San Francisco's Chicago-Style Pizza

My very stringy slice of spinach and mushroom pizza at Zachary's

On our last full day in San Francisco, my cousin took us to the botanical garden there, and for lunch we stopped at a nearby pizza place called Zachary's Chicago Pizza.

I was told this is no ordinary pizza joint and it's an institution since 1983 with several locations in San Francisco.

It serves Chicago-style pizza, which is a deep-dish pizza so that there is a very high crust, and this allows for even more toppings to be put on the pizza (more like a pie) and then it is smothered in a chunky tomato sauce.

Check out how thick this pizza is! It's more like a pie!

We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into until my cousin highly suggested one large pizza would be good for five of us. It took 30 minutes for the pizza to arrive so we had a large plate of Caesar salad to start and my cousin and I sipped on Moroccan mint iced teas.

When the pizza arrived, it was placed on the wooden stool next to our table and the server immediately started serving the slices which were very thick!

We ordered two flavours, spinach and mushroom with three cheeses blended together, and Zachary's Special, featuring Italian sausage, green peppers, onion, mushroom and Mozzarella cheese.

Needless it's really difficult to pick up the pizza slice -- you really have to eat it with a knife and fork! And after one slice, you're practically full!

Zachary's Chicago Pizza
1853 Solano Avenue
Berkeley, CA
(510) 525 5950
zacharys.com

San Francisco's Food Truck Dining Scene

Fort Point is the building under the Golden Gate Bridge under blue skies

Yesterday morning we arrived in San Francisco and the blue skies were such a welcome sight from so much rain in Hong Kong.

My cousin took us around in the afternoon, first to Fort Point, which is located under the Golden Gate Bridge -- but it was the fort that was built just before the Civil War, and that position considered as the "key" to the whole Pacific coast.

Looking down inside the fort, that was never used in warfare

The thick brick walls were considered impenetrable, but in the end the fort was never used in warfare.

We got to take look around -- free admission as it is considered on national park land -- though there isn't much to see. My cousin and I climbed up three floors to get to the top to see the underbelly of the bridge, and have a better view of both the Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean on the other side.

Afterwards we grabbed an early dinner at Off the Grid at For Mason nearby in the Presidio area. Every Friday, several food trucks gather in this spot, and with a DJ, some stands selling beer, wine and cocktails, the place was rocking, and hot, with the sun still blazing at 6pm.

Delicious grilled half lobster from Maine with parsley

As my parents had never been to a food truck festival before I was worried about their reaction, but they were game to try this new way of dining. We managed to grab a very tall table and eventually some high stools and we were in business.

Our first dish was a no brainer -- fresh half lobster from Maine cooked on a mesquite grill. The lobster wasn't too big, but the taste was delicious, juicy, meaty and a smoky taste. We even tried to dig out as much meat from the claws as possible.

Then we got some carbs -- a paella with chick peas, chicken, tomato and shrimp. It was quite filling but also very tasty, evidenced by the rice dish being cooked for a long time so that it soaked up all the flavours of the ingredients. Another dish we tried were tater tots garnished with some sour cream and chives.

A few food trips served Filipino food

We washed it all down with some fruit juices from Hawaiian Sun -- the guava and passionfruit with orange flavours were refreshing! And we did some people watching as many brought kids or their furry ones (ie dogs) with them.

There were many other dining options, particularly Filipino, such as lechon, sisig, and adobo, while a Shandong-style dumpling food truck was extremely popular with its constant long queue. You could also get pizza, satays, and Nepalese momos.

For dessert, there was a frozen custard bar that could be covered in chocolate sauce with nuts, and looked so good, but we were already too full. There was also a stand that sold cookie dough, or macarons, or ice cream in between two maracons. Tempting but we had reached our quota!

A big crowd for a Friday evening chowing down

Off the Grid
Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture
2 Marina Boulevard
San Francisco, CA
94123
offthegridsf.com

Dolce & Gabbana Ruin a Model's Career

Model Zuo Ye attempting to eat pizza with chopsticks in a D&G commercial

Back in November, Dolce & Gabbana released a strange commercial where a Chinese model wearing a red dress from the Italian fashion house, is seen struggling to eat pizza, cannoli and spaghetti with a pair of chopsticks.

The Italian fashion design duo were accused of racism and cultural insensitivity for the commercials, which were timed just before they were about to put on their fashion show in Shanghai. It also didn't help that co-founder Stefano Gabbana got into a row on a private Instagram message when he apparently described China as a "country of s***". The screen capped conversation was published it online, compounding the already bad situation.

Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce giving an apology

As a result the fashion show was cancelled at the last minute when Chinese models and stars pulled out, and the two designers were shown in a video giving a sober apology for the PR crisis they had created.

Meanwhile the poor model involved in the commercial was attacked online by fellow Chinese, who accused her of "making money by insulting your own country" and "vilifying the image of the Chinese".

Two months after the incident, Zuo Ye finally spoke out, explaining she had not given enough thought to the content of the video and felt "very guilty and ashamed" about it.

"Personally I would never show any disrespect to my motherland. I love my country and feel proud to be able to represent China on the catwalk," wrote Zuo on her Weibo account. "I will draw a lesson from this and show the Chinese in a better light. Again, I apologize to my fellow countryman."

Zuo says she didn't have much say over the content of the ad

But how is this her fault? The recent graduate of South China Agricultural University wouldn't have known ahead of time what she was expected to do in the commercial and how it would impact her career, that she says is now almost completely ruined.

Zuo is a young model hoping to break out with this commercial, but she was unwittingly swept up in the racist ad. She said she was only told she was going to shoot a "fun video" involving Italian cuisine and the email briefing didn't give much more information.

During the three-hour shoot in a Chinese restaurant in Milan, everyone on set spoke Italian except the director, who instructed Zuo in English to show surprise, bewilderment and appreciation of the food, even though she felt awkward.

She said she questioned the use of chopsticks in the video, but was just told to follow instructions.

"I couldn't do it in the first try [picking up the cannoli with the chopsticks] and I asked, 'Are you kidding me? With chopsticks?' The director said, 'Yes! I know it's hard. Just try to do that'."

After two months' silence, Zuo apologized

"I felt awkward when using chopsticks for food that was larger than the normal size. I seldom laugh in my daily life but the shooting required a lot of extravagant acting and I felt very uncomfortable too," Zuo wrote.

She said as an ordinary model she was not allowed to give feedback on the commercial's content nor was she able to watch the final product.

However, many people online still weren't happy with her apology. "I still think your explanation was useless and your video disgusting. You can only blame yourself for having no distinguishing capability. No point whitewashing your wrongdoing," one internet user wrote.

Other sympathized with her, saying, "Blame a model? Why not blame the chopsticks while we're at it."

Zuo obviously wants to put this terrible incident behind her so she can move on in her career, but being dogged by those who cannot empathize with her situation doesn't help at all. At least she was brave enough to explain her side of the story, though it will take time for the fiasco to go away.

Dolce & Gabbana Strike Out

Chinese model in D&G dress struggles to eat pizza and pasta with chopsticks

The Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana was supposed to hold its star-studded fashion show tonight in Shanghai, but it was cancelled following racist remarks by one of its co-founders, Stefano Gabbana.

He apparently had an online conversation with an Instagram user named "diet prada", where Gabbana described China as "a country of s***."

Stefano Gabbana's thoughts on China...

The texted conversation on Gabbana's Instagram account was in response to complaints about the fashion label's latest campaign "DG Loves China", where a Chinese model in a red D&G dress is seen struggling with chopsticks, trying to eat Italian foods like pizza, spaghetti and a cannoli, or cylindrical pastry filled with cream.

In the cannoli video, a male voice can be heard asking the model, "Is it too big for you?"

Others complain about how cliched the ad looked, with Chinese lanterns and couplets that were deemed "outdated and stereotypical".

As for Gabbana's outburst on social media, he claimed his account was hacked, and his legal office is working on the security breach.

Meanwhile reaction was swift in China -- when word got round about the spat, a number of celebrities who were invited to the show, including movie star Chen Kun and actress Dilireba, who was named D&G's brand ambassador in February said she would not attend, while fellow actress Zhang Ziyi said the brand was "inviting humiliation".

Indeed.

Domenico Dolce (left) and Stefano Gabbana (right)

Even a number of models who were booked for the show refused to turn up before the event was cancelled. Modeling agency Dongfang Binli said all of its 24 models had pulled out of the show and put a "Not Me" tag on their online profile photos in protest.

Supermodel Jin Dachuan said he would not take part in any show or any event staged by the brand in the future.

The brand has incensed Hongkongers in the past. In January 2012, at a Dolce & Gabbana's store in Harbour City on Canton Road, a security guard reportedly told locals that only mainlanders and foreigners were allowed to take pictures in the store. He apparently threatened to smash a local resident's camera if they continued to take photographs.

Remember these protests at Harbour City in 2012?

A series of protests at the store ensured until Dolce & Gabbana eventually apologized days later, though it wasn't enough to assuage people's anger.

The Italian design duo seems to love to court controversy, and some believe the latest ad campaign and subsequent online spat were deliberately done to stir up reaction -- but at the risk of being shunned?

It's a huge gamble, and perhaps this time the Chinese will protest the brand with their wallets and shop elsewhere.

Surely this is not a risk worth taking?

Having just visited Italy, it's obvious the government is taking tourism very seriously by having security personnel at major landmarks, while fashion brands are very keen on serving Chinese customers.

But it seems that Dolce & Gabbana really don't care about the consequences of fanning the flames of Chinese nationalist anger. 

Maybe the massive drop in sales will persuade them to keep their mouths shut?

Revisiting Ciao Chow

A pretty and delicious Proscuitto and arugula pizza at Ciao Chow

Last night we went to Ciao Chow for dinner, a place I visited almost two years ago when it opened.

This time I went back with the restaurant owners so we were treated there, and there were some interesting items on the menu worth sharing.

Thinly sliced ox tongue (left), house-smoked salmon (right)

For antipasti, there's thinly-sliced ox tongue with a garlic-parsley sauce (HK$49), but the sauce could be on the side. The house-smoked salmon (HK$49) is also very good, but give the calamari (HK$66) a miss. The batter doesn't work and the tomato sauce needs seasoning.

We really enjoyed the kale salad (HK$99) that came with pine nuts -- though there would have been bonus points if they were toasted -- along with croutons and honey garlic dressing.

The manager told us the octopus salad (HK$119) was new on the menu and it needs some work. Some octopus pieces ranged from chewy to almost jaw-breaking, though we liked the other ingredients, such as baby potatoes, green beans, arugula and lemon dressing.

Popular kale salad with pine nuts and croutons

Ciao Chow is known for its pizzas and they are still good. We had the one that is basically a Margherita pizza topped with proscuitto and arugula (HK$209) and the dough was delicious, holding up the tomato sauce without being soggy.

I almost ordered a pasta, but then looking down at the main courses I spied an intriguing dish -- assorted seafood soup that is baked with a pizza dough top (HK$448). We had to try it.

It arrived in a large oval pan covered with pizza dough baked on top. The server then used a large spoon to cut the dough into four pieces before revealing what was underneath -- a gorgeous combination of fish, mussels, clams and prawns in a cherry tomato broth seasoned with white wine and garlic. Basically a bouillabaisse baked with a pizza dough on top to make it Italian. Magic!

Seafood soup under pizza dough

The seafood was perfectly cooked, particularly the mussels and fish; the clams had a bit of sand in them, but plump, the prawns a tad overcooked though still good. Our only complaint would be to have more of the tomato broth to eat.

We were pretty full at this point and passed on dessert -- luckily our generous hosts did not insist. For mocktails I tried the strange-sounding aged balsamic punch (HK$58) that was a concoction of fig, vanilla aged balsamic, and lemon juice. It was slightly tart, but the edge was taken off by the aged balsamic that gave it a rounded flavour. It's definitely an acquired taste.

By the time we left the restaurant just after 8pm and bar area were practically full for a Wednesday night.

Ciao Chow

G/F, California Tower

30-32 D'Aguilar Street

Central
2344 0005

Aussie Brunch Feast

Little Creatures is right by the waterfront, and caters to large groups

Yesterday I met up with my relatives for our belated grave-sweeping day in Pokfulam. In the morning it was overcast, but by the time we met up in the late morning, the sun was poking out and hardly any clouds in sight. Many other people had the same idea as us, and even the police was on standby in case there were any incidents.

Afterwards we headed to Kennedy Town, and the request from the younger generation was to eat anything not Chinese. This wasn't too hard to fulfill, with several options in mind.

The amiable uni carbonara with very fresh sea urchin on top

My first choice was Little Creatures since two in the party are interested in beer (or alcohol). Little Creatures is an Australian craft beef place and as the restaurant is very deep inside, they had no problems accommodating our group of nine.

The menu had a lot of options and we decided to share some dishes. We quite liked the beetroot and goat cheese salad (HK$95), that came with hazelnuts, greens and a sherry vinaigrette. Another straight-forward salad is the Romaine lettuce one (HK$90) with anchovy dressing and Parmesan.

The pizzas were geared more for one or two people sharing, not nine. However, we enjoyed the thin crusts and how they were quite light. I didn't get to try the mushroom one (HK$110) with truffle paste, rocket leaves, emmental and mozzarella, but the prawn one (HK$145) featured random bits of prawn with cajun spice, sweet peppers, emmental and mozzarella.

Everyone was impressed by the uni carbonara (HK$160). They were surprised a western restaurant would have sea urchin on the menu... which kind of demonstrates how locals who eat mostly Chinese food don't know that uni sells whatever cuisine you're serving.

The sinfully delicious brownie with ice cream on top

The sea urchin was very fresh, and the creaminess added another dimension to the otherwise straightforward carbonara with pancetta. The pappardelle bolognese (HK$140) was delicious too, combining lamb, beef and pork with pecorino cheese with wide pasta noodles.

A fun dish to share is the smash avocado bowl (HK$90), where the avocado is whipped up in a processor, and seasoned with lemon, coriander and bits of tomato and paprika, served with deep-fried tortillas. Corn chips would have been fine, as we had to break up the large tortillas ourselves, and you either got a big chunk or a tiny morsel.

I caught the tail end of the grilled merguez sausage (HK$120), a slightly spicy sausage, accompanied with an onsen egg, and new potatoes seasoned with harissa. This would have been my brunch choice if I ordered my own plate...

On the whole we all enjoyed the food, the portions were OK and nicely seasoned.

A ginormous house made cake with marscapone

To finish the meal we ordered three desserts, one of them being waffles (HK$95) that's part of the brunch menu. But more impressive were the brownie and house made cake.

The brownie came with a scoop of ice cream on top and then the server poured thick hot chocolate sauce on top. Oh boy. And it was sweet as expected, but had a rich chocolately taste.

A slice of house made cake is enormous! Luckily there were many of us to share it! It was a chocolate marbled cake that wasn't too sweet and came with a scoop of marscarpone.

After that I had a nap and then proceeded to hit the treadmill to burn off those calories! I'd eaten at Little Creatures when it first opened, and then again a few months ago so it's good to know the consistency and quality is still there.

Little Creatures

Shop 1, G/F, New Fortune House

5A New Praya

Kennedy Town
2833 5611

littlecreatures.hk

8 Things about Clockenflap

The sunsets on Sunday on the last night of Clockenflap at West Kowloon

This weekend was my first time at Clockenflap -- the first time ever at a music festival. Eight things I learned:

The diversity of the crowd.

Music festivals draw a wide range of people who want to listen to their favourite genres, or they want to sample a variety of things that interest them. It's interesting to see who comes out to these events, and what they like to listen to. For me, I got a good taste of many things I have never heard before, but now I know what they're about. Had a good musical education for three days.

The music is loud.

As a precaution I brought some ear plugs with me, and though they didn't completely block out the loud sounds, at least it toned it down a few decibels and saved my ear drums.

Neon Indian played very poppy tunes reminiscent of the 80s

The food is pretty good.

Several Hong Kong restaurants have stands at Clockenflap. Butcher's Club had a steak burger, but it didn't fill up my Aussie colleague's stomach and cost HK$100... I had a foot-long hotdog for HK$80 and put tons of sauerkraut on it. On the second day I was very full after eating a chicken quesadilla for HK$90 from Little Burro, and then tonight had lots of thin-crust pizza from Pizza Express.

My only major complaint was that the food booths and the drinks area were not together, making it inconvenient to get both at the same time. Some places and dishes were more value for money than others...

It was all cashless, so you had to top up your card of wristband with cash before you could "buy" food or drinks.

The people watching is endless.

This is one of my favourite activities to do and managed to do a lot of it while waiting for things to happen or waiting for people. These concert goers were dressed in various fashions, like hippies with flowers in their hair, and even a group wearing bunny rabbit masks on their heads. Most people were in jeans and T-shirts, others were hipsters with their buttoned up shirts and rolled up trousers and shoes without socks.

My colleague had a fun mental checklist -- white man with rastafarian, Check. Goth girl. Check. Older rockers with faded band T-shirts. Check.

Two German graffiti artists paint containers for HKWalls

The festival is a taster.

There is no need to watch an entire set of a group or musician play. If you don't like it, or you feel hungry, there's no need to stay. Come and hang out for five minutes or the entire one-hour set. It's a great way to check out as many groups/artists as possible though your legs do get tired from standing and walking a lot.

The washrooms are atrocious.

It's all porta-potties and they aren't pretty. The Clockenflap venue is far, far away. The last decent pit stop is the Kowloon station washrooms and then you are testing your bladder. There are major lineups for the loo and be prepared for lots of liquids everywhere...

The weather can change.

Friday evening was freezing thanks to the strong winds and thank goodness I bundled up! Even then I was still kind of cold. However Saturday and Sunday the weather warmed up and there was more of a breeze than gusts. I had to schlep my jacket and cardigan around for part of the day, but as soon as the sun came down, I got warmed up with these two items of clothing.

The point is to have fun.

In the end even though I was working through the weekend (that means a 13-day stretch for me!) I did enjoy some of the music. It was fun seeing others letting loose and expressing themselves, through their dress, their choice of music and dancing. It's great that conservative Hong Kong has an event like this, and the setting -- right by the harbour -- is amazing. A number of overseas acts remarked at how fantastic it was to play with such a stunning view. Maybe the construction of M+ will be delayed indefinitely so Clockenflap can continue holding its festival here...

Delicious Treats in Florence

Putting the pizzas together before going intp the wood-fired oven in Yellow Bar

Yesterday early morning we were woken up by loud rumbling of thunder and heavy rain. This did not bode well for our trip to Florence, but we bundled up, and armed with umbrellas we took the train from Montecatini Centro to Florence, which took about 50 minutes.

Inside the oven there are pizzas baking on the left

I'll write another post about Florence itself, but we were basically walking in the rain for most of the day which made it hard to take photos and hold our umbrellas at the same time.

By lunchtime our guide felt bad that the day hadn't turned out so well and suggested taking us to a little restaurant she usually goes to that makes fresh pizzas and pasta.

It's called Yellow Bar and it's homey inside, with wooden tables and chairs, an arch brick ceiling and in the back has a wood-burning oven.

Upon our guide's suggestion we ordered the ravioli a la pomodoro, which came out as large relatively flat ravioli, not completely stuffed with ricotta and spinach, and then smothered in a tomato sauce. The ratio of the filling and pasta was perfect -- and of course the tomato sauce very fresh.

A yellow-ish picture of our proscuitto cotto pizza. Yum!

We also had the proscuitto cotto pizza -- fantastic with the thin crust pizza and mozzarella cheese. The pizza was light and crunchy. And paired with a mixed salad was a nice and relatively light lunch.

By now the rain had stopped and sun was breaking which was encouraging.

While waiting for the washrooms in the back we watched the man making the pizzas, throwing the thin dough in the air, then covering them with tomato sauce, adding tiny bits of cheese, then other toppings, a good dash of olive oil and then using a giant spatula to put them into the oven.

About two minutes later the pizzas were basically done -- amazing.

We did a bit more sightseeing at Santa Croce and then it was gelato time. Again our guide introduced us to the best gelato place in Florence called Vivoli which was nearby.

Every spoonful savoured of fig and lemon gelato at Vivoli

And remember the ice cream with bits of ham in it that I tried in Greve the day before? The gelato was also from Vivoli.

But here's it's just the straight flavours, nothing too crazy. I had the same flavours as I did in San Gimignano -- fig and lemon -- and found Vivoli's far better.

The fig flavour was more intense, as well as the lemon for a more satisfying (and memorable) taste!

Yellow Bar

Via del Proconsolo, 39

50122, Florence
+39 055 211766

yellowbar.it

Vivoli

Via Dell'Isola delle Stinche, 7r

50122, Florence
+39 055 292334

vivoli.it