kds's Profile
Ann Arbor gift recs?
Some Berkeley foodie friends are moving to Ann Arbor and I want to put together some gift certificates and food recs for them. I'm leaning towards Eve for dinner, although I'm open to being persuaded otherwise. If you've been to Eve, though, is $100 for two reasonable? Should I go higher?
I would also like to include a good grocery store or gourmet food place. I've found a lot of strong opinions for and against Zingerman's, so perhaps another bakery? Cheeseshop? (Yes, Berkeley makes us weak and unprepared for most of the US. Help me soften the blow...) Perhaps a kitchenware shop? Is there a good place to get knives sharpened, for example?
03/08 Ubuntu: From The Same Folks That Sold You Bottled Water
You're right, which I think is why psb wrote "marginal labor." It isn't that much harder to cook and serve a cup of grits instead of half a cup... even when you scale that to the number of plates Ubuntu serves in one night.
Fear and Loathing in Oakland – Starbucks has better baristas than Cole Coffee
If I had an experience like that, I wouldn't return either.
On the other hand, I go to Cole all the time, and I've never had service problems like you describe. Once or twice in the past two years, I've had a few coffee grounds that made it to the cup, and I've either gotten a fresh cup in response or they strained it for me. Occasionally the eggs are a little overcooked, but I've always been served promptly and the staff has always been polite and friendly to me, my mother, and anyone else I've taken there. (I promise I'm not 'cool' enough to pass any attitude test.) That said, I would never get an espresso drink there -- I either get a drip cup or a cafe au lait. There are lots of places around that specialize in espresso, so why order it at the one place that specializes in straight coffee?
(And I like the cranberry morning buns, too.)
Cleveland - vegetarian recs near South Euclid/Mayfield?
Fire was on our list of places to try, so I'll try to make it on my next trip. One of his co-workers recommended Lola, but one of the posts here (http://www.chowhound.com/topics/398981) suggested that it was a poor choice for vegetarians. Fire looks more balanced.
Thanks for the Thai suggestion, Nancy!
I'll try to remember to report back for the next round, so if anyone has any more inspired experiences in the next few weeks, I would love to hear about them.
Cleveland - vegetarian recs near South Euclid/Mayfield?
Sorry -- outside of middle America, rice-noodle-couscous cuisines are at least mildly spicy, so it didn't occur to me to spell that out. In fact, until I visited, I didn't realize that was an issue. In Berkeley, we almost always ordered mild! I have very little tolerance for heat, but I found several of the dishes bland without even the warmth that comes from enough ginger or garlic. I've eaten a lot in NYC and while you do have to reassure them that you can handle fire, the dishes are much more flavorful.
As for the West Side Market, several people in Cleveland (not on this list, admittedly) recommended it and more than one compared it to Reading Terminal in Philly, which is an excellent place to get lunch. I wasn't expecting a grocery store, but I've never been to a market like that which didn't segregate the raw meat. Outdoor market in Hong Kong, yes, but indoor halls like that, no.
Cleveland - vegetarian recs near South Euclid/Mayfield?
Oh, forgot to include the farmers market at Shaker Square... Delicious melon, steel band, interesting baked goods!
Cleveland - vegetarian recs near South Euclid/Mayfield?
I ended up flying out to Cleveland for a few days, so here’s my report back on your suggestions, followed by a few other places that we visited that don’t fit the Asian side of my original request. In general, I was surprised by how large the restaurants were – real estate is definitely cheaper than on the West Coast!
Tommy’s – The spinach/mushroom/cheese pie (IRS, I think) was good, but I would have appreciated some herbs to perk up the flavor. The McKenna seitan fajita wrap was improved by the addition of ketchup. The mocha milkshake, however, made us very happy – just enough of a milkshake to justify the straw, but definitely spoon-worthy, and I managed to distract him with the extras in the blender cup and keep the whole glass to myself. Joy!
Lemon Grass – We ordered pad thai (my default for comparing with other restaurants) and the mango fried rice. When the waiter brought our meals, we realized they were both beyond mild and asked for some hot sauce. Most Thai restaurants I’ve been in have little pots of chili peppers in vinegar (generally a clear plastic pot with a red lid), but here the waiter disappeared for four or five minutes, then brought a small bowl of a smooth, mildly hot sauce. The pad thai was very peanut heavy, but once I mixed some of that sauce into the pad thai, it tasted just like mild pad thai should. The fried rice was fine, but a stronger hot sauce would have done wonders.
Mekong River – Better than Lemon Grass and very good about checking for spice levels and producing accordingly. We had a cabbage fried rice with tofu (2 on their spice scale) and a Cambodian tofu curry with pineapple and coconut milk (3.5 out of 5 and still the hottest thing my friend had eaten since leaving California). The latter was tangy, with perfectly fried tofu pieces and fresh-tasting green beans. The fresh rolls were a disappointment, though – bland, with almost no herbs in them.
Café Tandoor – A sad lunch, although the bhaingan bharta (eggplant) was okay. The dal was described with lentils, but was actually a Madras style dal and my Madras-educated companion didn’t recognize the flavor. We asked for medium and both dishes were extremely mild.
Aladdin’s was a pleasant surprise and their generous servings of well-seasoned soups made an excellent lunch. Their lentil soup was spicier than the medium dal at Tandoor, although I wouldn't call it spicy.
One of the best meals we had was at Balaton, on Shaker Square, were we had cabbage noodles and lecso, a spicy pepper stew served over egg dumplings. The portions were huge and both dishes were richly flavored, which seemed unusual for the vegetarian options I had overall. This was one of the few places where the vegetarian dishes didn’t feel like meat dishes with the meat subtracted or side dishes.
We had drinks and appetizers on the patio at Sarava. The Sao Paulo salad was delightful and crisp and the artichoke fritters were excellent. The “crisp Spanish cheese with Kalamata olive and caper-spiced tomato sauce” was your old friend the mozzarella stick, but I can forgive a world of such masquerades if you bring me drinks with muddled limes in them.
The Algebra Tea House had a charming earnest air and great choice of teas, but I would have preferred practical mugs. I have yet to see a Berkeley restaurant that went as heavy on hippy décor (check out the sink in the restroom!), but the guy behind the counter was genuinely welcoming, the people at the tables outside were friendly, the ice cream was good, and it felt like a place that would quickly become a neighborhood hangout if I lived in the neighborhood.
The West Side Market was very disappointing and, for the record, a disastrous place to take a vegetarian. The Mediterranean store in the corner had a great selection of cheeses and the produce row had some good vegetables (although most stalls had exactly the same offerings), but the main building was awful. Some of the individual counters looked tempting – spices, cakes, cheese – but they were sandwiched between counters housing giant slabs of oozing flesh so that the whole place was blanketed in a humid fug of blood. Personally, I eat meat, can gut my own dinner without a qualm, and have never pretended that beef comes on little styrofoam trays. (Where I normally shop, it doesn't.) Still, I found it disgusting to shop for German chocolate cake or apple streudel with the taste of stale blood in my mouth. I can’t imagine actually eating at the market! Of the things we bought, the German chocolate cake was the highlight, but it was hours and a shower before I felt like trying it… It wasn’t a true German chocolate cake, but a darker cake with the pecan and coconut frosting, and perhaps for that reason, the leftovers stayed moist until the next day. Bring it home for a vegetarian, perhaps, but do not take your vegetarian to the West Side Market unless s/he is an animal rights prosthelytizer whose moral high ground will feel more solid when surrounded by a bog of meat. Otherwise, it's just cruel.
Thanks for the recs!
Alaskan King Crab
In Alaska, crab is sold either alive or cooked and frozen, and the latter is much easier to find. My family gets it at the Anchorage Costco (or Sagaya) and it's quite good so long as you treat it right. Crab gets soggy when overcooked -- so a steamtray is the kiss of death! The frozen crab is already cooked, so don't steam it for very long and serve immediately. (Do it in batches if you have different sizes of legs.)
Cleveland - vegetarian recs near South Euclid/Mayfield?
Sorry for whatever confusion -- I was told the office was there to be close to the clinic, but that may be why they're headquartered in Cleveland, not why they're in a particular neighborhood. Downtown recs are great (and a Trader Joe's checkout person told him, completely unsolicited, that he needed to go to Coventry), but it sounds like he's actually in the suburbs.
Out here, Chinatown is a bad place to go for veg unless you have someone with you who speaks Chinese, as the waitstaff tend to consider a dish vegetarian even if it's cooked with meat broth. Is that going to be true in Cleveland, or are the restaurants more Americanized?
Cleveland - vegetarian recs near South Euclid/Mayfield?
An Indian friend just moved to Cleveland from Berkeley and is going through painful culture shock. I'm sure there must be some great places in Cleveland, but since I'm not there, it's hard to help him explore.
Do you have any recommendations for Indian-Thai-Chinese-noodle house-Burmese-Indonesian-Cambodian-etc. restaurants that would have clear vegetarian options and be good enough to convince him that he hasn't made a mistake in moving there? He's near the Cleveland Clinic, so anything in that neighborhood is a big plus, but if there are good neighborhoods for him to visit on the weekend, that works too. He is a strict vegetarian and tends to prefer rice-noodle-couscous cuisines over European ones.
Thanks for your advice!!
Smoked Fish in Anchorage?
Alaska Sausage and Seafood is good and local, but most of the locals I know buy it at Costco... unless they're bringing a fish in to be smoked. If you don't mind oily fingers, get the little strips (I don't think they actually label it as squaw candy these days, for obvious reasons).
Lamb's lettuce/mache around Berkeley?
I'm craving a salad I used to eat in Turkey with little clusters of round, green leaves. My favorite cookbook gives it as "lamb's lettuce" in English and Gregoire had the same green in a salad last year and called it mache (no yogurt-garlic dressing, though!).
Has anyone seen this at a farmer's market?
Jury duty in Hayward - lunch recs?
I have jury duty tomorrow at the Hayward Hall of Justice, which I must remember not to pronounce with an initial W. I'll take BART and a bus to get there, so I won't have a very wide circle in which to look for lunch. Any recs? I assume we'll only be given an hour, so....
The address is 24405 Amador Street, off Winton Ave.
Thanks!
Charles Chocolates - Emeryville
I just went by and sampled the fleur de sel caramel (both the square with chocolate and a firmer caramel twig with a milk chocolate and almond coating), the coated hazelnut, milk chocolate and almond cluster, a butterfly with peanut praline filling, dark chocolate and pistachio cluster with a hint of lemon, a mint truffle, and peach and blood orange pate de fruit... I'm not that greedy, honestly, but Charles was lecturing on where the different chocolates came from and how he paired them with the fillings, and before I knew it... I did pass on the mojito truffle, but I liked the mint one quite a bit and I don't normally like chocolate and mint together. The mint here was more complicated than most candies, and the chocolate picked up the herbal notes.
They said that the counter should be installed on Thursday, after which you will be able to buy individual pieces and custom mixes...
Noodle Theory-College Ave-Oakland
The remodeling stalled for a few months, but it looks great now. No menu up outside, but the earlier signs said they were committed to using natural, organic, and local ingredients and to accommodating a wide range of diets. I live in the neighborhood and got a wine-beer notice a while back, so I assume they're serving.
Berkeley - Guerilla Café Wi-fi and waffles
I overheard the owner (?) talking a week or two ago about how he wanted to start staying open in the evenings, but not for dinner. Something about putting in a blind for the windows so they could show films, maybe getting a liquor license for cocktails, that sort of thing. It sounded like a ton of work, but very, very cool.
Oh, and this was after my polenta with poached eggs and gorgonzola, which was perfectly balanced and made the day feel sunny again.
Baron's at Star Market, Berkeley (or is it Oakland?) opening this week
I just went by and bought some sausages, venison, and grassfed ground beef. They're definitely still getting up to speed, but friendly and informative. I was pleasantly surprised by the Star market, too -- among other things, I bought Arkansas Blacks and some lovely cheeses.
It's a pleasant ten-minute walk from College Ave, and next door to a Semifreddi's, where I had a very frothy dry cappuccino in a nearly deserted shop. I frequently have my Saturday coffee at Cole Coffee, and this was shockingly peaceful by comparison.
I would definitely be interested in owning a share of a rack, too. (It's daunting to think how long it would take me to get through a whole one!)
Berkeley/Oakland dinner specials
Raphael happy hour, Tues-Friday, 3:00-6:00 -- $5 cocktails & appetizer/salad menu, half-price wine by the glass
Chocolate tart?
Thanks for the tip... I tend to think of Miette for cakes. And I suspected you were the one to ask!
absolute must-visit restaurants in Anchorage and Seward, Alaska
When I head back to Anchorage, I always try to make it to:
Thai Kitchen - midtown, strip mall, do _not_ do their new takeout thing, try the garlic chicken, and don't expect fast service
Moose's Tooth - the beer samplers cost the same per ounce as the pint, so try all of them, our favorite pizza is the Brewhouse Special with chorizo
Southside Bistro (if you're downtown, try Orso or Saks) - nice dinner out, good seafood
I would also strongly recommend the seafood special at F Street, breakfast at Snow City, all the Kaladi Brothers coffee you can drink, and the ice cream at Hot Licks.
Ray's in Seward is overrated, but where else are going to go? (Actually, there's a little burrito place further down the main street that was surprisingly yummy.) The Double Musky is not overrated. Go there.
Chocolate tart?
I've started fantasizing about the chocolate tarts I had in Paris -- buttery pastry crust (not crumb or chocolate flavored), perfectly creamy and rich chocolate filling (not mousse, not hard). Pie in the Sky in Berkeley has a chocolate-caramel tart that's in the same genre, but I'd love a straight chocolate one. Anyone seen a good one? I'd prefer small ones or a slice, but I can always have company over for a full-sized one.
Kosher Restaurants in San Francisco? For dinner this Sunday...
Raphael in Berkeley is kosher, not just kosher friendly: fish and dairy Italian. I was there on St. Patrick's Day, and they had made their own irish cream because Bailey's isn't kosher... They are open Friday night and Saturday through a title-transfer gimmick, whereby the non-Jewish chef becomes the (rights limited) owner when the sun goes down. Cooking on Shabbat doesn't make the food trayf, it just makes you disobedient, I guess!
