Bay Area Recap
I've been so busy lately that I haven't had much time to post, obviously. There's just something about working on a computer all day at a full-time job that really sucks the fun out of computing when I get home at night. Funny, that.
Anyway, I've been up to lots of stuff, food-related and otherwise. Since most of the stuff that falls into the "otherwise" category involves painting, unpacking boxes, and commuting, I won't even bother telling you about it.
Here are some of the food highlights of the past few months:
1) Discovering Fenton’s Ice Cream on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, where they offer my own personal Dream Flavor: Coffee ice cream bursting with big Oreo cookie chunks AND cookie dough nuggets. It’s so wrong and yet so very, very right.

Fenton's ice cream.
2) Discovering Joe’s Ice Cream on Geary in San Francisco (close enough for us to walk there from our new apartment, which is key.) They have pumpkin ice cream, which I like to pair with hot fudge. Don’t knock it 'til you’ve tried it.
3) Discovering the joys of Clement Street in San Francisco, where we have already eaten Malaysian, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, bubble tea, Turkish, Moroccan, hot pot, Russian (including my beloved strudel at the Gastronom deli), and pizza.

Hot pot, buffet style. Kinda scary, so thank goodness we were very drunk.
4) Eating at Dopo, a tiny place in Oakland, also on Piedmont Ave., where they made one of the best dishes I have ever had and then promptly whisked it off the menu, forcing me to call repeatedly, plaintively wheedling on behalf of the return of the nettle pennone bedecked with tiny meatballs and transparent shavings of lemon. It haunts my dreams and yet they won’t bring it back for me because they insist on rotating their menu continuously. “We have other great things,” they keep telling me. Phooey. I considered offering to wash dishes for a night in exchange for the recipe, but I wimped out.
Incidentally, I really blame Mrs. Delicious for my continual Dopo cravings, because she was the one that told me about the place to begin with.
5) Meeting ME and her husband for tea and a delicious tart at Modern Tea in Hayes Valley. ME is a very jolly person and you should certainly start reading her blog. At Modern Tea, we were exposed an extremely intensive tea training session; I like tea as much as the next humanities major, but my taste is more in the trashy PG-Tips-with-lots-of-milk-and-sugar vein instead of the hand-picked-by-monkeys-in-ancient-treetops variety. I don't remember exactly what I learned about tea that day, because the tart and conversation were too distractingly delicious, but I'm sure it was something important.
6) Speaking of tea, did you know that you can drink Thai tea warm? Yes, it's true! I had only sampled Thai tea in its iced, heavily sweetened and creamified format, but one particularly chilly night in the Richmond inspired my friend Rachael to simply order a steaming mug of it, served plain.
My eyes were opened. Warm, it has this uniquely round, comforting, spicy flavor that's overwhelmed when it's served cold, sweet and creamy. So pick up a box today and try it hot. I realize that for most of you, this will be an unpleasant prospect given that it's probably summer where you live and you're busy baring as much skin as possible while gleefully licking popsicles and tubing at the water park. Damn you all. For those of us living a few blocks from the ocean who are still wearing their parkas out to dinner most nights, a warm mug of tea sounds depressingly appealing.
Anyway, I've been up to lots of stuff, food-related and otherwise. Since most of the stuff that falls into the "otherwise" category involves painting, unpacking boxes, and commuting, I won't even bother telling you about it.
Here are some of the food highlights of the past few months:
1) Discovering Fenton’s Ice Cream on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, where they offer my own personal Dream Flavor: Coffee ice cream bursting with big Oreo cookie chunks AND cookie dough nuggets. It’s so wrong and yet so very, very right.

Fenton's ice cream.
2) Discovering Joe’s Ice Cream on Geary in San Francisco (close enough for us to walk there from our new apartment, which is key.) They have pumpkin ice cream, which I like to pair with hot fudge. Don’t knock it 'til you’ve tried it.
3) Discovering the joys of Clement Street in San Francisco, where we have already eaten Malaysian, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, bubble tea, Turkish, Moroccan, hot pot, Russian (including my beloved strudel at the Gastronom deli), and pizza.

Hot pot, buffet style. Kinda scary, so thank goodness we were very drunk.
4) Eating at Dopo, a tiny place in Oakland, also on Piedmont Ave., where they made one of the best dishes I have ever had and then promptly whisked it off the menu, forcing me to call repeatedly, plaintively wheedling on behalf of the return of the nettle pennone bedecked with tiny meatballs and transparent shavings of lemon. It haunts my dreams and yet they won’t bring it back for me because they insist on rotating their menu continuously. “We have other great things,” they keep telling me. Phooey. I considered offering to wash dishes for a night in exchange for the recipe, but I wimped out.
Incidentally, I really blame Mrs. Delicious for my continual Dopo cravings, because she was the one that told me about the place to begin with.
5) Meeting ME and her husband for tea and a delicious tart at Modern Tea in Hayes Valley. ME is a very jolly person and you should certainly start reading her blog. At Modern Tea, we were exposed an extremely intensive tea training session; I like tea as much as the next humanities major, but my taste is more in the trashy PG-Tips-with-lots-of-milk-and-sugar vein instead of the hand-picked-by-monkeys-in-ancient-treetops variety. I don't remember exactly what I learned about tea that day, because the tart and conversation were too distractingly delicious, but I'm sure it was something important.
6) Speaking of tea, did you know that you can drink Thai tea warm? Yes, it's true! I had only sampled Thai tea in its iced, heavily sweetened and creamified format, but one particularly chilly night in the Richmond inspired my friend Rachael to simply order a steaming mug of it, served plain.
My eyes were opened. Warm, it has this uniquely round, comforting, spicy flavor that's overwhelmed when it's served cold, sweet and creamy. So pick up a box today and try it hot. I realize that for most of you, this will be an unpleasant prospect given that it's probably summer where you live and you're busy baring as much skin as possible while gleefully licking popsicles and tubing at the water park. Damn you all. For those of us living a few blocks from the ocean who are still wearing their parkas out to dinner most nights, a warm mug of tea sounds depressingly appealing.
14 Comments:
Congrats on consistantly being able to taste new foods: Chicago, Seattle, Paris, Bay Area - you're living well...
thanks for the coffee and oreo ice cream tip-next time I'm over there...I'll be a lickin'. Perfect combo!
Oh dear sweet Jesus, it's Fenton's! When I was in college, I used to make pilgrimages to Oakland (from Palo Alto) for big scoops of that very ice cream: Coffee Cookie Dream, right? Or something like that. So, so outrageously good.
Glad to hear you are still enjoying a drink or two or three. A drunk Cindy is always amusing!
And hello! Coffee and oreo ice cream? It sounds too good to be true! Must.Get.To. Cindy's.Place.Now!
Living a few blocks from the ocean? Do tell.
Also: Clement Street is one of the things I miss most about SF. Can we please, PLEASE go to Burma Superstar when I am out there?
hi there cynthia, i stumbled upon your blog because i have been looking for pastry schools all over europe and. i think that you have had an interesting experience, so it just seems all the more sad that you should end up behind a computer in order to earn a living. why, after spending so much money and time and energy do you not try to make your dream of opening your own pastry shop (i believe you said so somewhere) come true. try at least. i say so perhaps because i find that you have very little to say now, in contrast to your time in paris.
Hi all - thanks for your comments! Nice to see somebody still reads this blog given the erratic posting lately...
Yes Mrs. Delish, we can totally go to Burma Superstar. Maybe at 4 pm? That seems to be the only time when there isn't a line out the door. ;)
Hi Leo -
I'm gonna get back to you on this one. Let me mush it around in my head for a bit and then I'll post about it ...
Hi Cindy! I thought I was the only one who wasn't absorbing the Modern Tea tutorial -- I'm thinking "Could I have majored in 'Growth and Development of Tea'?" Anyhow, thanks for the link! We'll have more tidbits to share with you now that we're back from Paso Robles with a case of wine!
Hey I'm Erin, Rachael's friend. She tells me you were excited to know that I work at a fancy olive oild store. You should come in sometime and I can hook you up. It's on 4th Street in Berkeley. I don't work that often, but I'll be there on Friday, for example.
Also, I just started enjoying your blog again. It is fun to watch someone else discover the joys of Clement Street and Piedmont Avenue! Do you know yet about Vik's in Berkeley, or about Fruitvale in general?
Also, I also have a crush on Anthony Bourdain.
Also, that is too many also's.
Hi ME! Good to hear from you! We can definitely write a long, scholarly work on teas of the world now, dontcha think?
Hi Erin! Yes, I'm very excited to hear this. I will come visit you sometime. Are you sick of olive oil yet? And yeah, we LOVE Vik's! What else is there about Fruitvale that I should know? Do tell!
Hi Cindy....I've lived vicariously through your food adventures for quite some time now...even considering dropping everything to move to Paris and go to culinary school....of course I never introduced myself..shy and all...until now, when I see that coffee ice cream with oreo cookie pieces and cookie dough!....that's exactly how I customize my ice cream at Coldstone Creamery which is conveniently downtown in San Francisco a few blocks from where I live (I believe it was a secret plot by the Coldstone franchise to sabotage my diet and willpower and slowly break me)!!! Anyway...thought it was cool..hope you are well in our strangely cold for July city....
Cindy
In Fruitvale there is a place that sells huitlacoche, (the corn mold stuff) on tostadas and sopes and whatever you want. Have you ever tried that stuff? I like it.
Also, there is my favorite truck, that sells ceviche tostadas with giant slices of avocado, at the corner of 14th Street and 22nd Ave, and I think they are 2 dollars. And El Farolito has awesome seafood soups and whole fish dinners on the weekends. And there is more. Fruitvale is my favorite.
hello cynthia, i have tried and failed to find your email address so i decided to simply post a message here. i would like to retrain as a pastry chef or at least learn the basics of pastry making in order to set up a business of my own. i have considered applying to the ritz course and would like to know your opinion on it. i mean, what do you think? is it worth the money? is it actually possible to learn th art of french pastry in 12 weeks? my email is waseemnawaz@hotmail.com if you would like to get in contact with me. take care. waseem
hi nico! thanks for leaving a comment. at coldstone creamery, i like to order the chocolate base with brownies and raspberries. but now i will know that the Fenton's special is always an option too... ;) thanks for reading.
hi erin - i can tell you are a vast repository of bay area food knowledge that i will have to exploit. i like the sound of a ceviche truck. the organic farmer i used to volunteer for would sell huitlacoche at his stand and people would go crazy - "What is this rotten corn!! Where's the good stuff??" It was fun explaining to people that I was actually going to charge them MORE for the "rotten corn."
Hi Waseem - I'll email you back privately about my thoughts - not that they're bad in any way, just too long to post here...
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