Cage H.'s Profile

This is the most impressive food that I have had in the Palm Springs area; Arnold Palmer's would be the second, though Palmer's is much more low-key.

Jillian's is set in a renovated old adobe set back from a courtyard, with several tables in each room. From the valet parking to the host and wait staff, service is impeccable. The food is a blend of what one might call New American and Old American--some contemporary offerings, but nothing outrageous or overly trendy, and a strong classic French influence.

The bar and wine list offerings are extensive; unlike some similarly priced restaurants in the area that shall remain nameless, a Chopin gimlet here is made with Chopin vodka and actual fresh-squeezed lime juice, not Rose's lime syrup and a false promise of freshness.

I went with family and cannot remember all the items we had, but everyone was completely satisfied and as nearly all of us take cooking seriously, we can be quite a critical bunch. My brother had them split the fresh oysters and oysters Rockefeller half & half, which came out as an impressive set of plates. The oysters Rockefeller are a little heavy on the Pernod for the classic recipe, but no less delicious for that. I am generally a fan of liver and other organ meats; Jillian's calf's liver was probably the best I've ever had. It was thinly sliced, perfectly seared on the outside while meltingly tender on the inside--almost like foie gras--in a brown sauce with bits of bacon and onion.

This is definitely a restaurant for regulars. The crowd is older and somewhat formally dressed, but the staff know many of the customers by name. Jillian's blends an old school elegance and comfort with moderately contemporary tastes and so achieves what many area restaurants aspire to but fail to achieve. I look forward to going back soon.

A friend had noted this on Facebook and so I stopped by on the way home from the gym and discovered that it has opened up in the former location of a Greek chain restaurant that closed in 2011. The venue has been totally remodeled in black and white tiles and an impressive pizza oven behind the long counter where pizzas are constructed.

The basic pizzas are standard neapolitan types: margherita, bianco, and marinara. You walk up and choose your base, then select which, if any, of a wide assortment of traditional and not-so-traditional toppings to add, for a modest price. Roasted garlic and a couple others are free, none are more than $3 per additional topping.

Make sure to wait for the colored token, which presumably tells the cashier the price of your pizza. The baking process is incredibly fast--the pizza was done and being sliced within a few minutes.

I got a margherita with roasted garlic. The crust was delicious: thin, chewy, with a hint of crispness around the edges. The center was more chewy than crisp, and I could imagine that a pizza with a lot of vegetables might get slightly soggy. They may need to work on this, though it's still pretty good. The mozzarella may actually be di bufala; in any case, it simply melted into white puddles on the pizza tasting mainly of cream. The fresh basil actually tasted like basil; I should have to comment on that on a pizza margherita, but one finds a lot of substandard versions around. This is the real thing.

The futuristic soda fountain is justly famous. Its 22 touch-screen options include Seagram's seltzer (yay! no more being looked at like a Martian because I want a beverage with neither caffeine nor sugar), Barq's root beer (regular or diet), Mello Yello (in case you want LOTS of sugar and caffeine with a 70s twist), and the dreaded Mr PIBB, for people who like herb-infused battery acid (not to editorialize--I have friends who will be quite happy to hear that there's now Mr PIBB on tap in Westwood).

Many of the reviews have commented on the lines during peak mealtimes. However, one of several convenient things about the new 800 Degrees Pizza is that it's open later than practically anything else in Westwood Village, till 2 am most nights.

Have to say I was a bit disappointed in l'Ardoise, particularly considering the competition for high-end, French and French-inspired food in the area. First off, reservations are a must at any sort of normal hour. We'd tried to get in here a couple times before I called ahead the day of and secured a late seating that worked only because I had a late flight into SFO. But I'm not sure that the food is good enough to justify planning ahead like that.

The ambience is nice enough, and clearly French-inspired. The name comes from the chalkboard used in French bistros to list the daily specials, and many if not all of the staff appear to be French. Service is pretty good and the staff are knowledgeable. The noise level is rather loud, considering that the door is curtained off with massive velvet drapes.

The tiger prawn ravioli are rightly praised by other reviewers on here: delicate pasta, intense shrimpy flavor. The pommes landaises are pan-fried potatoes with onions, and quite tasty.

My friend had the steak with truffle oil and truffled fries. Big mistake. He's not a huge fan of truffles to begin with, but the steak had been highly recommended. It was drowning in truffle essence--so much so that he couldn't finish it. I tried to help with the truffle fries, as I like fungi of all kinds and am usually just fine with intense musky or fermented flavors in my food, but then I got a mouthful that tasted like a spoonful of truffle oil and sea salt and had to desist.

We each had a glass of some red wine that our waiter had recommended--very strong mineral taste with lots of tannins, perhaps could have been better if it had breathed for half an hour. My fault for not being more familiar with French wines, which are a major gap in my culinary knowledge as I freely admit.

My recollection is that the dessert was unexciting--so much so that I can't even remember what we actually ordered, which is unusual for me.

Overall it's a nice enough restaurant, but it's clearly aiming higher than it actually achieves. For a place to have a limited, semi-seasonal menu and sufficiently limited seating to require reservations any night of the week--and for these prices--I expect something more impressive. It doesn't need to be showy, but it needs to be more consistently executed. If I stumbled across l'Ardoise and they had an open table, I'd be happy to give them a second chance. Perhaps it was an off-night, and the truffle oil may indeed have been spilled and not caught before it was served. But I can't see going out of my way to make reservations here when there are so many other choices nearby.

Excellent tacos & burritos. Love the roasted quartered onions & roasted jalapeños. Good salsa. Quick. Bear in mind that my 4-star rating is for the category "food trucks", from which it really stands out.

I had some confusion once trying to order tacos to go for myself and a friend. It seems that the to-go orders and eat-standing-at-their-counter orders are rather different. The latter come on a paper plate that is arranged surprisingly artistically, with roasted onions and chiles, halved limes, pico de gallo, and your small street-style soft tacos.

The default for to-go orders is two small tacos per foil-wrapped unit, with small plastic bags of all the sides and condiments. No plates, so you just count up the number of tacos you want and then assemble them onto plates at home. Remember to ask for salsa in the to-go orders, though nibbling on the roasted jalapeño may be sufficient. The meats are pretty flavorful already, but the salsa roja is particularly good.

This is an impressive take on the taco truck idea. I suspect that there are options other than just the tacos with various fillings, but you may need to speak Spanish to get them. Service varies wildly with the clerk on duty, as does English proficiency. There are no prices on the board, but it seems to be a couple dollars per taco, which I feel is quite reasonable given the sides and condiments.

Wow, Ian's ranks with the best pizza I've had in Florence, Rome, Boston, and San Francisco. The crust is perfectly chewy, thin, with a hint of sourdough. I'm fairly picky about pizza crust, and Ian's crust is amazing.

Toppings range from the fairly traditional to the quirky. Open late. Atmosphere is very much a college hangout--fun in a very casual kind of way. Definitely on my list to come back on my next visit to Madison.

Axiote has replaced an unlamented, quite mediocre Mexican restaurant in the same location. The old place's main draw was their lunch buffet, which has been replaced by a nice-looking selection of lunch specials, as well as both Mexican and American-standard breakfast items that are available till 2 pm.

Iced tea comes flavored (passion fruit? Not a favorite). Chips are ok but unremarkable. Salsa is decent consistency for a cooked salsa but rather bland.

I asked the server for recommendations. She suggested the carne tampiqueña, which had already drawn my eye. The daily special was salmon with veggies & mashed potatoes. I am normally skeptical of ethnic restaurants that try too hard to appeal to the white-bread American consumer.

Enchilada came with a nicely smoky mole. Beans are decent. Chile relleno very eggy with sautéed onions & peppers on top. The steak was flavorful--well done, which is common for Mexican steaks, but tender nonetheless. The service was quite solicitous and unlike some other reviewer I did not wait long for my meal, though I was the only customer in the place on a Friday afternoon.

Overall, I think this place is still working out the kinks of reopening under new management. Or at least I hope they are. It has potential. Best thing was the mole.

This is an updated review after a set of problems on my first framing here that have now been resolved.

Due to a busy schedule, I sent a diploma in to be framed shortly before Christmas and tried to arrange everything over the phone and by email. They did the framing in a very timely fashion and got it back to me by Christmas Eve; however, in retrospect perhaps they should have waited. There were several problems with the framing. One was due to my not paying sufficient attention to the JPEGs of sample frames they sent me, and I agreed that that was a miscommunication I would have been willing to live with. Others, however, were significant problems that did not match what we had discussed on the phone or in emails.

I emailed them on Christmas, not expecting a reply over the weekend. Both the owner, Deb, and the store manager, Rachel,  both contacted me early in the following week. They were very solicitous in trying to fix the problem, attributing it to the holiday crush of orders to process.. They have offered to redo the framing for free, and say that some confusion must have happened during the holiday rush.

They made up for the inconvenience in several ways. They offered to send someone to pick it up rather than have me bring it back in. After a discussion of the problems involved--which were not going to be fixable without redoing the framing--they offered to reframe it for no additional cost. I decided to avoid any further miscommunication by going to the store in person and reviewing the issues with Rachel. The second framing is beautifully done. They updated me on it periodically, and have generally been very gracious.

Some of the issues were stylistic decisions that could have been made in several ways: for instance, there was apparently a smudge on the diploma that the framer tried to conceal, but ended up with the frame encroach on the print so tightly that it obscured part of the UC seal and the bottom of the signatures. When they pointed it out, I could see what they were trying to do, but I would have chosen another way. In the end, they were able to fix it without covering up any of the writing or the seal.

Overall, I have mixed feelings here. Deb and Rachel are clearly professionals who take their work very seriously and customer service is a priority. The final frame is beautiful and no doubt of archival quality. Next time I would not try to deal with aesthetic decisions like this over the phone and email, and I would not send in a non-urgent job right before a major gift-giving holiday.

We happened upon this wonderfully homey outpost of New Mexican cuisine while walking to another restaurant for lunch and happily dined here instead. While Santa Fe gained culinary fame in the late 1980s as epicenter of the Southwestern fusion movement (blue corn everything, Souteast-meets-Southwest novelties like pheasant & green chile spring rolls), the actual food of New Mexico is more often a blend of Native American techniques and ingredients with the down-home food of the 19th-century pioneers--dishes like green chile cheeseburgers, flat enchiladas made of layered blue corn tortillas in smokey red chile mole, and sopapillas with wild honey.

Chile pies specializes in variations on pot pies, often spiked with green or red chiles, and other Southwestern comfort foods like pozole and Frito pie. Their pie crust is flakey, buttery, and generally awesome. The chicken in the green chile & chicken pie is tender, mildly spiced with chiles, and a gravy that enhances without overpowering the meat and vegetables. Their green chile apple pie with cheddar-infused crust was also great.

The restaurant is literally a hole in the wall: a counter where you order, a couple other counters with high stools where you eat. Specials are listed on a blackboard. Takeout is available.

I'm a fan and hope to be back soon.

I've dithered between rating this as 2 stars or 3. The food was pretty good, though it hardly stands out in the generally excellent San Francisco brunch scene. Given the generally enthusiastic reviews, we were a bit surprised at the jokes my friend's roommates made as we were heading to Tangerine. Once we were seated and looked around, however, we understood. At the risk of sounding catty--OK, it's going to sound catty--Tangerine is kind of a Glee version of "gay brunch" for the suburban straight crowd who want to have bottomless mimosas while "experiencing" the Castro.

But several things are just a touch "off". For one, the gay club kids are nursing hangovers at 11 am on a Sunday; they don't actually want Rhianna & Lady Gaga blasting at full disco volumes quite that early in the day. For another, the crowd is very straight and look like they've come in from the suburbs for the day or the weekend. The decor is a bit too aggressively modern & minimalist even for the gay clubs--think something from the set of Miami Vice, or perhaps the American remake of la Cage aux Folles. And the bouncer out front (for brunch at 11 am?) signals the latent tensions in a trendy straight club that are actually absent from most gay venues.

That said, the food was pretty good. I had the chilaquiles & my friend had French toast. Coffee was quite decent. We tasted the mimosas, which were fine in the generic way that mimosas usually are--though we passed on the endless refills.

Tangerine fills up very quickly. If you want to check it out, you need to be there within 15 minutes of opening or plan to stand in line. Service was pretty good, and the food was fine. Don't expect to be able to hear anyone who's not sitting immediately next to you.

My rating of only 3 stars for Jar requires some explanation, as the food we had ranged from good to excellent. Partly it's because I am trying not to award 4 or 5 stars to place that I have visited only once, and partly it is because--despite the excellent food--I can't see Jar becoming a go-to restaurant for me or even a first choice splurge (like Mozza in LA or Chez Panisse in Berkeley).

First things first: the idea behind Jar is to update the classic midcentury, upscale steakhouse theme such as might have been frequented by Hollywood luminaries in the 40s through the early 60s. The décor is a beautifully understated take on the glamour of old establishment restaurants from that era whose later days I remember from my childhood. It is an American sophistication at its best without the stuffiness that sometimes got in the way of enjoyment. The ambient noise was a bit loud on the evening we were there, for dinner with my parents visiting from out of town, but not so loud as to impede conversation.

The service is excellent. Our waiter was knowledgeable, attentive, and though he looked handsome and stylish enough to be an aspiring actor (as did most of the staff), he was consummately professional in explaining the specials, advising us on quirks of the house, and seeing that water and wine glasses were refilled and empty plates removed with alacrity.

For starters, we shared an order of the crab deviled eggs and the crab cakes among the 4 of us. Deviled eggs, properly done, are consummate comfort food--creamy, tangy, and harkening back to picnics and cocktail parties. These were delicious, with the crab adding just that hint of difference. The crab cakes were almost entirely crabmeat, sweet, succulent, and perfectly cooked, with a tiny salad of frisée, fennel, and tarragon as a contrast.

I had the fluke special, which our waiter had described as delicious but slightly fishy. In fact, it was a perfectly delicate white fish with a crisp buttery exterior and tender, sweet flesh with a sauce of brown butter and chopped caper berries on the side. The flank steak was perfectly done medium rare, seared on the outside and tender with slight chewiness on the inside, extremely flavorful. The honey mustard sauce that came with it was a little bland, but the steak really didn't need any enhancement. The lamb shank was braised in what I recognized as a Chinese red braise, which is to say mostly soy with a bit of star anise. It was a wonderful twist on the lamb shank, though as other reviewers have noted, it could have used a bit more salt. The lamb shank was huge, by the way.

General notes on the quirks of the restaurant: braised and otherwise slow-cooked meats are a specialty, often with a slight pan-Asian twist, such as the red braise or hints of ginger & star anise. The texture of the braised dishes the is flawless, though sometimes they could use more salt, and salt and pepper are not automatically on the table.

Most of the main dishes do not come with a side dish automatically, although steaks and various cuts of roasted meat come with a choice of dipping sauces from an extensive selection. There are a number of set vegetable or starch side dishes, as well as some specials. We had the roasted asparagus, which were large stalks of peeled asparagus roasted to a delightful crispness on the outside and with a hint of butter. Luckily the beet greens were available that night. These are stewed or braised with what seemed like smoky bacon, comparable to the best collard greens I've ever had the South. Frankly, I could've made entire meal of about 2 orders of the beet greens and some of the sourdough bread and been quite happy. 2 or 3 side dishes are easily enough for 4 people, depending on how hungry you are and whether you've had starters.

The dessert menu is fairly limited, but reputed to be good. Our consensus was that the butterscotch pudding completely blew away their "signature" chocolate pudding. The latter was a well executed but fairly standard chocolate mousse sort of the dish, while the butterscotch pudding was an intense flavor of caramelized burnt sugar infused into a creamy base, reminiscent of the famous burnt sugar ice cream at Herrell's in Boston.

So why only 3 stars? Price and value. The food ranged from good to great, but except for the beet greens and the butterscotch pudding (and perhaps the first few bites of my fluke), it was not amazing. Everything on the menu is à la carte, with the least expensive main dish starting around $25. My father noted that a $40 bottle of wine he'd recently purchased was listed at well over $100. Our tab came to nearly $100 per person, for a main dish each, sharing 3 appetizers, 3 desserts, and 2 side dishes among the four of us. I'll pay that for amazing food, but not so satisfied here for the price.