Little Senegalese at Bissap Baobab (San Francisco)

Senegal (French: le Sénégal), officially the Republic of Senegal ... is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa.

--from Wikipedia

Besides the fact that it was in Africa, everything I knew about Senegal (for example, their official language is French) right before my dinner at Bissap Baobab I owe to a quick read of the Wikipedia article. We were greeted by a tall well-built guy speaking French.

The place was hopping and we had to wait a few minutes for a table. I decided to have a drink and tried the Tusker, a Kenyan pale lager ($4)

My friends went instead with the Coconut-infused rum. Be careful with these, they are as easy to drink as a Calpico soda and you can get drunk in no time (plus they're reasonably priced, making getting drunk even easier).

While we were waiting at a bar for a table, the bartender gave us some piping hot plantains for free!

Aloko (fried plantains, tamarind sauce - $4.75)

Well, it's hard to mess up fried plantains, and the tamarind sauce was an unusual but delicious accompaniment.

Though I was wary having African cuisine given my first experience involving mango pits (Nigerian), the appetizers we tried all had familar flavor profiles. The somone was similar to a potato croquette, a bit sweetened by corn and served with a creamy avocado sauce instead of aioli.

Somone (mashed potatoes mixed with corn, parsley, garlic, flour, and milk. Served with avocado sauce - $6.25)

The menu explained where many of the dishes came from, and I had no choice but to order the Tiep Dien since it was supposed to be the official dish of Senegal.

Tiep Dien (Red Snapper cooked with red Jolof rice - $18)

This somewhat reminded me of a seafood paella + jambalaya. The snapper is meaty and while it could be a little more moist, it was plenty flavorful and so was the rice. A rustic, comfort food dish. The Brazilians have their feijoada and the Senegalese have their tiep dien.

Bissap Baobab was a much better African food experience than my first, with more familiar flavors (I'm not trying to say the restaurant I went to before was bad, perhaps I'm just not used to it). It was a good, hearty meal with tasty and reasonably priced drinks and a fun vibe. Service was pretty slow though, so don't come here when you're in a hurry.

Bissap Baobab
2323 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 826-9287
http://www.bissapbaobab.com/

This Weekend and Beyond: Cook-Off, Chef's Night Out, Wine Fest and more

Saturday, July 31st

Celebrity Chef Cook-off at The Grove
Top Chef contestants Betty Fraser and Alex Reznik (Ivan Kane's Cafe Was) will battle it out this weekend at The Park at The Grove from 6-8pm. The event is free and open to the public and there will be tastings from various restaurants. Read: Free cooking demo and free food!

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Sunday, August 1st

Wally's Central Coast Wine + Food Celebration
About 50 Central Coast wineries and top LA restaurants are confirmed for this extravaganza. Indulge in food from Comme Ca, Lucques, Spago, Jar, Osteria Mozza and The Hungry Cat paired with excellent wines to benefit The Michael Bonaccorsi Scholarship Fund at the UC Davis Department of Enology.
Tickets are $95 and can be purchased here.
Wally's Wine. 2107 Westwood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025. 12-4 pm

Angeleno Magazine's Chef's Night Out
This event celebrates Angeleno Magazine's Annual Restaurant Issue, where James Beard Award-winning food critic Brad Johnson will present awards to what he deems LA's best chefs and restaurants in 2010 while guests wine and dine. Expect to see Chef of the Year Michael Cimarusti of Providence and runner-up Ludo Lefebvre from Ludobites, the Hatfields from their namesake Restaurant of the Year, and Best New Chef Michael Voltaggio.
VIP reception starts at 4:30 and the main event starts at 5:30 pm.
Tickets are $95 for general admission, $150 VIP and can be purchased here (use code ANG10 to get $20 off GA tickets).
Proceeds go to the LA's Best after-school enrichment program.
Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows. 101 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica

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Looking Ahead:
On Saturday, August 14, sommelier-turned-wine-maker Joshua Klapper will showcase his 2008 releases of La Fenêtre wines, paired with small dishes by Chef Neal Fraser of Grace/BLD. The $29 ticket (use code 'JOSH' to get $10 off of $39) will allow you to taste 8 wines paired with 8 dishes. While the website says the menu may change based on market availability, it teases with Crab Salad, Bay Scallops, and Squab crostini. Sounds like a great deal to me!
Seatings are available at 5, 6:30, and 8 pm. Tickets can be purchased here.
LearnAboutWine Loft/Loft 218. 530 Molino St, Los Angeles, California 90013

Ice Cream Social at Rosa Mexicano

Rosa Mexicano at the L.A. Live holds "festivals" to introduce the flavors of Mexico from time to time. For the month of July, they are holding an ice cream festival, Festival de Helados, with ten flavors of ice cream and sorbet. Rosa Mexicano developed these ice cream and sorbet in conjuction with MILK on Beverly Blvd and Fosselman's in Alhambra.

Last week I was invited to an "Ice Cream Social" to taste all these flavors. After an 80-degree afternoon, I was ready.

We started with a bottle of Modelo beer and a small scoop of the Pomegranate hibiscus sorbet.
Followed by the Sea salt cajeta (goat's milk caramel). You can really taste the goat's milk here, which I really enjoyed.

Tomatillo lime ice was a favorite of mine and one of the more intriguing flavors.
Not too sweet and very refreshing, this also made a great float with the Modelo beer.

Pomegranate mint chocolate chip fudge swirl was a delicious combination of flavors.
I liked this flavor a lot and lucky for you, according to Caroline on Crack, they're keeping this one on the regular menu.

Cookies and cream + Negra Modelo float.
The Negra Modelo also went well with the Mexican Chocolate.

They also have homemade toppings available. My favorite was the Strawberry Crisp which was made with corn flakes and strawberry puree.

I ended up mostly enjoying the Caramel popcorn and the crack-n-peel peanuts as snacks rather than toppings.

We put the strawberry crisp topping on one of my favorites, blueberry and crema (creme fraiche).
I really liked the tartness that came from the creme fraiche.

Unfortunately you only have until August 1st to try all ten flavors, but some of them will remain on the regular menu if you can't make it by then! Also, you can also ask to see if they have any left. See if they have another of my favorite: the sweet corn caramel.

Rosa Mexicano
800 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, California 90015
(213) 746-000