MorganSF's Profile
Where to buy chestnut paste, verjuice, etc. in San Francisco?
Thanks for the Andronico's suggestion. I went there and found the verjuice ($12.99!). I got the last bottle on the shelf but they said they'd be ordering more. They didn't have the chestnut puree but said they are putting it on the list to order. No tamarind either.
Question to both of you: Can you suggest a Mexican grocery? I know it sounds stupid, but I live in the North Beach/Telegraph Hill area and I don't know any.
Where to buy chestnut paste, verjuice, etc. in San Francisco?
I'm looking for a few items:
Chestnut paste or puree (without sugar)
Verjuice
Tamarind paste
I've tried Williams-Sonoma, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Safeway.
I did a search on the board and found a mention of a place in San Mateo, but would prefer to buy in SF if possible.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Florence Restaurants
It was €30 in November 2009 as well. Highly recommended! You can also go for lunch for €20 without entertainment. You will have to become a member in either case, which costs €5 (but it's worth it just to read the members' rules!).
FLR: Sostanza, Cibreo Trattoria, Baldini, others?
Yes, I always manage to finish mine, too!
FLR: Sostanza, Cibreo Trattoria, Baldini, others?
Here is a video that gives a good idea of what Teatro del Sale is like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jizRBeFN4q4
I've been several times and really love it.
Looking for fun foodie experiences in Rome, Naples and Palermo
I did the Context Tours walking tour/cooking class with mbfant a few years ago. You walk around an interesting part of town (Testaccio), go to the market to buy food, then go back to her flat near the Colosseum and cook lunch--and then eat it! She is great company and I learned a lot. I would definitely recommend it.
Romano in Viareggio
I realize this is a very old post, but just in case anyone else is looking for the information, I ate there last week with some friends, and it was absolutely lovely. It is still a Buon Ricordo restaurant. We went in rather late, around 10 pm, and didn't have much to eat (but the Buon Ricordo dish, as described above, is without question the best fish soup I have ever eaten), but they treated us incredibly well. It's expensive, but if you are looking for a blow-out dinner place, this is the one--assuming you are into fish. It's a lovely place. I will definitely go back there on my next trip, for a several-course meal.
Auto Grill, Good place to meet and eat?
You can buy a book at the Autogrill that shows what is available at every stop on every autostrada. Very handy for those areas of Italy where the stops are few and far between!
Last week I also bought a book of sagre (food festivals) for 2009 at an Autogrill. I don't know if Autogrill puts it out or just rebrands it, but I didn't see the book elsewhere.
Best meal of your life (in Florence) recommendations
I agree completely with the recommendation to get both chicken and steak. I will say, though, that I was at Sostanza last week with a couple of friends, and we walked in without reservations. We were rather early (around 7:30), but by the time we left it was still only half-full. I think the credit crunch is really affecting things this year.
I also love Trattoria Cibreo, and second the recommendation for Teatre del Sale. If the evening show is Maria Cassi, don't miss her, even if you don't speak Italian.
Sushi in the Financial District (LUNCH)?
Sorry, here's the link (didn't work the first time).
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Sushi Fantastic
215 Fremont St Ste 2A, San Francisco, CA 94105
Sushi in the Financial District (LUNCH)?
Sushi Fantastic, on Howard near Fremont, is pretty good. (The address is on Fremont but it's actually just around the corner.) They have a large selection and it's freshly made in front of you.
Zuni for lunch - anything else besides chicken?
I've been there about a dozen times over the years and never had the chicken until a few months ago, so I can tell you the rest of the menu is definitely worth trying. However, I will probably order the chicken the next few times too because it's so darned good! It will be hard to pass up in the future.
What am I missing at the French Laundry?
From an article linked there:
[Keller] said the main reason he changed his mind about pursuing additional opportunities was his staff. By providing advancement possibilities within his organization, he can retain and motivate his employees.
``To maintain the consistency and quality of the staff, you have to give them opportunities,'' Keller said in an interview.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&sid=aySQA00Egb6E&refer=home
What am I missing at the French Laundry?
I was absolutely charmed by Keller's sly wit in serving Bourdain (a chain-smoker) a coffee-and-Marlboro dish.
All of us were more than full by the end of dinner. We took the last little chocolate things with us because we were out of room and couldn't manage them.
What am I missing at the French Laundry?
It was actually seeing the restaurant on Anthony Bourdain's show that made me want to go--I wasn't interested before because I thought the reservations thing was too ridiculous. I'm glad I went--truly a memorable meal. I look forward to doing it again. (Just wish I could get into Per Se when I go to NYC a couple of times a year!)
What am I missing at the French Laundry?
So the people who do care about the FL are untalented, play the ego game and/or don't like to enjoy their company? Interesting viewpoint. I certainly had no difficulty enjoying myself or sharing tastes with my friends when I ate there.
Did Honeydoo ever open at Grant & Green?
I was by there yesterday and it still wasn't open.
"Chef's Table" in the kitchen?
I love Perbacco, but I hosted a birthday dinner at the chef's table in April, and there was nothing special about the experience--you order off exactly the same menu as the other tables and you don't get any sort of special attention or food or anything. We never saw the chef. It's just as noisy as the rest of the restaurant, and the space is too tight for people to be able to get up and walk around the table to talk to others. You also have to sign a contract with the restaurant for a minimum spend if you're taking the whole table. (You can pre-choose a menu as well, but again it's the same food, so I just let people choose their own dishes.)
I wouldn't bother to do this again (though I do recommend the restaurant!).
Farina?
Michael Bauer reviewed it in today's Chron:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/23/CM2FRUNH8.DTL&type=food
(I was going to add a link but for some reason the software won't let me choose Farina--it keeps reverting to Farina Jay something.)
The Ups and Downs of Breakfast @ Café Leila in Berkeley
Am I missing something? I thought the OP said the chef brought out a re-made omelet with an apology.
1 Sat nt Dinner, Alone - Incanto, Canteen or Perbacco?
I love Perbacco, and I love dining alone at a restaurant's bar, but I wouldn't recommend it at Perbacco. They do have a nice long bar, and nice bartenders, and maybe it would be different at 9:15 on Saturday, but the one time I tried it, around 7:45 midweek I think, I discovered I was in the middle of two huge dinner rushes. What had been a nice empty bar became an extremely crowded one, with standing people crowding up next to and behind me. One guy put his hand on the back of my chair, squeezed between me and the woman sitting next to me, and chatted her up for the entire second half of my meal (which I cut short). FWIW.
Food Delivery
Do you mean meal delivery? I have used this one before:
http://dininginsf.com/
The food is quite good (mostly organic). You get a menu form every week (actually two weeks at a time so you can order in advance if you want), choose what you want, and fax or mail it back. They can customize it for you too. If you give them a key they will put the containers in your refrigerator. You can have them deliver once or twice a week. It's not inexpensive, of course. I was ordering five lunches and five dinners a week for a few months because I didn't have time to shop or cook; it averaged about $225 a week.
Mexico DF Report (longer this time)
I went there for a late lunch last week with a work colleague. We looked at the posted dinner menu before going in, to get an idea of the food. I'd planned to order the squash blossom dish, but it wasn't on the lunch menu. He wanted a burrito (they had several listed on the dinner menu, if I recall correctly), but they weren't available except for takeout. We settled on tacos (carne asada for him, pollo asada for me), and a side of nopalitos. I had a melon agua fresca; he had a mojilto (which he said was good). The tacos consisted of two tortillas loaded with chopped meat and a little guacamole, and a little cup of salsa (different ones for the different meats). It was very plain-looking, but the chicken was delicious--a nice grilled flavor. I had to eat half of it with a fork before I could pick up the tortillas. The nopalitos were fine; they tasted basically like grilled peppers with a little cheese. The bill was $39 before tip, which seemed a bit high for a small lunch. The service was friendly and efficient except when I tried to pay the bill (we were late getting back to the office). However, I will definitely go back and try some other things as well.
South Park Cafe, any reviews?
Funny, I was just telling someone about this place yesterday. I have a friend whose office is opposite the park, and he goes there for lunch and dinner all the time. I join him occasionally. I think the food is really good. The menu is short (8-10 items for starters and for mains), based on what's best in the market, and you can do a prix fixe by ordering a starter, main, and dessert off the menu for about $30. Some things I've eaten there recently that were especially good were an heirloom tomato salad (they have a special supplier) and grilled sardines.
Here's a link to an old discussion:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/37845
Here's their website, with sample menu:
http://www.southparkcafesf.com/
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South Park Cafe
108 South Park, San Francisco, CA 94107
Group dinner recs: help me stay employed
Chevy's?
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Chevys Fresh Mex
201 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Need a nice place for a work lunch very near 1st and Howard
Great suggestion! Do you know how the noise level is?
Need a nice place for a work lunch very near 1st and Howard
A colleague is going out on maternity leave this week and can't walk very far. Any suggestions for a nice place to go that is very close to our office at 1st and Howard? Town Hall is an obvious one but it's so incredibly noisy that I'd love to find another place. There will be about a dozen of us. Thanks for any help!
Moved from SF to Pleasanton...Please help.
(Is anyone else having trouble with the edit function? Eek.)
I have a friend who lives in Pleasanton (I'm in SF), and I've gone a few places while visiting her. There is a good ice cream place called Loard's. I think it's a local chain.
I second the recommendation for Nation's. They had good pie too.
For Mexican, there's a place down the street from Blue Agave (I think someone mentioned it above, and I can't remember the name of it either). I liked it because it was like the old-school Mexican food I grew up with--cheese enchiladas, refried beans, etc. Very inexpensive too.
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Nation's Giant Hamburgers
5321 Hopyard Rd, Pleasanton, CA 94588
Cafe Delatti
42 Elm St., Los Gatos, CA, CA
