Things Consumed

 
Downtown. At the office where I'm doing a little contract work, someone on my floor brought in several plates of delicious, homemade persimmon bread. It's a lot like pumpkin bread, but with a complex and tangy aftertaste that reminds you of its inherent persimmon-ness. I've never had it before, but was impressed.

I've sent an e-mail out to several of my friends, asking what they make with persimmons. I got some funny replies ("Thanks for asking if I even cook!!! LOL!!! What's a persimmon....?"), but no recipes. I recall that Larry once told me that his family purchased persimmons this time of year: the technique was to buy them, arrange them in a pretty bowl, put them on a coffee table until they started to look mushy, and then throw them away. :-) I think that's a popular and traditional approach.

I'm convinced that somewhere in my vast paper archive, I have a faux-country magazine from the early 1990s, which I purchased just for its treasury of persimmon recipes. I estimate the chances of finding this magazine at approximately 2%, so I'm hoping for recipes from friends. ['Faux country' magazines, for those of you who are unfamiliar with them, are magazines which idealize a rural home decor, rather than an actual rural lifestyle. According to such publications, rural people apparently spend all of their time hanging framed needle point scenes over elaborate wallpaper patterns, reupholstering their furniture in floral prints, using antique milk jugs as vases, and decorating with lace, in case you were wondering.]

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What do you drink with persimmon bread? Tea or coffee. The mega-office that I'm helping out at serves NINE different kinds of coffee on each floor. NINE. I'm not saying the work is glamorous - it's not - I'm just saying they have a lot of coffee achievers here to support this variety and level of consumption.

Those coffees, several of which are from my favorite local supplier, Peet's (peets.com), are:

-Light
-Dark
-Extra Dark
-Decaf
-"Feature"
-Hazelnut
-Kona
-Major Dickason
-Superfly (!?!?)

That's quite a selection for any office. The Major Dickason may be my current favorite, though I'm testing them all (except Decaf and Light) over time.

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A silly-yet-tasty gift idea: The Peet's Coffee e-Cup (peets.com). Yes, you can e-mail someone a certificate for a pre-paid cup of superb coffee at their local Peet's. It's only silly because of the "e-" part, but it's a clever thing just the same.

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My colleagues in SSF were all envious that I'd be working downtown for a few weeks, where food choices are abundant. In SSF at Sierra Point, we had three options by the time I left.

Baysider Cafe is the cafeteria in the Hitachi building. It serves made-to-order sandwiches (I recommend the eggplant and sun dried tomato - get the garlic sauce rather than mayo and mustard); hot entrees that differ each day, like lasagna or fajitas; burgers and fries; and a salad bar. I ate there often.

Mangiare Cafe/Deli's coffee stand was an outlet for the deli of the same name in Brisbane. It serves Italian coffees, smoothies, pastries & bagels in the mornings, and pastas and pre-made sandwiches at lunch. You could order meals from the full restaurant's menu by 10, and have it delivered to the stand for pickup at lunchtime.

There was also a hotel restaurant, which a colleague likened to a nationwide pancake house chain favored by old people without taste buds. I avoided that.

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By contrast, my current position near Embarcadero BART has abundant food options. Strangely, they're nearly all different locations from when I was located at an office near Montgomery BART. Nearly every common "chain" (and they all seem like local chains now) near my old building has a different outlet near my current location. There is a different Peet's Coffee; a different Specialty's Bakery & Sandwich shop; a different Lee's Deli; a different Bistro Burger; a different SF Soup Company; Noah's bagels; etc. etc. etc. It sort of explains how uniform the downtown dining experience is becoming, once you stray from favorite, stand-alone places. (How did this happen?)

There are also too many Starbucks, but that occurs nearly everywhere downtown. To my amusement, the Peet's has a line out the door in the morning, while the Starbucks across the street can easily contain its short line at the time when I pass.

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Places I have eaten over the last few weeks:

Bistro Burger on Drumm. This is a local burger chain (4 outlets) that serves Gardenburgers (my favorite vegetarian burger patties) with a variety of fancy toppings. The Drumm street location smells clean; the Bush location had an odd smell that stopped me from going back at a certain point. I tried the Mexican Gardenburger with salsa, sprouts and avocado: it was good, but I wound up smelling like fried food for a while, despite having cole slaw as a side dish. (This inspired me to chat with a colleague about the cole slaw, which came with raisins, which I found odd and my colleague found normal. Now I'll have to research cole slaw traditions.)

Cafe Venue, an SF chain with 3 locations, isn't very close, but I've gone there for breakfast burritos now and then. They serve hot pasta lunches with big salads, which are quite satisfying. They also have delicious fresh-squeezed juices in the morning.

El Faro on 1st Street. This local chain has been around since the 1960s, and is very staid - most of my friends find it uninteresting. I had the "no meat burrito" with jalapeños and hot salsa. It's very filling.

Lee's Deli is a chain of cheap sandwich places found all over the financial district. You can get a sandwich for under $5, along with lots of little side dishes. I go there periodically for avocado sandwiches (avocado, lettuce, tomato, pepperoncini, sprouts, mustard, on pumpernickel, nine grain, or sourdough) for about $3.30. Their main claim to fame is their cheapness and speed. They have a salad bar.

Noah's Bagels. This is a west coast chain, and a good a place to get a light, toasted bagel with cream cheese for about $2. The bagel turnover is high at the downtown locations, and so the bagels are fresh. They don't have the heft and heartiness of some other local bagels that use more whole grains in their mixes, but they're readily available.

Restaurant Orale Orale is my favorite Mexican place downtown. It is a standalone restaurant. They have a good vegetarian burrito, and enormous breakfasts (for egg eaters). There's always a line out the door.

Palapas is a Cal-Mex place that has things like "wraps," which are mostly burritos, but marketed differently. I can't really explain why. Their grilled veggie burrito is pretty good: their salsa bar has some tasty choices.

Specialty's is a bakery with great breads, cookies which feel like each one is made with a stick of butter, and tasty sandwiches. They make five different vegetarian sandwiches, have a vegetarian hot soup available daily, serve big salads... and then there are those cookies. I tried to eat two of their cookies once, just for science, and nearly made myself sick - they are ENORMOUS and rich. The Specialty's vegetarian sandwich is one of the better sandwiches available downtown. They also make a delicious corn chowder, with sweet peppers and a few dashes of chili powder.

I also ate at a little dive that made me sick, which doesn't really merit a description.

As I expand my range beyond the short walks I've been taking, I'll report on additional places. My cousin, who like me is a vegetarian with vegan leanings, may also be able to provide some leads: he currently works in the same building.
posted by Arlene (Beth)12:47 PM