Continuing on the organic theme from the past two weeks, here's some important news passed on from La Montañita Co-op: Apparently there is a rider pending on the Senate agricultural appropriations bill that would weaken organic standards and enable a Bush appointee to create a list of synthetic ingredients that would be allowed in organic production.
Obviously we're not talking about synthetic ingredients in your organic apple or cashew, but in processed foods like organic potstickers, macaroni and cheese or meat-free pepperoni pizza pockets.
There is a short list of synthetic ingredients allowed now, but the list is managed by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) and the organic community-not the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Organic consumers' groups-sensibly-don't want the power to make changes like this in the hands of political appointees, USDA bureaucrats and lobbyists for big industry.
Wait, aren't "big industry" and "organic" mutually exclusive? No, my friend, no they are not. For example, Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen, two familiar organic companies that produce things like breakfast cereal and canned tomato sauce, are both owned by General Mills. If it's more profitable for companies like General Mills to use synthetic ingredients in their "organic" breakfast cereal then you bet your ass they'll send their big guns (and big cash) in to lobby for legislation making it so.
La Montañita suggests that you call or e-mail Senators Bingaman (988-6647,
senator_bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov
) and Domenici (988-6511,
http://domenici.senate.gov/contact/contactform.cfm
) and let them know you want the Organic Food Production Act left intact on organic standards; policies concerning synthetic ingredients left under NOSB and the organic community; and fund appropriations for NOSB.
Meanwhile, may I suggest you go eat dinner at Rooney's Tavern? Because I just had to put a faded yellow Baby Gap hoodie on my shivering Boston terrier. Do you know what that means? Well, yes, it means that I'm that kind of girl who dresses her fancy dog in cute baby clothes from thrift stores. Guilty! But really it means that the weather has taken a turn. It's getting positively cool. No longer do I crave grapes, iceberg lettuce and a side of mango sorbet for dinner. I want real food, like Rooney's dense and crusty Irish soda bread ($2.50), thick slabs of ketchup-topped meatloaf slathered with Guinness gravy ($10), and homemade chicken pot pie ($11). This little house draped with twinkle lights has an inviting patio, low-key green and white dining room and Irish-inspired comfort food to match.
Just in case you were wondering, I didn't deliberately pick out the cheap stuff on the menu; nothing at Rooney's costs more than $20, making this one of the rare few places that follows through on their "friendly neighborhood hangout" schtick. The wine list offers 20 bottles under $20. Is that a sweet deal or what? There are a lot of people in this town (especially single, rugrat-free people) who eat out all the time, and not every weeknight dinner calls for a $47 bottle of wine. So check it out for a belly-warming dinner and cheap bottle of red wine on a cool fall evening.
Evening is not the time to go to Cottonwoods, the Mexican breakfast-only joint run by Coyote Café, but then, based on a disappointing recent visit, I'm not sure morning is the time to go either. On the Saturday when a group of friends and I decided to meet there for brunch, the smell of cooking food wafted halfway down Water Street to meet us. Unfortunately, once we got in Cottonwoods, we realized that the smell was seeping out the front door because it wasn't being effectively sucked up and away by the open kitchen's ventilation system. Lucky for us the place wasn't very full, or the combination of sunny morning, excess body heat and stifling eau de chorizo would have been overwhelming.
That being said, our server was very friendly and the food came quickly. The menu here features familiar Mexican and New Mexican dishes like a blue corn pancake plate ($7.50), huevos rancheros ($7.95), and chilaquiles with eggs ($7.95).
We tried those and quite a few others that morning and there were several memorably good aspects of the meal. First: The $3 side of blueberries is an absolute steal. Maybe they gave us a bigger-than-usual bowl, but it seemed like almost a pint of berries for $3! Also, the chile home fries that come with a number of the breakfast plates were deliciously crispy and perfectly seasoned. The scrambled eggs were both fluffy and silky, absolutely sumptuous for the first few bites-but they were made with so much butter that the flavor quickly became overpowering. The refried Bandido beans were unremarkable except for their unusual heaviness, and blue corn pancakes were gritty and too thin.
The pricing is fair, the staff amiable and the menu enticing, but in order for Cottonwoods to be truly enjoyable, they need to go easy on the butter, thicken those pancakes and get that vent hood fixed!
Rooney's Tavern
402 Guadalupe St.
984-9112
11:30 am-9:30 pm Monday-Friday; 5:30-9:30 pm Saturday-Sunday
Cottonwoods
132 W. Water St. (street level at Coyote Café)
983-1615
8 am-noon Friday-Sunday
Tell me where to eat! I need your input. Send all of your tips, gripes and raves to food@sfreporter.com.
