Jonathan Kauffman

Little Garden's Hong Kong-Style Pork Chops and Baked Spaghetti

Jonathan KauffmanLittle Garden's baked beef and egg with rice, $6.25.​ Rice Plate Journal is a yearlong project to canvas Chinatown, block by block, discovering the good, the bad, and the hopelessly mediocre. Maximum entrée price: $10. "Would you like your pork chop with spaghetti or rice?" the ... More >>

Mom Food in Portola, Blogging Tips from Bay Area Bites

​Today's notes on national stories, local trends, random tastes, and other bycatch dredged up from the food media. Jonathan KauffmanSo not photogenic. But good.​1. Notes from Portola. Every Friday, Science Friday's Ira Flatow and I drive out to a different part of town to wander around and eat ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Fresh Eats

Our weekly roundup of SFoodie news

Benu Forges a New Kind of Haute

Nicole S./YelpBenu's lobster bouillon.​It can take a lifetime for an artist to forge a personal vernacular. Or if not a lifetime, then a bit longer than 10 weeks, for sure. At Benu ― subject of Jonathan Kauffman's review today ― French Laundry veteran Corey Lee isn't just reassembling the ... More >>

At La Torta Gorda, Jonathan Kauffman Finds a Rare Taste of Puebla

John BirdsallLa Torta Gorda's quezadilla flor de calabaza, squash blossom quesadilla.​Most Americans don't particularly care if the stuff we call Mexican food reflects subtleties of region. Tortas, tacos, quesadillas: They're pretty much the same, we think, either good or bad or in between, so ... More >>

S.F.'s Newest Street-Food Vendors Get the Jonathan Kauffman Treatment

John BirdsallSteamed buns from Chairman Bao: lion's head meatball (left) and crispy tofu.​We've been told there are more than 50 tweeting food vendors in the Bay Area. Unless you've been airlifted into SFoodie for the first time ― on the wings of Google's search bots, perhaps ― you know th ... More >>

Chabaa: The Real Secret Menu

Mona C./YelpThe room's more CB2 than Pier One.​It's the Frodo's ring of food reviewers: The "secret," non-English menu, be it in Mandarin or urdu. In this week's "Eat" review for SF Weekly, restaurant critic Jonathan Kauffman turns all Gollum, finding ― and with the help of translators, crac ... More >>

Kalguksu at Muguboka

Jonathan KauffmanKalguksu (plus one million side dishes, $9.95).​ Monday, July 19, 2010Muguboka, which the Weekly reviewed last fall, is yet another of that class of Korean restaurants in America that advertises its barbecue but specializes in everything else: black-goat stew bubbling in a wok big ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman Snags Silver at AAN Awards

​Congratulations to SF Weekly food critic and SFoodie blogger Jonathan Kauffman for bagging silver at the 2010 AltWeekly Awards in the category of Food Writing (circulation over 50,000). Kauffman won for work he did last year, when he was staff writer for our sister paper in Seattle. LA Weekly ... More >>

Comstock Saloon: A Remembrance of Things Larded and Pickled

thisyuppielife/FlickrAbandon your iPhone all ye who enter here.​San Francisco's mustache-waxing love of the old-timey has reached critical mass amid the tweed and mahogany confines of Comstock Saloon in North Beach. In today's edition of SF Weekly, food critic Jonathan Kauffman descends into t ... More >>

New Dinner Service at Local Mission Eatery Spans Big-Plate, Small-Plate Formats

Dani S./YelpThe set-price, set-menu format wasn't quite working.​More on the new dinner scene launching Friday at Local Mission Eatery. In "Buzz Machine" this morning, Jonathan Kauffman remarked on the passing of Local Mission's twice-weekly pop-up-style dinners in favor of a la carte service, ... More >>

On the Mission's Arepa Trail

Ed U./YelpMr. Pollo's Manny Torres Gimenez breaks it down for diners.​Maybe S.F. sandwich culture is advanced enough to allow for variations like the arepa, South American specimens that aren't exactly sandwiches. In today's "Eat" column in SF Weekly, food critic Jonathan Kauffman crafts a Mis ... More >>

Brother Seafood Restaurant, a Hong Kong Spinoff by New Hing Lung, Set to Open Soon

Jonathan Kauffman​Eating lunch in the Outer Sunset today, SFoodie passed this sign going up over the old Go Go Cafe space. We called the number and talked to the owner, who says he also owns New Hing Lung on Noriega.Brother Seafood Restaurant, he said, will specialize in Hong Kong-style seafood; ... More >>

Wading Into the Vietnamese-Cajun Crawfish Boil, San Francisco Style

Linda C./YelpRaiding the bag at Red Crawfish.​Maybe there's nothing more apt for facing down Independence Day than a sprawling, itchy-fingered session at some Vietnamese-Cajun crawfish joint. They're among the most indelibly American of eateries in this most densely hyphenated of societies, th ... More >>

More Evidence of S.F.'s Fusion Renaissance

Jun BelenSisig from Hapa SF: Subtle fusion, maybe, but fusion all the same.​Our favorite morsel from the blogs. Jonathan Kauffman's response to Michael Bauer's Friday lament re: the death of fusion cuisine had a predecessor. In April, Urban Stomach blogger Alex Hochman echoed (um, pre-echoed? ... More >>

Our 10 Favorite Meaty Dishes in San Francisco

Jonathan KauffmanThe Alembic's pork belly with quince paste.​We grew up in a family where meat in some form was the biggest slab of whatever appeared on the nightly dinner plate. Pork chops breaded and fried to a challenging state of stiffness, Swiss steak, sauerbraten in a sauce all grainy-sw ... More >>

What to Have for Lunch: Little Delhi's Chicken Curry Special

Jonathan KauffmanChicken curry special ($6.99). Whoa.​ Tuesday, June 8, 2010 leporello87/Flickr​Located just around the corner from the Powell Street station, or on the gateway to the Tandoorloin, Little Delhi is one of the city's better Punjabi restaurants, with terra-cotta and gold walls, un ... More >>

What to Have for Lunch: Cuban Sandwich from Goza-Goza

Jonathan KauffmanGoza-Goza's no-nonsense, cheese-filled Cuban sandwich ($6).​Thursday, June 4, 2010burritowings​We confess ourselves taken with San Francisco's enduring Cuban sandwich fixation, one taken up by both forces at work in the food scene ― the facifiers and the gut-bombers ― and al ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman: Is Parada 22's Puerto Rican Crossover Convincing?

Archive Victor/FlickrThe menu freely edits the Puerto Rican canon.​Is Alex Jackson the city's new source of restaurant-concept energy? Fresh off a consulting stint at Weird Fish, the chef has tweaked The Corner into a place with a carnivorous American menu as striking as its setting, is plotti ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman a Finalist for 2010 AltWeekly Awards

​A note to fans of Jonathan Kauffman, awards handicappers, or those who simply like to lose themselves in excellent food writing: SF Weekly staffer and SFoodie blogger Kauffman is up for a 2010 AltWeekly Award. Granted, it's for a trio of pieces filed while he was on the staff of our sister al ... More >>

Forget the Bistro. The Most Personal Cooking in Town is at To Hyang

A W./YelpEven the panchan sparkle.​Quick: Name the most deeply felt, auteur-driven, DIY-committed restaurant you can think of. Canteen? Nope. Commis? #fail. French Laundry? Please. Try a 30-seat Korean place in the Inner Richmond called To Hyang. In today's "Eat" column, SF Weekly food criti ... More >>

What to Have for Lunch: All-Day Breakfast at Pampanguena

Jonathan KauffmanTocino, egg, and extra-garlicky garlic rice ($5.95). ​Monday, May 24, 2010 Pampanguena, a brightly painted, two-month-old Filipino restaurant in the Excelsior, specializes in food from the Pampanga region, which many people (especially Pampangans) like to claim has the best c ... More >>

S.F. Rising: Cinderella Bakery's Dark Rye

Jonathan KauffmanA bread that calls out for fish or smoked cheese.​S.F. Rising is a weekly survey of bread in San Francisco ― the baked and the steamed, the artisan and the novelty.Dark Rye Source: Cinderella Bakery, 436 Balboa (at Fifth Ave.), 751-9690 Price: $3.25 Toast-appropriateness: 7/10, ... More >>

What to Have for Lunch: S.F.'s Best Burger at Serpentine

John BirdsallPrather Ranch hamburger ($11.50).​Thurs., May 20, 2010 Trina E./Flickr​For SF Weekly's Best of San Francisco 2010, food critic Jonathan Kauffman ate his way through enough burgers to make any normal diner sweat LDL crystals. His favorite? Serpentine chef Deepak Kaul's strip ... More >>

S.F. Rising: Liguria Bakery's Focaccia

J. KauffmanAs good as it ever was.​ A weekly survey of bread in San Francisco ― the baked and the steamed, the artisan and the novelty.Focaccia Source: Liguria Bakery, 700 Stockton (at Filbert), 421-3786 Price: $4 Toast-appropriateness: in toaster, 3/10; brushed with olive oil and rewarmed, 9/10 ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman Probes the Meaning of Local Mission Eatery

John BirdsallJumbo Asparagus open-face sandwich with slow-poached egg and Meyer lemon mousseline ($6).​What the hell is Local Mission Eatery? In today's "Eat" column, SF Weekly critic Jonathan Kauffman pegs the low-lit, highly serious eatery on 24th Street as part "sandwich shop, high-end rest ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman Finds Thali Pleasures at Ruchi, South Park's South Indian Gem

John BirdsallRuchi's masala dosa.​Remember the thrill of discovering that Indian food isn't some murky repertoire of indistinguishable, ghee-drenched curries, inevitably served up with naan and cucumber raita? For most of us, Udupi Palace might have been a liminal zone of paper dosas and idli ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman on Frances: Big Buzz, Modest Ambitions

P. K./Yelp​How can a restaurant have everything going for it ― bicoastal buzz, polished staff, previously starred chef, solid bookings ― and still leave a critic wanting more? That's the question SF Weekly's Jonathan Kauffman explores today, as he parses recent meals at Frances. Chef Mel ... More >>

S.F. Rising: Za'atar Bread from Aroma's Hamati (and GFC)

J. KauffmanIf a pita and a foccaccia got married in Lebanon...​A weekly survey of bread in San Francisco ― the baked and the steamed, the artisan and the novelty.Za'atar Bread Producer: Aroma's Hamati BreadsSource: 22nd and Irving Market, 2101 Irving (at 22nd Ave.), 681-5212. Also spotted at B ... More >>

What to Have for Lunch Today: Pierna Torta at La Torta Sabrosa

Jonathan KauffmanPierna torta ($6.50).​Thurs., April 22, 2010Andy B./Flickr​If you've spent a few days in Mexico City, you've passed hundreds of corner shops like La Torta Sabrosa, with windows covered in pictures of fruit, a high-speed juicer buzzing louder than a construction crew, and a cook ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman: Crossover Dreams at Patio Filipino

evadedave/FlickrPatio Filipino's ginataang.​How can Filipino food in the Bay Area ― a metro track with one of the biggest Fil-Am populations in the U.S. ― still be so little known? That's something we've pondered with friends for years, across tables cluttered with rice-cooker inserts an ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman Takes a Bite Out of S.F.'s Extreme Hot Dog

arnold | inuyaki/Flickr4505 Meats' zilla-style golden dog.​Are hot dogs the new martini ― all-purpose vehicles for blinging out with gaudier theme accessories than even Gaga would cover her ladyparts with? In today's "Eat," SF Weekly food critic Jonathan Kauffman eats his way through almost ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman: Gracias Madre Ditches the Gratitude, Finds the Food

The vegan Mexican-food restaurant opened last December on Mission Street​Strict vegan or raw-curious meatatarian, it's easy to have issues with Café Gratitude, the local live-foods chain preaching a self-help gospel stiff enough to curdle your mug of I Am Super Hot. It was Gratitude issues th ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman Takes on S.F.'s Korean Junk Food Explosion

J. KauffmanThe kimchi-pork hot dog from John's Snack and Deli.​It's happened. Thanks to vivid incarnations dished up via John's Snack and Deli, Seoul on Wheels, and Namu Street Food, Korean-fusion junk food has entered the popular vernacular in S.F., inspired by local tastes and the West Coast ... More >>

Early Bird Special: Jonathan Kauffman Revisits Some Old Faves

b b./YelpMacaroons from La Boulange: Still packin' the old magic?​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review. Sometimes it takes an outsider to tell you that the food places in your neighborhood are as good as you always thought they were ― or not. In tomorrow's SF Weekly, new ... More >>

The Times Serves up a Taste of New SF Weekly Food Critic Jonathan Kauffman

​John T. Edge explores Seattle's teriyaki phenomenon in the New York Times today. "In Seattle, teriyaki is omnipresent," Edge writes, "the closest this city comes to a Chicago dog." His excavations of teriyaki's roots lead him to new SF Weekly food critic Jonathan Kauffman, who did some uneart ... More >>

SF Weekly's Next Food Critic Plans to Wear Out His Muni Fast Pass

p200ericSomewhere out there lurks an amazing bowl of pho.​Adam Martin of Grub Street SF grabs phone time with Jonathan Kauffman -- starting in January, SF Weekly's new food critic and SFoodie blogger -- and gives pretty much anyone who loves finding authentic food in the Bay Area something to ... More >>

Jonathan Kauffman Named SF Weekly's New Food Critic and SFoodie Blogger

Donncha@ In Photos.org/FlickrBreak out the Cantonese seafood.​SF Weekly has a new staff food writer. Former Bay Area food critic Jonathan Kauffman is leaving sister publication Seattle Weekly to become our full-time restaurant critic and SFoodie blogger. As staff writer for the East Bay Expre ... More >>