My latest obsession: Outerland's pain au levain.

The trek to the Outer Sunset is well worth the commute for the outstanding pain au levain that awaits you at Outerlands. We had to visit Outerlands after being introduced to their delicious sourdough at a recent dinner gathering and their bread and coffee service has turned us into believers.

Outerlands bread is everything a pain au levain is supposed to be: tangy acidic notes; a chewy and delicious crust; a sweet and wheaty crumb. Complex and a pleasure to eat, this stuff is featured throughout the menu and they will sell you a loaf ($5) to take home if they have some to spare. We love it as sandwich bread and it makes killer French toast. Its also excellent on its own with good butter and a bottle of 2009 Paul Pernot Bourgogne Blanc. A delicious snack!

Outerlands also excels at coffee service which is extremely important in our view. A dedicated barista grinds Sightglass coffee to order and will pull an excellent espresso for you. What really sets Outerlands apart (besides the bread) is the skill at which they brew coffee using the Chemex system.

Individually brewed Chemex coffee requires a great deal patience and attention to detail. Given that coffee is an after thought in 99.9 percent of restaurants, I'm totally impressed that the Outerlands barista can go into zen mode and carefully brew Chexmex after Chemex of perfectly clean, full-flavored coffee during the Sunday brunch crunch. Well done!

I'll tackle the rest of the menu in a later post but owners David Muller and Lana Porcello and Chef Brett Cooper (Serpentine, Coi, Saison) are turning out product-driven cuisine at a very high level. If they take their bread and coffee this seriously...

Outerlands
4001 Judah
San Francisco, CA 94122
415-661-6140
http://outerlandssf.com

Lincoln was so beautiful last week--warm rain, sunshine, and lush green fields--it almost makes you forget the subzero winters there. Almost. We killed some kolaches (apricot!) and picked up radishes and greens from the downtown Farmer's Market. Melissa Clark had an article about roasted radishes a couple of weeks ago so I tried that one night, which was really good. My favorite is just is a plain radish sandwich--paper thin slices with salt on buttered toast. My Auntie introduced us to kale...chips? It's simple, just kale leaves sprinkled with sea salt and olive oil, oven-dried until it's crispy. What else, what else. Our friends at Cultiva opened a new shop on 11th street--it's only seven days old! I brought back their single origin Amaro Gayo. Bin 105 is almost two months old--and it's already the best shop in town--super grand opening on June 10.