Archive for the ‘in California’ Category
Trestle’s “good deal”
t says: Since moving to SF, Trestle has been near the top of the list of restaurants to try. Every review reads something like, “$35 fixed price! The food is just too incredible for it to be $35! How do they do it!?”. g and I were totally “in” – but for the record, there’s also a pasta supplement (+$10), which we’ll get into later …
March 2016. Saturday Dinner, Party of 2 (or 4?). g and I nabbed a reservation for a few weeks in advance. Later, we happened to be hanging out with k and cm, and decided we should eat together. We called up Trestle and asked to add two to the party – they refused. We looked on opentable – and they had another two-top available within a half-hour of our initial reservation … so we got that one, too. We showed up to the restaurant, explained that we had two reservations, and they sat us next to eachother … with different servers … with the intention that we would keep it as “two separate tables”. I understand why they did it that way, and we’re fine with it – but it did add some fun to our dinner conversation (e.g. pretending not to know eachother, etc). It did confuse the servers that we were so friendly, even going so far as to sharing dishes (i.e. one said: “we’ve never seen this before!” – I hope someone let her in to the fact that we knew eachother). Anyways – it was entertaining, and we’re happy they took us, even if it was a bit silly.
Now here’s the problem with Trestle: the menu changes VERY fast. And the problem is that unless a dish knocks us off our feet, it’s hard for me to remember what they are, as there is no longer a menu online for me to peruse (and I forgot to take a pic of the menu! d’oh!) First victim: the soup. We remember liking it – we just can’t remember why!! Argh!!
The calamari salad was flawlessly executed – just the right crispiness, just the right zippy springy flavors, and not too many greens to make it calamari soggy. Some might complain that it wasn’t salad-enough (::cough:: g ::cough::), but let’s be honest: who’s going to order calamari salad with the “hope” that there are more greens than squid? Answer: no one.
So, here’s the pasta supplement. It was chicken “parm”, or maybe it was “chicken” parm – not sure what was in quotation marks, but I remember asking the waitress why (I wanted to make sure it wasn’t fake-chicken tofu). It was essentially a deconstructed chicken parm, with an airy gnudi. I would have preferred potato gnocchi instead, but aside from that, there was something really nostalgic about it. Like, when I closed my eyes, I felt like I was in a South Jersey diner, age 8, and eating chicken parm from the menu of 200 items they served, thinking it was the best thing in the world (it was like pizza meets fried chicken!). Now, 33-year-old me knows this was not the best chicken parm in the world, but it definitely hit the necessary notes for an elevated version of classic chicken parm (especially not having a tomato sauce that’s too sweet – that’s the worst).
For the mains, I ventured the beef (?short rib?) on what I believe was farro. Solidly executed (I’ve had more tender beef in the past), with a very nice glaze. Wasn’t particularly eye-opening, but no-brainer good. g had some kind of fish on another type of grain – once again – the details evade us – we know it was nicely done, but nothing really stood out.
I’d have to say that the desserts were the weakest parts of the meal. One was some sort of panna cotta with citrus highlights (and a crumble), and the other (pictured above) was a chocolate pudding with citrus highlights (and a crumble). As sexy as torched marshamllow is, these were kind of phoned in. Not super-thoughtful, not superbly composed, just a way to shut up a diner’s sweet tooth (my sweet tooth thanks them).
So … Trestle … how was it? Well, $40 per person for dinner is sort of a deal (because generally, you’ll need one pasta supplement per two diners, at least), and no part of the meal was bad (which is good!), but let’s add some perspective. There are places in SF to get mind-blowing food in ample quantities that are just as inexpensive (Nopalito, Anchor Oyster), but those aren’t the contemporary-American-composed-dishes-in-courses restaurants. When you start stepping up to the “tasting menu” styles of restaurant, then yes, Trestle comes in at a deal. But I believe the flavors come in exactly at the pricepoint suggests; at no point did I every confuse Trestle’s dinner for some magical $100+ fixed price menu, or even an $70 one. It tasted like a solid $30-40 – and for that, in SF, they get props for not charging $70, $100, etc. Will g and I go back? Not on our own accord – maybe if we have some visitors from out of town and need to add a Contempo-American stop to the itinerary (but that’d be after Mexican, Seafood, Japanese, other Asian, pizza, and French).
Date Night at Cafe Reveille
t says: Having been fans of eater.com from our Philly days, we scour it routinely for mentions of new places in our ‘hood. We’re sure that “real” San Franciscans use cooler apps and websites to keep track of their ginormous restaurant scene – and we’ll find them eventually – but for now, we have eater … Well, eater was pretty excited that Cafe Reveille was opening in Mission Bay, so we went to check it out. Of course, the first time we went to check it out, it was brunch … and there was a line … out the door … so we just kept driving on by. But this time, we dropped in for dinner. It was shockingly empty for a Friday evening …
The space is pretty open – I’m surprised they don’t squeeze like 17 more tables in there for dinner. But we enjoyed the elbow room, not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth.
I ventured the burger with the egg addition. It was absolutely delicious. It’s been a while since I’ve had a burger this good. The meat was flavorful, the toppings were right-on, and the egg was oh-so-gooey. As my first burger in SF (not including In-n-Out), I’m thrilled to know that we’ve got a good burger so nearby! The Brussels sprouts – yea – pure bait, but who cares if they’re that good? I wish I could have had a second burger where it was just bread and Brussels – now that would have been an amazing meal, too!
g went for the steak frites (that’s right, she’s back on the wagon) – and it too was a pretty solid dish. I mean, it wasn’t Bibou-good, but a well-cooked steak, nicely done accompaniments – nothing mindblowing, but nothing to complain about. (It’s one red-wine jus sauce away from being excellent).
Later on, I also made it back for the morning rush. The staff made quick work of the long line, and despite everyone grabbing-and-going, there were quite a few empty tables. Had g accompanied me, we would have sat and enjoyed brunch, for sure. However, because she wasn’t, I grabbed some egg sandwiches that were quite solid – more like the above steak frites than the burger. Here’s a peak at the bar during the morning rush (the line is hiding behind the espresso machine):
BUT – if you take a peak into those bags, you’d see a blackberry-pistachio croissant (from Neighbor Bakehouse) which is life-changing (it’s really really frickin’ delicious), and a chocolate kouign amann which was “just ok” (Rival Bros’ version from High Street on Market is better). The hot chocolate was similar to every other “hot chocolate” in SF – more like watered down chocolate rather than “drinking chocolate” with which I am more accustomed (and favor). Oh well – guess we’ll have to make do. We’re going to have to go back for an official brunch review …
In all, though, Cafe Reveille will definitely be a staple for us – it’s close and food is solid-to-fantastic. I’ll have to get someone else to tell me how the coffee is (but the reviews say it’s great!). We’re also definitely adding it to the list of places we’re going to take our Philly friends to for their official review (if they ever visit!).
Storming the Grove (and a Pizzaiolo bonus)
t says: Brunch in SF is quite a sport. A full-contact take-no-prisoners bloodsport. There are lines and lists as early as 9am and as late as who knows when. If you want brunch, you better bring your A-game. Ok – maybe most people who are native to SF don’t actually believe this – maybe it’s just my competitive east-coast nature – I can’t help it (what? I like my brunch to be delicious and timely!). Fortunately, when we went to the Grove with some friends, we executed a plan involving people in line and people claiming seats – we were a well-oiled machine, ready to conquer brunch. And it was totally worth it.
I, in typical t fashion, went for the warm cinnamon roll bread pudding. It was basically a mammoth-sized hunk of cinnamon swirl bread … with icing … and syrup (the strawberries were a pretty sad effort by SF standards). And it was great – in all of its sugar-laden, carbohydrate-full glory. In the background, you can see that g embraced her inner-San-Franciscan with an avocado toast with poached egg and hash brown. Perhaps not the most creative dish, but it got the job done. In all, it was a pretty good showing – I’d be willing to go back for another round to try out some other entrees.
This little slice here of frittata is what I like to call “g’s frittata” – mostly because it had like three different green veggies in it – just like she would would make if she was making a frittata (she loves bbrrooccccoollii). More significant was where the frittata came from: Pizzaoilo in Oakland. While we have yet to do anything substantial there, I’ve ventured their pastries twice, and I have to say that they’re pretty darn solid. The frittata was nicely composed (nearly Talula’s Garden good). The ham and fontaina croissant and lemon turnover were also both excellent. If these are any indication of the dinners to be had, they’re in good shape. We’re adding this place to our list of dinners to try.
Finding Pizza
t says: One of the big challenges that g and I have come across in SF is the ideal weeknight pizza. Sure, we’ve had a few good pies since moving here, but nothing quite as comforting as the Gusto’s we had in Philly. Sourdough from Goat Hill, fancy from Piccino, artisan from Little Star – they were all fine, but none of them could quite fill the weekday void … So we soldiered on, investigating one pizza joint at a time, looking for the one pie to rule them all (Monday thru Thursday) …
Patxi’s has quite a reputation around these parts – “the best deep dish in the city”. I suppose that’s to be expected from a chain that’s mastered the arts in several cities across the country. When we saw a free delivery day on some online delivery service in the area (I wanna say it was postmates, but I can’t remember), we decided to jump on it. What you see above is the spinach pesto deep dish that was “ok”. There were a few execution flaws (burnt crust, soggy spinach), but the cheese was wonderfully salty and the sauce wonderfully not-sweet. Ultimately, it wasn’t quite worth the $20-30 per pie they charge (maybe in SF-dollars it is) – I’d give them another shot maybe in-restaurant …
I went a little nuts with this order – this is what happens when g sends me on a pizza errand with an empty stomach: I buy two large pizzas … for two people … oops! But wait – let’s back up to how I even got myself into the position to buy the two pies to begin with. A little while ago, I was re-reading one of our own posts on the blog, and I noticed in a’s little twitter feed off to the right that someone had responded! Like someone out there in the world read this tiny blog and put forth a suggestion! How cool is that! She (we think the poster is a she) suggested Long Branch Pizza in Dogpatch. We had seen the place before, but never set foot inside … until now! So there I was, hungry one evening returning from work, determined to perform my husbandly duties by securing food for the family (i.e. g and me). I went a little overboard, as you can see (They had two flavors I wanted to try, so I got larges of them both!). Well, the spinach one (“white pie”) was awesome. Unlike Patxi’s, the spinach still had some texture and was profoundly flavorful – really surprised me! And the balance of cheeses was right-on. Damn it was tasty. The one in the background, however, was the real treat. The description of “the meatball” is pretty standard at first: meat, cheeses, tomato sauce – no big deal. But then it mentions “Calabrian chili paste” – and that was a total game changer! It had that electric spicy kick on the finish that was almost like han dynasty’s Sichuan pepper oil that really added another dimension to the profile. With all these excellent flavors on a crust that was cooked reasonably (I like mine extra-crispy, so next time I’ll request it – these are more flexible-new-york-neopolitan style), we now completely understand why the place is packed on a Friday night (lines, people waiting for pick-ups, etc). Take it from us: it’s worth it.
In conclusion – I think that g and I found our new pizza place: Long Branch!!! They don’t deliver (I don’t think), but they’re close enough for a quick pizza pickup after work, which is key. The prices are $2-3 more than Gusto (for the Margherita), so it’s not too crazy. Now we can move on to our next big challenge: delivery Chinese …
Namu Gaji vs. Aliment
t says: It was Valentine’s Day … our first in SF! So where did we go? Well, the problem (as per usual V-Day SOP) was that every place we knew of was either doing a stupid menu or already all booked up! Fortunately, eater came to the rescue, with a post about “last minute Valentin’s reservations”. While it did make me feel like a bad person for having put myself in such a position, it did allow me to click my way out of a reservation-less V-Day. Within seconds we were confirmed for 2 for Namu Gaji (which we had been wanting to try ever since casually perusing their menu while slurping down ice cream at the neighboring Bi-Rite).
February 2016, Party of 2, Sunday Dinner. It was quite busy in there! It seems that Namu Gaji has a very aggressive happy hour scene (even on a weekend). Maybe it was because there was run-off from nearby Dolores Park, maybe because it was a beautiful day (the Bi-Rite line wrapped around the block), or maybe everyone wanted cheap Korean tacos (Namu Gaji’s happy hour special). Whatever the reason, we squeezed into the door and were seated in about 15 minutes.
This was the closest thing to banchan at Namu Gaji – some interesting pickles. While there were only three (sorry mom – I know Korean restaurants are a disappointment if they serve any less than 10), they were pretty solid. No – they weren’t Zahav-good, but that pickled shallot was absolutely wonderful (we could have eaten at least four more servings of that!).
The Korean taco, we have to say, was a downright disappointment. The meat wasn’t browned at all, the tomato was insipid, and the wrapper (i.e. seaweed) is a terrible choice for execution (it got soggy, chewy, and flimsy). Dude – just serve it on a leaf of lettuce ssam-style and call it a day! (Or put it on a tortilla like everyone else).
The mains were pretty good! We did the stone pot, which hit all the right notes in terms of feeling homey and warm and cozy. That said, it didn’t quite hit the loudest flavor notes it should have – maybe a bit more egg, or a hotter bowl to really brown the rice would have given it that umami oomph we wanted. The oxtail dish was also pretty good – coming off like a hybrid of a spicy-braised-oxtail and dukbuki. A bit more sweet-and-tang than I was hoping for, but not too shabby for “Korean inspired” (I was able to get my sweating-Korean-grandpa-syndrome on towards the end, there). In the end, we’re glad we went because it was a unique opportunity to try some contemporary Korean dishes (a restaurant like this would never survive in Philly), but in the future will look for Korean in some more traditional places.
ARGH!! BLURRY PICTURES!! I hate using them, but I absolutely have to in this case. First, the backstory: g, cm, k, and I decided to get a bite after the Chinese New Year parade. The problem: we wanted dumplings, but the parade was in our way from crossing over into Chinatown. So we did some aimless walking, slowly losing hope as none of us could think of a place that we had heard of that had availability on such short notice. (Not to say there weren’t a LOT of restaurants – it’s just that we had no idea how to make a choice!). So we hit a corner and I saw this place called Ailment, and remarked “what a weird name for a restaurant!”. Turns out it was Aliment, not Ailment, it was nicely appointed (and warm), and they had room! So we walked right in! g kind of poo-poo’d the menu (it was a very varied menu – not a lot of focus – seemingly random!), but she was either too hungry or too polite to fight the majority rule. First things first: their cocktails were delicious. I forget what we ordered, but they were delightful. Their wine pours are also quite healthy, so you’re not getting [that] ripped off. We ended up ordering what could be best described as a “hodge-podge” of stuff, having no expectation of what would actually come out (or if it would be good). So here we are with the first picture … If you stare into the background, you see what is a corned beef slider (on pretzel roll) … it was the most surprisingly good thing I’ve eaten in SF. Seriously. Like, you think “oh, I’ve had smoked meat in Montreal at Schwartz’s – this’ll probably be just ‘ok'”. And then you bite into this – and alluvasudden, you don’t give a crap about MTL anymore. cm and I couldn’t stop talking about it: the seasoned crust, the lovely roll – it was perfect. Had we not already ordered the rest of our meals, we might have gone back for more of those. In the blurry foreground there was some kind of pork belly and korean sauce – it was just “ok” – I mean, after that slider, it was but a forgotten blip on the radar of our meal.
They did have a gnocchi dish that was essentially all bait: gnocchi, pork belly, broccolini, shallots. It tasted exactly as it sounds: delish! Had I not had that slider (still in the background above), then I would have probably elected this as my favorite dish. It was just like eating clouds of cheese and salty-sweet-porky heaven. Now – the thing that is NOT pictured is pork tenderloin dish with rainbow carrots and a squash slaw. It damn near ripped g’s head off. For being an internal hater, she was all smiles: “guys … guys … is it me, or is this food really good?”. She was right: we were all shocked that a pork tenderloin would be so good. (Pork chop, sure. Pork shoulder, fine. But pork tenderloin, with its relatively small amount of intrinsic fat? Completely unexpected). We’re not even sure why – it was just perfectly cooked and superbly composed, with all the flavor elements in perfect balance. What a discovery Aliment was for us! We’ll definitely have to go back!
A Few Quick Brunches
t says: Since moving on out here, g and I have done a lot of cooking at home, especially for dinner. I will say that the restaurant scene provides plenty of temptation (never have we lived in a city with so many different kinds and calibers of restaurant), but we have been careful to not exceed the usual “going out” quota we had in Philly (and choosing restaurants that were of a similar price-point). But if there’s one area where we are splurging, it’s for breakfast: we like waking up, walking around our neighborhood because the weather’s so nice, and get easily side-tracked by brunch. The problem is this: we keep going to the same places over and over!!
For instance, just when we thought Piccino couldn’t get any better, they went and did something like this:
It is a known fact that if you try and study something immediately before bedtime, then fall asleep, you will have less likelihood of remembering it in the morning than had you studied something, waited a while, and then fallen asleep. I think that this is a similar explanation to why I can’t remember what this dish was called. It hit the table, and I blacked out. When I came to, I had a smile on my face, an empty plate, and a scent of something chocolatey and hazlenutty in my nose. Was it chocolate bread pudding? Was it chocolate brioche french toast? Gawd – it’s really gone. Now, if you told me that I ate it all, I’d believe you, because that sounds like something I’d do. But if you told me that a ninja jumped out of nowhere, knocked me out, and stole my breakfast (as it was the last one they were serving that day), I’d believe you, too (it’d be worth it!). Piccino could still do no wrong (and g liked her omelette thing, too)
Speaking of wonderful brunches: it’s confirmed, we’re also addicted to Plow. I keep dragging g back (but it’s not like she’s putting up much of a fight). I just wanted to leave this reminder here: the lemon ricotta pancakes are wonderful, but the French toast are also a nice carb-loaded breakfast as well (you know, just in case you’ve exceeded your pancake quota for the month …).
Living in SF is rough indeed …
[Another] Napa Adventure
t says: So you knew this was coming: a trip to Napa. I’m actually surprised it took about a month for us to make the trip on out to wine country (while we’ve managed to visit wine country on pretty much every California visit we’ve had thus far, including ones that lasted only for a few days). This time, because kp was coming all the way from Hot-lanta, we knew we had to do it right.
We started off with a visit to Model Bakery near Oxbow, where we were promised “the best English muffins ever”. And holy cow they were awesome, quite possibly worthy of that accolade! We did breakfast sandwiches that were out of this world (egg+cheese+meat fare), but truth be told, every single item in there looked amazing. It was no surprise that the line stretched out the door (we were lucky we even got in!) and that they were completely sold out of nearly everything by noon. We’re totally making this a “tradition” for future Napa trips; sorry Bouchon Bakery – it’s time to step aside for Model Bakery. Who needs French macaroons, when you can have sticky buns and bacon bread?
Now, there was some serious tasting on that day (we met up with MacDonald brothers, visited Matthiasson, and had a large group at Clos Du Val), but I didn’t pull out my camera at each one. Matthiasson provided us with an extraordinary setting, as our travel required a super-secret, super-fast departure from suburbia-Napa, arriving at vineyard-Napa within a mere 30 seconds. Clos Du Val put on a great tasting for us as well, pulling out a barrel sample and library bottling that were truly excellent. (As much press as the 2013 CdV Cab is getting, I’m more excited for the 2014). I’m glossing over the tasting notes here (just know that there was something worthy of purchase from each of our stops), and will instead leave you with one of our friend’s tasting notes … he/she shall remain nameless to protect the innocent[ly drunk].
Dinner was had at Bar Terra in Calistoga. With a quirky menu, including a lot of Asian influences (I believe the chef is Japanese), I was attracted to the ramen, and it was pretty damn good! It got some pretty harsh reviews online, and I’m not sure I understand why. While not over-the-top, in-your-face like the super-hip ramen joints opening up now in SF, and not necessarily strictly traditional-Japanese, it had a wonderful palette of flavors, was well-executed, was plentiful, and was reasonably priced (for anywhere – not just for Napa). For the money, I can’t think of a more satisfying dinner entree in Napa. Maybe people need to have foie and steak and gold leaf, and that’s why they don’t like ramen?
Now this was “the” dish on Terra’s menu – supposedly the one item of which they are the most proud: broiled sake marinated black cod. The cod was delicious, and the dumplings were delicious, but it was that broth that was other-worldly. I’m pretty sure no one left a drop of that broth on the table. As far as dinner entrees go, Bar Terra did an excellent job. And with the casual atmosphere, it was definitely a great place to bring a group of people. While the tasting-menu-only Terra was next door, the gang was pleased enough with Bar Terra that we still would have chosen it over a more formal affair. Sure there were some throw-away items on Bar Terra’s menu (like the grown-up version of a popcorn shrimp appetizer), but the entrees made us forget those sins. End result: Bar Terra was a great deal for Calistoga, and if you enjoy the Asian influences on food, but don’t want to pay an arm or leg for Redd, this is the place to go. Sure, it won’t have the super-pristine ambience of Redd, but aren’t we getting too old for that? Oh – and the wine list, while being small for Napa, is VERY reasonably priced (a lot of their bottles were essentially retail + $25 – and even those that were more came in at FAR underneath the usual 2.5-4x markup of Yountville). OH – and they also have a $25 corkage fee per bottle (which is pretty incredible) … which they then waive bottle-for-bottle with any bottles you buy from their list. This and Bistro Jeanty will be our go-to for reasonable-eats in the valley.
The following morning, we hit up Kitchen Door. Full of mostly savory items, their items definitely over-delivered in both size and flavor. Above, you see the banh mi …
… and here is the breakfast pizza, with eggs and mushrooms and more! It made us want to visit for dinner for sure!
after dinner sneeze 