What to do in Pescadero?

http://www.normsmarket.com/store/ - go by Arcangeli Grocery to pick up hot-from-the-oven bread and delimeats from the deli in the back.

http://www.duartestavern.com/ - Duarte's is a classic old diner/restaurant/bar that's been around since the late 1800's. We had dinner there one night - go early (4/5) if you want to be in all the madness, or wait a bit ( 7.30/8) and you'll have the place to yourself. Pick up a strawberry-rhubarb jam on the way out.

There's some other shops to browse in town, as well - but probably a total of 6 businesses (including the above 2).

http://www.harleyfarms.com/ - swing by here to try some awesome goat cheese. Make sure to check out the upstairs for the cool dining room-in-a-barn which she uses to partner up with SF-based chefs and create dinner parties. To get here, follow the signs of the little girl pointing (you'll see what I mean when you get there).

Drive over to the http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=533 (Pigeon Point Light House) and explore it। Park near it or anywhere along the coast to watch the surf crash the shore and eat the picnic (bread & deli meat from Arcangeli, goatcheese from Harley, etc।) If you look back over across the 1, you'll see a house/cabins perched (that's where we stayed).

Nua in North Beach

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Kokkari.

I neglected to mention that we went somewhere else for dessert. Nua is a wine bar and restaurant in North Beach that also features some delectable desserts.

The design features lots of woodwork and clean lines. We had a dessert wine and a chocolatey creation whose name escapes me at the moment. Very friendly people.

French bistro

We had come from Wine - where we had appetizers with a variety of great wines - and were on our way to Burma Superstar. However, the wait would be over 90 minutes, so we decided to check out what else Clement Street had to offer.

Tucked behind some trees on Clement Street between 2nd and 3rd lies Clementine, a warm inviting restaurant that specializes in French fare. We were welcomed by the Dutch hostess (yes, we ended speaking with her at the end of the meal) and decided to take some seats at the bar where the French bartender looked after us.

He generously poured our wines (we went with some Burgundy and Cotes du Rhone) and took our order. They had creamy butter and warm French bread for while we waited. As we had just had appetizers, we went with the main dishes.

As I was drinking a pinot noir, I went with the duck breast (try that sometime: FIRST order your wine and then figure out what you'll have to eat with it). There was a rich, creamy sauce that accompanied it. I believe other dishes ordered were steak and pork, although I don't remember exactly how they were prepared.

What I do remember, though, is that everyone raved about their food - this is classic French cooking. As we continued to dine, a group of French people walked in and were greeted boisterously by the bartender who soon summoned the chef. Chef came out and it was a true Gallic reception.

Their dessert menu looked tasty, but we headed down the street to Toy Boat.

Tawan's Thai Food

One evening we had Thai food. I had been meaning to try a place I'd heard very good things about: Tawan's Thai Food (no website, 4403 Geary Blvd between 8th Ave & 9th Ave).

Tawan is the owner's son. He was a little kid when they opened the place and his drawings adorn the walls and the menu. While he gets pushed front-and-center, his mom is the real star here. My mom commented that with her cheery demeanor and pleasant voice, how could anyone ever possibly get upset with her? She's just constantly smiling while taking our orders.

We had a meal of excellent satay with a sweet peanut sauce. Then, we had a panang curry filled with veggies and chicken that was the right balance of sweet and spicy (we went medium). We also had a portion of sauteed pork in a sweet/sour/spicy sauce that came with fruit and vegetables.

You can order sodas or the ubiquitous Thai iced tea, or go next door and pick up some beer as they allow you to BYO.

For dessert, you can't go wrong with the FBI: fried banana with coconut ice cream.

Excellent, well-priced place that deserves multiple repeat visits.

Bar Crudo Revisited

We went to Bar Crudo one night and it was as good as it had been before. This time, we sat upstairs rather than at the bar. Click on the link for my previous review.

Florio - bistro on Fillmore

The wait at SPQR was going to be 45 minutes, so we walked back up Fillmore and went to Florio, which I've been to several times and they are always consistently good. The name suggests Italian food - and there are hints - but think gourmet bistro:

For appetizers, we had
-chicken liver pate with crostini
-melon with prosciutto
-marinated olives
-virgin olive oil to dunk the bread in

For mains, we had
-steak frites
-seafood stew
-a corn rissotto
-roasted chicken

They have an excellent wine list and we had a bottle of the Navarro Pinot Noir.

Everything was fresh, well executed.

We skipped the dessert menu and instead walked down the street to Tango Gelato.

Over the past 2 weeks, my parents were in town. We managed to hit some favorite places of mine plus tried out some new ones. Over the next few days, I'll update where we went.

Wine Bars and Restaurants

Pretty good article about wine bars in SF by the NY Times. Also, the Tablehopper posted an entry about her favorite dishes at 20 restaurants. Both good guides.

Kokkari!

I've been wanting to go to Kokkari for more than 2 years. For some reasons or another, I never made it until last Thursday.

I was taken there as a surprise, and the experience is fantastic. The restaurant is located in Jackson Square. You enter through an extremely high door, which hints at the high ceilings inside. Very comfortable chairs, white linen on the table offset by lots of wood set an elegant-but-rustic and comfortable scene.

The food is gourmet Greek and we made sure to try a lot of the dishes on offer. There are various fruit-and-cheese appetizers (we tried the watermelon with feta). We bypassed the crispy zuchini cakes and opted for the phyllo dough stuffed with spinach and cheese. We also opted for some excellent octopus (the worry is always that it may be tough/chewy, but this was succulent). There are a host of other appetizers to share that all looked excellent. We chose to have the lamb chops, which the restaurant is known for and deservedly so.

The wine list is phenomenal, hitting all the key spots around the world. We opted for a glass form Burgundy and a glass from Cotes du Rhone. There are plenty of bottles to choose from as well. We skipped dessert (we headed off somewhere else), but the desserts looked delectable.

This is one of the best restaurants in San Francisco and I'll be back soon!

Tinderbox is Excellent

Tinderbox opened August 31. I've had a chance to eat here twice already: once before it officially opened and once two days after it opened.

The concept behind the restaurant is local / organic. Therefore, you'll find cheese from Cowgirl Creamery and other provisions from local farms such as Marin Sun Farms and other nearby places. The entire design of the place is also local / organic, so you will see cork on the walls, local artists featured, and recycled materials used throughout. However, when you look around, what you will see is not a hippy-dippy green cafe, but a very sexy, elegant space.

Some favorites include the following:
-Rabbit Hot Pocket
-Tikka Masala Shrimp
-Squid with Prosciutto
-Fried Plantain Game Hen
-Pork Love

The chef shines in his creations, which highlight a mix of different flavors and textures. It's definitely a place that allows you to play around and find out how different tastes work together. For example, the game hen fried with the plantain gives a chewy/crunchy/tender mixture while at the same time giving a creamy/spicy/sweet mixture.

I think by now I've gone down the wine list and tried all the wines by the glass. Here, they decided to not simply stay local, but find reasonably priced wines from around the world (including of course local wines from Mendocino, Sonoma, Napa, etc). The wines are very aromatic and pair well with the bold flavors.

Desserts that we've tried:
-Chocolate Cake with Blue Cheese
-Blackberry Beignets with Iced Tea
-Almond Cannolis with Strawberry/Cheese filling

Here again are the mix of tastes/flavors/aromas/textures. The chocolate cake with blue cheese center is the boldest example of that. Rather than the usual chocolate cake with molten center, the molten center is still creamy but now a pungent blue cheese. The amazing flavors contrast well.

The service is great, with friendly waiters and waitresses. The kitchen is open, so you can see into the kitchen how everything is prepared. The wine consultant/sommelier will help you pair wines with your dishes. The maitre d' / part-owner / musical consultant has good tunes spinning at all times.

I've been here twice and will be back again. I highly recommend checking out this restaurant, especially if you have not yet made it over to Cortland Avenue: an exciting part of Bernal Heights.

Flight of the Conchords: Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

Flight of the Conchords: Business Time

Biggest Upset Ever!

I always enjoy when Michigan loses. It's even better when they lose in arguably college football's version of Biggest. Upset. Ever.

Heading into the game, Michigan was ranked #5 in the country, picked to win the Big Ten, and some people were even talking potential national championship.

They played the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Never heard of them? That's because they are not even in Division I. They are a Division I-AA team! (Wait, they are no longer Division I-AA as that's the old designation, they are now the much more catchy "NCAA Football Championship Subdivision").

When you lose your first game, you have to blame that on the coaches. When you read this blog at the Detroit Free Press, the author even mentions the words "Fire Lloyd Carr." It's headlined APPALLING! Dan Shanoff also calls for Carr's firing (and calls it the upset of the decade update: revised to "greatest upset EVER").

Here's the AP writeup, Deadspin's take on it, and here's a link to the Appalachian State newspaper, although currently the lead article is about a public hearing regarding a creek; once the students get over their hangovers from partying all weekend I'm sure the lead article will change. (update: it has been - here.)

Over at AOL Fanhouse, they ask the question "Would Michigan Can Lloyd Carr" and link to Mgoblog where the boards are heating up and calling for Carr's head. He's done. Toast. (update: Brian at Mgoblog has lost it as at this point, it's all pictures of kittens).

Note: I just texted some friends who went to Michigan. They not too happy and thinking Carr should go too.

You can listen to the last part of the Appalachian State radio call here and watch it here:

Pho

Pho Clement (no website, Clement Street between 3rd & 4th Avenue) offers some good phos and other tasty Vietnamese treats. Weird service. Crazy paintings on the walls. Big huge flat-screen TV showing SuperNanny and the like. A family-run place.

We popped in late (9.45 or so) and were warmly welcomed in. A few other tables were also taken. We ordered pho and some imperial rolls. They were brought pretty quickly - and we immediately loaded it up with sricacha (or whatever that red stuff is called) and some of that black sweet stuff. Our waters never came. One table left. Bye's all around. The other table left, and now we were the last ones there. We took the hint that they wanted to leave after they: turned off the TV, slid the doors closed, bundled up, and sat around in their woolen caps waiting for us to finish. Good prices too!

Favorite movies of 2007 (so far)

With a record-setting summer at the box office coming to an end, I thought it might be interesting to look at my favorite movies so far. Of course, the way the game is played in Hollywood is as follows:

May 1 - September 1 is summer - time for $100+ million budgeted movies, sequels, and lots of stuff blowing up. There's not much creativity and that was especially proven this year with all the 3quels: Spiderman 3, Shrek 3, Rush Hour 3, etc etc.

Then, in September, the serious movies start. These are the movies that will fight it out for Oscar glory.

Of course, that does not mean that there are no good movies released at other times of the year. Here's my top 10 (so far). I expect only 3 of these will make my top ten of the year list, given the abundance of great directors and actors lined up in the coming months.

1. Once - I cannot say enough about how great this movie is: read what I've posted previously here

2. The Bourne Ultimatum - an extremely satisfying end to the Bourne trilogy, the finest action films of the last several years. Bourne would kick Bond's ass.

3. Superbad - an uproarious day and night in the lives of three geeks trying to score some alcohol for a party

4. Knocked Up - more ridiculousness from the guys of Superbad

5. Hot Fuzz - from the same team that brought out Shaun of the Dead, this is another genre-bending take, this time focusing on the buddy cop formula rather than zombies

6. The Lives of Others - an atmospheric period thriller that sheds light on the East German

7. Waitress - wonderful movie where Keri Russel shines

8. Zodiac - a thrilling true crime movie set in 70's San Francisco

9. Breach - another true crime movie centered on an FBI double-agent

10. Transformers - actually pretty engaging, especially for a popcorn movie starring autobots

What makes a romantic restaurant?

I recently got the following e-mail:

My coworker who hasn't had a date with his wife in six years, yes six years,
is finally getting a babysitter, so they can actually eat without the kid
for once.

I'd love to get a list of your three top most romantic restaurants in San
Francisco.

Let's put aside the fact that he and his wife have not gone out together on a date for six years. What's more important for you is: what makes a restaurant romantic? And, what are the top three in San Francisco?

I really don't know what makes one restaurant romantic and another one not. It's not whether something is expensive: there's plenty of restaurants that are geared more towards the business deal than wooing your love. It's not whether something is small or large: there's plenty of romantic restaurants that are intimate, and ones that can seat over 100 people. No, romance and the romantic restaurant is in the eye of the beholder and can be very personal. You know it when you see it.

There are definitely some expensive restaurants out there that could be put on top of the list: Gary Danko and French Laundry are both excellent choices. Both feature chefs heralded far and wide as amazing culinary masters. With Gary Danko, you stay in San Francisco. With French Laundry, a whole Napa weekend could be built around it. Spruce just opened up and is also elegant. Any of these would mean s/he chose the very best and is willing to pay for it. The downside when choosing a very expensive restaurant, and especially in the case of my friend's question: it could come across as saying that money will make up for the fact that he did not take her out for six years.

However, a big production may be the exact opposite of what someone might be into. In fact, a little out-of-the way bistro may be more her/his style. I would say Bar Crudo or Kiss Seafood are both tiny places that, if you like seafood, should be on your list of choices. I think Zoya is a great little romantic find (and went there for Valentine's Day).

Wine bars are inherently romantic and popping into one before moving on to dinner is a great way to set the mood. There's some cool wine bars like Hotel Biron and Cav (Hayes Valley), and Yield (Dogpatch) that have little snacks along with their wine offerings.

Ultimately, though, what will be romantic for them would be something one of them has done very thoughtfully for what the other likes. Has she mentioned a certain places she'd like to go. Or food he's been craving. Or a part of town she's been wanting to go to. Or a complete surprise of a place that he's never heard of. They've probably driven by places where she said, that looks cute. Or maybe seven years ago they went on a date and loved a place. I think that's more romantic than any suggestion posted here.

"Mexican" food

I dined at a wonderful Mexican restaurant yesterday. Perhaps they have expanded to your town?

Tinderbox: New Restaurant!

Friends of friends of mine are opening up a restaurant in Bernal Heights. Recently, I got a chance to hang out with them in Dolores Park and hear some more about what they are doing. I think officially, they'll be opening on Friday, August 31 but they may have a soft opening starting this weekend.

So, while I usually only write about places that I've been to, I thought I'd make an exception here. Tinderbox Restaurant will have interesting takes on comfort foods with a bit of Asian and French influence made from local, organic, sustainable ingredients. When I talked to them, it sounded like they're going to have some witty takes on things. They like to play around with ingredients, textures, flavors.

Not only is the food organic, but they are using lots of green products in the construction (everything from the fabric to the wood to the paint). I believe there's seating for about 40-50 people, something around that size.

It's going to be pretty hip-and-happening as you've got guys who've worked in 111 Minna, Campton Place, Pizzaiolo, not to mention spots around the US and the world. There's going to be a strong local art vibe and excellent music as well (one of the partners is very involved in the local music scene). Don't be surprised if one of the busboys rocks a mohawk.

Check 'em out. As soon as I have eaten there, I'll post a review.

Go see Superbad

Fuck. This movie's funny. I missed so many lines because we were laughing so hard. GO SEE IT.

Excellent Dining: Bi-Rite Creamery

It's Friday, so why not end on a dessert note?

After you've been lounging in Dolores Park all day or if you have eaten somewhere in the Mission, head on over to Bi-Rite Creamery for some excellent organic artisinal small-batch ice cream. Flavors are always interesting and unique: salted caramel, chai spice milk chocolate, hibiscus, roasted banana, and others.

While their ice cream is their focus, don't neglect popsicles (such as pineapple with mint). They also have things to take home - unique candies, books on chocolate, and walnut chocolate chip cookie dough.

The word's gotten out, so don't be surprised if you have to wait about 15 minutes or so.