SFCA Recap

Dish

Best: Sautéed sweetbreads in sherry vinegar at Chez Spencer. Classic and perfect, crisp exterior, pillowy interior, sweet-sour tang of vinegar, hint (just barely) of black truffle.

Runner-up: Warm frisée and duck confit salad with fingerling potato crisps at the Applewood Inn.

Worst: Chilled noodles in sea urchin sauce at Ame. Now, I am a fan of sea urchin--foie gras of the sea and all--but this was over-rich, oddly greasy, and the noodles, Dog strike me dead if I'm lying, had to have been some grocery-store brand dry capellini.

Runner-up: Diver scallops and squid-ink salt-cod ravioli at the Applewood Inn. The ravioli were excellent, in fact, but scallops + overcooked = fail.

Cheap Mexican Food

Best: Super burrito at the yellow place on Mission that my buddy A. took me to on Weds.

Worst: "Taco" con pollo at El Farolito in Healdsburg.

Wine

Best: Amazing, attentive, interesting, informative, charming, beautiful tasting at Chalk Hill Estate, especially the 2005 "Chairmen's Club" Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec and the (sold out! damn) 1999 Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon.

Runner-up: Fritz winery. Fun. 70s. Retro. Good wines.

Worst: Overpriced Rosenblum Zins. Shit, I can buy lousy non-appellation French table wines for seven bucks a bottle in Pennsylvania. Why would I spend fiddy on this dreck?

Men

Best: The couple crossing the street toward me at Guerrero and 18th, especially the taller one in the knit hat blowing kisses to the dykes in the Honda.

Runner-up: Le mec at Chez Spencer.

Worst: The Castro. Good god.

Tourist Trap

Best: You know, I'd never ridden the damn cable car. Pretty fun, fer realz.

Worst: The gardens at Ferrari-Carano. Yawn.

Drive

Best: Martinelli Road, 11:30am, fog burning off.

Worst: Oakdale Grade. OMG barf.