Category: Travel

Posted on May 23, 2010

I almost decided to not review Delfina because, well, it’s Delfina. Everyone already knows how incredible the food is and how hip the neighborhood is and how friendly the staff is. What hasn’t already been said?

I’m kind of in love with this place though. It’s one of my favorite restaurants in one of my favorite neighborhoods, and my last dinner here didn’t disappoint. To be on the safe side, I called two weeks ahead of time and made reservations to celebrate a belated birthday.

My dining companion and I started with the puntarelle alla Romana, a Roman specialty of puntarelle shoots.

Similar to chicory, the salad was tossed with salt-packed anchovy, extra-virgin olive oil, and Parmigiano. This was delicious: crisp, tart and slightly bitter. As soon as I can find puntarelle in the markets, I’m making this at home.

Next we had the grilled fresh calamari.

Served on a white bean salad and garnished with olives and frisée, the calamari had a great smoky flavor from grilling and was super tender. Squid and white beans are a classic pairing; you can’t really go wrong here.

For my entree, I had the rosemary tagliatelle.

The tagliatelle was served with guinea hen ragu and vin santo. What’s a guinea hen, you ask? They’re cousins of pheasant, leaner than chicken, and more flavorful. I thought that the vin santo sauce would make the dish too rich, but it was actually a perfect compliment.

We were stuffed by this point but we couldn’t resist sharing a plate of dessert at the end of our meal. We decided on the profiteroles.

The profiteroles were served with espresso gelato, warm chocolate sauce and candied almonds. The whole thing was really high-quality and extremely decadent. I prefer savory over sweet, but even I was swooning over this dessert.

Delfina is a solid restaurant serving excellent cuisine without the attitude that comes with so many fine dining establishments. It’s easily one of the best restaurants in San Francisco. But you knew that already, didn’t you?

Posted on May 3, 2010

That’s right, another oyster-themed review. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I could stomach raw oysters without feeling sick, and it was Hog Island’s oysters at the Ferry Building in San Francisco that made me a convert. Their Monday and Thursday happy hour oysters won me over, and soon I was slurping down Kumamotos and Sweetwaters like a pro.

I missed happy hour the last time I was there, but my dining group and I split a plate of Sweetwater oysters anyway.

Delivered fresh daily from Tomales Bay, Sweetwater oysters are plump and salty, and as the name suggests, sweet. For an acidic kick, I always add a few drops of the onion and pepper-flecked mignonette that come with the oysters. I absolutely love this combination and the only thing that makes it even better is the side of fresh Acme bread and Cowgirl Creamery butter that comes with the oysters.

I didn’t get as many raw oysters as I usually do, so I also ordered a bowl of oyster stew.

These were more Sweetwater oysters, but this time stewed in their own liqueur, mirepoix, pimenton De La Vera, lemon zest and cream. I wanted to like this stew, I really did. But it was too sweet and so creamy that it overpowered the taste of the oysters.

Overall, Hog Island Oyster Company in the Ferry Building is a great place to enjoy top-notch oysters and with an incredible view of the Bay Bridge to boot. I’ll likely stick to the raw oysters next time – I can’t seem to get enough of those Sweetwaters.

Posted on April 19, 2010

I can’t remember the last time I heard so much buzz about a restaurant since Flour + Water opened up in San Francisco’s Mission District a few months ago. Fresh off of a strong review in the Chronicle, the restaurant was a packed house every night of the week. Things were no different when I visited Flour + Water with a group to try their renowned hand-rolled pastas and house-cured meats on a weekday evening. The restaurant opens at 5:30 so we showed up at 5:15 to be on the safe side, but a line had already formed outside.

Our group waited for about half an hour before we were seated at a long communal wooden table and began to peruse the menu. We started with the yellow peach and rabbit confit salad.

Served with pistachios and wild arugula, this salad was refreshing and despite the wide range of flavors, it worked. The peaches were succulent without being too sweet, so it complimented rather than overwhelmed the rabbit.

Next we tried the crispy oxtail terrine.

This was probably my favorite dish of the meal. Terrines have a texture similar to pate and they’re usually not crisped on the outside. Flour + Water managed to pull it off though, and the terrine held up its form both on the interior and exterior. They were served on top of a watercress salad with delicious bits of chantrelle mushrooms.

Our third dish was the biancoverde pizza.

Topped with ricotta cheese, anchovies and nettle pesto, this was a rich pizza without being too greasy. It was also my first foray into nettles, which had a very mild flavor. I’m curious to try them again. While the anchovies provided a salty kick, I would have been even happier if this pizza came with a healthy sprinkling of garlic or something equally flavorful.

Our last dish was the eggplant and crescenza cappelletti.

Cappelletti are similar to tortellini and these were incredibly ethereal. The eggplant filling was light and was topped cherry tomatoes and gypsy peppers. After having sampled this dish, I can easily see what all the fuss is about over Flour + Water’s handmade pasta.

It’s been awhile since I’ve eaten there, and I imagine that the initial crowds at Flour + Water may have died down a bit. That being said, Flour + Water’s menu is constantly changing, which only means one thing: it’s time for a return visit.

Posted on April 6, 2010

I’ve lamented in the past about San Francisco’s lack of sufficient soul food restaurants. I might find some good fried chicken at one restaurant and tasty mac and cheese at another, but a restaurant hitting every southern classic nail on the head has been hard to come by. Until now.

Located in the Tenderloin, farmerbrown is where the great dishes of the south meet the organic and sustainability-consciousness of the west coast. When I visited with a large group, we waited at the bar while our table was made ready. I enjoyed a Scrimshaw Pilsner while I took in the warm, hip vibe. The crowd is young here, with a fantastic playlist to match. (farmerbrown often has a DJ as well.)

Once we were seated, cornbread and honey butter was served, which comes with every meal.

These were light and fluffy to nibble on while we waited for our appetizers. Next came the fried okra.

I’m a huge fan of okra, and wish that more people appreciated this often-overlooked vegetable. These were crispy without being too oily, and the creamy sauce on the side was the perfect compliment. I could eat these all day.

Our potato steak fries with aioli arrived next.

These were good but I found myself wishing for more okra instead. The sauce was a nice compliment, but overall this wasn’t very flavorful.

Next came my entree: Rocky Range fried chicken with macaroni and Tillamook cheddar cheese and collard greens.

Internet, the trifecta of perfect chicken, mac and cheese, and collard greens all at one restaurant has been achieved. Whatever spices they’re putting in their chicken at farmerbrown, they need to keep doing it. The chicken was so juicy, the skin was so crispy, I hardly knew what to do with myself. And the mac and cheese? So creamy. Best of all, it didn’t form into a stuck-together mass once it cooled down, the way some mac and cheese does. Oh, and the collard greens were tender and lip-smackingly seasoned.

I walked out of farmerbrown stuffed and content. I can no longer complain about a shortage of soul food in San Francisco. farmerbrown has a Sunday brunch buffet too which I’ve heard is fantastic (and yes, they serve their fried chicken for brunch as well). Next time, I’ll check that out. I can’t wait to go back.

Posted on April 2, 2010

Hayes Valley is one of those San Francisco neighborhoods that I rarely venture to, and I really don’t know why. It’s a lovely neighborhood, and happens to be chock-full of restaurants. When I found out that Destino serves grilled beef hearts, it’s all I needed to hear to make the trek to this cute little restaurant on Market Street.

Destino serves Latin American tapas with an emphasis on Peruvian cuisine, all of which I’m crazy about. Service is friendly and prompt here, and our group’s dishes began rolling in only a few minutes after our order.

We started with the causa con picante de camarones.

A Peruvian potato torte topped with tiger prawns and spicy prawn reduction sauce, the torte was colder than expected but the shrimp were juicy and succulent. “Picante” might be a relative term here, though, since the shrimp weren’t very spicy.

Next came the filet de bacalao and arroz de acietunas.

The black cod was encrusted with plantains and served alongside olive rice, toasted almonds and aji amarillo salsa. The cod was incredible: subtly seasoned and cooked to perfection. The aji amarillo provided a nice kick of heat.

Our third dish was the Peruvian chicken empanada. How can you not order empanadas when you see them on them menu?

Unfortunately, we were pretty disappointed in this dish. The empanada was undercooked and the filling was pretty flavorless. Even the sauce on the side couldn’t save it.

Our next order to arrive was the one I had been most looking forward to: anticuchos de corazon.

Anticuchos de corazon, or grilled beef hearts, are one of my favorite foods and here they were served with an aji panca reduction, green garlic and Peruvian choclo. Choclo, or large Andean corn, is hard to come by and they were a good accompaniment to the hearts. The grilled hearts themselves a little overcooked and the sauce overpowered them, but the pickled onion topping was wonderful.

Our next dish was the churrasco.

The grilled sirloin was topped with a chimichurri salsa and Maldon sea salt; simple and cooked just right. This was my favorite dish of the evening, and the chimichurri provided just the right kick of spice to the beef.

But we weren’t done yet. Our sixth tapa was the chile relleno.

Stuffed with ground sirloin and cheddar cheese and topped with chipotle salsa and citrus crème fraiche, the chile relleno was smoky and hearty. Despite so many different flavors happening in one dish, it really worked.

We ended our meal on a sweet note with the banana bread pudding.

You can’t really go wrong with caramelized bananas and caramel sauce, and the pecan crunch was a nice touch too. The pudding was moist and even though I’m not a big fan of desserts, I was all over this one.

Destino’s menu can be hit or miss but the food is imaginative and the ambiance is worth the visit. Just make sure to factor in extra time to look for parking, which can be difficult to find. Which reminds me, maybe that’s why I don’t go to Hayes Valley all that often.