BAKER & BANKER** March 9, 2011

We had everything on the menu except for the salad. Starters were better than the mains. The Tuna Tar Tarduck liver pate was excellent particularly on the house brioche – dense yet light. The house bread basket was also a hit with the ultra soft and fragrant honey bread and the savory foccacia. Also enjoyed [...]

Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous March 2, 2011

My current favorite ice cream shop in the Bay Area.  Creative flavors that are well executed and consistently good, not overly sweet – full of flavor instead of sugar, nice texture, love the feel of the shop and the people.  Candied Violet, Earl Grey, Pistachio, Peanut Butter Malt, Ball Park.

COTOGNA **’ February 2, 2011

They did a nice job of redesigning the former Myth Cafe space.  As a Tusk restaurant, it was no surprise that pastas were the standout.  The pasta w/ crab dish reminded me of the same dish in Cooking by Hand.Standouts: Ricotta crostiniPickled sardines crostini Pasta w/ rabbit Pasta w/ duck raguTortolloni w/ beet Sides of cauliflower, [...]

OLD MANDARIN ISLAMIC*** January 21, 2011

Westlake Lamb DumplingsExtremely Spicy Peppers #28Tofu w/ Parsley – appetizerHot Braised Beef TendonWarm Pot with Fish – sour good Raw Potato dish a little too oily and overcooked, but still pretty good.Vegetable pancake fry – not exciting Open for lunch every W, F.

SPQR – January 2011 January 7, 2011

I had not been to SPQR after the arrival of Matt Accarrino. We finally made over and were not disappointed. The cooking has a more refined balance to it.  I’m not sure it’s because my memory has fadedm but the food was better than ever. California burrata crostino chili, blackberry honey, hazelnut, fried herbs – [...]

Bay Area Pizza Taste Off January 2, 2011

The cooking club decided to do a little series of pizza tastings, one in the East Bay and another in SF. In order to taste pizzas from a variety of places we had to do take out pizza only. Each of us were assigned to pick up pizzas with no specification on toppings. In other [...]

Crab Season December 10, 2010

BENU ***’ December 9, 2010

Ordered everything on the regular menu. A few dishes that I remember: Monkfish liver torchon cucumber, turnips, slated plum, brioche- smooth creamy perfectly executed cubes on top.Matsutake Mushroom custard, crab and foie gras custard, ginko nut, green yuzu was a bowl of pure umami flavor, soy in it but well balanced – J&A felt it [...]

COMMONWEALTH ***’ September 3, 2010

This week I had a chance to check out Commonwealth with a few other folks.  The restaurant sports a fine dining menu in a casual environment right in the heart of the Mission.  The style of food is refined yet accessible and the value is outstanding. We sampled the majority of the from the menu [...]

MIKI*’ May 19, 2010

A little mom and pop Japanese spot right next door to Shanghai House in the Outer Richmond. The sign says Azusa but it’s actually Miki’s. Ramen is not on the menu but on the specials taped to the wall. I tried the tonkotsu shio spicy and had a taste of the tonkotsu miso spicy. Both [...]