Known as a bit of a space-case among friends, the one thing I can confidently say is that I have a sharp mind for food—which is good for this job and bad for bills, dates, cool indie music trivia, star sightings and most else. I can recall the most obscure things I’ve eaten with an exactitude that isn’t necessarily as impressive as it is a bit weird. I suppose though, the result is that my mind if full of delicious food. Things could be worse.

Added to the food memory bank, as of last week, are two dishes that I’ve had nothing quite like before and want to have a lot more of right now:

At Pizzeria Delfina (3611 18th St., 415-437-6800), cutey chef Anthony Strong is serving up deep-fried baby fava beans. You eat them, pod and all. It’s the most delicious idea since fried asparagus. Maybe better.


The lazy man's favas: fried whole at
Pizzeria Delfina.

And over at Coco500 (500 Brannan St., 415-543-2222), chef Jennifer Biesty makes fresh spaghettini, tosses it with squid ink, the most tender local calamari, preserved lemon and a bit of fresh savory. I’m not going to look up a litany of synonyms for delicious, but let’s just say, it was out of this world.


Coco500's sumptuous squid pasta.

What’s in your food memory bank? Let us know.