Beef, pork and veal meatballs slow-cooked in a tomato basil sauce. $14.50
Jake’s on Market, San Francisco CA
Another definite comfort food. The meatballs were super juicy and the sauce was delicious! I liked that they didn’t go overboard with the amount of pasta.
Extra grated parmesan cheese.
Large hen-and-chicks plants (Echeveria sp., Crassulaceae), Dolores Street. I love the dramatic, upright inflorescence.
With organic blue corn tortilla, roasted tomatillo sauce, guacamole, pickled onions. $14
Lolo, San Francisco CA
The carnitas had a good flavor, but the blue corn tortillas were super dry and thick and there was WAY too much sauce on top. The menu said it was a “roasted tomatillo sauce”, but I think they switched it out to some kind of red pepper sauce instead. It seemed like they brought out all the tapas at once which was ridiculous since the tables were SO frickin’ tiny! Argh!
Graffiti mural with shark, 15th Street. I love the vibrant colors in this. The sharlk and the turtle are nice additions, lol.
Roasted pork, fancy pork loaf and pork pate with pickled carrot and daikon radishes, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, and mayo on a French baguette. $5
Dinosaurs, San Francisco CA
Wow, pork three ways all in one sandwich! This isn’t the healthiest sandwich out there, but it sure is one of the tastiest – yes, please!
Sea lions at Pier 39. I know this is cheesy, but the sea lions are a major tourist attraction in San Francisco (Lou Seal is the mascot for the SF Giants, btw). They swim into the Bay and sunbathe on the floating docks along Pier 39 – kinda cool.
Imperial rolls and BBQ pork served over soft rice vermicelli noodles, shredded lettuce, carrot, cucumber, crushed peanuts, accompanied by their house special “Nuoc Mam” sauce. $8.25
Ben Tre Vietnamese Homestyle Cuisine, South San Francisco CA
With sweet and sour spare ribs, orange chicken, and vegetable fried rice.
Fung Lum Express, San Francisco (SFO)
The Chinese food here is sad and pathetic. If you want your week’s worth of sodium, then grab a plate at Fung Lum. The food quality is super low and most items are overcooked and dry. Lame!
Seaside tree mallow (Malvaceae, Lavatera maritima), Dolores Street. There are several large bushes near Dolores Park.
Their award-winning baby backs are hand-rubbed in a three-staged seasoning process, then marinated before being hickory smoked for nearly four hours. Fire-grilled to order. Sliced smoked turkey breast. Premium turkey breast tossed in a savory blend of spices, then slow smoked for three hours, sliced thin. Served with mashed potatoes and brown gravy, fire roasted corn, and toast. $16.49
Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill, North Charleston SC
This was ok. There was plenty of food, but the quality was just mediocre. I still enjoyed it but there wasn’t much finesse to the bbq – very middle of the road and safe. The service (at the bar) was great though! My bartender was super friendly and attentive. He wasn’t bad looking either, hehe!
Assorted BBQ sauce bottles. I love it when there are multiple bbq sauces to try. I’m always partial to the spicier ones, but these kinds of restaurants don’t ever go too spicy on the bbq.
Bones bin. Never seen this before. The bartender brings out this brown paper bag, folds the top and places it in front of me for my bones. Kinda cool!
View of historic downtown Charleston from The Rooftop Bar at the Vendue Inn.
With a pickled egg, charred pepper relish and beer mustard. $8
The Bar at Husk, Charleston SC
A pretty simple dish, but all the components were delicious! The kielbasa had a great smoky flavor and was nice and fatty. I loved the pickled egg and relish, they added some acidity to help cut the fat. I’m not a big mustard fan, but the beer mustard tasted great too.
Looking out toward Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor from the Charleston Waterfront Park.
Smoked pulled pork, 1/4 chicken, 3-4 ribs, mac and cheese, poppy seed slaw, cornbread muffin. $16.25
Fiery Ron’s Home Team BBQ, Charleston SC
Mmm, so good! I’m a sucker for pork ribs and these taste great. Actually, the chicken and the pulled pork were also very good. The mac and cheese was perfect, so cheesy and just the way I like it. The coleslaw was light, perhaps on the runny side but yummy. And the Alabama white sauce is amazing!
SweetWater 420 Extra pale ale beer. I’m not a huge beer fan but this tasted great with the bbq!
Bbq sauce bottles. They’re all different tasting and pretty good. The “hot” bbq sauce is not hot at all though. Maybe Southerners have a different spice gauge? And I’m not a big mustard based bbq sauce guy so I didn’t use much of it.
Circular Congretional Church and Cemetery. This is a beautiful church in the middle of the downtown historic district. I’ve never been inside, but the graveyard in the back is pretty cool.
2 poached eggs on homemade biscuits covered in hollandaise sauce, served with red beans and rice and sourdough toast. $13
Roux Louisiana Kitchen, San Jose CA
Ugh! The pulled pork was super dry and the sourdough toast was just a couple thin slices of baguette. Even the rice and beans were uneventful.
San Jose Museum of Art Cafe and Museum Store. This is a really cool historic building in downtown San Jose.
Project 365: Day 121
Omg, got an interesting message from Seattle today! Apparently, they have a job opening in our office up there and they wanted to know if I am interested in applying for it. Don’t know if I’m ready to move back there so I’ll have to think about it this weekend. I have to get back to them by the end of next week. What to do, what to do?
Marinated pork with two soft corn tortillas, hot salsa, onions, and cilantro. $2.25
El Farolito, San Francisco
Another delicious taco from El Farolito! The pork is very flavorful, but maybe a little on the salty side. I can only imagine how tastier it becomes at 2 AM in the morning, lol!
Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands. Last month (May 2012), the Golden Gate celebrated it’s 75th birthday! The City celebrated with a festival complete with a large fireworks display. I opted out of the festivities since I was working that day and also had a birthday dinner that evening. It’s quite an amazing bridge though and it’s certainly the pride of our city!
Large egg omelettes mixed with minced pork and vegetables. Topped with a rich gravy and sliced green onions.
Xiao Long Bao Kitchen, South San Francisco CA
You gotta love anything drenched in gravy! These version had really thick omelettes and plenty of gravy. Both positives in my book!
Orange chicken.
Stuffed eggplant with ground pork.
Chicken fried rice.
Choose any two items from their steam table with rice or chow mein. $6.85
All Season Sushi, San Francisco CA
This place is one of those sketchy sushi restaurants that also has a walk-in to-go Chinese food counter in the front. I think everybody who works here is actually Chinese, even the guys behind the sushi bar. That said, I have no shame in heading over when I need a cheap and quick fix of salty, saucy Chinese food.
View of Sutro Tower from Corona Heights Park/Hill. This was a sunny, crisp morning in San Francisco with only a few clouds in the sky. A perfect time to take a stroll.
Vittle Monster 