Galloping Figs
I love fresh figs. I don’t care, black or white, I eat them all while they are in season. It all started when I was a kid. We had 3 fig trees in our Jersey backyard, 2 black, 1 white. I couldn’t wait for the …
Month: August 2012
The Purple Onion: Bye-Bye
The Purple Onion, the North Beach cellar club where Phyllis Diller, Woody Allen, Richard Pryor and the Smothers Brothers performed early in their careers, will close next month. A new owner has new plans for the building. A comedy cooperative staged shows at the Purple …
Victoria Pastry Is Back
Victoria Pastry Company has reopened in its new digs near Washington Square Park, on Filbert just down the street from Saints Peter & Paul Church. Victoria moved after almost 100 years on the corner of Stockton & Vallejo, across the street from Little City Meats. …
Umbrian Black Truffles @ Cavalli Cafe
I was navigating through the crowd waiting for the bus outside of Cavalli Cafe on Stockton and didn’t notice the hand-written sign in the window. Owner Santo Esposito saw me passing by and ran out to tell me that black truffles (tartufi neri) had just …
Tosca’s Last Act?
Not Puccini’s opera, the North Beach cafe on Columbus with opera on the jukebox. Tosca Cafe, a favorite with the famous and locals alike, is 8 years short of its 100th anniversary. Owner Jeannette Etheridge just got an eviction notice. It all started earlier this week. The …
The Big Dig Begins
When I walked down the hill early this morning I was surprised to see San Francisco police and a dozen workers all in their reflective vests standing in a straight line on the edge of Washington Square Park. Heavy construction equipment lined Columbus Avenue. Their …
Italian Festival Saturday
Don’t miss the annual Festa Coloniale Italiana this Saturday, August 11, 2012 on Washington Square in front of the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club (SFIAC). The Festa is the only Italian festival that celebrates San Francisco’s Italian and Italian-American heritage. It’s our version of Ferragosto, the …
Baked Baby Eggplant
Don’t miss the next new video recipe. Please subscribe now to my YouTube channel. I love the small Italian eggplant now in the market. Here’s a quick recipe that explodes with flavor. Just cut the eggplants in half and bake them in the oven topped with crushed San …
An Arthur Avenue Shopping Adventure
When I’m in Manhattan one morning is set aside for a visit to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. If you want to experience a vibrant Italian-American food neighborhood with a distinctly southern Italian flavor, this is the place to go. When we make the 20-minute …