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I know its been a really long time since my last post. Don’t worry, I’m still eating and drinking. See my latest at https://www.instagram.com/bayareafoodie/
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Leave a comment »
The Farmer & the Chef Doc on VIMEO ON DEMAND
Posted on August 30, 2015 by bayareafoodie
Check out The Farmer & the Chef film documenting the unique relationship between Chef David Kinch (Manresa) and Farmer Cynthia Sandberg (Love Apple Farms).
A beautiful and meditative look at the seasonal restaurant — Food & Wine Magazine
Download a copy today!
He is a world famous chef with one of best restaurants in the world.
She is a Biodynamic® farmer known worldwide for her award winning heirloom tomatoes.
And one thing connects them…. the food served at Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos,California. Together this farmer and this chef are revolutionizing how diners experience a modern Californian meal.
The Farmer & The Chef is a 1-hour documentary that takes you behind the scenes to see how two creative geniuses grow and serve the perfect meal at two-Michelin Star restaurant Manresa. Watch Cynthia Sandberg move from a 2-acre garden to a 21-acre farm that needs to be transformed into the new Love Apple Farms. And follow Chef Kinch as he confronts the challenges of cooking with a ten fold increase of product. It’s about the passion two people have for farming and cooking in a way that respects and pays homage to their local environment.
Watching them wordlessly root through the farm together is watching two masters at work. — TimeOut New York
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: cynthia sandberg, David Kinch, documentary, film, Manresa, restaurant | Leave a comment »
1 year of Sprinkles updates
Posted on August 8, 2015 by bayareafoodie
I can’t beleive it’s been over a year since I blogged. Don’t worry… I have still been eating…
All the new Sprinkles flavors for 2014/2015 so far
See how they ranked
Happy 10 yr anniversary Sprinkles!
- Gingerbread (Dec 2014)
- Apple cinnamon (Apr 2015)
- 10yr anninversary Sprinkle (Apr 2015)
- Pistachio (July 2015)
- Green tea (Aug 2015)
Filed under: Peninsula, Sprinkles (Palo Alto) | Tagged: sprinkles cupcakes | Leave a comment »
The Farmer & The Chef at Cinequest
Posted on March 16, 2014 by bayareafoodie
Back in 2012 I mentioned a documentary my husband was making on chef David Kinch (Manresa) and farmer Cynthia Sandberg (Love Apple Farms). Well, it is finally done! It premiered at the Cinequest film festival on March 9th to a sold out crowd. An encore screening is tonight at 4:30pm. If you are in San Jose check it out. Sorry for the short notice.
For more info and screening dates check out http://thefarmerandthechefmovie.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/thefarmerandthechef
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: Cinequest film festival | Leave a comment »
Sprinkles update
Posted on January 6, 2014 by bayareafoodie
Better late than never…..Maple bacon (Sept 2013) & Lemon meringue (July 2013)
See how they rate
Filed under: Northern CA, Peninsula, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Sprinkles (Palo Alto) | Tagged: bacon cupcakes, baking, dessert, food, ratings, sprinkles | Leave a comment »
Giovanni Rana Pasta and Sauces
Posted on January 5, 2014 by bayareafoodie
TORTELLONI PROSCIUTTO w/ MARINARA
I recently had the opportunity to try the new line of Giovanni Rana fresh pastas and sauces. If you live in NY or Italy you may be familiar with Giovanni. From what I read online, he is a very popular guy and has a restaurant in Chelsea Market. All varieties of pasta tasted great but my favorites were the spinach and the mushroom ravs. I don’t have an Italian grandmother but if I did I imagine her bolognese sauce would be just like Giovanni’s. I was really impressed.
FETTUCCINE PAGLIA E FIENO w/ BOLOGNESE
The best part is that you can have dinner on the table in 10 minutes. No exaggerating. The pasta cooks in under 4 minutes. Find the Rana products in your local safeway supermarket –refrigerated section.
Thanks Gio!
Filed under: REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS | Tagged: chelsea market, cooking, fast, food, fresh, Giovanni Rana, italian, ny, pasta, product review, RECIPES, sauces | Leave a comment »
JALEO by José Andrés
Posted on October 29, 2013 by bayareafoodie
Best meal ever. If you are in Vegas this is a must. Really delicious food. Minus 1 star for leaving smelling like a camp fire. They have an open spit in the dinning area of the restaurant and they were roasting a baby pig and that bad boy was smoking up a storm. I had to air out my clothes when we got back to the hotel.
sangria 
white asparagus with lemon, thyme and idiazábal cheese 
traditional chicken fritters 
maine lobster salad with citrus and frisée 
shrimp sautéed with garlic 
flauta bread brushed with fresh tomato, extra virgin olive oil and serrano ham 
sautéed cauliflower with dates and olives
sangria
white asparagus with lemon, thyme and idiazábal cheese
traditional chicken fritters
maine lobster salad with citrus and frisée
shrimp sautéed with garlic
flauta bread brushed with fresh tomato, extra virgin olive oil and serrano ham
sautéed cauliflower with dates and olives
Favorite dish: white asparagus with lemon, thyme and idiazábal cheese. Not crazy about food served out of a shoe.
Website: http://www.jaleo.com/
Rating:
Filed under: Las Vegas, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: cooking, food, JALEO, José Andrés, las vegas, restaurant, review, small bites, spanish, tapas | Leave a comment »
Baume Palo Alto
Posted on October 23, 2013 by bayareafoodie
We were super excited to go to Baume because it is known for molecular gastronomy. Freeze dried strawberries…let’s just say I wasn’t impressed. Tasted and looked beautiful but not worth the $$$$.
Website: http://www.baumerestaurant.com/
Rating:
Filed under: Northern CA, Peninsula, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: baume, food, michelin star, molecular gastronomy, palo alto, restaurant, review | Leave a comment »
Frances SF
Posted on October 19, 2013 by bayareafoodie
Amazing meal. Worth all the hype. Make a reservation! After 4+ years people are still sitting on the curb outside for hours waiting to grab a table.
market shot –best cocktail ever!
bacon beignets
baked clams
chickpea fritters
wine by the ounce
spring salad
steak
ricotta gnocchi
strawberry shortcake
Website: http://www.frances-sf.com/
Rating:
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Francisco | Tagged: food, frances, michelin star, restaurant, review, San Francisco, sf | Leave a comment »
More new Sprinkles cupcakes
Posted on June 30, 2013 by bayareafoodie
Just when I thought I had made my last trip to Sprinkles this year they released a new flavor… margarita! Sounds good right…wrong. Some things shouldn’t be messed with.
Also, following in the footsteps of In-N-Out, Sprinkles decided to introduce secret off the menu flavors. First on the list – Neapolitan: vanilla cake with strawberry frosting dipped in chocolate.
See how they ranked here
*these cupcakes are from May 2013…better late than never…
Filed under: Northern CA, Peninsula, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Sprinkles (Palo Alto) | Tagged: baking, cupcakes, dessert, margarita, neapolitan, secret menu, sprinkles | Leave a comment »
Irish Soda Bread with Cranberries
Posted on June 25, 2013 by bayareafoodie
Around St. Patty’s day I decided to make a sweet Irish soda bread. I followed the recipe below but added a heaping 1/2 cup of cranberries and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Next time I’ll add a bit more sugar. Turned out super tasty. Tell me that doesn’t look good…
Filed under: Dessert / Baked Goods, RECIPES | Tagged: baking, cooking, cranberries, food, irish soda bread, RECIPES, sweet | Leave a comment »
Absinthe Restaurant
Posted on June 23, 2013 by bayareafoodie
Ever since I saw Jamie on Top Chef I’ve wanted to try Absinthe. Even after her departure the restaurant remained on my radar. We finally stopped in for dinner. Everything was good but of note were the pretzels which were really little bite size garlic rolls. Insanely good. I could have eaten a dozen. The mussels/clams were also delish and a steal for $15!
SOFT GARLIC PRETZELS
Vermont cheddar Mornay
FRENCH ONION SOUP GRATINEE
PEI MUSSELS & MANILA CLAMS
andouille sausage,roasted bell peppers, lemon-chardonnay sauce, spiced crostini
COQ AU VIN
red Burgundy-braised Mary’s chicken,
bacon, roasted crimini mushrooms, crostini, persillade
Rating: 
Website: http://www.absinthe.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Francisco | Tagged: absinthe restaurant, food, french, French Onion Soup, garlic pretzels, restaurant review, San Francisco | Leave a comment »
New Sprinkles cupcake flavors!
Posted on April 22, 2013 by bayareafoodie
Last weekend we made a trip to Sprinkles to try the new Cuban coffee cupcake. While there I also picked up a vegan red velvet (this was recommended by a reader) and a triple cinnamon. I don’t know how this (triple cinnamon) slipped by me but it must be relatively new because they don’t list it on the menu posted on the wall in the store and it’s available 7 days a week!
Check out how they ranked here
*Cuban is gone April 28th,2013
Filed under: Northern CA, Peninsula, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Sprinkles (Palo Alto) | Tagged: baking, cuban coffee, food, new flavors, palo alto, sprinkles cupcakes, triple cinnamon, vegan red velvet | 1 Comment »
Redd Napa
Posted on March 25, 2013 by bayareafoodie
Brunch at Redd in pictures. No commentary necessary…JUST GO!!!!
*click on any image for description and/or larger view
bacon bloody mary
brioche french toast with mandarin orange and granola
blood orange smoothie
Steamed pork buns, hoisin, vegetable salad
Redd lobster club, poached maine lobster, bacon, lemon aioli, shoestring potatoes
Website: http://www.reddnapavalley.com/
Filed under: Napa Valley, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Leave a comment »
Dim Sum Coconut Jelly
Posted on March 23, 2013 by bayareafoodie
Have you been to a dim sum restaurant and tried the coconut jelly dessert from the cart? Well, if you have and you liked it …try this recipe. Who would have guessed Tyler Florence would have featured it on his TV show.
As usual the video and the recipe posted on the Food network site were not exactly the same. I chose wrong and decided to follow the written word… I have a feeling I should have gone with Tyler. In the end everything turned out fine but I had to cut the tops off all my jellies. For some unknown reason there was a layer of clear sugar water covering the top.
Recipe link
Tyler’s Ultimate
Filed under: Dessert / Baked Goods, RECIPES | Tagged: asian, coconut jelly, cooking, dessert, dim sum, food, food network, recipe, tv, Tyler Florence, Tyler's Ultimate, video | Leave a comment »
5 year Blogaversary! Chocolate-Stout Brownies
Posted on January 31, 2013 by bayareafoodie
Something sweet for this special occasion. This was deliciously dense, chocolaty and moist. You won’t be able to eat more than a tiny square. Soooo rich! More like fudge than a brownie.
Note: hit the foil with some cooking spray to ease the removal.
Recipe link
Bon Appetit Magazine / February 2012
Filed under: Dessert / Baked Goods, RECIPES | Tagged: baking, bon appetit magazine, Chocolate-Stout Brownies, cooking, food | 1 Comment »
Shellback Premium Rum – Coquito Cocktail
Posted on January 2, 2013 by bayareafoodie
I rarely drink cocktails but when I do it is always rum based. I love the flavor of rum so when Shellback asked me to try their new line of silver and spiced Caribbean rum I jumped at the chance. It came at a perfect time because we were hosting a Christmas Eve gathering and I wanted to serve a signature cocktail. I ended up going with a Coquito which some call the Latin version of egg nog. Ingredients include coconut milk, evaporated milk and lots of rum. Although the drink took some time to make it was well worth it and a huge hit.
Some said the smooth cocktail tasted like rum raisin ice cream. I even got a few compliments from people who are originally from Latin countries. Coquito will definitely be our go-to holiday beverage from now on!
While the weather remains chilly we will be using our spiced Shellback rum in coffee, tea and cider. However, I can’t wait for the sun and heat when I’ll be mixing up some mojitos, coladas and daiquiris with the silver. Check out the Shellback site for recipes.
Website: http://www.shellbackrum.com/
Coquito Recipe link
*I left the egg out and didn’t miss it.
Filed under: Cocktails, RECIPES, REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS | Tagged: beverage, cocktail, Coquito, drink, food, holiday, latin egg nog, RECIPES, review, Shellback Premium Rum, silver rum, spiced rum | Leave a comment »
Willy Wonka Ice Cream Tasting
Posted on December 4, 2012 by bayareafoodie
I got a golden ticket!
I finally have time to write about our end of the summer bbq. After dinner we had a Willy Wonka ice cream tasting courtesy of Oakland based Dreyer’s. They sent me an ice chest full of their new line of wacky Wonka ice cream flavors. Fourteen of our friends tasted and ranked the creamy concoctions in order of their preference.
Here are the results:
- Kerfuffle Truffle, chocolate ice cream with chocolate truffles and swirls of fudge
- Caramel Nut Kadoozle, caramel ice cream with mixed nut brittle and walnut caramel swirl
- Chocolate Mintropolis, chocolate ice cream with peppermint patties and chocolate mint cookies
- Chipperberry Swirl, black raspberry and vanilla ice cream with chocolaty chips
- Chocolate Chipper Chip, vanilla ice cream with chocolaty potato chip bark and swirls
- Kernelpuff Caramelstuff, caramel ice cream with popped kernels, pecan pralines and salted caramel swirls
- Chocolate Snowflakes, vanilla ice cream with melt-in-your-mouth chocolaty flakes
The first place winner was a super chocolaty combination. We did have a bunch of chocoholics in the group which I think skewed the numbers. I was sure the vanilla with chocolate covered potato chips was going to be my favorite but it was too salty. I actually preferred the two caramel flavors. The brittle and praline were very yummy additions to the ice cream but don’t take my word for it go try them yourself. Thank you, Mr. Wonka!
A fight almost broke out!
Note: Wonka Ice Cream is currently sold exclusively in the Northern CA and Reno areas.
Website: http://www.wonkaicecream.com/
Filed under: REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS | Tagged: dessert, dreyer's, food, frozen, ice cream, summer, treat, Willy Wonka Ice Cream Tasting | 2 Comments »
Happy Turkey Day!
Posted on November 25, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Heritage (Left) Diestel (Right)
Sorry I have been away for a bit. I started a new job in October and just haven’t had time to blog. I aim to do better in the new year! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. As always we were given the task to cook the birds. We ended up making two this year… One 10 lb. Heritage bird from a local farm and a 12 lb. Diestel Natural from Whole Foods.
Heritage -400 degrees for 1 hr 45 min
The heritage turkey was running around up until the morning it was delivered to our house. I guess that’s why it looks so slim and trim! Both turned out delicious in the end. The main difference was that the heritage dark meat tasted much more gamey in flavor. Yum!
Diestel -350 degrees for 2 hrs 15 min
Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: bird, cooking, Diestel Natural, farm, food, heritage, holiday, thanksgiving, turkey, whole foods market | Leave a comment »
Citizen Chef Healthy Meals
Posted on September 24, 2012 by bayareafoodie
A new company in San Francisco called Citizen Chef just launched a line of fast, fresh,healthy stir fry meals to prepare at home. Each package comes with cut veggies, a grain and a gourmet sauce. All you need to add is a protein of your choice and dinner is served in 15 minutes.
inside the box
When asked if I would like to try the product it was a no brainer…fast and easy are my two favorite words when it comes to cooking. Of the 3 varieties I had I was the most impressed with the Thai stir fry because I’ve always found Asian cuisine the hardest to recreate at home and this Thai Sesame sauce blew me away. It tasted just like the massaman curry that I love to order from our local Thai restaurant.
Chicken w/ Thai Sesame Sauce (fresh coconut milk, roasted sesame seeds, & a hint of ginger)
I also enjoyed the couscous in the Limone Garlic package. We are in a grain rut and always end up with rice. This was a very nice change.
Shrimp w/ Limone Garlic Sauce (fresh garlic, lemon peel, & extra virgin olive oil)
Overall I was impressed with the quality of the meals. Mike and I would definitely purchase them in the future…the only bummer is that you can only find Citizen Chef in certain Bay Area Whole Foods markets. Hopefully they get picked up nationally. See if they are in your neighborhood here.
Get a $3 off coupon here
Website: http://www.citizenchef.com/
Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES, REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS | Tagged: at home, bay area, Citizen Chef, cooking, food, Healthy Meals, northern california, review, San Francisco, stir fry, whole foods market | Leave a comment »
Pizzeria Delfina
Posted on September 11, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Mike had some work to do in the City so I decided to tag along, especially since it was near the Mission, and I have wanted to try Pizzeria Delfina forever. I know I eat a lot of pizza but it is my favorite food so get used to it.
Pizzeria Delfina features six Neapolitan inspired, thin crust pizzas and two daily-changing special pies and a “piatto del giorno” from the oven. The food is Italian in spirit, using local, seasonal ingredients.
This location is super tiny … in order to leave Mike had to ask the table next to us to move over just so he could squeeze between the tables.
This is what we ate:
Insalata Tricolore
Special pasta of the day: Mac & cheese with meaty sauce (I forget the official name)
Salsiccia Pizza
Housemade fennel sausage, tomato, bell peppers, onions, mozzarella
Everything was delicious and fresh. I could have eaten a vat of that pasta and the pizza had great crust… not overly blistered. For dessert we walked down the street to Bi-rite Creamery.
Rating:
Website: http://pizzeriadelfina.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Francisco | Tagged: food, mission, neopolitan, pizza, Pizzeria Delfina, restaurant, review, San Francisco | Leave a comment »
Grandma’s Coffee House, Kula Hawaii
Posted on August 31, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Not to be confused with Mama’s …Grandma’s is a tiny rural coffee shop in Kula where you can get a mean breakfast and sensational baked goods. We rolled out of bed early to go try the the highly regarded eggs benedict. This turned out to be one of my top 5 benedicts…it comes on a cornmeal waffle w/ lemon hollandaise and home fries with a kick! Super delicious. I’m still kinda bummed that I shared it with my sister. Mike had an omelet with basil, tomato & feta and my bro-in-law feasted on something I think was called the bullseye which was a spam, rice & egg concoction. I also devoured a slice of banana cake and a coconut pineapple bar (don’t judge). Arrive early with a pile of CASH and enjoy!
Website: http://www.grandmascoffee.com/
Filed under: Maui, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: breakfast, eggs benedict, food, Grandma's Coffee House, hawaii, kula, Maui, review, travel, upcountry | 1 Comment »
Mama’s Fish House
Posted on August 30, 2012 by bayareafoodie
On our fifth trip to Maui we finally decided to try the famed Mama’s Fish House. It may sound like a rustic joint but it is one of the most expensive restaurants on the island so we saved this for a special occasion…our 6th wedding anniversary.
Mama’s is located right on the beach and is decorated in the old Polynesian style. Think dark woods, antiques, staff dressed in colorful aloha gear and Hawaiian music. We arrived a bit early so we could check out the beach but since it was drizzling we decided to wait it out in the bar. The drinks were big and tasty. Our table was ready right on time and we were seated at a window table with a fantastic view. We made sure to make our reservation just before sunset.
view from our table
Our meal started off with a treat from the chef…a ginger soup. Then we shared the Ahi sashimi salad with crispy won ton strips, pohole fern, wasabi goat cheese, Kula vegetables and roasted sesame seed dressing. It was super fresh but could have used a bit more dressing. I already knew what I was going to order after looking at the menu online – Mahi mahi stuffed with lobster & crab and baked in a macadamia nut crust. Mike decided to go with a luau style plate that included Mahi mahi and slow-cooked Big Island Wild Boar with baked Hana rainforest banana, Molokai purple sweet potato, Lomi-lomi and fresh poi. Cool note about the menu – all the fish is wild and each dish lists the fisherman who caught it that day.
The presentation and taste of the food was wonderful. At this point we were stuffed and were going to pass on dessert but because we were celebrating our anninversary we received complementary scoops of their homemade ice cream (strawberry bannana). Sweet ending to the night. I now know why everyone says you have to go to Mama’s.
Note: Although you will pay a pretty penny don’t worry about the dress code – there were tank tops and board shorts galore!
Rating:
Website: http://www.mamasfishhouse.com/
Filed under: Maui, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: food, Mama's Fish House, Maui, ocean view, paia, restaurant, review, special occassion, travel | 3 Comments »
Maui O’o Farm Tour & Lunch
Posted on August 27, 2012 by bayareafoodie
view from the farm
My sister just finished building a beautiful home in a town called Kula (Upcountry Maui). When I read about an organic farm tour and lunch 10 minutes from her home I knew we had to do it (thanks for the tip mom). The farm supplies many of the high-end dining establishments in Lahaina.
The tour starts in the coffee tree lined parking lot and moves through the fruit trees up to the outdoor kitchen and dining area. There you meet the dedicated farm chef and he describes the gourmet menu he is going to prepare while you continue the tour through the garden. When the lunch bell rings a beautiful buffet of delicious food awaits you. Everything is harvested/caught earlier that morning.
Our farm Lunch included: salad (with greens we gathered from the garden), fresh caught mahi mahi w/ maui onion & fennel, fried tofu w/ beets, farm egg frittata w/ maui onions, raw veggie platter, crusty bread, brewed coffee & chocolate.
The next time you are in Maui take some time to venture away from the beach and check out Kula. You can’t beat the amazing bi-coastal views!
Note: Be sure to wear long pants, sneakers and pack a sweatshirt and umbrella. It is chilly up there and it may sprinkle on you even in the warmest summer months.
Website: http://www.oofarm.com/
Filed under: Maui, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: farm tour, food, hawaii, kula, Maui, O'o farm, Organic, review, travel, upcountry | 1 Comment »
Greenwich Village Food and Cultural Walking Tour
Posted on August 16, 2012 by bayareafoodie
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … the best way to check out a City is with a food tour. We chose Foods of New York Greenwich Village Food and Culture Walking Tour. We arrived at 11am on Bleecker Street with empty stomachs. Our guide was a friendly young actress who had definitely done her homework. She was chock full of food & Village knowledge. We walked the charming neighborhood for 3 hours and were stuffed by the end.
Here is what we ate:
Stop 1. Cheese pizza slice @ Joe’s Pizza
Stop 2. Olive oil tasting @ O & Co.
Stop 3. Mac & Cheese @ Home restaurant
Stop 4. Rice balls @ Faicco’s Italian Specialties
Stop 5. Four tasty bites @ Centro Vinoteca
Stop 6. Chocolate chip cookie @ Milk & Cookies
Stop 7. Cheese @ Murray’s Cheese Shop
Stop 8. Cannoli @ Rocco’s Pastry Shop
There are a bunch of historical stops on the tour too but I’ll let you see that for yourself.
If anyone says the food is not enough they must have a tape worm because we were completely full with 3 stops to go. I had to bag my cookie, pass on the cheese and I FORCED myself to eat the cannoli!
Website: http://www.foodsofny.com/
Filed under: New York, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: food tour, Foods of new york tours, Greenwich Village Food and Culture Walking Tour, Home restaurant, Joe's Pizza, Milk & Cookies, New york city, review, travel | Leave a comment »
48 Hours in New York City
Posted on August 5, 2012 by bayareafoodie
We headed to NYC for the premiere of Mike’s latest documentary “Gringos at the Gate.” If you are into soccer especially the US -Mexico rivalry check it out (shamless plug). Anyways, I went mainly for the food. I had each day planned out weeks before we left. Here was our itinerary…
DAY 1
Our flight arrived at JFK at 8am and by 9:30am we were waiting in line for a table at Clinton St. Baking Company – yes, there was a 30 minute wait on a Tuesday. But it was voted best pancakes in NY by New York magazine and Martha (Stewart) is on their website homepage so I knew it had to be good. I ordered the eggs benedict -poached eggs, maple cured ham, classic hollandaise,over a toasted buttermilk biscuit. Awesome. Loved the biscuit and the chopped onion/ bell peppers on top gave it a zesty kick. Mike chose the famous wild maine blueberry pancakes with warm maple butter. Super light and fluffy. Worth the wait. CASH ONLY! This held us over till dinner.
I had to hit at least one of Mario Batali’s NY restaurants and we chose LUPA OSTERIA ROMANA which is a casual spot specializing in Roman trattoria fare. This was our best meal of the trip. Everything tasted superb. We had some great wine and service. Prices were reasonable but make sure you order a couple courses per person or you will leave hungry.
Apps: Seasonal salad with asparagus and peas
and
Roasted Mushrooms w/ Cavolo Nero & Ricotta Salata
Mains: *Special of the day* Fresh pasta with braised pork
and
Ricotta Gnocchi with Sausage & Fennel
We skipped dessert and walked to Puddin’ a sweet shop that serves up different flavors of pudding. I know, brilliant idea! We ordered some of the signature (pre-made) minis so we could sample a bunch.
My favorite was the Caramel Macchiato (coffee /chocolate puddings, brownie pieces, salted caramel sauce) followed by Banana Cream Dream (banana pudding, graham cracker crumbs, banana cake,whipped cream). Before arriving I would have bet that my fav would have been the Coconut Cruise (coconut pudding, pineapple, coconut-soaked lime cake, graham cracker crumbs) but it had a weirdly thick consistency that didn’t move me.
DAY 2
With all that eating I had to schedule some sort of exercise. We had never been to Central Park and after some research many said the best way to see it all (since it is 843 acres) is by bike. We took a guided 2-hour Bike Tour and had a beautiful ride. Look for coupons …they are out there. I found one for $10 off each person!
We finished up around noon so we walked to Shake Shack for lunch. This is NYC’s version of In-N-Out.
2 burgers and fries
We added a Fair Shake to our burger order -vanilla shake featuring 100% certified organic Arabica Fair Trade coffee. Yum! Something different for a fast food joint …they serve beer & wine too.
I was worried about eating a burger in the middle of the day since we were having dinner early but it was miniature…more like a slider. It was a very fresh and tasty burger. Did it put I-N-O to shame? I think not. Both do things well so I’m gonna leave it as a tie.
cereal milk soft serve with corn flakes – tasted best when it was all melted.
Next stop momofuku milk bar to pick up some treats for the plane ride home. Cookies and crack pie. I tried to make this pie at home a couple years ago. Mine came out good but this was mind blowing. Made the flight much more enjoyable : )
I couldn’t pass this soft serve up since it was really HOT out. I needed the energy to walk back to the hotel. Sooo much walking in the city!
Our final dinner was at The dutch. I had heard tons of good press about this place especially for the lunch/brunch. We were in a hurry because we arrived late and had to get to the premiere so we didn’t get to experience all it has to offer (namely THE PIE) but what we did have let’s just say I was not impressed. The food was just so-so and really expensive for what you got. Oh well, you can’t win ’em all!
I still ♥ NY
Note: The next morning before we jumped on our plane back to CALI we took a walking food tour of Greenwich village. Check it out here
Filed under: New York, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: bike tour, burger, Central Park, Clinton St. Baking Company, crack pie, food, LUPA OSTERIA ROMANA, mario batali, Momofuku Milk Bar, new york, pancakes, Puddin', restaurants, reviews, Shake Shack, the dutch, travel, trip | Leave a comment »
“The Farmer & The Chef” Documentary
Posted on July 22, 2012 by bayareafoodie
I don’t think I have mentioned this before but Mike, my husband, is a professional documentary filmmaker when he is not baking me cakes. I haven’t brought it up because his previous films were not related to food, but his current project is! He is working on a doc called “The Farmer & the Chef.” The film takes you behind the scenes to see how Chef David Kinch & Farmer Cynthia Sandberg of Love Apple Farms grow and serve the perfect biodynamic meal at two-Michelin Star restaurant Manresa in Los Gatos, CA . The idea came about following our amazing 3-year wedding anniversary dinner at Manresa in 2009.
This summer I have been helping with some of the production and I have set up a website and a facebook page for the film. Check them out and be sure to “LIKE” the facebook page to keep up to date with the progress. The film is scheduled for release in January 2013. It should be tasty!
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: biodynamic, celebrities, cynthia sandberg, David Kinch, documentary film, food, Los Gatos, love apple farms, manresa restaurant, michael whalen, michelin star, restaurants, the farmer & the chef, whalen films | Leave a comment »
Full Circle Organic Produce Delivery Review + $10 off Coupon
Posted on June 22, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Full Circle launched the Bay Area branch of its produce delivery service during the first week of June. They contacted me to see if I was interested in a free trial. I get offers to try similar services often and usually I pass because I am happy with my current delivery company, but when I checked out the Full Circle website the option to not only receive fruits & veggies but other groceries caught my attention. I thought the opportunity to purchase artisan goods including: dairy & eggs, bread & pasta, meat, seafood, jam, coffee, honey and chocolate was very unique and something I had to check out.
Box #1 with my balls of pizza dough
My first “Sprout” size box (feeds 2-3 people) arrived right on time and everything was fresh and pretty clean. Items come straight from the farm so you should expect some dirt and bugs. In addition to the produce I added 2 balls of pizza dough from the grocery. We love to make pizza on the grill in the summer. Each ball was the perfect amount for a personal size pizza. All it needed was some heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Turned out perfect…nice thin crust.
We also made a risotto with the leeks. Insanely good. See recipe here
Box #2 came the following week and we had just about eaten everything from our first box.
Contents of box #2 with my addition of free range eggs
The baby golden beats were delicious. I just put them in foil and roasted them in the oven for an hour and they were good to go.
Beets ready for the oven
Overall, the service has been great. The produce arrived in good condition and tasted wonderful. Every new service has positive things going for them and some areas that need improvement. Here is my assessment on Full Circle…
Pros:
1. Variety! Since the produce is not coming from 1 single farm but 10+ California farms there are many more fruit & veg options and you can’t beat the added grocery items.
2. Choice – usually you make an exclusion list of produce you don’t want and if one of the items is scheduled the farm will just double up or in some cases triple up on other items already in your box. At Full Circle you can login to your account and see what is coming and switch items out yourself by choosing other items that are available that week – usually there are at least 10 additional items to choose from. I LOVE this option!
3. Delivery time – boxes are delivered overnight at the same time every week so when you wake up it’s there. No need to worry about having a delivery midday and everything going bad while sitting out in the sun.
4. Customer service – the website was easy to navigate and the process from signing up to receiving goods was a breeze. Customer service has been checking in to see if my deliveries were on time, produce was in good condition and to see if I had any concerns.
Cons:
1. Exemption list – they only allow you to select 5 items to exclude. If you don’t have time to go to your account and make changes each week you may receive things you don’t like or need. I happen to have a lot of exclusions because I have several citrus trees, herbs and veg growing in my yard so 5 doesn’t cut it.
2. Delivery schedule – boxes are scheduled to be delivered automatically every week. You have to personally contact the company if you want to skip a week or place a hold on your account. Not a big deal but a little incovienent. I would prefer to be able to login to my account and make adjustments to an online calendar instead of having to send emails or make phone calls. *They fixed this issue in August!
The pros definitely out-way the cons so give Full Circle a try. Next shipment, I plan to order salmon!
Website: http://www.fullcircle.com/
COUPON OFFER: $10 off your first box. Use promo code (exp 12/13): SOCIAL10
If you decide to sign up, please let them know Nicole Whalen referred you.
Filed under: RECIPES, REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS | Tagged: $10 off, 50% off coupon, bay area, cooking, coupon, discount offer, food, fruits, Full Circle Organic Produce Delivery Service, home delivery, Organic, produce, review, vegetables | 1 Comment »
Risotto with Leeks, Shiitake Mushrooms & Truffle Oil
Posted on June 20, 2012 by bayareafoodie
This was the first recipe I made with items from my Full Circle organic produce delivery. Mike is not a fan of truffle oil but he loved this dish. All the ingredients worked together magically!
Tip: It was hot out and I was not about to turn on the oven… so for the mushrooms I just sauteed them in a pan!
shrooms & onions leeks & cream rice & stock
Recipe link
Bon Appétit | September 2007
Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: bon appetit magazine, cooking, food, italian, RECIPES, Risotto with Leeks, Shiitake Mushrooms & Truffle Oil | 2 Comments »
Los Gatos Gourmet Food Truck Festival
Posted on June 18, 2012 by bayareafoodie
In order to get folks in this neck of the woods to eat food off a truck the organizers had to step up their game. Unlike Moveable Feast here you will find real tables and chairs to sit at, a rockin’ band with a dance floor and a beer/wine tent (few truck events have alcohol). It’s a real classy affair held at the defunct La Hacienda Inn on Friday evenings. The crowd on our night consisted of thirty something year old parents with a minimum of 3 kids and 65 year old couples that like to shake a tail feather. Mike and I didn’t fit into either category but still had a good time.
The set-up only has room for 6 trucks but I was happy to see a few new options. We started off with a fried chicken sandwich from Pollo Fritto. Very reminiscent of the sando from BakeSale Betty. Nice crispy chicken, fresh slaw with a hint of heat on a toasty roll. Along with a Shocktop brew it was a great start.
Then we grabbed a Greek taco from Arabian Bites. It was basically a gyro but with the meat chopped up. Very flavorful. It came with a side of fries and a small tomato/cucumber salad…big bang for your buck.
For dessert we hit up the ice cream truck – Twisted Chill.
Note: As with all of these new truck events the food averages $8-10 for a sandwich/burger or couple of tacos…the days of cheap truck eats is over! Be sure to hit up the ATM and prepare to spend a couple Jacksons for 2 people.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/LGFoodFest
Filed under: Los Gatos, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: arabian bites, event, food, la hacienda inn, Los Gatos Gourmet Food Truck Festival, pollo fritto, Saratoga | Leave a comment »
Smitten Ice Cream
Posted on June 14, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Smitten Ice Cream first gained popularity when owner Robyn Sue hit the streets of SF pulling a red wagon equipped with a homemade liquid nitrogen run ice cream machine named “kelvin.” Eventually she opened a brick and mortar store in a converted shipping container in Hayes Valley. Mike and I finally had the opportunity to check it out 2 weeks ago. The shop has 4 “kelvin” machines and each makes a single flavor: vanilla, chocolate and two seasonal flavors (that change daily). Every single scoop is made to order in 60 seconds using liquid nitrogen! It will be the freshest, coolest, creamiest ice cream you’ve ever had!
Check out our ice cream being made:
The final product…..
Ritual Coffee with Cocoa Nib brittle (left) and Strawberry pink peppercorn with lemon caramel sauce* (right)
I’m sure the vanilla and chocolate are good but if you’re making a special trip to this place be adventurous and try the suggested flavor combination of the day as I did*.
Website: http://smittenicecream.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Francisco | Tagged: cooking, dessert, food, hayes valley, kelvin, liquid nitrogen, review, San Francisco, Smitten Ice Cream | Leave a comment »
Green Bean Spaghetti Carbonara
Posted on June 11, 2012 by bayareafoodie
This was soooo good….like breakfast for dinner. I did add the egg to the noodles too early which ended up making my sauce more scrambled than oozy but that didn’t stop me from devouring every last bite. Next time, I will remember to let my spaghetti cool a bit before mixing all the ingredients. I had some spinach on hand so I added that to the bacon/onion mixture. Yum.
Recipe link
Rachael Ray Magazine /Oct 2011
Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: cooking, food, Green Bean Spaghetti Carbonara, pasta, Rachael Ray, RECIPES | 1 Comment »
Food Trucks @ Moveable Feast
Posted on June 1, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Food trucks are increasing in popularity more and more each day. Moveable Feast is a company that organizes events that feature groups of food trucks at locations all over the South Bay similar to Off the Grid in San Francisco. It seems like every couple weeks a new city is added to their list. It took me a while to try because I wasn’t interested in the trucks they had lined up until I saw that the Nom Nom truck (yes, the runner-up on the 1st season of the Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck race”) was coming from SF to Willow Glen.
Moveable Feast: Willow Glen happens every Friday night and has the largest number of trucks of all the feast locations – usually 10+. We arrived just as it opened because I had read about the super large crowds that gather.
Like restaurants, all food trucks are not created equal. Here are the things we ate that are worth trying:
1. Nom Nom: pork banh mi sandwich – at $5 a pop this not only tasted good but was the best deal of the night. Great fresh crusty bread and sweet pork with tart veggies.
2. Eat on Monday: Fried chicken club sandwich – maple syrup glazed bacon …. nuff.said.
3. le bon: garlic noodles w/ bacon and grilled shrimp – very flavorful
4. Fairy cakes – looked and tasted like your mom’s homemade cupcakes. Just a little pricey ($3) for the size.
Peanut butter cup, salty caramel, pb&j, pineapple upsidown cake
If you see the red buckets you know you are in the right place. No fancy seating or tables here. Grab a couple buckets and get eating!
Tips for a successful food truck excursion….arrive early (within 1st hour) so they don’t run out of food, the lines are not long and the wait for your food is short. Also, hit the ATM.
Note: best way to find out when/where and who is showing up each week is to check out their facebook page.
Website: http://www.mvbl.org/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Jose, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: banh mi, food, food trucks, Moveable Feast, nom nom truck, review, san jose, street food, Willow Glen | 1 Comment »
Redd Wood
Posted on May 14, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Famed chef Richard Reddington has opened a casual Italian eatery in Yountville down the street from his Michelin star restaurant REDD.
We arrived early on a Friday night and the restaurant was pretty empty except for the mini bar area which was standing room only. The tables around us seemed to be filled with locals as they knew the staff and brought plenty of their own wine. We were seated in a cozy corner booth that had a view of the entire restaurant. We decided to get a sampling of eats to share. We started off with the grilled artichokes with balsamic & Parmesan cheese which was crazy good but messy. I wouldn’t recommend ordering if you are on a first date. The balsamic glaze ended up all over our fingers and dripping down our arms (but maybe this just happens to us 🙂 ).
Next, potato gnocchi w/ duck leg, rosemary, olives & pancetta. There was no real sauce just the natural juices from the duck. LOVED this.
Of course we had to try one of the wood fired pizzas. We went with the basic fresh mozzarella, tomato & basil. I was expecting this to be my favorite part of our meal but it wasn’t. It was good but the crust was a little over-charred which left a burnt taste in my mouth. Minor mishap.
We finished with the chocolate caramel tart w/ praline & sea salt which was highly reccomended by our server. It was super rich so we had a hard time finishing it. If you are a chocolate lover this dessert is for you!
I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived since the reviews I had read were hit and miss but I really enjoyed the food, service and vibe so I will definitely return.
Rating:
Website: http://www.redd-wood.com/
Filed under: Napa Valley, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: casual, food, italian, napa, pasta, REDD, redd wood, restaurant, review, Richard Reddington, wood fired pizza, Yountville | Leave a comment »
Morimoto Napa
Posted on May 11, 2012 by bayareafoodie
There are a bunch of cool spots that have opened on the Napa river over the last couple years…Morimoto is one of them. Because this was a sushi restaurant run by an Iron Chef I admit I had some high expectations. Morimoto himself was not in town on our visit but that was okay as we’d seen him in-person before.
Our meal started out on a super high note. We decided to order the hot appetizer called kakuni – a ten hour pork belly w/ rice congee and soy-scallion jus. It was melt-in-your-mouth good. Next, we had the tempura calamari salad which had a fantastic white miso dressing. The calamari was a tad over battered for my taste but Mike enjoyed it. We followed this up with some sushi rolls (soft shell crab,eel avocado,spicy tuna) which were…sushi rolls. They were not at all imaginative. They looked and tasted just like the take out I get at the spot down the street from my house – just slightly higher priced. We probably should have gone with one of the menu entrees. Oh well, lesson learned.
We still had a little room in our stomachs so we split the kabocha squash sticky toffee cake w/ buttermilk ice cream and asian pear. This was a pleasantly sweet ending to our night.
Next visit, it’s all about the OMAKASE (the tasting menu). I’m sure it’s as mind blowing as the price.
Rating:
Website: http://morimotonapa.com/
Filed under: Napa Valley, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: california, food, iron chef, japanese, morimoto, napa, restaurant, review, sushi | Leave a comment »
Blue Line Pizza
Posted on May 2, 2012 by bayareafoodie
You’ve heard the rave reviews about Little Star Pizza in San Francisco, well, it’s now available in the South Bay (Campbell) but under a new name — Blue Line. Mike and I have been twice since the February opening and I have to say it’s my favorite deep dish in the Bay Area.
Here’s how it compares to other popular Chicago style pizza joints in the area…
signature deep dish “blue line” pie
Not too thick (like Patxi’s) which means it’s not overly filling and a shorter time to wait for your pizza to arrive.
Not too saucy (like Zachary’s) which means you can taste the toppings which also happen to be really fresh. You can tell they don’t skimp on the ingredients.
We tried a couple salads but our favorite was the bacon & blue cheese which was huge, super fresh and the blue cheese was tangy good.
Note: no reservations. Get in early (b4 6:30pm) or be prepared to wait.
Rating:
Website:http://www.bluelinepizza.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: bay area, blue line Pizza, campbell, chicago style pizza, deep dish pizza, little star pizza, restaurant, review, San Francisco, south bay | Leave a comment »
Carrot Soup with Thyme and Fennel
Posted on April 16, 2012 by bayareafoodie
If you have any leftover carrots that the Easter bunny didn’t eat or your CSA gave you a ton … try this soup. Honestly, if I didn’t make this myself I would have had no idea it was carrot. The combo of thyme and fennel creates a super unique flavor that I could not get enough of. Mike and I really enjoyed this.
Recipe link
Bon Appétit | March 1999
Filed under: RECIPES, Starters & Soups | Tagged: Bon Appétit, Carrot Soup with Thyme and Fennel, cooking, easter, food, magazine, RECIPES | Leave a comment »
Guinness Float
Posted on March 20, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Our St. Patrick’s day was spent as usual making corned beef. This year we made reuben sandwiches and for dessert I decided to make floats. I’m not a Guinness kinda gal, but my Irishman is, so this was my gift to him. It’s a pretty involved cocktail to make but he thoroughly enjoyed it so it was worth the time. I downed the ice cream and the whipped topping but most of the bitter stout remained in the glass. All that was left of Mike’s was a bit o’ cream on the tip of his nose.
Recipe link
Bon Appetit magazine / Feb 2011
reuben
Past corned beef recipes:
Guinness Corned Beef and Cabbage
Basic Corned Beef Sandwich
Corned Beef Hash with Fried egg
Filed under: Cocktails, Dessert / Baked Goods, RECIPES | Tagged: bon appetit magazine, cooking, corned beef, February 2011, food, Guinness float, RECIPES, st. patrick's day, Stout Floats with Cocoa Syrup | Leave a comment »
Bacon-Infused Carolina Fish Stew
Posted on March 9, 2012 by bayareafoodie
We arrived late in the morning to the fish booth at the Los Gatos farmers market and missed out on the lobster tail special they had so the fish lady suggested we try her insanely huge prawns instead. She said they tasted just like lobster and she was not kidding! I knew exactly how I wanted to use them… I had just read the Feb. issue of BA and this recipe jumped out at me. To go with the massive shrimps we picked up some cod and halibut from Whole Foods. The result was a pool of wonderfully sweet, salty,clammy, smokey flavors. I will for sure make this again in the future.
BTW -we used polenta instead of the suggested grits but I’m sure it would be great with grits or rice.
Note: The real name of this dish is Bacon-Infused Carolina Fish Muddle but the word muddle is unappetizing to me so I changed it.
Recipe link
Bon Appetit magazine / FEBRUARY 2012
Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: bacon, Bacon-Infused Carolina Fish Muddle, Bon Appétit, bon appetit magazine, cooking, february 2012, fish stew, food, RECIPES | Leave a comment »
The Cats Restaurant & Tavern
Posted on March 2, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Drum roll…..The Cats is back! To the dismay of many the Cats, a BBQ roadhouse in the hills of Los Gatos, closed without much warning about 4 years ago. The building has been around since the 20’s and has housed many different businesses but the most famous was the restaurant/tavern which opened in 1967. Whenever we went we knew we would see an interesting mix of folks and eat a nice piece of meat. Finally someone has got the BBQ pit burning again.
We arrived just before 5pm because we knew if it was anything like the old Cats if you arrived late you were gonna wait and wait and wait to get a table. When we walked in we were pleased to see the upgrades made but glad they didn’t go overboard and lose the charm that existed prior. If you are going for your first visit you will think nothing has been remodeled but the TVs, bar tables, floor, ceiling, fans, any decor whatsoever is all new. We sat in the bar with our friends and sipped on some micro brews for about 30 minutes until our table was ready. When we were seated we asked our waiter if we could order some appetizers and were told that they are only served in the bar. Weird…yes… especially since they don’t tell you that while you are in the bar…so we went straight to the entrees. Prior to coming I had looked over the menu online and was disappointed to find I couldn’t get a steak for under $32 but thankfully we were given a different more reasonably priced menu. Our table ordered the following…. filet mignon, bbq chicken, pulled pork, cheesecake & chocolate cake.
Everyone was happy with the food and the restaurant maintained its predecessors no fuss presentation style. My steak was a tad overcooked but I let that go since they’d only been open for 6 weeks. The only bummer was that the live music didn’t start until 9pm and we were long gone by then. When we left it was obvious that The Cats was as popular as ever as it was standing room only out in the bar.
Welcome back, Cats!
Tiny kitchen
Note: if you have never been it’s hard to find (especially in the dark)…so get your gps ready. Also, there is limited parking. If you want to avoid the drive The Cats is offering a courtesy shuttle from 5pm-10:30pm on the weekends near the Toll House Hotel (runs every 15 minutes). Check their facebook page for more details.
Rating:
Website: http://thecatsrestaurantandtavern.com/
Filed under: Los Gatos, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: bbq, dive bar, food, forkandtell, live music, Los Gatos, review, roadhouse, santa cruz mountains, steak, The Cats Restaurant & Tavern | 1 Comment »
Minny’s Chocolate Pie from “The Help”
Posted on February 21, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Here is the recipe for the famous pie seen in the film “The Help” …minus the special ingredient! This was super simple to make and really delicious with just the right amount of chocolate. Make it for your Oscar party this weekend and you will be WINNING!
Recipe link
Food & Wine Mag/ Aug 2011
Filed under: Dessert / Baked Goods, RECIPES | Tagged: dessert, film, food & wine magazine, Minny's Chocolate Pie, movie, ocsars, oscar party, recipe, the help | 1 Comment »
Belated 4 year Blogaversary
Posted on January 30, 2012 by bayareafoodie
Yesterday marked the 4 year anniversary of Bay Area Foodie. I meant to do something special like go get a Jumbaco (j/k) then completely forgot. So on my way home from work today I stopped by a new cupcake shop in Campbell called Frost Cupcake Factory.
Luckily it was Mini Monday so I could get a bunch of flavors to try. I chose the following…
Mocha Java – stay away from anything with meringue butter cream frosting…has an unpleasant greasy/waxy consistency.
Salt ‘n sweet – should be called super salty! Probably better in the large size.
Frostfetti – frosting was overly sweet.
Maui coconut dream – good flavors but it has the dreaded meringue frosting.
Rose velvet – supposed to taste like red velvet but didn’t.
Snowball – THIS WAS THE BEST! Chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting and covered in coconut. WINNER!
The snowball will have me coming back for more.
Website: http://www.frostcupcakefactory.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Silicon Valley (all cities), VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: 4 year Blogaversary, bakery, baking, campbell, cupcakes, food, frost cupcake factory, review | 3 Comments »
NOPA San Francisco
Posted on January 25, 2012 by bayareafoodie
NOPA is located north of the panhandle in San Francisco and serves up rustic wood-fired cuisine. We stopped in for brunch on a Sunday morning and it was standing room only. Luckily I made a reservation.
We were immediately seated at a table upstairs overlooking all the action. We had a view of the open kitchen, bustling bar and main seating area.
Since we were going to watch a movie following our meal Mike and I decided to share a few apps and a main so we didn’t feel bloated in the theater. We decided on the following…
Goat Cheese Bread Pudding w/ Sautéed Chanterelles and Upland Cress
Bread puddings can sometimes be heavy… this was light and flavorful.
Oven Baked Farm Egg w/ Spiced Tomato, Shaved Pantaleo and Grilled Bread
So,so good. We slopped up every last bite of the spice laden sauce with our toasty bread. It seemed to have every spice under the sun in it (cardamon, cinnamon, cumin, coriander) but it worked.
Grass Fed Hamburger – Bacon, Pickled Onions and Herbed French Fries
The burger was perfectly pink and juicy and the fries were a thicker version of In-N-Out but much better tasting.
This is a great spot to have a homey meal in an energetic environment.
Website: http://nopasf.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Francisco | Tagged: brunch, food, forkandtell, nopa, restaurant, review, San Francisco, travel, wood-fired cuisine | Leave a comment »
The Melt
Posted on January 17, 2012 by bayareafoodie
The man behind the Flip video camera has opened up a high-tech chain of grilled cheese fast food restaurants called The Melt all over the Bay area. Since we were at the Stanford Mall in Palo Alto to pick up the new S’more cupcake at Sprinkles we stopped in for lunch.
The menu was fairly simple composed of 6 grilled cheese sandwiches (called melts), 5 soups, 3 sweet melts and drinks. I was expecting some highly creative sando options but you basically just choose a cheese and bread. Mike ordered the special of the day… The Dirty combo (without jalapeños) – sharp cheddar, tomato, bacon, and BBQ chips on sourdough + Sweet Corn Tortilla Soup. I went with the Classic combo of sharp cheddar on potato bread w/bacon + Two Tomato Basil soup.
The Dirty
We took a seat and admired the cool order board that let’s you know when your food is ready. Since the menu was a bust I was hoping for a taste sensation. Unfortunately, that was also a disappointment. When biting into our sandwiches all we could taste was the cheese. The toppings were so sparse they disappeared completely. I was pumped that you could add bacon to anything for FREE (that should be a rule everywhere) but found you get what you pay for. It was razor thin, limp and flavorless.
The Classic
I can easily make better grilled cheese at home on my favorite panini grill. I will say we enjoyed the corn soup.
I guess if I was at the mall and wanted to grab a quick bite (we were in and out in 20 minutes) I might stop by again for some soup. If you are looking for grilled cheese done right, check out the American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in SF.
Note: if you don’t want to stand in line you can order in advance online.
Website: https://themelt.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, Peninsula, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: bay area, flip video camera, forkandtell, Grilled Cheese, palo alto, restaurant, review, soup, stanford mall, the melt, travel | 2 Comments »
Sprinkles New Cupcake Flavor! I want S’more!
Posted on January 10, 2012 by bayareafoodie
S'more - Belgian dark chocolate cake filled with bittersweet chocolate ganache, topped with toasted marshmallow with a graham cracker crust
Although not photogenic, I had to show you the inside. The graham cracker bottom was genius!
Blake Lively of “Gossip Girl” teamed up with Sprinkles to create a cupcake for charity. 100% of the proceeds from the SUPER FABULOUS S’more cupcake will go to Oxfam.
Hurry up and go get one because it’s a top 5 flavor!
xoxo…Bay Area Foodie
Note: Only available January 6 to February 2, 2012
See how it ranks
Filed under: Northern CA, Peninsula, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Sprinkles (Palo Alto) | Tagged: blake lively, Candace Nelson, charity, cupcake, gossip girl, new flavor, oxfam, smore, sprinkles | 2 Comments »
Potato Latkes
Posted on December 28, 2011 by bayareafoodie
I’ve had the best of both worlds because I’ve grown up celebrating both Chanukah and Christmas. This year my parents came to my house to celebrate Chanukah and we made latkes. When I broke out my new Cuisinart food processor to grate the potatoes and onion my mom shook her head in dismay. “I always use a grater,” she said, “we are not making hashbrowns!”
My mom likes her potato and onion mixture to be like mush, not shredded. So after I used the shredder attachment and it was not to her liking I changed the blade and gave it a few pulses to get it to her perfect consistency. Making latkes is pretty simple and delicious. Happy Chanukah!
Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside
My Mom’s Latkes Recipe
Makes about 16
Ingredients:
2 large russet potatoes (peeled)
1 onion
1 tsp. salt
1 egg (beaten)
3 Tbsp. matzo meal
Vegetable oil to fry
Apple Sauce & Sour cream for serving
Instructions:
Grate the onion and potatoes with a box grater or as I described above (much faster!) into a bowl. Then mix with the remaining ingredients. Heat a skillet with vegetable oil (enough to cover 1/2 of the pancakes) over high heat. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil (don’t crowd) and fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain the latkes on paper towels and sprinkle lightly with salt. Serve with apple sauce and sour cream.
Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: Chanukah, cooking, food, Hanukkah, holiday, jewish, latkes, potato pancakes, RECIPES | 2 Comments »
Coconut Macaroons
Posted on December 27, 2011 by bayareafoodie
For holiday gifts this year I chose to make the 2011 Food & Wine magazine coconut macaroons because I thought it was going to be quick and easy. I was wrong. My first batch was a disaster. I tried to half the recipe because it said it made 40 and I only needed 20. What resulted was a bunch of coconut pancake-like cookies.
Round 1 = EPIC FAIL
I tried again and made the full amount because it was obvious I didn’t have enough coconut. Whoever “tested and perfected” this recipe at F&W mag didn’t do a good job.
Reason 1 – The recipe doesn’t come close to making 40 macaroons as stated, it was more like 25.
Reason 2 -Don’t bake for 25 minutes! If you don’t want badly burnt cookies watch them carefully once they hit 10 minutes in the oven …anything over 15 and you are in trouble.
Reason 3 – There was no mention that the macaroons may run during baking so if you want them to look like what you see in a store (round balls) then you will have to trim the edges.
Reason 4 – They say to stick the finished product in the fridge for about 5 minutes for the chocolate to set. It takes a good 20 min.
In the end they still tasted killer but in order to not have to doctor them up to look presentable they need either more coconut or less sweetened condensed milk.
Recipe link
Food & Wine magazine, Dec. 2011
Filed under: Dessert / Baked Goods, RECIPES | Tagged: baking, Coconut Macaroons, cooking, danny cohen, december 2011, food, food & wine magazine, gifts, holiday cookies, recipe, RECIPES | 2 Comments »
Chez Panisse
Posted on December 24, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Who knew that it was harder to get a reservation at Chez Panisse than the French Laundry? I had no idea that it was still so popular. We attempted to reserve a table for my birthday about 3 weeks prior but they were fully booked. The reservationist said I had to call exactly at 9am one month in advance, to the calendar date so that’s what we did. To Mike’s disdain my usual 1 week birthday would now last 2.
Chez Panisse is a Berkeley institution where famed chef Alice Waters creates her fabulous farm to table feasts. In the 70’s Waters pioneered the concept of preparing meals using fresh seasonal ingredients that are produced sustainably and locally. The restaurant is located in an Arts and Crafts style house on Shattuck Avenue that is small and intimate. Each night they serve a new 3-4 course menu so you won’t know what you are being served until the week you have a reservation (you can check the website). If you are a picky eater and don’t like quail, duck or rabbit eating here may be a gamble for you. Mike and I are down to try anything so this was not an issue for us, but we ended up with a pretty safe menu.
Menu
Nov 19, 2011
An apéritif
Grapefruit champagne cocktail
Course 1
Bellwether Farms sheep’s milk ricotta with fall vegetables and coriander vinaigrette
Course 2
Roasted halibut with savoy cabbage and lobster butter
Course 3
Spit-roasted Piedmontese beef rib eye with Beaujolais sauce, potato cake, chanterelles, and Cannard Farm salad
Course 4
Black Mission fig tartlet with Chartreuse ice cream
Dishes were rustic and simply presented but service was a little stiff. I’m a meat and potatoes girl so course #3 was my favorite. They made beef melt in my mouth and a basic potato cake taste scrumptious. Mike and I both loved our meal. Chez Panisse lost its Michelin star in 2011 to many people’s dismay. If they are not deserving then I tend to question the guides’ ratings because it was more than a meal, it was an experience.
Note: if you are looking for a less formal (and less expensive) meal check out the upstairs cafe.
Rating:
Website: http://www.chezpanisse.com/
Filed under: East Bay, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: alice waters, Berkeley, Chez Panisse, farm to table, food, forkandtell, Organic, restaurant, review | Leave a comment »
Delicata Squash Soup
Posted on December 6, 2011 by bayareafoodie
I’d never seen or tasted a delicata squash until it arrived in our CSA delivery. After some research I found out that it is sweet and most commonly prepared by simply roasting it in the oven, but I decided to take it a step further and make it into a soup.
You know it's a delicata squash by the cool green stripes
When they said it was sweet I expected flavors similar to a butternut squash but it was much more subtle. This tasted like a potato soup with a touch of sweetness. I’ve made many squash soups and sometimes they turn out bland but this, although mild, I found uniquely delicious.
Recipe link
Food & Wine magazine / Feb 1999
For more winter squash recipes check out other bloggers participating in the Food Network’s Fall Fest (a season long franchise where Food Network editors team up with blogs to share tips and recipes about seasonal produce every week)…
And Love It Too: Warm Winter Chili
The Sensitive Epicure: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Cooking Channel: Kabocha Squash Pasta
CIA Dropout: Stuffed Winter Squash
What’s Gaby Cooking: Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash
Dishin and Dishes: Butternut Squash Bisque With Sage Cream
FN Dish: Simply Roasted Winter Squash
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Pomme d’or With Wild Mushroom Risotto
Filed under: RECIPES, Starters & Soups | Tagged: cooking, delicata squash soup, everyday, fall fest, Feb 1999, fn dish, food, food & wine magazine, food network, RECIPES | 2 Comments »
Umami Burger
Posted on December 5, 2011 by bayareafoodie
When humans eat, they use all of their senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste) to form general judgments about their food, but it is taste that is the most influential in determining how delicious a food is. Conventionally, it has been thought that our sense of taste is comprised of four basic, or ‘primary’, tastes, which cannot be replicated by mixing together any of the other primaries: sweet, sour, salt and bitter. However, it is now known that there is actually the fifth primary taste: umami
– Umami Information Center
Umami burger if you are not familiar is a beloved Southern Cali chain that has now opened up on Union Street in San Francisco. When we arrived on a Monday night at 5:30pm the small space was almost empty. I made sure to come at a non-peak time to avoid the long waits I’ve read about.
I went with the signature Umami burger and Mike chose the Manly burger and we shared the truffle cheese fries. When everything arrived I was surprised by the petite size of the burgers (they look larger in photos). I gotta be honest we were hungry… we both downed our burgers within 4-5 bites so I can’t give you a real in-depth evaluation. All I know was mine was sweet and had kind of an Asian vibe and Mike’s had little yummy bacon lardons. Oh, and when I took my first bite my wedding ring was swimming in meat drippings (which was a good thing). The burger was cooked to perfection at medium rare which is their standard. It was juicylicious!
Manly burger (beer cheddar, onion rings,bacon) & Umami burger (shiitake shroom,onion,roasted tomato,parm crisp)
The truffle cheese fries (not on the menu but should be) were great and not overly truffley. They came with a trio of sauces but what I liked best was the homemade ketchup which kinda tasted like it was made with brown sugar.
We will have to go back again to savor the flavor.
Note: I thought we were going to leave hungry but in the end we were perfectly full. No burger bloat.
Rating:
Website: http://umamiburger.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Francisco | Tagged: burgers, food, forkandtell, restaurant, review, San Francisco, travel, umami burger, union | 1 Comment »
Baked Beet Ravioli with Poppy Seed Butter
Posted on November 28, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Our CSA delivery was overflowing with beets in November. Since I was tired of making beet salads I started looking for a unique way to use them when this ravioli recipe grabbed my attention.
If you are not a fan of beets this is not going to convert you. You have to like the flavor because it is prominent. If you enjoy beets like I do you will find these truly satisfying. The only change I would make to the recipe next time is maybe use a more pungent cheese like blue. Other reviewers said they had tried that and I can see that really kicking up the flavor.
I made a few modifications to the Bon Appétit recipe.
1. I’m lazy so I chose to use wonton wrappers instead of fresh pasta (they suggested this option to save time)
2. Instead of boiling the ravioli’s I followed the directions on the wonton package to bake them. Preheat oven to 375. Mist a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Place filled ravioli onto prepared baking sheet and brush tops of ravioli lightly with olive oil then bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Then I spooned over the poppy seed butter (which I added sage to).
This baked version would be better served as an Appetizer – cut in triangles with the butter on the side for dipping.
Recipe link
Bon Appétit | May 2005
For more tasty beet recipes check out other bloggers participating in the Food Network’s Fall Fest (a season long franchise where Food Network editors team up with blogs to share tips and recipes about seasonal produce every week)…
What’s Gaby Cooking: Farro Beet and Herb Salad
My Angel’s Allergies: Roasted Beet and Potato Vinaigrette Salad
Cooking Channel: Garlicky Beet Salad With Walnuts and Dates
The Sensitive Epicure: Simply Sauteed Beets
FN Dish: Top 3 Beet Salad Recipes
And Love It Too: Raw, Vegan and Sugar-Free Red Velvet Fudge
Big Girls Small Kitchen: Beet Salad With Crispy Leeks and Bacon
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Roasted Beet Salad With Bacon Vinaigrette
Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES, Starters & Soups | Tagged: Baked Beet Ravioli with Poppy Seed Butter, beets, Bon Appétit, cooking, fall fest, fn dish, food, food network, RECIPES | 1 Comment »
Farm Fresh To You – Organic Produce Delivery Service ($10 off coupon)
Posted on November 10, 2011 by bayareafoodie
If you were thinking about having organic produce delivered to your home here is your chance. I received a coupon code for $10 off your first shipment from Farm Fresh to You, a Bay Area delivery service. We’ve been getting deliveries from them for over 3 years and we really enjoy it.
To redeem this offer mention promo code #6164 when signing up online or by phone. Please let them know I referred you by giving them my customer id# 63355. Enjoy!
Website: http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/
*This discount is for NEW customers only.
See my past posts about this great local company:
Our first delivery
Recipes made with our produce
Filed under: REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS | Tagged: $10 off, bay area, cooking, coupon, discount, Farm Fresh To You, food, grocery, Health, northern california, Organic Produce Home Delivery, service | Leave a comment »
Palacio Restaurant – Los Gatos
Posted on November 9, 2011 by bayareafoodie
The huge house on North Santa Cruz Ave. in Los Gatos is open for business again. The old site of Trevese is now Palacio featuring high-end Latin American fare. Walking in we were surprised to see the amount of renovations the new owners had made since the last tenants had already made major upgrades. They went as far as moving the kitchen from the 1st floor to the basement. Not sure I like it any better – it was loud, crowded and dark inside. But the added outdoor seating is terrific…that is what brought me back in.
We can’t frequent a Mexican restaurant without trying the margaritas. I had the pineapple and Mike the prickly pear. Mine was grrrreat, Mikes didn’t really taste like anything. Then we snacked on the trio of tacos appetizer which was the same price as the main entree of the same name which didn’t make sense. The steak was good, the rest not so much.
For the main course I chose the chicken enchiladas which were not as I expected. It ended up being a pile of dry, plain chicken on top of 2 sauced tortillas. First bite included half a wish bone… No Bueno!
Mike chose the chicken mole which he liked. Tasted like pumpkin.
Portion size was not large so we were open for dessert. I love coconut so we went with the coconut cheesecake, which was unnecessarily decomposed.
For the price I prefer Casa de Cobre in Saratoga. The quality of food is ten times better. I would not return for dinner but probably happy hour or apps & drinks so we can sit outside.
Rating:
Website: http://www.palaciorestaurant.com/
Filed under: Los Gatos, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: latin american, Los Gatos, mexican food, Palacio Restaurant, restaurant, review | Leave a comment »
Fremont Diner – Sonoma
Posted on November 5, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Fremont Diner is a small revamped diner in Sonoma that serves up tasty vittles like pulled pork, corn fritters, Oyster Po’Boy, mac n cheese and fried pies. Yes, another healthy meal for us! When we told a local we were heading over for lunch he said the food was good but then warned us about the service. When we arrived we put our name on the waiting list and joined the small mob that was standing in the parking lot (no seating area). It looks like it used to be open seating but it is no longer which means on a Saturday you got a good 30 minute wait for your name to be called.
When we were finally seated inside we were not only starving but knew exactly what we wanted because we had plenty of time to peruse the menu. Here is were the poor service thing comes into action. We sat at our table for at least 15 minutes before our waitress decided to come and take our order and it wasn’t like she was buzzing around helping others because the 3 tables around us had just left.
We started off with a milkshake because I had heard they were a “not to miss” item. We chose the salted caramel which had chunks of crystallized salty sweet goodness throughout. I agree, they make damn good milkshakes. Next up Mike ordered the Chicken and Waffles. Bonus was that is was a boneless breast so no dirty hands.
I went with the Shrimp & Grits which I enjoyed but it came with those tiny baby shrimps (I prefer the big guys) and was pretty spicy, but it was topped with an egg and bacon so I forgave them.
For dessert we had the peach bread pudding which wasn’t as good as I had hoped. It had the consistency of a quiche and was a tad burnt but we still ate it all. Stuffed we waited and waited some more for the bill to arrive. Our quick bite at a local diner turned out to be an almost 2 hour event. Good thing we were not in a hurry.
Overall, the positive did outweigh the negative so we will return — on a weekday– and give it another go.
Website: http://thefremontdiner.com/
Filed under: Napa Valley, North Coast, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: Chicken and Waffles, food, Fremont Diner, restaurant, review, Shrimp & Grits, sonoma, travel | Leave a comment »
I’m on Facebook
Posted on October 19, 2011 by bayareafoodie
I bit the bullet and set up a page on Facebook for this blog. Now if you don’t feel like coming to the site everyday (which I know you do) you can keep up to date with my food escapades by finding me here or liking me on the left-hand sidebar <<<<<<<
Why did I do it? I needed a place to post links on the fly to cool upcoming Bay Area food events, news, restaurant openings and deals (groupon/yelp). I read and receive info on these types of things frequently and I rarely have time to create a full blog post about them so now you can find the details on Facebook. Enjoy!
Filed under: VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: bay area foodie blog, facebook, social media | Leave a comment »
Homeroom Mac + Cheese
Posted on October 17, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Rolled up for brunch on a brisk Saturday afternoon. Didn’t take much time to figure out what we wanted because the menu is limited to MAC + CHEESE! This is probably the only restaurant in the area where you will find that. I went with the Breakfast mac (only served Sat and Sun, 11am – 3pm) which includes classic mac with bacon bits and an egg on top.
Mike had the Gilroy Mac – gouda, sharp pecorino and just the right amount of roasted garlic plus he added broccoli (I guess to make him feel healthy). 
As you can see I added toasted breadcrumbs to mine and Mike didn’t. We both agree that you want to add breadcrumbs no matter what! It gives the mac a little extra crunchy dimension. It may look like it’s not creamy but once you break through to the under layer it is ooey gooey. Both were delicious but super rich and filling. We could only eat half but we also wanted to save room for the peanut butter pie which was amazing.
Mike really wanted to try the homemade Root Beer but they said it was not ready yet. Say what? 3pm on a Saturday and you can’t get root beer. Somebody needs to get up earlier and start brewin’.
Note: No, they don’t have a sampler option where you can try a variety of macs. I have requested it but it looks like they want to get you to come back instead of trying it all in one visit. Boo!
Website: http://homeroom510.com/
Filed under: East Bay, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: homeroom, mac & cheese, macaroni and cheese, oakland, restaurant, review | Leave a comment »
Billy’s Boston Chowder House
Posted on October 15, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Billy I wanted to fall madly in love with you but I think we are going to just remain friends. I was uber excited to find out that a New England style restaurant had opened less than 10 minutes from my house in Los Gatos. It’s located near Nick’s on Main where the Smoky BBQ joint and 29 Pizza used to be. Yes, this is the 3rd establishment to set up shop in the last 5 years. I hate to say it but I think this spot may be cursed…
Anyways, we came in early last Friday to check out the eats. They’ve only been open for a month so it can get busy with locals wanting to try the new eatery. We started with the fried clams appetizer which was not on the main menu but on a “specials” handout so I’m not sure if they have them all the time. I was very pleased with them although they were served with a tarter sauce and I prefer cocktail so we had to waive someone down to get some.
Mike went with the chowder in a sourdough bowl for his main course which he seemed to enjoy. I only had a spoonful and it was rich, creamy and buttery. Can’t go wrong with that!
For my main I decided to get the lobster roll (surprise) and against my better judgement I had it dressed instead of with just butter. When it arrived it looked great but as I took a bite the lobster had an unpleasant herby flavor and was dry. Also there was lettuce buried underneath the meat which I’m not a fan of, and I did find 3-4 pieces of shell – never a good thing. A plus was that the bun was nice and buttery but I could only finish half.
So overall we will return to try the other offerings (steamed clams, lobster chowder, fish & chips) but I won’t be having a lobster roll. If I’m craving that I’ll head to The Old Port Lobster Shack.
Note: this is not a cheap place to eat but they do have $4.25 pints of Blue Moon which made me happy.
Rating:
Website: http://www.bostonchowderhouse.com/
Filed under: Los Gatos, Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: Billy's Boston Chowder House, FRIED CLAMS, lobster roll, Los Gatos, new england, restaurant, review | 3 Comments »
Bitter + Sweet Coffee and Dessert Bar
Posted on October 5, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Cool little spot that serves humphry slocombe ice cream and you don’t have to drive to San Fran to get it!!! Nuff said…
You’re Welcome.
2 scoops: Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee & Red Bean Dr. Pepper
Note: they don’t have all flavors just like 4-6. Good coffee too.
Website: http://www.bitter-sweet.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: Bitter + Sweet, cafe, Coffee and Dessert Bar, Cupertino, Humphry Slocombe, ice cream, review | Leave a comment »
Hay Market Willow Glen
Posted on October 4, 2011 by bayareafoodie
We rarely venture to Willow Glen but a new restaurant caught my attention. Picture a space filled with old black and white framed photos (plus one random with Patrick Swayze and some dude with long hair), crates with bottles of wine, stacks of cookbooks and other antique looking stuff cluttered around. Johnny Cash is piped through the sound system as a flick of a guy building a log cabin silently plays on three big HDTVs. Take a seat at one of the long communal tables (be ready to talk to your neighbors) and check out the concise organic menu written on a giant chalk board overhead. Then choose from a few salads, a cheese plate, duck, beef, fowl, pork or fish (1 of each), a burger and a couple sides (menu changes daily/weekly!).
We started with the house salad which was micro greens with a vinaigrette. Very basic and nothing special. I did find it odd that it was served in a big pyrex baking dish. When we walked in and the guy next to us was eating out of one I honestly thought he had brought a salad from home due to the latest lettuce recall. Guess not… Throughout our meal we had 3 glasses of wine (limited choices but good) which were unfortunately served in tumbler glasses. I did see if you order a bottle then you get a real wine glass – I’m sure there is a rational reason for this but I like to swirl.
For our main course I went with the prime rib and Mike had the pork. Both were delicious. Whoever is in the kitchen knows how to cook some meat. Mine was cooked perfectly pink and didn’t have a lot of fat. Mike’s was fork tender with a bit of a kick – he only wished he had more. The portion size was a lot smaller than my dish so we had to get dessert :).
looks sizable but the porky outside skin was not meant to be eaten
For dessert we went with the plum clafoutis with marscapone whip and the chocolate³ which I think was dark & light chocolate crumbled cookies with chocolate milk poured over it. Coupled with decaf french press it was To Die For.
tastes better than it looks!
my tattoo...i feel so badass
I have no idea what the concept of the restaurant is … Quirky European Country? but I left wanting more. I took my temporary tattoo and fresh baked cookies (which came with the bill) and vowed to return.
Notes: Open seating, no reservations, full by 6pm on a Friday night. Look for the hay bales out front cause the sign is pretty hard to see. Serves lunch too.
Rating:
Website: http://haymarketwillowglen.com/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Jose, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: Hay Market, meat, Organic, restaurant, review, san jose, Willow Glen | 4 Comments »
72 Hours in Seattle
Posted on September 14, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Mike and I spent a long weekend in Seattle visiting friends. We had never been so we arrived with a long list of things we wanted to check out and luckily our hosts were game to show us around. Here are the highlights!
Day 1
We arrived around noon and it was amazingly sunny and warm. Everyone said it was the best day of the year so far. To take advantage of the nice weather we decided to tool around Kirkland and grab a bite to eat at the Purple Cafe and wine bar.
I had seen a clip about Purple on the Food Network’s “Best thing I ever Ate” where Melissa D’Arabian said the calamari was to die for. For the table we ordered the calamari, a cheese plate, a bunch of spreads with flatbreads/crackers, bruschetta and lots of wine. I should have known better than to trust the opinion of a winner of “The Next Food Network Star” because I hate that show. The calamari was nothing special AT ALL! It was good but no better than any other calamari I’ve had.
Hey, Melissa! Next time you go try the bruschetta with cambozola cheese, prosciutto and red onion jam …now that’s something to drool over!
Day 2
Before we went on BILL SPEIDEL’S UNDERGROUND TOUR we walked up the street 2 blocks to Built Burger. Built specializes in burgers made with all natural meats from the Northwest. The meat, the buns, the toppings were oh so fresh! Check it out for sure if you are in the area. By the way the tour was fun too.
On our walk back to our car we ran into a little food cart called Street donuts. They serve mini donuts fried to order. We chose coconut with caramel…sooo good! Glad I don’t live here or this could become an addiction.
For dinner we went to a Tom Douglas joint. We had to because he is the king of Seattle. The Palace Kitchen features food cooked in its apple-wood burning grill. We feasted on the following: goat cheese and lavender fondue w/wood grilled bread, palace olive poppers,summer vegetables,washington flat iron steak,tagliatelle w/braised leg of lamb,warm roasted beets,smoked salmon chowder,peach-wild huckleberry crisp and the dahlia triple coconut cream pie. My personal favs were the fondue & coconut cream pie. Now I know why Chef Douglas has such a big following.
Day 3
Today was a little cool and cloudy and rained for the latter half the day but that didn’t stop us from strolling through all the hot spots of Pike Place Market. We hit up Daily Dozen Doughnuts (good stuff), Piroshky-Piroshky (I preferred the sweet over savory) and Pike Place Chowder (better than Boston). It was a slow Monday morning so no flying fish : (
Following that we jumped on a ferry to do some wine tasting in the small town of Bainbridge. The 30 minute ride was relaxing and had fantastic views.
view from the ferry
Walking distance from the boat we found 2-3 tasting rooms. We stopped at Island Vintners which featured wines from 3 local wineries and Eleven Winery. We were very surprised with the high quality of wines sampled and the woman working the Island Vintners room was hilarious.
For our last evening we headed to Bellevue to have apps and drinks at Black Bottle (cool spot) followed by dinner at Din Tai Fung. Din is an award winning Taiwanese run dumpling house that serves up dim sum like dishes all day long. We shared a bunch of entrées like steamed pork soup dumplings, pork buns, shrimp shui mai, green beans and fried rice. Everything tasted great but I gotta admit my favorite thing was the garlic green beans.
We had a blast in Seattle. Shout out to CB & DB for showing us a wonderful time.
Filed under: Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Seattle | Tagged: Bainbridge, black bottle, built burger, daily dozen doughnuts, din tai fung, eleven winery, ferry ride, food, island vintners, Kirkland, palace kitchen, Pike Place Chowder, pike place market, purple cafe, review, seattle, street donuts, tom douglas, travel, underground tour, washington, wine tasting | 3 Comments »
Cambridge: Hungry Mother & Toscanini’s Ice Cream
Posted on September 11, 2011 by bayareafoodie
For our last evening in Boston we headed to Cambridge. We decided to first check out a small restaurant called Hungry Mother that serves up seasonal southern grub. We ordered the following:
GREEN TOMATO GAZPACHO: maine crab salad, cherry tomatoes, cornbread crumbs
FRIED CHICKEN: sautéed collard greens, compressed watermelon, tabasco honey
LOCAL CATCH: summer corn maque choux, cherry tomatoes, lobster-basil emulsion
SKILLET CORNBREAD
All the food was very tasty and well prepared. My favorite was the compressed watermelon. Now I know why the locals love this place.
I highly recommend making a reservation because the space is small. There was a long line when we left.
Rating:
Website: http://www.hungrymothercambridge.com/
We took off without having dessert because I had read about a place a few blocks away that was named by the New York Times as having the best ice cream in the world!
We arrived at Toscanini’s Ice Cream and looked over the menu of over 20 super unique flavors like bourbon flake, salty saffron, vienna finger cookie, bourbon chocolate chip & goat cheese brownie. After trying about 6 my head was spinning and in a hurry to order and not hold up the line any longer I ended up blurting out green tea and cake batter. Yes, two flavors I could easily find at home. Oh, well. Mike won on the selections … he chose salted caramel and fluffernutter which were incredibly good. The ice cream was sooooo rich and creamy that I barely made a dent in my one scoop. It may also be that I had been eating like a pig for 3 days so I had hit a wall…
Note: if you get a small you can still ask for two flavors!
Website: http://www.tosci.com/
Filed under: Boston, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: boston, Cambridge, food, fried chicken, Hungry Mother, restaurant, review, southern, Toscanini's Ice Cream, travel | Leave a comment »
SPORTELLO restaurant & DRINK cocktail bar
Posted on September 5, 2011 by bayareafoodie
On our second evening we ventured to the waterfront area for dinner and drinks at Sportello and Drink, both owned by one of Boston’s most renowned chefs Barbara Lynch.
Sportello (Italian for counter) is a modern Italian take on a diner. The restaurant is composed of almost all counter seating with an open kitchen. The vibe is young and hip…you have to be to sit on a stool for 2 hours : )
We started with the beat, avocado & crab salad and they brought some of the softest bread I’ve ever had along with a cheese, oil & jam concoction that was to die for.
Mains included: tagliatelle pasta with sauce bolognese and fried basil for me and anson mills polenta with wild boar ragu for Mike.
We finished things off by splitting an ice cream sandwich composed of salty pistachio cookies and chocolate gelato (grand combo). All the food was simply prepared and presented but tasted fantastic. I would come back here in a heartbeat. Bravo Barbara!
Website: http://www.sportelloboston.com/
Located under Sportello is the bar Drink. This was the first time we had been to a bar that specializes in the art of cocktails. When you arrive you can’t just belly up to the bar and yell at the bartender. You have to wait for the hostess to show you to a spot either at a stool at the bar, or at the standing only counter tops that run along the walls. Then a server will come and take your order. There is no drink menu (except if you have wine) you simply tell your server your favorite flavors, liquor, or mood you are in and they will return with a drink prepared especially for you by a mixologists. We normally don’t drink cocktails so we had no idea what to order but our server returned with two really nice drinks without much input from us: Gimlet (gin/lime) for Mike and a Bohemian (vodka/grapefruit) for me. This was the perfect ending to our night out.
Website: http://drinkfortpoint.com/
Ratings:
Filed under: Boston, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: Barbara Lynch, boston, Cocktail Bar, drink, food, fort point, italian, restaurant, review, SPORTELLO, travel | Leave a comment »
Sam Adams Brewery Tour
Posted on September 3, 2011 by bayareafoodie
BEST FREE TOUR EVER!!!!
If you have time to go out to Jamaica Plain and do this tour I highly recommend it because you get to drink beer for free ~kinda (they suggest that you leave a couple bucks that is donated to the local community).
Mike and I are not big beer drinkers but we still had fun. Our guide was a funny young guy that showed us around their small brewery which is now only used as a testing facility. We were schooled in Sam Adams history, tasted the malts, smelled the hops then went on to try 3 different beers in our free tasting glasses. Yes, more free stuff!
Note: arrive early in the day (b4 noon) or you may not get a tour ticket. No reservations.
Website: http://www.samueladams.com/share-passion/tours.aspx
Filed under: Boston, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: boston, free, review, Sam Adams Brewery Tour, samuel adams beer, travel | Leave a comment »
Mike & Patty’s
Posted on September 2, 2011 by bayareafoodie
if you blink you'll miss this corner store
I had heard that an itty bitty sandwich shop in Boston’s bay village neighborhood serves up some killer breakfast eats so on our way to the Sam Adams brewery tour we stopped by for some morning grub. You don’t want to drink on an empty stomach 😉 !
We ordered 2 sandwiches:
– fancy bacon and egg with cheddar, avocado, red onion and house mayo on toasted multigrain bread
– classic bacon and egg with cheese on an english muffin
We arrived on a Friday around 11am and there was only one person in front of us but it still took at least 20 minutes to get our food. It felt like the dude working the grill was movin’ in slow mo, but I would too because it was like 110 degrees inside the tiny shop. There are a couple stools to sit inside but we chose to sit out on the curb to avoid drippin’ in sweat. If you are in a hurry I’d call your order in.
Both sandos were good but it’s all about the fancy. The spicy chipolte mayo mixed with the cool avocado, salty bacon and oozy egg on toasty bread was a match made in bfast heaven. I will be trying to recreate this at home in the near future!
oh so fancy!
Website: http://www.mikeandpattys.com/
Filed under: Boston, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: bacon and egg fancy, bay village, boston, breakfast sandwiches, food, Mike & Patty’s, restaurant, review, shop, travel | 2 Comments »
Flour Bakery
Posted on September 2, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Joanne Chang is the chef/owner of Flour Bakery. The Harvard grad turned pastry chef beat Bobby Flay in a Sticky Bun throwdown so of course we had to stop by one of her 3 locations to see what all the hype was about. We arrived at 1pm so it was a bit busy with the daily lunch crowd but the line moved fast and there was plenty of seating. I was worried they would have run out of buns by that time but they had a bunch of them stacked on a display. We also ordered the grilled roast chicken sandwich with brie, arugula, roasted red peppers & caramelized onions, a slice of banana bread and a chocolate chip macaroon. The baked goods were good, nothing earth shattering, and the best part of the sandwich was the bread. It was really fresh and nicely toasted. I gotta admit when I tried the sticky bun I was not impressed. It was not straight from the oven so it wasn’t warm and when I took a bite the nutty caramel topping was solid. We decided to take the rest back to our hotel and by the time we returned it had gotten all ooey-gooey in the box due to the summer heat. I gave it another try and it was 10x’s better.
Moral of the story… make sure you ask them to warm it up if you are going to eat it immediately.
THE sticky bun
Website: http://flourbakery.com/
Filed under: Boston, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: bobby flay, boston, Flour Bakery, Joanne Chang, review, sticky bun throwdown, travel | Leave a comment »
Neptune Oyster
Posted on September 1, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Our first meal in Boston had to be seafood and all reviews pointed to Neptune Oyster. I knew ahead of time that it was difficult to get a table because they don’t take reservations and they only have 6 small tables and a long bar. Protocol is to arrive and put your name on the list and wait it out at the park across the street, or come at 4:59pm (like us -it was our first day so we were exhausted from our red eye flight) and grab one of the last remaining tables.
We started off with the fried ipswich clams with lemon tarter sauce and the P.E.I. mussels in a red curry broth. Both were great but I preferred the clams and Mike the mussels. He made sure to order a basket of bread to sop up every drop of that broth. Next up the Maine lobster roll served hot and drenched in butter. I think it could use a tad more butter if you can believe it. I’m so bad… If you don’t want to feel totally piggy nix the fries like we did and order a salad. It’s nice and fresh.
The service, setting and food were all wonderful. I hope to return to try the lobster pasta.
Note: If you like oysters (we don’t) boy do they have oysters …there were too many varieties to count.
Rating:
Website: http://www.neptuneoyster.com/
Filed under: Boston, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: boston, food, FRIED CLAMS, lobster roll, Neptune Oyster, restaurant, review, travel | Leave a comment »
Boston 2011
Posted on August 31, 2011 by bayareafoodie
View from the top of Bunker Hill Monument
We had an awesome trip to Boston the first week of August. We stayed at the Omni Parker House Hotel which is not only in a super location it’s the birthplace of the original Boston Cream Pie! The pie is actually a cake with a custard filling and if you order room service they will bring you a little mini version. So cute! I didn’t realize that the hotel was haunted by Mr. Parker himself until after it was too late to cancel our reservation but luckily we saw no site of him. They say if you want to get a glimpse you must stay on the 10th or 3rd floor. I made sure we stayed clear.
The legendary Boston Cream Pie
The first thing we did when we got off the plane was hit the freedom trail. I signed us up for one of those walking tours with a guide dressed in an 18th century costume. This was a highlight of the trip. Our guide was funny and very informative.
We also took the Upper deck trolley tour and learned very little historic facts. If you have a choice choose the walking tours and if you need transportation get the 7 day T (subway) pass – it’s the best deal ever!
Website: http://www.omnihotels.com/findahotel/bostonparkerhouse.aspx
Website: http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/
Filed under: Boston, Outside the Bay Area, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, VERY RANDOM THOUGHTS | Tagged: boston, boston creme pie, freedom trail, haunted, omni parker house hotel, tours, travel | Leave a comment »
Garlic-Pesto, Brie & Onion Burger
Posted on August 30, 2011 by bayareafoodie
We love burgers…this time it was made with beef from our grass-fed beef club. The meat was fantastic. This recipe is from the burger queen herself, Miss Ray. Tasty…but not good for a first date.
Recipe link
Rachael Ray
Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: burger, cooking, Don't-Kiss-Me Garlic Burgers, food, Garlic Pesto Brie & Onion Burger, Rachael Ray, RECIPES | 4 Comments »
Project Open Hand Peanut Butter
Posted on August 18, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Project Open Hand peanut butter is all natural, trans-fat free, and contains ONE ingredient – peanuts!
Project Open Hand, a San Francisco non-profit food relief organization that provides meals and groceries to the city’s most vulnerable residents is now selling their popular homemade peanut butter to the Bay Area masses. Check out their story…
Purchase it at Project Open Hand – 730 Polk Street or SF Whole Foods markets.
Also, find the peanut butter featured in Humphry Slocombe ice cream flavor “Open Hand Fluffer Nutter” and Dynamo Donut’s “Open Hand Peanut Buddy” donut!
Project Open Hand provided me with a sample of the honey roasted peanut butter and, WOW, it was the best I’ve ever tasted. I decided to use some of it in a peanut butter milk chocolate pudding dessert. It turned out wonderfully creamy and soooo flavorful. If you can get your hands on some of this stuff you will be a happy camper and supporting a great cause.
Recipe link
Bon Appétit | January 2009
Website: http://www.openhand.org/
Filed under: Dessert / Baked Goods, RECIPES, REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS | Tagged: Bon Appétit, food, homemade, natural, Peanut Butter, peanut butter milk chocolate pudding, Project Open Hand, RECIPES, review, San Francisco non-profit food relief organization, short documentary | Leave a comment »
Old Port Lobster Shack
Posted on August 2, 2011 by bayareafoodie
The Naked Lobster Roll
I gotta get this out before we leave for Boston tomorrow.
Hi, My name is Nicole and I’m a lobstaholic. I can’t believe I’ve lived in the Bay for over 24 years and never heard of the Lobster Shack until late last year.
We finally made the trek to the Redwood City Shack in December 2010.
I didn’t write this post earlier because they are supposed to open a location in Cupertino which is very close to my home so I was going to complete the review after I had tried more of their offerings but as of today it’s still not open (tear)…
When we arrived I was amazed to see a long line outside to get in. Really…at 6pm? Is it that good? After standing for 30 minutes in the cold we placed our order and were seated in a mini picnic table for two. The decor is a classic New England motif filled with fishing gear. You will feel like you have been transported to a fish market on a East Coast pier. We had come for one thing…the lobster rolls. I ordered the naked lobster roll (comes with a side of drawn butter) and Mike the Maine lobster roll (mayo, green onions, salt & pepper). Along with the roll you receive salty crispy fries, slaw and some wicked awesome sweet pickles. The lobster was cooked perfectly and as you can see they give you a generous amount. I only wish the roll was buttered a bit more…luckily I had the side of butter : )
The Maine Lobster Roll
Everything was well worth the wait. I can’t wait to try the steamers and the fried clams!
WARNING TO THE OWNERS: you will see a lot of me when you open your Cupertino location! Please open soon…
Rating:
Website: http://www.oplobster.com/index.htm
Note: they also have a food truck now so you’ll find them rollin’ around the Bay. Their Facebook/Twitter pages have the best updates on its location.
Filed under: Northern CA, Peninsula, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: bay area, clams, food truck, lobster rolls, maine, Old Port Lobster Shack, redwood city, restaurant, review, travel | 4 Comments »
Lillie Mae’s House of Soul Food
Posted on July 26, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Is there Soul Food in Santa Clara? You know the shabby looking wood building down the street from the San Jose Airport… well, they have a new tenant. Lillie Mae has moved in and is cookin’ up all your soul food favorites like BBQ ribs, brisket, catfish, collard greens, mac & cheese and of course fried chicken.
We arrived early on a Saturday night and as we got out of our car we were blown away by the intense aroma of BBQ. We knew we were in the right place. We headed to the counter ordered our meals then sat and waited for our # to be called. I knew things were going to go well when I saw a variety of hot sauces on the table. The food arrived after about a 15 minute wait. I had the fried chicken with mac & cheese, boomin’ baked beans and cornbread along with sweet tea. Mike chose the beef brisket/bbq chicken combo with collard greens, sweet potato fries and cornbread along with grape kool-aid. Yes…we went all in, taking no prisoners.
Let me start with a blow-by blow of my dinner. The fried chicken was just how I make it. Nothing fancy just downright good. Salty crispy skin and tender chicken. My mac was peppery and super cheesy and the baked beans were some of the best I’ve ever had — very unique rendition that tasted like sweet chili with big chunks of hamburger. They should change the name to Bangin’ baked beans! I had enough leftovers to take home for lunch the next day.
Mike on the other hand cleaned his plate. The smokey brisket & chicken was demolished along with the vinegary collard greens that he adored. The fries were standard fare and the only downer for Mike and I was the cornbread. It had a weird yeasty flavor. Everyone seems to rave over it so maybe we just got a bad batch.
We were really surprised to find tasty soul food in such an unexpected location (if you’ve been to Santa Clara you know what I’m talking about… let’s just say it’s not very soulful). Next time I’m leaving room for dessert…love me some peach cobbler!
Note: If you are into chicken & waffles they have them on the weekends. To avoid lines come early (b4 7pm).
Rating:
Website: http://www.houseofsoulfood.net/
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: ca, fried chicken, Lillie Mae's House of Soul Food, mac & cheese, restaurant, review, san jose airport, santa clara, soul food | Leave a comment »
Dishcrawl San Jose
Posted on July 22, 2011 by bayareafoodie
Dishcrawl is a new company that hosts walking food tours in select cities across the Bay Area. I love a good food tour where you get to sample new and unique eats. Mike and I decided to go on the San Jose crawl on Tuesday June 28, 2011 at 7pm. Each crawl features 4 destinations.
Our night started off at Billy Berk’s large outdoor seating area where we checked in and got our dishcrawl team assignment (we began as one large group then split into 2 smaller 30+ person groups). We stayed here 1 hour and were able to have cocktails (not included in price) and sampled Billy’s American fare which included very good flatbreads and so-so fried zucchini.
Next we walked to House of Siam a Thai restaurant maybe 2 blocks away. After we took off our shoes (thank goodness I wore socks!) we were seated and ate a plate of fried sweet potatoes, a pickled salad and a spicy chicken curry (I think….we were not given any formal description of what we were eating). We were here for 45 minutes which left plenty of time (maybe too much) to chit chat with our fellow crawlers.
Then we were off to the Eat On Monday food truck which was parked a few blocks away to nosh on fried pork sandwiches with wasabi slaw, beef tacos and churros with strawberry sauce. This was our favorite spot of the night.
Last stop was the Dishcrawl San Jose office to nibble on Li’l Puffs Artisan marshmallows (they don’t have a storefront). They served up mini smore’s cupcakes as well as marshmallows.
The evening lasted about 2.5 hours and was co-hosted with LikeList who gave us some cool parting gifts (tshirts/flashlights). The Dishcrawl organizers are young, energetic and ready to have a good time. The majority of the people on our tour were in their 20’s to early 30’s but there were a handful of older folks like us. Although outnumbered we didn’t feel out of place. Overall it was a fun time.
The only drawback I see is that they don’t let you know where you are going until the last minute – if at all. In the first few months they were good about telling you what restaurants you were visiting but now they don’t say anything until maybe 4 days before. If you watch their twitter feed you might find a couple hints. I don’t know about you but I’m not interested in crawling to a bunch of places I’ve already been so I didn’t order our tickets until 2 days before the event.
They seems to add new cities and states every month so there is bound to be a Dishcrawl you would like to check out. I look forward to seeing what they have planned for Saratoga, Mike’s old stomping grounds.
Website: http://www.dishcrawl.com/
Our night in pics:
Filed under: Northern CA, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK, San Jose, Silicon Valley (all cities) | Tagged: dishcrawl, food, san jose, tour, travel, Walking Tour | Leave a comment »
Strawberry Blintz Ebelskivers
Posted on July 18, 2011 by bayareafoodie
The ebelskivers are back and better than ever! Imagine a blintz and a pancake all rolled into one. These were over the top good. We again saved a little time by using the Williams Sonoma mix. The recipe suggests using 1 tsp. of filling but use close to 2 …you’ll thank me.
Ebelskivers from the past…
Chocolate Ebelskivers
Cinnamon-Bun Ebelskiver
Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: baking, breakfast, ebelskiver, food, RECIPES, Strawberry Blintz Ebelskivers | Leave a comment »
The French Laundry
Posted on July 17, 2011 by bayareafoodie
What did we do for our 5 year wedding anniversary? We went to one of the best restaurants in the world…the French Laundry owned by Chef Thomas Keller!! How did we get a reservation? See below. It was a gorgeous July day in the Napa valley when we arrived for our three hour lunch. As we entered we were welcomed, congratulated on our anniversary and promptly escorted upstairs to our table. We were the first to arrive to the small dining room. As our waiter described the menu the other 4 tables in our area filled with guests from China, Florida, Arizona and New York but no VIPs or celebrities. Due to the close proximity of the tables it was easy to hear the conversations around us especially the woman who decided she was going to make and receive phone calls during the first half of her meal (she did keep them short but still so rude!).
Deciding what to order was easy as we were not going to do any of the supplements and for the few courses that we had a choice we chose one of each so we could try everything served that day. Mike instantly fell in love with the 100+ page wine list presented on an Apple ipad (the technology not the prices…). He decided on two half bottles to accompany our meal. We started with a Lazy Creek Riesling and ended with a Biale Black Chicken Zinfandel. Together they ran about $125 and were some of the cheapest bottles on the list which brought our total bill to $720. Both wines were wonderful but the Black Chicken blew us away so much that we are going to visit the winery next week.
The menu for 7.8.2011
Amuse-bouche #1
Gruyère Cheese Puffs
Amuse-bouche #2
Salmon Tartare atop a Crème Fraiche Filled Poppyseed Cone
Course #1
“ O Y S T E R S A N D P E A R L S ”
“Sabayon” of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and White Sturgeon Caviar
Course #2
S A L A D O F H A W A I I A N H E A R T S O F P A L M
Lychee, French laundry Garden Cucumber and Greek Basil
Course #3
A T L A N T I C C O D “C O N F I T A L A M I N U T E”
Brentwood Corn Mousse, Summer Squash, Parsley Shoots and Demi-Sec Tomatoes
Course #4
S W E E T B U T T E R – P O A C H E D M A I N E L O B S T E R T A I L
Charred Leek, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Piedmont Hazelnuts and Vanilla-Sauternes Emulsion
S A N T A B A R B A R A S P O T P R A W N S
Green Mission Fig, Young Coconut, Hass Avocado, Red Jalapeno and Cilantro
Course #5
L I B E R T Y F A R M P E K I N D U C K
“Confit de Canard,” Steamed Bun, Nantes Carrots, Radish, Edamame and “Sauce Japanaise”
D E V I L ‘S G U L C H R A N C H “E P A U L E D E L A P I N”
Summer Pole Beans, Smoked Garlic Puree and Hobbs’ Bacon “Jus”
Course #6
S N A K E R I V E R F A R M S “C A L O T T E D E B O E U F G R I L L E E”
“Pommes Darphin,” Chanterelle Mushrooms “a la Greque,” Quail Egg and English Peas
Course #7
“B R I L L A T S A V A R I N”
Pistachio “Pain de Genes,” Celery Branch and French Laundry Garden Strawberries
Course #8
N E C T A R I N E S O R B E T
Earl Grey Tea “Granite,” Honey and Grilled Nectarines
Course #9
C A R A M É L I A C H O C O L A T E “ C R È M E U X ”
Gros Michel Banana, Georgia Peanuts, “Dentelle” and Salted Popcorn Ice Cream
“Î L E F L O T T A N T E”
Lemongrass, Meiwa Kumquat, Black Sesame and Ginger “Anglaise”
ANNIVERSARY BANANA CAKE
M I G N A R D I S E S:
6 Truffles (hazelnut, cherry, ginger, meyer lemon, olive oil, peanut butter & jelly)
Cold Espresso with Cappuccino Foam & Sugar Doughnuts
Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts from Hawaii
PARTING GIFT:
Shortbread Cookies
Our experience in photos: