Donna "stealthypoo" H.'s Profile

The waitress knew exactly what we should order. During my whole trip, I had yet to have Hawaiian food, so finally on the day before we flew out, I indulged in so bad for you, but so good Hawaiian food. I loved the Kalua Pork, Haupia, and those Pipikaula Short Ribs. Delicious! The Long Rice w/ Chicken reminded me of Chinese silver needle noodles. Definitely try those Fried Butterfish Collars. The meet is super smooth and tender. I will need to come back to try their Laulau and their squid dish.

Cute sweet older lady at the counter. They always get me. She used to live in the Presidio. :)

Tamales and Chips and Cocktails, oh my! What a great first SF event, Jon! I've been to Monarch a few times since its opening a few months ago, and I never knew about Tamale Tuesdays. I should be ashamed!

The event was the perfect size. I never had to wait too long for anything. The bartenders were amazing, and the Rhuby, Root snap, and Stoli cocktails, delicious. It was laid back and kind of a nice meet/greet for the new cm. We were also dazzled by the hoop aerialist. DJ made me want to dance a little. I didn't subject anyone to watching me try to dance. Instead, I met some new people, and caught up with others. The layout of the room is nice with some loungey chairs on one side, and photobooth on the other. Oh, and I love the steampunk vibe I get from the tuba light fixture and the magnifying glass pipe thing by the front door.

I didn't meet five tamales, but I did meet one. He goes by Pork T. I guess the only disappointment was not getting a photobooth pic with Pork T. (T for Tamale) NOM.

I was recently moved over to a Delta flight after my Hawaiian Airlines 9:45am flight was rerouted back to SFO after an hour or so in the air. I spent hours waiting to hear from them, and eventually my flight was pushed back to 1:30am. It was ridiculous, and luckily a friend of mine suggested taking the Delta flight at 6:20pm. The HA staff gave me a receipt and a number, saying to give it to the Delta counter. Of course, it was in a different terminal and of course the Delta staff couldn't find the ticket. Delta customer service was just excellent though. Thank you so so much for trying so hard to figure out how to get me on my flight. In the end, I was running through security (there was NO ONE else there -- soooo friggin awkward with 5 security guys waiting for me to get through) and made it on just in time. I really did not want to be on that 1:30am flight.

I realized I didn't know anyone going to this event, but nothing beats coming home to gorgeous weather and a mini roadtrip to Napa for the Vino de Mayo at Maisonry. I would have made a day of it, but I didn't really plan ahead. I brought the pops to the event since he likes to try different wines. If I had known, I'd also have brought the pooch. Yay.. dog friendly venues. The venue is great for events or romantical stuff with the old brick vine-covered house/ lights all strung up. The staff were incredibly welcoming, so take some time to browse around their gallery. If you like any of the pieces, they're all available to purchase. Of the three wines that we tried, I enjoyed the Maisonry Napa Valley white the best.  I love that it was an intimate event. Also ran into Drue C. and Paul, who coincidentally had their own tasting reservations at Maisonry!

Thanks Jon and Monique!

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OMG WON THE RAFFLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (which means I'm guessing no one else entered the raffle because I don't win a lot of things) *wine dance*

Being from SF, it's hard to find food anywhere that's not random/strip mall/ or hella expensive. Lucky for me, Google Places suggested Isaac Newton's. Once I mentioned the name, Toast was all OF COURSE!! Isaac Newton's is awesome. And it was pretty good! They have a great beer selection! You can find Lagunitas and Russian River here!! My mind was blown. I assumed a lot of the craft breweries didn't make it out to small towns in PA, but I was wrong. If you don't know what you want, definitely talk to the bartender because he knows what he's talking about. You can get a growler of beer to go as well. The growler itself is $16 or $18 and then the fill up is another $16 for certain beers. We bought a growler and wanted an IPA that we didn't try yet. He gave a suggestion after we told him what we liked, and sampled the one we thought we wanted and the one he thought we'd like better. He was spot on!

The food is ok. I had the blackened chicken caesar which was pretty good. Toast had a chicken sandwich. The chicken in his sandwich was very bland, but the rest of it was ok. They should use the blackened chicken in that chicken sandwich. That would've been way better. They have tons on their menu..

Fun - check! Food - check! Drink - check!

I loved everything about this store/gallery!! I was reintroduced to Kurt Halsey! Haven't seen his stuff for a long time. Also, totally in love with "In which the lotus bloom captures everyone's attention" by Noferin. Look it up. Adorbs!!!!

Cutesy, art, jewelry, and apparel! They recently revamped their online store and it isn't too shabby either. We came by because Toast's sister wanted to check it out. Prices aren't too bad for prints and they have a huge sale section. Some stuff is pricier.. The gallery/store is vibrant and spacious, and one of the jewelry makers was hanging out at the store eating lunch. Pretty awesome!

Now to get me that Noferin print...  i less than 3 it!!!!!!!

I really wanted to be blown away by awesome. My trips are usually based around meals, and NYC was no different. Ippudo was one of the top places I had heard so much about. We came here on a Tuesday afternoon and were seated immediately. Toast ordered the Akamaru Modern and I ordered the Karaka Men. Both of the broths were really good, but I still compare the broth to Izakaya Sozai, and it was almost there. Almost. The noodles were laughable and really thin/weird for ramen, but the broth is more important to me. Price is ridiculous for lunch pricing, but I know it's the city. It would be a 3.5 I guess..

Ruggy's leaving SF with a bread pudding bang! Delicious bites, gorgeous views of the San Francisco Bay, friends, and St. Germain cocktails; brunch doesn't get any better than this.

I ran up to the big white bunny, threw open my arms.. and then realized that 1. I just saw Jessica, so it wasn't Jessica. 2. Ruggy was inside the restaurant. 3.... I.. don't.. know.. you...... *backs away slowly...*

Also, I'm totally framing those St. Germain postcards. Those are genius. The bartenders were amazing. The servers were amazing. Hoards of people swarmed them and they were still very nice/smiley and the bread pudding kept coming.

Overpriced, but a hip locale and clean. That doesn't make up for the semi empty sandwich. It also doesn't make up for the nice big chunk of fat. It was tasty meats, but definitely not worth it. So, that's pretty meh. It's 2x the price and just doesn't deliver. If it was packed full of the tasty meats and no big chunks of fat, that would muster out an extra star.

Salt and pepper fries were good. I would come back for that. They reminded me of going to a Chinese restaurant and ordering salt and pepper wings.. only this is fries and not wings.. They weren't amazing, but they were good.

A lot has changed in three years. I was stoked to be coming back to our first date place. It's been awhile. The menu has definitely changed. I was completely unsure of what to get.. What happened to the couscous or more kebab type items? I did have mind made up about two things. I was getting that Duck Confit Basteeya and the Spread.

The Basteeya was good, but not great. The pastry was nice and light, but the meat filling was a bit too much for me. It's supposed to be slightly sweet, but I guess I prefer things more savory. I'm glad I tried it, but would probably get something lighter instead. The Spread was fantastic. In order of favorite, I would definitely say the Chickpea was the best. That was unanimous. It was creamy and just so perfectly flavored. The Piquillo-Almond had a nice red pepper flavor, but he thought it was awful. He also doesn't like seafood, so I wouldn't trust some of his judgment there. Last, the Yogurt-Dill was nice and light. I smothered my flatbread with spread. Delicious delicious dense steaming hot pieces of flatbread. I was so full by the time we finished the appetizers, that I was glad I didn't order the Lamb Shank. I hear it's huge and amazing. That's what she said!

I ordered the Green Farro, diced Scallops, Himalayan Truffle and Carrot. It was so good. SO good. It reminded me of a truffled risotto, but with some aMAZING perfect flavor, and nice crunchy carrots for texture. Sooo freaking good. The dish was small, but it was a bit heavy, so I actually got a doggy bag. He ordered the Chicken, preserved Lemon, Hen of the Woods, and Celery Root. Juicy, lemony perfectly done chicken. Deep fried hen of the woods is amazing btw. I'm almost glad he can't eat mushroom, so I can have allllll of eeet.. ALL OF EEEET.. MINE!!!!!!

I caNNOT wait to eat the leftovers. HOLY MOLY!

Also my pear/ginger brandy cocktail was perfect. Sweet, but not overly so, with a nice kick at the end. Well made concoction. I had no room for dessert, but they gave us these tiny little dessert bites. YUM. I still ate them.

Next time, I'm coming back for that tasting menu when I can take someone who eats seafood. I browsed the tasting menu and they have Uni!

Service is always stellar. We had an opentable for 9, but probably could've gotten there early. I think we saw Ruggy there too! I had to update because Aziza is still amazing. Pricey but delicious!