Far-off funk
Shared Cultures, Point Arena, Chome, Maria Isabel, best North Beach dining, MORE
WORK • Wednesday Routine
Fungus among us
ELEANA HSU • chief fermentress officer • Shared Cultures
Neighborhood you work in: Potrero Hill
It’s Wednesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I start Wednesday mornings by watering the plants out front, then head straight to the tea station to brew a pot of hojicha before settling in at the computer to check our wholesale restaurant orders. Thursdays are my delivery days — my small fermentation business, Shared Cultures, supplies handmade misos and ferments built with locally sourced ingredients to restaurants throughout the city — so Wednesday is all about making sure orders are packed, and the delivery route is set.
What’s on the agenda today?
Today I’m finishing up shipping orders from our spring shop update (we do quarterly seasonal launches on our website). After that, I’m shifting into planning mode for a big corporate workshop I have coming up in May for AAPI Heritage Month. I’ll be leading a guided miso and fermentation tasting for 100 participants. It’s one of the larger events I’ve taken on, and I want to make sure every detail is dialed in.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
Last weekend I went out for yakitori at Chome, one of my favorite izakayas here in San Francisco, and this weekend I’m thinking takeout pizza from Flour + Water Pizzeria, eaten outside watching the sunset with my dog Ko.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Spring in the Bay is peak foraging season, and it’s honestly my favorite time of year. On weekends I love heading up north through Marin or Point Reyes, or down south to Pescadero, where you can find three-cornered leeks, miner’s lettuce, mustard greens, radish greens, mugwort, and New Zealand spinach all growing wild. The tides are low this time of year too, which means seaweed foraging is on my mind. I’m always on the lookout for nori and kombu. There’s something really special about sourcing ingredients from the land and sea and finding a way to feature them.
Any weekend getaways?
My two favorite towns up north are Point Arena and Elk. I usually start with a few nights at an Airbnb in Point Arena and make a point to dine at Izakaya Gama, a coastal izakaya on Main Street serving seasonal small plates paired with warm hospitality. Then I make my way down the coast to Elk for a few nights at Harbor House Inn, a gem sitting right above the Pacific, where chef Matthew Kammerer’s hyper-local tasting menu features many foraged ingredients. Even the sea salt for their sourdough bread and butter course is made from the seawater in their backyard! For mushroom foraging, Jackson Demonstration State Forest is my go-to: over 48,000 acres of terrain, and just a $20 annual permit is needed for a whole year’s worth of fun.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I recently splurged on a Hitohira TD 150mm Honesuki knife (the one I bought is sold out but here’s a similar option), with a walnut wood handle from Bernal Cutlery here in San Francisco. A Honesuki is a Japanese poultry-breaking knife, and I’ve been using mine to break down whole chickens for homemade yakitori nights. It’s sharp, and beautifully made. While I was there, I also got my grandma’s 60-year-old dull butcher knife professionally sharpened, and I’m so happy I can finally use it again.
What store or service do you always recommend?
Besides Bernal Cutlery, two other Bay Area spots I love sending people to are Preserved in Oakland, a culinary shop focused on fermentation, pickling, and preserving — think of it as a hardware store for your pantry, with great workshops too. And The Cultured Pickle Shop in Berkeley, a small-batch fermentation studio crafting everything from seasonal kombucha to year-long ferments, run by Kevin and Alex, true artisans of the craft. The shop also sells beautifully made ceramics, all made by their son, which are some of my favorite pieces at home.
Where are you donating your time or money?
I recently donated to J-Sei, a community care and cultural organization in the East Bay that serves Japanese-Nikkei seniors and families. They provide bilingual case management, in-home care, hot meal deliveries, and community events to help people live healthy, independent lives, supporting over 700 individuals and families each year in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
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RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Dining, North Beach
FOUND’s 9 favorite restaurants in the neighborhood. See also: Nopa, Hayes Valley, Marina, Chinatown, Castro, Inner Sunset, Noe Valley, Inner Richmond, Outer Richmond.
Original Joe’s (Union St, above), Italian-American steakhouse, prime rib, ravioli, creamed spinach, reserve
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