Pinkster's Profile
Bomba rice
The Rock of Gibraltar shop (associated with and next to Iberia restaurant) on Alma in Menlo Park carries it.
Sent Sovi for Bday dinner for 30 people?
No opinion on Sent Sovi but have you considered Plumed Horse? Their private dining rooms are newly renovated and really nice.
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The Plumed Horse
14555 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA 95070
restauant for 60th bday (30 people)
The private dining rooms at both Epic and Waterbar in the city are really nice. Wonderful views esp at sunset. No entertainment.
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Waterbar
399 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA
Epic Roasthouse
369 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105
Cooking with a one-star chef
Last weekend, I attended a private cooking class with chef Peter Armellino of the Plumed Horse in Saratoga. I would highly recommend this to CH-ers who enjoy cooking - details are on their website. The class was about 90 mins and started on Sat at 11:30 am. There were 4 participants, and we watched and asked lots of questions as Peter made a spring vegetable risotto with a pan cooked wild Alaskan halibut. Then we saw pastry chef Jon Kristie make a chocolat fondant cake (like a molten chocolate cake) with a remarkably simple recipe. We got to taste throughout and were poured cava, white wine and a dessert riesling to accompany us through the class.
When we were done, we each left with a bottle of cava and the main ingredients to re-create this meal for 4. I made mine last night and it was a breeze - although I didn't think my home version of the risotto had the same bite as chef Peter's!
Not only was this a lot of fun, Peter and the rest of the Plumed Horse staff were great to talk to and it was nice to get more insights into how they each got into their careers, as well as some of the inner workings of a top restaurant.
On a side note, they have a beautiful chef's table at the restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows into the kitchen. All the benefits of a chef's table without the noise of the kitchen - I'm looking forward to having dinner there soon.
http://www.plumedhorse.com/news_and_events_upcoming_events.html
Similar to Plugra Butter, in flavor and price?
TJ's also discontinued my favorite brand of French Madrange ham - they told me due to low demand. Which was kind of hard to believe because it actually used to sell out every few weeks - so much so that I would buy 4-5 packs at a time. I wonder if that's their standard reason...
Is there ANY good thai food on the Peninsula?
As mentioned above, I usually get Thai comfort food - pad see eew, lard na, fried rice for the kids, maybe a Thai omelette with minced pork, garlic/pepper pork and usually either a panaang or a green curry.
Menlo Park good eats?
The kids and I went to Amici's in Menlo Park for an early dinner last night. The place was packed - there was a 30 min wait at 6 pm on a Wed night! Thanksfully we squeaked in right before the hordes arrived.
They have three kinds of seating - indoors, sheltered patio and sidewalk. The indoor noise level was a bit high and there was a crush by the check-in table. There are also two efficient cashier counters for takeout.
The pizza was good as always - we ordered a medium extra thin crust pesto pizza which my daughter loved. She should - at $20 for a 13" medium! My other daughter had the kid's menu cheese pizza at $7.75, which she loved as well - that had the regular, slightly thicker crust. I had a nice spinach salad and shared part of the pesto pizza.
$42 for the meal with tip, no drinks - seemed a little high for a pizza joint but it is upscale...
Kid friendly foodie restuarants in Menlo Park area
I believe Left Bank has a good charcuterie plate and certainly a good kid's menu. Plus most excellent fries!
Kid friendly foodie restuarants in Menlo Park area
Can you be more specific on what kind of food? Most restaurants in the area are good for kids, esp if you dine on the early side. In the Menlo Park/PA area, you can go to Left Bank (French brasserie), Palermo (Italian), Sultana (Turkish/Med), Mayfield (American bistro), Tamarine (nouveau Vietnamese), Junnoon (nouveau Indian). The list goes on and on - I've taken my kids to all of them, multiple times...
Is there ANY good thai food on the Peninsula?
Well it is a tonal language but I guess you can give it a try!
"ped baab khon tai" means spicy like for Thai people. "ped" means spicy, and the "p" is soft, kind of like a cross between a "p" and a "b" sound in English.
Menlo Park good eats?
I would agree - the langos is really good. The pizza crust is just too thick for me. I even prefer Pizza Hut's thin crust. I'm psyched that we're finally having a local Amici's.
On a tangent, Amici's opened for dinner on Sat night, a couple of days before their official grand opening (today). And there was a valet parking stand in front. I was very confused - will plan to check it out this weekend to see if I was hallucinating.
Is there ANY good thai food on the Peninsula?
Well the most common complaint from Thais about Thai food in the U.S. is that it's too sweet. There seems to be a widespread belief that the American palate tends to want that. So when I order in a Thai restaurant, besides ordering it Thai-level spicy for my husband (who does like it "smokin"!), I will tell them (probably twice) to please not make it sweet.
But then again, because I do get to Thailand a couple of times a year, I'm not going to order yum pla dook foo here in the U.S. I might order green or red curry, but I'm more likely to go with Thai "comfort" food - which is more like pad see eew or lard na for me.
Madera at Rosewood Sand Hill, Menlo Park
Madera is the restaurant at the new Rosewood Sand Hill hotel (corner of SH and 280) which opened about a month ago. We had Mother's Day brunch there yesterday - a prix fixe of $65 for three courses and a glass of bubbly.
The hotel isn't much to look at from the outside (blends in with the rest of the office buildings) but the interiors are beautiful. Madera is a large open space, with an attached patio with views of the hills. The bar area is gorgeous and it would be a great place to stop for a drink at sunset.
The restaurant itself was mixed. I had a great salad of purple asparagus, trumpet mushrooms and frisee - I'd go back for this salad alone. I also tasted a nice spring pea soup. My entree was a New York strip served with some great mashed potatoes and small carrots. The steak was ok, not as good as others in the Bay Area, but a large portion. For dessert I had a ricotta cheesecake served with balsamic strawberries. But I really coveted my husband's sour cherry almond cake served with sour cream ice cream.
There is a great kid's menu with some nice options (not the usual pizza, pasta, chicken tenders). And they served me a very fragrant Earl Grey in a nice french press. Service pacing was a little off but that might have been due to the special day. They also have two nice private rooms, with outdoor fireplaces. Good for an intimate dinner event or shower.
Overall, not quite a destination restaurant - but pretty good for the area. Probably will provide the Village Pub with some competition for that VC business.
http://www.maderasandhill.com/
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Madera
2825 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Is there ANY good thai food on the Peninsula?
I'd have to agree. I'm Thai and this is the first question I'm asked whenever I meet anyone new. That being said, I have had pretty good food at a little Thai place on California Ave in Palo Alto called Lotus that's not bad for the limited things that I order (and whether you like a particular Thai place or not really depends on your usual go-to dishes).
The Thai farmer I see at the local farmer's market says that Lotus is his best bet, you just need to tell them to make it "Thai style" (easier for me since I speak Thai).
Best places to eat in downtown San Mateo
Don't forget Happy Cafe on the low end as well - excellent XLB and good shanghai noodles. And a spotlessly clean kitchen (you pass through on the way to the restroom)! Unfortunately, only open for dinner one night each week nowadays (think it's Wed). Lots of interesting dim sum items on the weekend only.
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Happy Cafe Restaurant
250 S B St, San Mateo, CA 94401
Where to Buy Mariage Freres Tea
Alas, like Neiman's, the Gump's gourmet food section seems to have shrunk in recent years. They have a selection of teas including Kushmi (sp?), some boxed chocolates and candies, and fancy decorated cookies (Eleni's?) - but not a lot beyond that.
On an unrelated note, it's a sure sign of recession when Gump's is discounting all their holiday decorations and gifty items by 25%!
Christmas lunch in Burlingame or nearby?
Try Il Fornaio in Burlingame - their dining room is pretty big and it's always really nicely decorated for the holidays.
Where to Buy Mariage Freres Tea
Just a quick Mariage update - WS at Hillsdale only carries Marco Polo and Darjeeling. I ended up driving to the Pasta Shop in Berkeley to get what I was looking for, although my blend (Earl Grey French Blue) was not sold loose so I had to ante up for the tin ($21.75). I also saw lots of Mariage at Gump's in SF where they sell it by the tin ($3 more than Pasta Shop). The upside at Gump's is that they also had a selection of MF accessories like teapots and silver spoons.
company dinners on the peninsula ARGH
You might want to consider Nola or Blue Chalk in Palo Alto, especially if you're open to passed food as opposed to sit-down. I find that the ability to circulate makes corporate events more fun. We've done events at Blue Chalk where they will block off the pool tables, which is a fun activity. My fave for the pool table-type corporate event is still Steelhead Brewery, but that's in Burlingame, so outside your area. Not sure if Los Gatos is too far, but there's also the bocce ball place - again great for the fun aspect, not necessarily for the food.
Sausalito: Mmmmm Murray Circle and Farley Bar… a nice bay view AND good food
We were there for Father's Day Brunch a few weeks ago and I have to echo rworange's comments, especially about the bread basket. My in-laws were visiting so alas I've been too busy to post about the meal. They were very nice to my daughters and there were babies and other toddlers in the dining room. My in-laws said it was one of the best Bloody Marys they'd ever had. And the dining room was just gorgeous - the fog broke while we were there, so we finally ended up with a nice view of the bridge.
On another note, we also walked all around and poked our noses into places that perhaps we weren't supposed to. Upstairs from the restaurant and bar was another verandah that was quieter and also had nicer views because of the height - I'd get a drink from Farley and walk up there to sit. There was also their cooking school set up, which looked quite good but nowhere near ready.
The next building along was where you'd check into the hotel. There was a pretty art gallery there and a really nice gift shop - not only Cavallo Point merchandise, but a lot of GGNRA stuff with history of the GG Bridge.
The next few buildings were hotel rooms - the original rooms as mentioned in their website. The new rooms were behind the original buildings, in new and very uninspiring looking blocks - I'd avoid them like the plague.
I'd recommend taking a stroll around, the exterior has a wonderful atmosphere.
Need cheap, decent pizza in Menlo Park area
Although many like Applewood, I find their crust to be too puffy and doughy. We've been ordering from Avanti Pizza lately, on Alameda. They have a thinner crust and good topping selection. Lots of coupons available on their site to save $$.
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Avanti Pizza Fresh Pasta
3536 Alameda De Las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Lunch at French Laundry (long)
Ah, that rings a bell. Thanks for the reminder, Cindy.
Sushi Monster article in today's Merc
Enjoy!
http://www.mercurynews.com/food/ci_9253715?nclick_check=1
Straits Cafe in the Westfield Mall- I was disappointed, does anyone agree with me?
Or Lime Tree on Irving - the old chef from the original Straits in Geary is the owner and chef.
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Lime Tree - Southeast Asian Kitchen
450 Irving St, San Francisco, CA 94122
Lunch at French Laundry (long)
This was my second time dining at FL - my first dinner was 8-9 years ago. And somehow luckily for me, both the reservations were procured by someone else!
We arrived a few minutes early and walked around their pretty demonstration garden across the street - they had orange cauliflower and large purple plants that were labeled brussels sprouts. Plus numerous other interesting vegetables.
At 11:15 a.m. our party of 4 was led upstairs to a window table. All four of us picked the Chef's Tasting ($240 including service) and since only 2 of our group were drinking, we asked our waiter to set up a wine pairing (which turned out to be 3 half bottles over the course of the meal - $275).
We started with small cheese gougeres - could have definitely had a whole basket of these. The next amuse was smoked salmon and creme fraiche, served in a small cone. Again, very yummy.
Our first course was caviar in a cauliflower panna cotta - I couldn't really taste the cauliflower, but since I like caviar, this was a nice little dish but not out-of-this world. The second course was a choice between a Hawaiian hearts of peach palm salad and a foie gras torchon ($30 additional). Two of our group had the salad which was petite and tasty and the other two had the foie gras. This was a generous serving, served with warm brioche toast and little balls of bananas (interestingly good). Funnily enough, less than a minute after the first plate of toast arrived (still warm), they substituted it for another plate - saying that the chef wanted to make sure we had warm toast!
We were also served a selection of salts that were unusual - a lighter salt from Maine, a sel gris (which is apparently the lower layer under fleur de sel) and a reddish salt they called Jurassic salt (which was the strongest of the 3). The salts were great on the creamy local butter that they served. They also served a seasoned butter that was nice. We completely finished both tubs of butter!
The third course was a choice of black bass fillet or tuna tartare with whipped fava beans. Tuna was good but the bass was transcendental - perfectly sauteed and served with tiny fresh english peas. Next was a nice poached Maine lobster tail - again, very nicely done, served with very tender asparagus.
The fifth course was a choice of white quail or a jambonette of rabbit. Both were remarkable. The quail was served with small white meat and dark meat portions with some truffle jus and very sweet corn. It was crisp and tender. I could have eaten twice the portion without blinking. The jambonette was an unusual preparation - shredded rabbit meat that was seasoned and moist, panko breaded and fried, served like a lollipop. This wasn't my pick but I did taste it and it was surprisingly delicious. I had a second taste ;)
The sixth course was a lamb ribeye - I was most looking forward to this, since I love lamb. And it was ok - would have been rated good at any other place but it just wasn't anything particularly special. The small fried artichokes on the side were really good (and I don't like artichokes).
The seventh course was the cheese course - Mrs. Quicke's Cheddar from the UK served with broccoli florettes and mushrooms. This was just ok for me. The cheese didn't seem special enough.
The eighth course was a buttermilk sherbet, very unusual and good for palate cleansing. Then we had a surprise course of "coffee and donuts". We had this the last time I was there and I had asked about it when we ordered. Our waiter told me the chef could prepare it for us - and it arrived for all 4 of us, as a special, additional course. No extra charge. It was delicious - a small sugared donut, served with the hole sitting on top (cute) plus a coffee semifreddo in an espresso cup on the side. Plus it was free! That made me happy.
The dessert course was a choice between "milkduds and popcorn" and a pistachio layer dessert served with strawberry sorbet. The former was an intense bar of chocolate dessert with layers of mousse, chocolate malt etc with a popcorn sorbet. I think I was too full to appreciate this. The second dessert seemed a little bland but the sorbet was excellent.
Finally, for the "mignardises", the ladies were served two deliciously small portions of vanilla bean creme brulee. And for the life of me, neither my husband nor I can recall what the two men were served (this wasn't listed on the menu). Whatever it was, it was good.
We finished up with coffee and tea - really good espresso and proper tea service. Plus little orange biscotti and chocolate covered macadamia nuts.
We were given bags of shortbread cookies as a parting gift, copies of the day's menus in a nice folder and rolled out of there around 3 pm.
Overall, I think I liked having lunch better because I didn't have to go to bed so full.
Mother's Day Brunch at Ad Hoc
I will pull the menu and post about FL in detail later this week then!
And no, this brunch was my first experience at Ad Hoc - I live on the Peninsula so getting up there requires quite a bit of planning. I loved the restaurant and would be there all the time if it were more convenient.
Also see food porn photos at Inuyaki's wonderful blog:
http://www.inuyaki.com/archives/162
French Laundry, questions about price
We were just there on Saturday so I'll give you a sense of what we paid. The $240 is inclusive of service, so no more tip is needed - there is a $30 uplift if you pick the foie gras option. We had a party of 4, only 2 of whom were drinking. They asked for a wine pairing and were not specific about price - just asked for a "nice" selection with more of a focus on reds. We ended up with 3 half bottles - two reds, one white. The two drinkers thought they were excellent wines and were pleased. The tab for the 3 half bottles was $275 (inclusive of service) - this turned out to be a little more than we had expected, although probably in keeping with the overall cost of the meal.
I would advise you to let them know an approx budget, I don't think they took advantage of us - we were just very vague and they have a very deep wine book.
Mother's Day Brunch at Ad Hoc
We had a lovely brunch yesterday at Ad Hoc - I'm not sure if there was really anything special for Mother's Day but they did serve the famous fried chicken, which was an unexpected treat!
We started with a plate of mini pastries from Bouchon Bakery, then a smoked trout salad with romaine leaves, apple cubes and walnuts. The dressing was light and very nice - the smoked trout was really good. Then we had the fried chicken, served with nice crisp waffles. Plus a side of sauteed spinach, Hobbs bacon and eggs that had been slowly steamed (?) for 90 mins, then placed into simmering water for another minute. This resulted in almost custardy eggs that were great on top of the waffles. Finally we finished with fresh strawberries served with a creamy marscapone-based sauce and a warm sugar cookie.
The drink service was also impressive - nicely brewed pots of tea (good tea selection), and a special bottle of Blue Apron Ale from the Brooklyn Brewery ($25 bottle of beer!). The story goes that each of TK's restaurants gives him a gift for Christmas and they spend a lot of time trying to figure out a good gift for him. Ad Hoc gave him a basket of NY-themed foods, including a small bottle of ale from the Brooklyn Brewery. He liked it so much that he asked the brewery to brew a special version for his restaurants. Now they ship this special ale across the country for his Napa places and the $25 per bottle is pretty much the cost. It's a big bottle and for you beer aficianados, I was told it was like a much better version of Chimay. And you can only get it at his restaurants, including Per Se in NYC.
My companions also loved their espressos - we asked for details and they use Illy pods (not beans!), but their machine is "tuned" on a weekly basis for optimal performance. It's a much tested process - they tried out 30 different water filters before they settled on their current standard.
And I have to say that the service staff at Ad Hoc was incredibly knowledgeable and friendly - and honestly, just so happy to be working there. It was impressive!
We also had a great lunch at TFL on Saturday - won't do the full report since we have so many out there already but it's been about 7 years since I was there last, and I found it to be just as wonderful as before. No slippage in my opinion.
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Ad Hoc
6476 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599
San Bruno Thai Temple - tips, updates?
Funny, I just posted something about this in the Berkeley Thai Temple thread. Don't go this Sunday (May 11), no one will be there - there's some sort of event in Golden Gate Park and all the food stalls will be up there this coming Sunday.
Recommended foods are som tum, kanom krok (order this as soon as you get there, it takes ages and they queue up all the orders so it should be ready when you're ready to move on to desserts), fried chicken and sticky rice - plus various gaengs (curries) on the hot table are usually tasty.
Berkeley Thai Temple - needs a prayer?
I was just at the San Bruno temple last Sunday - it's much lower key than Berkeley or the Fremont temple for that matter. They have the key elements though - som tam, kanom krok, fried chicken and sticky rice - plus some nice noodle soup with beef balls and the requisite mango with sticky rice. All made fresh by local Thais who see their temple service as part of merit making. No chits needed - just pay in cash - all the main food is $5 per generous serving, the desserts are $4. Didn't hear of any neighbor problems - we arrived a little late at 12:30 pm and there was still plenty of food.
Next Sunday (5/11), there is some sort of fair in Golden Gate Park so all the food from San Bruno wat is moving up there. Sorry I don't have details on the GGP event though, I didn't really pay attention since I'm excited to be going to Ad Hoc for Mother's Day brunch!
