9
Type of Business: Restaurant
Cuisine:
American, Other
Price: $$
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Rating Criteria
1. From Scratch: Serves mostly (i.e., more than half of the menu) fresh food, prepared from scratch. Does NOT rely primarily on kits or prepared/partially prepared foods from commercial food services.
Yes
Comments: See Philosophy in general comments: From-Scratch Cooking: Food ingredients prepared using minimal processing without hidden additives or fillers. The bright colors and freshness of ingredients was a testimony to this value.
2. Local/Organic: Offers at least some locally sourced and/or organically produced food and/or wild-caught seafood.
Yes
Comments: See Philosophy in general comments: "Conscious Sourcing: Local and sustainable ingredients produced in harmony with the environment" and "Mindful Meats: ... & wild caught seafood" I still need to contact the farms and update this posting.
3. Pastured: Offers at least some pastured animal foods.
Yes
Comments: See Philosophy in general comments: "Mindful Meats: 100% grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken & eggs, pasture-raised heritage pork & wild caught seafood" What a delight to be reassured about the quality/sourcing of the produce and meats!
4. Organs: Offers some dishes made with organ meats (liver/paté, sweetbreads, heart, kidney, brains, etc.).
No
Comments: Bryan Tublin, owner, bryan@kitava.com, is excited that they will be offering some organ meats soon.
5. Cooking Fats: Cooks (sautés) in natural fats such as butter, lard, tallow, duck fat, coconut oil, or olive oil; uses lard, duck fat, or tallow for frying.
Yes
Comments: See Philosophy in general comments: "Healthy Fats & Oils: Only naturally-occurring fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, and sustainably sourced palm oil." I will find out why Kitava does not use any butter from pastured cows.
6. Bone Broth: Makes own bone broths/stocks for use in soups, stews, gravies, and sauces (does NOT use canned broth or powdered soup bases).
Yes
Comments: I hope I can upload the menu. But they offer "Sipping Broth: Chicken bone broth (made from) pastured chicken bones simmered for 24 hours with herbs, sea salt & black pepper." You can add turmeric & ginger to this.
7. Seasonings: Makes most of its own seasoning mixes (does NOT use flavoring packets or MSG).
Yes
Comments: The owner was very clear about no MSG. I will update re whether spices are organic or not. Everything we ate was well spiced, including a fresh pesto sauce with the meatballs. Pungent and so aromatic.
8. Salad oils: Makes most of its own salad dressings using olive oil or cold-pressed sesame oil.
Yes
Comments: See cooking fats, above. Salad dressings are made with extra virgin olive oil.
9. Breads: Offers genuine sourdough bread.
No
Comments: While Kitava does not offer sourdough bread made from starter, they do offer a gluten-free bread made in-house. Their Street Tacos feature cassava-almond flour tortillas.
10. Beverages: Offers lacto-fermented beverages (such as kombucha or kvass).
Yes
Comments: They offered Ginger Lemongrass from Marin Kombucha, only 2g sugar per serving.
11. Condiments: Offers lacto-fermented condiments.
No
Comments: While all their sauces were made in house, none were fermented.
12. Desserts: Offers desserts made with natural sweeteners (such as raw honey, maple syrup, maple sugar, molasses, date sugar, palm sugar, coconut sugar, sorghum syrup, or malt syrup).
Yes
Comments: There were a few desserts made with almond flour. Sweeteners were coconut sugar and maple syrup. One dessert was just dates w almond butter, 100% dark chocolate and sea salt!
Rating Created by:
ehirsh
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Location & Contact
The Mission
2011 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
2011 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
Each table at Kitava has a stand holding 2 cards. One explains their philosophy. "Conscious Sourcing: Local and sustainable ingredients produced in harmony with the environment / Veggie Forward: Meals built around nutrient dense vegetables / From-Scratch Cooking: Food ingredients prepared using minimal processing without hidden additives or fillers / Mindful Meats: 100% grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken & eggs, pasture-raised heritage pork & wild caught seafood / Healthy Fats & Oils: Only naturally-occurring fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, and sustainably sourced palm oil." The other card describes how they chose the name for the restaurant and ends with. "We're inspired by traditional cultures around the world who recognize that clean, unprocessed food is naturally healthy and delicious. The name Kitava (small island in New Guinea whose people enjoy exceptional health) reflects this inspiration." American food, internationally inspired.