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	Upcoming Events Recent Events Calendar Regional Groups Calendar Archive About SIGS	SFPFS Visits Radio Africa at Velo Rouge Café, San Francisco January, 2007 By Betty Teller January 18 found 23 SFPFS members hanging out at a bikers’ bar in San Francisco. No, we weren’t rubbing elbows with leather-clad members of the Hell’s Angels; the Velo Rouge Café is actually a charming bicycle-themed neighborhood coffeeshop. Normally, the unpretentious local hangout serves coffee and light lunches to bikers from nearby Golden Gate Park. But on Wednesday and Thursday nights it is open for dinner, when chef Eskender Aseged brings his nomadic restaurant to the café. Radio Africa & Kitchen, as Aseged calls his roving eatery, references his childhood in Ethiopia, when groups of boys would gather to listen to soccer games on whatever working radio they could find in the village, eating snacks and sharing a community moment together. Aseged’s cooking reflects his Ethiopian roots, but shows even more influence from the Mediterranean food he has encountered in 20 years working as a professional waiter in some of San Francisco’s top restaurants, such as Square One and Boulevard. He learned much of his cooking from chefs he has worked with along the way. He takes a farmers market approach, planning his menus around what he finds fresh and in season in the market. Our group gathered on a Thursday evening at three large communal tables in the café, fulfilling the chef’s vision of the importance of breaking bread together as an expression of community. The menu started off with a shared mezze plate that included eggplant with pine nuts, a delightful apple salad with Buddha’s hand citron, crimini mushrooms with sherry, almonds and manchego cheese, and baby green beans with chermoula, a North African spice mixture. After an arugula and shaved fennel salad, diners were forced to choose among three delicious entrée options: free range chicken breast with pomegranate seeds, olives and preserved lemon; barley risotto with artichokes, edamame, chestnuts, and a goat cheese-yogurt raita; or seared ahi. The saffroned spinach that accompanied the ahi was a standout. Because he has limited time in his borrowed space, Aseged did not attempt to prepare a complicated dessert, but the mixed fresh fruit and wild honey ice cream he served was a satisfying ending to a very enjoyable dinner. East Bay attendees were delighted to hear that Aseged plans to bring his itinerant restaurant to Berkeley in early February at Jennifer Millar’s Sweet Adeline Bake Shop. For San Francisco dwellers who missed the dinner, visit Velo Rouge Café’s website, http://www.velorougecafe.com and click on “Local Happiness” for future Radio Africa dates (currently every Wednesday and Thursday) or call them at 415-752-7799. Velo Rouge Café is located at 798 Arguello Blvd. (at McAllister) in San Francisco.	List of Recent Events February 2010 Visit to Nettie's Crabshack February 2010 A visit to FullBloom Baking Co. January 2010 Annual General Meeting December 2009 Wine Sig: Rosé sparkling wines November 2009 Cooking Teacher SIG: Gifts from the Kitchen November 2009 Tea Pairing with Numi Tea November 2009 STP: Spice at Campton Place October 2009 Canned Tomato Tasting October 2009 Traveling Table Visits Brown Sugar September 2009 Visit to AG Ferrari September 2009 Cooking Teachers SIG report September 2009 Lark Creek Steak hosts Australian Traveling Table September 2009 Recession-Buster Wine Sig August 2009 Over $6000 raised at BBQ August 2009 2009 BBQ a big success July 2009 Cooking Teacher SIG: Korean cooking July 2009 Traveling Table: Estate July 2009 Sustainable Meat and Seafood June 2009 C.J. 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A Lively Discussion of Today's Most Challenging Food Choices July 12, 2004 Blenheim Apricot Food Tour May 17, 2004 Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Hubert Keller, Michael Mina and Bradley Ogden March 15, 2004 Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Gerald Asher February 10, 2004 SFPFS Traveling Table goes to New Delhi Restaurant January 26, 2004 AGM / NMR Review November 10, 2003 Reel Food - Castro Theatre September 25, 2003 Food Tour - Heritage Fruit Orchard at Filoli Gardens September 17, 2003 Rick Knoll on Organic Farming June 16, 2003 A Conversation with Thomas Keller: The Soul of Haute Cuisine in America May 19, 2003 The SFPFS Traveling Table - Roxanne's in Larkspur April 28, 2003 Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Marian Burros and Marion Cunningham March, 2003 Stirring the Pot: A Conversation with Marion Nestle


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