Gotta hand it to the Bay Area — life here is never just about a single flavor.
And just when we think we've experienced them all, the community often surprises and thrills with a new one.
Welcome to Good Taste, a new weekly source for breaking food news and discovering fresh flavors.
- There's a new adage out there proclaiming food to be the new music, and, in shape-shifting developments, we have learned that you should be able to actually drink one of local hip-hop's internationally celebrated groups in beer form by the spring. That's when the next album by Deltron 3030, which features acclaimed Oakland rapper Del The Funky Homosapien and San Francisco producer Dan the Automator, is due to be released, and the occasion will be marked by a special ale from Delaware's Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. A Deltron source confirms to Good Taste that there are plans in the works for a special release that might include large bottles of the beer, 10-inch vinyl records, and recipes from notable chefs such as Mario Batali and David Chang.
- The art of pizza has been booming over the past couple of years, with progressively more provocative pies popping up on menus all over the Bay Area, but one brand new variety unleashed in San Francisco recently caught our attention with its ballsiness. Dobbs Ferry opened November 14 in Hayes Valley with a menu largely comprised of comforting classics, with one major twist: carpaccio pizza, wherein sheets of thinly sliced raw sirloin are served atop a crisp crust that's been dusted with a chive-based pesto. Turns out the shock is really just on paper and the flavor is surprisingly subtle. Chef Mike Yakura used to handle the raw meat (and all the menus) at Ozumo, the Japanese restaurants in Oakland and San Francisco, and yearned to find a novel way to bring uncooked beef into this entirely new venture. If you prefer your meat cooked and in simple steak form, Dobbs Ferry also does a job well done on that, too — though we'd recommend ordering it medium rare.
- Curry Village, a popular, family-owned restaurant in San Francisco's Sunset District, will soon expand, with a Curry Village 2 set to debut by the end of the month across town in the Mission District at 483 Guerrero Street. The 30-seat restaurant formerly known as Cafe Petra will be open for lunch and dinner and will have an added emphasis on quick chaat (snacks) like samosas and pakoras. If you want the $10, all-you-can-eat buffet, one of the few in the city actually worth recommending, you'll have to go to the original location. Owner Kamal Barbhuyan says to expect an opening day right after Christmas, as soon as December 26.
