If you have a birthday coming up or are already starting your holiday wish list, I highly recommend adding Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller to your list. I’ve had some seriously great grub at Ad Hoc the past two years. It’s a style of cooking I’ve dubbed ‘haute comfort’ – meaning, comfort food done super-clean — and stylishly plated, of course!

Just to be clear and give credit where it’s due, the gorgeous food photos in this post are reproduced from the book and are the work of the amazing Deborah Jones who has photographed all of TK’s cookbooks.

With the change in weather (called ‘seasons’ in other parts of the country) and my hungry posse coming over for Sunday supper, comfort food was calling. I dove into Ad Hoc at Home for inspiration and emerged with this incredibly delicious, succulent pork roast stuffed with a fig balsamic jam. I served it with a delicata squash/sweet potato/wild chanterelle hash inspired by a dish made at a competition I judged the week prior (that post is in the queue…)

A pastry chef friend tried out the brownie recipe and had to seriously negotiate with her husband to share one (yes, one) with me. Fortunately for me, she won. After devouring it, I understood why he didn’t want to let it go: it very well may be the best brownie I’ve ever had.

If after making the recipe yourself, you think you have a better brownie recipe, please feel free to bake a batch and send ’em my way! I’ll be happy to offer my opinion.

This past weekend, I was down in LA celebrating a slew of friends’ birthdays. One afternoon included venturing to a Culver City I’d not known before: design stores, art galleries, good eats and French Maid-clad waitresses. Yep, that’s right. Apparently, French Maid cafes are a trend in parts of Tokyo. So in the spirit of the Japanese-inspired cafe/gallery/shop Royal/T, owner & art collector, Sue Hancock, provides kawaii and pop eye-candy all around.

From a gallery space that is home to a noodle-skirted, dumpling-winged sushi chicken

and eyeball bedecked tea accoutrements…

to a shop filled with all kinds of novelty items, including food coloring books (had to get one) and heart-shaped egg molds…

to the cafe space where the plants on the back wall of the cafe are grown in felt pouches made from recycled plastic bottles by Woolly Pocket Garden Company…

to the super-delicious Kobe beef sliders on brioche buns, topped three ways: bleu with caramelized onion, quail egg up & tomato chutney. The menu offers a nice selection and the tempting cupcakes were very popular at tables all around us.

Loved everything about Royal/T. It’s just the kind of place I’d want to throw a royal party.

This is the logo on my new favorite t-shirt. Wow, what an amazing day! Today in Oakland at the Eat Real Festival, I ran into old friends doin’ what they love to do–some were cooking and some, like moi, were eating. If you were there or following any of the vendor tweets, you know it was a gratifying experience on both sides of the fest. Okay, there are lots of pics, so get ready to drool…

I dig the new Ritual Roasters retro trailer. It takes me back to the days of family road trips to Baja. My friends and I jump started our day with a cuppa delicious, fruity drip from Guatemala. Then, on to the grub.

If you like your falafel with a nice crispy crunch, cheerful smile and a whole lotta Liba, Gail’s the girl to find about town. She’s new on the scene and with her stylish aprons and infectious enthusiasm will surely win you over.

After many trials and tribulations, spunky Julia Yoon’s got her killer Korean BBQ tacos goin’ on at Seoul On Wheels. Today there were three to choose from; but seriously,the pork was a no brainer — it’s Korean! And really darn good.

I learned the term ‘appropriate technology’ during my Peace Corps stint in Africa and this is a fun application of the concept by Soul Cocina: the human-powered blender. Dig it.

I was first introduced to the wonderful world of padron peppers by my bud Cory Obenaur at Blue Plate. They’re typically sweet and mild, though beware of the occasional kicker. The padrons from Localicious were skillet-seared with olive oil and sea salt. Delicioso!

What would a food festival be without a little activism and petitioning…

Pretty pictures grab my attention every time. These tasty little ginger ‘sconelette’ morsels by Kleine are available online. AND…

…not just through their own site but through a food website I just learned about today: Foodzie, where I’m sure you’ll see some of your current fav’s along with new temptations. It just never ends.

For all of the expectant and new moms out there, this one’s for you: Little Bug Baby. I can’t attest to the taste, but you know me, I’m a sucker for packaging.

Who knew the pickle folks at Happy Girl Kitchen made refreshingly not-too-sweet lemonade?

I grinned big at this vanity plate, growth demo [two to eight weeks, left to right] and handwritten sign nearby with the proper pronunciation: ‘on-DEEV’

I think the thing that struck me most today about the fest, was the genuine love of making and sharing food by the majority of vendors. A perfect example of this was the impromptu collaboration of Elgin Espiritu, sous-chef at Orson, his lovely and talented wife June Lee, Tim Luym, original owner/chef of Poleng Lounge and Chef Kris from Luce to create Buta (translation from Japanese: pig). In the photo above, June Lee and Elgin Espiritu are gettin’ ready to ramen.

I wish these kids would play together more often. Their ramen is phenomenal! The cold [left] with yuba, corn, hearts of palm, garden fresh tomatoes and stellar dumplings was a perfect summer medley. The hot [right] with two types of handmade fishcakes, pork belly & kimchee was all happyness for my tastebuds.

All that rich, satisfying flavor required a little sugar interlude and Sweetface Bakery came to the rescue. A couple bites of the not sweet, moist cocoa cupcake with the super-sweet carmel frosting blended nicely for a wee sugar fix and palate cleanser.

One of the day’s highlights for this corn lovin’ gal was the fresh corn empanada by El Porteño. I haven’t made it yet to Argentina, but if the light buttery crust is a traditional trait, I’m gonna have to travel there with stretch fabric, elastic waistband garments.

The last glorious stop of the day was Pizza Politana. If you haven’t yet had this perfectly salty, crispy crusted, wood oven baked pizza made with farm-fresh toppings, you need to make a haj to their mobile brick oven stat.

Hungry?

If you’re in town Saturday, August 22, I’d recommend checking out the debut of SF Street Food Festival. Bring an empty stomach and walk or ride your bike to maximize calorie intake and minimize the aftermath.

(Sadly, I’ll miss this so please report back! And please don’t feel too sorry for me, I’ll be slummin’ it at Sea Ranch.)

If you’re a Top Chef and/or Food Network junkie and missed this article in last Sunday’s NY Times Magazine, you might want to check it out.

This is not news to anyone who’s known me for more than five minutes, but I’m a huge Michael Pollan fan. I remember being at an event several years back when he wasn’t well known (yet) and in a room filled with glitterati, he was the one I was most eager to meet. I had to laugh yesterday when someone complained on set that this brilliant intellectual ‘Just can’t shut up!’ [If I told you who said it, you’d laugh hysterically at the irony…but then I’d have to kill you (please note: this just an expression of speech.)] I, for one, am happy MP keeps on writing, talking and getting people to listen. I say Bravo! — yes, as in Top Chef.

The Erwin Olaf photos that accompany the article are phenomenal (these are just a few of them). How fun would it have been to style that shoot?!?

There are a whole slew of priceless quotes in the article and Mario Battali’s made me laugh out loud: “Look, it’s TV! Everyone has to fall into a niche. I’m the Italian guy. Emeril’s the exuberant New Orleans guy with the big eyebrows who yells a lot. Bobby’s the grilling guy. Rachael Ray is the cheerleader-type girl who makes things at home the way a regular person would. Giada’s the beautiful girl with the nice rack who does simple Italian food. As silly as the whole Food Network is, it gives us all a soapbox to talk about the things we care about.”

…and then there are blogs for the rest of us!