Trifecta of delicious restaurants

Over the past few weeks I have been to three absolutely delicious restaurants in the Bay Area with my "Core Team" of girlfriends. The restaurants have restored my faith that some chefs really care about what they send to the table every night and that the laid-back people of Northern California can, in fact, provide attentive service.

The first place that we went for dinner was Canteen. First, you must have a reservation. They do 3 seatings each night - 6pm, 7:30pm, and 9pm. When you walk into Canteen and it looks like a hip diner. There are booths that fit four people (or seven if you really squeeze) and a long diner counter top with seating. Your waitress is the nicest person ever and the hostess has been more than accommodating when your party number has changed several times throughout the day and you have called so often that you and "Stephanie" are on a first name basis. Then you get the menu and it is anything but diner like. The menu changes weekly and features the best of fresh, local produce. Unlike a diner, which tends to have a "we make everything" menu, Canteen has four options for starters, entrees, and desserts. My dinner group managed to order everything on the menu that week and it was all worthy of oohs and aahs. Every bite was a pleasure. And even though we had plans to eat the birthday cake that I had made for Melissa's birthday later in the evening, our waitress insisted we order a serving of the vanilla souffle. Thank god she did. It might be the best dessert I have ever had.

A week or so later, my friends and I got together for a late dinner at Bar Bambino, a recent addition in the Mission. We ate outside, a rarity in SF, on the back porch. The heat lamps kept going out, but otherwise it was quite pleasant. The food here is done very well and gives attention to many different styles of dining from light bites to full entrees. It has a variety of small Italian plates and a heck of a wine list that the staff is eager to help you navigate. The small plates ensure you get to try many things on the menu. We shared a variety of bruschettas and salamis and then each of us ordered a pasta dish. It was one of those meals that drew out for hours thanks to good friends, lots of laughs, and wonderful food. It was a very enjoyable experience and I can hardly wait to go back with my husband.

Last weekend, we headed to Sonoma for girl's weekend. For dinner we secured reservations at The Girl and The Fig, a place I have been wanting to go for a long time. The drink list is quite fun - lots of interesting cocktails. I had a basil martini that made my heart stop. I love the flavor of basil and when mixed with vodka, it tasted like summer - fresh and green. I had a bay scallop and crayfish tail dish with seasonal vegetables that was excellent. My only disappointment was that my dish was just slightly overdone. I would recommend The Girl and The Fig to anyone visiting Sonoma.

I hope my luck does not run out as I am really enjoying finding some more truly excellent places to go out to eat in San Francisco (at a variety of prices - none of these are over the top expensive).

Happy birthday Melissa!

Yesterday I celebrated one of my dear friend's birthday. We started off the day with some ladies golf at a public course where we could go as slow as we wanted to (we are pretty bad), then a divine dinner at Canteen (side note: go to Canteen, the food is just delicious and the service is among the best in SF), and then we went to a bar to meet up with the larger crowd of celebrators. With all the planning that went into making the event special, I was most worried about the cake that she asked me to bake.

I don't bake, or at the least, I don't bake very well. Every layer cake I have ever made is terribly lop-sided and not very tasty. But for the first time, I had some success. The layers were fairly even in size and cooked flat on the top. The icing job looked pretty good. The cake was moist and light.
Some of the success was due to finally owning some quality baking equipment, an accurately and evenly heated oven, and following the instructions extremely carefully. She requested a chocolate cake, chocolate icing, with some fruit additions. So I dug out my The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook and set to work. I chose a milk chocolate layer cake with milk chocolate butter cream icing. As a special treat, I iced the middle layer of the cake with organic strawberry jam and topped the cake with strawberry halves and toasted almonds. Perhaps the decorations could have been a little more stylish or even gold in color in keeping with color scheme of the fiesta. But for my first cake success, I am not going to worry about such little details.

Perhaps the most harrowing of all, the cake even made up and down the steep hills of San Francisco without any damage. Thank you to my trusty cake holders!

Jetlagged, but well fed

I am tired. The five hours of restless hours of sleep on the red eye were mediocre. Notably, for the first time I did not watch five straight hours of the Food Network on a JetBlue flight. Don't worry, Bobby, Giada, Rachel, Alton, and Emeril, I will tune in on the return flight.

Anyway, after resting and cleaning up a bit, I headed out to grab a bagel (and large iced coffee!) at my favorite bagel place, Murray's Bagels, on 8th Ave and 22nd Street. This place claims their bagels are so good that you don't need to toast them. And guess what? They don't need to be toasted. They are that good. I got my usual: whole wheat with hummus and sliced tomatoes. Yum!!


I proceeded off on a long walk through Chelsea, the West Village, Soho, Nolita. I enjoy wandering around, looking in store windows, seeing what restaurants have closed and opened, and how things have changed since I lived here. I just love that people eat in NYC at all hours.


Somewhere in Nolita I spotted an infamous Pinkberry! Admittedly, I was still going strong on my bagel, but when in Rome... So I stepped into the sherbet colored atmosphere. I ordered an original with blueberries. Heavenly! They aren't kidding, this stuff is amazing. It is real yogurt, tang and all, frozen, and paired with fruits or other less healthy toppings. This stuff is good, really good. I know that people have been freaking out about this stuff in NYC and LA and I just have to point that the 40 Carrots restaurant in the basement of Bloomingdales has been serving this type of delicious fro yo for a long time. It is the primary reason to go shopping at Bloomies at lunch time. "Ladies That Lunch" in department stores have been in the know about this type of frozen yogurt for years.

Crossing back through Soho I wandered into a new speciality food shop, Despana. This market carries all sorts of imported Spanish foods. I sampled some cured meats, oils, and olives. Sadly, I had to reason with myself that, thanks to the liquid rule on planes, I really could not buy anything. This place is lovely. It makes you want to head to Spain to take cooking classes. Isn't this a cool picture?

Taking a bite out of the Big Apple!

I am headed to NYC tonight to hang out with my brother and friends. I am also going to the wedding of my dear friend Hannah in the lovely New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx.

I am so excited to dine in New York. I keep thinking of all the possibilities!! Now that my brother is living in Chelsea, my old neighborhood, I must head to my favorite bakery, Billy's Bakery, for a cupcake. I am going to miss his old coffee place in SoHo, Once Upon a Tart, but I hope The Big Cup is still kicking it on 8th Ave. Murray's Bagels could suffice. Oh and maybe we'll go to some of my neighborhood old favorites, like The Half King or The Red Cat. But then again, I could go for some delicious sushi at Yama. And I am planning on heading out to Brooklyn to go the Blue Apron Foods in Park Slope. Or we could go to Williamsburg for dinner at one of my favorite places in the world, DOC. That would be heaven! Then Prune for a lovely brunch is a possibility too. So much eating, so little time. Good thing I will be doing a lot of walking!

Who knew Moroccan food could be so incredibly good?

For a long time I have been wanting to go the restaurant, Aziza, in the Richmond District of San Francisco. A while back the SF Chronicle did a huge review on the place and I was sold. I wanted to go the restaurant that "modernized Moraccan cuisine."

Upon return from my Central American trip, Mike took me on a romantic date to Aziza. Oh my good lord, was the food out of this world! It was so so so delicious. For an appetizer we shared the wild mushrooms in phylo. They just melted in your mouth. The earthy flavors of the shitake and oyster mushrooms combined with the creamy manouri cheese and flaky phylo were sublime. Then for my entree I ordered the yellowfin tuna, seared rare (and caught on a longline, not in a net) with a fennel seed crust and a roasted tahini, tunisian salad, and eggplant stack in the middle of the dish. The tuna was perfectly cooked (or not as rare tuna is supposed to be). The compliments to the fish were just as they were meant to be, delightful compliments. My mouth waters just thinking about that dish. Mike had the couscous aziza with grilled chicken, prawns, spicy lamb sausage, and stewed lamb. Each protein was cooked and seasoned perfectly. The coucous and vegetable medley were quite tasty piled on a fork with a piece of meat. For dessert we ordered the pistachio cake which was served with bruléed champagne sabayon and moscato d'asti poached dried apricots on the side. A perfect ending to a perfect meal. There were so many non-chocolate desserts that I desired as well! That never happens as I am not too crazy about chocolate.

The ambiance at Aziza is warm and inviting. Elegant, but not pretentious. Its decoration is tastefully Moroccan-themed. Vibrant colors fill each room. Each table has privacy. The volume of the restaurant is low and intimate. It is a good place for both large and small parties. The service is friendly and helpful. They are attentive, but do not disturb your privacy. As a special touch, they offer you a splash of rosewater after your meal to refresh you.

One more thing worth mentioning. The Drinks Menu, I venture to say, is the best and most creative I have seen in San Francisco. This lengthy list of cocktails is very well considered. The combinations are incredibly tasty. The waitstaff also does a nice job recommending parings with the entrees. Sometime I would just like to go to Aziza for cocktails and appetizers.

Their tasting menu is reasonable. I believe it is about $50 for five courses and when the waitress told us what was on the tasting menu it seemed more like seven courses.

It is also a Slow Foods recognized restaurant which always wins stars in my book. They use organic and local ingredients and cook their foods with love and you can tell. Aziza is an exceptional restaurant that is worth a visit by anyone who enjoys international cuisines.

Bikram yoga and mexican food

Sounds like a terrible combination, right? Both activities turned out to be far better than expected.

My best friend is in town for a couple weeks and she is mildly obsessed with Bikram yoga. While I declined her offer to attend a class with her two days before my wedding, this time I accepted. Bikram yoga, for those of you who have the pleasure to never try it, is also called Hot Yoga. Basically, you do a series of 26 yoga positions over the course of an hour and a half in a room of 105 degrees and 50% humidity. If it sounds miserable, it is. They warn first-timers that you will feel nauseated and light-headed. They aren't kidding. I had to leave the room at one point because I thought I was going to throw up. But I can easily see how this practice can be addicting. You feel like a million bucks after all that sweating. Thirsty as heck though. Not sure I will be a convert, I like Vinyasa yoga better, but but I am glad I gave it a shot.

This not the point of this post though. After class, my friend and went to a new restaurant I have had my eye on in the Mission called, Regalito Rosticeria. It fills the void for a reasonably-priced, healthy, and fresh Mexican restaurant in the Mission. It is not fine-dining, but not a grubby taqueria either. Just what the neighborhood needs, if you ask me! The ambiance is vibrant but not too fancy. We were comfortable dining in our sweaty gym clothes. The menu is straightforward and simple. The menu offers just the right number of dishes, starters and sides. I had the chili rellenos stuffed with spinach and mushrooms which were spiced perfectly. My friend ordered the enchiladas verdes which were also very good. Very fresh and perhaps even lite, without the excess of cheese that is usually dumped all over enchiladas. There were plenty of other menu items I cannot wait to try. We left the restaurant quite satisfied.

They are aiming to do a nice take-out business too. A deal was advertised for Pollos Rostisados (Whole Chicken Meal), including rice, beans, salsa fresca, and tortillas for $21.95. Not a bad deal for a free range rotisserie chicken.

It is a great place for a yummy and fresh Mexican dinner on a weeknight (dine-in or take-out) or visit them for their weekend brunch. They got a good thing going at Regalito.

A Honduran food primer

We started our culinary quest in Honduras. We arrived far too late in Antigua, Guatemala to sample any Guatemalan foods. It was a disappointment, but we were relieved to arrive on the same day we were originally scheduled to arrive, albeit eight hours later.

Our food consumption philosophy while traveling was to try any and all local foods whenever possible, short of going, uninvited, into a Central American home. We avoided, to the best of our ability, all the restaurants that catered to "gringos." This was sometimes difficult to do as most of the families eat their main meals at home and many times there were not many restaurants in the areas we visited that served local, traditional foods.

In Honduras, there were two food items that stood out as being particularly indigenous to Honduras. One was pan de coco or coconut bread which, to my disappointment, is really only a bun made with coconut milk. I think I was envisioning a coconut crumb cake or a banana bread-type item. It is a little sweeter and slightly more dense than a normal, white bun. We tasted pan de coco at a place called Thompson's Bakery along with their yummy sticky cinnamon rolls. Working in a hot bakery in Honduras has to be one tough job thanks to the extreme heat and humidity!

Everywhere we stopped on the buses for a potty break, we heard ladies yelling, "baleadas, baleadas," which are snack that they were selling through the bus windows. Baleadas are white flour tortillas folded in half and filled with refried beans, crumbly cheese, and crema (think runny sour cream.) Quite a heavy snack, if you ask me.

Breakfast in Honduras usually consisted of scrambled or fried eggs, refried black beans, rice, a piece of rubbery, tasteless cheese, a piece of ham that resembled Spam, and homemade corn tortillas. I loved it all but the ham and cheese. That was a breakfast made to stick to your ribs which was a good thing as we often did not get to eat again until dinner.

In Copan we ate dinner at a restaurant called Momo's. It was a bbq place for all practical purposes with pleasant outdoor seating. Though there was a one-eyed dog that came to visit us during our meal that made me loose my appetite for a few minutes. We all order various meat kebabs that were skewered with veggies and marinaded with a garlic, lemon, and oil. The meat was very tender and fresh. I ate up every last bite. (After I forgot about the dog.)

Once we got to Utila of The Bay Islands, we went in search of a place called Cross Creek which is where all the divers and locals supposedly hang out. We had some trouble finding it as we continued to walk further and further on a wooden path that seemed to led to nowhere. Some other guests came up behind us and told us that, "when you think you are lost, you are halfway there" and it was true! After a near 1/4 of a mile we stumbled upon a shack which houses the kitchen and a covered deck which has the tables. You order at the shack and have a choice between fish or a meat and one of three sauces. Very simple. I ordered the grilled fresh tuna fillet with the soy ginger sauce and it was amazing. The fish tasted like it had just come out of the ocean. But look all that food! I ate and ate and it looked like I didn't make a dent. The restaurant owner's wife was very concerned that I did not like my meal. I reassured her I did, very much!

The following evening we joined our other travel mates for a barbecue at the hotel where we were staying. Some of our new friends had gone deep sea fishing that day and we grilled up their "daily catch" of barracuda and tuna. People from around the world gathered in small kitchen with minimum utensils and prepared a feast of grilled potatoes with red onion and garlic, steamed carrots, zucchinis, and green peppers, all of which had to be cooked on the grill with the fish. It took a while to grill everything as the coals were damp, but the end result was really quite good. Pictured here are a few of my fellow cooks who were from Australia and Canada.

On our last night in Utila we tried to go to a restaurant called Tropical Sunset, but it was closed, without apparent reason, on Thursdays. Lots of places in Utila kept somewhat odd hours/days. We did run into the chef who was helpful in recommending another place to eat called La Pirrata. We splurged and ordered lobster tails because they were caught of the neighboring island of Roatan and they were only $15USD. They were pretty good, but a bit burnt. I must admit my palate isn't terribly discriminating when I am starving.

The next Central American installment will be about Nicaragua. Get excited!

Greetings from Nicaragua

Posting during my trip has been a little more difficult than I have anticipated. However, have no fear, I have taken notes and pictures of the foods I have eaten during this adventure. I must admit I am getting a little sick of eggs and beans for breakfast, even if they do stick to my ribs. I am starting to miss my morning staple of cereal with soy milk.

The general schedule has been to eat breakfast, do an activity, than have an afternoon snack, then dinner in the evening. We have been doing ample sampling of the local brews. Some are definitely better than others. Most claim to be lagers but they are the lightest lagers I have ever tasted.

We landed late into Guatemala so there was no sampling of the foods, however, we have had some delicious meals in Honduras and Nicaragua. We have been seeking to the local cuisines when we head to dinner. Also the fresh fruits, in particular, the mangoes and bananas are delicious!

I return to the States on July 4. I will then blog about all my yummy Central American food experiences. I have also been very inspired to experiment in the kitchen as well and will share those adventures with you. Wish me safe travels!

Bittman, you've gone one step too far

I like Mark Bittman, "The Minimalist," who is a frequently published food writer for the NYTimes. I like the concept of minimalistic cooking. And even more than those things, I LOVE hamburgers (and so does my Aunt Helen, so it must be genetic). So when today's NYTime's Food Section cover article was "For the Love of a Good Burger," I was pretty excited. In fact, I had been craving red meat and so for dinner last night I made burgers.

Mark kicks off the article about how most burgers are mediocre, at best. And I agree. It is very hard to find a good hamburger. I like mine medium-rare and I almost always get them served to me medium-well. And the quality of the meat is often questionable. Yuck.

He spends nearly the entire article speaking to his idea that the only way to get a decent hamburger is to ground your own meat. He cautions to not buy packaged ground beef in any form. What? Are you kidding? I have a job. I am not grinding meat at 7:30pm to get a hamburger after I have been "grinding" away at the office for the last ten hours. Not a chance. Grinding meat does not seem one bit minimal. I cannot imagine that many readers are going to commit to grinding there own beef now that Mark told them it is better to do so. Consider your audience Bittman, we are busy people!

Why couldn't he have spent the article discussing what type of ground beef to buy and where to buy it in order to get the best burger possible with minimal fuss. For example, for grilling burgers I usually buy organic beef, 90% lean (80% lean probably tastes even better, but I can't do it). The fat drips off the burger when grilled and leaves the burgers quite tender and tasty. I try to buy my ground beef at the local butcher, Whole Foods, Mollie Stones, etc., somewhere that is going to have better quality meat than Costco's frozen beef patties. I always season and form my own patties, but that is as much effort as I will am willing to go to to get a good burger.

Some good points of the article include not packing the meat too tightly or the burger will be tough and that you can season the patty adequately with just salt and pepper. But the most helpful part of the article describes how to grill the perfect burger:

"Burgers cook so fast that the heat source doesn’t matter much. You want a hot fire, but not a blazing hot one; that fat, as we all know, is quick to ignite. The rack, which should be very clean, should be three or four inches above it. Turn the burger only after the first side releases its grip on the grill, after a few minutes; if you don’t press with the spatula, you’ll get less sticking, too. Cooking time depends on the size of the burger, of course, but mine take about 6 to 8 minutes total, for rare to medium-rare. Pork takes a little longer, but not much."

Check out Bittman's recipe for the Inside-out Lamb Burger, but get ground lamb or ask the butcher to do it. It looks very tasty. See the picture above and that will get your mouth watering.

If cooking your own hamburgers is just too much work in general, might I suggest stopping by one of my favorite places in New York City for the absolute best hamburger - The Half King. They have the best burgers I have ever tasted, hands down. Order a pint, splurge and get the french fries as your side, and you are set to eat a truly wonderful American meal.

Lunching at the Ferry Building

One of my favorite places to go for a special lunch (some thing different than the soup, salad or occasional sandwich, I normally eat) is the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco. Luckily for me, this is close to my office. It is also a very nice place to meet up friends or take out-of-town guests for lunch.

While there are many delicous places to eat in the Ferry Building, one of my longstanding favorites is DELICA rf1. It is a Japanese delicatessen. It is located in the middle aisle through the main doors. They use local, organic ingredients to make incredibly tasty and susprisingly, reasonably-priced food. They have bento boxes, incredibly yummy Japanese salads like wasabi garlic potato salad, spicy burdock and lotus root salad, and a hijiki and soy bean salad, sushi (including a roast beef sushi that is out of this world), main courses including tofu and chicken options, and freshly fried foods. With the exception of the fried panko foods, everything is really healthy. And that is just a sampling of the menu. Come to think of it, the fried stuff even looks healthy. It is not greasy at all.

At DELICA rf1, you get a wonderful and unique lunch. They have all sorts of options in the deli cases, but I usually go with the "main, a salad and rice" for $7.50. For the main, I love the tofu chicken patty and the salad I love the most has a sesame dressing over asparagus (or green beans) with shredded carrots. The salad is so good I dream about it. Whenever I have DELICA rf1 for lunch I am happy for the rest of the day!

The James Beard Awards influence

I have made some very important decisions today which were largely influenced by the announcement of the James Beard Awards.

I want to eat at French Laundry for my one year wedding anniversary. I need to eat there once before I die or I don't think I can call myself a "foodie." I know it is expensive, but I figure my anniversay is a time we can splurge. They take reservations up to two months in advance. Take note, honey. I love you!

Mazy and Deenie, when I come visit you in Chicago, I really want to go to Frontera Grill for dinner. My treat, since you both will be hitting the books at Northwestern. Rick Bayless is the chef and his cookbook was the one I used to make my menu the other week for my Mexican dinner party.

And brother, we still have to go to Babbo. I don't know why exactly, but I just have to eat there. This restaurant choice was not influenced by the James Beard Awards, but by my love of salumi, pancetta, prosciutto, and genuine Italian cooking. Bring your appetite, we are doing the tasting menu.