Sharon S.'s Profile
Thanksgiving - I get the vegetables...
I have been elected to bring the green vegetables for Thanksgiving. I would like to bring brussels sprouts, but I know not everyone likes them so i am thinking - green beans. One of the problems is that I really wont be able to heat them up and I was wondering what I could serve at room temperature?
Cotogna - large party question
I tried to make a reservation for a department holiday dinner in Dec. for 7 people the other day. I had heard good things about Cotogna and really wanted to try it. They said they could accomodate 7 of us at their large table, but that it would be a minimum of $750 for the table. I thought this was pretty outrageous (I am not sure how you could spend that much for 7 people). Am I the only one that thinks this was a bit extreme? Needless to say I am on the hunt for another place for our celebration.
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Cotogna
490 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133
Boxing Room, Hayes Valley
I went to Boxing Room for lunch this week with a party of 6 and there was only one other table of two there the whole time. The food is good, but you can really go off your diet here majorly (I had the fried oyster po' boy and beignets). I tried the gumbo which was good. I did not like the boiled cajun peanuts. They have great (Sightglass) coffee. I didn't really get the hushpuppies either - but the jalapeno pepper jelly really helped. I am hoping that the serve will pick up as I cannot do 1 1/2 hour lunches and I hope that add some kind of lunch special as I cannot spend $14 on a sandwhich too often. A good special ocassion lunch I guess. The design is beautiful and they play great music.
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Boxing Room
399 Grove St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Smitten Ice Cream
I tried Smitten last week and had a small Brown Sugar w/ cinnamon cookies in a pizzelle cone. It was $6 so I won't do that too often. It could easily be a meal replacement - I was stuffed. I would like to try other flavors as I don't really like ground up cookies in my ice cream I have now decided.
Cafe de la Presse - Union Square brunch
I just love the Eggs Benedict at Cafe de la Presse, perfection and they come with the crispy potatoes and a big bowl of latte and I am so happy. The bread they serve is so addicting as well. The only thing I don't like is that the two tops are extremely close together and you feel like you are dining with strangers. I have only had brunch here and I have only had Eggs Benedict so I can't speak for anything else. Also, they need more than two unisex bathrooms - I had to wait 10 min to use the loo.
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Cafe De La Presse
352 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94108
What's the Vietnamese equivalent of Thai House Express?
Ler Ros is your place - on Larkin in same neighborhood is authentic. If you like spicy they do that very well.
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Lers Ros Thai
730 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA
Bourdain - Boston show -- discuss
Self indulgent - definitely on the bottom three for me - especailly the ending. I am surprised that between the food they were eating and the drinking they even survived...
Happy Hour for a group
I am looking for a Happy Hour, possibly that goes past 6pm for a group of 20 where we can actually sit down (we usually do early in the week Mon or Tues.). Good nibbles is a plus and parking another plus.
Seeking Good Restaurant near City Hall
Not to many options east of Van Ness. I would suggest Hayes Valley, particularly Absinthe.
Hannukah dinner?
I could use a recommendation for where to go for a Hannukah dinner in SF. Thanks!
Sabor of Spain San Rafael
This was my third time to Sabor of Spain and I think the food is pretty good. I need to figure out how not to spend $100 for two there, I think some items (like wine) are a little overpriced. I'm sure there is a way to have a nice filling meal less expensively, but I have not figured it out.
That may explain why there were plenty of empty tables on a Sat. night. I really disliked the waitress - she is definitely not a people person and did not seem to enjoy her job at all and kind of ruined our evening. With so many people out of work you think you could get top notch staff.
They had a delicious special of roasted halibut in a tomato saffron broth ($24) and I had asked for it to be cooked through and it was way overcooked (lost in translation - she asked the chef to cook it "well done" so I guess that was my fault). She said that it came with a side of cold green beans and yogurt which sounded so delicious, but it came with cooked zucchini (which is all we are eating at home...). When we asked her about it she just said they told her wrong and she did not even seem sorry. She did finally agree to bring us a side of cold green beans with a viniagrette and some cherry tomatoes which was really tasty - they should have just served that in the first place. All I ever want from a wait person is for them to actually seem like they care and they are truly sorry. I am not usually the the type to complain either. We had the surtida plate of meats and cheeses which go so well with the good wine. Also, grilled calamari (a little anemic) and the tortilla and their fantastic chicken empanadas. I love the music and the atmosphere I just wished the service measured up (the bussers were good though, they did not pick up the water glass to re-fill which I love).
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations: Rome
PLEASE - can someone tell me what the name of that pasta dish with the black pepper in the parmesan bowl is called and where can I find a recipe?
Prima Colazione @ Jimmie in San Francisco
Stopped by for lunch the other day, did not realize they were still in the soft opening stage - next week is the grand opening. A strange menu that looks part Bodega Bistro and part Italian and the two don't seem to blend together that well - I was with 3 other people so we tried 3 lunch specials ($9-$13) one was shaking beef and garlic noodles - a fairly smal serving. Another was a lemongrass chicken salad, with greens that looked like the ones you put into the pho, they had a special of the day that was a roasted poussin (I think - the waiter kept pronouncing it differently) with raisins and a glaze and that was the standout dish for me - really good. We decided to try the pasta of the day which was penne and pancetta and onions in a tomato cream sauce. It was just okay a little sweet, a little overcooked and the onions were not really cooked. It looks like they will have a full bar and gelato when they are fully open. I hope that the menu gets tightened up a little because it is not cohesive at all (fresh oysters, fried calamari, potstickers, pho, several meat dishes). I love Bodega Bistro and I am desperate for something new in the Civic Center area (even in the 'loin). The atmosphere is much better than the former Chinese Restaurant that was there in the Cova hotel.
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Bodega Bistro
607 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA 94109
Mercury Lounge anyone?
I am wondering if anyone has been here - I thought it might be a good place to celebrate a birthday after work. I am especially interested in hearing about the food.
No Reservations: Obsessions
I really enjoyed it and thought it was interesting that some of the clips did not include AB that were obviously shot without him present. I could totally relate to having the high cholesterol at 53.
Ad Hoc - Brunch
To be honest I have never been to Ad Hoc and I thought going for brunch would be a nice alternative to driving to back from Napa at night after imbibing. My feeling is that it is hard to do a brunch menu because they start serving at 10:30 and so they seem to do a lot of egg dishes. Brunch is $34 each, plus drinks, and is 3 generous courses served family style. For a starter. We had a savory corn meal waffle with a trio of dipping sauces one was a cheese fondue, an avocado puree and one of red chilies. Previous posters have mentioned that there food has come out of the kitchen lukewarm and it is apparent that they make dishes in advance when it is not piping hot when they bring it to you. The main course was a wonderful prime rib-eye steak - really delicious. A side of eggs (the menu said hen’s eggs) which were like rolled up omelets with the tiniest bit of sofrito on top. The portion was generous, but really lacked any seasoning or flavor whatsoever. We did not eat most of it. It came with a side of saffron rice with some chorizo, black beans and black-eyed peas scattered in. The rice was also under seasoned and very al dente. The chorizo was good. There was also a side of chard which was tasty. I also had the special drink of the day which was a blood orange sangria – it was delightful. For dessert there was a citrus granita on top of fresh cream, which came out with the cream frozen solid so I had to ask them to warm it up – I thought that (and the steak) were the highlights of the meal. It came with some snicker doodle cookies. They did comp us our tea’s for my trouble. Since the restaurant is a Thomas Keller production and they only make one meal all day I was expecting it to be top class and it was not. Maybe Chef Cruz does not work during brunch which might explain the lack of attention to detail. I will try fried chicken night sometime though.
Please help me - I have high cholesterol :(
I am determined to stay off statins, but I love meat and cheese and all dairy products (not to mention shrimp and chicken livers). My biggest problem is breakfast. I cannot stand oatmeal - any kind. What should I be eating? I really don't do well on restircted dieting...
Ad Hoc at Home?
I saw Thomas Keller at Book Passage in Corte Madera a couple weeks ago - he spoke and signed the books along with the Chef de Cuisine - I bet they have some there. I made the cornish game hens and it was pretty easy and tasted quite good - I wish the skin had been crispier though.
Conduit
I went with 5 other women for a GNO at Conduit last Thursday. The name comes from all the metal pipes running across the ceilig and walls. There was a large group of guys partying heavy at the bar after finishing a pivate lunch (that apparently lasted until 6:00). We were commenting to ourselves that it is a guy's style restaurant. We began with some tasty drinks at the bar which average about $10, but they also have a recession menu and I got a delicious cosmo for $6. Good deal.
We had light appetizers - beautiful beet salads and little gem salads - which had some of the best ranch dressing I have ever tasted. I had the Walu - a Hawaiian white fish - which was perfectly cooked and served with a kale and mushroom mixture. I also tasted the chicken (Poulet Rouge) which was excellent and also the vegetarian ravioli, which was nice.
For dessert we tried all three - the peanut butter and chocolate sundae (yummy!) , an almond cake with huckleberry ice cream and my favorite which was the butterscotch pot de creme. It ranked right up there with Pauline's Pizza's butterscotch pudding (which coincidentally is right next door). We had just one 1/2 bottle of Syrah and the bill w/o the bar drinks was $250 for 6. I enjoyed the evening very much.
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Conduit
280 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Any good TAPAS in Chicago?
I was in Chicago recently and had a wonderful meal at Mercat a la planxa. Some of the dishes are pricy, but I am from the SF Bay Area and it seemed like most diishes were well priced for what you got. Fo instance there were two of us and we ordered the Serrano Ham and Fig Salad and it was an enormous portion. I loved the Garlic Shrimp and the Butternut Squash Dumplings were tasty. Octopus and Potatoes were also a good size and delicious. The flatbread with saysage just okay.
Amsterdam must-visit restaurants?
I just recently returned from Amsterdam and although I did not have a great meal at Tempo Doeloe, I really enjoyed my meal at Balthazar's Keuken which had a good review in the NY Times a few months back. I had a wonderful selection of appetizers and a delicious (and huge) piece of fresh halibut (the other main course offering was duck with couscous). My only complaint is that it did not come with any side dishes. I loved the atmosphere and because it quite small and is only open a few days a week, has only two seatings - you feel like you are in a special club.
Need Amsterdam recs
I am traveling for business with two colleagues staying near Keizersgracht in the center of town. Am looking for moderately priced dinner suggestions - we love all food. Want to try Dutch food and Indonesian as well as any other type as long as it is good.
Bar Jules~what a gem!
I agree. I had lunch there a couple weeks ago and had the most delicious corn soup and a duck sandwhich that was awfully tasty. For dessert a really dense chocolate cake that I loved. There was one server handling the entire restaurant which could have been a total disaster (we did have to wait a bit for the check), by the time we left there was not a table to be had.
BBQ Smokehouse in Sebastopol – Opens June 16, 5pm
Wow, I feel like I had a completely different experience that most of the posters. I live in Marin and was desperateIy looking for some good BBQ. I went here for lunch yesterday with my SO and it seemed seriously depressing. The staff was arguing with each other while we waited to order. There were just a few other people there. Considering it was 94 degrees out, it was not too unbearable because the tables are shaded. We got a brisket dinner and a pork ribs dinner to share (they do not offer combos) which came with 2 sides and cornbread - I also got a strawberry lemonade (btw they have no ice). The total was $33. I would say you get more for your money with the ribs (the portions are not large), but they were so dry, they don't seem to actually cook the food there (they do microwave though). The poster who mentioned that her kids liked the Mac and Cheese should have tried it herself - no cheese - just a mild creamy sauce and fairly overcooked pasta. The potato salad is just weird and the coleslaw was fine. The best thing on my plate was the cornbread and honey butter (which fares better pre-cooked). I have no reason to go back there. We noticed that they also had a booth at the farmer's market across the street and I wondered if they were just stretched too thin.
Just moved to Greenbrae!!! need recs
Most of your dining needs will be in San Rafael. Good luck finding good Chinese or any Asian really = Ping's in SR is okay in a pinch. Pizza =Amici's or Gaspare's or Mulberry Street. Las Camelias for Mexican. Best Burger in Montecito Plaza. Michaels' Sourdough has good sandwiches - Deli? what's that. Don't be lazy search past posts.
