Alright, what were we doing in a produce warehouse in the middle of nowhere on a cool San Francisco evening? No, we weren't doing anything illegal and no merchandise exchanged hands. Rather, 250 food bloggers were bused from the Hotel Vitale over to Green Leaf Produce for our dinner and awards night. Yup, you heard me right. Dinner, awards, bags of onions and cabbage all-in-one venue. They weren't kidding when they said it was a warehouse. It really was. However, the smell and sounds from squid grilling and vegetables sauteing, put us in the mood. With the help of
was transformed into a really large banquet hall of tables snaking through the existing floor plan. The kitchen staff from
put together a Asian inspired meal for everyone to share alla famiglia style.
Generally, the warehouse was quite dark and cold. I staked out a seat where there was ample light; but it was extra cold! You know me, I would do almost anything for better pictures! I was fortunate to be surrounded by such passionate foodies (mind you, weren't we all?) and we had great conversation all night. Among those sitting
near and around me were
Sophia,
Maggie,
Coco,
Sabrina,
Jared,
Julie and
Zoe. For once, I may have been more interested in the various conversations than the food. But honestly, we still dropped everything and stopped all discussion when any of the dishes arrived. We know what is most important... Anyways, we started out with a cold appetizer plate consisting of Kimchi, pickled broccoli, wax beans, leeks and seaweed. Despite looking like leftovers from a week ago, the broccoli was crisp. The tartness only helped us whet our appetites for the upcoming dishes.
Our first course was the Mushroom Dashi with maitake, shimeji and enoki. Delicate, light and earthy, the broth was unfortunately cold. Chalk this up to a freezing environment and the large amount of guests. I bet it would've been even more fragrant if it was steaming hot. However, I did love the presentation in the wood bowls. Up next was the Udon & Grilled Monterey Calamari Salad. In addition to the udon and squid, there was cucumber, frisee, kaiware & yellow pear tomato. The squid was browned in a butter ponzu reduction and the salad was drizzled with chojang & sesame vinaigrette. The squid was prepared
perfectly exhibiting a buttery soft texture while completely integrating with the ponzu. Most of us felt that the udon was unnecessary and actually detracted from the texture of the salad.
The next dish was a bit of a curiosity. It was the Sea Trout baked with dashikombu, fried garlic and Japanese curry powder. We all know that trout and salmon belong to the same genera; but the main difference is that salmon spend most of its life in saltwater. A sea trout actually does much of the same and only returns to freshwater for spawning. That would probably explain that
the dish looked and tasted somewhat like a salmon dish. I was pleasantly surprised that they did not overcook the fish; in fact, it was still rare in the middle - just how I like it! The addition of fried garlic really kicked the flavour quotient up a notch. We only wished there was more! Sophia ate the fried piece of seaweed underneath. I still don't know how she did it since it was quite tough to break apart. Actually I gave up trying to do so and just gave her the entire piece!
After quite a long wait due to other tables getting their dishes, in the process bypassing our table,
we finally got the Mushroom Risotto with koshihikari rice and crispy maitake. I liked the overall flavour of the dish since I love mushrooms, which give any dish a certain degree of earthiness. However, it was a bit goopy and didn't have the silky texture associated with risotto. Again, chalk this up to the fact they were trying to execute a very difficult dish for so many people. Now we get to the meat of the dinner, literally. Presented on a large platter, the bounty of Soy-Braised Pork Cheeks, Oxtail, baby carrots and fingerling potatoes was almost too much at this point of the meal. The pork cheeks were ever-
so-tender while the shredded oxtail was both rich in texture and flavour. Moreover, it was nice to see that the root veggies were not overcooked.
Last dish was probably the most surprising dish of all. I'm not really a big fan of brussel sprouts due to the fact they taste a bit funny and when overcooked, it can be some mushy business. However, the Roasted Brussel Sprouts with ponzu fried garlic, guanciale and bonito flakes changed my mind quickly. The sprouts themselves were roasted al dente so that there was still some
bite left. Furthermore, the guanciale (or unsmoked Italian bacon) really put a mark on this dish by giving a saltiness that helped mask the "aroma" of the sprouts.
To end the meal, we had Koshihikari Rice Pudding with cookie crumbles and Warren pear. The topping was pretty darn good; but that only hid the pretty average rice pudding. During that time, the Foodbuzz awards were announced. A pretty cool (no pun intended) evening with great company, good food and the Foodbuzz vibe!
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I gotta admit that I'm not really a big ice cream fan. I much prefer gelato. For those who don't know the difference, gelato does not use cream, it uses milk. The creaminess is achieved by introducing air in the mixing process. However, it seems like the top frozen treat places in the Bay Area are ice cream shops. After reading some online reviews, it seemed like Mitchell's Ice Cream was a solid place to go for a frozen treat. Therefore, Cable Car Guy and AZee were good sports and accompanied me for some more eating. To me at least, from the first impression, the place looked like any other ice cream shop. 
Nothing really stood out despite the decent selection of flavours. The place seem to have a constant stream of customers while we were there.
informed me that some of the other patrons were confused as to what I was doing. Meh, I won't see these people ever again, there is no shame in what I do.
be said for CCG's avocado ice cream. It had a nice green colour; but no real discernible taste (mind you, avocado is quite mild in flavour to begin with). While our ice cream was a bit disappointing, AZee's pistachio was a real winner. Hidden within the thick ice cream lay big crunchy pieces of pistachio. Yet, if there is only 1 of 3 flavours that are considered good; unfortunately, that is not good enough. This is probably a result of high expectations and mediocre results.
