The Crepe House

Herrick chose The Crepe House on Polk for this year's birthday lunch.

He ordered a latte, made with half and half, and the Warm Chicken Salad.

Chicken breast, romaine hearts, scallions, red bell pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes, fresh basil.
Tossed with house made sun-dried tomato vinaigrette dressing

I had a bagel with cream cheese, lox, tomatoes, and red onion. Capers are available, but I always pick them off, so I ordered it without. I really like the way it was served. This way is much easier to eat than a closed sandwich piled so high it doesn't fit in my mouth.

S.F. Writers Conference Banquet at Great Eastern

Chinatown's Great Eastern Restaurant was once again the site of the banquet hosted by San Francisco Writers Conference Board Member Harvey Pawl for Conference speakers and volunteers. The Banquet is also available to attendees for a very reasonable fee.

Places were set for tables of ten when we arrived.

 Our first dish was steamed pork dumplings.

Cross-section of dumpling

 Next, our waiter brought us soup.

Mixed vegetables & bean curd with egg drop soup

The serving bowl exactly filled our ten individual bowls.

The soup was quickly followed by Golden Pumpkin Fries. 

 Next up was a platter of Pan-Fried Scallops with Stuffed Shrimp Paste. This was new to me, and I will definitely order it again.

 The Peking Duck with Steamed Bun was the highlight of the meal for me.

 Honey Walnut Shrimp, another old favourite.

 And of course, a big bowl of fluffy rice to accompany the following dishes.

Beef with Ginger and Scallion

Lamb with green peppers and onion

Bok Choy with Ginger and Mushrooms

Sweet and Sour Pork

Chow Fun with Mixed Vegetables

 For dessert, there were fancily-displayed orange slices.

 The ubiquitous fortune cookies.

 And a final surprise of custard tarts!

The meal, as usual, was amazing. It gets better every year.

Beesponsible

Beesponsible, supported by Barkman Honey, provides information about why bees are important and how to be responsible for them. They have a Facebook page, in addition to their website. I met their contingent at the 2018 Winter Fancy Food Show. They gave me much food for thought, and some actual food in the form of a generous sample of honey, available for purchase on their website, along with a few wearables and trinkets.

Booklet with information about bees

  

 Jar of honey

And, of course, a couple of trinkets.

Silicone Bracelet

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Hazel's Southern Bar & Kitchen

J.K., Angela and Dan decided to try Hazel's for a Restaurant Week dinner, and we were very happy we did. The menu wasn't quite as extensive as China Live's, but that made decision-making a lot easier!

There was also a Happy Hour menu, but we were there for the Restaurant Week experience.

Everybody started with Hush Puppies, aioli on the side.

Close-up of Hush Puppy's insides

Next came our salads. Dan ordered the Kale Caesar salad.

Cale Caesar Salad
Kale, parmesan croutons, Cajun Caesar dressing

Angela and J.K. opted for the Warm Beet & Arugula Salad.

Warm Beet & Arugula Salad
Roasted beets, arugula, onions, goat cheese, raspberry vinaigrette

The Fried Chicken was Dan's entree.

Hazel's Fried Chicken
Four pieces of Hazel's perfectly fried chicken, served with pickles

Angela and J.K. both couldn't resist the ribs, even though it meant we didn't get to try the vegetarian option.

Big Daddy D's BBQ Ribs (1/2 rack)
fall-off-the-bone goodness with housemate BBQ sauce

We did manage to get three different sides.

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Almonds

Collard Greens

Mac & Cheese

Dessert was the same for everyone. Peach Cobbler with a choice of vanilla or bourbon ice cream.

This was a tasty and generous meal. We all had leftovers to take home. Tea Time will definitely be returning to Hazel's, but now that we know how generous the portions are, we won't be ordering quite so much food!

Sunday Lunch at Pa'ina

After shopping at Daiso, Angela and J.K. were looking for sustenance. Despite being at San Francisco's Japantown, they decided to lunch at Pa'ina, the Hawaiian restaurant.

Angela started with the day's special mimosa (just one, not the bottomless offer), while J.K., who doesn't like champagne without grenadine syrup, stuck to water.

 Our first dish was poke, served Island Style.

Island Style Poke with tobiko (flying fish roe) and limu (seaweed)

Next the kitchen sent us our Duck Bao appetiser.

Duck Bao
Duck Breast, Pickled Daikon & Carrots, Micro Cilantro, Hoisini-Ginger Sauce, Steamed Buns

Angela ordered the Loco Moco medium, but it arrived well-done. 

Loco Moco
American Wagyu Beef, Beef Gravy, Mac Salad, Fried Egg

Lunch With Beth–International Food Court

The International Food Court on the corner of Bush and Kearny is another one that doesn't have a website or Facebook page. You can check it out on Yelp, though. The Court is located in the basement of the building; you can't miss the signs outside the door.

This was a favorite of ours years ago. We had forgotten about it because it closed for quite a while for extensive retrofitting. Beth asked how long it had been re-opened. The answer was three years. We don't know why we didn't notice earlier, but we're glad we finally did!

After circling the room, we decided on pelmeni at the Pushkin stall.

It was a late lunch for us, but the staff, who were closing, cheerfully served us, and made sure we got enough sour cream on our bowls of pelmeni, which were served in a tasty broth.

Peanut Butter & Co.

Lee Zalben, the founder of Peanut Butter & Co. was at the Fancy Food Show this year. I ate at Peanut Butter & Co. the last time I was in New York, so it was a real treat for me to meet Lee at the show. 

Here's the whole line of Peanut Butter & Co. flavours. If you can't find your favourite at your local store, you can order online directly from them here. There are more products on the site, too. There's a 15% discount for first-time customers, grocery coupons and a PB&Co. rewards program on the site, so if you're a fan, check it out!

Lee gave me a sample of his powdered peanut butter. I'm thinking about adding it to yoghurt.

Humphry Slocombe

Humphry Slocombe was back at the Winter Fancy Food Show with three new flavors added to their lineup and their (and my) favourite drag queen, Nancy Boy, who appeared Sunday and Monday in two new outfits.

The new flavours are Dirty Chai–chai ice cream spanked with espresso (just dirty enough), Cinnamon Tres Leches–cinnamon ice cream and yellow cake and Black Sesame–toasted black sesame seeds with sesame oil added for more oomph. Black Sesame is one of Tea Time's favourite ice cream flavors, and Humphry Slocombe's rendition is excellent.

Six flavours available for tasting

Sunday's Outfit

Monday's Outfit