brunch at starbelly in the castro

Apologies to everyone, these pictures are almost a month old but I kept neglecting to post them. Agh, sorry! A couple weeks ago Brent and I stopped by Starbelly to try their weekend brunch menu. I'd been there once before for dinner and it was pretty good but breakfast/brunch is usually my favorite meal of the day and I'd been itching to go back.

First we shared the french fries with three dipping sauces. Totally unnecessary given the amount of food we were getting but I had them the last time I was there and had been craving them quite a bit before that. Last time I also had a chorizo pizza but since they only serve brunch on weekends I knew I had to try their french toast and it did not disappoint. They even cure their own bacon! Brent got chilaquiles which were also pretty fantastic, overall, it was a great meal and I'd definitely recommend it.

illy at sf chefs

Yikes, what a weekend! I think I'm still recovering from all the caffeine and amazing food that I put in my body last Sunday. My friends over at The 88 invited me to join them and illy coffee at SF Chefs this weekend and of course I couldn't say no. The morning started out with the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony with chef Marcus Samuelsson before moving on into the tent at Union Square. Illy actually had their own tent at the event where endless amounts of coffee were being prepared by bearded baristas (is that a requirement or something?) and hosted chef interviews throughout the day. While I was there I got to try a variety of illy's MonoArabica coffee in various forms: latte, drip, espresso shot, you name it. I probably ended up consuming every single drink they offered (including the canned iced coffees) throughout the day, which would probably explain why I couldn't fall asleep until 3am later that night.

I also got to hang out with two master Instagram wizards (Bill + Daniel) who were covering the event with me. While watching those two and Harry I was amazed at how much care and attention went into taking and editing Instagram photos. Time to upgrade my dinky photos? I'd still feel inadequate anyway.

The highlight of my day was definitely meeting Marcus Samuelsson and getting to follow him around throughout the day without looking like a creepy stalker (I blame my obsession with Top Chef Masters). I was definitely a little starstruck as I watched him interview people like Drew Nieporent and Martin Yan (anyone remember Yan Can Cook?) and attended his cooking demo on the main stage. I can't wait until the weekend to crack open my copy of his book Yes, Chef.

Finally, last but not least: the food. What else is there to say? Too many things to photograph. Too many things to say. I'll just leave these three photos here and let your imaginations run wild.

foie-ther's day x kanon vodka

I'm sure a lot of you who follow me on Instagram/Twitter/Tumblr have already seen these photos from the Foie-ther's Day Dinner with Stag Dining and Kanon Vodka (sorry about the pic spam guys!) but I thought I'd still share them here since I am now officially a FOK! Stay tuned for more posts and collaborations, I'm super excited. I've been hanging out with my Kanon buddies whenever they're in town since their first SF launch dinner and I'm stoked to start contributing to their blog. Read my post about the dinner here.

kanon vodka dinner

Since I'm back to posting regularly and most of you don't seem to mind the Instagram photos, here are couple snapshots from the Kanon Vodka dinner at the Westerfield Mansion that I was lucky enough to attend last week. Ho-ly crap it was amazing. I was pretty stoked when I got the invite since it was going to take place less than four blocks away from my place but I had no idea that a location like that existed so close to me. Before dinner we got to drink this punch which we customized with our own choice of bitters (my favorite included a spray of absinthe and cherry bitters) while we explored the mansion. This place was AWESOME. My favorite room (aside from the library) was probably the watch tower at the top floor where we had a 360 view of the entire city. So surreal. Thanks Kanon!

The dinner (catered by Stag Dining) itself was something that I'm still dreaming about even a week later. It had been a while since I'd had such a fantastic dinner. Each course was paired with its own cocktail and my favorite was probably the smoked oyster chowder with dungeness crab... seriously, I still can't stop thinking about it. The deconstructed martini which came with it was equally amazing and came with, wait for it, a spoonful of BACON POWDER. It may have been all the alcohol but I found myself saying "OMG" multiple times throughout the night. We also happened to sit in front of Peter, the founder, who was really awesome and we ended up chatting with him the entire night about politics, soccer, traveling, etc. If you're reading this, Peter, come back to SF soon!

New Site Love: Sous Style

I just found a new site and I'm totally in love! Created by Pippa Lord, Photo Director at Elle, Sous Style features ridiculously beautiful people (just like Pippa herself) in their homes cooking or preparing a delicious meal. It's quite inspiring and makes me want to start cooking right now!