Le Diner a San Francisco

A group of friends and I recently attended a Large pop-up dinner. The reported attendance was over 5000 people! Most were strangers to us, but the vibe was fun and excitement in spite of the cold winds blowing over the Marina Green. Welcome to Le Diner a San Francisco, the Dinner of White, promoted by a group called Handmade Events. Guests brought everything except tables. All white was de rigueur. Here is our tablescape, most of these items were stuff I had on hand, although I did splurge and buy the lighted tree branches at Bed Bath and Beyond.

We brought a 3-course meal to the event. I made a soup for the first course. Avocado soup with tiny tomatoes and Bacon relish. The recipe I made up will be available at the bottom of this post. First photo is  taken with the real meal lighting and the second photo with camera flash. It was a lovely romantic-type setting. The couple sitting next to us were obviously on a date, maybe not their first, but hopefully not their last.

 Our main course featured Whole Foods Organic roasted chicken and a green salad with lots of bells and whistles (provided by Melissa). We also had more tiny tomatoes, colorful crisp peppers and Dutch Crunch bread.

For dessert we had something called "Buttered Toast and Jam" with flavored whipped cream. Stephanie stepped out of the box with this one, creating something that's like a sweet, buttery, fancy french toast loaf. It really did taste like extra rich toast and jam! Stephanie waited to make this dessert until the day of the event ("I knew if I made it even the night before, someone would cut into it!"), but I suspect this buttery loaf would age well, blending it's flavors and keeping for a couple days. If you're really decadent you could use it to make french toast, hello delicious heart attack!

So that was our meal. The experience as a whole had a lot of pluses, with just a few minus points. (Lighting for the port a potties next year?! The lines were long probably because you had to go in slow motion to avoid anything scary happening to you in those dark pits.) All guests, from parties of two, to parties of 20 (now that's organizing skills!) were full of laughter and fun.

During Setups. People were still arriving up until the white napkin wave.

The pops of black you see in this photo were people giving in to warmth over fashion. They need another drink!

A lot of merriness was going around including a huge cheer when the Giants won their game. White napkin waves abounded, maybe interrupting you with a fork in your hand. Next year it would be great to have a venue with less wind, although there was ample parking (unless you arrived late).

Dinners en Blanc take place all around the world. Have you attended or witnessed one?

Avocado soup en Angela                            Kitchen Tools needed

3 L Avocados (or 6 medium)                      Knife/cutting board
! small lemon (I used Meyer)                      Blender
1 lime                                                        rubber spatula
1 can coconut milk                                     can opener
1 medium onion (I used Vidalia)                 spoon
3 jalapeno peppers                                     tongs
salt and pepper to taste
crispy bacon for garnish
small or chopped tomatoes for garnish

Roast your 3 whole jalapeno peppers over an open flame until Black and plop them in a paper bag for a minute or two while you chop and caramelize your onion (I add salt to the onions). If an open flame is not available, you can chop and brown the peppers with the onions. Taking out the seeds and membrane make them less hot. Get your peppers out of the bag (I leave the char on for a smoky flavor) and chop them too.Whack both ingredients in your blender when done.

Next cut and scoop out your avocados into the  blender. Add the juice of your lemon and lime. Open and pour in your 1 can of coconut milk (or liquid of your choice). Get your blender going, periodically using the spatula to clean the sides until the mixture is smooth. Add more liquid to the consistency you'd like the soup to have. Add your salt and pepper to taste. Serve at any temperature, but I think that room temperature is best. Let guests garnish with tomatoes and bacon. Easy and Delish! If you wanted to give more flavor and make it more 'green', you could also add spinach (raw or cooked) and toss it in the blender too. Yum-O.

Craftsman and Wolves-afternoon tea

Here we are at the new kid on the block, CAW. That's Craftsman and Wolves to y'all. We had a fun adventure here, checking out their avant-garde afternoon tea. We made a reservation (required) for a Tuesday afternoon and while the bakery/restaurant was relaxed, there was a lot of action happening.  Our waitress was very accessible and gregarious in spite of the hustle and bustle .

Tea Time Alert! Afternoon Tea at Craftsman and Wolves has been suspended. We will update this post as soon as they resume service. Of course you should still check out their scones and tea (and desserts and if you're there, order a Rebel for us).

CAW has a Prix Fixe menu for afternoon tea, and they have a limited array of loose leaf oolong teas (and a tisane for the non-caffeinated among us). However, this allows them to specialize and perfect their new afternoon tea business.

Afternoon Tea Menu:

apple and cheese scone, buckwheat crumpet
with clotted cream and lemon curd

salt cod rillettes, parsley, brioche
laver, lobster mushroom, radish, smoked butter, on rye bread
savory beet root madeleines

caramelized hazelnut financier
pâte de fruit-raspberry
chocolate praline tile cookie

bottomless pot of tea

Bottomless pots of tea for 2.

Asian style cups for our tea.

The 3-tier tray.

Dessert, scone/crumpet, 'sandwiches'

CAW has kept the traditional tiered serving tray to host its array of afternoon tea delights. The mega-cheesy scones were a savory, scrumptious delight! Most tea scones we get are sweet, which we also like; however cheese is a Great idea. The buckwheat crumpet was the perfect size for J.K., and had a nice texture. Sometimes crumpets are our least favorite part of tea, but these top the list as favorites, perhaps since they're homemade? The clotted cream was housemade too, not so thick as double devon, but much better than regular whipped cream (which some restos pawn off on us). The lemon curd was very fine and smooth, not too tart.

Apple and cheese scone, buckwheat crumpet with cream

The deconstructed 'sandwiches' offered by Craftsman and Wolves were a definite departure from traditional afternoon tea. The lightly toasted bread paired with the cod rillette was crunchy and salty. The beet root Madeline's also used the trick of turning a "cookie" into a savory bite. The rye bread open face sandwich was very interesting and unusual; the bread had a very whole grain mouth feel while the toppings seemed a bit ephemeral.

Madelines, rye bread sammie, cod rillettes to spread on toast.

Mmmm, dessert! The best part of any meal. The raspberry pate-de-fruit was an eye opener for Angela, who doesn't normally like gelee/fruit foods. This bite had rich flavor and a more gummy candy like texture which made the difference. The financier featured hazelnuts and the 'tile' cookie was not too pretty to eat, but almost! This menu paired well with our oolong tea which was lovely to watch unfurl in the hot water. While this meal is quite filling, there is no way Tea Time can leave a bakery without trying something from the counter. So it was a good thing that our small desserts left us room to share something else. We had to peruse the visual menu, so we'll let you have a peek into what we saw.

pâte de fruit-raspberry, financier, tile cookie

Cakes! If only we had an occasion.

Wait, maybe we should just share another scone.

Yum.

Maybe cookies? Too many choices...

Wait, what's that one?!

The winner! Brownie with caramel (of course).

This brownie sandwiched a layer of caramel inside. The texture was dense (but not chewy) and the flavor was chocolatey deliciousness. We also got a homemade caramel on the side (good, maybe even competition for the ones J.K. makes). We hinted above that CAW was in the middle of some interesting happenings, and here is the scoop. While we were there, Craftsman and Wolves was being filmed for a segment about Valenica street restos by Channel 5 news. They were having afternoon tea as well! So if/when we find the link to this video, we'll put it up here, and look for us, maybe we made the cut. 

Camera Camera Camera.

Craftsman and Wolves is an A number 1 bakery/deli creating new traditions from old with their afternoon tea for 2. They are open to critique and want feedback from customers (our waitress asked us our opinions, no paperwork needed). If you want to treat a friend to surprising eats, check it out and enjoy! Next week we'll share with you a visit to a warm welcoming tea shop, though you might be to stuffed from Thanksgiving to go taste test it yourselves.

UPDATE: March 2013

Tea Time made it our business to stop back by (and take pictures this time!) to document some other foods available at CAW. We chose a la carte for this luncheon as we hadn't made a tea reservation, but of  course we had to get the scone! Thai Mango--This scone is full of texture with chopped dried coconut and mango complimenting the green curry and ginger flavor explosion. We also got the Rebel Within, a savory cheese muffin with a whole egg (runny yolk) baked in the middle. Angela knew the about the secret surprise inside, but JK said, "How did that get in there?" Better look it up on the internet! This amazing idea seems to be a version of Scotch Eggs, but you better just go over to Craftsman and Wolves to try one and figure it out for yourself. Tea Time knows there's going to be a lot of mouths on research for us concerning this mystery. We also shared one other small dish, Mac and Cheese with Carnitas. Smokey and rich this dish filled us up leaving just enough room to dash next door and fill it up with Hot Chocolates from Dandelion. 

a note: CAW changes their menu fairly often, but there are some mainstays (such as the Rebel Within). You may not find what we had to eat, but their online menu shows what should be on offer (it includes what's on your tea tray as well!)

The main scone on the menu during this visit was Thai Mango.

The Rebel Within and our whole scone.

Mac n Cheese with Carnitas.

Hoppy Easter!

Iron Cupcake--Caramel

Lunchbox and candy prize, the cat helped me win!

 Congratulations to our
October 2012
Iron Cupcake SF Winners:
*1st Place: Cupcake #2,
 Tania F.- Stroopwafel
*2nd Place: Cupcake #5,
Brigitte B.-Caramel Spiced Cheescake
*Most Creative: Cupcake #4,
Erin S.- Bananas Foster
*Bakers' Choice: Cupcake #3,
Dana G.- Salted Chocolate Caramel
*Best Costume- Angela M***

***YES This Angela! Me. Yay, candy!!

This event, where "Cupcake Engineers" prepare for a throwdown to win one of several prizes happens at Leland Tea Company in the Polk Gulch area of SF. Iron Cupcake made quite a splash on the scene when it first began, and it's still pretty popular. I recently joined their Meetup group, and when they announced that the ingredient du jour was Caramel, well, here is my $10 and gimme, thank you very much! JK and I have talked a few times about participating in an Iron Cupcake event, but I like to check the layout and organization of things before diving in (sometimes). So here's how it goes for a taster/judge at the Iron Cupcake event.

The competitors:

Samoa--Coconut Caramel Chocolate cupcake #1

Stroopwafel--Cinnamon caramel  cupcake #2

#3-Salted Caramel Corn

Bananas Foster--Banana cupcake "filled with caramel" #4

Caramel Spice Cheesecake--ginger caramel cake #5

As a judge/taster your responsibility is to score the cupcakes on various qualifiers. A representative from your table of 4 tasters takes your tray to the cupcake display area and then all mini cupcakes are cut into 4 pieces for the initial tasting. There can be up to 20 to 30 cupcakes to taste, but the general consensus was that most bakers may have been recovering from the Giants World Series Win the night before and couldn't be bothered to bring their 'A' game to cupcakes which is why there were only five entries. However, that meant we got to taste more of the 5 cupcakes that were on offer instead of being cupcaked out after the first tasting of each. So after we tasted numbers 1-5 (one person allergic to nuts abstained from number #3), we were able to savor  whichever cupcakes we thought needed another "taste" test.

We marked our votes on the paper and sipped more tea while we waited for the votes to be tabulated. There was a big discussion on the difference between muffins and cupcakes. Is there one anymore? (Tea Time doesn't think so... all "muffins" are really big no frosting cupcakes in disguise these days.) What makes a muffin a Muffin? Any ideas out there? Feel free to comment. We also talked some about sports, but managed to avoid (pre-election)politics. More cupcakes were eaten, then finally the votes were tallied and *surprise* a costume contest was announced!

Our tasting tray, with cupcakes cut into 4 pieces each.

The aftermath of tasting.

There weren't many people in costumes, 4 people total out of the 30 some people in attendance. I was glad the cavewoman didn't have a club (plus a bit more personality) she could have stolen the show. Luck was on my side, and I won a nice metal lunch box with retro candy inside! Then the cupcake winners were announced (listed at top of this post) and given their prizes which were similar to mine, with the lunchbox+candy, but had kitchen tools included. (Such as a fancy wisk, rolling pin, etc). Then there were lots of photo ops.  Iron Cupcake also donates all cupcakes leftover from the contest to a local foodbank. Cool!

We'll be visiting Leland Tea again (in Tea Time capacity) to partake of the their afternoon tea offerings. We may try a new tea, but the tea served at Iron Cupcake (bottomless cup/included in the price of your tasting ticket) was a Minty Rooibos from South Africa, with bits of vanilla and pear. Rooibos is a rich and flavorful herbal 'tea', perfect for those who are avoiding caffeine. I liked this one a lot!

Our Iron Cupcake hosts at Leland Tea Company.

If you want to get out and meet new people, it's always easier when food is involved! What's your favorite cupcake? The December Iron Cupcake challenge is supposed to be "what cupcake are you known for"? I don't really have a cupcake, but I suppose if I'm going to enter, I better get some ideas! Do you have any I can steal? Let me know in the comments!!

Rose Tea Flowers and Lounge

UPDATE: Rose tea has changed into a new restaurant. It also serves tea, but no flowers. (sad face) Once we make it over to Irving Street and check it out we'll post the link here. 


This afternoon tea adventure happened over on Irving street at Rose Tea San Francisco / Tea Lounge and Flowers. We don't make it over to the Inner Sunset often, but it's worth it for a destination lunch. We first visited Rose Tea over a year ago and a little bit has changed in her lovely store. Flowers and nature still abound, with oak leaves rustling on the floor in addition to the wonderful flowers both to view and purchase. There is now a section dedicated to truffles instead of the dried fruits and candies they had  out for purchase during our  last visit.  Yay, chocolate!

Truffles galore--3 for $8

Flowers tempt you @ the door.

A relaxing and lovely space.

Spy into the kitchen.

 Angela arrived first with a rumbling stomach and after some consultation texts ordered a feast. Of course we had to get the Tea Time for 2 which comes with a bottomless pot of tea, 2 french almond cookies with jams and a scone. When JK arrived, our server brought a lovely platter and we dug into the fresh blueberry/apple scone which was fruity and had crunchy sugar sprinkled on top. Our tea was their "Tea Time" blend made with green tea, rose petals and safflower to promote mental focus, help circulation and warm the spirit. Since the weather has been blowing a cold breeze this past couple days in SF, this tea really hit the spot. For an interesting twist, our server suggested we could sweeten our tea with the jams from our tray. The rose jam stirred into the rosy tea was a treat. Rose Tea has a short and sweet list of house blends that are geared towards specific healthful properties with that information on the menu.

Tea Time for 2!

Thoughtful presentation on appropriate dishes.

This Tea Time for 2 would certainly be a great snack for one as well. Bring your book or laptop and enjoy a lazy (or productive?) afternoon after you order this carbohydrate indulgence. The almond cookies are light with a sweet almond crunch, also great dipped in the jams offered.

Blueberry/Apple scone with butter.

House made white cherry jam, lower right. Rose jam, upper left.

Rose Tea does not have a tiered tray service like the previous afternoon tea places we have posted blogs about because their menu is a la carte. Therefore, we also ordered a cheese plate, salad and sandwich. Told you we were hungry! This cornucopia of food turned out to cost about the same as a tiered tray service at other businesses. The cheese plate is a great value itself, enough for two people to share or one hungry person to hoard. This visit the cheese plate featured tangy feta chunks, creamy goat cheese and a wedge of soft brie along with cucumbers, tomatoes, walnuts, apple slices, thin pita-like bread, and a melange of fresh herbs! There was also a sweet melon syrup, almost like honey to drizzle over your creations. A bit of Brie cheese, some mint plus a walnut. No, wait, feta with basil and tomato and a drip of melon syrup. The combinations are endlessly delicious.

Brie, Feta and goat cheese + fixin's.

Best deal in the city for $12.50!

It was hard to choose our main dishes as it was a toss-up between the Salmon or Eggplant sandiwches, but in the end we opted for the Salmon Avacado salad with organic greens and walnuts plus the Eggplant sandwich, which featured soft smooth eggplant puree, mootz, tomatoes, fresh basil  and olive oil on toasted multi grain bread. Win win in our book. That did mean we  had a lot of salad though, because the sandwich also comes with an organic greens side salad. Tea Time is so healthy! (right?) The smoked salmon on our salad was nice and probably makes a great sandwich (we'll try that next time), but our greedy selves wished for more avocado. Although we didn't get to choose our dressing, it was okay because the salad wasn't drowning and the flavors enhanced the crunchy lettuce. Our sandwich was creamy with eggplant, crunchy with the bread still warm from toasting. If you cut the crusts off and sliced it again, it would make a perfect 'tea' sandwich.

Squeeze the lime!

Smoked Salmon and Avocado Salad.

Eggplant sandwich with organic greens.

For dessert we, of course, had to try a truffle. JK was stuffed so we split one. It was full of creamy ganache and had a rich chocolate outside. A great way to finish our leisurely afternoon tea after the pot was topped off with hot water so we could chat a bit more about where to walk after we were done there.

The local truffle maker.

Almond Toffee Truffle.

Rose Tea does not have a current website, but just stop by!

When Tea Time finishes this round of one afternoon tea a week, we'll have to start again, and Rose Tea will be near the top of the list. Even though their service is not traditional, it has both good quality and quantity. The idea of a flower and tea shop is delightful and enjoyable. Have you thought of a business concept that would marry well? A deli near the beach that sells beach towels? What about a laundromat plus cafe? (That's a money maker in any bigger city!) Eating and laundry, two things the population can't avoid!