Bay Area Travels 2009: Bakesale Betty (or, Ode to a Glorious Fried Chicken Sandwich) October 15, 2009

Bakesale Betty
5098 Telegraph Ave
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 985-1213
http://www.bakesalebetty.com

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I have an above-average love for fried chicken, preferably in boneless form.  When I was little, I would always order chicken tenders whenever we ate out – who needed burgers when you could eat strips of breaded, juicy, crunchy chicken dipped in honey mustard or (even better) ranch?

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(Don’t talk to me about Chicken McNuggets.  I shudder at the thought.  I remember my parents trying to force me to eat Chicken McNuggets when I was 4 years old or so.  I gagged as I chewed the spongy/bouncy/soggy fried nuggets composed of mysterious chicken parts.  After I threw up, my parents wisely never forced Chicken McNuggets on me again.)

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See?  Discerning food snob even at age 4.

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Anyways, back to my love of fried chicken.  I remember when Bakesale Betty opened, sometime when I was still in school in Berkeley.  I remembered stopping by one day to check out the fried chicken sandwiches.  I took one bite, then another.  Then I wolfed the whole thing down.  Never mind that it made me too full for dinner later that day.

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To make a long story short, this fried chicken sandwich became a regular habit of mine.  And that’s high praise coming from a self-avowed fried chicken lover.

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By the time I left Berkeley for southern California, the word had spread about Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken sandwiches and they were regularly selling out of them.  I always had to make sure that I came at the beginning of the lunch rush, or I’d be out of luck.

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So I was eager to reacquaint myself with one of my favorite Berkeley sandwiches on this return trip.  Little did I know that word had spread so far and wide about the charms of Bakesale Betty’s sandwich that there would now be lines stretching down the block at lunchtime for people waiting for the fried chicken sandwich!

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Bakesale Betty - the horrors of the lunch line

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I guess this line was a surprise to no one but me, as a poet had set up shop outside Bakesale Betty, presumably to capitalize on the captive audience waiting in the lunch line.

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Street poet

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The proprietor in her immediately-recognizable blue wig came out.  Last time I was here (in 2006), it was just her and her husband and some employees running the shop.  This time, she was carrying her baby in a front pouch while bustling about.  Aww, life’s changes.

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"Betty" giving out cookies in line while cops and civilians wait patiently for sandwiches

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Even though they’ve hired many more employees since I last came in 2006, the employees seem to be no less busy!

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Betty's cooks frantically making chicken sandwiches. Fried chicken sandwiches for the hungry masses!

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I ordered a sandwich and strawberry shortcake, my two old favorites.  Weaving my way through the crowd of people inside as I clutched my heavy, prized bag of sandwich and shortcake, I made my way outside, where I sat at one of the colorfully-painted ironing boards serving as tables, enjoyed basking in the hot autumn sun for a few minutes, and then started chowing down.

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The strawberry shortcake was soft and slightly moist / cakey, topped with sugared strawberries, runny with juice, and unsweetened whipped cream.

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Ok, I’ll cut to the chase and talk about this chicken sandwich. Juicy, firm, and slightly dry chicken breast.  Generous portion.  Perfect breading on the chicken – spicy, crispy, and pleasantly moist with olive oil from the coleslaw.

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And then – the coleslaw.  I dislike most mayo-based slaws because, well, I don’t really like mayo.  Which is why I love Bakesale Betty’s version so much.  Crunchy cabbage with slivers of red pepper.  Lubricated with a healthy dose of olive oil.  Slightly tangy.  No mayo in sight – truly a beautiful thing.

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And the bread?  Soft, untoasted yet substantial, these rolls are from Acme Bakery (my favorite bakery in the Bay Area).  They are soft enough to yield without crunching (leaving the job of providing crunch up to the fried chicken and coleslaw), but they have a firm enough crumb to stand up to the oily dripping goodness of the coleslaw and the juiciness of the chicken.

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The justifiably famous fried chicken sandwich, a bit sloppily-made but tasty nonetheless.

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Strawberry shortcake buried under a mound of strawberries and whipped cream, flaky and not too sweet

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Everything was delicious and exactly as I remembered it, even three years later.  I guess sometimes food does live up to the hype you create in your fond memories of the past.

Bay Area Travels 2009: Mission Street Food and nopa

Mission Street Food
(cash only)
2234 Mission St
(Lung Shan Restaurant)
San Francisco, CA 94110
missionstreetfood.blogspot.com
Thursdays and Saturdays, starting at 6pm

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nopa
560 Divisadero St
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 864-8643

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After my lovely day eating oysters and other delights at the Ferry Building, I headed out for a quick bite at Mission Street Food before meeting up with two old friends for dinner at nopa.

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A friend who is a HUGE SF foodie told me about Mission Street Food long before my trip to SF, and I was excited to try it out. What is Mission Street Food, exactly?  It’s a pop-up restaurant that takes over Lung Shan Restaurant twice a week with guest chefs.  Because it takes place in an existing restaurant’s space, Mission Street Food’s overhead costs are greatly reduced from that of a regular full-time restaurant, and consequently they can keep prices reasonable while being able to donate profits to charity.

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When I pulled up across the street from the restaurant, I saw a ton of young trendy people standing in line for this popular eating establishment.  I signed up on a list and waited outside, observing the devastatingly trendy hipsters in their ironic outfits (some of them looked like they were straight out of latfh.com.

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Mission Street Food at Lung Shan Restaurant

While I was waiting, I took the opportunity to use the bathroom (seriously one of the grosser bathrooms I used on this trip).  Because the restaurant was so crowded and I was only a party of one, I was seated relatively quickly with a group of three very nice and interesting entrepreneurs/programmers.

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Unfortunately, because the chefs can change from day to day, the food isn’t necessarily consistent in quality.  Which would explain why the Peach Cobbler with sweet corn and bourbon creme anglaise ($5) that I ordered, while interesting in concept (corn, bourbon cream), was not very tasty.  The cobbler portion was heavy and dense, and the the filling was way too sweet, without very much complexity.  Alas, maybe next time I return to SF I’ll hit Mission Street Food on a better night.

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Fortunately, I didn’t order too much at Mission Street Food because I was saving what little belly space I had left for nopa.  “nopa” is both the name of the restaurant as well as the neighborhood in which it is located (“NOPA” stands for “North of the Panhandle”).  I heard reservations were notoriously hard to get, but my savvy friend and I lucked out and scored an upstairs table from a cancellation shortly after we arrived and grabbed drinks at the bar.  While we waited for a table, I sipped a frothy and excellently-made Pisco Sour and bemusedly observed local foodies, some wearing backpacks (how Seattle of them!), aggressively battling for spaces at the large communal table right inside the entrance (what is this, Father’s Office in Santa Monica / Culver City?).

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We started with pimientos de padrón with garlic confit and sea salt.  I had previously sampled great pimientos de padrón at Catalina in Barcelona, Spain, but I didn’t like nopa’s version very much.  The peppers were slightly bitter and consequently not very tasty.  We didn’t finish the batch.  We had much more success with the olive oil poached albacore tuna with haricot verts and soft-cooked egg. It was one of the more unique and memorable preparations of albacore I’ve had, because the tuna was infused with the flavor and luscious oiliness of the olive oil.

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Olive oil poached albacore

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The much-touted country pork chop was tender and tasty enough (it better be if I’m risking my stomach for a pork chop cooked to medium-rare!), but otherwise didn’t thrill me.

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Country pork chop

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We ended with the burnt honey crème brûlée, which was a tasty and innovative riff on the standard.  The honey added a deep and full-bodied note to the brûlée.  Highly recommended.

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Burnt honey crème brûlée

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Overall, a solidly good meal, if not a spectacular one, and the albacore appetizer, crème brûlée, and drinks were the standouts of the evening.

Bay Area Travels 2009: Ferry Building, aka the love of my life

Ferry Building Marketplace
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 693-0996

 

If I could live at the Ferry Building Marketplace, I would.  To an avid food-lover, the Ferry Building is like Disneyland, a huge candy store, and a spa retreat, all rolled into one.  An experience at the Ferry Building never fails to ground me, rejuvenate me, and make me wish that I lived in one of the office buildings next door.

 

So, I originally had more ambitious plans today than spending the entire day at the Ferry Building.  But, I quickly scrapped my plans after realizing that I had become ensnared by the Ferry Building’s multiple charms.

 

Today, there was a small farmer’s market at the Ferry Plaza, and I was able to buy my favorite tomatoes – dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes from Dirty Girl farms.  These are grown with a restricted amount of water, so the tomatoes are much smaller than normal, and the flavor is concentrated and extremely sweet – like a super-tomato, if you will. Pricey, but absolutely worth it – I’ve never been able to find these in Southern California (I don’t think the So Cal climate supports dry-farming of tomatoes).  These are completely unlike the mushy and massive tomatoes you’d find elsewhere.

 

Candy-sweet Early Girl dry-farmed tomatoes from Dirty Girl farms

Next, delectable and similarly petite organic strawberries at Lucero Farms’ stand.  The woman helping me at the stand explained to me that while their strawberries aren’t technically “dry-farmed,” they are grown with a restricted amount of water – which explains their intensely sweet and concentrated strawberry flavor.

 

Lucero Farms' Organic Strawberries

 

I was also eager to try Scream Sorbet, which has a stand at the Thursday farmer’s market.  The young man working at Scoop was earnest, affable, and enthusiastic, freely dispensing samples of the six sorbet flavors.  “Do you make these ice creams?” I asked.  “Oh, I’m just a scooper,” he said modestly, while passing samples to me and the other customers.

 

Scream Sorbet - Menu

 

Unlike my disappointing experience yesterday with Bi-Rite Creamery, I found Scream’s sorbets to be a revelation.  I settled on a scoop each of the Fig Walnut and the Charentais Melon.  The Fig Walnut was creamy and rich, yet light, with an almost whipped texture.  It was flecked with crunchy fig seeds.  The walnut imparted a nutty and creamy texture to the Fig Walnut sorbet, and made me think of a traditional sweet Chinese soup that is based on pureed walnuts.  The Charentais Melon sorbet had a concentrated melon-y flavor but was not too sweet, and was smooth and refreshing without being icy.

 

Scream Sorbet's Outstanding Fig Walnut and Charentais Melon Sorbets

 

Giddy with my excellent fruit and sorbet consumption, I wandered into the building, seeking more adventures as well as respite from the heat.  At the Blue Bottle store, I grabbed a cup of rich, creamy and slightly-bitter New Orleans-style iced coffee (chicory makes it New Orleans-style, the cashier told me).

 

Blue Bottle Coffee

 

I was fascinated by Blue Bottle’s individual drip method of preparing coffee:

 

Blue Bottle: Coffee prepared in ceramic drippers

 

After my coffee break, I stopped at Miette for some cute little macarons.

 

Miette Macarons

 

I purchased rose and raspberry macarons – both far too rich and sweet for me.  I dislike the use of the coarsely ground, unblanched almonds in Miette’s macarons, and prefer the smoother texture and less-rich flavor of Paulette’s Macarons (in this case, Beverly Hills – 1, SF – 0).  I also felt that the macaron filling, which had more of a whipped cream texture than a ganache texture, was overwhelmed by the cookie portion of the macarons.

 

But they sure were pretty!

 

Miette's raspberry and rose macarons

 

I decided at this point in the afternoon that I would give up my other SF plans and just participate in Hog Island Oyster Company’s oyster happy hour ($1 oysters!!), which was scheduled to start at 5 pm.  Alas, I wandered in a little too late and the place was PACKED.  Some kind souls made space for me at one of the small standing ledges in front.

 

Hog Island Oyster Company - Oyster Happy Hour Madness!

 

At this time, my meter was running dangerously low (story of my SF travels, I swear), so I plowed through my delicious, fresh, and dirt-cheap dozen oysters with mignonette sauce and pint of Downtown Brown beer, and fled back to my car.

 

Hog Island Happy Hour: Oysters and Beer