Tag: north beach

Celebration Crab Salad on My New Year’s Eve Menu

Celebration Crab Salad on My New Year’s Eve Menu

San Franciscans love dungeness crab this time of year. The crabs are big and meaty this season. I’m making a celebratory dungeness salad with celery and shallot, EVOO and Meyer lemon. The lemon perks up the briny sweetness of the crab bathed in mellow olive 

A Lucky New Year’s Eve Dish

A Lucky New Year’s Eve Dish

Just back from Christmas with friends and family in Jersey. Now it’s time to plan my New Year’s Eve menu. I’ll share this year’s menu when I’m done. In the meantime, here are a couple of classic dishes to get you started with your planning. I 

Christmas Alley, Naples

Christmas Alley, Naples

I call it the “Holy Mile”, one of my favorite areas in the old part of Napoli. Baroque churches abound and a beautiful garden loaded with frescoes and majolica ceramic tiles is hidden behind the Santa Chiara Church and Monastery. Via San Gregorio Armeno, a 

Christmas Eve Seven Fish Feast

Christmas Eve Seven Fish Feast

Cena di Vigilia (Christmas Eve meal) is a Neapolitan tradition. I’m cooking with my friend Susan in her New Jersey kitchen. Along with her brother Joe, we’ll prepare our Christmas Eve Seven Fish Dinner for 20 friends. I’ll miss the dungeness crab this year. The 

Neapolitan Christmas Salad

Neapolitan Christmas Salad

I just love this classic Neapolitan Christmas Salad, insalata di rinforza, in Italian. Insalata di rinforza translates into Reinforced Salad. How did such an important part of the Christmas table get such a silly name? Here’s the tale. Giardiniera, vegetables stored in a vinegar bath, 

Holiday Lunch at My House

Holiday Lunch at My House

It’s a Jersey Christmas this year. I’m cooking a Seven Fish Dinner on Christmas Eve with friends. Christmas Day is with my sister Rose’s branch of the family. We’ll be 3 generations in the kitchen. My office-mates convinced me to cook for them before I 

Holiday Sausage @ Little City Meats

Holiday Sausage @ Little City Meats

I was excited when I walked into North Beach’s Little City Meats this morning. The Christmas sausage stuffed with pork, fennel, imported provolone and basil was in. Run, don’t walk. Get some before they’re all gone. I absolutely love these holiday sausages and can’t wait for 

Strufolli (Holiday Honey Balls)

Strufolli (Holiday Honey Balls)

It wouldn’t be Christmas in a Neapolitan house without struffoli, little round fritters bathed in a boiling honey glaze and then topped with colorful sprinkles. The little marbles are crispy outside with a nutty flavor sweetened by the honey. The inside is light and airy. 

Pignoli Cookies

Pignoli Cookies

Want an easy and sweet treat for your holiday table? Bake some almond cookies topped with pine nuts. We always have a stash of pignoli cookies for our Christmas table. You can make them in less than an hour. A fan asked for this recipe. 

Al Baccari Knows North Beach Best

Al Baccari Knows North Beach Best

The Chronicle’s front page Sunday Profile features Alessandro Baccari, Jr., an outstanding Italian-American historian, preservationist and collector. Al is North Beach’s non-resident historian too. He lives on West Portal now but was born and raised in North Beach. Al is 84 and he knows everything about 

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool/Pasta & Beans)

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta Fazool/Pasta & Beans)

Pasta and beans was a staple in my childhood Jersey home. My mom made this soup often and we all loved it. A fan asked for the recipe. Pasta and beans is a healthy and inexpensive peasant dish. You can have this one-pot meal that 

Subway Station in North Beach?

Subway Station in North Beach?

The Central Subway plan never made sense to me and my North Beach neighbors. The last station on the new subway line was in Chinatown, blocks away from North Beach. But the plan was to tunnel into North Beach and tear up Columbus Avenue, just 

Bolognese Pasta Sauce

Bolognese Pasta Sauce

Actually it’s called ragu alla Bolognese. It’s a long-cooked meat sauce from Bologna, in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, the culinary heart of Italy. The ragu is traditionally served with tagliatelle in Bologna, a flat pasta a bit narrower than fettuccine. The pasta’s shape is perfect 

4 North Beach Treasures

4 North Beach Treasures

Marcia Gagliardi of Tablehopper blog fame shares her appreciation of 4 North Beach spots in her just-released video tour. Marcia visits Caffe Trieste, Molinari Deli, Liguria Bakery and Stella Pastry. Find out Marcia’s favorite coffee, focaccia, sandwich and sweet. I’m with her all the way. These 

Focaccia with Grapes & Walnuts

Focaccia with Grapes & Walnuts

I got off easy this year. I didn’t cook Thanksgiving dinner. I joined friends in the North Bay and had to bring an antipasto. It took me a while to get inspired but an idea hit me at the market. The late harvest grapes were