Foodie Digest

We’ve had some phenomenal meals in Chicago, some OK meals, and some oh why did I waste the calories on that meals (usually because we’re in chicago and alcohol is involved. Or family. Either way, some random excuse. Usually alcohol).

Our first night in we decide to check out Avec. It’s the sister restaurant to Blackbird and we loved our meal at Blackbird.

Anyway, there are a few things to note about Avec:

• No reservations. In our case a bonus since we didn’t know when our flight would get in
• Small and big plates, but all good for sharing and not coursing to yourself
• Communal tables. Usually a good thing; here they are communal to the point you’re trapped in your seat by complete strangers who can control whether or not you can get up/go to the restroom/leave the restaurant.

Anyway, get meet our friends there on a Saturday night. They did the first half hour of table waiting w/out us and we joined them for the next hour. Was fine; we sat outside and enjoyed some beverages and the nice weather.

We’re finally seated (at a communal table where I have to ask some random strangers to get  up whenever I want to use the restroom. I guess I could have sat on the outside seats but then my friends would have had to ask random strangers to get up to use the restroom).

Anyway, the random strangers sitting to the left of us offer menu suggestions. Our server comes and we order away. As in seriously did we miss anything from the menu? Oh yeah. the pork belly. because when we tried to order it they said they were out.

We order:

• house-marinated mediterranean olives: these were a nice variety, plump, and juicy. They also came with bread to sop up the extra olive oil.
• chorizo-stuffed madjool dates with smoked bacon and piquillo pepper-tomato sauce This is a signature dish and it’s clear to see why. Really fantastic flavor. The dates and chorizo are nice balance and the bacon is just a bonus.
• Housemade baccala with red and yellow watermelon, cucumber, pickled watermelon rind, mint aleppo pepper and olive oil This was just OK. The baccala was a bit stringy. The watermelon was lovey but not enough to make the dish a winner.
• mixed salumi platter Very nice assortment. Came with 4 types and 4 pieces of each so perfect for sharing.
• pan-roasted hanger steak with rapini, roasted corn, smoked paprika lima beans and beans herbed butter Ugh. This was inedible. Like chewing steak flavored gum. Don’t get me wrong; the flavor was nice. The lima beans were great. The corn tasted a bit tired. But the steak? Terribly awful. We mentioned this to our server who responded with “Well, hanger steak is a tough cut”. Sure, we know that. But even as novice chefs we know it’s low and slow to make hangar steak taste good. It shouldn’t be on a menu if it’s not. She did say she’d have the chef try it. 10 minutes later she reported back that it was taken off our bill. I’m going with the belief that we just had a flukishly bad serving. Which should never happen in a great restaurant but…
• slow roasted crispy duck with marinated market plums, tarragon, grilled onion and savory streusel I don’t eat duck so I didn’t try this. I was told it was good but very salty.
• wood-fired pizza with blistered tomatoes, grilled sardines, fresh ricotta and basil This was interesting. The sardines were in chunks rather than whole pieces. The flavor was nice, though.
• “deluxe” focaccia with taleggio cheese, truffle oil and fresh herbsTHIS was fantastic. Worth going back for. Imagine your most favorite grilled cheese sandwich. Then add truffle essence. There’s a truffle cheese we love that melts like this. I would stop by for drinks and order just this and be happy. Actually, if we’d ordered just this I probably would have been happy.
• 6 cheese selections (which I can’t remember) We ordered these after being underwhelmed by the dessert choices and because they had a large cheese selection. The portions of cheese were nice and all were good. A couple were outstanding (alright, one was outstanding). We also got the quince paste which was nice.
• sorbet We didn’t actually order this. It came as a gift from our server after she stabbed my friend. Or accidentally dropped a knife off a plate that COULD have stabbed my friend. I think she missed. Or my friend was properly anesthetized from the multiple bottles of wine that she didn’t know if she was stabbed. Either way our server was nice to bring it and it was a nice flavor.
  Would I go back? probably not. If I lived in Chicago I might. My friends who live in Chicago usually have enjoyed their meals here but found tonight’s menu not as interesting in as some of the ones in the past. I think we just landed on an off night so…

  Overall thumbs: Sideways. We had a great time but were underwhelmed.

  Food tastiness: What a range. From fantastic (focaccia) to inedible (steak).

  Service rating: Pretty good. We had to ask for water 2x when we were outside. Our server needed to confer with the chef before giving credit for an improperly prepared dish. But she did try to compensate for dropping a knife and she helped conspire with us to steal the bill away from our friend. I found her helpful and attentive.

As much as I love fine dining (for the interesting food rather than the interesting place settings) I’m a big fan of extremely casual dining. Extremely casual but tasty dining. Such bring me to one of my favorite Indian/Pakistani places in SF –Lahore Karahi. I like it because:

• No liquor license so BYOB
• Casual, usually no wait
• Really cheap and extremely tasty Indian food
• Friendly service
• In the tendyloin!

I will say I couldn’t tell the difference between the Chicken Tikka Masala and the Butter Chicken, but it didn’t really matter. They were both good. The tandoori fish had a nice hit of spice. The saag paneer also was good.

All in all, nothing disappointed. Good food and a lot of it. We fed 5 hungry people for $60.

Overall thumbs: 5 up.

Food tastiness: Very good. I like it best of the different places I’ve gone to in that neighborhood (naan n curry, chutney).

Service rating: Decent. As soon as we sat with our brown paper bag they brought over wine glasses, then brought over a bottle opener when they realized the paper bag contained beer and not wine. Food was prompt. Our server could have been warmer/friendlier but I think we were a bit intimidating as a group.

Would definitely go back (and I have !)

ww points: Indian is not a very WW friendly meal. Naan is like 4 points for a piece. Saag Paneer is 7 points (I think) for a half cup. But save your points, work out, then splurge here. (or go for ethiopian. It’s a little more WW friendly. Injera is low point!

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!

Saturday night, or date night, and we’re off to Japantown. The Kabuki theater is the only one we’ll go to on a weekend because they have reserved seating. New Batman movie is out so we thought we’d grab some cheap ramen before the movie.

Except I happen to mention shabu shabu. Even as we’re walking through Japantown mall to our comfort food destination, Big is thinking shabu shabu. When I point out Shabusen and mention it has good reviews, he suggests we see how long the wait is.

10 minutes or so is what we’re told so we tough it out. We end up with a prime table near a window that opens.

Service here is super friendly and efficient. Big orders the seafood combo (shrimp and scallops) and then says AND to which our server says “oh, that’s plenty for 2 people”. He points out that he’s big and eats a lot and we add a dry aged ribeye shabu shabu. We order beverages and barely have time to sip before the hot pot is put on the table to boil. Before the boiling occurs 2 big plates with cabbage, veggies, tofu and udon appear along with a plate of shrimp and scallops, and another plate of thinly sliced beef.

We also get plates for the shrimp shells, and towel to clean our hands after removing said shrimp shells, and a bowl of rice each.

We eat. and eat. the servers keep asking us if we want more rice or need anything else (no). The food is really good. The broth doesn’t even get clogged with fat.

We pay the bill and leave. And notice the review on the way out that says “an order of shabu shabu is x dollars and serves two”. Um, yeah. Unless you’re us.

so we zoom ahead to end of June. Still to come are visits to Mercat a la planxa and Graham Elliot in Chicago. Beretta in SF. But I figured I’d write about Jar while it’s relatively fresh in my memory.

We road tripped to Los Angeles to visit a friend and buy some booze. We’ve never really been able to explore too many restaurants in LA, so when the opportunity arose I did some Chowhounding and Yelping. We wanted reservations with an hours notice or so. Jar showed up on Open Table at the right time, so we grabbed the reservation.

We walk in the door and are immediately impressed with the clubby retro steak house atmosphere. We’re a few minutes ahead of our table so we grab comfy seats at the bar. We’re presented with bowls of mixed nuts and housemade potato chips and dip. A friendly bartender answers questions about the dinner menu (and drinks) for us. We have time to devour 2 bowls of chips and get our drinks, then our table is ready.

The maitre d’ treats us warmly and carries our drinks to the table. I point out the treats us warmly part since some of us are dressed a little SF casual and sometimes that can bring out the snootiness in a well dressed restauranteur. Not here. Our table is central in the dining room and again has very comfortable chairs. On wheels. With arms. 

The menu here is very meat focused. And we’re hungry. We start with:

• Crab deviled eggs recommended to us by the bartender and our server. These were good but not better than any other deviled egg (which isn’t a bad thing, mind you).
• Pork belly and watermelon salad the pork belly here is a little tough, but the flavors mixed with watermelon are quite nice.
• Grilled calamari salad I can’t actually remember the description or what else came with this. I do know it was fine but we all missed the grilled flavor on the calamari.
• Roasted beets salad I think this one a friend panic ordered so we ended up with quite a few starters. This was flavorful but tasted like most other beet salads.
• Celery root soup this was served with a parmesan cream drizzle but my friends ordered this sans cheese. The tiny sample I had was light yet flavorful. The soup was completely polished off by the two who ordered it.

At this point I’ll mention that our service has been outstanding the whole time we are there. I enjoyed a great cab by the glass (neal family, I think). For entrees we had:

• Yankee pot roast one friend ordered this; another friend coveted it. Very rich tasting and a delightful rendition.
• Bone in dry aged filet This was one of the specials of the day. Two of us ordered this. It was a phenomenal cut of meat.
• Dry aged kansas city steak This is regularly on the menu. Was good but couldn’t compete with the bone in filet.

The steaks came with your choice of sauces; we sampled horseradish, peppercorn and tamarind. The steaks did not need it but it was nice for variety.

We went a little crazy with the sides, and had:

• french fries because they were recommended by both the bartender and server. They were good but maybe because I haven’t eaten french fries in 6 months.
• duck fried rice this was polished off by two people. I don’t eat duck so can’t really describe but it was deemed very delicious.
• Turnips braised in veal stock good, but not phenomenal
• Japanese purple yams served with creme fraiche and chives. Caramelized perfectly and quite tasty.

I’m sure I’ve missed something. Anyway, after all of this we still got 3 desserts.

So I love the atmosphere, loved the service, and really enjoyed the food. And the walk to my friend’s house afterward was exactly what I needed after dinner.

Overall thumbs: Up. I think all 4 thumbs up.

Food tastiness: Good. The steak was fantastic. The sides were good. 

Service rating: Very high. We were treated well, service was warm and friendly yet very professional.

Would definitely go back.

There’s really no other way to describe it. Big and Small spent many hours of the weekend doing hard physical labor–more than 8 hours each day.  At the end of each day we were starved, but too exhausted to really “fill the gap”. Needless to say, we woke up Monday morning still hungry.

Traffic down the peninsula (and some canceled meetings) presented a breakfast opportunity. Some quick research showed Millbrae Pancake House as a highly recommended spot.

We detour and pull into the parking lot. The PACKED parking lot (at 8 a.m. on a Monday).

It’s definitely a gateway into the past. And we’re clearly in the suburbs. No matter; the pancake house pancakes in many shapes and forms.

Big orders the banana pancakes with a side of sausage, I get the swedish pancakes. The banana pancakes come 5 gigantic pancakes to an order. The bananas are both grilled in with the pancakes and slathered across the top.  The sausage are small links with a flavor much like Jimmie dean.

The swedish pancakes are large, and served 3 to an order. They come sprinkled with powdered sugar and a side of lingonberry butter. (all the reviews said lingonberries but in my opinion, berries are a fruit and butter is butter.

So the good. The portions here definitely fill the gap. To excess. Given that Big is, well, BIG and that he was hungry, it says something that he could only eat half his portion. (self control? restraint? or excessively large portions).

Overall thumbs: sideways.

Food tastiness: Moderate. A pancake is a pancakes. These were a little bit dense but tasty enough. Probably wouldn’t go back for a return trip.

Service rating: Mediocre. We were seated and offered drinks right away. But our drinks were never refilled and we had to wait over 10 minutes to get our check.

Small and Big commute most days, and Small’s birthday was just another one of those days. On one of their treks home they popped in at Wakuriya, a new kaiseki restaurant just opened in San Mateo. The restaurant apologized that they couldn’t accommodate us without reservations and encouraged us to plan ahead and come back.

Wakuriya is owned by two couples with experience at the well known Kaygetsu restaurant in Menlo Park. We haven’t tried Kaygetsu, either, but reservations are hard to get there. Since Small’s birthday was approaching, Big made reservations at Wakuriya.

We arrived a little early for our reservation so we were the first diners at the restaurant. Wakuriya is teeny; there are two 4 top tables, one table for 2, and 8 seats at the bar. We were seated at the bar opposite Mika, one of the chef-owners. Mika is also the resident sommelier and sake expert. 

Wakuriya offers a set kaiseki menu each night. The menu remains constant for a month or so; we arrived to a relatively new menu. You can choose whether you want 3 courses, 6 courses, or 9 courses. With 3 you get to choose one entree type course (which wouldn’t be a completely satisfying meal). With 6 courses you can choose 3 and with 9 you get all the courses on the menu. Since we were celebrating, we chose all 9.

We had:

Saki-zuki was the starter course. This was seared white tuna on a mizuma leaf salad. Very light and delicate.

Zensai (appetizers) was next. This was a plate of 4 small bites. We both loved the uni. The mustard served with the chicken made that dish and I love anything to do with fava beans. The octopus salad was fresh and tender. Overall we both liked all 4 of these bites quite a bit.

• uni and ikura okawa sea urchin and salmon roe on steamed mochi rice
• simmered petaluma chicken with snow peas and Japanese mustard
• chilled soramame (fava bean soup)
• nama tako (fresh octopus) salad served with japanese turnip and tomato

On mono (steamed dish) asari clam in creamy chawanmushi (steamed dashi egg custard). I’m a big fan of egg; Big isn’t as much. This was perfect comfort food to me. Mika noticed my smile while I ate this and said it made her happy. Made me happy, too. We were sitting opposite the steamer so we got to watch these cook for other people all night long. The egg came out a little runny on top. I thought it tasted fine; I think Big would have preferred this cooked a little bit more

Tsukuri (sashimi) with hirame, maguro, amaebi. All of these pieces were very tender. The hirame was thinly sliced. The maguro was buttery and the shrimp were quite sweet. A very delicate touch on all of these. Extra bonus—the sashimi was served with fresh wasabi.

Age mono (deep fried dish) snow crab and portabella mushroom wrapped in soybean and deep fried, served with vegetable tempura. This was one of the dishes I would have skipped if I’d gone with the 6 courses. It tasted good to me because I haven’t had fried food in such a long time. The vegetables included pumpkin and asparagus. Was perfectly fine but not one of my favorite dishes of the evening.

Hashiyasume (granite) fresh peach and sake sorbet. This was very strong sake flavor with barely a hint of peach. I thought it was just OK, though I loved the little spoon they serve it with.

Yakimono (broiled dish) broiled salmon with shredded ginger, radish and mountain berry. This would have been another dish I would have skipped. I tend to not be a fan of cooked fish and salmon is high on my list of fish I prefer raw. However, this was very good. It wasn’t dry at all and the salmon still had a fresh and non-fishy flavor. 

Gohanmono (rice dish) choice of sukiyaki (stewed beef with enoki mushroom and green onion or unagi boiled in dashi sauce with egg. We got one of each. I loved the unagi and Big preferred the beef. I thought this was one of the best preparations of eel I’d ever had, and I realized yet again I’m a fan of eggs and broth. Big would rather his eel be caramelized. Would absolutely get this dish again. and again. The rice served with these dishes was cooked to perfection. 

Dessert strawberry parfait with flan, kuromitsu (black sugar) jelly and seasonal fruits. We watched Mika meticulously place mint and fruit on this parfait to the point we thought she was obsessing for show. The resulting dish was beautiful. Again, I was pleased with an egg-based (flan) dish. The strawberry in this was ice cream which was a bit too frozen. The black sugar jelly was a layer of rich caramel.  This was light but, except for the detail put into presentation, wasn’t all that special.

All in all I’d have to say the dinner was a success. They have a tiny but impressive wine list including Turley zinfandels by the glass. Next time I go I might try some of the sakes based on Mika’s recommendation. I’m now very curious to try Kaygetsu as well.

Overall thumbs: Two thumbs up. The atmosphere was cozy and relaxing. We had an incredibly leisurely dinner and appreciated the slow pacing.

Tastiness rating: high. The presentation and flavors were very interesting. 

Service: high. From the moment we walked in the door until we left we were treated well. Sitting at the bar gave us an insider’s viewpoint into the kitchen and Mika was happy to answer any questions we had.

We were wandering through Potrero Hill with the dogs and needed a relatively quick, relatively healthy place for lunch. Oh, and it needed to have outside seating. Since we’d just had pizza from Gialina’s last night, we ruled out Piccinos. The last few meals we’d had at Aperto were nice surprises so we drove by.
Seats were available outside so we parked the car and wandered over. Small looked at the specials board and noted: huevos ranchero, huevos w/ chorizo, enchiladas verde, veggie sandwich, and orechette w/ lamb ragu.
If you’ve ever been here you know it’s a predominately italian menu. We’ve noticed that weekend brunches introduce some mexican options. In the past we’ve had the enchiladas verdes and remembered them being quite good. The menu is rounded out with classics like french toast and pancakes, along with lunchy items like a grilled chicken salad and sandwiches.
Small opted for the huevos rancheros but requested scrambled egg whites instead of eggs over medium and no sour cream.
Big went for the Orechette w/ lamb ragu pasta of the day.
Our server brought our drinks along with complimentary mini banana muffins. Big ate them so I forgot to ask if they were good.
The outdoor seating was roomy enough to fit two large dogs. There was one other couple seated outside; they also had a dog.
The huevos rancheros arrive. It’s 3 corn tortillas each topped slightly differently. One is with scrambled egg whites and a green salsa; the second scrambled egg whites with a red salsa, and the third with black beans. Both salsa have a fantastic flavor. The beans are nicely spiced as well. Something between the green salsa and the beans add a great smokey taste. This dish is very successful and very healthy.
The orechette is well-prepared (maybe a tad overcooked for Small’s al dente preference but perfectly suited for Big). The sauce is rich and flavorful. This dish is polished off by Big with Small stealing bites of the orechette.
Service is warm and friendly. Food is good. Definitely recommended. Small’s only complaint with the place is they almost ALWAYS have lilies inside. Small can’t be near lilies and usually dings restaurants a star in ratings for having something so fragrant interfering with her food. Sitting outside, tho, means the lilies are forgotten. Still, if you have the same allergies I do something to be aware of before you plan indoor dining.

Overall thumbs: Two thumbs up. Good relaxing place for brunch.

Tastiness rating: high. The food is always well prepared. The mexican dishes are a great weekend bonus and the salsas are rich and flavorful without being robust.

Service: Good. Our server was nice. We were checked on but not very frequently.

Dog friendliness: Very good. Our dogs were fine under the table and it’s not too crowded. They also keep a dog bowl filled in front of the restaurant.

WW points: 4.5 for the huevos rancheros (Small only ate 2 of the 3 corn tortillas for 2 points, plus the egg whites and beans). 

mall was craving pizza two days in a row, and managed to convince Big it was a good option for Friday night. She’d been curious about Gialina so we called them up and placed an order.
Service on the phone was pleasant and friendly. We ordered three pizzas from the web site menu:

• the Atomica pizza with the addition of italian sausage: Atomica- tomato, mushrooms, mozzarella, spicy chilies & red onions $14.50
• Wild Nettles w/ pancetta & provolone $15
• Speck w/ tomato, mozzarella, basil & arugula $15

Total with tax was $51.

I’ll admit that 3 pizzas is a bit much for 2 people. Big was really hungry but we still had plenty leftover.

Big would rank his preferences as Atomica, Speck and Nettles. Small goes in the exact opposite order.

The Atomica was loved for its simplicity. The onions were grilled, which was a lovely touch. The tomato sauce was nicely flavored. Not overly spiced. The chilies added a spicy touch

The Speck pizza continued with the simple tomato sauce. The speck was like a thinly shaved proscuitto with fresh arugula tossed on top.

The Nettles pizza had sauteed nettles on top of a sauce-less crust. The pancetta was a perfectly crisped bacon. Big thought this was greasy. I did not, but maybe it was wishful thinking.

The crust on all three pizzas was perfectly prepared. Crispy around the edges and a little chewy in the center.

The place itself was cute. I’d probably think about stopping in on our way home from the South bay some evening.