The Burlingame Voice

Coffee Wars on the Ave.

Please forgive my endless fascination with the evolution of the Avenew's dining, shopping, parking and non-existent entertainment options.  Given the fire about BHS teachers, bond issues, "affordable housing", drought and high-cost rail, watching the Ave. can provide a little light relief on the Voice.  Or not if someone gets worked up about the slowly dying Post Office building and the like.  I stopped into the new Philz for my pour-over, $4.50 coffee recently.  Being mostly a Bodum French press guy made at home, I was fascinated by the whole phenomenon.

Then yesterday's WSJ did a whole piece on "slow bar" coffee shops.  That is the industry term.  There are five methods--Chemex, French Press, Pour Over, Siphon and Aeropress listed in the article.  The Journal describes the business decision between how long to make people wait for "slow coffee", how many staff to hire and how much to charge.  Interesting stuff.  They note that Starbuck's was the original gateway coffee to the hard stuff of pour over now in fashion.  It will be interesting to see if Philz can maintain the momentum that Blue Bottle lost.  The only time you don't wait in line is when they are closed!

Rotisserie Chicken on the Way

For everyone pining for the old Chicken! Chicken! rotisserie fare (which ended up being the cause de feu of the restaurant's demise), the old Kabul location at the corner of the Avenew and California Dr. across from the train station will be the new hangout.  The alcohol license transfer is up indicating that Limon Rotisserie is moving in and their website confirms that a B'game location is coming.  Personally, I'm looking forward to the ceviche since the Safeway chicken is hard to beat for six or seven bucks!

Restaurant Review: Nachoria

Some bloggers got pretty excited about the Nachoria opening; like this comment from Pat Giorni

"I laughed when a coffee shop opened and expected to last while charging the unheard of price of $3.00 for a cuppa coffee and now we all call it 5 Bucks. I was again amused when I read about the concept behind Nachoria and wondered once again how long this business would last until I went in at 4pm today to check it out. I know you were understaffed because it took about 10 minutes to place my order with only 3 parties ahead of me...all deuces. But after sitting down my order was placed before me in under 10 minutes. All during my meal people continued to POUR in. When I left at 5:45, your restaurant was turning the tables for a second full seating. Having worked in the full service restaurant business...not fast food... for 35 years I have never seen tables turn so fast, especially during the dead period between lunch and early bird dining.

"I had the Super quesadilla filled w/ Pollo, Carne asada, and carnitas. I will definitely be back when the Al Pastor makes its debut! I enjoyed the use of a thick sour creme rather than the usual watery stuff. The quesadillas were crisped up nicely, and a cut above the usual preparation. The only thing I would add is that if they are grilled w/ butter rather than oil, the flavor and appeal would be spectacularly enhanced. bottom line is that your food is good enough to bring me back again and again.

Well, I had a bit more of a mixed reaction partly based on what I ordered and what I didn't drink.  I ordered the triple tacos with diablo shrimp (an extra $2) and they were pretty shrimpy.  Nicely spicy but 9 small shrimp for the price didn't cut it!  A dinner partner ordered the salad with ceviche (extra $3) and that was a much more substantial meal.  Selection envy set in.  Another dinner partner ordered the nachos.  While there were plenty of nachos, the meat was a bit sparse.  Like the tacos, they were more of an appetizer than an entree.  The real shocker was the $12 glasses of wine.  The selection (Acacia, Ferrari-Carano, William Hill) was pretty good, but in a nacho place with no table service and modest stemware I would have thought $8-9/glass would have been the right price point.  The sparklers were priced higher!

All in all, I don't think Sixto's, Steelhead or the pizza places on the Avenew have much to worry about.  I also did Rangoon Ruby (take out) last week and while very good, they also appear to be accounting for the rents on the Avenew--or maybe a bit more than accounting for their rent.  Here is Nachoria.

Coffee and a Newspaper

Do you remember how the Internet was going to kill libraries?  It may be happening in some places, but I was in the main B'game library this week and it was pleasantly busy.  The remodel gives it a bit more of a communal feel and the imminent arrival of the cafe will add to that feel.  With Philz about to open a block away, I wonder what brand(s) the library will be serving?  The sign that says Fika is a Swedish reference to "coffee break", but that may or may not translate to using the Gevalia brand.

Pizza War on the Avenew? Bye Isobune

Please pardon my obsession with the comings and goings of restaurants in town and on the Avenew in particular.  It's my compensation mechanism so I don't obsess about the amazing number of hair and nail salons we have.  Or the lack of any real music venue downtown.

On tomorrow night's Planning Commish docket is an application for Rise Pizza to go into the space long occupied by Isobune.  Isobune and its authentic plastic display food in the front window have been in that spot for as long as I can remember.  That might go all the way back to 1983 or so when I first started going to the Sly Fox, the Bombay Bicycling Club, the Bit and Goa Poang!

Rise's story is a beehive wood-fired oven and this is apparently their first location.  They will need something special to compete with Blue Line, Pizza My Heart, Delfina's and Il Fornaio in the "pie wars".

April 13, 2016 Update:  Here is the sign indicating the end of a 33 year run for Isobune.

B'game Star (Michelin That Is)

The new Michelin restaurant ratings are out and for the first time in my memory, a B'game restaurant has made the list with one star!  The Times has the full list here.  Reservations at Rasa just became harder to get and that is a good thing.  While not as dour as the entertainment drought in B'game, the dining scene has been improving very slowly.  Given how much work Rasa had to put into the space, this star will come in very handy.

Michelin stars are not easy to hold on to either.  All Spice in San Mateo just lost the one they had.  I've eaten there several times and it is quite good.  Oddly, they opened a new location in EssEff and it got the star in its first year.  My guess is that is more about the level of service than the food.  Great restaurant anyway.

Shopping Trip? Breakfast?

A regular reader forwarded this totally cute photo from this morning on the Avenew.  Could Mom be taking the ducklings out for school supplies?  Or were they just headed for Alana's for some bread crusts and maybe a few pancake scraps?  The sidewalks look pretty good, too!

Russ and I always appreciate a candid local photo-- and it doesn't have to be wildlife.  You can always email me at joe@baylock.com with anything you deem interesting.

Downtown Eats: Going and Coming

I'm catching up after a busy week of business travel where I mused about Ocean Beach.  But it's always great to get back to B'game and check out what is changing.  Aside from the widespread consternation about the massive over-development that may subsume the south and east sides of town, the typical churn of downtown restaurants also proceeds apace.

People are wondering which way Which Wich went as it left town.  I must say, having only eaten at one of them that was in San Diego, I am not surprised.  We have many better alternatives from Sam's and CJ's to Bonne Sante which has expanded to San Mateo as well.

The next establishment to take a shot on the Avenew is Rangoon Ruby going in where a few have had moderate success before.  That is not a comment on the location since two doors down, Mingalaba continues to have lines out the door at its smaller space.  Good luck, RR.

And yet we still have no regular music venue on the Avenew.  It's pretty sad.

Party at Starbucks

The County Times reported that Starbucks is trying to extend its business day by adding beer and wine in selected locations.  B'game has two of the first 15 locations that Starbucks has in mind.

By my count we have five Starbucks in town but I could have missed one along the way.  Burlingame Plaza and the B'way shop are the ones seeking the limited alcohol licenses.  I would guess the small one at the Marriott and the one in Safeway are not ever going to be in the running for more licenses, but not seeking one for the Avenew location is a bit of a surprise.  Perhaps the competition is too tough on the Ave?

The shop on Broadway in Millbrae is also on the list.

OTG: Very Chilly Outdoor "Dining"

I thought I would check out tonight's Off The Grid since it was a cold, windy night.  Every commercial enterprise is a risk and OTG is no exception.  Perhaps I was a bit late (7:30 pm) but the truck vendors likely lost money tonight.  It was cold and quiet on California Dr. as you can see here.

There was the usual set-up.  Chairs but no tables even the dogs were shivering.  When the nightly Union Pacific freight train rolls through one is reminded of real industry that still occurs in small batches on the SF Peninsula.  OTG would consider that ambience.