Robert Lauriston's Profile
Best Cheese pizzas?
If somebody's craving a greasy New York Ray's-style junk food slice, that's the place to go.
Lers Ros worth a trip for a neyorker who lives next to SriPraPhai?
Jitlada (in Los Angeles) has a lot of dishes I've never seen anywhere else.
The place of the same name in SF is nothing out of the ordinary.
Friday night and all day Saturday.
I think the main reason people on this board don't recommend Gary Danko to tourists here for a short time is that it's not a very San Francisco-specific experience. You can find similar menus in major cities all over the world.
Lers Ros worth a trip for a neyorker who lives next to SriPraPhai?
Lers Ros doesn't serve the southern Thai dishes that Jitlada is famous for. Neither does SriPraPhai, for that matter.
Friday night and all day Saturday.
Piperade has menus on its Web site: http://www.piperade.com/index.php/dinner
Doughnut Dolly - Outstanding doughnut pop up in Oakland
Yesterday she sold out in half an hour.
High Tea in SF and Peninsula?
Some previous topics on that subject:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&site=&source=hp&q=intitle%3A%22afternoon+tea%22+site%3Achow.com+intitle%3Afrancisco&oq=intitle%3A%22afternoon+tea%22+site%3Achow.com+intitle%3Afrancisco&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=hp.3...354.10793.0.11016.63.55.3.0.0.3.153.4377.41j14.55.0...0.0.9SyCPnXbslc
3 days in SF, non-fine dining experiences needed for this weekend
If we're talking about next weekend, on Saturday go to the Ferry Plaza farmers market and get breakfast from the vendors there.
Comal - Berkeley
Short wine list includes some surprising items, such as Valle Isarco Kerner and Valle della’Acate Frappato by the glass.
Beer list is surprisingly lame compared with the other drinks.
http://www.comalberkeley.com/menus/
3 days in SF, non-fine dining experiences needed for this weekend
The food's below average at Tommy's Joynt and Red's Java Hut.
It's possible to eat well at Tadich if you stick to the Petrale sole, Rex sole, and sand dabs.
3 days in SF, non-fine dining experiences needed for this weekend
Second on all those places, though Perbacco is definitely fine dining. Barbacco and Cotogna are much more casual, particularly Barbacco which has TVs with sports on. Cotogna may save space for walk-ins, but the wait can be over an hour.
If those places aren't too upscale, Incanto, La Ciccia, Bar Tartine, and St. Vincent are all worth considering, if you can get in. Saturday night in SF without a reservation can be tough.
Z&Y is great Sichuan with some very unusual dishes.
Comal - Berkeley
Depends on how hungry you are, but it seemed like plenty of food to me. Minus the bone that's probably over half a pound of meat each. The only starters we had were the jicama and cucumber and the grilled corn on the cob.
I forgot to mention the corn. It was the best version of that everyday Mexican street snack I've had. Quite traditional except for the use of chipotle aioli instead of plain mayonnaise.
Kirala in Berkeley
There are a lot more robata places than there used to be. Of the ones I've tried, Ippuku's in a class by itself.
Comal - Berkeley
Tried the 22-oz. rib-eye for two, $49 includes grilled bok choy, black beans, green rice, three salsas, and tortillas. Very good, good portion for two, good value.
I tried an Abuelo Sucio cocktail: Siete Leguas Reposado, Minas Real Reposado Mezcal, grenadine, house bitters, lots of orange peel, one of those giant ice cubes ($11). Oddly, given the ingredients, it tasted a lot like a Manhattan. Tasty.
They said they expect to open the patio Thursday.
Plum or Wood Tavern?
No deviled eggs on the current lunch, interim, or dinner menus.
3 days in SF, non-fine dining experiences needed for this weekend
Angkor Borei (Cambodian)
Burmese Kitchen
Helmand Palace (Afghan)
Lers Ros on Larkin (Thai)
Mochica (Peruvian)
Poc-Chuc (Yucatecan)
Plum or Wood Tavern?
They're pretty different, what mood are you in? Wood Tavern is comfort food done perfectly and fine-dining level of service but with the atmosphere of a friendly, laid-back neighborhood diner patronized mostly by regulars. The soup, pastas, pork dishes, and fish stew / soup are always great. Unfortunately the incredible pastrami sandwich is not on the dinner menu.
Plum is Michelin-star-ish creative modern food in a minimalist unfancy casual environment. Seating could be more comfortable. I had the chilled pea soup and duck egg the other night, they were great and are still listed on the Web site today.
Doughnut Dolly - Outstanding doughnut pop up in Oakland
She'll be at Cosecha tonight from 5:30-9 and on the patio in front of the former Cafe Fanny / future Bartavelle tomorrow from 9 to 3, along with the CRO Cafe espresso cart that's there every day from 7:30 to 3. A friend who works nearby has been raving about the coffee (Sightglass).
Itinerary for our honeymoon in SF/Napa. Thoughts?
Parker Guest House is a block from Bi-Rite Creamery, two blocks from Delfina, and three blocks from Tartine.
The Wharf is one of the worst tourist traps in the world, the worst food neighborhood in town, and not conveniently located for getting anywhere better.
I have finalized my Napa / San Fran Itinenary
AQ isn't by Union Square, it's at Mission and 7th. The walk up Jones from there to Bourbon and Branch is seriously sleazy most times of the day. There are some good Vietnamese dives, though.
Fire at China Village (Albany)
The hand-pulled noodles are on a separate menu, which the server neglected to give us. I grabbed a copy from another table.
Hog Island Oyster Farm **OR** Tomales Bay Oyster Co?
He said Mendocino in another topic:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/850490
If possible, I'd break that up into two trips. There's plenty to do and see in West Marin and the Sonoma Coast to fill a weekend, and the direct route to Mendocino takes you through Anderson Valley, which is a destination in itself.
I have finalized my Napa / San Fran Itinenary
Weeknights the area can be dead and creepy, but on Saturday nights, Post, Geary, and the part of Larkin north of Lers Ros are filled with people going to restaurants and shows and bar-hopping.
Hog Island Oyster Farm **OR** Tomales Bay Oyster Co?
It's a very nice detour, but I believe OliverB is driving to Mendocino for the weekend, and via Highway 1 that's already a five-hour drive.
Authentic Bagel Company - only 90 perfect bagels made daily
An article in Diablo says Authentic Bagel Company has a commercial kitchen in Emeryville and supplies around a dozen cafes, so they must be making more than 99 a day. Also says they're opening on a bagel shop / cafe in the former Cafe Zoe "with New York deli items such as corned beef and pastrami on rye bread, smoked white fish, lox, etc., with all the curing and pickling done in-house (including homemade pickles, sauerkraut, and coleslaw)" in mid-June.
http://www.diablomag.com/D-blog/Diablo-Dish/May-2012/Weekly-Dish-Trappist-Comes-to-Rockridge/
Best Cheese pizzas?
Making loose sausage meat for pizzas is easy and cheaper than buying it. I think a lot of places probably do it without anything about it on the menu.
All else being equal, a wood-burning oven probably gives an edge. I like Cotogna's pizzas better than the similar ones at Delfina and that's probably why.
Cugini is on Solano.
Hog Island Oyster Farm **OR** Tomales Bay Oyster Co?
Drakes Bay Oyster Co. isn't a pit stop on the way north, it's a 45-minute detour.
