As many of you know, I’m a photographer. I shoot some assignments for a few different magazines and as you can imagine, one of the best perks about shooting food is getting to eat something afterwards. This is precisely what happened last week…
I went to Fresca Restaurant in Noe Valley to shoot the restaurant and some food. Fresca is a Peruvian restaurant and all of the dishes are rich and flavorful. They even have a fresh oyster bar and serve ceviche and a number of other fresh seafood appetizers. In the process of shooting, I met the chef’s mother, who insisted that I stay for dinner after the photoshoot was over (yay I was so happy!). As I was shooting some food, one of the dishes that caught my eye (and nose) was a big bowl of what I thought was paella. It smelled amazing and it reminded me of this awesome paella that I ate in New York City last fall.
Anyway, after all of the photos were taken, the chef asked me what I wanted and I told him I’d love to try the rice/paella dish with seafood. They brought it out to me and I couldn’t wait to dig in. All I can say… PARTY IN MY FREAKING MOUTH. This was a total fiesta de mi boca… the most amazing rice and seafood dish I’ve ever eaten. I seriously can’t even describe it… maybe it doesn’t even deserve words? All I can say is that it’s been 2 days and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
If you look closely at the photo, you’ll see that the dish is made up of seasoned rice, scallops, shrimp, mussells and calamari. It’s also tossed with some peas.
I sat alone at the oyster bar and inhaled every last piece of rice. All that was left were empty shells. I can’t wait to go back and have it again (or try something new). I’m really kickin myself for not taking a picture of my empty bowl to add to the Clean Plate Club gallery…
Fresca has 3 locations in San Francisco (Noe Valley, Fillmore and West Portal). I visited the Noe Valley location.
3945 24th St
San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 695-0549
www.frescasf.com