meal were the pickled cuke slices. Great balance.

I also noticed portions seemed to vary wildly just by looking around. The poor woman next to me ordered a brisket platter and it looked like she received half a portion! Someone else got larger, nicer cuts than we did.

I really hope they up their game.

I had planned dinner with girlfriends at Mockingbird, which we didn't realize coincided with the start of RW last night. $40 for a choice of app, entree and dessert from their regular menu was a great deal for me (confit opah app, crispy skin black cod entree, and bread pudding dessert), but probably just a couple of dollars in savings for my vegetarian friends. The veggie food was excellent and they had many options for vegetarians, which worked out well. The place was full.

I do love their no-corkage BYOB policy.

Great city-spanning list!

I'll report on Golden v. Han's when I make it to Golden. Han's does not have waffles, so Golden is certainly calling to me.

I grew up in West Portal, so Manor is also dear to me. I'm interested to see what The Manor brings. When I am near my parents' place (they still live in my childhood home) I am very satisfied by New Taraval. I'll also make a plug for Big Joe's on Monterey Blvd., although it is a half-step up from a greasy spoon.

It has been ages since I've been to Eddie's, but thanks for the reminder. I recall their biscuits and grits, which makes me think of Lois the Pie Queen in Oakland.

I've never noticed Valencia Pizza & Pasta, and breakfast would have eluded me based on the name alone. Adding this to the list.

At Oakland GO:

- A to Z 2012 Oregon Pinot Noir 375ml $3.99
- Near East roasted garlic & olive oil couscous cups 2/$1
- Muir Glen diced organic "San Marzano style" plum tomatoes in glass jar $1.99
- Nong Shim habanero lime 2 minute noodles (in packets not bowls) 4-pack $1.99
- Golden Star maifun and saifun 6oz $0.99
- Natural Nectar cracklebred multigrain $0.99

I picked up a great 10-pack of last minute holiday gift boxes (3 sizes) for a mere $3.99.

Also saw various flavors of Heinz (jalapeno, sriracha, balsamic) but did not note price since I am turned off by high fructose corn syrup in my ketchup.

Ah thanks for the reminder! It has been 2 years since my last Tom and Jerry at Elixir. I stopped by last night since I was getting off Bart at 16th Street and needed something warm and stiff to drink. I called some girlfriends over and we tackled the menu's front page.

The egg nog and Tom and Jerry batter were both being whipped up, and it turns out it would only be done after an hour of my sipping other cocktails. I started with the hot cider with the maple rye, remembering Melanie's suggestion. Jamie, the bartender, endorsed my choice and let me take a whiff of the rye from the bottle and the smell of rich maple hit my nose. It was as Melanie described, absolutely delicious with the cider!

I'm not an egg nog fan, but truth be told I have only unpleasant memories of egg nog from cartons. Jamie gave me a sip of the nog after it was done, sans alcohol it tasted like melted vanilla ice cream laced with a hint of spice. That was some dangerous stuff--the girls ordered a round and it was a hit with the bourbon, but I, too, didn't want anything cold. My friend also had the Hot Butt Rum, which she described as a hot and spicy white Russian. It tasted more like a creamy mix of liquid holiday cookies to me, without the cloying effect. Different, very rich, but delightful.

Finally the T&J was ready--it was just as I remembered--frothy on top and VERY strong but goes down much faster than it should. I always forget how festive Elixir looks during the holidays!

I made it to the Visitacion Valley location because I was hell-bent on snatching up some Tcho Galactic Gelato (dark chocolate with "astronaut" freeze dried Naia mint gelato!). Indeed, it seems they had more stock than other stores on similar items.

In addition I bought these items (yes, I went a bit nuts on chocolate!):

Ritter Sport, assorted flavors - $1.99. I picked up the rarely seen (where I shop at least) Espresso and two limited edition flavors, Strawberry & Mint and Coffee Vanilla Creme.

Neuhaus dark chocolate bars - $1.49. This is a steal even if the bar is small.

Muir Glen Arabella crushed tomatoes in glass jars - $1.99

Alexia Smart Classic tri-cut roasted potatoes (frozen) - $1.49

Village Harvest organic arborio rice (16oz) - $2.99

The rice was not quite to that level, but the overall flavors of the dish hit the right notes to me. This was not the very best version I've had, but the most promising for me around here. I also feel that their dedication to one dish means that they can actually tweak it for the better.

Apologies about the Cow Hollow remark (but it does somehow make a more surprising statement!). As someone born and raised here I don't spend much time in that swath of the city and tend to lump those two neighborhoods together.

The best khao man gai, akin to Nong's (but not quite as good), can now be found in the Marina, of all places. I checked out Rooster & Rice last week and sure enough the chicken (breast and thigh) was velvety, the rice fragrant, the broth savory, and the chili-soy bean sauce packed a nice ginger-garlic punch.

The place is built for take-out with a couple of tables on the street. There are three things on the menu: The Original, breast and thigh w/skin ($10.95); The Marina, skinless breast and brown rice ($12.95); and The Vegetarian, tofu and veggies over brown rice ($8.95). I was not interested in anything but the Original. No liver option and I was told the fryers didn't work out so no skin either. They put a sous vide egg option on there instead. Chicken is Mary's organic. They also have a fresh, tasty and very hot habanero sauce, which my SO lapped up, but I'm a purist.

Rooster & Rice
2211 Filbert Street
SF, CA 94123

Finding myself on the 38 Geary, I stopped in Tuyet Mai last night since the textures and flavors of central Vietnam were calling to me. I was tempted by the mì quảng and the banh khot, but settled for a piping bowl of bún bò huế and an order of chewy bánh bột lọc still in their banana leaf parcels.

The restaurant is very homey like someone's living room and the cleanliness is what is to be expected for a hole-in-the-wall on the edge of the Tenderloin.

The bún bò huế came piping hot and I let it cool a bit while I tackled on one of my banana leaf parcels. The bowl itself appears very rustic with pools of chili oil and chili flake splattered around. Slices of beef shank were plentiful as were pork (tenderloin?), a couple slices of cha lua, a nice softened piece of pork knuckle and a large cube of blood (I usually avoid it because of the iron taste but I did not detect any). There was no tendon in this rendition. The soup smelled strongly of lemongrass, but the flavor was muted. Overall the broth was savory and not overly salty--the heat was steady but not cough-inducing. Fresh accompaniments included bean sprout, lime, ram rau, and mint. I was disappointed by no banana flower since I love the texture, also no cabbage. My main gripe is that by the time I dug into the hot soup, the noodles were too soft and were falling apart. It made it much easier to put in my spoon with broth, but al dente is clearly ideal. Previous reports (http://bit.ly/1MfaNRN) show intact noodles, so hopefully this is not indicative of the norm, and my 3 minute pause should not have comprised the texture that much.

The regular size was very filling and perhaps too much with my appetizer.

Tuyet Mai
547 Hyde Street @ Geary

Stopped by around 9am today and the Pine Street location was abuzz. The front area still appeared to be under construction, but the pastry cases and bread baskets were well-stocked with familiar favorites and other surprises. The bakery was busy in the back and the two tables were still back in the seating areas.

The chocolate and chocolate hazelnut croissants are super long now--they must have grown by at least 50%. There seemed to be more chocolate inside as well.

No macarons that I saw but they now carry a selection of Choux SF's choux. I grabbed a salted caramel and strawberry.

Coffee was not self-serve and someone had to fetch it from the back causing some bottle-necking. Also they have a new point of sale system that involves both iPads and separate card swiping machines. The staff was getting used to the new system. The check out area eats up about half of what was originally the second cold case. Some cute individually wrapped French candy filled jars at the cashier stations.