1911 Fillmore Street (@ Bush)
(415) 771-7779
Italian in Lower Pac Heights/Fillmore
Photos courtesy of Tinwin's new SLR!
Mike and I have been meaning to go here for awhile now, basically since Michael Bauer's raving reviews and my pastry chef friend was filling in there. After a few unsuccessful attempts (no reservations = ridiculously long waits), we finally made it out a little after its 5:30pm opening. Unfortunately for us, we were a few minutes too late because the first seating cut off a few people before us. Sucks! We weren't that hungry yet anyway, so we decided to stick out the almost 2 hour wait (RIDICULOUS).
We did "chef's seating," aka counter overlooking the extremely narrow kitchen and I think one of the line cooks hated us cause we were so loud. It's not our fault the place is so noisy! Can't hear anything. At least he couldn't spit in our food since we were watching him make it.
The food was pretty solid. I got so many recommendations to just go with the apps and not so much the entrees, and I have to agree with that, even though we got two pasta dishes anyway. They're very aggressive with the salt, which is what I prefer (cooking 101: season your food), but for others it was too much in some dishes. We had:
- fried cauliflower: unbattered, the frying was subtle and just added a nice crisp. This was one of the salty dishes
- fried bay scallops: they fried some small lemon slices too. The scallops were tiny.
- House-made sausage w/ braised fennel: the fennel was very nice
- Grilled romano beans
- Clams in lobster brodo: could've done without
- Potatoes: tasty!
- Grilled porcini: plump and juicy
- Canneloni
- Amatriciana: Mike thought it was decent, but I couldn't taste anything but tomatoes.
We didn't do dessert because we decided to go to Bi-Rite (salted caramel!). Everything was pretty decent. I'm not sure if I would go back, even without the wait. The apps were solid, but not enough to fill you up - I'd get hungry again like 2 hrs later. Maybe it would be better for lunch?
Monday, June 09, 2008
SPQR AT LAST
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Michael Mina: Proof That Breakfast is the Best Meal of the Day
335 Powell Street (& Geary, inside the Westin St. Francis hotel)
(415) 397-9222
Fine Dining, Contemporary American in Union Square
Located in Union Square's fancy shmancy Westin hotel, this restaurant is known for its trios. We went for my dad's birthday, and in true family fashion we tried to cover all our bases. Service was good, ambiance nice although loud since it's an open space to the hotel lobby, and the food was good. Ah, the food. I'd say it redeemed the more disappointing fine dining meals that I've had in the last year, thanks to the pastry department (even though their pastry chef is vegan...).
Amuse:
- sea urchin custard w/ dashi gelee + rice crispy ball things: buttery and smooth
- fried crab ball w/ pickled vegetables: nice chunk of crab, but mine was soggy
- eel on top of stuff I don't remember: fishy
Apps:
- (mine) American kobe + foie shabu shabu: I'm sick (I should really be asleep right now) so I wanted something soupy. It was aiiight
- scallops: small! my sister and aunt liked 2/3
- watercress stuff: my uncle said it was just ok
- foie: seemed like it was the winner at the table
Shabu shabu, halibut w/ lobster pot pie in the background
- duck: I was surprised that in all 3 parts the duck was cooked the same way (seared), although one of them did include a confit. It was cooked very nicely though - juicy and tender.
- halibut: big disappointment. I don't think fish should be poached! That reminds me of when Richard from Top Chef did his crappy sous vide salmon
- Beef: I didn't try it, but my dad said it was interesting
- Lobster pot pie: crowd-pleasing table-side presentation. Nice rustic copper pot with the pie crust, cut open, then plated meticulously in front of us. Compared to how it actually tasted... presentation wins out hands down
- Lamb: I didn't try it, but my uncle finished it before I was even done with the second portion of my duck!
breakfast for dessert, the "mission," frozen bon bons (hazelnut + chocolate, green tea + white chocolate)
- "Mission": the most incredibly silky flan, a tres leches guava cake, and a mole pudding (I could really only taste the Mexican chocolate so it didn't really feel like a mole to me)
- "Breakfast": a tangy yogurt mousse, a fun milk + cereal, and a french toast w/ maple syrup ice cream (my least favorite of the trio)
- "PB sandwich": There were a lot of components to this dish, but the most interesting was a sourdough ice cream, that didn't really taste like sourdough to me. Not sure how they made it
- "Chocolate + flowers": didn't try it
The creativity of this restaurant really shined through their dessert menu, regardless of how biased I might seem. That's probably the best dessert I've had in a long time!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Uncle Frank's BBQ
2135 Old Middlefield Way (at N Rengstorff)
(650) 964-4476
BBQ in Mountain View
Went here for my brother-in-law's birthday dinner since he's a Texan and wanted some meat. I was really confused at first because the building is shared with a Mexican bar which is where the entrance is... but once I got to the back, I felt like I had walked into what I imagine the South to be like! (I wouldn't know though). It almost feels like you're at picnic tables, just indoors.
The food was pretty decent - cheap and large portions. We had ribs, chicken, sausage links, creamed corn, collard greens, black eyed peas, baked beans, cornbread, potato salad, and cole slaw. The corn got a lot of kick from jalapenos, and the baked beans tasted like they were cooked in pork fat (that's a good thing). The ribs were pretty decent (but like most - dry without ladling the sauce on), and I ate like five pieces of cornbread (very moist and right out of the oven). Everything else was forgettable. I felt bad for the one vegetarian there. Hopefully he ate beforehand!
The staff is friendly - they were stressed out at first and it showed (we had a party of 25 that kept asking for more and more water... it was a hot day!), but towards the end they warmed up to us and even initiated the Happy Birthday song. I was particularly enlisted to cut and serve the pie by one of the women who said I needed to eat more (even though I had already been stuffing my face).
Fun and cheap! You will get full.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Much 'I Do' About Nothing
Monday was the end of Gossip Girl's awesomely trashy first season, and Grace & Co. threw a party that I couldn't make! Sadness. Their menu was quite fabulous! I especially love the Waldorf Salad. Hopefully they didn't add poached chicken a la Ryan Scott (who, btw, was apparently at Bay to Breakers last weekend).
Chuck Full of Nuts
Waldorf Salad
Dan-ish Meatballs
Archi-bowl of Grilled Vegetables
Apple-Woodsen Bacon Roasted Potatoes
Georgina Peach Cobbler
LOVE IT. Pics from Grace after the jump (don't judge me).
XOXO
Sunday, May 18, 2008
DATC Mtg #1
So awhile back, bsze, Jake and I started DATC - Dine Around Town Club. On Facebook,
After months and months of reservations fallen through, we finally had our very first meal as an official club: San Tung. It was their first time, too! To the right, you'll see a picture of Jake eyeing the last chicken wing, which did end up on his plate only to go to waste. Travesty.
Group Info
Type: Description:
Sunday, May 11, 2008
I got it from my mama
I was super late to my family lunch at La Note because I was making brioche bread pudding for Mother's Day! I started the brioche yesterday and didn't realize that it took forever to rise (I used a Dorie Greenspan recipe) so I didn't bake the bread until this morning. I didn't have time to let it cool and I thought it would be ok to skip that part since it would be in bread pudding anyway. I used the Tartine custard recipe, and didn't follow the no-crowding rule. Thus, unlike Tartine's, mine turned out more brioche-y than custard-y, but I actually preferred it since Tartine's can get really soggy (Alice once commented that theirs looks like vomit). Ideally it should fall somewhere in between the two.
I just topped it with some strawberries macerated in sugar and balsamic. Oh yeah, and I had to use a springform again because I left my bread pans in Fremont. Doh!
My mom also brought her very very old yogurt maker for me to play with. Hopefully I'll get a yogurt post up one of these days!
More pictures after the jump.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Oyaji
3212 Clement St (& 32nd Ave)
(415) 379-3604
Traditional Japanese in the Richmond
I've heard good things about this place awhile ago from my Japanese friend who knows his food. Near the Legion of Honor, this restaurant is within walking distance from my apartment, and isn't anything too trendy or pretentious. Our waiter (Matt) was really friendly and made us feel like we were welcome to become regulars =)
This restaurant is small plates style, but the sizes of each dish depends on what you're getting (e.g. for the yakitori, or grilled meats, were only 2 skewers per order). For 2 people, we got 6 dishes initially, then added one more later because Mike was still hungry.
- grilled cod: a delicious, buttery fish
- fried tofu & vegetable dumpling: large, cut into 4 pieces. The sauce was good.
- oyaji beef: beef & onions - how can you go wrong??
- spicy hamachi roll: this would have been better as sashimi (i.e. just the fish, which was very fresh)
- mountain yam & tuna: I really liked the yam the first time I had it, and this time around, it was nice having the tuna accompaniment, because it's all about the texture, and lacks flavor which the fish provides
- boiled burdock: Mike didn't like this, but I thought it was fine. The texture reminds me of chard/kale, which not everyone is a fan of.
- cabbage rolls: this is supposed to be bar (or "tavern") food, and it was definitely not what we expected. Instead of the anticipated lightly steamed and soupy rolls, it was smothered in a heavy gravy reminiscent of Stroganoff (which I love, even at places like Lalime). Not what you expect from Japanese food (i.e. not light), but it was yummy.
No need to get dessert afterwards, either, because they gave us each a frozen strawberry filled with white chocolate. This place is great, and definitely one to take a group of friends and chill over a nice meal and sake.
*** Update #1: I went here again this weekend and we sat at the sushi bar this time. Everything was fresh (toro, hamachi... I think I could eat raw fish all day if I had access), and some of our friends even dared to try the sea snails (raw. They weren't fans, but it looked really neat haha). However, I was kind of offended by the sushi chef when we ordered uni for everyone, and he immediately singled me out and said I wouldn't get any because it was only for men. WTF? I said whatever and laughed it off, but was really trying to shoot daggers at him with my eyes.
We also tried some of the other bar food, including the crab croquettes (eh. Couldn't taste the crab), asparagus wrapped in beef (eh. Not that flavorful), and then the cod again. It's dangerous sitting at the bar because it's so easy to order more and more fish = $$. We ended up spending around $50 this time! Holy moly.
*** Update #2: I've been here quite a few times since my initial experience, and here are some other things we've tried.
- grilled skewered chicken meatballs: pretty amazing, very juicy
- pork belly: good but really fatty, as expected
- steamed monkfish liver: creamy goodness
- marinated squid: nasty mcnasty... overpowering fishy taste and vomit-like appearance, which doesn't help
- fried tofu: good
- cold tofu: ok
- chicken wings: nice char taste on them
- burdock: prepared differently this time in this creamy sesame sauce
- ramen: decent
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Killer Keller Quiche
Like that alliteration? So do I.
Last weekend was the bridal shower for Tu, one of my best friends from HS, and I made the food. The main attraction was this quiche, except that I used mushrooms in addition to the leeks and roquefort. It really isn't as difficult/time-consuming as seriouseats makes it out to be. If you've made a pie or tart dough before, it's basically the same thing. I used a springform since I didn't have any pans that were deep enough, and it turned out just dandy. Definitely the hit!
Other things I made that might sound familiar:
- Pasta with roasted asparagus, lemon, shaved gruyere, soft-boiled eggs, and caramelized onions (as inspired by laiola)
- Cassoulet
- Strawberries and blackberries tossed in basil lime syrup (man I love that stuff!)
- Chocolate ganache drizzled with olive oil & fleur de sel (as inspired by laiola again and michael laiskonis)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Eye on the Pies: The Ultimate SF yuppie power lunch.
2901 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110
Kathy and I took a break from our job in the FIDI (that’s Financial District for those of you not in the know) to grab some pies in the Mission. I donned my North Face Fleece and converses (typical SF yuppie) and Kathy wore her tapered pants and flats (typical SF hipster) and we hopped on the BART.
Located a few blocks from the 24th and Mission stop is Mission Pie. This place is hippie heaven. The pies are made from local ingredients by local underprivileged youth. Every piece of furniture in the establishment is made from recycled materials, including the compostable bag I was given for my to-go order.
Mission Pie offers a limited selection of pies that are sold whole or by the slice. Kathy and I tried the Pear Ginger pie and Banana Cream pie. The PG pie was excellent, light and refreshing. Kathy is usually a ginger-hater, but this pie managed to win her over. The BC pie met all the expectations of the traditional BC pie, but not worth writing home about (as opposed to the BC pie at Liberty Café…which is bomb-diggity).
We also went to a local taqueria (La Taqueria) for tacos. I was skeptical at first, as the tables were dirty but I guess that’s how they roll. Def. another place I’d go back to. They had this white milky looking drink that was cinnamon flavored, it looked delicious.*
And of course, we went to Philz coffee. My #1 favorite coffee place (#2 is Blue Bottle). I won’t go on about Philz, as I came off like a crack addict in a previous coffee review. But y’all should try it if you can!
* Please refer to the recent episode of Check Please
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Spring = Asparagus
You know it's spring when you see asparagus EVERYWHERE - all over menus, farmer's markets, every other post on Tastespotting....
Pictured: simple dinner - lots of garlic, shallots, asparagus, tomatoes, olive oil, lemon tossed in whole wheat pasta
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Fierce Hot Mess
This weekend was RIDICULOUSLY hot! I think Saturday was almost 90 in Berkeley, and SF wasn't much cooler. Times like these are rare (I think 2007 there were maybe 2 or 3 days in the entire year that were comparable in SF), so I spent the entire weekend outdoors and sweaty... definitely a hot mess.
Here's what was on the menu this weekend:
- First time at Herbivore
- First time at Genova Delicatessen
- Homemade butternut squash lasagna
- Late night run to CJ's
- Cherry Blossom Festival
So Mike works near Shattuck, where the new Berkeley Herbivore opened a little while ago. Now after my experience at Cafe Gratitude, I wasn't exactly jumping to try this place, but I soon noticed a ton of locations popping up in the city. Mike and his friends went and said it was pretty decent, so I thought I'd give it a try instead of my usual salad fix at Intermezzo. I got the wasabi soba noodles which were ok, but Mike's shawarma was actually really really good. Their soy chicken was quite tasty (who knows if it's actually good for you though since there are probably a lot of preservatives and chemicals in there), and I'd say it was comparable to, but not better than, a normal meat shawarma. I would go back for sure, and maybe try their other middle eastern inspired dishes.
Saturday we intended to take it easy, but ended up stuffing our faces with Genova Delicatessen. Erina had been lauding this place for awhile now, so we decided to give it a try. It's in the Temescal area off of Telegraph, in the Walgreens plaza across the street from Bakesale Betty. The line was ridiculous, but we passed the time by ogling the hordes of meat in their display cases. I ordered specialty sandwich #2, which was prosciutto, anchovies, and mozzarella, and it was pretty amazing (pictured below). Mike's Genova salami mix was a little disappointing, but there are so many choices we'll have to come again. One yelp review said their cucumber salad was really good, but it was way too sweet for our tastes.
We also had the privilege of enjoying Erina's home-cooking! Among other things, she made this really light and tasty butternut squash lasagna, using a bechemel that didn't require THAT much butter and low-fat mozzarella, so it wasn't that unhealthy =)
Mike has also been craving Carl's Jr.'s Cap'n Crunch shake, which sounds disgusting to me, so we made a quick run. Man, watching the lady make it made me really uneasy! It was basically a vanilla soft-serve, some kind of brown syrup (flavoring? who knows!), and actual Cap'n Crunch cereal, all blended up. It wasn't bad, but I didn't want to take more than a sip. Mike, on the other hand, drank it all and even saved some to put in his cereal later on. Yes, he is gross.
Today I met up with friends at the Cherry Blossom Festival. It's continuing next weekend, but who knows how the weather will be (rain on Wednesday??) so a ton of people were out. I went a few years ago and got more traditional food like takoyaki and stuff like that, but this time I just really wanted ribs, so we waited in the 30+ min (I might be exaggerating) line for them. I'd been craving BBQ all weekend!
I think I'm more tan now, but it'll probably fade in a few days once SF returns to 50 degree weather =P
Monday, April 07, 2008
Laiola
2031 Chestnut (& Fillmore)
(415) 346-5641
Spanish tapas in the Marina (!)
Note: I think I'm going to stop with the rating... it just doesn't feel right anymore!
This tapas restaurant is in the heart of the Marina - not my favorite place, but I will go there for good food. We tried a LOT of food (thanks to Jen's very generous friend!), and there were definitely some standouts.
Highlights:
Braised beef cheeks w/ roasted cauliflower and a honey (?) raisin sauce - the beef was like butter (the only other time I've felt that way about beef was at French Laundry)
Asparagus - it was really quite perfect, with a bit of sweetness
Other notable dishes:
Lamb hearts & livers - I'm not really a liver person, but the combination was pretty good
Charcuterie - headcheese (my first time - not as gross as what I imagined), ham (really really good - comparable to prosciutto), pork confit, sausage
Chorizo stuffed dates wrapped in bacon - the others had a problem with the balance (too much date), but I still liked it. bacon = you can't go wrong
House-made Ricotta
Cod cheeks
Headcheese, smelt, and the lamb hearts/liver
Other dishes we tried:
Piglet w/ pea shoot tendrils and quince aioli
Prawns
Bread & chocolate w/ sea salt + olive oil
Fromage blanc cheesecake w/ blood orange marmalade & sesame tuile
Fried smelt
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Leftover Lemons = Lemon Meringue Cake
I had some leftover lemons & oranges from the wedding, so I decided to put them to use before they went bad. I used a ricotta cake recipe, but I used butter + creme fraiche instead, which worked out ok. I couldn't get a hold of the Tartine recipe, so I just kind of improvised with what I had. Result is whatevs! Not bad, not mind-blowing. I don't know what to do with it now. Anyone hungry?
Btw, isn't this lemon just... so utterly perfect? Creation is so amazing! More pics after the jump!
Lemon curd filling - The middle dark line is from the bottom of a half, not a different filling
Meringue a little too baked, but it's alll riiiight
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Bella's First Cookie! and Wedding #2
This past weekend, I had the utmost privilege to cater Karen and Vinny's wedding! Prep started right off of my plane from Taiwan, so you can imagine how huge and dark the bags under my eyes got! Oh man I slept so much last night.
The wedding arrangements were crazily last minute, so the goal was a simple and intimate event. I tried creating a menu that reflected that, but I wanted to keep a little flair to the desserts since it was still a wedding after all.
The menu:
- Cocoa nib + caramel cookies
- Hazelnut biscotti dipped in chocolate
- (homemade) Thin mints
- Oatmeal cherry cookies
- Matcha green tea cupcakes w/ white chocolate cream cheese icing
- "le kit cat" -- crunchy chocolate peanut butter bottom w/ chocolate mousse layer on top
- Tiramisu cake
- Fruit tarts (vanilla pastry cream, pate sablee crust)
- Chevre panna cotta cubes w/ strawberries and basil lime syrup
What didn't make the menu:
- Blood orange bars + lavender crust: like lemon bars... I used the same recipe... but they just didn't turn out well, so I left it at home!
- Cocoa creme fraiche cupcakes w/ raspberry icing: I didn't have enough time
Bella, the couple's daughter, isn't allowed to eat sweets. BUT yesterday Karen let her since it was obviously a special day... so she had her very first cookie! And it was mine! What an honor. =) I don't know which one she had though, but still. That makes me feel so special =)
I don't have Julia's pictures yet (she did the wedding photos), but here are my crappy ones... after the jump!
I remembered to take pictures of prep this time. My sister's wedding was too stressful so I wasn't able to capture the madness that it was, so this time I made it a point to do that even though I didn't document everything.
One out of the 20 blood oranges that went to waste, thin mints sausage style!, matcha batter ready to bake
Panna cotta grid, the super cute labels Rhonda made!, chocolate mess = the day of the wedding, I hand-dipped the thin mints one by one and froze them so there was (still is) chocolate all over the kitchen and my face/glasses
Mary brought the rice krispies and brownies
I really need to work on my piping skills (or get some, rather)
The plate saved for the bride & groom
The happy family!