Hedonia

Where to buy Spanish stuff: The Spanish Table

A major part of planning is shopping, and a major part of shopping is knowing where to shop.

While the grocery list for our Iberian dinner contained plenty of items that were easily gathered in one morning's visit to the Ferry Building -- produce at the farmer's market, pork from Golden Gate Meats, clams from San Francisco Fish Company -- there were some particular items special to Spain that we needed to source separately. I could probably have found it all by scouring the city and buying a little here, a little there, but I saw no reason to when we have a place like The Spanish Table just across the bridge in Berkeley.

The Spanish Table is an astonishingly comprehensive emporium of all things Iberian: Manchego, cabrales, jamon serrano, lomo, marcona almonds (blanched or roasted and salted), angulas, bacalao, piquillos, padrones, and of course sardines are just a few of the items at your fingertips. The array of olive oils, sherry vinegars and of course wines, sherries, madeiras and ports is dizzying. Luckily, the friendly and courteous staff is eager to help you navigate those waters.

We stocked up on meats and cheeses, bought almonds and sherry vinegar for the gazpacho, and picked a couple sherries to pair with various courses. Our mighty haul wasn't exactly cheap, but still less expensive than airfare to Madrid, so all good.

Not in the Bay Area? Why, check out their flagship location in Seattle or satellite store in Santa Fe. Or, just shop online.

The Spanish Table
1814 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA

Where to buy junk: Urban Ore

On a beautiful, balmy mid-February day, DPaul and I were compelled to undertake a field trip to Berkeley. Shocking, but true: We actually crossed the bridge.

Our main impetus for this excursion was to go to Sari Palace on University Ave to pick up a couple of Jodhpuri suits that we had had made for Saturday night's Mardi Gras event. This in itself is reason enough to go to Berkeley; we each had a gorgeously embroidered, beaded and brocaded suit made custom for less than off-the-rack at Men's Wearhouse.

But it was a lovely day, and as long as we found ourselves out in the Eastern colonies, we opted to avail ourselves to one of my greatest pleasures, Urban Ore. A self-proclaimed "ecopark," Urban Ore is a scavenge yard chockablock with the detritus and flotsam of countless renovations or demolitions. While it's not the place to go if you're looking for something very specific, you are almost certain to find something you didn't know you needed.

In a past life, when I was doing theatrical set and prop design, I practically lived at Urban Ore. When your budget is under $100 and you need to effectively build and furnish an entire house, this is where you start.

Where to buy ice cream: Mitchell's

As loyal readers know, I have a bit of an ice cream problem. It is, hands down, my favorite food, my greatest weakness and my guiltiest pleasure. I eat it very rarely as a result, in part out of deference to my arteries and in part to preserve the sense of joy I get when I do get to indulge in it. Although sacrifice, or for that matter self-restraint in general, is not my strong suit, I am capable of controlling myself under some circumstances.

But if I am to eat ice cream but once in a blue moon, it had better be the best I can get my grubby mitts on. As far as mainstream, store-bought fare goes, I am a devoted Häagen-Dazs fan, but I will consistently bypass even their heavenly Dulce de Leche for a scoop or ten of Mitchell's.

It is not to say that Mitchell's is the best ice cream in the world. In the grand scheme of ice creaminess, it's solidly good. But what makes Mitchell's exceptional, aside from the fact that it is one of the great tried-and-true San Francisco local treats, is their selection of tropical flavors. I have yet to work my way through the canon of exotic fruits using fresh fruit flown in from Thailand and the Philippines, like baby coconut, ube (purple yam) and jackfruit, but I do rather like the Thai tea. And I'm told they make, or used to make, durian flavor once a year -- and only once a year, as the neighbors complained so bitterly about the smell. So keep your eyes nose peeled for the next batch.

The line is always out the door, rain or shine, and it's little wonder. Mitchell's conspires with Drewes Bros. and Church Produce to form a trifecta of businesses that makes me wish I lived a little farther out into Baja Noe. Oh well ... at least I can select from a smaller selection of Mitchell's flavors at the newly opened Subs Inc on 24th and Castro.

Mitchell's Ice Cream
668 San Jose Ave (at Guerrero)

Where to buy meat: Drewes Bros. Meats

I must confess that I started this post several times already, and repeatedly held back. For you see, though I do endorse Drewes Bros, I cannot do so unconditionally. There have been the occasional incidents that have set me off about the place. But I have overcome them, and now I can evangelize the place by way of including a guide to navigating it. Consider me your Drewes Bros sherpa.

There is much to like about Drewes. It is, in fact, one of the longest-running independent businesses in the city of San Francisco, dating back to 1889 (and believed to be the oldest meat market in California). It's a neighborhood joint, frequented by neighborhood folks, and still retains the down-home feel of Baja Noe, which is on the very brink of serious gentrification. It is, unapologetically, a meat market. You go here for meat, meat and more meat. They sell a few other things, but whatever. Just buy the damn meat.

And the meat is good and plentiful. Whatever you're looking for, they've got it -- once through the barnyard. Much of it is local and/or organic, like the Petaluma Poultry Rocky and Rosie birds, which are recommendable. They sell some value-added items like a pretty darn good burger mix and some lovely stuffed porkchops. A small freezer case off to the side sports convenient half-pound bags of ground beef, pork and lamb, as well as some less savory bits for the family pets. There's even a seafood case, and recent experience has taught us that their crab cakes are respectably tasty, though they are more accurately called fish cakes since they are at least as much cod as crab. Still, they're good.

The owners are two brothers, albeit not named Drewes. (They're Josh and Isaac Epple.) They're young, handsome and clearly very serious about their business. Unfortunately, there is some arrogance that comes with that. On more than one occasion, I've called or gone in and said, "I want ____." To which they ask, what are you doing? I explain, and they counter that I want something completely different. We talk around the issue for ten minutes or so, until they finally say, "Oh! You want ____." Which was the thing I asked for in the first place. Why we need to play this game eludes me.

Now, there are three or four others who work there, older men, all curiously diminutive and all exceedingly friendly chaps. Rather than calling your request into question, they provide you what you ask for, and provide helpful cooking tips as well as amiable banter about television shows, movies, whatever. These are the ones to deal with.

So, the mild attitude of the owner brothers aside, Drewes is highly recommendable. It's a throwback to old-school neighborhood business yet well adapted to modern sensibilities. In an age when supermarkets and, worse, WalMarts have eliminated the relationship between the butcher and the customer, Drewes keeps the old vanguard alive. The prices remain reasonable. And it is mere steps from one of my favorite produce stands.

Drewes Bros. Meats
1706 Church St (at 29th St.)

Edit: Per Anita's comments, I decided to downgrade them from butcher to meat market, since I cannot say with any certainty that they do serious butchering.

Where to buy produce

I know, I know. The obvious conclusion to that title is the farmer's market. But the reality is that the farmer's markets in town are profoundly inconvenient for me. When I do get to go to them, it's as a field trip, and excursion, a lark. It's not sustainable for me, pardon the pun.

Luckily, in a place like San Francisco, good fruit and veg is readily available at good markets all over town. No one store satisfies every need, but there are four spots that I frequent most often. Not coincidentally, they form a nearly straight line along a north-south corridor that limns my transportation options.

1. Golden Produce, 172 Church St @ Market
Why anyone would bother to buy one single vegetable at Church Street Safeway when Golden Produce is literally across the street is beyond me. Golden has pretty much everything you need, plus a little more, and a healthy dose of exotic/ethnic produce in there for good measure.

2. Bi-Rite, 3639 18th St btwn Dolores/Guerrero
Sure, you pay dearly for the privelege of shopping there, but Bi-Rite's produce, in particular anything that comes from the owners' family's Balaikan Farms is unbeatable. Local, fresh, ripe and close to the source.

3. Valencia Farmer's Market, 1229 Valencia St @ 24th
Not a farmer's market at all, but a good little hippie dippie market with good produce and a goodly amount of tofu and other health food staples. Excellent fruit here, and often at better prices than other places even within the Mission.

4. Nameless produce market, 1798 Church St @ 30th
I honestly have no idea what the name of this market is, but it never ceases to amaze me. They sport a constantly changing array of fresh produce, sometimes rather boutiquey. A couple of weeks ago I passed by and they had a box full of gorgeous tiny purple artichokes. Last week we found plump Romano beans, and for our anniversary dinner on Friday we got adorable baby zucchini smaller than your pinky. Considering how woeful the market situation is in Noe Valley generally, this place is a pure godsend. Plus, it's close to Drewe's, which makes for one two-stop shopping.

Edit: Just found a receipt. It's called Church Produce. Original.