Birthday Dinner

Until now we have discussed how to eat in restaurants when our choices are being made for convenience or obligation. But on some rare occasions we go out to eat as a true celebration of life.

At these moments the only thing you should consider is enjoyment. That isn’t to say you should stuff yourself silly, but once in a lifetime occasions deserve your undivided attention. Diet and health should be the farthest things from your mind.

Unfortunately, defining these special moments can sometimes get a little tricky.

(This post is part of the series How To Eat In Restaurants. Part one is Healthy Tips for Real Life (or how I learned to stop worrying and never eat fast food), part two is Neighborhood Convenience, part three is Sit-Down Chains and part four is Advice From SF Food Critic Michael Bauer. Get future posts by signing up for email or RSS updates–subscribing is always free of cost and spam.)

The beautiful thing about special occasions is that you define them for yourself. A visit to the French Laundry is remarkable for anyone, but most of us don’t have the same childhood memories of the apple pie grandma makes from her tree every Thanksgiving. If you have the opportunity to experience rare food at a rare event, you should not deprive yourself of this treat.

But occasions like these happen three, maybe four times a year. And odd as it may seem, defining them is not always clear cut.

Take a look at your life. Chances are you have a rather large group of people who make up your extended family and close friends, all of which have annual birthdays, anniversaries and countless other events you will be invited to attend. You also have your own set of special food-related holidays like, well, all of them. Before you know it your “special” meals go from three or four times a year to three or four times a month.

Where do you draw the line?

Here it is important to make a distinction between special moments and special food. If you are honest with yourself about the quality of food in a given situation you will find that more often than not it is nothing to go nuts about. Your co-worker’s birthday at the Cheesecake Factory is special and important (sort of), but the food most definitely is not.

A specific food or meal can be special for any number or reasons. The exquisite quality and technical skills that you find in the world’s top restaurants can be the experience of a lifetime, like witnessing a rare piece of art. But personal memories and associations can also make foods special. These are the foods that are worthy of exceptions.

However, it is all too easy to get caught up in a moment and rationalize reasons to splurge when the food does not really justify such behavior. For example, food abundance like you find at a buffet or on a cruise ship can seem like something special, but it really isn’t. In fact, buffet-style all you can eat menus are a pretty good indication that the food being served is relatively cheap.

In these kinds of special occasions, shift your focus away from the food and onto your friends and family. If you are on vacation, enjoy your meals but focus more on actually doing all the fun activities you envisioned.

If you have trouble talking yourself out of a second pile of ribs, ask yourself when was the last time you made this kind of exception. If it was yesterday, this week or even this month, think twice before you eat and ask yourself if this meal is worth your quarterly splurge. Would you want this food on the menu if it were your last meal on earth? If not, put your fork down and talk to your friends instead.

Distinguishing between special moments and special food is critical, because only extraordinary food is worthy of making exceptions to your healthstyle. Learn to make these moments few and far between. If they occur more often, reexamine your criteria.

If you really like a restaurant but you go there all the time, is it really that special anymore?

Special occasions are what make life worth living and should not be skipped. Just be sure that when it comes to food, your choices are truly exceptional.

What are your exceptional foods?

Read more How To Eat In Restaurants:

1. Healthy Tips for Real Life
2. Neighborhood Convenience
3. Sit-Down Chains
4. Healthy Advice From SF Food Critic Michael Bauer
5. The Truly Special Occasions

Organic Vegetables

There has been a lot of back and forth trash talking between fans of organic and fans of conventional produce ever since a new review study by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) reported no nutritional superiority for organics. Let’s take a look at some of the opposing arguments and have a vote.

Since the publication of the review last week I have been collecting the opinions of various experts around the internet.

A few fabulous articles are worth noting:

• Organic Versus Conventional Food: UK Report Flawed by Paula Crossfield at Civil Eats. This is the best analysis I have found. If you only have time to read one article of criticism, make it this one.
• Organic Center Response to the FSA Study is particularly interesting because it points out that the FSA actually did find a nutritional benefit of organic foods, but simply decided the differences were not important.
• Soil Association response to the Food Standards Agency’s Organic Review presents some additional scientifically valid criticisms/omissions of the report.
• Today’s huge flap about organics. NYU professor of nutrition, Marion Nestle, offers her usual dose of common sense: doesn’t taste matter to anyone?

Key criticisms of the FSA report:

1. The nutrient analysis is questionable and incomplete.
2. Findings contradict conclusions of other scientists.
3. Report does not account for the presence of toxins and contaminants.
4. Conflicts of interest may exist among the investigators of the report and agribusiness.

So what do you think?

Do you believe the review? Think it’s a flawed piece of industry propaganda? Still undecided? How will this study affect your buying habits?

Do you even think about these things before making food purchases?

Vote in the poll and leave additional thoughts in the comments.

[poll id=”4″]

Tomatero Organic Tomatoes

It was an action packed day this Saturday in San Francisco. I started the morning by checking out the Noe Valley farmers market on 24th Street then headed off to the Ferry Building to buy a few more things and chat with the people at Epicurious.

Although I have been to the Noe Valley farmers market before, it had been years since I spent any real time there. For a small market, the selection was really impressive. Many of the farms I recognized because they also have booths at the Ferry Plaza farmers market. Others I would be happy to see there.

Melons

Rosa Bianca Eggplant

I had the most fun at the Tomatero Organic Farm stand where their selection brimmed with summer bounty, especially tomatoes. I came out to the Noe Valley market to try Tomatero tomatoes because they are (drumroll, please) starting an all tomato CSA this year!

If you have ever tasted Tomatero’s tomatoes, you know how exciting this is.

Deliveries begin on August 18 and go until the end of the season. There will be 3 pick up locations, 2 in the Noe Valley area of San Francisco and one in the Lake Merrit area of Oakland. The cost is $15 per week and will include whatever varieties they have in stock. For more details please visit the Tomatero website.

Flame Grapes

White Raspberries

While I was there I also purchased some of their zucchini, spectacular white raspberries and some eggs–which I promptly left on the counter and forgot 🙁 I’ll go back and get them next week.

Everything was spectacular.

Other Noe Purchases include:

• Edible flowers and lettuce (Happy Boy Farms)
• Piel de sapo melon (Happy Boy Farms)
• Spring onion (Happy Boy Farms)
• Rosa bianca eggplant (Capay Organics)
• Thai basil (Sunny Farm)
• Green onion (Sunny Farm)

Red and Green Okra

Pluots

Even though I bought a good amount of food in Noe Valley I still wanted to head to the Ferry Building. I can’t help it, I just love it there.

It was a beautiful day and I tried so many kinds of stone fruit I should have probably just counted it as my lunch. One of my main reasons for heading there was to get some Rancho Gordo beans. I asked for a new recommendation (I’ve tried many of them before) and the woman working there nearly exploded with excitement about a new bean they have from Mexico, Alubia Criollo. This is a white bean that she claims is so creamy and luxurious it is to die for.

I can’t wait.

Also exciting is that the early girl tomatoes are finally available, even the ones from Dirty Girl Produce. Folks, early girl tomatoes are the summer tomatoes that changed my life. Definitely get yourself some this season from Tomatero, Dirty Girl or wherever you can find them.

Huge Zucchini

Early Girl Tomato Frenzy

Another reason I visited the Ferry Building was to check out the Epicurious booth that will be hanging around at various SF foodie events this week, giving out free tote bags and goodies. If you haven’t heard of Epicurious, it is a fabulous online resource for food lovers.

Epicurious Booth SF

Nectarines

Apples have also appeared at the market, and there are more grapes every week. They are delicious, but it is hard for me to buy grapes when there are so many stone fruits and melons still around.

I’d love to hear what you got at the farmers market this week.

Tomatillos

Ferry Plaza purchases:

• Alubia Criollo beans (Rancho Gordo)
• Flavor queen pluots (Honeycrisp)
• Flavor king pluots (Honeycrisp)
• Basil (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Pagoda figs (Balakian farms)
• Sweet Italian frying peppers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Ginger flowers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Arctic Jay white nectarines