San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Scallops on toast; a breakfast sandwich
In this new weekly column, I’ll be sharing the best dishes I’ve eaten around the San Francisco Bay Area lately. While the list may include Instagramonly deals or seasonal tasting menu items, I’ll be sure to include things that you could reasonably get nowish.
This week’s relatively lowkey edition includes canned seafood on toast, a homey pot of beans and a breakfast sandwich stuffed with hash browns.
Canned scallops at Alimentari Aurora The idea behind Dario Barbone’s tinned fish omakase is simple: Pick a can from the Italian grocer’s wall, and Barbone will dress it up for you for an upcharge of $13. Imagine the kind of thoughtless snack you might make from a can of fish and a Ritz cracker but blessed with a sprinkle of fairy godmother magic.
On a recent visit, I chose a 4ounce can of scallops in tomato and pepper sauce ($16.25) from Spanish producer Ramón Peña; Barbone spruced it up while I sat on the wooden parklet outside. Finally, he presented a tray with two long slices of baguette that supported, boatlike, the sweet and tender scallops, an orange ball pit sprinkle of Indian masala boondi, and grassy slices of jalapeño. Each bite gave me a different image, a flash of some new place: a bonfire on a warm beach; a taqueria in a fishing village; a festival where piquant snacks are served out of paper cones. Alimentari Aurora. 11 a.m.9 p.m. WednesdaySaturday; 11 a.m.7 p.m. Sunday. 1415 18th St., San Francisco. www.alimentariaurora.com
Ribollita at Otra At Anna and Nick Cobarruvias’ monthold restaurant in HaightAshbury, you can find new wave Mexican dishes like roasted carrot tostadas and hamachi collar with tomatillo salsa — dishes that refer back to traditional Mexican cooking while integrating contemporary ingredients and techniques. Even though I knew that going into my first visit, I was still surprised that the standout dish of the night wasn’t a tostada or huarache, but Nick Cobarruvias’ take on Italian ribollita ($22).
Creamy gigante beans huddle like tranquil hippopotami in a murky, epazotelaced braising liquid with tender pieces of chayote squash, a poached egg and kale. Each spoonful is like taking one step closer to a hearth, hands outstretched toward the flames. It’s inspired by the chef ’s aunt’s home cooking, and this pot of beans revels in his memory of her. Otra. 510 p.m. daily. 682 Haight St., San Francisco. otrasf.com
Hash brown sandwich at Newkirk’s Since 2017, Newkirk’s has been slinging East Coaststyle sandwiches from its perch across the street from San Francisco General Hospital. If you look into a mirror and say, “Bacon, egg and cheese,” three times, you’ll summon me, so it’s no surprise that I’d eventually make my way here.
The hash brown sandwich ($11.50) stuffs the content of a diner breakfast plate into a sliced French roll: crackercrisp smoked bacon, two fried eggs, and griddlecooked hash browns topped with American cheese. Piquant and tart pickled cherry peppers refresh the palate and make the sandwich seem a little less gutbusting. It’s the kind of thing I used to inhale after — sigh — hitting the clubs in Manhattan as an atrisk youth. Newkirk’s. 8 a.m.3 p.m. TuesdayFriday; 9 a.m.3 p.m. Saturday. 1002 Potrero Ave., San Francisco. 4159627695 or www.newkirkssf.com