Bakers Dozen at Foreign Cinema

San Francisco, October 9, 2012—

EVERY NOW AND THEN, maybe
twice a year, we get to a meeting of Bakers Dozen, a group of professional and dedicated amateur bakers founded a number of years ago by Flo Braker, the late Amy Pressman, and — at that time — eleven other bakers, among whom Lindsey was included. Over the years the membership has grown tremendously, and there are now satellite Bakers Dozens in other parts of the country: here in the Bay Area the membership must certainly be over a hundred.

This is not the place to comment much further on the Dozen, other than to note that I always come away from the meetings with a renewed faith in the essential goodness and generosity of humanity. Bakers are an interesting lot: dedicated, disciplined, methodical, somewhat fatalistic, and as a whole generous, dedicating their lives to their essentially small, local, repetitive work, providing daily or festive fare of humble or frivolous nature.

The meetings generally consist of a coffee-and-conversation half hour, a presentation of some kind, and lunch. Today there were two presentations: by Rita Held and Rosemary Mark, co-bloggers who produce Get Cooking Simply — a fascinating discussion of food blogs in general, which perhaps one of these days I'll comment on over at The Eastside View — and then a mini-lecture on how to write and publish a cookbook, with a very useful handout, by Flo Braker, who knows a thing or two about that subject.

But what concerns us here is lunch. We all sat down to the same three courses: a fine variation on the classic Caesar salad with tender chiffonaded Russian kale in place of romaine, Piave in place of Parmesan, and a first-rate dressing discreetly murmuring Anchovy and Lemon and subtle vinegar. Next, fried chicken — a fine meaty chicken, juicy but not watery, in a very delicate batter, crusted with sesame seeds, accopanied by broccoli rabe seasoned with chili and a subtle North African spice blend and softened with yogurt sauce.

Dessert: Crème brûlée — eggy and creamy, deeply flavored with rose water, perfectly glazed — and a curious cookie.

still water

• Foreign Cinema, 2534 Mission Street, San Francisco; (415) 648-7600