Carolyn Tillie

Not THIS woman! In fact, I think we get better service and perhaps a little more special treatment. Maybe they feel sorry for us or think we can't get a dining partner, but I've been given extra courses or special wines when I'm alone. And JSMeeker, I've done Spago alone. Bite the bullet and get thee hence, silly boy.

I do it quite often; at least once a week. My BF does not have the patience or appetite for lengthy, multi-course meals and hates tasting menus. When he travels, I immediately start planning on places that I will go and eat without him and often have the best meals solo. Actually, I have gotten to the point where I don't even wait for him to travel. A few days ago I simply announced, "I have wanted to eat here for some time. I have reservations for one at 6:00 p.m. I'll see you around 9:00." Enough said... I dress up, grab a cab and whatever book I am reading, and head out. Much preferable than bullying him to go with me and as I have no other city friends who are interested in joining me, I tend to dine out solo more often than with other people.

I am going to be heading to Portland for long weekend next month. Looking forward to the Rembrandt exhibit. Instead of a fast turn-around, I thought I would treat myself to a road trip back to San Francisco. I am open to suggestions on where to dine in the city proper, but then also which would be the most culinary-advantageous route south. I've got all the time I need with no reason to rush; I can take the 5 or head over to the coast if there are any out-of-the-way spots worthy of a side-trip (or the main trip!)

I have not been to the Mina property in San Francisco, but based on my Orange County experience, am in no rush as I was underwhelmed to the point of regretful.

Price correction - 7 courses is $135.00 with a choice of a $65.00 and a $100.00 pairing. No BYO.

I suspect you are a member of a very small group of his fans. Even Michael "everything-is-delicious" Bauer hated what he was doing... ← I'm sorry I mis-placed the menu... If I come across it, I'll write it up. It was during a heavy week of dining (Incanto twice in one week), Campton Place, and Range...

The chef got the boot a couple of weeks ago, the Chronicle reported on it on the 15th. ← Pity - I liked what he was doing. Curious who they will bring in.

I was at Campton Place during the last week of June. I was very impressed.

You might also want to wander through my mini-blog of learning to eat around San Francisco.

Your best bet is probably is probably Mijita in the Ferry Plaza. Since you'll be there anyway getting Rancho Gordo beans, you should be fine. Union Square is mostly chain restaurants with nothing exceptional saving the oyster bar at Cafe Monaco and the dining room at Campton Place.

I keep getting beat up on Chowhound as I am one of the Boulevard detractors, having eaten there half-a-dozen times, I have yet to be blown away. Fifth Floor is sketchy as they lost their chef some time ago and no one has provided any exceptional reports for some time (also, the hotel and restaurant are currently up for sale). My current favorites: Myth Incanto Aziza Campton Place Ame Bix For Sand Dabs, however, Tadish Grill is a MUST - it is the oldest restaurant in San Francisco and an absolute institution. I think some of the waiters have worked there 80+ years. It is along the lines of Original Joe's and Swan Oyster Bar for history.

It is Monday, October 1st. It is open to the public but filling quickly as the restaurant is very small. Since they just had a guest chef last Sunday night, they have yet to update their website but I am on their mailing list and knew about this event early on (actually, I might have asked who their guest chefs were for the rest of the year). I believe it is $105 for the seven-course dinner and an additional $65.00/$100.00 for wine pairings, depending on how much you want to drink.

I've been chatting with some of the organizers of these events... Apparently at Providence, Michel will be cooking three courses. At the Spago event, he will only be preparing his famed Kit-Kat dessert. At Bin 8945, he is doing a full seven courses as well as signing his book. I think I picked the right event to attend and can't wait!

As a bizarre point of surrealism, I was surfing through some eBay offerings the other day. I stumbled on a series of auctions involving $20,000 and $30,000 purses. Wondering to myself, "who the hell would spend THAT kind of money on a frigg'n purse?" while looking at other auctions of someone who had bought one of those expensive monstrosities, I noticed that the bulk of the other items that that bidder had purchased were all Bob's Big Boy paraphernalia!

Regrettably, I am mildly allergic to tomatoes... While I can handle small portions, I'm afraid an entire dinner with that ingredient would be far too painful. Hope you find someone!

Canteen. It is a block or so away and probably the best restaurant that fits your criteria.

Is it September? I believe he is doing a dinner at Providence on Saturday, October 20th. He is then at Spago on Sunday (or vice-versa) but is definitely cooking a tasting dinner on Monday the 22nd at Bin 8945. I am definitely flying down for THAT one! ← Carolyn, I just copied and paste the following from my Providence newsletter: It sounds like Michel Richard is making the rounds in LA. Maybe he wants to come back, ehh???? ← Yep - my bad. I was getting my months screwed up. The Bin event is for Monday, October 1st and I am trying to re-arrange some things to fly down for that event (can't wait to see what kind of wine pairings David Haskell comes up with - the man is brilliant!)

Is it September? I believe he is doing a dinner at Providence on Saturday, October 20th. He is then at Spago on Sunday (or vice-versa) but is definitely cooking a tasting dinner on Monday the 22nd at Bin 8945. I am definitely flying down for THAT one!

Depending on how much time is available, there is also the famous Philippe's Home of the French Dip (an institution NOT to be missed!), all of Olvera Street, and Spring Street Smokehouse BBQ. All are within a block or two's walk.

Thanks for the memories. Yeah, I grew up in SoCal and visiting Bob's was always a special occasion as it was one of the few times I was allowed downright greasy food on a grand scale. Ah, that special sauce...

I finished off my week in Laguna Beach by having dinner with good friends at Valentino, reputed to be one of Los Angeles' better restaurants. Accompanied by good friends "E" and "J", it was to be a memorable evening regardless but over-all we were all EXTREMELY disappointed. An amuse of Buratta cheese with sea urchin and an oven roasted tomato. There's a couple of points; first, I have always looked at an amuse as being one bite. If there are multiple ingredients, then they should be consumed together. What was served was a tad too large to take in one bite - although I tried. I regretted it. Cheese of any form with uni is a mistake. The two textures are too similar and the salty component of each just dissimilar enough to be disparate. It was wrong on so many levels. It was served with Bellavista Franciacorta Brut NV which was quite nice and at least helped clean the palate. Our first official course was marinated Mediterranean red snapper served layered with Black Mission figs, green zebra tomatoes, all topped with freshly-made potato chips. Served with the continued bubbly service. This was a very odd combination - don't get me wrong; they were all very good ingredients but like the amuse, one ingredient seemed to have nothing to do with the other. We all tried various combinations; the fish with a bite of fig or the tomato with fish and none helped the other. We were all asking ourselves, "what is the point?" Especially with the potato chips? There was no underlying core that brought or held the dish together. Crispy soft shell crab with orange sauce and mixed baby greens. Served with Venica Tocai Friulano 2006. It was a bit laughable to me that a very famous actress was sitting next to us getting the exact same course we had just finished. When she received the crab, she oooh'd and aaaah'd over how exceptional it was. Well, it was far from exceptional. The crab was limp and lifeless and hardly as crispy as it should have been. The orange sauce could have been interesting but did nothing to heighten the dish and the greens were just there for color. Culatello with Cremona's candied spicy (mustard) fruit. Served with Michele Chiarlo Barbera d"Asti "Le Orme" 2003. Finally a winner. This was an amazing platter of prosciutto. The candied fruit had a bite of spice and was well complemented with the wine. Interested that the best course of the evening was something that didn't have to be prepared - just sliced and served. Cumin pappardalle with squab ragu with fresh tomato spuma (foam). Served with La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino 2001. For starters, this was an amazing wine. But it was a horrendously wrong pairing with the dish. The cumin flavor of the sauce screamed for something like a Viognier or a Gruner Veltliner, not a deep, rich Brunello. Secondly, I found the pappardalle al dente to a fault - having to tooth through hard pasta is detracting enough. But the spiciness of the cumin sauce overpowered whatever delicate squab flavors might have existed. Veal ossobuco risotto with radicchio served with Corino Barolo "Vigna Giacchina" 1995. Well, the Brunello worked a bit better with this dish but it was still wanting. The risotto was heavy and laden and the osso buco could easily have been simple short rib meat. There was simply nothing special about this dish. Angus beef tenderloin in Barolo reduction continued with the Brunello. One would think that a simple cut of grilled meat might be the highlight of the meal. How could it be so bad? Starting with an insipid layering of over-cooked fanned zucchini across the bottom of the plate, this piece of meat is no better than what I could purchase from a local Safeway. All three of us only a few bites, deciding to bring them home for some wanton puppy-dogs instead of suffering through them here in the restaurant. Such a pity. The cheese plate. We advised them up front to not bother with a dessert course - cheese is always preferable. Served with some stunning 1934 Henriques & Henriques Madeira "Verdelho" were three cheese: Testun from Piemonte, Brescianella from Piemonte, and a creamy goat Blue from Lombardy. Again, how can one ruin cheeses? They weren't over-accompanied they way I found them at Stonehill Tavern. They were simply mediocre cheeses, although the Madeira was amazing. This evening was all about my friends in whose company I relished our time together. But for being one of Los Angeles' best restaurants, this ranks up there with one of the worst haute cuisine meals I have ever experienced. Thankfully, they felt as I did...

Greg - do you have any of Paula Wolfert's cookbooks? She is the Queen of Tagine cooking. As a matter of coincidence, my BF went fishing in Alaska last week and brought home 150 pounds of fish. The first one I cooked up was from Wolfert's Slow Mediterranean cookbook and is a great Tunisian recipe that I cooked with halibut. It can be significantly hot and spicy but I'm a bit of a wimp and toned it down a little and a group of six heartily enjoyed it with a side of couscous.

What's he up to now?

My favorite Carmel restaurant is Casanova - they have a patio so it would be worth calling about the dog issue. Stunning restaurant with amazing wine list.

I had some two-year-old ghee sitting on my pantry shelf which I used to cook a batch of gulab-jamin. It was decidedly past its prime and the entire batch had to be thrown out.