Foodie Digest

Even though you’d think I’d have learned not to go to restaurants the first week they are open, I still do. And sometimes I am treated to a very pleasant surprise.

54 Mint  is one of those surprises. It’s a great cute space with exposed brick and a long dining bar. There are a few small tables that often turn into a community table (a table that would seat 6 would turn into tables for two groups, for example). And there’s some frenetic energy going on there (more on that later).

oh? and the NY part? The chefs/owners bring a great pedigree from a variety of New York restaurants. I first read about this place in my faithfully subscribed to and read Tablehopper newsletter. And now when I re-read it I wonder if it was dry cured beef or pork and if my meat sauce was beef or pork. Things to discover on my next trip to 54 Mint.

We definitely experienced some new restaurant dysfunction, but the proof is in the food and the quality of the meal here was fabulous. Here’s a rundown of the meal (and experience).

We walk into the restaurant and think ooh, this space is cool. We get smiles from the staff and I wander over to the host area. The server/host/everything person seems a bit crazed and says to me — several times over the next 10 minutes or so — I see you there I’m not ignoring you really, I see you. Eventually I someone else jumps in and we’re given 2 seats around the corner of the bar. Perfect for conversation but close enough for us to see into the kitchen. Still, -1 for the greeting/seating experience.

Lucky for me, I am sitting below huge blocks of smoked and cured meats. Which of course encourages me to order them. As soon as we sit we are welcomed and offered drinks while olives are delivered to our area. We order a glass of wine (for me) and a beer (for him). Again, there’s a small lapse in time before one of the owners (I think) jokes with us about our server/bartender/food preparer not being attentive enough to us, and then takes our order. Which is:

salumeria plate Really, like I could sit below this and not order it? It was tempting to get the aged pecorino or parmigiana, but we stuck with meat over cheese. This plate had (I think) 3 slices each of:

• proscuitto (really, what can be said. It was shaved thin, tasty, and would make a great sandwich).
• salami something or other (dry aged, tasty, thin round with a thick slice)
• spiced chorizo like salami (smoky, my favorite, thin round with a thick slice)
• cured beef (his favorite. again, shaved thin.

ratatoulle sicilian style. This was incredibly tender and sweet with roasted peppers, pine nuts and raisins. Served with toasts and eventually with a basket of bread. The bread was generous and rustic and served warm.

gnocchi house made with a meat sauce. The sauce in this dish remained piping hot for the night. The gnocchi were delicate and light; the sauce a hearty complement. 

porchetta or pork belly goodness. This came with mashed potatoes laced with cheese? crack? something addictive. One of the best preparations of this dish I’d ever had.

Service to this point was friendly and attentive. Our plates and silverware were exchanged between courses but I had to request a water refill.

And then. The reminder that this restaurant was only 3 days old. We waited. and waited. and waited. and waited. and waited. We thought about dessert. Then thought against dessert after an hour. Eventually we asked about dessert. For the evening they had panna cotta, peach crostada and chocolate cake. Our owner/server person raved about the chocolate cake. Said if we ordered it and didn’t like it he (Claudio I believe) would pay for it. We smiled and ordered the peach crostada.

Out came our crostada with a slice of chocolate cake. So we tried it. It was good. If you were a rich chocolate cake person you might think it was the best chocolate cake you’d ever had. I don’t know — go try it and tell me.

Of course we wait again to get our check (and wait. and wait. and wait. and then remind them) and eventually pay.

Given that we were sitting at the bar and got our food quickly, it’d be surprising to have this meal last over an hour. We were there at least 2 and much of the time was spent waiting.

But.. would I go back again? In a heart beat. This is clearly the best prepared italian food in our neighborhood, and some of the best I’ve had in the city. They don’t take reservations so I’d expect to wait, tho hopefully some of the extra waiting around will get better over time. I will say the staff was charming and friendly and seemed to truly enjoy being there.

Overall thumbs: Up. The location, food and attitude will bring me back.

Tastiness rating: High. House made pastas and expertly prepared pork belly will bring me back.

Service rating: Mixed. Very friendly, professional and competent but highly distracted.

We’d been to Axis cafe once or twice before. They’ve got a great patio in back of the restaurant. Weekday service has been order at the counter and wait for service. We drove by with the dogs and noticed they had 2 tables out front. I also remembered reading the patio was dog friendly (even tho you walk through the restaurant).

and.. it is! We arrived 11 or so on a Sunday. I walked in the to host stand and responded to the “how many” question with “2, but we also have 2 dogs”. “Not a problem” she said with a smile. I beckoned to the outside crew and in we went. Through the restaurant! to the wonderful back patio complete with wind protecting walls.

We were presented with a menu with a great mix of breakfast and lunch type items. On this visit I had the oatmeal and he had the bison burger. In the past I’ve tried the soup (great!) and have repeatedly had the tuna/avocado salad. Mmm. still one of my favorite salads.

the oatmeal was a generous portion (half for tomorrow!) of slow cooked oats with currants and pecans and topped with fresh strawberries. A cinnamon stick was buried in for flavor. This was really hearty and tasty.

the bison burger is served on a flavorful rosemary bun with avocado, roasted peppers and garlic aioli. It’s served with a side salad.

The dogs chilled out in the patio completely oblivious to the other dogs chilling out.

I really love the atmosphere here, and the food is quite solid and reasonably priced. Plenty of great options on the menu and really look forward to returning.

Overall thumbs: Up. While the charm in this place really is the patio, the inside is pleasant. 

Tastiness rating: High. Their food is good. Not swoon-worthy, but good.

Service rating: Good. We had a dog water bowl with us that they offered to fill as they sat us. Our server was friendly and efficient and our water glasses were refilled regularly.

Another winner.

We’d been fans of Couleur Cafe in Potrero Hill for the great outdoor patio and consistent food. And while the food was decent, it wasn’t food we craved week after week.

Apparently we weren’t the only ones; the owners revamped Couleur Cafe and reopened it as PizzaNostra. Ahh, a friendly neighborhood pizza place.

We’ve been twice now; once for dinner with just the two of us, and once in the patio with the 2 dogs. Each time our food has been great (and this place has only been open a week!). Friendly service and as an added bonus they had an abundance of dog water bowls.

So far we’ve had:

• burrata with fava bean salad: The burrata here is good. Fresh but not mind-blowingly pillowy. Still, great flavor and a generous portion.
• Eli’s meatballs: really great sauce, dense and flavorful meatballs.
• Grilled octopus salad: served with chickpeas. This was decent. Not enough octopus to make me order it again but was fine.
• Rock shrimp and white bean salad: rock shrimp served over fennel and white beans with a lemony mint dressing. This was really bright and refreshing. 
• Gnocchi with meat sauce: again, a great sauce. tender gnocchi. 
• Pizza caprese: fresh prosciutto parma and arugula. This was wonderful. The pizza is cooked with great cheese and parma, then pulled out of the oven and topped with 2 more types of cheese and tons of fresh arugula.
• Pizza cannibal: with bolognese and a fresh egg. This was our brunch pizza. Definitely a fork and knife pizza but also very good.
• TRONCHETTO NUTELLA AND BANANA. This was a dessert pizza. They also do a tronchetto with savory ingredients. A tronchetto is basically a rolled pizza, but not folded like a calzone. The dessert one is cooked with marscapone cheese, nutella and banana, then dusted with sugar and cocoa powder. It’s very delicious.

While I like all the food here, the stars are definitely the pizzas. A blistered crust with high quality toppings. Our first visit we sat at the counter overlooking the kitchen and chatted with both the pizza chef and the head chef. The head chef is responsible for the phenomenal sauces we had and both of them were incredibly friendly.

I’ve been very pleased with the meals and service here. The outside patio was wide open when we got there at 11:30 on a beautiful Saturday but was fully packed when we left at 12:30. 

Overall thumbs: Up. Extra points for the great dog friendly patio.

Tastiness rating: High. I could live on pizza every day. Especially really great pizza with such high quality ingredients.

Service rating: Very good. We were there the 2nd night it opened and the chef made certain we got the service we needed (waitstaff was a little sluggish that eve). Our 2nd visit had good service.

We’ve heard good things about Gary Danko for years and have always had it on our must try list. A gift certificate helped push us one step closer to going, but we needed a reason to remember to plan 2 months in advance for a reservation. Finally we went last night.

You can choose the set tasting menu or build your own with 3, 4 or 5 courses. You can choose what courses you like and how many from each category (you could, for example, have 5 dessert courses). We went the traditional route but might take a different trip next time around.

We had:

amuse bouche of local crab over grapefruit this was a very cute presentation. It was an odd combination with the crab on a stringbean on grapefruit. If you liked grapefruit and crab you’d probably like this dish (I did). If you only like one (crab, not grapefruit) you’d find the dish a bit astringent. The stringbean was an added texture but an odd accessory.

Appetizer course

Lobster Salad with Persimmons, Pistachios, Chestnut Mousse and Pomegranate Seeds We deemed this the easy winner of the two appetizers and probably one of the most interesting dishes of the night. The chestnut mousse was very unique and was a nice complement to the pomegranate. Really a great dish.

Seared Sonoma Foie Gras with Caramelized Red Onions and Fuji Apples This dish lost the appetizer battle ground. The caramelized onions were a bit too flavorful against the foie gras and overpowering. The foie gras itself needed something with texture to balance against. I wish I’d gone for the lobster risotto this course instead.

Seafood course

Seared Sea Scallops with Parsnip Purée, Maitake Mushrooms and Sauce Maréchal we had a clear tie between these two dishes. The scallops were well prepared but a teensy bit overdone. The mushrooms had hidden bacon which is ALWAYS a bonus. Very tasty.

Pancetta Wrapped Frog Legs with Garlic Purée, Potato, Lentils and Parsley This was served in a sea of parsley sauce. The frog legs were easy to eat and smoky from the pancetta. The lentils were nice. A pleasant dish.

Meat and game course

Herb Crusted Tuna with Crème Fraîche Spaetzle, Toasted Pine Nuts, Belgian Endive and Orange I took advantage of the design your menu how you’d like option and went for tuna instead of meat here. The tuna was prepared exceedingly rare (as requested). The spaetzle was a crunchy delight. I declared this dish a winner; we ended with a split decision.

Guinea Hen Breast with Braised Leg, Chestnut Gnocchi, Brussels Sprouts, Apples and Pancetta The braised leg was the highlight of this dish. The gnocchi didn’t really have chestnut flavor. A well prepared dish, but not overly interesting.

Dessert (we swapped the order between this and the cheese course)

Lemon Soufflé Cake with Crème Fraîche Panna Cotta and Pomegranate Sorbet This was the dessert we both wanted to get and really was the star. The panna cotta was fantastic and the cake itself light. Would definitely get this again.

French Macaroon Ice Cream Sandwiches with Three Sauces Had we been thinking we would have opted for another appetizer course instead of a second dessert. Yes, these were all tasty (3 different flavors of macaroon with different ice cream flavors). But the cake as outstanding and blew this away.

and the cheese course.

The presentation of this is impressive. They roll out with the cheese cart and describe the dozen or so cheeses on it. You get to choose 4 of them (which meant we got 8). While I enjoyed this, I’ve been spoiled enough by eating plenty of great cheese from Whole Foods and Cowgirl Creamery, as well as from Bin36 in Chicago. 

Bonus dessert

Because we were celebrating our anniversary they brought us out a lovely plate of mini desserts. Most of them were chocolate based (so for us only just OK). They also sent us home with pumpkin cream cheese muffin.

Overall thumbs: Up. The combination of highly considerate service and very consistent food make this a sure bet.

Tastiness rating: High. The food was consistently good but nothing was amazing or inventive.

Service rating: Among the best. From the moment we walked in we were well taken care of. We were offered drinks upon seating, a sommelier was sent over as we were making drink decisions, and all of the staff were unobtrusive in helping serve and clear. The only weak spot — our water drinks were close to empty and the non-wine drinker wasn’t asked for drink orders whenever his glass when empty.

We finally dragged ourselves out in the sunshine today for an urban hike and errands. Up Powell (you need one steep hill to hit an urban hike) we started looking for outside seating for lunch. We wandered past Danilo Bakery’s BaoNecci, and I remembered I’d read good things about this place. In we went.
You order at the counter here so we order two of the daily specials and a focaccia sandwich. We had:
Cannelini soup A mostly pureed white bean soup served in a substantial bowl with a drizzle of olive oil. Really nice comforting flavors.
Roasted pork with white beans There was an option of potatoes or beans with this dish. A good lunch sized portion of thinly sliced pork. Incredibly tender served in its own juices.
Proscuitto and fresh tomato focaccia sandwich The focaccia is thinly sliced and crispy. Really delicate flavors with just a touch of olive oil.
All in all, a really satisfying lunch. They also sell pizza whole or by the slice. While we were there a table near us had a pizza made to order. It look fantastic with a crispy thin crust. Would definitely go back to try the pizza. Glad to know they are open on Sundays but daylight hours only.

Overall thumbs: Up. The service was warm and friendly, the food excellent, and the atmosphere bustling. I  look forward to going back.

Tastiness rating: High. Really great lunch. Not too filling or rich but just good honest food.

Service rating: Good. Very warm service. You order at the counter and they bring food to you. We bought some desserts to go and paid for everything as we were leaving.

Since our first visit to Orson we’ve heard it going through some ups and downs. I’ve now gone back 2x and have to say, I’m impressed.

Our first visit was for drinks and appetizers with an out of town guest. We had a fun time in our neighborhood—oysters and drinks at Bacar, drinks and snacks at Orson, more drinks at Tres Agaves, and then dinner at Coco500. We do live in a great dining ‘hood. I went back again with a friend who moved out of the Bay area and needed a good meal when she returned.

For drinks and snacks, we had:

• pork belly, pizza, & tempura egg.

It’s Sushi Thursday. This time we combined dinner and a movie (and another comic book movies.. seems the trend for the week). Anyway, picking a destination between work and home brings us to San Mateo. Big used to go to Sushi Sam’s before he ate sushi and never remembered it being that special.

Still, it’s in the top tier category on Sushi Monster’s Big Sushi list and this guy has not steered us wrong. We try to get there early because I’ve read there can be a wait.

Sure enough, we get there and a line has started outside. We put our name in and learn there’s no waiting at the sushi bar. Score! We look at the menu and think “sushi omakase is only 8 pieces? that won’t work”. We ask and they say we can increase so we order 12 piece omakase and a seaweed salad.

and wow. We start out with a martini glass filled with a noodles, eggplant and a cooked shrimp. Was a really tasty combination.

I did not take notes during the omakase or take pictures (shame!). I do remember we had a great spicy lobster. The raw fish was all amazing, including the blue shrimp. The treatments were inventive; shiso leaf, salt, sprouts, almonds, pine nuts and more.  The only downturn was the introduction of cooked fish. But that’s only because we don’t prefer cooked fish not because they weren’t tasty.

Next time we go back we’ll likely order on our own, but I always like to start with omakase.
So lame review, I know, but really good sushi!