California Foie Gras? Vote With Your Feet -- Whether they are Webbed or Not

Chefs at the restaurants listed below have put themselves on record as wanting to overturn the California ban on foie gras.  If you care about this issue, you can point your webbed feet or your Manolo Blahniks toward or away from these establishments. It's your call.

City	Restaurant	Chef
Berkeley	Meritage at the Claremont	Josh Thomsen
Beverly Hills	Bouchon	Rory Herrman
Corona Del Mar	Five Crowns and Side Door	Ryan O’Melveney Wilson
Granite Bay	Hawks Restaurant	Molly Hawks
Half Moon Bay	The Ritz-Carlton	Otto Sanchez
Healdsburg	Cyrus	Doug Keane
Healdsburg	Dry Creek Kitchen	Dustin Valette
Hermosa Beach	Hot’s Kitchen	Sean Chaney
Hollywood	Animal	Vinny Dotolo
La Jolla	Ariccia Italian Market	Robert Pascucci
Long Beach	Michael on Naples	David Coleman
Los Angeles	Eva Restaurant	Mark Gold
Los Angeles	Father’s Office	Sang Yoon
Los Angeles	LudoBites	Ludo Lefebvre
Los Angeles	Mezze Restaurant	Micha Wexler
Los Angeles	Patina	Joachim Splichal
Los Angeles	Providence	Michael Cimarusti
Los Angeles	Republique Restaurant	Walter Manzke
Los Angeles	Son of a Gun	Jon Shook
Los Angeles	W Los Angeles	Dakota Weiss
Los Angeles	West	Matthew Woolf
Los Gatos	Manresa	David Kinch
Monterey	Bistro Moulin	Didier Dutertre
Mountain View	Chez TJ	Joey Elentrio
Napa	Angele Restaurant	Scott Ekstrom
Napa	La Toque	Ken Frank
Napa	La Toque	Matthew Mullowney
Napa	Mustards	Cindy Pawlcyn
Napa	Redd’s Restaurant	Richard Reddington
Napa	Terra	Hiro Sone
Napa	The French Laundry	Thomas Keller
Newport Beach	Brasserie Pascal	Pascal Olhats
Orange	Haven Gastropub	Greg Daniels
Pacific Palisades	Maison Giraud	Alain Giraud
Pasadena	The Royce	David Feau
Pasadena	The Valley Hunt Club	Michael Beck
Plymouth	Taste	Mark Berkner
Redwood City	Martins West	Michael Dotson
Rohnert Park	Hana Japanese	Ken Tominaga
Sacramento	Ella Dining Room and Bar	Michael Thiemann
Sacramento	Lounge ON20	Pajo Bruich
Sacramento	Mulvaney’s BandL	Patrick Mulvaney
Sacramento	Selland Family Restaurants	Randall Selland
Sacramento	The Kitchen	Noah Zonca
Saint Helena	The Restaurant at Meadowood	Christopher Kostow
San Diego	Bertrand at Mister A’s	Stephane Voitzwinkler
San Diego	Evolve Cuisine	Daniel Barron
San Diego	The Cowboy Star	Victor Jimenez
San Diego	The French Gourmet	Michel Malecot
San Diego	Urban Solace	Matthew Gordon
San Francisco	Alexander’s	Marc Zimmerman
San Francisco	Ame Restaurant	Lissa Doumani
San Francisco	Atelier Crenn	Dominique Crenn
San Francisco	Aziza	Mourad Lahlou
San Francisco	Baker and Banks	Jeff Banker
San Francisco	Benu	Cory Lee
San Francisco	Bon Appetit Management Co.	Robbie Lewis
San Francisco	Boulevard	Nancy Oakes
San Francisco	Boulevard	Tim Quaintance
San Francisco	CHAYA Brasserie	Yuko Kaji
San Francisco	Citizen Cake	Elizabeth Falkner
San Francisco	Claudine	Ileah Paolinelli
San Francisco	Epic Roasthouse	Jan Birmbaum
San Francisco	Foreign Cinema	John Clark
San Francisco	Gary Danko	Gary Danko
San Francisco	Incanto	Chris Cosentino
San Francisco	Jardiniere	Traci Des Jardins
San Francisco	La Folie	Roland Passot
San Francisco	Michael Mina Restaurant Group	Michael Mina
San Francisco	Nopa	Laurence Jossel
San Francisco	One Market	Mark Dommen
San Francisco	Palio D’Asti	Daniel Scherotter
San Francisco	Perbacco	Staffan Terje
San Francisco	Picco	Bruce Hill
San Francisco	Quince Restaurant	Michael Tusk
San Francisco	RN74	Jason Berthold
San Francisco	SPQR	Matthew Accarrino
San Francisco	Taste	Chris Borges
San Francisco	The Absinthe Group	Adam Keough
San Francisco	The Ritz-Carlton	Xavier Salomon
San Francisco	The Slanted Door	Charles Phan
San Francisco	Txoko	Ian Begg
San Francisco	Waterbar	Emily Luchetti
San Francisco	Wayfare Tavern	Tyler Florence
San Francisco	Zare Fly Trap	Hoss Zare
Santa Clara	Yan Can Asian Bistro	Cory Chen
Santa Monica	JiRaffe	Rafael Lunetta
Santa Monica	Melisse	Josiah Citrin
Santa Rosa	John Ash and Co. Restaurant	John Ash
Santa Rosa	Petite Syrah	Josh Silvers
Saratoga	Plumed Horse	Peter Armellino
Sausalito	Maestra de Cocina	Joanne Weir
Sonoma	Carneros Bistro	Andrew Wilson
Sonoma	Hot Box Grill	Norman Owens
Sonoma	La Sallette	Manuel Azevedo
Sonoma	Ramekins	Doug MacFarland
Venice Beach	Joe’s Restaurant	Joey Miller
Yountville	Ad Hoc	Dave Cruz
Yountville	Bistro Jeanty	Philippe Jeanty
Yountville	Bottega	Michael Chiarello
Yountville	Bouchon	Michael Sandoval
Yountville	Lucy at Bardessono	Victor Scargle
Yountville	The French Laundry	Timothy Hollingsworth

Source: Eater San Francisco

Xiao Long Bao, OW! Shanghai Dumpling King's Quality Has Gone South, Literally.

Shanghai Dumpling King's xiao long bao in better days

[Note: If you are one of those unfortunates not familiar with xiao long bao, refer to Olivia Wu's evocative description in the piece she wrote for the Asian Art Museum's Shanghai exhibit blog.]

Last Saturday was the 20^th anniversary of my xiao long bao epiphany, which occurred on April 7, 1992 at the very temple of xiao long bao, Nanxiang Xiaolong Mantou Dian, in Shanghai. To mark this anniversary I dragged my wife, stepdaughter and mother-in-law to the place I had long counted on for the best xiao long bao on this side of the Pacific, Shanghai Dumpling King in the foggy reaches of the Outer Richmond. We ordered two longs (steamers) of the precious baozi, as well as an order of sheng jian bao (xiao long bao's rough-edged cousin), some traditional Shanghainese appetizers, and an order of Lion's Head meatballs.

We were sorely disappointed. The xiao long bao had a mealy ground pork filling, insipid “soup” and wrappers that broke upon simply being looked at. To add insult to injury, the steamers were lined with parchment whereas they formerly would have rested on a traditional lettuce lining. SDK's xiao long bao, which I've been in the habit of recommending to others, had become as inept as they once were superior. The sheng jian bao were ever worse representatives of their species. As for the other dishes, my wife could have (and has) executed them better, as she didn't fail to point out to me.

What on earth had happened? I related my disappointment to my main Chinese restaurant gossip source (I'll call her Deep Teacup) who knows the Outer Richmond turf well.

“They've changed owners, you know,” said Deep Teacup.

I had to admit I didn't know. “The old owner moved to Millbrae,” she said.

“To be with his wife,” I said. “You got it,” said Deep Teacup smugly.

I knew that several years ago the wife of the owner of Shanghai Dumpling King (which was then known as Shanghai Dumpling Shop) had opened a spinoff with the same name in Millbrae. I had taken the train there to check it out, such was my love for xiao long bao, and found them not of the quality of her husband's (he personally made the XLB at the San Francisco location). I have no idea if there was a rivalry between the two shops, but when the San Francisco shop was subsequently renamed Shanghai Dumpling KING, I imagined it was to rub it in. In any event , whatever distance there had been between the two dumpling shops has vanished. The real Shanghai Dumpling King (or Queen, or both) now has a 650 area code.

I see another train trip in the works.