$1000 budget 1 week in SF

Foreign Cinema, good idea. Something they wouldn't get in Jacksonville. Thanks, Maggie.

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

$1000 budget 1 week in SF

Thanks, Dustin. We will be going to Ferry Building for breakfast on the Saturday they're here. I'll make sure Roli Roti is on the collective menu, thanks. Don't think we'll make it down the Peninsula. Would Jai Yun be the Chinatown choice?

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

$1000 budget 1 week in SF

Thanks, Robert.

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

$1000 budget 1 week in SF

Benu looks really lovely, thanks goldangl.

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

$1000 budget 1 week in SF

Dustin: They follow my friend and fellow personal chef around eating at all kinds of restuarants in the Jacksonville area (meet-ups). Don't have any other demographics except that. I was asking for hounds' top 3-5 picks and then I'd figure out a mix for the week. Any meal/price, as long as the food is memorable.

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

$1000 budget 1 week in SF

Fellow Hounds,

Ok, it's been a LONG time since I posted, but asking for your help seems the wisest thing to do. So, in advance, I thank you very much.

I have been charged with designing a culinary tour of SF and surrounds for one week for 10-16 dedicated foodies from Florida, in October. I have a budget of $1000 per person - just for restaurants. They're eaters, as opposed to cooking class attendees.

I haven't been to the boards in forever because I haven't been dining out much for a while, so I'm a bit out of touch.

I need your help. And this is the tricky part. Coming up with a clear enough question that doesn't take a lot of quailfying, or waste your time.

If you had $1000, which three to five restaurants would you make sure you went to, to get the most bang for your buck over one week's time, based on the following criteria (doesn't have to be 100%)?

Food and service are impressive (breakfast, lunch or dinner)
Anything good, from Food Truck to the French Lauundry (in fact, such a spectrum would be great)
Celebrity chefs are a plus (I know...yawn)
Open to groups
Good variety of flavor/ethnicity/style/ambiance
Memorable

Here are some I'm considering:

Atelier Crenn
AQ
Michael Mina
Gary Danko (although I don't think they like groups over 10)
Aziza
Yank Sing
Wayfarers Tavern
Nick's Crispy Tacos
Flour and Water
Acquerello
L'Ardoise
Saison
Cotogna
Mission Chinese
Off the Grid

Any top faves from this list? What's missing?

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

Thank you.

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

Foodie in Fremont...HELP!

My good friend Steve, a personal chef, just moved to Fremont.

He's looking for good grocers, butchers, farmers markets, restaurants of note.....anything, anywhere that has GOOD food, within 5 miles anyway.

Thanks in advance.

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

Paris eating itinerary - comments?

John you can vote as many times as you'd like, my friend.

Yes, LPC mostly for the novelty of dining in the oldest restaurant. Is it bad?

Are you in Siena?

tom in sf in France

Paris eating itinerary - comments?

I and my group of chefs are arriving late Saturday afternoon for about five days. After much perusing of the boards and great recs from the local food gurus, I've landed on the following itinerary. Thanks again to Mr. Talbot, Souphie and PhilD.

Saturday – Dinner at La Petite Chaise
Sunday – Market Day: Raspail for gallettes, then Bastille for paella (via Christian Constant ice cream); Dinner??
Monday – Taillevent for lunch; Dinner????
Tuesday – Class (inc. breakfast and lunch) at Le Cordon Bleu; Dinner at Les Papilles
Wednesday – Chez L’amis Jean for lunch; Le Grande Cascade for farewell dinner

Most breakfasts will likely be at the hotel.

I'm missing two dinners, though. One on Sunday and one on Monday. I live in San Francisco so I'm steering clear of ethnic cuisine for this trip. Going mostly after French traditional fare, in the Euro 30-60 range, but am willing to experiment. My two splurges are Taillevent and LGC. Staying in the Quartier Latin.

Any diner recommendations to round out my experience?

Thanks in advance.

tom in sf in France

Sunday is Market Day in Paris - which one?

Hmmm, now I'm reconsidering. Thanks Phil, esp. for letting me know about LBM.

Perhaps we'll do both and metro from Raspail to Bastille, picnicing at the Place des Vosges. We'll have to see how intrepid my folks are willing to be.

tom in sf in France

quick menu question

Thanks, Parigi. Didn't see the choice, which is now obvious.

tom in sf in General Chowhounding Topics

quick menu question

What's the difference between

entree - plat ou plat - dessert

and

entree - plat - dessert?

Usually the former is a tad less expensive?

Thanks.

tom in sf in General Chowhounding Topics

Sunday is Market Day in Paris - which one?

Thanks Parigi. I had that very list bookmarked. Leaning towards Respail and Luxembourg, with perhaps a short stop around the corner to the Bon Marche (my foodie friends HAVE to see the Le Grande Epicerie).

Thanks for the galette tip, AGM! Yum!

Thanks, Souphie, Christian Constant is a great rec. April 18 will hopefully be a sunny day.

tom in sf in France

Sunday is Market Day in Paris - which one?

I have my 9+ chefs with me and we're in the 6th about a block away from the Jardins de Luxembourg. I'd like to take them to an open market on Sunday. One that is uniquely Parisian, which would mean stuff like great street food, more than just produce, lovely setting.

The plan is to walk the market, pick up something yummy and go have a picnic somewhere nice.

I was thinking the Raspail, then walk to the Luxumbourg gardens.

I've been to Mouffetard and loved it, but wanted something new.

The Bastille appeals, perhaps picnicing at Place des Vosges.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks. And of course, I'm happy to narrow my request based on your questions.

tom in sf in France

Oldest restaurant in Paris??

Souphie and John, you guys are amazing. And you're both saving my trip big time. Thank you.

Max, just wanted to let my group know where we're going and the history. Didn't want to say 'oldest' anything until I got some clarity. Now I can include Souphie's post and have a much more interesting introduction. I love the subtleties like oldest cafe vs. oldest restaurant vs. in the same location, etc. And the bit about the tower not surviving the revolution because the King dined there. Wonderful.

Merci bien, mes amis.

tom in sf in France

Oldest restaurant in Paris??

Ok, I've now read about three different retsaurants claiming to be the oldest in Paris. Does anyone know which one is true?

Café Procope
La Petite Chaise
Tour d'Argent

tom in sf in France

Lunch in Carcassonne

Venturing to Carcassonne for two nights in April.

We'll be staying right inside the walled city. Anything decent for lunch within walking distance (up to 15 minutes is ok), or a short cab ride?

We will be 12 people, mostly personal chefs, so although it needn't be high-end, good cooking is important. Couple of places would be good as we'll have a Sunday lunch as well. We will definitely call ahead to let them know a group is coming.

Thanks in advance.

tom in sf in France

Nine chefs - one good farewell dinner

Good points PhilD, thanks. I suspect by the time we reach Wednesday night, after a pretty generous six days of excellent home-style cooking on the barges, three squares per day in fact, plus the various and sundry meals while in Paris for nearly a week, something on the lighter side might just be welcome. Hopefully, though, the wait staff will allow us to linger a bit longer than an hour. The room at GC seems to be, as you say, an experience, albeit bargain-conscious, of the high end of Paris, which is what I wanted.

btw - my crowd DOES like to drink. but they buy any extra drinks on their own. (you see, part of the adventure package includes the farewell dinner, which means if they choose to spend more than I budgeted, they can, as long as they make up the difference...so far that system has worked fine)

Too many chefs? Yeh, hmmmm, we'll see. Been to more than a few Personal Chef conventions over the years, in New Orleans, Vegas, Chicago, all good food towns. We descend as a hungry and reasonably discerning crowd upon the eating establishments and so far it's worked really well. We're a gracious bunch, for the most part. I think the lot of us are so pleased that someone else is doing the cooking. ;-)

JT - yes, it's nice that tax and tip are included most of the time. We're so used to tipping in the States, as you know, so if the service is especially good, we end up leave a little extra anyway.

Thanks all again.

tom in sf in France

Nine chefs - one good farewell dinner

Thanks to Parigi, FOF, Mr. Talbot and especially to Souphie. I've sent an email to Le Grande Cascade. They have an 85 euro Menu Marche in their Grand Salon, which after much back and forth between CAJ, Josephine, Maceo, Grand Vefour and LGC, the later appears to be the best overall fit.

Now, let's hope they accept my reservation!

Merci bien!!

tom in sf in France

Nine chefs - one good farewell dinner

Thanks everyone for your generous responses.

I knew this would be tough, only because I'm having trouble asking the right questions. If CAJ looked like Le Grande Cascade, it would be a homerun.

I beg your indulgence...

How about this question. Where would YOU take nine chefs who only had a budget of 90 euro each for dinner; where the food is on par with the ambiance; the service is friendly-ish and you knew these chefs would remember the evening for a very long time?

tom in sf in France

Nine chefs - one good farewell dinner

I'm leading a group of personal chefs from the States on a culinary adventure to France in April. Two days in Carcassonne, six days barging the Canal du Midi, then five nights in Paris.

I've been doing some research on the boards, but have yet to land on a place that meets the following criteria (although I might not have understood it all, too). Any help would be greatly aprreciated.

Ambiance: Particularly (old world?) French, rather than modern (think Ladoyen or Apiciuos; beautiful setting, elegant but not opulent)

Food: Good, not top drawer, but good, hearty, plenty, nicely presented

Cost: preferrably prix fixe and 90 euro max, inc. wine and service

Service: Friendly, patient with a table of self-professed foodies who speak mostly English

Can take a group of twelve, likely on a Wednesday evening.

I want them to be left with "Remember that amazing farewell dinner in Paris!?" So, the food would share the stage with the ambiance and service.

Sorry, I'm still not confident that this narrows it down sufficiently, but I thought I'd give it a try. I'm more than happy to adjust my criteria, answer questions, whatever.

Thanks very much in advance for your generosity.

tom in sf in France

ISO Starfruit in SF

Or thereabouts.

Been to Ranch 99, Pacific Super, Clement street, a few Whole Foods. I suspect it's a seasonal thing. But I did read that they go until late Winter.

Has anyone seen them anywhere?

Thanks in advance.

(I'm making a Thai salad of organic rose petals, starfruit, Thai herbs, shrimp, chicken and a fish sauce dressing for Valentine's Day)

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

Need Banana Leaves

I just bought some. Got two huge banana leaves in the freezer section at Ranch 99. They were like $2. Couldn't find Ti leaves though. I made Kalua Pig in a giant roaster and boy was it good.

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

ISO good lunch/dinner btwn Phx and Tucson

Is that even possible?

We're hounds from the Bay Area. Over Christmas we're in Phoenix and our good friends are in Tucson. We both want to get away from the parents and meet somehwere for a good dinner.

Either in-between, if at all possible, which might mean lunch (or early dinner).......OR the huzbin and I will drive all the way to Tucson and spend the night, in which case we'll need to find a good place for dinner.

Any ideas? Budget: under $300 for the four of us...ish.

Thanks in advance. :-)

tom in sf in Southwest

100 Chefs in Vegas!

(Thanks, DougOLis for recommending I move this to Southwest. It's been too long between posts).

In February, Las Vegas hosts the 2009 Personal & Private Chef Summit.

There'll be a ton of foodies coming to LV in February. I'd love any recs on the following:

BEST OVERALL: Cost is not an option Your highest recs.

BEST FOODIE EXPERIENCE: The show, the presentation, the quality, the buzz...whatever. If you're a serious foodie, this is the place not to miss. Cost to experience ratio is high.

BEST VALUE: Best food, service, and/or atmosphere for the money

BEST EVERYDAY/BUDGET: Those places that do food really well that don't break the budget

One place could qualify in one or all categories, who knows. Overlap is welcome. Whatever you have to offer is very much appreciated.

In fact, THANKS VERY MUCH!! in advance.

tom in sf in Southwest

ISO Organic (edible) Rose Petals in SF Area

Thanks everyone. I found some. Karen's suggestion to poll my friends worked. My friend has had organic roses forever. She lives in Oakland, but hey, I'm a hound.

I remember when I first found out about chowhounds. What I remember was the article saying something about the difference between foodies and chowhounds is that hounds will go 25 miles out of their way for a hot dog. Or something like that.

Works for me.

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

ISO Organic (edible) Rose Petals in SF Area

Houndz,

I'm making a Turkish salad of organic (fresh) rose petals, mint and parsley (http://www.saveur.com/article/food/Rose-Petal-Salad-with-Parsley-and-Mint).

Any clue as to where I could find the petals?? Whole Foods, Rainbow and Boulette's are all "Good Luck with That"

Anyone have a nice, organically grown rose bush that's overflowing and needs a bit of a trim?

Thanks in advance.

tom in sf

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area

16 SF Foodies in Manhattan!

Fellow Houndz,

Taking a bunch of Bay Area food enthusiasts to NYC for a week in May 2009. Doing the Savory Sojourns tours, plus some other foodie things. Thought it would be nice to do a Chef's Table while we're there, but it's now looking like we're just too big a group. Plus, after reading the boards, a Chef's Table seems to be a bit passe.

So, looking for recommendations. Budget is $100-150 pp. for some kind of memorable, very NY dining experience. Private dining room maybe? I'm open to out-of-the-box ideas for sure. Anywhere in the city is fine, and the outer boroughs would be considered as well.

Or maybe there is such a thing as a Chef's Table for this big a group. Just haven't found one yet.

Waddya think? Is my budget even realistic?

Thanks very much in advance.

Tom in SF

tom in sf in Manhattan

Rest. Gift Certificate for Xmas

Chez Panisse
Michael Minna
La Folie
Fleur De Lys
Dining Room at the Ritz
Delfina

tom in sf in San Francisco Bay Area