The Fried Dough Ho

I remember when I first started talking with friends about my desire to start this blog. Specifically, it was the night I took San Francisco Chronicle food writer, Marlena Spieler, to experience one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco, Nombe. I discovered Chef Nick Balla when he was cooking for the Kabuki Hotel’s O Izakaya restaurant. He paired up with husband-and-wife team Mari Takahashi and Gil Payne; they closing down their Sozai Izakaya and Nick leaving the Hotel to come together in the Mission with a remarkable and innovative menu.

On my visit with Marlena several months ago, Chef Nick finished the meal with what he calls “Seagull Eggs.” That was the revelatory moment and with my mouth stuffed with one of the lightest and fluffiest fried dough offering I had experienced, I proposed to Chef Nick. I want to marry the man who can create a fried dough on this level. I took pictures of the fried dough I had with Marlena and they were stuffed with a bit of freshly-made yuzu jam. And those pictures are just as dark as the ones I am posting today.

I was determined to come back and get better photographs and the culmination of my Fried Dough Birthday Celebration seemed the perfect opportunity. That and the fact that I had been wanting to get Lisa here for ages. Ironically, I forgot that Nombe is closed on Tuesdays as Lisa and I finished our Bacon Beignet at Frances before walking down to the shuttered Nombe. But Nick was there, working on a new bar area and we promised to return. Just two days later, after a great evening at Mission Street Food, Lisa and my fish monger friend, Gabe, and I sauntered into Nombe to FINALLY get my Birthday Sea Gull Eggs.

This time, served with a Strawberry Jam and fresh crème fraîche and I Got A Candle! Nick’s offerings are fairly large; 3″ across. Served warm with dipping cream, these are easily my favorite freshly-made dessert offerings in the city. These are not cakey, heavy doughnuts. Lightly dusted with granulated sugar and so ethereally light, the hint of sweetness in the dough is balanced with the slightly tart jam which is just barely inserted into the cake. When the platter arrives, it is easy to say, “Oh, I could never eat so many,” but as the plate empties, it is much easier to say, “I want more.” Now I just have to start making Chef Nick’s engagement ring…

One of the top destination restaurants in the city for the last six months has been Melissa Perillo’s Frances. I had the distinct pleasure to dine at the Fifth Floor under Perillo’s command and was looking forward to experiencing her new endeavor. The reservations at Frances are booked up weeks in advance and it is only the fact that a handful of bar seats are left open for first-come diners that enabled me to plan my birthday celebration.  Lisa and I arrived a few minutes before they opened and a line had already been established for a few of those choice non-reservation seats. We were lucky, getting a great seat at the bar with an optimal view down the hallway and into the kitchen where we could watch the action of waitstaff, Chef Perillo, and her kitchen crew. Ironically, June 1st was also Fraces’ sixth month anniversary so I felt that much more special celebrating along with them.

Bobby was our server behind the bar and when I explained that we were not eating an entire meal service but had only come in as part of my Fried Dough Ho obsession, he smiled with a twinkle in his eye and whisked away the menus, “I know exactly what you are having then,” he chuckled. While we waited, we savored a small, round shot glass full of their daily Market Shot – a concoction of fresh fruit juices and a touch of alcohol. Pixie mandarin, Meyer lemon, blood orange, pommeau, and Pedro Ximenez sherry. Also while we were waiting, we were served a small bowl of sage-scented roasted almonds; hard to not eat a lot of but I knew we had a long, dining night ahead of us.

Before I knew it, we were presented with two offerings, the rather infamous Applewood Smoked Bacon Beignets served with maple crème fraîche studded with chives and Panisse Frites, crispy chickpea fritters served with Meyer lemon aïoli. It was hard to choose which one to bite into first, but since it was the beignets that brought us here, I succumbed to the golden globes of goodness. These were tender, light and with tiny bits of bacon speckled throughout. So often a beignet can have a chewy, hard exterior but here, it was silky and rich. The accompanying maple crème fraîche was especially decadent, worthy of licking off one’s fingers (as Lisa will attest).

The chickpea fritters were a revelation. I know what beignets are supposed to taste like. And I know what the classic hush puppy-like fritter tastes like. Making a fritter from chickpeas, on the other hand, is a bit of a mystery. Is it a matter of frying a hummus-like concoction? What is used to bind the chickpeas into the perfectly square logs? Dusted in a bit of cornmeal, the exterior was crunchy and firm but the interior was the surprise — absolutely creamy and smooth, almost molten; the way I have tasted fried goat cheese in the past.  Several minutes into savoring, that almost liquid-like interior never dissipated or hardened, the way a molten cheese would. The Meyer lemon aïoli is a natural complement to the rich flavors of the garbanzo, providing a bright counterbalance to the redolent fritter.

Lastly, a note on service. Everybody — and I mean everybody — was smiling. Big, bountiful, we-are-really-happy-to-be-here smiles. It was infectious. There is so much to be said for a restaurant when the general goodwill pervades the atmosphere. I was feeling a tad guilty about coming in for only a few courses, but Bobby was not only amenable, but helpful and understanding. Watching us enjoy the fried goodness, he knew we would be back for more and it is my hope to go back sooner. If the fried dough offerings were this exceptional, the rest of the menu will undoubtedly knock my socks off.