Depends on your family/guests. With mine, I could never afford the amount they'd be able to put away. ;)

Thanks! Hubby and I ended up having two of the champagne cocktails each- the French 75, the Elderflower, the Cucumber Gimlet and one other I can't remember, plus the amuses, which, you are correct, was just enough.

I second that emotion- my husband and I make Bouchon's perfect roast chicken from that book all the time and it's amazingly simple and foolproof.

Cesar for a later-afternoon lunch is wonderful. I try to go there about 2pm and it's so relaxed and friendly. The food is always great, and you can get wine and cocktails. If it's at all nice, sit by the open windows in the front.

There are lots of places near campus, but most are pretty casual. Did you want this to be a more formal, fancy meal or something more relaxed?

Hola everyone- my husband and I are starting our 11th anniversary evening this Saturday at Bourbon and Branch (before going to dinner at La Folie, whee!). I love the cocktails there and usually order about two or three different ones for an evening.

So cocktail-o-philes, what would be your ideal "flight" of say, three cocktails for a nice evening out? (We're having cocktails early-ish and having dinner much later in the evening, so indulging shouldn't hurt dinner plans.)

Many thanks for your suggestions!

This is great- I loooooooooove Ba Le, but it'll be fun to have a new place to try! Thanks!

Calvin Trillin just wrote an article in the latest New Yorker that made me want to try Singaporean street-food/"hawker" food. Anyone have any suggestions in the bay area?

I have a Dr. Nut bottle cap that I bought from eBay. I made it into a fridge magnet so I could always remember to make sure my valve was operating properly before eating.

Oops, guess I was wrong about the Hyatt- thanks!

Thanks- that's pretty much what I thought. The Hyatt only has a coffee bar type place for breakfast, no "nice" sit down place, alas.

I need to find a breakfast restaurant near McCormick Place for a meeting of MDs. Can any Chowhound help with suggestions?

- Needs to be open on Saturday morning about 7am.
- Needs to take reservations for breakfast, or be easy to get about 10 people in right away. (These MDs are a little cranky and don't like to wait.)
- Needs to be within short walking distance of the McCormick Place convention center.
- And last, the food/ambience need to be fairly "nice." I like hole-in-the-wall diners for myself, but these folks are a little fussy.

Many thanks for any ideas/suggestions!

I had great luck with Open Table- got a reservation for a Saturday afternoon lunch within 7 weeks of the date I was looking.

I second the vote for the citrus juicers and microplane grater. The juicers are fab for cocktails and any recipe calling for lime juice. They get every drop! And the grater can be used on anything you want grated, right at the table even.

Thai Stick in Millbrae, on El Camino. Order the salmon.

Burgermeister is about two blocks up from Bimbo's, and they make a great burger and fries.