Kristine's Profile
Where can I find piquillo peppers in San Francisco?
Lucca Ravioli on Valencia has them, Italibrand I belive. They are about $4.50 a jar.
desperately seeking duck bacon
I think Fatted Calf has duck bacon, or at least they have on occasion.
Una Pizza Napoletana, SF report w/ pics
Does anyone know what their corkage is? I'm a fan of their pies, but not their wine list. I also thoght bringing my own wine would make a night at Una Pizza much more resonable.
Recent Lahore Karahi reports?
Just wondering if anything has changed, the new hours make it almost impossible for me to get there and I haven't been able to find an equal (Shalimar Pakwan and Lers Ros just don't do it for me). I read a review that mentioned lunch and was hoping Guddu was back to his old hours. Checked the website but it still says they don't open till 5.
Grill House Mediterranean (San Francisco)
My husband and I were just there last Friday. We had the combination appitizer platter and the lamb schwarma. The spreads were all very good and you could taste how fresh they were, but the lamb in the schwarma was very tough, almost inedible.
Does anybody know where Broken Record gets their bread?
Not yet, but I will. Pacific super never even crossed my mind. I was thinking they may be from Panorama, that's where Marcel of Marcel's Kitchen got his buns when he was cooking at El Rincon.
But I wouldn't consider Panorama close to the Excelsior.
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El Rincon
2700 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Does anybody know where Broken Record gets their bread?
Ever since La Boulange stopped selling their brioche buns at Whole foods I've been looking for a good replacement for my burgers, I love the bread from Broken Record, both their buns and the slices they use for their Texas Toast. Last time I was there (last week) I asked the guy at the register and he said he could not tell me. When I pressed him he said, " someplace close " I then guessed Royal Bakery and to that he said , " I can't tell you. "
I though if anybody would know it would be someone on Chowhound. Anybody?
Thanks,
Kristine
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Broken Record
1166 Geneva Ave, San Francisco, CA
Warm ambiance for mom's birthday
The first place that came to mind when I read your title was La Ciccia. I can't imagine a warmer, friendlier place. I don't know if it would meet your "fine dining" criteria, but the food is excellent.
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La Ciccia
291 30th Street, San Francisco, CA 94131
Best Ethiopian in Bay Area?
I really like MOYA too, but haven't heard of any news of their re-opening since the fire.
Have you?
La Boulange -- what happened?
I was about to post this same question!
I always bought their Brioche Hot Dog/ Hamburger Buns from Whole Foods, but this past weekend I was shocked to see the packages were half the size they usually are. The number
of buns per pack has decreased as well as the actual size of the bun itself, on top of that, they were frozen solid and all looked burnt.
Cupola @ The Westfield Shopping Center
Una Pizza is actually our go-to for pizza, we like Tony's too but we don't get out to North beach as often as we would like.
I wasnt really looking for Cupola's crust to be "crunchy" but to have a "bite" to it, we just found it to be flaccid and tasteless, almost like an underdone frozen pizza.
Cupola @ The Westfield Shopping Center
I have to admit I was leery of going to a shopping mall for the sole purpose of having dinner, and I'm
no a fan of restaurant chains either, but I'm a sucker for true Neopolitan style pizza so I had to give it a shot.
It turned out to be a huge disappointment. My husband and I started off with the fresh pulled to order mozzarella. When it was delivered it looked more like burrata, there was no real structure to it at all,
Just a glop of white swimming in olive oil. It had a funky "chew" to it, almost like a wad of gum.
At $11 it was a pretty meager portion too.
We then had two pizza's. The Margarita and the Arabiata. Both came to the table pale and limp, with no char or crunch to them at all. Their only saving grace were the toppings. The sauce was fresh and bright tasting and the pancetta was of good quality.
After dinner my husband went to talk to one of the cooks manning the impressive pizza oven. He asked how hot the oven was and the cook took a look at the thermometer which was attached to the side of the over and said it was almost 700 degrees. Now I'm no pizza oven expert but I do know that these oven's usually cook at a much higher temperature. Why invest so much money on such a beautiful oven and not use it to it's most potential? I just don't get it. There is no excuse for making such a lackluster pie when you have the benefit of an oven like that.
The only saving grace of the evening was that the wine was half off (a special for the month of July)
All in all I don't think I'll be heading to the mall for dinner anytime soon.
Italian Birthday Dinner
I would try Cotogna, seems to fit your criteria in every way... I say try because getting a reservation there can be pretty tough.
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Cotogna
490 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133
Does anyone know what is happening @ Lahore Karahi?
I just read on Eater SF that Lahore Karahi has a sign on the door stating they are doing "take out orders only". What happened? Why? Eater seems to imply this could be the beginning of the end
for Guddu.
Anybody know?
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Lahore Karahi
612 Ofarrell St, San Francisco, CA 94109
Local place which delivers and carries jams and jellies
The first thing that came to mind is June Taylor, but they are based out here and easy to get in San Francisco. Why don't you post this in your local board and get them something they would not be able to find out here?
ISO Geographically strategic brunch--Canteen or Hayes Valley
How about Absinthe? I've had brunch there before and I think I made reservations though Open Table.
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Absinthe Brasserie & Bar
398 Hayes Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Places that let you bring your own food (in SF only)
Pop's on 24th would probably let you, I bring in tortas from La Torta Gorda (across the street) and eat them there all the time.
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La Torta Gorda
2833 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
What to order at Flour + Water
I went to Flour + Water way back when it first opened, and I must say I wasn't
impressed. At the time I had heard that the pasta was the thing to order, now I hear
they have a special "dough room" that I assume is for their pizzas, so is pizza the
thing to order now?
On our first visit we had a salad, a pasta and split a pizza, all of wich were so unremarkable we never returned. Now we have the opportunity to go back and I really want to get what all the fuss is about.
Thanks
Lunch downtown with Mom, Cafe Claude or Scala's?
Well we ended up at Cafe Claude, (My mom made the final decision).
Honestly I didn't know what to expect, but we both really enjoyed it. First off the meal started with
the Pan Epi from ACME. This is always a good sign. We both shared the beet salad to start, and it was wonderfully flavored. It was much better than any beet salad have had before, I can't put my finger on what it was but it had some herbal notes that put it over the top. For mains my mother had the Pork with apples and honey and I had the Seared Tuna with a bacon onion and peppercorn sauce. Both were great. I fond her pork dish to be a little one note, but the pork was done perfectly, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. My Tuna was done perfectly also, it was a rich dish, but I was in the mood for rich, after all I was in a French restaurant.
The serivice was prompt and efficient, a bit brash but not overtly so. Prices are reasonable, my Mom's not a cheap date so I usually pay way more for our lunches downtown.
All in all I wouldn't hesitate to go back.
Kristine
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Cafe Claude
7 Claude Lane, San Francisco, CA 94108
Lunch downtown with Mom, Cafe Claude or Scala's?
We usually do The Rotunda or Mocca's, but I was thinking of trying something new.
I've heard good things about Scala's but their lunch menu looks limited. I was thinking of Cafe Claude but hear mixed reviews, some of wich note their food can be overly salted. Mom is very cautious about her sodium intake so I'm a little worried this won't work.
Any thoughts? Other suggestions welcome.
Thanks
Kristine
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Cafe Claude
7 Claude Lane, San Francisco, CA 94108
Disappointing meal at Locavore
On Friday my husband and I decided to try the newly opened Locavore in the outer
Mission. It's in our neighborhood and so we had really been looking forward to it's opening.
We arrived @ about 6 to and were greeted warmly. We were seated right away and given a small ramikin of pickled vegetables and another of tiny strips of pre cooked bacon. The veggies, (carrots and onion) were tasty. The bacon was not. Now don't get me wrong, I love bacon, but this was cut too small or too cooked too far in advance for it to resemble anything more than large bacon bits.
We ordered the Squash Soup and the Papardelle with meat Sugo for our apps, along with two glasses of wine. The squash soup was very good, but not great. The pasta itself was cooked to a perfect aldente but was ruined by the overly salty Sugo. Too bad really, that pasta (waitress said it was house made) had a lot of potential. What really surprised us both was the wine.We had ordered the Pushback Sauvignon Blanc for $11 a glass. The size of the pours were incredibly skimpy, they were barley 4 oz. (we know this because it was so outrageous we came home and measured what we were served) It was also severed freezing cold. Literaly . Freezing. We had had the Pushback several weeks before at Hog and Rocks, for about 9 bucks and recieved almost twice as much.
For our mains I had the Burger, which I will admit was very good, juicy and done to a perfect medium rare as ordered. My husband had the goat. Which was tough, dry and stringy.
We won't be returning, unless of course I hear from chowhound it has gotten much better, untill then if you want to take one for the team I can only recommend to go with the Burger and stick with a Beer.
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Hog and Rocks
3431 19th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Locavore
3215 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110
What's in and near Bernal Heights?
No food there but The Wild Side West is a great little bar with a beautiful back garden that's just perfect for the weather we have been having.
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Wild Side West
424 Cortland Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110
Bay Area Banh Mi Google Map
How about Lotus Garden in the outer mission? are they still making banh mi?
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Lotus Garden
3216 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110
SF - Lunch at Orson - Pastrami Heaven
I've been to Orson twice for brunch. The first time a couple of weeks ago my husband had the pastrami sandwich,. I though it was way too salty, (inedible actually) but I don't eat a lot of salt and I am no pastrami expert.
We gave them another shot this past weekend and had the a side of the Thick Cut Bacon . I would return to Orson again and again just for that dish. It's fatty,
crispy, meaty, sweet and salty. (but not too salty!)
I must also mention I though it was a great value for brunch, with bottomless Mimosas for ten bucks.
Outstanding execution found at Bruno's
If Ryan and Kat couldn't make it work I doubt anybody else could.
Outstanding execution found at Bruno's
I was hoping the same thing but I would'nt count on it. I was there for their last night and from what I heard, they will both be persuing separate ventures. I just think they could not attract enough customers at that Bruno's location.
Where to buy duck confit?
The Fatted Calf at Ferry Plaza on Saturdays has a great confit.
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Fatted Calf
644-C First Street, Napa, CA 94559
Bahn Mi at Lotus Garden?
Driving by just the other day I noticed a banner over Lotus Garden "Now serving Vietnamese Sandwiches " I think it also said take out only but I'm not sure.
Anyone tried them yet?
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Lotus Garden Restaurant
1058 Shell Blvd, Foster City, CA 94404
