Oliveto Oceanic Dinner 2011 July 21, 2011

This year Oliveto did two Oceanic dinners one sourced from California and the other from the Mid-Atlantic.  At each dinner we had the majority of the menu.  Here were the highlights: California Coast Oyster Shooter nice and briny though bitter finish I still liked the texture. Halibut crudo great balance texture perfectly seasoned. Sea Urchin [...]

Crab Season December 10, 2010

Izakayas, Shave Ice and Salmon Skin November 10, 2010

Gazen Izakaya Tofu: Sweet sesame miso sauce (Saikyo), plain w/ sea salt and tea leaves, black sesame seed (Kurogoma) Gazen Izakaya 2840 Kapiolani Blvd – tofu specialist, a dark club/bar atmosphere — Tofu sampler and the Daikon Salad.  The other items on the menu are hit or miss.  The fried squid (or octopus?) and standard [...]

Fall in New York November 4, 2010

Highlights: Eleven Madison Park, Xian Famous Foods, Soba Nippon, Lucky Eight.  Culture Espresso – chocolate chip cookie which was gooey at the beginning of October but suddenly become small and crispy by the end of the month. Rumor is that they changed bakers — too bad!  A side note, there seems to be a fair [...]

Hawaii March 2, 2010

Hawaii Eats March 2010 KCC Farmer’s Market – bbq abalone, delicious abalone bbq’d on the half shell. One stand had – excellent kalua pork, smokey and moist without being over cooked and stringy. The vendor said that it was done traditional emu style (by burying it), it was definitely better than a lot of the [...]

EL DELFIN **’ October 19, 2009

Looking for soup and menudo, so we ended up at El Delfin.  The menudo was full of tripe in a thick and deeply flavored red broth.  The tendon and tripe were prepared so that each piece was thin and tender.  My only issue with the dish was that the stew broth was too thick and [...]

OLIVETO Oceanic Dinner **** June 11, 2009

Annual Oceanic Dinner at Oliveto, a seafood menu offered for three days. All the fish is wild caught or trapped. We focused on the antipasto and pasta with a whole black bass as the finale. As usual the service was excellent.First Course: Chilled ocotopus “soppressata” with Catelvetrano olives, celery heart, and Monte Iblei olive oil; [...]

BAR CRUDO**** June 6, 2009

June 2009Bar Crudo moved to a new location on Divisadero in a long somewhat narrow space with high ceilings. The decor is modern and less cozy that the original spot. The food is the same, though the pacing of the meal was very slow. The lobster salad had a generous portion of lobster meat, but [...]

CONTIGO**’ April 4, 2009

Pulpo – tender nicely cooked octopus with fingerling potatoes, dusted with a nice hit of spice.Calamares a la plancha – another good rendition of this dish, loved the harissa kick.Clams – too salty and the broth lacked flavor.Fried Sardines – medium sized sardines with delicious thin pieces of fried meyer lemonOxtail Croquettes – the fried [...]

Mona Lisa, Bonaire June 19, 2008

Best Fish on the Island.