Moscow & Tbilisi Russian Bakery: $2.25 Piroshki

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As most school districts around the globe, our elementary school had rotating dishes on our monthly breakfast and lunch calendar. I ate breakfast at school most days because my mom worked 12-hour shifts at the local hospital. Tuesdays mornings we had bagels drenched in margarine and for lunch we had sloppy joes. But Fridays were the best because we had golden foil wrapped peanut butter and jelly graham cracker sandwiches for breakfast and piroshkis for lunch.

I loved those damn piroshkis. Fuck the chocolate milk, the fruit cup and whatever else was on my tray; I’d trade it all in for another piroshki. My mother would have been terrified to see her child clammering and begging down the aisle of cafegymatorium tables for piroshkis. Soft pillow yeasty pockets stuffed with ground beef and cheese. Although these had a sort of grainy exterior, the beef-cheese-piroshkiinside was rich and moist. I’ve eaten Anda Piroshki, which is completely off the mark, and I’ve eaten Piroshky Piroshky, which was getting closer. I’ve been searching for that type of piroshki, but never found it until last Tuesday: Moscow & Tbilisi Russian Bakery in the Inner Richmond.

Moscow & Tbilisi is a small bakery, with a large kitchen, on Geary Blvd. The delights behind the counter are impressive: apricot roll, black sesame pastries, cinnamon and walnut danish, napoleons, cakes and lots of choices of piroshki and meringues. The meringues made up in aesthetics when it came to my purchasing choices, the piroshki is admittedly not an aesthetic delight to the eyes.

One $2.25 beef and cheese piroshki and two $2 meringues later, I sat near the counter and set to demolish this long sphere of fried dough and meat. It was exactly as I remembered it in elementary school. The dough was chewy and tender and filled with webs of gluten development. These cheese was possibly a type of quark: ultra tangy, white, fresh and not unlike cottage cheese. The ground beef was rich and meaty. I just wish there was more of the filling.

It was still satisfying. Enough to put a smile on my face, something missing from my repertoire that week. And I’m going back for more tomorrow.

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Moscow & Tbilisi Russian Bakery
5540 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, Ca 94121
[The Inner Richmond]

Fifth Wheel Food: Breakfast Creekside…

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The Fifth Wheel opened almost 70-years ago, when San Leandro Blvd was the main thoroughfare, as a truck stop to serve up the kind of food big rig drivers fancy; quick and affordable and stick-to-your-ribs food.

With the capacity to only sit 30 people at any given time, it can be a contorting effort to squeeze down the aisle to one of the fourteen counter stools. So, don’t be the dummy that comes to this eatery seven deep. When you approach the wooden casita that has the San Leandro Creek in its backyard, remember to walk in, sign in on the sheet, and wait. Its mainly locals and the food and prices are so apropos that they provide enough coziness to forget your uncomfortable sitting position.

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$5.50 will get you two eggs, hashbrowns (or grits), and toast. $6.95 will get you two eggs, hasbrowns (or grits), four sausage links and toast.

Why do I keep mentioning the grits? Because I love grits and they’re not always offered at every joint. But for $7.75, I went for the chicken-fried steak, two eggs, toast…with grits.

My plate of food came unadorned with flavorless and out-of-season fruit garnish or curly parsley. It came uncoddled by waitresses asking me if there was anything else I needed every ten-seconds. It did come with tender cubed steak with an ultra crunchy exterior — so crunchy it never surrendered to sogginess — covered in brown gravy. It had correctly pan fried over-medium eggs with runny yolks and solid whites. Grits thick enough to eat with a fork, creamy enough to submit and mingle with the yolk runoff.

I didn’t notice the chicken-fried steak was naked of its usual country milk pepper gravy until my dining companion brought it to my attention whilst standing inside of a thrift store, 15 minutes later. That’s how comforted I was.

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Fifth Wheel Food
898 San Leandro Blvd
San Leandro, CA 94577
 
 
 

Moscow & Tbilisi Russian Bakery: Merginues + Eton Mess…

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meringues

On my way home from purchasing piroshki and two meringues from Moscow & Tbilisi Russian Bakery, I coddled the paper bag of meringues in the crook of my arm with a bent elbow. They managed to stay intact on a long 38L ride, transbay bus, and a five-block walk to my house. And just as I turned the corner and reached my doorstep, the bag hit the side of my leg and the top of one of the meringues shattered. “Of course, why am I surprised?” I said to myself. But the shattered top gave me the idea to transform the meringues into an Eton mess. That British dessert of meringue, strawberries and whipped cream. Luck would have it that I had a pint of freshly picked strawberries and carton of cream in my possession. If you don’t have access to pre-made meringues, not most of us do, they’re a cinch to whip up.

The meringue recipe below is scaled back for 3 servings, from Ina Garten. The filling concept is just something I threw together based on common knowledge.

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Eton mess recipe

Meringues

3 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature eton-mess-recipe-moscow-tbilisi-russian-bakery

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Salt

3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Filling

1lb strawberries

8 oz Mascarpone

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, very cold

2 tbsp powdered sugar

zest of one lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. The size of the meringues don’t have to be precise, just eyeball them to close in size.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a large pinch of salt on medium speed until frothy. Add 1 cup of the sugar and raise the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla. Carefully fold the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar into the meringue. With a large pastry tip (or cut a hole in the corner of a Ziploc bag), pipe a disc of meringue about an inch apart from each other. Pipe another layer around the edge to form the sides of the shells.

Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry and crisp but not browned. Turn off the heat and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight.

2.  Mix mascarpone and 1 tb of confectioner sugar w/ whisk attachment, on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Place in a separate bowl and set aside.

Add cream and remaining sugar into the original mixing bowl and mix on high just until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. Add the lemon zest and gently stir to combine. Set aside.

With a paring knife, remove hull and any discolouration from strawberries. Slice half of the strawberries, place directly into bowl, and mash them with a fork or your hands. Slice the remaining half of strawberries vertically and gently mix with mashed strawberries. Set aside.

3. Assemble

Lie your meringue on a plate, plop some marscapone mixture onto the meringue, spoon over strawberries. Thee end.

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Parada 22: The Puerto Rican Pop-Up in The Mission…

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Parada 22 is a brick and mortar in the Upper Haight that neighbors its cousin, Cha Cha Cha. And cousins they are, literally, for Cha Cha Cha (and Boogaloos) is owned by restaurateur Philip Belber who is a cousin of Parada 22 owner, Gloria Pinette. For the last six months, Parada 22 has been setting up camp in hungover hipster vegetarian favorite Sunday morning Mission hangout, Boogaloo’s. Parada 22 has taken over with their pop-up, serving Gloria Pinette’s Comida Puertorriquena recipes to the Mission masses. parada-22

A little taken aback by it being 6PM and the joint empty, I had no option but to review that statement as, “just before the rush.” No sooner had I sat down had customers started trailing in, some stopped in their tracks by the sight of a myriad of bright PR flags throughout the premises. As their curiosity struck, they glanced at the menu placed in the window, and came inside. They were swiftly greeted and seated by the sole front of the house employee who was working his magic throughout the restaurant, his FOH abilities impressive.

As many of my experiences in PR restaurants, the pillars of our cuisine — our national dish and another that we only consume on parada-22-piquespecial occasions — were not present on the menu. No pasteles and no arroz con gandules. My dining companion’s mofongo de camarones came molded, but free of its usual miniature pilon (wooden mortar) serving vessel, and we settled on it being served with shrimp…as chicharrón wasn’t on the menu. The five shrimp on the platter were incredibly flavorful, relying mostly on the sofrito, and cooked well. The masa was bordering on heavily saturated near gummy texture.

I had the $12.50 pernil asado. Slow roasted pork shoulder marinated in garlic, oregano and sofrito. Sofrito is the base of Puerto Rican cooking. I always have sofrito on hand; frozen in ice cube trays. No one could possibly argue that sofrito defines our nation’s cuisine. Almost every recipe begins with sofrito. Hell, I’ll add sofrito to a stir fry or a curry in a blink. Also on the plate were braised red kidney beans, white rice, maduros and a mixed green salad. When the troupe of rice, beans (with their smokey ham chunks) and pork shoulder were eaten together, it was a good match. Solo, not so entertaining.

Unfortunately, I’d have to tip my hat towards Borinquen Soul Food Truck at their achievement of the utmost satisfying circumference of crispy on their maduros. The maduros (fried ripe plantains) were supple, sweet and savory, but lacked their optimized potential to achieve crispy edges, offering only a minimal amount of crispyness. The plate lacked texture. And this could have possibly been casted aside had the pernil’s cuero (leather), its crowning glory, had made an appearance. This layer of fat that sits atop the roast mutates itself into a brittle and viscous protector,preventing the meat from drying out, but providing maximum porky flavor! This element sent my family members into a Darren McGavin caricature in A Christmas Story, sneakily tiptoeing into the kitchen to steal fragments of the roast holiday beast. I was beyond disappointed when I didn’t receive any of the cuero. Surely, if a food stand in Ireland can reserve chopped cracklin’ from their spit- roasted pig to garnish their pork sandwiches with, it is a known fact that people love crispy bits of pork and we deserve them!

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All in all, I’d not only come back, I’d recommend Parada 22′s pop-up. If not to specifically request the cuero — that they’re hiding in their socks — but, to gobble down their solid tostones with mayo-ketchup. I felt a slighty internal pride eating here, but I think it mostly came from the abundance of PR flags.

 

Parada 22 Pop-Up
Boogaloo’s
3296 22nd St @ Valencia
[The Mission]

Food & Farm Film Festival: 18 reasons to spend $15…

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Not entirely 18 reasons, but we can thank 18 reasons for next month’s Food & Farm Film Festival. It’s the time of year where our eyes are delighted to gaze upon the pops of color finally revealing themselves at the farmer’s markets and along outdoor trails. It’s spring. Which is a perfect time to hold any type of festival that shows love for nature’s bounty.

The darlings of Bi-Rite and Roxie are holding their second annual Food & Farm Film Festival at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco’s Mission District. Three days of food-centric films and tastings pillar this event that promises to show an 88-minute film, Le Quattro Volte, “about life in the remote mountain town of Caulonia, in southern Italy.”

Nine out of the thirteen individual events taking place during the festival are priced at $15. Some include food in that price and some include a brunch with the Mission District’s own  18 reasons, where you can spend a Saturday afternoon eating goat cheese whilst mingling with goats. And possibily listen to certain someones squeal with delight as they mingle with said goats. Not a bad deal for self-proclaimed foodies to delve into the deeper meanings of the products they love to consume and perhaps even walk away with a promotional title of gastronome.

Food & Farm Film Festival
Roxie Theatre
3117 16th Street

photo courtesy of: Food & Farm Film Festival