A special wine for the boy king? I’ll drink to that!

Today, the de Young Museum launches a new sparkling wine, Tut Cuvée, to commemorate their Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition. Tut Cuvée is a limited edition sparkling wine produced by Iron Horse Vineyards.

Tut Cuvée retails for $29.99 and one dollar of the purchase price of every bottle will go towards sending school children to see the Tut exhibition for free. The de Young expects over 350 Bay Area school children will benefit from the fundraiser.

Iron Horse Vineyards Winemaker David Munksgard crafted Tut Cuvée from a 2006 vintage Blanc de Noirs made from predominantly Pinot Noir grapes with a splash of Chardonnay. The dosage, or finishing element, for the sparkling wine was selected through a special tasting session conducted at the winery in Sebastopol in August.

The panel consisted of David Munksgard, Fine Arts Museums Director John Buchanan and Spencer Christian, host of KGO-TV’s View from the Bay and a celebrated oenophile. “We crafted Tut Cuvée to embody all the qualities one would ascribe to the boy king – regal, elegant, and very dry!” quips John Buchanan.

Only 500 cases are available for Tut Cuvée. You can buy it by the glass in the de Young Museum Cafe, by the bottle or case at the Iron Horse Vineyards in Sebastopol, online at ironhorsevineyards.com, and at fine wine shops throughout the Bay Area.

Curious how sparking wine is made? Check out the video below in which Iron Horse Winemaker David Munksgard explains the process.

So now Tut has his own gold card and sparkling wine. What’s next?

Sarah B.

Reader Jill told me today that Bill’s Place, the home of delicious hamburgers, fresh fries and real milkshakes, celebrated their 50th birthday on Sunday.

Unlike most hamburger joints, Bill’s Place cuts and grinds their meat daily and cuts their own fresh, french fries. And while the atmosphere is no frills (except for the chandeliers) and hasn’t changed much since they opened 50 years ago, there is a lovely back patio complete with Japanese garden.

The short video below is featured on their website. You can see the restaurant’s original awning in it.

The next time you head into Bill’s Place for a burger and fries, be sure to tell them Happy Birthday!

Sarah B.

What was once Rohan Lounge on Geary has become Mazu, a restaurant and lounge serving pan-Asian small plates.

In their review, SF Weekly effused over their beef bulgogi rolls, fried chili garlic wings, and Dungeness crab cakes. Read the full review here.

Mazu doesn’t have their liquor license just yet, so you won’t be able to get your buzz on while you dine. But as SFWeekly writes, Mazu’s “Thai basil and strawberry lemonade was lovely”.

UPDATE: As of September 22, the booze is flowing at Mazu. Drink up!

They’re also spinning some good tunes, blending in soul, funk, and hip-hop while SF Weekly was there. They also plan to feature DJs in the future.

Mazu is located at 3809 Geary at 2nd Avenue and they’re open from 11:30am to 9pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

Sarah B.

Mazu’s Dungeness crab cakes ($13) | Photo by T. Palmer, SF Weekly

This weekend we’ll host the final Sunday Streets of the year. Like last time, they will close off most of Golden Gate Park and the Great Highway to car traffic from 10am to 2pm (see map). You can stroll, bike, run, dance, even hula hoop down the open streets.

Several thousand turned out for the August 9 Sunday Streets, and it looks like we’ll have better weather this time around. The forecast for Sunday calls for 62° with partly cloudy skies. Yay!

Now onto the sweetest part of this story…

Last week, I saw a post on SFist about the ‘Sweet Cart’ lady, who sells cheesecakes, cupcakes and other gourmet goodies from her food cart. She moves around the city, and Flickr member tshane snapped a great photo of her with her mobile business.

After reading the story, I tweeted to @sweetcart and asked her to come out to sell at the final Sunday Streets. And good news – she tweeted back that she will be there! So while you’re out frolicking with other locals in the streets, keep an eye out for her cart. I promise it will be a delicious stop!

If you haven’t been to Sunday Streets before, check out the video below which I put together after the August 9 event. Hope to see you out there!

Sarah B.

Historic photo courtesy of cliffhouseproject.com

2009 marks the 100 year anniversary of the venerable Cliff House out on the Great Highway. Just to be clear, that’s 100 years of the third version of the Cliff House built in 1909 by Dr. Emma Merritt, daughter of Adolph Sutro.

The first two Cliff Houses, both wood structures, were destroyed by fire. So Dr. Merritt was sure to ask for a “a fire-proof structure” when he hired the noted San Francisco architectural firm of the Reid Brothers.

In honor of their centennial, the Cliff House is offering some specials in their two restaurants. Every Wednesday evening, enjoy a special $19.09 three-course, prix fixe dinner menu in their Bistro. Or if lunch is more your thing, you can get a three-course prix fixe lunch every Tuesday in Sutro’s at the Cliff House for just $20.09.

And if you think the Cliff House is just for tourists, think again. Head Chef George Morrone took over in January after noteworthy successes at downtown restaurants Aqua and Fifth Floor. The food is getting high marks lately and let’s face it, the Cliff House restaurants have some of the best views in the city.

The Cliff House will also host a Centennial Gala on November 4, 2009. Chaired by Dr. Cynthia Soyster, a direct descendant of Adolph Sutro, the evening promises hors d’oeuvres, beverages, dancing, live music, history exhibits, and a fashion show of period ball gown, with a contemporary twist.

The gowns on display will made from recycled Cliff House menus, memorabilia and photographs, and are styled to match eras of the four buildings, which over time comprise the Cliff House’s history. Visit the Cliff House website for information on the event and to purchase tickets.

Special thanks to Jim over at SF Citizen for sending this news my way.

Sarah B.

SF Weekly has an amusing article on a real artery-clogger: the Belfast Bap sandwich. This Irish sandwich is “Irish bacon, Irish sausage, scrambled eggs, and cheddar cheese folded into a fluffy roll the size of a boulder”. Uh oh, that sounds pretty tasty.

The sandwich is $6 and you can get it at John Campbell’s Irish Bakery at 5625 Geary at 21st Avenue. The bakery is open Monday through Saturday 7am-10pm, and Sunday from 7am-8pm. And if you’re next door enjoying a game and a pint at the Blarney Stone, you can order one there too.

I’ll have to check out John Campbell’s Bakery. According to the website, “John holds the Order of The Master Baker from Belfast, Belfast City, and holds a Guilds Bakery Certificate making him the repository of many decades of baking tradition in the authentic old style.” The bakery opened in 2007.

The bakery, especially its scones, gets top reviews on Yelp, and they promise authentic Irish baked goods “made in the very same fashion with the very same ingredients that your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents might have enjoyed.”

Sarah B.

Photo by Flickr member mightyohm

This morning, the San Francisco City Attorney’s office began notifying local restaurants that their certification for food safety managers will no longer be recognized as valid as a result of inappropriate testing and certification procedures.

State law requires food facilities to have at least one employee or owner who has successfully passed an approved and accredited Food Safety Certification examination.

The original investigation, initiated by the Dept. of Public Health (DPH) and conducted by City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office, “uncovered significant irregularities in the administration of the exams by three DPH food inspectors working independently and without the authority of the Department”.

They found that numerous food safety certifications had been issued to individuals who never actually took the exam, while other test takers were given correct answers during the course of their exam. And other times, test materials and correct answers were shared with examinees before the test was administered.

As a result of the investigation, two of the three DPH food inspectors were fired, and an investigation
continues into the conduct of the third employee.

The notices sent to food facilities this morning allege no wrongdoing or immediate food safety problems on the part of restaurants or individual certificate holders. Rather, City public health authorities have determined that affected certificate holders must be recertified.

The affected restaurants will have 60 days to obtain new certifications, or to inform DPH that another validly certified staffer can fulfill the required role.

Among the list of 345 restaurants affected by this enforcement, I identified 38 that reside here in the Richmond District (94118, 94121 zip codes). Again, these restaurants have done nothing wrong and this notice is not an indicator of a health safety violation.

Read the full press release and restaurant list here

More on this story from SF Gate

Sarah B.

SF Weekly highlights a nice review of one of the Richmond District’s best kept secrets: The Shanghai Dumpling King restaurant at 3319 Balboa Street. When I was introduced to it several months ago by my friends Gene and Chad, they jokingly hissed “Don’t tell anyone about this place!”.

The fun, KQED food review show “Check, Please!” provided the original, thorough writeup after reviewer Lysley ate there on Christmas Day in 2008. He just couldn’t get enough of the restaurant’s juicy dumplings and tasty buns:

“While soup dumplings are the superstar on the menu, the others are excellent as well. They offer about a dozen different kinds, and my favorites are the pork and crabmeat, the pork and chive, and the vegetable. All are steamed, and arrive in their own bamboo steamers. I also love the pan-fried pork buns, which are like little pork buns you might find at a fast food dim sum joint along Clement Street, but much better. The quality of the pork filling and the bun itself surpass those by far. For new visitors to Shanghai Dumpling King, I always recommend making an entire meal out of the dumplings. Ranging from five to eight dollars each, they’re an amazing deal.”

Read the full “Check, Please!” review here

They’re also extremely popular on Yelp with 356 reviews and averaging 3.5/5 stars.

Be sure to check out the episode of “Check, Please!” below that includes the review of Shanghai Dumping. It starts at the 1:20 mark.

Sarah B.