Latest news with #JohnLindsey
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Paso Robles breaks heat record set in 1997. How high did it get?
Paso Robles broke a heat record at 2 p.m. Saturday, according to PG&E meterologist John Lindsey. The city hit 99 degrees, breaking its record of 97 degrees on the same date in 1997, Lindsey said in a post on X. The record came amid a heat advisory in effect in Paso Robles until Saturday at 9 p.m. Temperatures were expected to hit a high of 85 in San Luis Obispo on Saturday, while Morro Bay was expected to top out at 69 degrees and Pismo Beach at 64. Temperatures were expected to drop to 87 degrees on Sunday, before cooling down through the week, according to the service's forecast. Later in the week, temperatures are expected to drop 10 to 15 degrees below normal for SLO County, according to the service's forecast Saturday morning.
San Francisco Chronicle
30-04-2025
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
Finally, a S.F. restaurant for soup sycophants like me
I can recall parts of my life through soup. As a kid, when my mom worked late, a can of soup was a cheap shortcut to dinner. I've expressed love by making caldos. They bring to mind my grandmother, who often took me to her favorite restaurant, Souplantation, a now-closed buffet chain from a bygone era. These memories trickled back recently when I visited Rusty Ladle, a tranquil soup counter in San Francisco's Outer Sunset, mere minutes away from Ocean Beach. These soups are a remedy for the neighborhood's sharp wind chill and a soothing balm for hard times. As food prices spike and the possibility of a recession looms, affordable dining options like Rusty Ladle are more vital than ever. You leave the restaurant with a happy belly for under 15 bucks. Housed in a narrow 700-square-foot building, the counter-service restaurant offers four options (cup for $7.50, bowl for $10.50). Two are standbys, tomato soup and clam chowder, and the rest change weekly. You might find Mexican meatball stew, miso vegetable soup or gumbo. Of the classic offerings, I liked the chowder best. With plenty of Bodega Bay clams and a side of bacon bits, it was surprisingly thick for a gluten-free stew; chef-owner John Lindsey thickens it with potato starch — a trick he borrowed from celebrity chef Jacques Pépin. I was into the subtle tang and sweetness of the tomato soup, especially with a drizzle of basil cream. (If you skip it, however, it's vegan.) The tomato soup is strongest, however, as a dip for the obscenely cheesy Schmelty ($9), a grilled cheese sandwich with a shiny, crisp skirt. What makes it shine is schiacciata bread, made by next door neighbor Andytown Coffee Roasters. A specialty of Tuscany, it has a focaccia-like fluffiness and ciabatta-like texture. The soup nicely offset the sandwich's salty richness and made me feel like a kid again. I'm not the only one. Rusty is a big hit with kids, which surprised Lindsey. 'There's a lot of soup sycophants… (but) I forgot how much kids love soup.' It's an easy way for parents to get their children to eat vegetables without forcing the issue. Lindsey opened Rusty late last year. In the '90s, Lindsey worked at Zuni Café, Hayes Street Grill and the café at the now-closed San Francisco Art Institute. He stopped cooking after a back injury and took up graphic design before opening an art studio and gallery next to the building where Rusty currently resides. He saw the space transform from a bodega to a deli to a brewery, which closed in 2022. When the building was available, Lindsey seized the opportunity and returned to the kitchen. His penchant for art lives on at the restaurant. The bar is effectively an art installation. Beneath glass are rows of thousands of pennies, each of which Lindsey and his daughter cleaned, patinaed and glued to the counter. It's a memorable piece of decor that works to add age to the 6-month-old restaurant. I got the sense that many of Rusty's patrons are regulars — Lindsey confirmed that a third of his clientele are repeat customers. The bar is stocked with dozens of ways to customize your bowl including oyster crackers, seasonings and about a dozen different bottled hot sauces — I loved the vinegary burn of the Binko's Fresno pepper flavor. The restaurant has a way of making you feel like you share history with it, even with only one visit. Perhaps that's owed to the universal nature of soup. Lindsey likes to joke that he sells water. So I asked him: Why soup? 'Everybody loves soup,' he said. But his age also had something to do with it. 'I'm 59 years old, I don't want to make composed things.' He finds making soup to be a meditative art, one that can't be rushed. The humble counter nudged me back into the warm embrace of soup, my old friend. Rusty Ladle. Noon-8 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. 3645 Lawton St., San Francisco. or 415-205-0860
