Freshly grated zucchini is baked into this hearty bread that’s complimented by crunchy walnuts and spiced cinnamon. $2.75
Napa Farms Market, San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
I think it’s interesting that this market sells baked goods from City Baking Company which is actually based out of South San Francisco and not Napa Valley. Oh well, the bread was delicious and cut nice and thick.
Small drip Equator Coffees & Teas. $2.25
Romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese and fresh garlic croutons tossed with homemade caesar dressing. Additional fixings include caramelized onions, candied walnuts, and bleu cheese. $12.20
Firewood Cafe, San Francisco CA
For some reason, I sometimes crave the caesar salad at Firewood. I always add roasted chicken on top and take full advantage of the 3 free additional toppings. “Lite on the dressing”, of course!
Marinated olives. Complimentary.
Tangle of telephone wires over 17th Street at dawn. Mornings in San Francisco can create the best colors. This subdued purple was absolutely beautiful.
Chicken, tahini sauce, walnuts, tomato, spinach, carrot, and hummus on a pita. Served with a watermelon, cucumber and radish salad. $10.32
St. Germain Bistro & Cafe, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO
This was the weirdest sandwich I’ve ever had. The combination of ingredients wasn’t necessarily bad, but the it made for a dense mass with an odd texture. I would have preferred less of the sandwich and more of the delicious watermelon salad!
“Discoverer” statue of Christopher Columbus at the Plaza de Colon. This plaza marks what I think is the entrance to the main section of Old San Juan. Most of the traffic into this area passes by this plaza on the way to the nearby hotels and restaurants. The square isn’t very large, but the pillar and statue in the middle of the square stands prominently over the neighboring buildings.
Project 365: Day 62
Tried out Canela for a pre-birthday celebration for Silverfox. My roommate had already been here and said that it was pretty good. We’re planning to have a nicer dinner in San Juan next week to really celebrate Silverfox’s birthday but it’s nice to go out and have a dinner closer to the actual date of his special day.
With apple, manchego cheese, walnut, flat leaf parsley, lemon, olive oil, egg. $8
Canela, San Francisco
This salad was really refreshing. I loved all the different components but I have to say that the Italian parsley was killer in this salad! In combination with the lemon, it really helped to brighten up the salad and gave it a fanastic flavor. I would definitely order this again!
Red sangria. Bottle $21
I really enjoyed this sangria. It was overly sweet and the wine that they used had a great flavor. It wasn’t too bitter or funky tasting. Noms!
Red endive, frisee, red pear, candied walnuts, pomegranates, and Humboldt Fog goat cheese with mustard vinaigrette. Menu says $11 but receipt says $12 – BOO, LAME!!!
Fish & Farm, San Francisco
So the price discrepancy is totally lame! I don’t know if the menu wasn’t updated or out server was completely brain dead. I did mention during dinner that our server wasn’t very good compared to the server at the next table. Ours didn’t even give us the specials before we ordered. I didn’t even know there were specials available until the server at the adjacent table told her guests! Whatevs, our server was definitely “slow”, if you know what I mean.
This salad was tasty, but not very original.
Red bell pepper soup. Complimentary. I really liked this shot of free soup. It was hot and very flavorful.
Pink lady apple, medjool dates, maple-walnut ice cream, powdered sugar. $8
Frances, San Francisco
This sinfully dense cake was SO fickin’ good! It had a beautiful dark and rich color and it was bursting with yummy fruits which helped to keep the cake very moist. The ice cream scoop almost looks fake in the photo. I love the texture of it in the pic – it still looks super cool! Amazing flavors all around in this great dessert!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2011
Project 365: Day 17
Had a busy day-before-my-birthday day! Woke up with my lovey, stayed in bed and randomly caught a Streetfighter movie on TV (Legend of Chun Li or something like that, lol), went to the gym, got my hair did, had lunch downtown, picked up my wool and seersucker blazers from the tailor, did computer stuff, then had an AMAZING birthday dinner at Benu!
The dinner had 17 courses and lasted 3.5 hours! That’s pretty good if you ask me. I once had a pre fixe dinner in the Jewel Box at Mistral Kitchen in Seattle that lasted almost 4 hours, too. I honestly LOVE long dinners. They’re super relaxing and the food is almost always spectacular at these nice establishments. I thoroughly enjoyed this year’s birthday dinner. The food was SO delicious and the service was impeccable. (Anybody want to hit up French Laundry next?)
Afterward went to the Castro for some drinks but I didn’t last very long. I was SO frickin’ full and could barely move.
Can’t wait for brunch with T-Head and RSL tomorrow, then getting trashed with even more friends at Badlands!
Served with artichoke mayonnaise and walnut bread. Pre fixe dinner $180
Benu, San Francisco
When I saw this dish on the menu, I was very intrigued. I’ve had venison before, but never as a tartare. The deer had a surprisingly clean flavor. I expected it be very gamey, dark and tough, but it tasted pretty neutral. Most of the flavor from this dish came from the artichoke mayonnaise, walnut bread, and whatever the freeze dried crumbles were on the plate.
All the plates duirng dinner were beautiful! They were small poritons, but after 17 courses I was stuffed. The plates looked simple at a glanced but they had a lot of different components.
I’ll post the rest of the dishes soon!
Walnut bread. Even the bread was fantastic!
Moet e Chandon a Epernay, Champagne, Cuvee Dom Perignon, 1993. $40 corkage
Silverfox had this bottle of champagne laying around and he decided to pop the cork for my birthday dinner, aww! That’s a good thing because Benu had bottles of Dom Perignon 1996 and 1995 for $750 and $957, respectively. Ouch! We got away with only paying corkage.
The boxed bottle of champagne is just asking to be opened!
Menu signed by chef Corey Lee. This was a cute surprise at the end of the meal. We had menus at our table the entire time to keep up with what we were eating, but those were taken away at the end and replaced with a couple signed menus.
Mixed greens with seared cana de cabra goat cheese, persimmons, pomegranates, walnuts and chervil. $13
Contigo, San Francisco
I can’t say that I’ve ever had a salad quite like this! And it was yummy! The persimmons and cana de cabra goat cheese were the ingredients that were new(ish) to me. I don’t usually like raw persimmons but they were really good in this salad. This was the first time I’ve had this goat cheese and I love the crunchy sear on the outside that contrasted with the soft smooth interior. The thick, crsipy greens were hearty enough to hold up to the rich toppings. Great salad!
So my office held our 2nd Annual Holiday Potluck and everyone (well almost everyone) brought delicious food to share! I’m posting some of the yummy food so you can get a few ideas for your next holiday get together. If all else fails, make a Costco run apparently. I mean who needs a fancy corporate holiday party when you can have a good ole potluck?! All names have been changed to protect the innocent! 🙂
Pork belly steamed bun – Papa Chang
We all know that most holiday plates are fattening so why not get it in the form of tender pork belly?! Just top the bun with shredded scallions and hoisin sauce for an elegant presentation! You can purchase frozen buns at your local Asian market and steam them prior to serving. Xiexie!
Pigs in a blanket – Rapunzel
Simple but delicious, a perennial party favorite! Just wrap ‘Lil Smokies (these are turkey) with crescent pastry rolls (these use a low fat variety) and voile, you have an all-American treat! According to Rapunzel, each piece has only 45 calories!
Pomegranate kielbasa bites – Dumes
The perfect combination of beefy meat and sticky sweet. Simmer sliced beef kielbasa sausage in a mixture of pomegranate juice, ketchup and Tabasco sauce until the sauce is thick and reduced. Serve on a buttery Ritz cracker to make it classy! Thanks Dumes!
Spam musubi – Sophie
Perfectly portioned and utterly delicious! Spam plus sushi rice and a nori strip equals a happy vicenteSF! Arigato!
Traditional midwestern queso surprise – vicenteSF
OK, I made that name up but my roommate IS from Kansas and he makes this delicious dip once in a while. Just combine Velveeta cheese (SO American!) with browned ground beef and a can of Ro-Tel brand diced tomatoes with chiles (another midwestern staple) in a crock pot. Set it and forget it! It’s customary to eat this with potato chips, not tortilla chips, silly!
Mini quiche lorraine – Mats
Another easy potluck option, the frozen mini quiche! Just throw into the toaster oven for a few minutes and these buttery, salty bites are sure to please everyone!
Shrimp cocktail – Pong
Costco wins again! Seafood always ups the chichi factor!
Roast chicken – Pong
And antoher Costco treasure!
Chewy mixed chip holiday cookie – Rapunzel
These are surprisingly good despite Rapunzel’s baking track record! Just kidding. These nommy cookies have milk chocolate, white chocolate AND butterscotch chips! And lots of butter for all the good lil boys and girls!
Almond jello with fruit – Sophie
Sophie fights back with a more sophisticated dessert approach. The light almond jello pairs wonderfully with fresh fruit!
Walnut brownie – Jefe
And what’s more traditional than some chocolate brownies with NUTS! Walnuts are a safe, delicious and nutritious choice!
Melkesjokolade chocolate – Huff
And Huff brings up the rear with a Norwegian contribution! Tusen takk!
Happy holidays, everyone!!!
Vittle Monster 