You’ve got to hand it to San Francisco, they sure do food with style, whether it’s 2 star Michelin, a restaurant that seasons their garlic with food or serious health conscious fare. However, what San Francisco does better than anyone else are food trucks. Now, living in England, the thought of a food truck serving you something that you might be interested in seems like a farce – our experiences being limited to the pitiful excuse for food served out of these trucks at festivals and fairs. Off the Grid is San Fran’s food truck revolution bundled under one happy umbrella. The organisation has food truck markets every week, all over the city and even tells you how many trucks are going to be present at each market. Once a month, at Fort Mason, Off the Grid brings together no less than 30 trucks serving up anything from cupcakes to creme brulee to pho, beer, jerk chicken and tacos. Throw in a live band and some of the best food you’d pay handsomely for in a restaurant, and you’ve got yourself a perfect summer evening. My efforts must have taken me across at least half the food trucks and I have to admit, I was ecstatically shocked and surprised – everything I tasted was fresh, vibrant and just, downright, delicious!
Off the Grid, San Francisco
Momofuku Ssam, New York
“Momofuku ssäm bar is a casual, loud restaurant with an inventive menu that is constantly changing” Is how the restaurant describes themselves on their website. I wish it had been true! I do wish the food had been inventive. For the life of me I cannot fathom how a restaurant like this made it to the 50 best restaurants of the world – #37 this year. Was there dirty underhanded dealings? Is everyone on the committee best friends with David Chang that they felt they had to do him a favour and put the restaurant on the list? Whatever the case may be, the 2 week high of New York dining had to finally crash and burn and it did ever so miserably, at Momofuku Ssam. The 37th best restaurant in the world.
Red Farm, New York
It goes without saying that when a restaurant says they don’t take reservations, you need to go early. Or so I thought. Going early just meant that there weren’t that many people standing in line, though on this occasion, I had the game of numbers on my side – I was without company. A lone diner, a solitary companion, who moved past the disgruntled group of 4 who were told to come back in 2 hours and swiftly to a tiny corner of standing space at the bar, feeling smug, hungry and a little bit excited. This was a day of Asian food nirvana, a day when my endorphins and all other feel food factors were firing on all cylinders, but just how good was Red Farm going to be after a lunch at Fatty Crab? Would the food make up for the discomfort of having to stand for the entire meal, staring at a wooden beam, waiters rushing by, occasionally bumping into you.. well, the good thing about Red Farm is that you could have been made to stand and eat with your plate in your hand and your glass balanced precariously on your head, and you’d still run out of the front door shouting at people to queue up as quickly as they could and wait for 4 hours to get a table.
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Hakkasan: Hanway Place, London
If I had to make a bad pun, I’d say Hakkasan is not a Kiwi dancing in Japan (but I didn’t say that). After a grand meal at Gold Mine, the urge to try something upmarket in the Chinese contingency led us to the long standing and well known original Hakkasan, started by the legendary Alan Yau (Yauatcha, Busaba Eathai, Wagamama, Sake No Hana, amongst others). Once down the eerily grey and quiet staircase, the restaurant itself greets you with a sleek and bustling surprise, winding you through the labyrinth of tables and dim lighting. The menu gleefully boasts an array of temptations without extending into a voluminous collection of paper (always a good thing!)
