When Jade’s comes into town, it usually means trouble. Trouble in the form of drinking too much, going out for extravagant meals, and not remembering where all your money went the next morning. She’s the ultimate enabler.

So… Jade’s in town. Mix that with Yoko and Washi right up the street, and I’ve got a Triple Threat on my hands. There’s no turning back.

We all went out on Saturday, and as expected, had an epic evening at my neighborhood pizza joint, Boot and Shoe Service. So epic that none of us really quite remember the details, or timeline. It’s all a drunken haze. But that’s the true sign of a GREAT NIGHT!

The main points I remember vividly from the meal are:

1.) Excellent service: Laura, our server, is a professional enabler.

2.) Impeccable, AWESOME food.

3.) Lots of laughing. Cackling. Were we being too loud? Yoko remembers “shrieking a few times.”

4.) We went through THREE bottles of wine. See #1. She’s good.

5.) We closed the place down after being there for over three hours. What could we possibly have to talk about for that long?

That said, I’m the most disciplined food blogger ever, and somehow remembered to take pics of all the food! Lucky for you, cause seriously, this meal was one of the best I’ve had since moving back to the Bay.

APPETIZERS

Shrimp and green tomatoes battered and fried. The tomatoes were still crispy. SO GOOD!

Melt in your mouth meatballs.

Wood oven-cooked egg with pancetta and frisee. We dipped toasties in this– very simple, clean.

Perhaps the belle of the ball, the Bufala mozzarella. @jesus shed His light upon us at this very moment. It was a blob of lavish dairy delight.

Let there be light.

With the first course, we had a bottle Albariño. Light and crisp and perfect for summer. (Although it’s fucking freezing here WTF).

It was around this point in the meal that we ordered bottle #2.

Thanks to Laura’s knowledgeable suggestions, we decided on the Tempranillo.

PIZZA!

Boot and Shoe is the sister restaurant of Pizzaiolo, a super popular pizzeria in Temescal– so we knew we were in good hands.

Marinara, housemade sausage, onions, lightly shaved parmesan (?). Again, simple and clean. Light, thin crust, not too chewy, speckled with char.

Our pizzagasm, Laura’s favorite on the menu– the rosemary potatoes with moliterno cheese, pancetta and parsley.

OMG. オーエムジー。FLAVOR EXPLOSION.

At a certain point during the pizzas, we ordered another bottle of wine. Washi and I gave each other this “let’s discreetly order another bottle” look. Neither Yoko or Jade noticed. Such trickery.

DESSERT

We ordered all the desserts on the menu. The chocolate tart sprinkled with sea salt had the butteriest crust– unreal.

FLASH! God, how embarrassing. Let me be honest and say that I don’t remember the canoli or that soft serve thing at the top. Neither does Yoko. WASTED!

Ok, now guess how much all this cost us per person? GUESS. Come on. $100? $120 right? At least?

$70 PER PERSON including drinks AND tip. Is that insanely reasonable for all this, or what? Four appetizers, two pizzas, THREE bottles of vino, and three desserts? Yoko and Washi are used to Tokyo prices and Jade and me from NYC, so this was just shocking. I will put Boot and Shoe on par with Franny’s in Brooklyn, in atmosphere, and menu– but SO MUCH CHEAPER. Plus they make some great classic cocktails.

Thanks Boot & Shoe for one of the more memorable meals/nights we’ve had in a very long time! Casual, unpretentious, awesome knowledgable service, well-prepared food using local ingredients. LOVE! We’ll be back soon (I know… you CAN’T WAIT)!

My very first apartment in NYC was in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, in 2002. Although the exact area has been redubbed today by developers as “South Park Slope”, it was pretty grimy back before the hipsters swarmed in.

The famous Greenwood Cemetary is up the street (where Basquiat, among other important Americanos, are buried), sex shops align 3rd Avenue, and the neighborhood hangout was the way-too-brightly lit Dunkin’ Donuts, open 24/7. Ah, it was the good life. Going to the corner grocery store for the first time was quite a traumatic experience– rotting fruits, flies swarming in the dairy aisle, browning meats. As a little girl from California, I could have sworn I made the worst decision of my life by moving to across the country to New York.

I lived in the neighborhood for over a year, and became quite close with the owners of my apartment, Kumiko and Troy. We’ve kept in touch throughout the years, and we’re basically like family at this point.

Kumiko is an avid collector of all things culinary. She’s got amazing dishware, utensils, copper pots, Le Crueset, obscure pans that she lugged back from Paris, wine glasses from the Barney’s Warehouse sale, you name it. Upon opening these custom made cabinets in the kitchen, you feel as though you just stumbled upon a trove of cookware treasures.

Along with awesome cookware, Kumiko has an incredible pantry of condiments, sauces, and canned and dry goods from around the world. She literally brings back all sorts of stuff from her travels to Japan and Europe (or the local Polish Middle Eastern or Mexican markets). You’ll see she shops in bulk– she’s so smart.

We’ll start with the salts.

Dashinomoto aka MSG!!! This is the fancy kind.

Instant asparagus soup from Japan.

Beef stew roux.

La Morena canned chipotle peppers.

Dried mushrooms from Poland.

Above all else, Troy and Kumiko are connoisseurs of hot sauce, and other mouth-burning powders and such.

Scary looking togarashi (red chili flakes).

Garlic shichimi (7-spice togarashi).

The much tamer sansho (Japanese pepper)– this is from Hararyokaku, a very special spice company from Kyoto that I will write about soon on Condiment Crack.

Troy’s beloved hot sauce collection. This is only a small portion that I managed to dig out of the pantry.

El Yucateco Chile Habañero.

Togarashi sauce. This stuff is AWESOME, and Kumiko had about 10 bottles of this in the cupboard that she lugged back from Japan.

Kalustyan’s hot sauce. This is a staple item for any fridge.

Garlic rayu (spicy sesame oil).

Kanzuri– a chili paste made with yuzu.

Balsamic pepper sauce from Italy.

Boxes of tubed wasabi, karashi (Japanese mustard) and ginger.

We’ll finish with some rum raisin chocolates from Japan called Rummy. These are the best.

Met up with fellow Umamimartians last week at The Trappist, a Belgian beer bar in “Old” Oakland, downtown. I made SF folks come out to the East Bay– and they actually did! On a school night! Such trickery.

The thing is, The Trappist is so much more than just a specialty beer bar. Oh, so much more. The kitchen serves up some dishes that really need to be taken seriously in the Bay Area food community. I had heard about their Taco Tuesdays from @serooo, who had Twittered the cute little piggy flyer. Belgian beer carnitas, could it be true???

The Trappist has nearly 30 beers on tap (Belgian, European, local microbreweries), and another 100 in bottles. If that ain’t the ultimate beer bar, well, you’re trippin’.  Among all 15 of us throughout the evening, I’m sure we ordered one of each from the tap. There’s the front bar, the Main Pub, with bar seating, which houses about half the beers listed on tap.

The rest of the beers are in the Back Bar, which is essentially the bigger back room. The beer menu is divided up between Front and Back Bar.

Yup, I ordered about four out of 12 on the list (my memory is a bit fuzzy, you’ll have to excuse me). All served in the correct glass, at the designated temperature. The Allegash Curieux was my favorite– probably because it’s aged in Jim Beam barrels for eight months. They had just run out of Green Flash Le Freak which totally bummed me out!

Ok, on to the carnitas. The Tamarindo (and newer taqueria La Calle) restaurant folks from next door set up shop in the back outdoor area of The Trappist to serve these tacos starting at 5pm. The actual carnitas are also prepared in the Tamarindo kitchen.

These tacos are delicious. Carnitas on soft corn tortillas, doused in house-made salsa verde with a squeeze of lime. Perfection. The carnitas are flavorful, with a hint of sweetness, not dried out, yet not overly fatty.

I was lucky enough to get an email this morning from Aaron Porter, co-owner of The Trappist, explaining the preparation of the carnitas:

The carnitas are basically a confit. The pork is cooked in its own fat and then beer (St. Bernardus Abt 12) is added along with some spices (orange, etc.). It’s left to cook for several hours like this. Everything else you see on the food menu at Trappist is made and prepared by the Trappist.

This is CRAZY!!!  Pork, slow-cooked in St. Bernardus?? INSANITY! Not only is this over-the-top luxurious, but it is basically GENIUS.

Packaging for Abt 12.

They stop serving the tacos around 8pm, or whenever they run out, so be sure to get there on the early side. Yoko sadly missed them.

Other awesomeness coming out of the kitchen: the housemade sausage sandwich.

This sausage was so taut and perfectly (er, fallically) shaped, that talking about the Great Weiner was quite possibly the highlight of the night. It’s seriously so beautiful though, so light in color!

Here’s how big the sausage is, to get a sense of proportion.

Served on a crisp roll with sauteed onions and housemade mustard. OUT OF CONTROL. The sausage is very crumbly once you bite into it, and just sort of falls apart in your mouth. It’s so ridiculously good.

JADE
To add to the (much anticipated) documentation and commentary on the sausage sandwich, one of the true highlights for me was getting my “pork and beer pairing” knowledge on. The gentile bartender at the back bar let me sample three beers, explaining that sausage generally pairs well with sweeter, maltier beers. It was great to try all three samples side-by-side–easier for my untrained taste buds to make a clear distinction. I chose the St. Feuillien Triple. More aromatic and fruity than sweet, the taste was impressive alone, but even better when paired with the equally impressive(-looking) sausage.

YOKO
Quite possibly one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had, the Trappist’s Salmon Sandwich was a perfect mash-up of salmon, chèvre, arugula and crispy baguette. I really don’t like beer, and I was really sad to show up too late for the tacos, but this situation allowed me to fully savor this sandwich. And for $10, the sandwich was very reasonably priced.

MICHELLE
I thought the tacos were great and the prosciutto and fig panini was excellent (well-balanced combination of salty and sweet flavors, good bread).

YOKO
I will definitely be going back to the Trappist for their awesome Harry Potter-esque interior and this amazing salmon sandwich.  I love the Trappist even though I don’t love beer.

Thanks to everyone for coming out! A special shout out to Gail, Travis’ mama, who came out for this– and who even bought Travis a beer. How awesome is that? Our very first Umamiventure UMAMIMAMA!

And of course, thanks to The Trappist for their impressive selection of beers, fantastic eats, and knowledgeable, helpful staff. We truly had a great time! We’ll be back for sure.

Next Umamiventure will be a beer tour through Sonoma County, hosted by UM’s very own beer guru, CJ. Stay tuned!

All photos by Travis LoDolce and myself.

*Umamiventures are organized monthly, traveling far and wide to find awesome, cheap grub off the beaten path.

Past Umamiventures include:
1.) Ocean Jewel Restaurant – Flushing, NYC; June 2007
2.) Red Hook Ball Fields - NYC; June 2007
3.) Taste of Jackson Heights – NYC; October, 2007
4.) Sripraphai Restaurant – Woodside, NYC; November 2007
5.) WINTERMARKET – South St. Seaport; December 2007
6.) Jackson Diner- Jackson Heights, NYC; January 2008
7.) Pacificana – Sunset Park, NYC; February 2008
8.) Puerto Alegre – The Mission, SF; March 2008
9.) Dinosaur BBQ – Harlem, NYC; April 2008
10.) Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden – Astoria, NYC; May 2008
11.) Brooklyn Banh Mi Crawl – Sunset Park, NYC; August 2008
12.) Sheapshead Bay Lobster Crawl – NYC; September 2008
13.) Flushing Food Circuit – NYC; October 2008
14.) Strong Beer Month – SF; March 2009
15.) Loisaida Throwback Crawl – NYC; April 2009
16.) Harley Farms Goat Dairy – Pescadero, CA; June 2009
17.) Tomales Bay Oyster Farm – Marshall, CA; August 2009
18.) Din Tai Fung – LA; September 2009
19.) Din Tai Fung – Tokyo; September 2009
20.) Schroeder’s Oktoberfest – SF; October 2009
21.) Fish Taco Crawl – San Diego; November 2009
22.) St. George Spirits & Hangar One Vodka -  Alameda; January 2010
22.5) Everett & Jones – OAK; January 2010
23.) Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse – NYC; February 2010
24.) Guerilla Ramen Night – SF; April 2010
25.) Knife Sharpening Workshop at Hida Tool & Hardware – Berkeley, May 2010
26.) San Pedro Fish Market - LA, June 2010
26.5.) Candytown – LA, June 2010

In Umamimart’s three year history, I can’t believe we’ve never devoted a post to Japanese mayonnaise. We reference this stuff all the time, but have never really covered it. Blasphemy!

Japanese mayo is more tart than the regular American version. This is because vinegar is added. And don’t forget the ever-important, save-all: MSG. NO WONDER this stuff is the best on the market.

In Japan, they seriously drizzle this stuff on EVERYTHING. Fried foods, sushi rolls, canned fish for salads, yakisoba, pasta– you name it, and they’ll douse it.

Standard packaging for Japanese mayo is the squishy tube with the red screw cap. This could definitely be filed under Packaging Whore, as it is some of the smartest ever invented.

The iconic star-shaped spout.

Japanese mayo is a bit runnier than American mayo, which is thick enough to cut with a fork and knife.

Let’s compare Japanese mayos! I’ll be writing sporadically on the major brands, and throw in a few flavored ones, as well as the “healthy” low-cal versions.

First up: Kenko. The obvious choice is always Kewpie, which is what is usually on the shelves at the market, but this is what I have in the fridge right now, so here goes.

The logo is a cute little chefboy.

Tastes like regular Kewpie to me, which is to say, Japanese mayonnaise. The main difference between Kenko and Kewpie is price– Kenko will be at least a dollar cheaper at the store (around $5).

Umamimart’s very own Paystyle and his wife Vanessa are off to New Orleans today for Tales of the Cocktail! This is absolutely THE most anticipated week of the year for bar chef/ booze-heads, jam-packed with galas, parties, cocktail-offs, and seminars (“Umami in Cocktails” on Thursday afternoon, anyone?).

Lest we forget that Paystyle’s Chinese Bootlegger’s Punch (aka Eye of the Sauron) has made it into the final round in a competition on Thursday. Let’s all wish him our very best. Maybe he should show up dressed up as Frodo, to lighten the mood?

Pay will be blogging live from New Orleans on behalf of Umamimart, and Vanessa will be taking pictures. Hopefully, they will be dispatching daily, in between drunken escapades and luxurious eats. Follow @Paystyle for REALTIME updates.

This is REALLY EXCITING for Paystyle. Stay tuned, ya’ll!

After living with my parents for the last year and half, I forgot how difficult it is to cook for just yourself. Aside from it being a little lonely (I like to cook for other people!), it takes a lot of planning and coordination. Grocery shopping for one is an artform that could take years to master. Even though I lived in NYC alone for almost three years, I am a bit dusty in the solo-cooking category– evidenced by the near-rotting produce every week in my vegetable box since moving into my studio.

But if you’re as anal as I am about not wasting food, then you’ve gotta figure out how to use it without having gastro-intestinal issues later, right?

Inspired by Yoko’s post on canned fish last week, I made one of my favorite lazy dishes, tuna pasta. I learned to make this while living in the dorms in Italy– it’s the epitome of a low-budget meal, and it tastes so friggin’ good!

START TIME

INGREDIENTS

My current obsession is arugula, and I try to eat it with everything. I will even just eat it right out of the bag. The bitterness really makes it taste nutritious, don’t you think?

However, it’s still pretty hard to go through a bag of it from Trader Joe’s (only $2!) before it starts to yellow.

Fresh sweet green peas. These were probably in the fridge for about two weeks and by the time I decided to use them, there were all of these black streaks on the pods. I thought they were unusable for sure, but when I opened them up, they were fine.

See how they’re a little shriveled up? I took them out and soaked in water overnight, which seemed to bring them back to life.

Slice onions, garlic and grape tomatoes. The tomatoes were on their way out.

Secret weapon: Tuna packed in olive oil from Italy. I keep a stash of these in my cupboard and use in emergencies. Canned tuna from Italy and Spain is the BEST– cannot beat the quality, texture and taste. I lugged more than a few cases of these from when I went to Rome in 2007.

METHOD

Important step: Use the olive oil from the tuna can to sautee the vegetables. The tuna infused flavor is vital. Plus, why waste perfectly good olive oil?

Add the garlic, onions, tomatoes and peas over medium heat. Salt and pepper.

Once the onions are cooked down, add the tuna, and some white wine if you desire.

Let tuna simmer for a bit, then add arugula. This should be the very last thing you do.

Sautee until the arugula has wilted down.

END TIME

That’s it! I boiled pasta while I was cooking, and just scooped some of the arugula/tuna mixture over it like a sauce.

I usually just make this dish with just tomato, onions, garlic and tuna. The arugula and peas were last-minute additions I made just to avoid having to throw them out. As horrible as this may sound, I appreciate near-rotting vegetables if only because it forces me to think of creative ways to use them.

PS- I did NOT get the runs after eating this meal.

Mortadella, prociutto cotto, and prociutto crudo slices… in a CONE.

This is how we’ll be eating meat in the future. How about steak (medium rare please!) in a cone? Hot dog in a cone? Slab bacon in a cone?

Hmmm… I think I’m onto something. This reminds me of… this.

Anyway, LOVE THIS. Look at all these gorgeous pinks!

As a connosieur of cured meats, let me tell you that these are heaven slices. Perfectly salted, especially the prociutto cotto. The crudo is aged very nicely, so the texture is very clean.

At $3.50, it’s on par with the price of a small scoop of ice cream at Humphry Slocombe. We’ll save room for dessert.

BOCCALONE SALUMERIA
Ferry Building Marketplace
Shop 21
SF, CA
T: 415.433.6500

Confession: I bought this cone in the first place because they were neatly lined up next to the register and I thought they were FREE samples of salumi and so I touched it! HA!!!! Silly me. The best things in life are never free.

I was checking up on the backend of Umamimart the other day, and noticed something peculiar– someone had landed on this here blog by Googling the keyword phrase, “whore teacup.”

After a little Googling myself, I came to find that Lady Gaga had posted a naked photo of herself on Twitter with a teacup that had the word “whore” written on it.

I ain’t no Gaga, but I do LOVE the fact that someone got to Umamimart by searching for LadyG, and her cute little cup that everyone is making such big fuss about.

So as not to disappoint all you “whore teacup” Googlers, I present to you, my (war)Whore Teacup.

Trust me, I contemplated posting a naked picture of myself in the dark, with my face painted like a drag queen, while holding my Warhol cup with perfectly manicured fingers. That totally would have been awesome, right? But… that’s just too much work! It must be so exhausting to be Lady Gaga. PROPS!

And let’s be real- Warhol invented Gaga. We miss you, Andy.

PS- People seriously land on Umamimart by Googling the most bizarre phrases. “Tofu porn” is a mucho popular one. What magic can you create with tofu, Lady Gaga???

Game starts in three hours, and I’m jumping on the Paul the Octopus bandwagon to say GO SPAIN! Let’s be real- them Spanish mussels just taste better. Just sayin’.

PS: Paul is by far the silliest phenomenon of the year.

Omg, I totally forgot to write about Candytown, right next door to the San Pedro Fish Market! Silly me!

After gorging ourselves with shrimp, oysters and ceviche, we finally called it quits and all walked over to Candytown. Yes, we saved room for dessert. Candytown is super cute and looks like Willy Wonka barfed all over Berth 77.

It’s so kitch– an exact replica of a candy store you would find on any Boardwalk in the 70s (Santa Cruz, Atlantic City, Coney Island, yay!). Loved it. We all went home with chocolates and saltwater taffies.

SARA
One of the best parts of the trip is dessert.  The candy store is AMAZING.  It’s like stepping into a time machine that takes you straight back to your childhood.

TOMO
All ending in Candyland, a nice wrap-up to another great Umamiventure! Aaaaaaand here are some emoticons :/

CANDYTOWN
77 Berth
San Pedro, CA
T: 310.514.2669

*Umamiventures are organized monthly, traveling far and wide to find awesome, cheap grub off the beaten path.

**Join us at The Trappist (OAK) for Umamiventure #27, on Tuesday 7/13. Info here.

Past Umamiventures include:
1.) Ocean Jewel Restaurant – Flushing, NYC; June 2007
2.) Red Hook Ball Fields - NYC; June 2007
3.) Taste of Jackson Heights – NYC; October, 2007
4.) Sripraphai Restaurant – Woodside, NYC; November 2007
5.) WINTERMARKET – South St. Seaport; December 2007
6.) Jackson Diner- Jackson Heights, NYC; January 2008
7.) Pacificana – Sunset Park, NYC; February 2008
8.) Puerto Alegre – The Mission, SF; March 2008
9.) Dinosaur BBQ – Harlem, NYC; April 2008
10.) Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden – Astoria, NYC; May 2008
11.) Brooklyn Banh Mi Crawl – Sunset Park, NYC; August 2008
12.) Sheapshead Bay Lobster Crawl – NYC; September 2008
13.) Flushing Food Circuit – NYC; October 2008
14.) Strong Beer Month – SF; March 2009
15.) Loisaida Throwback Crawl – NYC; April 2009
16.) Harley Farms Goat Dairy – Pescadero, CA; June 2009
17.) Tomales Bay Oyster Farm – Marshall, CA; August 2009
18.) Din Tai Fung – LA; September 2009
19.) Din Tai Fung – Tokyo; September 2009
20.) Schroeder’s Oktoberfest – SF; October 2009
21.) Fish Taco Crawl – San Diego; November 2009
22.) St. George Spirits & Hangar One Vodka -  Alameda; January 2010
22.5) Everett & Jones – OAK; January 2010
23.) Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse – NYC; February 2010
24.) Guerilla Ramen Night – SF; April 2010
25.) Knife Sharpening Workshop at Hida Tool & Hardware – Berkeley, May 2010
26.) San Pedro Fish Market - LA, June 2010