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Hosts Hasim, Seni, and Gino at Bistro SF Grill.
San Francisco has recently added a very vivid food destination and we are happy to be part of it with our wines: Bistro SF Grill. This is a gourmet burger restaurant owned and managed by three multi-talented friends hailing from Bosnia-Herzegovina: Hasim, Seni, and Gino. We sometimes jokingly call them the ‘Balkan Trio’.
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The line-up.
In a short couple of months the trio has managed to put their ‘almost famous’ burgers on top of the heap. This is not your ordinary burger joint where the choices are between American or Swiss cheese.
At Bistro SF Grill they serve only the finest beef some of it as exotic as Alligator, Buffalo, and Ostrich. Then there is a Lamb Burger and another made from organically fed Kobe beef. I tried most of them and my favorite is the Balkan Burger, made from a mix of lamb and beef with savory spices.
Our wines from Balkan countries like Slovenia and Croatia pair beautifully with these burgers. For instance, try the Donkey Dingac or the Bibich Riserva R6 with a Balkan burger and you will agree that the wine will make the flavors jump. The Croatian Plavac Mali – relative to the Californian Zinfandel – shows a certain rustic spiciness which pairs well with the Balkan burger. My guess is that it’s the Paprika which corresponds so nicely.
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Everybody feels welcome at Bistro SF Grill.
Besides offering great food and wine, the Bistro also frequently hosts wine tastings. We were invited to pour our wines at the first tasting which was dedicated to Balkan wines. We are now looking forward to the next event: The Party – Rock me Amadeus! As you can tell, this one will feature wines from the former Austrian-Hungarian empire, home of Mozart and an old, sophisticated wine culture. Join us when we pop a couple of corks and pour some really nice Gruner Veltliner, Blaufrankisch, Kadarka, and Kiralyleanyka. Come explore with us the lands along the Blue Danube River:
Tuesday, August 16 from 6pm – 2819 California St. 415-409 6410
Photography courtesy of Eric Danch ©2011
