Eastside Road, October 1, 2010 —
IT DOES NOT QUALIFY as one of the Hundred Plates, as far as I'm concerned; nevertheless, the hamburger sandwich is a satisfying thing. I've always liked the hamburger at Zuni in San Francisco, partly because of its quality and the technique behind its preparation, partly because I know I can trust the meat.On the east side of San Francisco Bay it turns out there's one nearly as good at Sidebar, an Oakland bar-restaurant we've meant to try for months and finally got to today. We were attracted primarily because it was serving food at five o'clock, when many restaurants are just gearing up for dinner and have long since stopped serving lunch. We were also curious to see what Mark and Barbara were up to in Oakland: they'd opened Zax in San Francisco years ago, where we'd been impressed by their slow-cooked main courses, and more recently they'd relocated it to Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, in a location that's seen a succession of eateries (the current one being Locanda da Eva).
After a fine Martini (Noilly Prat vermouth) we started our early supper with a cone of gougères — delicious little gruyère creampuffs. They were perfect, as good as the ones Lindsey used to make in the old days, and there were plenty of them. We shared them, along with a mixed salad with blue-cheese toasts.
Then came the hamburger, done on the outside, rare on the inside (as specified), with lightly tomato-flavored mayonnaise, pickled onions and dill pickle slices, a leaf of lettuce, and oven-baked fries. Alas, no room for dessert.Cinsault, Lodi(California)
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