Canvas Does Detroit

We CraVe Detroit hosts Canvas Underground: West Coast cuisine meets the Midwest

Are you a rebel? A hungry rebel? Dine at one of San Francisco’s most secretest supperclubs as it’s team lands in Detroit.

Join a table full of new friends and a five course chef’s choice menu bringing Chef Peter Jackson’s Bay Area cuisine to you. Our hostess with the mostess, Vera Devera, moved to Detroit this past winter and Peter’s flying in to prepare dishes reflecting his travels abroad.

Hosted by We CraVe Detroit, Vera and Craig’s new venture in Detroit, join us for 2 nights only in Detroit, first at Yemans Street, and then in a secret location in Ferndale in metro Detroit.

August 7: A Taste of Mexico: It’s Not Taco Night
Tickets: http://yemansstreet.com/dinners/vera-devera-and-partner

Menu
Chile Ancho Relleno con Hongos
Mushroom stuffed chile ancho fried in a masa “tempura” batter

Ensalada de mariscos ceviche
Cooked and citrus marinated seafood with chiles serranos, tomato, avocado and cilantro

Sopa de Flore de Calabaza
Squash blossoms, tomatillos, fresh goat cheese and cream

Carne de Cerdo Cocida Tres Maneras
Smoked pork belly, grilled chorizo and braised shoulder with fresh corn tortillas and mole chichilo

Helado de Maiz
Sweet corn ice cream with piloncillo and chocolate sauces

August 8: Canvas Does Detroit
Tickets: http://canvasdoesdetroit.brownpapertickets.com/

Menu
Cucumber and Smoked Salmon
Cardamon-Saffron Yogurt Sauce, Pickled Red Onion

Corn and Roasted Chile Chowder
Fried Epazote

Heirloom Tomato Salad
Goat Cheese, Pistachio Oil, Wild Arugula

Seared Rare Top Sirloin
Roasted Mushrooms, Cippollini Onions, All Blue Potato Puree

Summer Berry Compote
Lemon-Lavender Meringue, Vanilla Bean Sabayon

Teaming up with TCHO Chocolate

We’re teaming up with one of TCHO ‘s chocolate makers for a chocolate infused dinner at a converted firehouse! Get tickets now to save $10.

 

First Course
Cocoa Power Prawns with Garlic,
Creamed Corn and Epazote

Second Course
Green Gazpacho with Cocoa Nib Croutons

Main Course
Cocoa Butter Confit and Roasted Duck
with Black Oaxaca Mole and Banana Leaf Rice

Dessert Course
Mexican Chocolate Tres Leches with
Espresso Mousse and Cocoa Nib Sable

About our partner Shiao Sheng-Williams:

TCHO Chocolate Maker Shiao Sheng Williams

Shiao is obsessed with combining flavors and discovering new ones. Previous chocolate street cred includes a lifetime of working in restaurants, graduating from the Art Institute of California in Culinary Arts, and whipping up delicious dishes as a pastry chef extraordinaire. She takes great delight in creating bars with ridiculous ingredients (wasabi coconut, anyone?), has a secret love affair with condiments, and is a complete farmer’s market junkie. 

Our Beer Deconstructed Dinner

The lox gravlax stole the show at our Beer Deconstructed Dinner last month! If you missed this one, save the date for June 26. We’re partnering with the owner of TCHO Chocolate and hosting dinner at a SF Firehouse!

Featured on Thrillist SF + Our Next Secret Dinner

Canvas Underground (c) SF Weekly

Shhhh…we were just featured on Thrillist SF’s 7 Super Secretest Supper Clubs. Whether you’re a veteran of our “ghetto gourmet” dinner days or new to the pop-up dining concept, you can always expect to have an authentic dining experience with Canvas Underground and leave wanting more: delicious food and drink and delightful conversations!

Our next dinner is popping up on Saturday, March 22, at a cool house with a bird’s eye view of the City from Potrero Hill. Peter Jackson just got back from Mexico City and he’s preparing a 4-course meal highlighting a different chile pepper and mezcal from Mexico. Get your tickets now as there is limited seating.

Menu

Boucherie Pork Treats
Chile and Lime

Chile Ancho Rellenos
Masa Batter, Quesillo, Wild Mushrooms, Pipian Verde

Sopa de Mejillion
Chile Guajillo, Saffron, Mexican Vanilla

Barbacoa de Borrego
Homemade Tortillas, Roasted Chiles, Salsa Verde

Pastel de Naranja y Chile Morita
Marinated Strawerries

Winter Wonderland Dinner: February 12

Finally, the rain has come and it’s beginning to feel like winter. To get you in the mood, Canvas Underground is joining with a couple of talented line cooks from Flora Restaurant for a dinner in an “uncommon” location. Reserve your seats now >

Caitlyn and Thomas’s menu features the all-stars of winter ingredients — and they’ll be paired with the musical harmonies of a folk-punk band who will surely have you stomping your feet and forks!

As usual, BYO wine, beer and hearty appetite!

Menu

Passed Appetizers

Artichoke dip with green tea, preserved lemon

Romesco with poached cod with garlic oil

Intermezzo

Greyhound Sorbet

Entree

For meat-lovers: Duck confit carnitas with pickled huckleberries

For veg-lovers: Risotto with brussel sprouts, Golden delicious apples, manchego

Dessert

Crepe Gateau with Mexican chocolate ganache, cardamom and whipped cream

The Boucherie Marketplace on Dec 4

The Boucherie Market Place is teaming up with Tina Tamale and La Borinquena for a holiday market with some of the Bay Area’s best food artisans. RSVP NOW

• Boucherie Cured Meats
• Tina Tamale
• Andrew Lane Winery
• The Uncommon Pickle
• Baia Organic Pasta
• Urban Preserves
• Semita Dulce
• And more….

Plus get in on the free bacon and sausage making demos! RSVP here >

Opera & Pickles

Do you like all things pickled, creative seasonal cuisine and awesome vocal talent? Then you’ll want to check out our next dinner at a West Oakland Victorian home.

Sample (and purchase if you like) local, organic pickles from The Uncommon Pickle and bask in the beautiful voice of mezzo-soprano Michelle McDowell.

Order tickets via Eventbrite:
http://powerofmusic-efbevent.eventbrite.com/

Enjoy four courses of music inspired cuisine interpreting the songs Michelle will perform:

Batti, batti o bel Masetto
Carpaccio of lamb loin
black garlic battuto
pickled blueberries
chiles softened with tomato

Una donna a quindici ann
Warm terrine of foie gras
pink peppercorn pasta blanket
wild arugula

Voi che sapete
thigh of young chicken, braised tender
wild and cultivated mushrooms
almond milk

Beau soir
rose petal meringue
chocolate mousse
wheat berry praline
raspberry anglaise

Order tickets via Eventbrite:
http://powerofmusic-efbevent.eventbrite.com/

Our Next Dinner: July 11, 2011

Hi y’all! We know things have been a little quiet the last couple of months but we’re excited that Chef Peter is the exec chef at new restaurant, Toast Wine Lounge on College Avenue in Oakland. To celebrate his new gig, we’re throwing a dinner on Monday, July 11, for $35! Buy tickets here!  You’ll also find us at Eat Real again this year and Boucherie is available upon request. We were selling at the Underground Farmer’s Market but it’s future is TBD since health inspectors shut it down last week.

REWIND

We hosted a fabulous dinner at The Corner, a former restaurant that has reopened its doors to a rotating cast of pop-up restaurants. More pics here >

Canvas Dinner @ House Kombucha

House Kombucha - Vera Devera (c) 2011

From the SF Weekly:

The rundown: At the intersection of live cultures and cultural experience, the earnest apostles at House Kombucha are teaming up with the arty foodsters of Oakland’s Canvas Underground for a dinner you never you knew you wanted. With eyebrow-raisers like kombucha bacon with green tea soba noodles; tomatillo and avocado soup with white tea/orange blossom kombucha; and scallop crudo with beet tartare and a kombucha-serrano chile mignonette, this event begs the question: Are you ready to trip the light kombucha?

Our diners were treated to a tour of the brewing facility at House Kombucha and sampled plenty throughout the night. We want to give a special shout out to House Kombucha founder, Rana Chang; Sky, her kick-ass jill-of-all-trades intern (and super volunteer server); and master brewers, Walter and Ben, for having us cook dinner with their delicious kombucha. The sun blossom kombucha is amazing and Vera must’ve drank nearly a gallon by herself (and felt a bit of a buzz — of bliss, perhaps?).

Check out more photos here >>

and some from diner, Laura:

Chocolate budino prepared by Chef Peter Jackson

House Kombucha brined bacon by Chef Peter Jackson

Happy New Year

We hope you’re having a great start to 2011. Last week, Chef Peter and I  participated in SomArts’ Feast of Words, a really cool project headed by Irina Zadov and Lex Leifheit. In the next two weeks, we’ll be representing at the Underground Farmer’s Market (1/15) and the Commonwealth Club’s INFORUM (1/26). We’re also looking for a San Francisco venue for dinner on February 13 — hit us if you know of a place. Eat with you soon!

Upcoming Events

• Saturday, January 15: ForageSF’s Underground Farmer’s Market, (http://foragesf.com/market). Look for our Boucherie booth where you can pick up some tasso, andouille and Meyer lemon cured bacon. We’ll have samples and recipes available. See you there!
• Wednesday, January 26: Canvas is hosting a booth at the next Commonwealth Club’s INFORUM discussion on Street Food: Off the Grid and Underground. Please join us! Speakers feature our friends Shakirah Simley of Slow Jams and Iso Rabins of Forage SF.

 

Recap + Recipe: Feast of Words

Chef Peter making lefse, mobile photo by Vera Devera

The theme for January’s Feast of Words was “Blurred Identities” and featured the writing of Faith Adiele, who’s Nordic/Nigerian and America. I cooked an African stew and paired it with my version of the traditional Norwegian potato flat bread known as lefse. If you happen to be Norwegian, (or a student of Scandinavian cuisine) you might notice that these are not traditional lefse. I jazzed them up with some dill and lemon, and since I don’t own a correlated rolling pin, a pastry cloth covered board, a lefse stick etc, I came up with my own improvised technique (described below) which I think worked out pretty well. – Chef Peter

• 4 cups riced potatoes (preferably made from mature russets), cooled to room temperature
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 4 sprigs dill, chopped
• Zest of 1 lemon, very finely grated

Add everything to the potatoes and mix until smooth and evenly mixed. Preheat a griddle or large non stick pan over medium low heat for 2-3 minutes. Scoop a ¼ cup lefse and roll between your palms to make a smooth ball. Place the dough between 2 pieces of waxed paper about 1′ x 1′. Roll the dough out as thinly as you can, keeping the lefse as even a thickness as possible. If you are making many lefse at once you can refrigerate the rolled out lefse and then cook them one after another.

To cook the lefse, peel the top layer of waxed paper off the lefse, and place the dough side down on the griddle or pan. Let the lefse cook for a few minutes minutes, then peel off the top layer of paper. Check the lefse after a few minutes. When the under side is light golden brown, flip and cook for another few minutes. Stack the cooked lefse on a plate between paper towels.