Big E

Three of us will be coming from Boston. Other two from NYC. We've all spent a good deal of time eating in both of those locations. Examples of our favorites in Boston include Oleana, East Coast Grill, Franklin Cafe, Hamersleys. NYC recent favorites include Upstairs at Bouley, A Voce, front room at Gramercy, L'Impero. For ethnic eateries, my brother and I are huge banh mi fans. I'd love some authentic Mexican choices and any Asian suggestions would be welcome. Also, my original question involved whether it would if it would be worth substituting a restaurant like Myth (or any other recommended restaurants) with a more unusual menu, for one of the Cal/Ital/French restaurants we've already scheduled. Thanks.

In early August, I'll be spending a week in SF and Napa with my family (five of us) for Mom's 60th birthday. Dinner reservations include Range (just my wife and I), Quince (or Delfina), Chez Panisse (Mom's favorite), Redd, Bouchon, and Chez Panisse (again). What do eGulleters think of this itinerary, and the possible sameness of the restaurants that have been chosen so far? Also, casual lunch suggestions would be helpful for SF, possibly including good ethnic spots - tacos, dim sum, banh mi, etc. Thanks, Big E

My fiance and I had dinner last night at Per Se and I must say it was one of the best meals we've ever had. Simply spectacular. I'd give the full food report myself, but I think adrober has already given a better report than I could give, so I'm just going to give a personal response to his report. Atmosphere: I thought this was a very comfortable atmosphere for such a high-end restaurant. It wasn't even close to "death". I too often dislike fine dining atmospheres, but I thought this was an exception to the rule. I was more comfortable at Per Se than I was at Bouley. The staff was extremely professional yet still very warm to the guests and while I think they are still working some things out with the service it was overall an excellent experience. The room itself is beautiful but not overdone. We sat on the first level which I think is superior to the raised second level (3 or 4 stairs up?). Food: The chef's tasting menu which I had was identical to the menu served to adrober except that the lamb course was a chop rather than slices of braised shoulder and there was a different sorbet course (which was very refreshing but I can't recall the exact flavor right now). My fiance had the vegetarian tasting menu which she loved and gave us the ability taste a lot of different dishes that we otherwise would have missed. I thought it was a great way to do dinner for two. However, I will say that I think the chef's tasting is significantly better than the vegetarian menu. Overall, the quality of the food was just incredible and I really enjoyed everything on the menu. Favorites of mine were the oysters and caviar, the foie gras and the lobster. Also, I preferred the vegetarian menu dessert course to my own. One last thing, we asked to take a tour of the kitchen after dinner which was amazing. The multiple kitchens are really impressive (I believe they said 8,000 sq. feet of kitchen space) and it was a great to see them in use during service.

On our way to Yama for sushi last night my girlfriend and I walked past Casa Mono, and we decided to try it instead. Last night happened to be the opening night and we had a wonderful experience. We sat at the back bar (6 or 7 seats?) and there is also a bar (again around 6 or 7 seats) on the side of the restaurant which faces the open kitchen. The interior reminded me of a darker and smaller Otto - tons of shelves with bottles of wine, etc. But on to the important part... The menu consists of small plates arranged somewhat by size and course, but there are no divisions on the menu i.e. no defined appetizers or mains. Prices range from $3 - $15 per dish. We ordered 2 different spanish reds by the glass, and enjoyed the mixed olives that were far better than the usual complimentary olives in NYC. Our first round of dishes was roasted brussel sprouts a la plancha, bacalao croquetas with orange alioli, cockles with huevos revueltos, and a duck egg with mojama. The brussel sprouts were good, but somewhat plain when compared to the other dishes. Bacalao croquetas were wonderfully light and flavorful with a very crisp exterior and a soft center, but the amount of orange alioli was a little overpowering. After my first bite I used it sparingly. Cockles were also very good, but the best of this round of dishes was definitely the duck egg. It's a fried duck egg over roasted figerling potatoes and serrano ham, I believe. A wonderful dish that I will be back for soon. For our second round of dishes we got pumpkin and goat cheese croquetas, sweetbreads with fennel al Mono, tripe with chickpeas and morcilla, and scallops with cava and chorizo (different from posted menu). We were comped the croquetas (only got 3 instead of 5) because they had run out of batter, which was a shame because they were excellent. Smaller than the bacalao croquetas, the goat cheese flavors were much more pronounced than the pumpkin. Sweetbreads with fennel was our favorite dish of this round, just a great combination. Tripe with chickpeas also worked well and would be great on a very cold winter evening. Scallops were beautifully presented in their shells, and were very fresh, but the dish wasn't as exciting in taste as it was in presentation. We shared a "Mono Sundae" (prune and armagnac ice cream with arrope-- grape must with pumpkin???) for dessert, which we both agreed was one of the best and most interesting desserts we've had this year. Also had a great glass of sherry with it (with a tad poured over the sundae). Bill for the night, including 7 dishes, 1 dessert, 3 glasses of wine and a glass of sherry, was around $135. Overall, we had a really wonderful time and will return again with friends to try even more of the dishes - looking forward to the lamb and the skirt steak which both looked great. One warning: they do not have enough ventilation for the grill station so whenever someone orders the lamb the room fills with smoke. If you're sensitive to this type of thing I suggest you avoid the restaurant until they clear up that problem.