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"wants the tasty"
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291 Useful, 90 Funny, and 216 Cool
San Francisco, CA
Yelping SinceOctober 2005
Things I Lovethe husband, our puppy, my friends, cooking, dance, great food, family
Find Me In(name your location) with the boy & the puppy
My HometownManila, Philippines & Huntington Beach, CA
My Blog Or Website When I'm Not Yelping...I dance, play capoeira & make lots of photographs
My Second Favorite Website The Last Great Book I ReadAnimal, Vegetable, Miracle
My First ConcertU2 - The Joshua Tree
My Favorite MovieA Room with A View
My Last Meal On EarthSeared foie gras, sweetbreads.
Don't Tell Anyone Else But...sometimes i get this craving for popeye's chkn.
Current CrushMy husband, Danny D.
Date
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 824-4224
Piccino
Categories: Italian, Pizza
Neighborhoods: Dogpatch, Potrero Hill
The brunch menu is small, but it's creative and thoughtfully put together. There was a glorious white breakfast pizza of pears, bleu cheese and greens, to be topped with an optional egg and bacon; I picked a very hot cazuela of erbette chard, potatoes, lamb sausage and 2 eggs. Both were perfect brunch dishes, delicious and satisfying. We finished with a dessert of piping hot zeppoli -- Italian doughnuts stuffed with ricotta and dusted with powdered sugar.
Service was so friendly and warm - they should write the manual on making customers comfortable... one of our servers noticed a mushroom book that the husband had been carrying around, and we chatted briefly about seasonal foraging.
They're on Twitter and have advertised special events like a whole Pig Roast with Roli Roti, or oysters from Hog Island. I've yet to make it to one of these parties, but am definitely much more incented to do so. Piccino, we will return soon!
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 409-3276
farmerbrown
Category: Soul Food
Neighborhood: Civic Center/Tenderloin
The chicken was fair enough - the crust crisp, the meat (breast and wing + drumstick) juicy, if ultimately a little lacking in flavour - I had tried to ask for all dark meat, but that was not possible. Perhaps the highlight of the dish were in the accompanying greens - tender but not overcooked and still crisp, with a hint of spice...
A taste of my companion's jambalaya left not-too-pleasant, overly fishy overtones. The strawberry shortcake - dry and a bit tough...I wish we had more cream and berries to accompany.
Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 653-3902
Commis
Category: American (New)
Neighborhoods: North Oakland, Piedmont Ave
1 Previous Review: Hide »
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7/27/2009
I would urge everyone to make reservations for Commis as soon as is practicable, and before they gain that 3-star review from Mr. Bauer, and that Michelin Star. Settled in a burgeoning gourmet corridor in Piedmont, North Oakland, it's in good company (no sign yet when we visited a couple of weeks ago) with Bay Wolf and Adesso. Parking is fairly easy in the surrounding neighborhood.
For $59 (a $10 increase from their opening week) you choose 3 dishes off the menu and for $29 you receive an additional wine supplement. They kindly acquiesced to my request for half-pours of the win pairing and if you can't make up your mind, extra dishes may also be ordered for $16. We chose 3 savoury dishes each and asked to share a dessert supplement.
The service was warm, gracious and friendly, but I think the staff does need to work a bit on their communication (teeny just-opened glitches?). We were plied with all sorts of kindnesses and attentions, and offered bread and butter many, many times over the course of the evening (by different staffmembers). Once, the wine pours also fell a little out of sync and we had to ask clarifying questions of our embarrassed server.
Everyone speaks of the soft-cooked farm egg and alliums, and the accompanying decadent bits of crisped pork belly - all eaten in a bite with the smear of black garlic, the taste is out-of-this world orgasmic. Let's hope this remains on the menu as a signature dish for many months to come. I'm also not one to order chicken when I dine out, but the preparation of layered chicken breast, cooked sous vide and served with a perfect chicken drummette, smushed peas and trumpet royal mushrooms was utterly ethereal and perfect. Do not eschew the bread and house-churned butter. It was all I could do to resist eating 5 of those soft, warm rolls, spread with the most amazing butter I've ever tasted.
A side note: recently 2 Bay Area chefs - David Kinch of Manresa and Mourad Lahlou of Aziza - competed and overthrew Iron Chefs Bobby Flay and Cat Cora respectively. I am convinced that they won in large part because of their common secret weapon - Commis's executive chef James Syhabout.
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 744-5000
Press Club
Categories: Wine Bars, Venues & Event Spaces, Wineries
Neighborhoods: Union Square, SOMA
Though there is a small menu that offers specific pairings with tiny bites (wine pairing is optional - you're able to order just the food). A note - I would not recommend going to the Press Club hungry. We ended up ordering almost everything on the food menu, and numerous bowls of the truffled popcorn - this leaves one feeling somewhat unsatisfied (not full) and guilty for spending too much money... The food is fair; not great, not mind-blowing - they're nicely arranged tastes to pair with your wine.
Don't get me wrong - the entire experience was completely satisfactory, the dishes generously-portioned and tasty, the wine pairings well-matched. But - on the bill of fare that evening were offerings that perhaps were on the "safer" side. For our reference were some nicely printed-up menus on the table but we were informed that additional surprises were on the way as well...:
1) First off-menu item: bacon-wrapped duck-liver-stuffed dates. Sweet and savoury - perhaps a little too sweet. The bacon had an additional coating of something cloying that made the pairing with the date just a tad too saccharine for me... sprinkled atop were sunflower sprouts, "...because ducks like to eat sunflowers..." dutifully repeated our server several times...
2) Chile and Bones - very large central (spinal) fish bones - served generously with a fantastic, spicy mix of chiles, mint, parsley and garlic, and some bits of fish flesh and occasionally, chewy spinal cord... this was probably the most unexpected dish, and it was surprising and tasty (if not a little messy). We were encouraged to eat them with our hands, like ribs.
3) Pastramied ox tongue, cornichons, red onion & rye croutons - basically, Chef's play on a pastrami on rye sammich... the tongue was thinly-sliced and uner-tender, the salad had a nice acidity and brightness which was welcome after the rich tuna bones.
4) 2nd off-menu item: spaghettini with garlic, parsley, egg, and finely shaved cured pork liver - salty, garlicky and I'm not sure I could really discern the liver all that much...
5) Spicy Trippa a la Napolitana - unlike A16's tripe, which is so tender and thinly sliced and so completely blanched of *any* untoward flavours, and unlike French-style preparation of tripe which leaves much of the heavy barnyard odours unabashedly undisguised, Incanto's tripe dish is somewhere in-between, but closer to A16's than a la Paris... this was my 2nd favourite dish of the evening, as I'm a tripe fan.
6) Last savoury course -- Trotter cake, foie gras, grape jelly, pine nuts: the richest and most flavourful dish of the evening - all the tastes and textures came together in the most orgasmic way (though I have to admit I'm a sucker for that fatty liver, especially if it's seared...). However, I and the boy found ourselves too full to finish, and we had to cry uncle, and beg for tips to reheat the dish once we got home. And from the chef himself: Crank up your oven to the highest setting (500?), warm a pan (pan should not be hot; just warm), cover the pan with the foie inside and put it in your hot oven for 2-5 minutes. This method worked perfectly.
7) Dessert - Chocolate Bloodacotta with fruit compote - a nice, not-to-heavy(!), not-too-sweet coupe de grace to our offal journey...
I'd definitely go back - perhaps for the annual Head-to-Tail dinner...
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 397-7355
Piazza Pellegrini
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Bottomline: average North Beach tourist fare, though the folks running the restaurant were nice enough to accommodate our unwieldy party of 16.
I ordered the scallops and risotto - a dish on their "Specials" page that cost $29. The scallops were large - 4 generously-sized monsters but seemed to have been breaded in a mixture of flour and baking soda? The resulting metallic taste the coating imparted did nothing for these normally sweet morsels from the sea. The accompanying risotto: mushy.
South San Francisco, CA 94403
(650) 345-7512
Home Maid Ravioli Company
Categories: Italian, Ethnic Food
If you're lucky, you'll catch one of their 3 for $15 sales (prices are normally $8-$10/ packet of pasta).
Always make sure to pick up their lobster ravioli if it's available. It's sublime - with generous amounts of lobster in the filling. Other tasty offerings - roast garlic and mushroom; cheese and greens...
They also offer a variety of antipasti fixins: marinated and stuffed olives, marinated mushrooms, pickled garlic.
San Francisco, CA 94080
Inner Sunset Farmers Market
Category: Farmers Market
Serendipity - my favourite vegetable vendor - they offer wonderful chard and different kales (my staples) at most amazing prices (far below Andronico's/ regular grocery prices)
Fifth Crow - really beautiful, pristine produce - the most gorgeous young onions and the most delicate, tiny lettuces. I like that they sell bags of mixed greens.
Her Farm - sells great Asian vegetables - Ong Choy, Bok Choy, Gai Lan...
Santa Cruz Seafood - a bit pricey, but I'm so glad to see a vendor that sells fish and shellfish. We tried their tiger prawns once and though they cost us a pretty penny, they tasted like mini lobsters.
Spring Hill Jersey Cheese - we are just getting around to discovering this vendor, though they are also at the Ferry Building on Saturdays. Their flavoured German quark cheese (we tasted vanilla) is astounding. A perfect accompaniment to fresh berries or stone fruit.
Caleloa - award winning olive oils with lots of spice and grassiness.
Underdog - Vegetarian and Meat dogsand other vegan goodies
DePalma Farms - has been keeping me in Stone Fruit (peach and nectarine) heaven since the market arrived.
Barking Valet: awesome free service for the market --staffed by volunteer dogwalkers local to the neighborhood, someone will watch your pooch for free while you shop.
San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 252-7500
Starbelly
Category: American (New)
Neighborhood: Castro
Why am I still awarding 5 stars? 'Cause Starbelly, despite its wait-challenges, is still fabulous.
We ordered 4 appetizers (since we were *that* ravenous) and were comped 2 more - the fries and the spicy sausages - (both *excellent*) for our long wait.
On this time around we got to sample:
-Octopus with fennel and radicchio slaw - not the best, though tender - it didn't taste uber fresh.
-Spicy Sausage - round, juicy and meaty and not too spicy
-Corn with marscapone & garlic - like dessert - sweet and rich and decadent
-Fig & Bleu cheese pizza with arugula. We opted to add Spanish Ham, as the menu suggested, but the ham on top of the bleu proved to be too salty. I ended up pulling the ham off and eating it separately.
-Spaghetti, starbelly bacon, jalapeno, basil and roasted tomato sauce -- boy do the folks here like their spice. This dish was almost *too* spicy to finish, but very flavourful.
Starbelly, we hope you consider taking reservations, but we will return by hook or by crook. Let's also hope you get better at setting wait expectations. Thanks as always for the classy treatment and fabulous food.
1 Previous Review: Hide »
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8/28/2009
A true gem of an addition to the neighborhood, Starbelly (via the same folks behind Beretta,) hits it right out of the park with its weeks-old debut. Everytime I try a new restaurant, know I'm in trouble when I want to order everything on the menu. (It reads like a dream - clams, pardon peppers, braised greens, white corn, marscapone, salumi, chicken liver pate, scallops, octopus, porchetta...)
They've got a great concept of tiered offerings - snacks ($5), small plates ($5-$14 ) salads, veggies, and pizzas, and finally, larger plates, none of which cost over $16 (at least in their inaugural menu).
We haven't yet dined in, but takeout last night consisted of 4 mini corn dogs (which can be ordered in 3s, 4s or 5s); heirloom tomato gazpacho with avocado and basil oil; guanciale & wild nettle pizza; and finally, porchetta with salsa verde & salsa calabria & market greens. (Dinner for 2 came out to under $45, excluding tip.)
Everything was fabulous. We want to go back and try everything else off the menu. Portions are generous, flavours beautifully complex. The gazpacho was wonderfully refreshing paired with the rich pizza and porchetta. The homemade catsup accompanying the mini corndogs - intriguing as well as tasty - it left us trying to guess at the ingredients. The porchetta (and its accompanying sauces) was an enormous monster full of richness, flavor, spice, and surrounded by a to-die for drape of crispy crackling skin - amazingly - all this food stood up to being packaged in to-go containers and schlepped back home.
Starbelly, we are instant fans and cannot wait to return.
A note - the ratio of fat to lean is in their porchetta is not for the lighthearted (or for those who need to maintain lower levels of cholesterol). *I* personally don't think it's a bad thing; however, others might not be so amenable.
15 Lists
The menu read well, a nice selection of appetizers (salads, salumi & shellfish), some pasta dishes, a long list of pizzas, and some rotisserie items. Simple, supposedly local (though we couldn't really tell from any description the provenance of any of the items on the menu).
We ordered the PEI Mussels (aren't these technically from the Eastern Seaboard?) and opted to "upgrade" the accompanying frites to truffle and parmesan ($2 extra.) When they arrived, the upgrade apparently did not get communicated well, but they were rushed back to the kitchen and returned to the table enrobed with the aromatics quickly. The sauce pooling around the mussels was the best thing that evening - a rich broth of beer, garlic, tomatoes and chorizo. We could have been happy with just that all evening, slurping the whole lot up with empty mussel shells, dragging our fries through that richness... I almost forgot about a tiny bit of grit in my first mussel.
Frisee salad came with a poached egg, a *lot* of crouton, pancetta lardons, and teeny cherry tomatoes. I thought the salad could have used a bit more acid to cut the richness of the egg and pancetta.
Our entrees and the fries were very salty. The fries by themselves (or with the mussel broth, catsup or aioli) were fine - you want that crisp saltiness enhanced by the truffle oil and umaminess of the parmesan. But as the entrees were introduced, the salty goodness of the fries magnified the overseasoned duck puttanesca and rotisserie roast duck. Both could have been good, solid dishes - the duck was a generous portion of breast and leg - cooked all the way through but still tender and flavourful, a layer of unctious fat under the skin still extant. The puttanesca, despite its capers and olives, needed more of a kick. It tasted a little too uniform, too one-note.
Service can be spotty and was a tad slow, though the apps and entrees arrived fairly expeditiously. We had to wait a terribly long time for bottles of water; we asked multiple times (and we were exceedingly thirsty due to the saltiness of the dishes). When I had called back earlier in the day to confirm our reservations, the person who answered the phone seemed irritated and rushed, as if I had interrupted her in the middle of something important.
Local, alas, we won't be in a hurry to be back, not with other restaurants like Starbelly and Flour + Water in SF.