Rare Meat

Fresh, rare game meat was on my mind as menu ideas from all my chefs came storming through the kitchen this week. Late Fall and Winter is always a perfect time to "go gamey" and our always popular South Texas Antelope rose to the occasion to be the new animal of choice on our menu.

For any of you readers that have been to Maverick it is very likely you have had chance to taste this high quality product which we have prepared several ways. The last time we served antelope it was ground fine with minced shallots, capers, egg yolk, cilantro and ancho chili sauce to put a Maverick twist on the classic steak tartare. Guests will be enthusiastic about our next preparation in which we cut filets out from the leg muscle, marinate it and grill it.

Maverick guests tend to be more"adventurous" when an item has a story behind it. Broken Arrow Ranch's story is unique and their vision and business model surrounding game meats is unlike anyone else in the country. Servers love telling the tale and our guests imaginations run as wild as the antelope through the southern Texas coastal plains thinking of burly men wearing cowboy boots, shooting rifles with sniper precision at animals running freely through the south coastal plains of Texas. This image conjured in their minds is very close to what occurs as Broken Arrow Ranch partners with ranchers to field harvest antelope, venison and wild boar as integral part of a population management program.

Broken Arrow Ranch started in 1983 working with nearly 100 ranchers in the Hill Country surrounding Austin, TX and rural parts of Southern Texas. The free ranging antelope and deer feed on natural grasses and vegetation and never succumb to farm raised practices of raising venison in places like New Zealand and here in the U.S. While deer are tame and domesticated, typically they are scooped up in trucks and are slaughtered in a traditional manner like cows and pigs. Contrarily, Broken Arrow Ranch's animals roam freely in herds and are shot from a long distance, an excellent maneuver that eliminates stress on the animal, unlike a typical slaughter. Stressed animals will have a rush of adrenaline run causing lactic acid to build up in the muscles causing the meat to be tough, gamey and have a short shelf life.


As the only certified company to practice these methods I am so intrigued by its dedication to sustainable agricultural efforts. I applaud their efforts and the excellent quality of meat we receive from them. This time around we will be grilling steaks and serving with pinto beans, smoked mushrooms, oven dried tomatoes all with a Texas kick, plus a few slices of salt cured fois gras to make our holidays just right.

Calling All Aspiring Writers!

On Thursday November 20, I will be fortunate to sit on a panel of accomplished local food writers before an audience of aspiring writers at 826 Valencia in the Mission District in San Francisco. Whoa. For a trained chef and restaurant lifer I would never had thought I would be invited to a writing lab. Ever. Look at me know, big time food writer and publisher! Well, I'd certainly like to think I was but nevertheless someone appreciates my work.

In reality, I could not think of a better opportunity to hear professional writers talk about writing styles and more effective ways to get your point across. Certainly I will be able to field questions about who my food writing idols are, discuss the latest trends in cooking, suggest cookbooks I think are brilliant and food magazines or blogs I read regularly. But, how to better form paragraphs and write more descriptively about what I am actually cooking? I mean, I want to ask that question to the panel! I want to know how to do that better.

Events like this did not exist 10 years ago. There was no Yelp, Citysearch or Chow and the only time diners picked up a pen was to sign for the check. The food world is crazy right now and our ideas about how food should taste, look and feel, where it comes from and how it's prepared is more important in this country than the physical need for it. Fascinating to say the least. But food writing is more popular than ever and it will continue to grow as the number places to submit your work grows.

Please join me, Mollie Katzen author of The Moosewood Cookbook & The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, Lessley Anderson senior editor of Chow.com, Joe Jarrell contributor to the San Francisco Bay Guardian and Where Magazine and Aaron French chef of Sunny Side Cafe, founder of Sunny Side Organics and EcoChef columnist for the Oakland Tribune from 6-9 PM at 826 Valencia on November 20 for a fantastic night of food writing. See you then!

Mystery Night 2008

For the last three years, Maverick has hosted it's annual Mystery Night on Halloween. While we originally billed the sold-out night to be an alternative to dressing up in costume, most guests used Maverick as a place to start their night off right. From Sarah Palin and her husband Todd to "The Jesus" to Tiger and Winnie the Pooh, even Amelia Earhart returned from the dead as great costumes filled the dining room fully prepped for a night of reveling in the streets of the Mission and Castro Districts.

Our kitchen staffed was surely prepped too as we put together three Three-Course Dinners. In years past we have figured out it doesn't take much to fool our guests as their food and wine knowledge is put to the test. To no surprise we had zero perfect scores of 135 points. Scores ranged from 105 to 35 as guests had to determine such ingredients as fuyu persimmon, California yellowtail, turkey roulade, collard greens, garbanzo beans, meyer lemon chess pie, Pinot Noir, Arneis, late harvest Gewurztraminer and many more.

Several thoughts came to mind about why this night is so special. First, it's amazing how diners make food associations and pairings without even thinking of why they exist. Why is it that the chef adds country ham to collard greens? Salty pork and vinegary braised greens, "uh yeah! I'll take seconds". That's an easy pairing. What about sliced pinkish white meat with apples on top? Can't be turkey. So close to Thanksgiving?

Associations and pairings like these have been the basis of good cooking for hundreds of years and our taste buds are happy for it. Yet, we should not be limited to tradition. Slow roasted turkey roulade rubbed with herbs and garlic is perfect with tart, spicy, tannic apples cooked with brown sugar. To assume the dish is sliced pork shoulder is like being stuck in the world of "white wine with white food, red wine with red food". But turkey with apples isn't breaking new culinary barriers. In my mind, it's balance not tradition. Another reason why this night is so special.

Finally, it becomes more and more interesting how people react to my creations and how on this night my food is scrutinized even more than usual. As I roam through the dining room, I watch guests pick through their dish fully examining each ingredient. Proteins are lifted high in the air to asses the pile of braised greens or pureed vegetables below. Sauces and vinaigrettes are licked gently off the tip of their forks and spoons trying todetect vinegars, wines and stocks used. Each bite is more important than the last as guests try to detect any familiar flavors or textures before it is all gone. In the end each guests tires of examining each bite and settles in for another perfect course with friends and family.

When Mystery Night was through, awards came in wine bottles and two dozen winners were rewarded. Our entire staff thanks everyone who participated and we are all looking forward to next year.

Out of the Kitchen Issue 2 - SUBSCRIBE NOW!!

Howdy all you Digest "readers". There has not been much to read lately as we have been spending our writing time on the new magazine. Issue 2 - Spring 2008 was released just a few weeks ago and it's time for everyone to support our new project and subscribe!

Out of the Kitchen can found online at www.otksf.com (add this url to your RSS feed to keep up-to-date) and we made it super easy for people to subscribe. Click the "Subscribe" button at the top and you will enter the realm of Pay Pal which makes our lives and your lives easy.

We hope you take the opportunity to make your contribution and help our new, local food magazine become a leading publication and resource on food, wine and restaurants.

Finally, we will be doing our best to keep our blog updated and we intend to have a web presence, but our real intention is for our readers to be able to hold on to something and keep for years to come as a reference for all the food and cocktail recipes we developed. Expect to see more recipes and stories that we wanted to do but never got to print as well. Just give us time and you will receive!

Thanks to all you loyal Foodie Digest readers!! Your support is much appreciated!

2008

Enough of 2007. So over it. We received a couple of awards, had record sales, started a hot sauce company and produced a new magazine. I mean, come on, get to work!

Yeah, busy, monumental year in '07, but 2008 is going to be even bigger. The big plans for the year are going to be focused around our new publication Out of the Kitchen a quarterly publication that was printed over the holidays and complimentary issues are available at Maverick or by sending us an email. Think Foodies Digest in a printed form with amazing contributors from Maverick and other artisans close to me plus amazing design by Jim Schaaf. Subsequent issues will be available for $8 and a yearly for $32.

In the meantime, find me at Maverick nearly every night evolving our menu with the change in season. Cold and rainy conditions don't do well for farming, but nonetheless our local farmers get it done.

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

The Press Keeps Rolling

This is an ode to our PR Team.

Some of our staff that works in other fields or businesses continue to be asked how does Maverick keep doing it? How do you find yourself in the paper, local magazines, or online nearly every week? Besides our just plain-old-hard-work we happen to do other little things that other restaurants just don't do. I don't know if it's a time thing or what, but our dedication to good food and service parallels are dedication to good public relations. This city is way too competitive to just sit back and hope people walk in your door. Ever walked down our street? A stranger on the street, yesterday inquired about how business was going at the restaurant? My reply, "better than ever". His response, "I don't come to this neighborhood at night". Last time I checked, that's the only time we are open!! (Brunch too, but that doesn't count). Intersting to say the least, but a perfect example of the lengths we go to make sure that word of mouth continues to spread.

Thank you Pamela and Nancy for all that you do.

For the latest and greatests, follow these links.

Best Brunch and #2 on the Best Restaurant List by the Readers of San Francisco Magazine.

Epic.

In the Examiner, a fine review was written. Check it!

Maverick Stakes Out It's Place In The Mission

Two Years

Congratulations to our staff and all the family and friends we celebrate this momentus anniversary with. We couldn't be more pleased with how the last two years have gone for us at Maverick and from the looks of it, we are getting better and better every week.

Over the last two years we have compiled a total of six Winemaker Dinners (last nights might have been the best), dozens of Southern Fried Nights, and nearly a hundred Wicked Cheap Wine Nights. Our trophy cabinet is almost filled with Best New American Restaurant (SF Weekly), Best New Restaurant and Best Brunch (San Francisco Magazine), and a "Piggy" for Best Brunch (7x7 Magazine). But most importantly, all the loyal guests (now friends) who continue to support us and keep spreading the word about Maverick. Let's not forget all the charitable events we have contributed our services and food to and dozens of other donations we have made to different local organizations, after-school programs, and fundraisers.

Let us all raise our glass (or cups of coffee, it's a foggy morning here in San Francisco) to Two Years!!

Cheers!