Chef Corey Lee: Benu, in San Francisco Written by Andy Isaacson for Koreataste.org You can see and read more of his work at  http://www.worldwebeyes.com Chef Corey Lee: Benu, in San Francisco At Benu, James Beard Award-winning chef Corey Lee’s first solo restaurant, which opened last August in San Francisco, each intricately prepared dish is so exacting, so considered, and so nuanced in flavor that to talk while eating— “mmm”, “woah” and other involuntary expressions of sensual pleasure aside—would be far too distracting. Fully appreciating the subtleties of each dish requires a certain meditative state, which is encouraged even before you pick up a fork: the modernist, cement courtyard outside, planted with symmetrical Japanese maples, calls to mind a Zen temple garden; the minimalistic, neutral-toned dining room—grey carpeting, grey padded chairs, bare grey-colored walls—achieves the serenity of a day spa. My treatment: first, some crisp, delicate, toasted buckwheat and...

Here is the front gate to San Francisco's Chinatown. There is a huge contrast between the stylish and unified San Francisco street to... This hodge-podge of colors and signs. Ok. maybe this picture doesn't really illustrate what I mean. I really like the perspective here. Here are the classic red lanterns on the building. The woman's shirt is very interesting here. It reads Uardian/ Heavens/ +ching B/ Lead Me. Kids in the toy store. Cheri and I are about to go to the very famous Chinese Cookie shop. Here we see the woman making the cookings. The machine will bake the flat cookies and while they are still hot, she'll use the metal stick and pull down on the sides. and that's how she gives the cookie the classic shape. Someone else will insert the fortunes after they have cooled.

What can I say about Chez Panisse? Nothing. Sometimes pictures are better than words. Most of these pictures were taken by Matt Kim. I am joined by Cheri of Seoulberry and her sister. Oh, and while Matt and I were waiting at the upstair's bar, we did happen to see Alice Waters sitting at one of the cafe tables (I was too chicken to go up and talk to her...I mean polite to interrupt her.) We started with a nice 2007 Broadley Pinot Noir: a light fluffy wine with a bit of cherry and licorice. First Course: Warm Goat Cheese Salad Chez Renee. The cheese had just the right amount of skill and heat added to it so it remained in a semi-solid, semi-liquid suspension. The best part was that Matt doesn't like cheese, so I gladly took it off his plate. The vegetables were perfect little jewels that were used to paint the plate and then were to be eaten. I adored the radishes. Pan-seared king salmon with summer squash and squash blossoms. A classic example of an Alice Water dish. I say cl...

Chicken sandwiches and chocolate cookies The foccaccia bread looks amazing. A mouthwatering POV of the the chocolate cookies. I am currently using a Rebel XT with a 35mm lens and I really think it shows in the photos. These pictures are from San Francisco. Matt Kim was kind enough to show me a few tricks on the camera and to loan me the camera for a little while. You can see Matt's amazing photographs here.

Blue Bottle Coffee Company The Siphon Coffee System is heating up Our Barista adds the coffee grinds in a filter above the water. The siphon defies gravity (because hot water wants to rise) and the water flows up into the glass tube with the coffee. As the heat is turned off, the water flows back down to the bottom The finished coffee Am I a coffee snob? Cheri is a coffee snob in training. After a year of e-mailing and reading each other's blogs, we finally meet in person. While I was in San Francisco, I was able to meet up with Seoulberry. If you don't know who she is, you can check out her blog. Cheri was in town and I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days with her. We geeked it out on one of the days and went to electronics markets, photo stores, a radio shack, and the Apple Store (I know we just fell right into that stereotype.) And one of the food related places that we went to was the Blue Bottle Coffee Company, which is considered by many San Franciscans as having t...

the famous burger all wrapped up and served on a metal tray. A shot of the egg bun and slightly pink meat. This is the classic American Burger at San Francisco's Ferry Market. It was pretty good, but is this a burger that's more hype than substance? It's pricey at $6.99 for the regular hamburger. This price doesn't include fries, drink, or tax. The meat isn't thick, but it is juicy and with a distinct beef flavor. It should because they raise their own cows. This is the main selling point for Taylor's. They raise the cows on vegetarian feed (so the burger is sans mad cow) and the cows don't receive antibiotics or growth hormones. The egg bun is thick and does a good job of sopping up the flavorful juices. I think it was a little too thick and took away from the meat. I agree with limited amount of toppings on the burger. Taylor's hamburgers only have lettuce, pickle, and "secret sauce." Now the secret sauce is clearly "Thousand Island Dre...

Spicy and Crisp Buttermilk Chicken over Buttermilk Waffle Topped with cream gravy then with vermont maple syrup Let the flavors marry for a bit. Then chow down. www.900grayson.com They call them the Demon Lover at 900 Grayson. I don't know why, but I know that I would gladly sell my soul for another one. It's in Berkeley. Dan