lgphil's Profile
Romantic restaurants for anniversary dinner in Silicon Valley?
One more vote for Manresa. Also Travese is very nice. Good to hear about the recovery at Chez TJ. Please add a report if you go there.
Why did you Break-Up with a Favorite Restaurant?
They started to become unreliable.
We would come to eat and they would be closed even though posted hours said they were open. Eventually, we started going to another place we knew would be open when they said they would. Why try to outguess them.
Cooking Class Question
Not exactly SF, but Lawrence Chu of Chef Chu's in Los Altos has cooking classes including Dim Sum.
Sushi on the Run in Los Gatos
If you are in Los Gatos and need to have sushi, Kamakura is a MUCH better option than Sushi on the Run. If you can wait 15 minutes, then Kitsho in Cupertino is even better.
Ok Chowers, need your help w/instant hot cocoa
That would be Jacque Torres for those of you who can actually type.
Sometimes my brain goes faster than my fingers. Or is it my fingers faster than my brain?
Ok Chowers, need your help w/instant hot cocoa
Jacque trooes has a version that I think meets your requirements. I don't have the package here in front of me, so I can't be sure. Vwery tasty. Not in packets, but does come in an 8 oz tin.
Tipping: why a percentage?
Actually, they are required to claim their full tip income. The government sets a floor of 8% and relies on the honor of the person to declare the rest.
How bad does accepting credit cards hurt small restaurants?
They are willing to break their written word. Makes me wonder what else they are lying to me about.
Private dining at Canlis -- leftover $$ and other advice?
You need to check with the restaurant. Many states (I think WA is one) do not allow you to take wine with you. It has to do with the different regulations between a liquor store, a retail outlet, and a restaurant.
Food with Dark & Stormy?
Sounds good. Where can you get it?
I've never been able to get Barritt's reliably here, so would love to learn of a better, more reliable source.
Food Banks..do you give?
At least twice a year, we head to the store. Both daughters get a budget to spend, and a list of the things for which the food bank has expressed a recent need.
We started doing this when they were 3. They are almost 7 now, and are already asking about our November trip and researching what the food Bank needs. Last year they worked it out so that one purchased as many turkeys as she could for her money, and the other bought the sides. Their idea. Very cute. You have 10 turkeys, that means I have to get 10 of everything too.
being invited to eat where there are cats
"I know the cats have litter trays in the kitchen and do not go outside."
Next to last line of OP.
Food with Dark & Stormy?
www.beveragesdirect.com has Barritt's Ginger Beer (the original dark and stormy ingredient along with the gosling's rum) available.
Butcher in San Jose Area?
Los Gatos Meats is usually pretty solid for their butchers department. soem of their sausage is done in a dryer style than I enjoy, but the meat has always been fresh and well prepared.
http://www.losgatosmeats.com/
Waive the corkage???
If their menu lists a corkage fee, then yes, I think you were wrong to be surprised.
It would have been a nice gesture on their part to waive the fee since they were out of your first choice, but I would not consider this an instance where a waiver is required.
Food with Dark & Stormy?
The ginger pairs well with chinese and other SE asian foods.
Live Carp
I have seen them at Marina in Cupertino. Don't know if they always have them or not.
Tin Tin corner of Bollinger and Blaney, may also have it.
20 Hours on the road w/ 3 kids! I'm Hungry! Where?!
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/422834
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/545950
Here a a couple of previous links which cover some of your route.
Ashland OR has quite a few good places many of which are kid friendly. Thai Pepper is really popular with my kids. Don't be confused by the Thai in the name. It is much more SE asian fusion than Thai. the owner is from Indonesia, and mixes flavors from many culture.
Standing Stone brewery in Ashland has a toy bar where the kids can get a toy and be entertained while you wait and eat. good food, better beer.
Lela's in Ashland for lunch. Actually, do a search on Ashland formany recs. It's the best concentration of good food you'll find between Portland and maybe LA. At least Sacremento (I don't know Sacto very well, so I may be doing it a disservice, but I haven't heard it described as a hotbed of chow, so apologies in advance.)
I think there is also a Wild River in Medford if that works better for your scheduling.
Bargain Bites 2008 - Now Without the South Bay!
It's the Chron. The world ends at San Mateo.
Do we become "taste" disabled as we get older?
There are a number of studies that back up your basic contention.
After about age 40 for women, and 45-50 for men, there is a decrease in the number of taste buds. This leads to a reduced level of taste for most people.
Additionally, at around the same age, your sense of smell also starts to decline. Since taste and smell are very closely linked, this will add to the perception that the food doesn't taste as flavorful as it used to.
Saliva production goes down a little later. About 50. That means that there is less liquid in your mouth. Flavors that would have been spread to all the taste buds by this process will not hit as many leaving an unsatisfying feeling in the mouth.
I have been told, although this I haven't seen the studies on, that taste buds are closer together on a childs toungue. Therefore flavors (particularly bitter and spicy hot) are much more intense for kids. As the toungue grows, they get to a more adult spacing.
Your late 20s sounds a little off. Maybe you were just a late bloomer (or an early decliner)
When you hear older people talking about how food just doesn't taste the same as when they grew up, they are right. It often just isn't the food that changed.
I think I'll go join you in that scotch and we can contemplate our fast track to hell in a handbasket.
Are there childhood foods of your partner that you cook to make them happy?
When my wife was pregnant a few years ago, she was having cravings for the old Cantonese dishes like her grandmothers used to make. "Real Cantonese food, not that British stuff from Hong Kong they serve in the US."
I think I'm in little trouble here.
She gives me the name of the dish. I've never heard of this. She says it again in english. I've STILL never heard of ths. Off to do some internet research and make a desperate call my MIL. Several hours later, a (prbably poor) version of this appears on the table. Dinner before 10PM, and everybody happy.
What would you do if a restaurant wouldnt cook your Burger to Order?
Unfortunately, with the recent outbreaks of E. Coli in French meats and cheeses, i think it is more of a risk assessment problem, rather than one of location.
The world is a dangerous place, and how you hancle the risk needs to be an indiviual choice.
What would you do if a restaurant wouldnt cook your Burger to Order?
But do you really want to eat in a place that iswilling to ignore the health codes?
How many chances do you give a restaurant ?
One if I just wandered in on my own.
Two if I have a recommendation from someone I trust (or Chowhound of course:)). Everyone can have a bad night, so if others have had a good experience, they get the second chance
Cyrus transportation question
This is a really nice drive on a sunny afternoon. Well, after the 101 part. After a tasting menu and wine, you will definitely want a designated driver if you can't get the reservation changed. It's a nice drive, and well marked, but it will be dark and unexpected critters like deer and other drivers may pop out at you along the rural parts.
What have you learned from CH?
1. People on line are much less tolerant than people in person.
2. Chowhounders are much less tolerant than people in general.
3. Tons of new places to try and enjoy. Since I have kids and don't eat out as much as I used to, I may never get through my 'to try' lsit.
4. Every place can have a bad night. Give a place more than one try.
5. Tipping is like politics. The world is equally divided between the "I start at 15% and adjust accordingly" aand the "I start at 20% and go up from there" camps. Neither will convince the other.
6.
Ageist service problems -- paranoia or shared experience?
So where did you end up getting the good service?
Fine weekend lunch in San Jose area?
Tapestry in Los Gatos is open 11:30-2 on Saturdays. Not quite as upscale as you have listed, but the food is good and they have a nice patio to enjoy your lunch.
Dio Deka in LG has Sunday brunch from 10:30-2.
Truth in Menus
a quick google search shows that Old Bay is a must. Not so common out here on the west coast, but still pretty available if you look. I have certainly had crab cakes without Old Bay. Other camps claim Maryland carb cakes are spicier than crab cakes, or must have peppers and onions, but that seems to be open to debate. Sort of a mine is, yours isn't, mentality. Reminds me a lot of the cajun/creole debate here not long ago.
The fact that Maryland style has reached Cali, NY Fla, doesn't really negate the style, just show the popularity.
cooking at home with your kids!
I think my daughters learned all of their early math through cooking. counting (the number of cups of x in a recipe) fractions, multiplication and division (doubling and halving recipies.). They are almost 7 now, and made their Grandfather Shrimp Scampi for his birthday. The only rule is there must be an adult in the kitchen before the oven or stove isturned on.
It also taught them to read and write. We will make any recipe, but they have to read it and write out the shopping list.
