Mission Mission

Holy moly. Okay, you know how Dear Mom‘s kitchen made that awesome French-style hot dog and a bunch of other French stuff? That’s all over. Fogcutter is taking over, and I’m hoping this means their savory Olive Oil Waffle (basically a big fluffy waffle with a big delicious salad and a couple of poached eggs on top, and bacon if you want it) will start making appearances outside of pop-up Sunday brunch. But I’m happy either way, because everything these guys do (including the “Chupacabra” pictured above) seems to rule.

I’m thinking the thinking here is that this stuff might prove more bar-friendly than all that serious French stuff, but here’s the official announcement from Dear Mom’s Jay Beaman:

Hey you guys. Y’all have probably noticed some changes in the Dear Mom kitchen lately and we figured it’s time to let everyone know what’s been happening and what’s gonna happen and other whatnots. After helping us launch the kitchen program, our pal and total all around french chef badass, Laurent Katgely is returning his focus to Chez Spencer and other projects. Our slice of the mission kitchen space is now being taken over by Guillermo Perez and Caroline Hummer; also known as the scrappy duo who stuffed your faces out of the Fogcutter food truck and various pop-ups at Dear Mom over the last year.

Perez has been working in restaurants for over fifteen years, most recently with Todd Humphries and Kelly McCown at Martini House in St Helena, and downtown at Hiro Sone’s Ame. Perez and Hummer have both been working in street food for the past two years. They helped open The Chairman food truck in 2010, and in 2011 launched their own truck, Fogcutter.

These two are bringing that street food mentality to Dear Mom, prepping a menu with full on fat man (big plate) dinner food and all kinds of items that can be eaten standing up. Think American, Asian and Latino bar bites. Start your lemon juice cayenne pepper fast now because August 1st you’re gonna want to go too far. And by too far, I mean just far enough.

Can’t wait!

P.S. R.I.P. awesome French-style hot dog

P.P.S. But yeah here’s a picture of the Olive Oil Waffle, oh man…

[Top photo by Fogcutter and bottom photo by C'mon Pony]

For those not in the know, green chile means the world to fans of New Mexican cuisine. (I know a little about it from that time I went to Albuquerque on a Breaking Bad tour.) It’s not always readily available out here on the west coast, and when it is, it’s not necessarily done up right, but if there’s anyone in the Mission tonight that can nail it, it’s Rocky:

GREEN CHILE!!! TONIGHT !! @EL RIO!! 8pm!! 3 Bands!! $1PBRs!!

— RockysFrybread (@RockysFrybread) July 23, 2012

Plus some rock ‘n’ roll? Sounds like a plan.

Just look at this sandwich:

That’s smoked trout, fancy bacon, fancy lettuce, soft-cooked egg, herby cream cheese on rye. Sooooo good. I know it’s easy to forget about this place since it’s so far out 24th Street, not very close to Dolores Park — but it is worth the trek like crazy. (And maybe try picnicking at Potrero del Sol for once?)

New menu every day here. Or follow them on Twitter.

With all the talk of pizza on Valencia (and in Dolores Park, evidently) going on lately, I totally missed out on the fact that longtime Venus flytrap for drunk Marina people Thrill of the Grill has finally been deposed. Although it took a lot longer than I originally predicted back when Arinell (NO APOSTROPHE) extended their weekend hours, this should come as no surprise to anyone who’s tried their pizza.

I haven’t made it to Nizario’s up in the Castro lately, but I remember their slices weren’t that bad. Of course they’ll be going up against some pretty steep competition here so it’s anyone’s guess to see how they do!

Okay, whadda we got? There’s this:

Or these guys are going to be at Dear Mom:

And if neither of those strike your fancy, The Crab and Monkey has a recommendation:

Southpaw BBQ is now open at 11 AM on Sunday only.  Last weekend, I was headed down to Schmidt’s for a belated birthday brunch (pickled herring is like cake and ice cream to me) when I noticed that Southpaw was actually OPEN!  “RIBS?” I thought, “Ribs for brunch? I’ll take that!”  Well, the Sunday brunch menu does not include ribs, but it does include 2 eggs with hash and brisket (coulda used more potatoes, but smokey and delicious) and french toast for the wife (nice, now that Sycamore has stopped offering it).

Read on for bloody mary info (including GREEN BLOODY MARY info).

Or we could go to the beach. I dunno.

Looks like we just got some more lunch options at the park. This guy was spotted slinging slices, to which spectator wbtc remarked,

I’m not saying that selling slices of pizza in the park is a terrible idea, but Costco pizza, dude? Really?

Say what you will about Costco pizza (although I know people who swear by it), if he’s picking these up for $9.99 a pie, it’s clear that his business model is sound.

Now that the Costco seal has been broken, what’s next, microwave burritos, boxed corn dogs, and Otter Pops?

Update: P.D. Bird has more on the slice slinger:

Once [cold beer, cold water] got busted, this guy tried to sell “cold beer, cold water” and was warned (CBCW James never got a warning) for selling beer, the next day he showed up with Pizza and has been at it ever since. He is a nice enough guy, has a great brooklyn italian accent and even wears the vest and cook jacket that is in the photo. Costco pizza is what it is, but to have it delivered, without having to move/bike/walk anywhere is priceless at 2 pm on a saturday. I think this is great,and he even gives u credit if you are a park regular.

[via wbtc]

Also, is that exterior made of the same bubbly white tile as seen in the Montgomery BART station?

I mean, for graphic design reasons alone, you want to try this beer. But it’s also really really good, a hoppy pale ale made by a Swede in Belgium I think. (Hop flavors and aromas, but not a lot of bitterness.) Available now at Cervecería de MateVeza across from Dolores Park.

(What’s it called? No idea, sorry.)

From Bi-Rite. Highly recommended. Seen here, it’s swirled with chocolate, but I really wished I’d gotten 100% malted coconut. Malted coconut. Malted coconut. Yummmmmmm. (Plus, doy, the soft serve line is so much shorter than the other line.)

[Ginny is taking over the Mission Vegan column from Caroline, who moved away for medical school. She loves cats, metal, and kale.]

I’ve only visited Dear Mom for the booze, but I’m well-aware that they also serve food. The problem is that those weekly pop-up dinners, as crazy and creative as they are, are pretty heavy on the meat and cheese. That’s all good for my omnivorous friends, but for a vegan lush like myself, I need something to stabilize all that Maker’s. Sad Vegan™ no more:  This Saturday, Hella Vegan Eats is hosting a pop up dinner and I’m hella excited.

Here’s the Facebook invite!!! Come say hi…if you dare!

UPDATE: