Candice L.'s Profile

I was treated to a very posh and generous meal at Ame to celebrate my upcoming graduation. The manfriend and I selected Ame for the special meal with his parents. We wanted a place that was appropriate for a milestone but quiet enough to enjoy conversation. Quiet restaurants are difficult to find in SF, so a corner table tucked away in Ame suited us perfectly.

Ame has both a wine director and a sommelier. We waited until we had selected dishes off the menu before pairing a wine with our meal. I'm not sure if we spoke with the wine director or sommelier, but I was a tad surprised at the first suggestions after we requested a crisp white, perhaps a varietal that was unknown to us, that was a good value. The first was $75 and the second $90. To me, $90 is not a budget wine. I asked how the Txakolina ($55) was. He said it was very dry and minerally and then suggested 2 Italian whites in the $40-60 range, one of which we ended up enjoying quite a bit.

The table shared the crudo of the day, a local fresh halibut with sea salt, olive oil, lemon, and crisp wonton chips. It was amazing, perhaps the freshest piece of fish I have ever eaten. Bread and butter were also top notch, I love soft butter and warm bread. For my entree, I chose the scallops and half lobster tail with parsley nage and agretti b/c I had read about agretti but had not tried it. Agretti is sort of an Italian marsh grass, the vegetal flavor and slightly crisp texture were pleasing. Lobster and fresh scallops were perfectly cooked and I was surprised at the portion, totally adequate and not tiny at all. I was completely content after my entree and was not enticed by any of the dessert options.

Ame was a fantastic way to celebrate. Service was super smooth except for the somewhat surprising wine suggestions. The dining room has a modern sleek feel to it and definitely does not feel like a hotel restaurant. Although we dined on the early side (7pm) the dining room really filled up during our meal and had more of a buzz when we left.

I recently ventured to South to catch up with a lady friend and take advantage of their baseball season happy hour. During baseball season (even on non-game days) they have $5 bar bites and a $6 red and white wine by the glass. The bar and restaurant were full when we arrived but they managed to squeeze us in at the long communal table. I appreciated being able to sit in the restaurant proper while still having access to the happy hour deal.

The communal table also provided us a perfect vantage point of the bar and a certain tv chef, Curtis Stone, aka the Take Home Chef. I guess it makes sense that he would stop by when in town to see his fellow Aussies.

We stuck to the $6 white (Matua Sauv blanc) and ordered the kingfish sashimi and the barramundi bites. The barramundi was sold out but the kingfish was delicious. I had hesitated in ordering it as I don't usually mix goat cheese with sashimi-grade fish, but the dish worked. When they say bite, they're not kidding but for $5 what can one expect? Service was a little hard to flag down toward the end of happy hour but South is a decent stop if you're in the neighborhood.

Alas, the Take Home Chef did not venture back to my place to help me out in the kitchen. Maybe next time?

I was having one of those days, you know? After dealing with too much family time, I was either going to hole up with the cats, a gallon of wine, and Dancing with the Stars or I was going to have a perfectly lovely, early dinner at Piccino w/ a lady friend. I opted for the latter and my day was redeemed.

Piccino has been on my list since it opened. Like many of the other thin-crust pizza eateries in SF (Pizzeria Delfina, Pizzetta 211, Gialina, and so on), it is tiny in stature, but offers a lot in the way of redeeming a bad day. I arrived first and opted for the indoor corner table as the wind was starting to pick up. Large windows open up the tiny room to the Dogpatch street scene and let in a lot of natural light.

My dining companion arrived and we decided on a half bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and two pizzas. The Margherita was required, as it is the benchmark of a true pizzeria; our other choice was the white special of arugula, english peas, green garlic, and sorrel pesto. Presented on wax paper-covered boards, the pizzas arrived at the same time. I was surprised that the thin crust was crisp enough to be picked up without any noticeable droopage in the center. The white special pie read so well on paper with all of its quintessential seasonal ingredients, that I was a little let down by it. I think it need more oomph, perhaps by upping the green garlic and/or pesto.

At this point, people started to swarm for tables as the dinner rush hit. Our poor solo waiter was a bit swamped but heard us calling for a half bottle of the rose and quickly dropped it off with fresh glasses. The Margherita was the favorite of table, but it was very simple. I have a suspicion that the funghi pie or a pizza with anchovies or a salty meat/cheese might be the way to go here.

All in all, girl talk, pizza, wine, and that neighborhood gem feel redeemed my day.  3.5 stars.

Celebrated a much anticipated interview with dinner at Contigo during its opening week. We arrived around 10pm and waited in the entryway with glasses of the Pares Balta brut cava. If you know me at all, you are probably aware that trying new restaurants and drinking cava are a few of my favorite things. The clean lines, cool green tones, and quaint size of the dining room give it the perfect eco-chic balance of a room that would be at home in Sunset, me gusta.

A group vacated some seats at the back bar for us where we ordered a spritzy dry white Txakolina (a great Basque wine) and an assortment of small dishes. We started with the simple and earthy setas a la plancha (grilled wild mushrooms) with pounded parsley. These were soon ignored when the patatas a la riojana (potatoes stewed with chorizo) arrived. Although we had thought about ordering the more typical patatas bravas, these soft and silky potatoes were served with a lucious sauce that we guarded to dip our flatbread crusts in. The sauce had the broken-down starch of the patatas, the richness of the chorizo fat, and a hint of sweetness that was quite delicious. Next up was a jamon coca (flatbread with serrano ham and cheese). This was also a simple combination of top notch ingredients that we mainly ordered to add some heft to our meal, but were happy to have the crusts to dip in the aforementioned sauce. Jamon Serrano is always delicious, no?

And b/c it wouldn't be fair to leave without trying a large plate, we also got the pork belly, trotters, and ears with white beans. I have a special fondness for pork belly and trotters and for white beans. That being said, the large plate portion did not seem generous for the price (b/c we all know how much the feet and ears cost). I wasn't really into the ears either, the cartilage was crunchy in a mildly off-putting way. The tiny trotter bites (there were only a few of them) and belly meat were savory and worth battling over with our forks.

We closed out with the chocolate con churros which were merely ok, but we felt like getting a good grasp of the menu and we were celebrating after all. Service made a good effort despite it being the opening week with eager crowds of late night diners. Contigo is a much needed and perfect addition for a neighborhood that is somewhat barren of reliable yet interesting dining choices.

The economy these days hasn't left a lot of room for extravagant dining out. I've been in the kitchen every weekend honing my skills at home, but it's still important to get out for fresh inspiration. Thus, lazy weekend lunch out has become a nice option for us.

Although I've sampled the cocktail list at Beretta before, the dinner crush had never fit in with our dinner plans. Sunday around 2pm is a perfect time to waltz in and the communal table allows for plenty of lounging with the paper. On sunny days, I hate being cooped up in dark dining rooms that may look nice by candlelight but dank in the afternoon. Beretta has enough tall windows to let the sunlight in as well as some outdoor seating.

We went out on a limb and ordered some fennel containing items even though it's not our favorite aromatic and they did not disappoint! The winter greens salad with blood oranges and fennel croutons was refreshingly simple, not too fennely, and seasonally appropriate way to start our meal. I selected the fritto misto di pesce for my choice and he went with the spicy sausage, panna, and spring onion pizza for his. The fritto misto included juicy rock shrimp, tender calamari rings and tentacles, green beans, and some amazing fried fennel. Their technique was perfect, everything was crisp, no soggy batter, and the frying took the harshness out of the fennel. The pizza crust was thin but sturdy enough to be eaten out of hand with too much droopage and nicely blistered around the edge. The fritto misto is what stands out though!

Service was laid back but with the right level of attentiveness for a late Sunday lunch.

While I was pleased with the flavor of my cup of original tart and raspberry flavors, I was disappointed to find that they include corn syrup solids in their list of ingredients. I know corn isn't going to kill you, but it would be nice to have a natural fro-yo option made with sugar or a less processed sweetener.

How many Thursday nights did I sit in Davis cursing all who were raving about their PB&J's and their fried rice with duck cracklins? When I heard that Mission Street Food was doing a Saturday run, I told the manfriend to hold his Saturday night for me and to shelve his expectations. We talked strategy in the afternoon, go early, put our name down, come with cash and wine, drink near-by until they called with our table, PB&J, and so on. And then I took a nap, oops.

The manfriend left me to get ready and shoot up our diabetic cat as he stood in line with the small hoard waiting for the doors to open. Unfortunately, the hostess informed him that she could not take his cell number and that he could not call back to check on the table. By the time I arrived, he was a tad cranky. I checked back with the hostess to confirm what he had been told and was given a firm 45 minute estimate for our table. We then departed to Little Baobab for a few cocktails to avoid the dankness that is the Beauty Bar. I pointed out that MSF is not an experience for those in a hurry or those with expectations regarding service or structured meal experiences.

When we were seated, the hostess told us we had the best table in the house. A lone two-top in the middle near the back of the room. Although we got jostled around a lot, it was nice to have our own space.

We got right down to 2 ordering 2 PB&J's ($6 each) b/c can't share everything now can we? As well as an aged angus ribeye with pasilla peppers, caramelized onions, oyster mushrooms, and cheese on Liguria focaccia ($8), one MSF rice fried in duck fat, with Liberty duck confit, duck cracklins, and shitakes ($8), and just b/c we obviously hadn't met our fat intake requirements, an order of the butter-fried cornbread with buttermilk panna cotta ($6). We had brought an easy drinking bottle of Carmenere to take advantage of the $5 corkage. Although our waitress struggled with and broke off part of the cork and then spilled the wine on the table, we didn't make a fuss as it's quite dark in there.

We didn't experience any of the lengthy waits that have been reported between dishes either, which was a bonus. The MSF rice came first and was good but not earth-shaking, overall a nice side dish. While we were munching on that, the aged Angus ribeye (aka fancy Philly cheese-steak) arrived. The steak sandwich was a gooshy, cheesy, saucy thing that was difficult to maneuver but pretty tasty. I kept saying, "this tastes like a Philly cheese-steak, but really good." I think its pedigree may have been lost in the onslaught of sauce and cheese, but the meat was tender none the less. The PB&J's arrived at this point and I realized that we were in for quite the heavy meal. I am fond of duck fat, schmaltz, lardo, bacon, pork belly, and so on, but I was thinking that a salad would have been a good interlude before the pork belly. Although the pork was succulent and perfectly cooked, the flatbread was quite greasy. I think that a less oily bread would have been a better choice to counteract the greasebomb effect. I can't recall the last time I complained about too much fat, but this was near my limit. Still, I will admit that no food was left over.

We then said hello to the butter-fried cornbread and panna cotta. I'm not a big dessert fan but I was interested to see what they would make of this. The cornbread was moist and not at all oily and the panna cotta had a nice buttermilk tang to it. The honey and mint also added a nice fresh element to the dish. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by our dessert and found it to be well balanced. My only quibble was that the panna cotta seemed like it didn't set up all the way.

I found the food at MSF to be unique and I liked being able to preview the menu/visiting chef prior to dining. The whole rigmarole added to the experience and made for a fun night out but I'm not running back to wait in line right away. I will say that for about $20/person, we had plenty of food and wine which is welcome on a grad student's budget. 3.5 to 4 stars.

Quan Nem Ninh Hoa was the location of another brother/sister weeknight meal and rates as one of the best to date. Everything we tasted here was good at the very least with some specialties scoring delicious ratings.

We started with the bahn beo (mini steamed rice cakes in individual saucers), which I had been wanting to try for years after reading about them. Cute snack and fun to eat, liked the crunchy fried onion or shallot on top. Next we had the Bahn xeo (crepe) which was more coconutty and eggy than others I've eaten. We also had the special seafood soup with egg noodles. Although not pho, the broth was very savory and I loved that there were more of those fried shallots on top of the soup.

Although this technically should have been satisfactory for a light dinner, we both knew that we wanted to try the Nem Nuong Cuon (special marinated charbroiled pork rolls). Wow, these were crave-worthy with their crunchy fried egg roll skin centers and super tender and flavorful pork. Now I know why we saw individual tables ordering multiple plates of these, so good.

Quan Nem Ninh Hoa was super clean inside and was about half full when we went for dinner around 8pm. They close early though, so don't wait too long. Service was friendly and didn't mock our dessert order of Nem Nuong Cuon. I can't wait to go back for those pork rolls! Prices were super reasonable too with our meal coming in well under $30.

Slipped away on the ferry to enjoy a winter weekday prior to the new year. I'm always lusting over the idea of sitting in the sun, next to the water, close friends near, and a glass of champagne in hand. These things pretty much add up to playing hooky in the Lito, eating seafood, drinking wine early in the day and so on.

After our jaunt from the ferry terminal, we had Le Garage in our sights instead of the usual haunts. We were surprised to find it packed with not a seat open despite it being a weekday around 1 or 2pm. We opted to sit under their powerful heaters outside and were delighted when the fog burned off to reveal the sun.

We ordered a light yet satisfying lunch of an amazing shiitake mushroom soup that was free of cream but tasted very rich, roasted Brussels sprouts which are always delicious, and a smoked salmon tarte flambée with onions, capers, dill, crème fraîche and mixed greens. Glasses of champagne and chardonnay to quench our thirst.

Our French server was great about checking back right when we considered another glass of wine but didn't hover. Prices were very reasonable considering the quality of the food and the great view.

http://www.moo.com is a printing company that allows you to make super cute business cards, greeting cards, mini cards, stickers, and more. They feature artists with whimsical and arty designs ready made for you to select as well as a number of custom options. You can import photos from your own files, flickr, facebook, and a variety of other sources. Your snazzy cards will then be printed at a reasonable cost and shipped to you in a recyclable plastic box that fits into most mailboxes for easy delivery. These cards are perfect for recent grads or graduate students who don't have cards to exchange when networking.

Sounds great, no? Yes it does, but unfortunately I ordered my cards on December 18th to have ready for a professional meeting that I will soon be attending in January. Moo did not offer me any tracking information but did say my order would arrive in 5-7 business days. Even after padding that shipping estimate for holiday delays, my cards should have arrived long ago and still, nothing!

I became worried at the new year when they still had not arrived and contacted the company thinking it would give them plenty of time to rectify the situation. Instead they told me to wait and then if the cards didn't show up by the January 14th, they would refund my order. I explained that I would rather have a rush order re-printed and shipped as it was and is too late for me to design cards elsewhere. No response. Today they told me that I would get a refund. When? I don't know. I am completely unsatisfied as I am still without cards for the meeting that I needed them for and have not received any compensation for this mess. It seems unreasonable to be shipping out packages globally in this day and age without tracking information.

Despite wanting to love Moo and having already told many of my friends and colleagues about their super cute products, I have to share how unhappy I am with their service.