Roadside Rotisserie SF

Motivation, a simple four syllable word that rolls right off the tongue yet is hard to wrap one’s mind and personal laziness around sometimes. Sort of the thing I struggle with when trying to write these posts up. That and all the emotional baggage this particular food journey has surrounding it makes me put off and off and off something that used to flow so easily, usually. But the best way to get started is to just….start? Get back on the horse? Just do it? (no copyright infringement intended!) So here I sit putting words on the internet about food and memories to work out whatever it is I think I’m doing.

This time brings me to one of those nights like many other nights in a couple’s life where everyone’s working late and you are randomly texting each other. “Is there food?” “Probably not.” “Anything ur hungry 4?” “Something good?” “🙄 I’ll pick us up something on the way home.” “Thanks! u r the best BF ever!”

Which is why on my walk home I was headed for Safeway and some hot bar junk when I found myself sauntering through Spark Social just to see if any new food truck was making an appearance or produced some kind of craving I just couldn’t resist. It is kind of what made me stop by Roadside Rotisserie—the smell of roasting meat eliciting hunger pangs and calling out to my stomach.

They aren’t new as I’ve seen them here on many occasions. But tonight, for whatever reason, I was drawn to the rotating meat and potatoes roasting in the drippings. It also kind of helped they didn’t have a line so I was able to order, box up and head home with my (our) food while it was still piping hot. Which it was even on the short-ish walk back to the apartment. When I got home and opened up the boxes the smell wafted through the air and the SO was up and out of the study, equally drawn to the meat. From both of your eyes, it all looked as good as it smelled as I plated up some of everything for each of us.

**roasted pork loin and rosemary potatoes**

Yeah, of course I’m gonna get some pork, it’s a Southern requirement. If pork is near or on the menu, we gotta try it and this one was fresh off the metal rotisserie roll. See the hole? The smell emanating off the meat was heady and enticing, particularly to one whose stomach is growling. Seems the vendor was being especially generous with portion sizes on what was probably a slow Friday. I got a large slab of pork and bountiful mound of potatoes. More than enough for two people.

The pork was as juicy and tender as it looked surrounded in a thin layer of skin with just a hint of crispness. This is how pork should be cooked, slow and rolling. The only thing it needed was some salt as it was a bit deprived of seasoning surprisingly. But this was remedied easily and just as well for me and the SO. They took care of the hard part—making tender juicy meat. We then could just season to our own individual tastes.

The potatoes were equally satisfying. Not too soft and not dry. Cooking in drippings from rotating meat helps with tenderness, dryness and seasoning. Rosemary and potatoes just seem to be natural partners and they pair with the pork as a pleasant side dish. They were a bit like chunky hash browns so I couldn’t help using a little ketchup for dipping because potatoes, french fries, all the same right?

Hey! Why not follow some pork with roasted chicken! A slow rotisseried half a chicken with deliciously dark and slightly crispy skin no less. Much like the pork, this was dripping with juice and tenderness. This one seemed to have been properly seasoned beforehand, letting it cook into the meat. But I’ll come back to the skin, which was the best part and again, the whole Southern thing, we do love our crispy skin. One cannot live by meat or skin alone, regardless of what Atkins and Keto say, you gotta have some green veggie leafy things too.

Why not brussels sprouts and it was the only other veg option they had besides potatoes which are a little carb heavy. Though these were a little too al dente for me, I’m more of a softer sprout fan covered in tons of butter. As you can see, they didn’t really skimp on the portion size for these either. In the end, you know, they were what they were, if that is what you are into. (Some balsamic and a few minutes in the microwave helped)

Obviously the meat is the star at Roadside Rotisserie and the veggies are nice but more second bananas. Throw in the big shareable portions and me (and the SO) were pleasantly satiated in our hunger and still had leftovers we could nosh on the next day, a lazy Saturday.

What it also added up to was another night like many others we had where I sat on the couch in the study while he was at the desk (still working), eating our dinner and watching some mindless tv we were totally into but would not completely admit to. You know, couple stuff. And it is the everyday, simple, mundane stuff that we never remember on a regular basis and then it becomes everything you can’t forget and try to hold onto to pull oneself through your current everyday reality. They say it is the small things, which I’ll haltingly admit is mostly true. The day will be rolling along and you will randomly see a photo or a building or some properly sharpened pencils or the smell of cooking meat which sends you back into a memory and tailspin you gotta drag yourself out of just to get through the rest of the day. But sometimes they aren’t all bad, at least not like a year ago. Sometimes they are fond and comforting, though I still haven’t quite reached a complete balance on them.

Turns out this place was our second to last new spot which means, the end has arrived and strangely enough, it came on the next day after this chow down. To say that post will be hard to write is an understatement, so yes, it may take me awhile to get there, through it and posted. Let’s see how it goes.