Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/623506
AHEAD-OF-THE-CURVE EATERIES The newest additions to San Francisco's restaurant scene aren't just responding to the latest trends—instead, they're setting them. AL's Place Vegetables steal the spotlight in the Mission Step inside the bright-blue doors of AL's Place, located on an often-overlooked corner in the Mission District, and you'll be pleas- antly surprised. Here, chef and owner Aaron London, whose initials inspired the 46-seat restaurant's name, pays meticulous attention to his food—and it shows. Bon Appétit's Knowlton crowned AL's Place the No. 1 Best New Restaurant in America for 2015, highlighting the many ways in which London gets creative, especially with his vegetable-centric dishes. One example? The pickled French fries. London specially sources his potatoes, brining them for 96 hours, until they're ready to be double- fried and served with a house-made smoked apple barbecue sauce. Although meat is also served, the true stars of the menu at AL's Place are rooted in vegetables. Ingredients change with the seasons, but some of them include blue dane radishes, shiitake mushrooms, pears, and kohlrabi, to name a few. It's an ideal place to visit and revisit to discover London's exciting and different preparations. alsplacesf.com Bon Marché Brasserie & Bar Mid-Market's newest dining hot spot This sprawling, 7,500-square-foot space was the very first restaurant tenant of one of the city's newest developments—Market Square, also known as the Twitter building. Occupying a prime space on Market Street, Bon Marché lives up to its name as a "good market." Inspired by the grand brasseries you might find in Paris, Bon Marché is many things—a restaurant, a craft brewery, a wine bar, and a flow- er shop, all in one, and the daily atmosphere is lively and bustling. The restaurant, helmed by executive chef Matt Sieger and pas- try chef Rikki Garcia, working with Mercer Restaurant Group executive chef Mark Liberman, combines classic French techniques with lighter California touches and local Bay Area ingredients. Signature dishes include Parisian gnocchi topped with summer squash and squash blossoms, steak frites, and a French onion soup made with oxtail broth. The oyster and raw bar is a highlight, with a variety of fresh seafood that includes sea urchin, Dungeness crab, and Pacific mussels. Brew master Rich Higgins is responsible for the house-made beers that are made in classic French style, and sommelier Allegra Angelo has curated a wine list that's heavy on small-batch vintners. In the evenings on Tuesdays, the flower shop doubles as a stage for live jazz music. bonmarche-sf.com Liholiho Yacht Club Modern melting-pot cuisine in the Tendernob The first thing you'll notice when you walk into the door of this acclaimed new restaurant is the massive black-and-white photograph of a young, smiling woman behind the bar. That photo, fittingly, is of Liholiho's chef and owner Ravi Kealoha Kapur's mother, and it's particularly symbolic for a restaurant that's as much about celebrat- ing heritage as it is about embracing the new. At Liholiho, it's hard to pinpoint an exact origin for its cuisine and that's exactly the point. This is a restaurant that isn't afraid to mix inf luences and f lavors from around the world, and from the chef 's own personal experiences. Born and raised in Hawaii to a Native Hawaiian/Chinese mother and a father from India, Kapur's notion of comfort food was a blend of all three cultures—and many more—and it's ref lected in the menu. Liholiho Yacht Club isn't purely Hawaiian, but you will find plenty of nods to the Aloha State here. Signature dishes include the excellent, off-menu, housemade spam, the f luffy steamed buns with savory beef tongue, and the stunning Baked Hawaii, a beehive-like take on the classic Baked Alaska dessert. Creative cocktails, like the whiskey-based Pineapple Peat, elevate the classics. liholihoyachtclub.com Laiko Bahrs is a culinary consultant and co-owner of Epicuring. Tanya Henry writes the Food and Drink column for Pacific Sun. Deanna Ting is managing editor of Specialty Food Magazine. Vegetables take center stage at AL's Place. Steamed buns with beef tongue at Liholiho Yacht Club PHOTO: MOLLY DECOUDREAUX PHOTO: LIHOLIHO YACHT CLUB INSTAGRAM 100 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com