We went to forageSF‘s dinner.  The Viking and I both love to eat and we love new, interesting food things.  We both subscribe to Tasting Table, which is a daily email newsletter with a food focus.  I think I had heard about forageSF through Tasting Table.  Either way, I had also subscribed to forageSF’s newsletter and had been getting regular updates on their monthly dinners, their Wild Food Walks, and other information about utilizing foraged food from all over the Bay Area.

I had received information about a dinner that consisted of several courses of mostly foraged local food.  The Viking was interested and booked us a couple of spots.  The deal with the dinner was that we’d find out the location just before the dinner.  I’m pretty sure the “dinner clubs,” of which there are plenty in San Francisco, are illegal.  There are all sorts of regulations regarding serving food in San Francisco, most of which involve a professional kitchen.  So a meal for which money is accepted served in anything but a restaurant kitchen is “illegal.”  Nonetheless, they continue.  Thankfully.

The Viking was informed of the location of the meal, which was conveniently within walking distance from our place.  Our dinner was at Chicken John‘s place on Cesar Chavez, though we didn’t learn that until later.

We arrived on time, 6pm.  The Viking and I are usually on time, sometimes to our detriment.  We have, in the past, had to wait outside a restaurant until it opened.  On the night of the forageSF dinner we arrived on time.  That meant we had our choice of seats at one of the two long communal tables.  We chose two seats at the end of one of the tables.

We brought two bottles of wine and had them opened right away.  We sat and chatted whilst sipping wine as the other guests streamed in.  A woman who sat near us was worried that she’d been stood up by her entire party, five other people.  Another woman had brought not only wine but also her own corkscrew; she seemed to know the deal.

Everything about the event had to do with found items.  The tables were decorated with dried foliage placed in repurposed glass bottles.  Water was provided in glass milk bottles.  Each setting had two mason jars for drinking glasses.  When the food came out, each of the dishes was slightly different, both the vessels on which the food was served as well as the plating.  Both the Viking and I liked that everything wasn’t perfect; it was homier than a formal restaurant.

Eventually all five of the one lady’s friends showed up.  The man in her party who sat next to me immediately introduced himself to me and then the Viking.  The date of the woman with the corkscrew finally showed up, but not until after she stomped out of the building in a huff, presumably to meet him on Cesar Chavez.  The two of them settled into the seats across the table from us.  They introduced themselves to us as Liz and Michael.

I noticed a few things about Liz and Michael right away.  Liz was not happy.  It made sense to me that she was bored and irritated before he showed up, but even after he arrived, she was not happy to see him.  She did not smile – at all.  My guess is that the late thing was a common occurrence in their relationship and she was tired of it.

Michael appeared to be younger and cuter than Liz.  Not quite out of her league, but younger and cuter nonetheless.  He also seemed more at ease than Liz, which was probably due to his laissez-faire attitude about not only being prompt, but other areas of his life.

The chef stood on the stage and told us about the first two courses, an amuse bouche of bay butter on toast, and wild nettle soup.  Both were tasty.  Then there was polenta with heirloom tomatoes, basil, porchini mushrooms, and creme fraiche.  Yum.  Michael made a negative comment about the texture of the polenta, which was perfect and creamy so he was just wrong.

Every couple of courses the chef would get on the stage to talk about what was coming up.  He was so passionate about food, and foraging for it.  He was also pretty cute, with a well-trimmed full beard, and what appeared to be a slim, fit body.  I announced to the Viking that for sure that guy gets laid.  A hot looking guy who is excited about his work?  Yes, please.  That is sexy.

[Continued.]

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