Miss P.'s Profile

i think it's funny when someone raves about a place in their review, then gives 3 stars...just sayin'.

anyway, this place is AWESOME!  okay, well, the venue is actually cool, and we stayed for some of the music, which was good.

this rating is for the food.  the french fries were really good.  the best part of the meal by a long shot.  the broccoli rabe salad with mushrooms and parmesan wasn't that great.  the mushroom was not good...dry and flavorless.  the chevre and pear ravioli with pesto was pretty decent...the butternut squash risotto was decent too, but a bit too sweet for my liking.  the dessert, Humphrey Slocumbe brown butter ice cream with walnuts and balsamic vinegar was not good.  i've never been to Humphrey Slocumbe's, and i've heard it was good, but this particular ice cream seemed to have a storage/transit issue, as there was little icicles in it, which kinda disrupted what should have been a smooth, creamy experience.  no, not that type of smooth, creamy experience, you perve.  

the service was a little off, but they were all very nice, so it's easy to forgive that.

i'll come back again, since it's a cool joint, and order some different stuff (except i'll order those fries again)...maybe it was just an off night for them.

oh, Arizmendi, Arizmendi how you keep me sated
with such baked goods, can you be twitterpated?

your cherry scone, crumbling in my lap
i like you for breakfast or even a snack
that organic roasted coffee, dribbling down my chin
anything so good must surely be a sin

and those brioche knots, how you make me tingle
if you wanted to date, i would quickly make myself single
for you, or anyone of your brood
i like you so much, i've elevated you above just any old food

alas, i'm sure to become diabetic
and maybe even a bit eclectic
but better to digest than to never experience
i really mean that; i'm totally serious.

yeah, so one of my friend's sister is convinced that this place is pronounced "Kin-Say"...you know, like "15" in Spanish.  of course this cuisine is not really inspired from any place where the people say "quince" for the number 15, but whatever...

you can order a la carte here....or do a 4-course meal based on what you pick out of the menu.  or they have some tasting menus...the catch being that your table has to have that particular menu...which is a bit annoying.

started out with the scallops over a potato/onion gallette.  it was good.

fagoletto...damn this is so frustrating not having the menu to refer to....i think that's how it's spelled.  sounds like a politically incorrect indictment of a pasta's sexual orientation....but it's basically this cheese-filled dumpling and there is some proscuitto scattered about.  freaking excellent.

ooh, and they have some really nice rolls/breadsticks.  it's cool because they give you your butter on this little marble (granite?) dish that is cooled.  nice touch.  

i had the lamb done 3-ways...this sausage, lamb shoulder stuffed in a pearl onion, and little slices of some part of the poor baby sheep.  it was pretty good.  my friends got beef done 3-ways...short rib (amazing), loin, and tongue...yes...tongue.  they used to feed tongue to me when i went to day care...no one believes me.  i actually don't believe myself...would they really serve that to kids?  i don't know...i feel like i remember that, but not sure if i just made it up in my little kid imagination.

pineapple souffle with the pineapple/sour cream gelato.  i coulda seriously had more of that.

service was excellent.  it's a pretty cool joint....quiet enough to have conversation easily...which is great, although i think dinner conversation is vastly overrated.

not the hugest portions, and not cheap.....worth the price?  depends on what tax bracket you're in.

it was here that i realized that i pronounce "route" two different ways, depending on the context.  weird.

the fries were pretty damn good.  they give you 3 sauces.  i stuck with the ketchup..catsup?  cracked pepper on the fries...that's a nice touch.

the apple, celery root (not that "route"), pistachio, cherry salad was good...although a bit overdressed.  i don't like that.

the pizza...kinda soggy in the middle.  maybe they don't need to put that much sauce on it?  the crust was chewy and delicious though.  

the salted caramel pot de creme was a bit disappointing...a bit too much salt...which really overwhelmed the dessert...it was in this awkward jar that made digging into it a bit difficult.

the atmosphere is good.  the service is really friendly and great.

promising food, but didn't totally hit the mark with me...maybe it was just an off night though.

ummm, okay, so this is a review that is very narrow in scope.  this place has awesome fries.  i mean, i have a masters in fried potato eating, and this place has definitely done their homework.  twice cooked fries is really the way to go....crispy, tasty...the fries can definitely stand on their own, but they also have some great sauces.  i remember traveling in Belgium, and i don't remember having fries...what a shame.

we also had the portobello burger that was stuffed with goat cheese.  it was on this great ciabatta roll.  it was really good, but kinda messy to eat.  and i was left with a lot of specks of food between my teef, which my gf so graciously pointed out.  only true friends tell you if you got crap between your teef.

it's pretty funny because most (all?) of the people congregate downstairs, so if you walk by, you can be thrown off by the empty room at the street level.  we thought that either:
a) the joint was closed
b) the word was out that the food was disgusting, but we hadn't gotten the memo yet.

nevertheless, don't be thrown off...go in...go down....eat...drink....and check your teef in the mirror before you leave...

does Cheech Marin and Don Johnson still own this joint?

you know, the food was good....was it great?  no.  especially in light of the prices.  that said, if i went back i would order the sides of fried rice and garlic noodles and call it a day.  they were really good.

the fresh spring rolls (the "bejeweled blankets"....did the person who coined the food items on Cafe Gratitude's menu have a hand in this menu?) were okay, but nothing too special.  "the heat of the moment" (do you see what i'm saying about the names of the food?  although i think that band, Asia, may get credit for this name.)  green papaya salad was good.  again, nothing spectacular.  the cassava corn ravioli were good...although they were all clumped together, which was a bit strange, and created logistical problems in terms of sharing the dish.  

we got the banana boat dessert.  the grilled banana with this caramel sauce and walnuts.  not bad...the grilled/burnt banana peel didn't even turn me off.

the garlic noodles were yummy, although i'm a fan of just noodles, and no filler bean sprouts, but whatever.

the ambience is excellent.

overall, a decent meal....price is a bit high.

i eat meat.

the coaches are totally rad...the group is really awesome (yup, myself included)....and you really should shed a few of those holiday pounds, now shouldn't you?

this is a low-key group....runners of all different levels...some amazing trail runners, and some runners like me who just like to run for fun out in some beautiful scenery.  people are training for events throughout the year, so you can pretty much rest assured that you will find a training buddy or two or more in this group for any particular race.

we got the five-course tasting menu....my dining companion got the wine pairing too.  she had the vegetarian menu, and me, the normal people's (i.e., omnivore's...haha..just kidding) menu.

some standouts included the goat cheese appetizer, the "waldorf" soup, chicken stuffed with chorizo, and the lamb belly with brussel sprouts.  it's kinda fun to just get served course after course, not really knowing what you're going to get....the dessert was a couple of doughnuts with this beer ice cream.  to clear the palate, they gave us this float of almond ice cream in this ginger soda (or something like that).  with that, the amuse bouche, and the little plate of confections, it really turns out to be that you feel like you're getting 8 courses or something.  the portions were such that i felt full, but not gross afterwards, which was nice...

the vibe was cool...especially after the table with the one VERY LOUD dipshit, left.  fuck, you can't even pay to get away from idiots, i guess.  

service was good.  the waiter even gave my dining companion an extra pour for one of the courses, since they thought a couple of wines might potentially go well with that particular course.

overall a very nice experience....although you're definitely paying a decent amount of cash for that experience....and i kinda go back and forth between how i feel about that.

funny thing about this place is that with the shutters drawn, if you weren't specifically looking for this joint, you probably would think it was closed or something...

the food is good.  they start you off with some bread they bake there...which is great.  can't wait until they open up their adjoining bakery.  we also had the mixed lettuce, goat cheese, persimmon, and pomegranate salad.  that was a good, healthy start to our meal.  the nutritional value of the meal kinda went a bit downhill after that.  had the pumpkin ravioli which was drenched in brown butter, and i mean that in a good way.  there were these fried bits of chestnut sprinkled on top, which was tasty.  my only criticism was that it was a bit on the salty side.  the tempura was good.  i felt like i was being a traitor to my japanese roots by eating tempura in a non-Japanese restaurant.  it was good, nevertheless.  the cast iron potato gratin was excellent.  the saving grace of my dining companion being vegetarian is that she likes her potatoes drenched in some sort of fatty substance...

for dessert we had the white chocolate/cranberry pecan pie with cranberry-swirled ice cream.  that was good.

the service was good.  the vibe in the place is cool.  on top of that, the couple on their first date, who sat beside us, was...ummm, entertaining?  all i have to say to the chick if she reads this is that "you can do SO MUCH better...run...run...run."  hahaha, totally kidding...(sorta).