baloney's Profile
Best gourmet ice cream and patisserie?
Village Bakery next street up if you want to carb it up one day, maybe Canele across the street for brunch?
Best Fries on Westside?
As could I. And I would never make it to 40; I might last 6 months.
Is Tru worth one meal of my precious few?
Well I'm traveling solo so I figured it couldn't possibly be that long a wait if any if I went for a bar seat late, around 9-10p. Leaning towards just keeping the Tru res anyways, I'll see if I can squeeze in a Bayless eatery or two somehow. I shall of course report back after my trip.
Is Tru worth one meal of my precious few?
Los Angeles hound will be in Chicago weekend after this. My itinerary is chock full and I have reservations for Tru one night, but honestly am not sure it's worth going to. I know it's sort of a mainstay of the city, but am thinking of trying Frontera or Topo instead. Or is that dumb since we have tons of Mexican in LA? In another thread, someone mentioned that other 1 Michelin stars like La Folie and Atelier Crenn in SF(both of which I love) were better than Tru. So I am basically at a loss. How is the dessert tasting menu at Tru? Would it be worth it to have dinner at Frontera/Topo and do the dessert tasting at Tru? Any advice is greatly appreciated!
plan check on sawtelle is now open!
And I don't know how different if at all the lunch menu is from dinner, but I went a few Sunday's ago around 12:30-1pm and there tables aplenty.
Red Medicine. Wow.
Finally made it out to RM earlier this week and agree that the uni porridge is fantastic, a must-get. I couldn't do dessert, too stuffed. I FAIL...and bow to the eating prowess of Porthos!
Quiet Meeting place btwn South Bay and Tustin?
I guess it'll depend on the group, whether they want food or just coffee. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!
Quiet Meeting place btwn South Bay and Tustin?
One group is coming west from Tustin and we're going east from the SB, so maybe somewhere close to the 22 fwy would be best though close to the 91 would work too. Awkward time, 3pm on a Sunday to boot. Quiet, private-ish(business meeting), place required where they won't mind if we linger a bit. Cuisine and price not important, but hopefully can be better than inedible. I'd even consider a coffee shop type of place, I'm not sure anyone will really be looking to eat a meal at that time. Suggestions greatly appreciated as I don't know much about the area.
Where to get good breakfast AND good coffee
I'd say decent is even being generous. The cappuccino from M&O is even worse; the guy clearly did not know what he was doing(I additionally saw him butchering some poor woman's latte concoction afterwards, it was almost funny watching his confused/stoned face glancing around him to see if anyone was witnessing what he was doing). Such a shame wasting quality beans.
French Laundry Reservation For Three?
I went as a party of 3 this past summer, no problems.
(Another) Report Back from LA hound
Got there right when doors opened and there were a few groups in front of me, but everyone was seated immediately and there were still plenty of tables in both rooms when I left, a little after 9am.
(Another) Report Back from LA hound
I always try to report back, but my trips to SF get to be fairly frequent, I worry that I might wear out my welcome on this board!
I was eyeballing the strawberry rhubarb, but I wanted to stick with the mini pies this time and they didn't have any SR available. Even with my saddest pout, no dice. Am curious to see the offerings next time I visit.
(Another) Report Back from LA hound
Some pics here! http://www.flickr.com/photos/58506765@N07/sets/72157628492739571/
Now straight to the nitty gritty:
Friday dinner/dessert in Oakland -
Drove in from the east so it was finally my opportunity to eat in the EAST bay! Went to Boot and Shoe Service since it was so close to the fwy; I've heard good things about Pizzaiolo's pizza and I hope B&SS' is the same or close? Anyway, we had the house bread, crab tagliolini, and marg. di bufala pizza. Gin Tonic with housemade tonic was nice, but not noteworthy. Tagliolini could've been good had they not failed to mention that fennel was in there(I dislike fennel greatly) and it was seasoned a little more. Pizza was not bad, not great. A bit disappointing considering all I had heard and read.
Dessert at Lush Gelato was an improvement from dinner. I sampled quite a few but ended up with the Balsamic Mascarpone Graham Cracker and Horchata. The Balsamic was great! Should've doubled up on that instead of getting the Horchata, which was still good but just not as interesting after a few bites.
Dessert #2 at Fenton's. Thought I might as well hit it up since it was so close, so ice cream dessert #2 was a double scoop of Choc PB Crunch and Caramel Almond Crunch. Didn't really enjoy it so much: the CPBC had a lot of raw or underroasted peanuts and not much PB flavor, the CAC was decent but boring and one-note after a few spoonfuls. Cute place and concept but would not go back.
Sat Breakfast SF -
Brenda's - 3rd(?) visit and just as enjoyable as the others though one gripe about the special beignet. We got the dungeness crab beignet, shrimp and grits, side pancake and side biscuit. The beignet was undercooked with streaks of raw dough in the middle with cold to lukewarm crab filling. Maybe they need to make the beignet smaller and just serve multiple ones instead of one big one? But the rest of the food was as good as I remember: my favorite grits anywhere, great biscuit, great jam, good pancake(i like the slightly coarse sugar they use instead of powdered sugar), great service. Love the expanded room.
"Brunch" at Cotogna -
Not sure why they call it brunch...I didn't see anything on the menu that seemed brunch-y, just lunch-y. Anyways, I was here for the pizza and gnocchi, but I wasn't feeling the gnocchi of the day so I settled for the pumpkin/celeriac tortelloni. The pasta itself was nice, not any better than other great fresh pastas I've had anywhere but the filling was meh, too sweet, bland-ish, and overwhelmed by the hazelnuts sprinkled on top. The pizza was much better, though still not one of the great ones I've eaten in my life. I enjoyed this burrata, chanterelle, leek pizza more than the previous night's at B&SS. I found it a little odd that they didn't have a pizza option with red sauce.
Dinner from Mission Chinese -
Feeling the cold I was hoping to outrun start to catch up to me, I felt like soup. Preferably from someplace that would bring it to me. Perfect opportunity to try out MCF. I ordered the Tingly Lamb Soup and the Broccoli Beef Cheek. The lamb soup was disappointing, no tingle! At all! Just didn't come together as a dish, but the Broccoli Beef I really enjoyed. The beef cheek was ridiculously tender and tasty, plus they give a generous portion of it to boot.
Dessert at Town Hall -
Not wanting to go too far from the hotel, I looked up what was around and read about the butterscotch and chocolate pot de creme from TH. Thought it would be fairly easy to walk in at 10:30pm for dessert but found a full house and a short wait. Where did I read that SF isn't a late-night dining city?! Anyway short story shorter, didn't like it all. SF, you know I adore you, but LA is overrun with better butterscotch puddings and pot de cremes.
Sun Breakfast at Plow -
Last morning, wanting to squeeze in as much as possible, I visited Plow again since they open fairly early. We had the custard brioche donut, poached pear french toast, lemon ricotta pancake, crispy potatoes. Donut was a bit insipid, pear was nice but the french toast just average, pancake was very good but not better than many other ricotta pancakes, crispy potatoes = see pancake comment.
Misc Sweets -
Knead Patisserie: pomme d'amour(LOVE), various cookies(meh), choc croissant(two quarter sized pieces of choc?? really, it was that thin too), morning bun(good, liked the fruit-y glaze), biscuit(nice, enjoyed the honey butter that came with).
Beckman Pies: whoever mentioned this place in another thread, thank you! Lovely pecan pie, and this from someone who never eats pecan pie and only recently started being able to tolerate pecans in anything. Haven't attacked the ollalieberry yet but I'll bet it's great as well.
Loving Cup: went here because I had a BBE coupon which I promptly forgot to use once I got distracted by all the froyo mix-in choices. Tried the cinnamon raisin rum pudding and the choc chip w/ choc ganache and enjoyed them but rice puddings aren't really something that floats my boat most times(Chez L'ami Jean, you excepted). Love that the mix-ins are completely mixed in, fascinating how they make each order. Would love to come here for the fro-yo each time after I visit La Folie.
So, perhaps not as many fireworks as from my previous trips but still delicious eats. It is clearer and clearer to me each trip, that what I REALLY love about SF is the ease in getting to so many great places. I could see myself becoming a regular at many many of the places I've gone to. I remain jealous of you locals.
Korean recs in ktown?
Well they must've changed it because when I went a few months back, we were able to cook all our beef, shrimp, and octopus plus a few veggies all at once.
LK at SK White Truffle tasting menu or dinner at Urasawa???
I think I would go with Urasawa as well. While I enjoyed my LQ truffle dinner in January, I honestly don't remember too many standout dishes. But my dinner at Urasawa in February was one of the top dinners of my life and the hairy crab dish might be the best thing I've ever eaten.
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Urasawa Restaurant
218 N Rodeo Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
KyoChon
I like the K-town one best, haven't been to Glendale or Cerritos but Culver City was terrible.
Foie gras in S.F.?
I don't know what your definition of "breaking the bank" is but my favorite foie gras dish is at La Folie. Get the seared foie, it's pretty close to perfection. And you can eat it a la carte at the lounge next door, though it probably ends up being a better deal to get a 3 course meal with it as one of your choices.
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La Folie
2316 Polk St., San Francisco, CA 94109
Fantasize No More. LQ's Legendary Cheese Cart is Back!
Luckily, I can take the 110(and there usually aren't too many issues even at night, you probably hit an unlucky night) all the way to the end and not have to take fwys west. If I had to take the 10 or 405, I would probably be in your boat and avoid DT and north!
I rarely make it to the valley, weekends or not, I desperately desperately need to be craving Chinese to suffer through that drive.
Fantasize No More. LQ's Legendary Cheese Cart is Back!
No, I don't go to LB often so I haven't had the chance to go to that BF yet. I really need to since our BF doesn't change up their cheeses and the selection ain't great to begin with.
The Comte was 24 months and just as good as some 36's I've had in Paris.
Fantasize No More. LQ's Legendary Cheese Cart is Back!
We took a good chunk of that Comte which was my 2nd favorite of the night. Mwahaha!
I certainly hope he doesn't go too far north of DT. DT is about as far as I want to go anyways as a South Bay resident....
Fantasize No More. LQ's Legendary Cheese Cart is Back!
Popped in for the 7 cheese plate last night; it was lovely. A tear came to my eye when the cart was rolled over, it was so beautiful. They had about 38 cheeses yesterday(Epoisses was available and eaten by me). Sleeper hit was the Abbaye de Tamie, just great.
People, we need to do something to get Chef Laurent a permanent place where we can have this cart available consistently and easily!
96 hours in Portland: quick itinerary review
Starter is on the list for my next SF visit! Do you know if they make it every day or if it's a special? I heard Patisserie Phillippe makes K.A.'s by special order, though I don't know how good they are. I'm sorta happy that more places are making it, but also kinda sad that more people know about it...does that make me a bad person? Still haven't found something to rival French versions, probably the superior butter over there.
LA coffee scene: are we at the start of a revolution?
Agree, I've consistently had better results with the Hayes Valley beans from BB compared to the stuff from Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Conservatory, etc. Heck, I've had some great shots with 2 week old HV beans.
96 hours in Portland: quick itinerary review
Ooh, thanks for the additional info! I think it might end up being somewhat of a sweets/carts crawl! I was hoping to hit Crema since you gave high marks for their cap, having a good pastry selection certainly doesn't hurt. I noticed that picture, the kouign does look pretty good....
96 hours in Portland: quick itinerary review
Sounds like a kouign amann I'd like! I miss the ones from France terribly.
Thanks for the rest of the advice, I'll have to look at St. Jack's HH menu, maybe just try those madeleines from the bakery.
