Carolyn Tillie

My goodness... I had forgotten about this thread! I started it way back when I ate sweets every day. Now, 60-pounds lighter, it is making me that cake that I never quite achieved!

There is nothing unusual that thousands of people on eBay sell left-over crap. Why should it surprise you that someone is selling stuff they bought at TJs a year or two and and forgot to use? Heck, last week someone sold a 10-year old McDonald's hamburger -- I kid you not! They were in the throws of buying happy meals to acquire some silly stuffed animal and came across the food they had never ate. Sold for $10.00... Nothing on eBay should be a surprise.

I adore the lamb-centric stew in Bernard Clayton's Soup & Stew book which uses eggplant, green beans, and a hint of cinnamon for a Greek-style stew. If you search for "daube" recipes instead of stew, you will come across a whole bunch that don't use carrots or celery either -- many with mushrooms or onions or just meat.

A quick stop by Westfield and I opted for lunch at Amoura -- being as I don't get nearly as much Mediterranean as I'd like, I skipped their standard sandwiches for the sampler plate; hummus, falafel, tabbouleh, and I ordered a side of dolmas. Bottom line? Mildly worse than the same dishes that Trader Joe's sells in bulk. The hummus had barely any garlic, the dolmas were pasty, and the falafel incredibly mediocre. I suppose I could try one of their sandwiches, but I can't see any reason to bother... Edited to fix the name of the eating establishment...

Walking distance from Moscone center is Annabelle's. This month is Dining About Town and there is some good eats on the cheap. A bit more upscale (and also walking distance from Moscone), is Ame which has had good reviews on this and other boards.

Godito, thanks so much! Yes, we are planning on renting a convertible to drive over the Andes to head to Mendoza for several days worth of winery touring. And the BF is fluent in Spanish and a handful of other romance languages so we are good to go there! Right now, it looks as though we'll be arriving in Santiago on January 29th although that is still to be confirmed. Do you have any special hotel recs that would put us in a special hot-spot of Santiago? Can't wait to meet you!

It dawned on me in the middle of the night... A Treasure of Great Recipes by Vincent and Mary Price - riddled with stories of their love of food, travels, and Hollywood associations circa 1950 and 1960. Brilliant.

Not necessarily tasteless and greasy for me, my report is in this thread.

Taking advantage of DAT, K and I joined J&M last evening at the Westfield Center's newly opened LarkCreek Steakhouse [Westfield® San Francisco Centre, 845 Market Street, 4th Floor, Ste 402, San Francisco, 415.593.4100]. $31.95 for three courses, the DAT offering is quite a decent deal. Two starter choices between an arugula salad with crumbled blue cheese (too little, IMHO), sliced grapes, a small brunoise of quince paste, all tossed with a vinaigrette and a perfectly divine classic onion soup with crouton and gruyere gratin (the clear favorite). A side of buttermilk biscuits was also ordered and quickly gobbled up. Served with a tangy cranberry jam and Andouille sausage butter, it was hard to save room for the entrees. The entree choice was either a 6 oz. filet mignon served with twice-baked mashed potato, some sauteed red onions and fresh greens, and choice of sauce or grilled sole atop mashed potatoes with capers, raisins, and muscat grapes. M, being a bit hungrier than the rest of us, ordered a 9 oz. filet and a side of their mashed potatoes which arrives in charlotte pan, topped with crispy onions. To his credit, when the waiter wanted to take away his plate and a single teaspoon of mashed potatoes was left, he insisted on cleaning his plate! Two of us had the 6 oz. filet and the sauces we got to taste included the garlic butter (too mild), Maytag blue, and bearnaise -- for me, all the sauces were a bit too thick and pasty and the bearnaise needed considerably more tarragon. I like my sauces to be sauce, not something easily cut with a knife. Also, one steak was ordered rare and other medium rare but it was hard to discern a difference between the two. I had the sole which was nicely grilled but a bit too prevalent with sweets in the raisins and grapes. Mashed potato-wise, I never really cared for mashed potatoes with fish and didn't bother eating any (I should have offered mine to M!). The capers were the micro-version, being smaller than Israeli couscous and offered a nice piquant tang. We shared the two desserts; a Napolean of chocolate cake with chocolate mousse served with a very rich, house-made vanilla ice cream and a blood orange cheesecake that was outstanding. The wine list is full of hard-to-find artisinal producers and we greatly enjoyed a 2004 Copain Eagleranch Syrah. In general, seeing $30+ entrees a la carte, I doubt I would be inclined to return, but for DAT, this was a great bargain and very well enjoyed by all.

Hard Knox right around the corner on 3rd serves grits with the breakfast.... ← Powell's in my backyard (Fillmore district) has them as well...

Thank you, Godito! What kind of restaurant are you opening and when is its planned opening date? We don't care about self-promoting here -- we love the inside track! Right now, K and I have to head to Panama for at least four or five days and are just considering extending the business trip into some pleasure. Having come from the wine industry, we are looking into flying into Santiago for four or five days and then taking the driving trip over to Mendoza to explore wineries around there. My boyfriend speaks fluent Spanish so we are good to travel anywhere you recommend. Maybe we can buy you a drink inbetween your restaurant-building! Would love a chance to meet and I'll PM you when we get our flights confirmed.

I've had some good success buying from D'Artagnan.

Brillat Savarin's Physiology of Taste is on my nightstand and I have four translations (including M.F.K. Fisher's). I also keep re-reading the un-edited diaries of Samuel Pepys, mostly for his food references.

While not 100% food-centric, I occasionally order nostalgic culinary items from Vermont Country Store. This is the only place I've ever found traditional sugarplums.

Actually, I worked at the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and when I was in enforcement (as a clerk, not an officer), it was enforced quite often at very high-end restaurants. Why? Because of the fines involved -- serving underage people encrues huge fines for the state and the more the department goes after 'em, the more funds in the state's coffers. Now for me this was 20 years ago and in San Diego, but I doubt the practice of enforcing it has subsided.

Bumping this thread up as the last response is almost a year old... heading to Chile and Argentina at the end of the month and looking for up-to-date rec's!

Trying to catch up on the holiday dining... Across the street (caddy-corner) from our favorite pool hall, Jillians, is Annabelle's [68 Fourth Street (between Market & Mission), San Francisco, 415.777.1200]. Not being terribly hungry, K and I shared two raw appetizers, the Prather ranch grass fed raw beef round tartare with organic ranch egg, grilled scallions, white truffle oil, parmesan & grilled bread and trio of tartare; day boat scallop & toasted almond, blue fin tuna & black olive, clam toasted garlic. Both were fabulous and they have a great by-the-glass wine list. Being terribly disappointed one evening when all of Jillian's pool tables were booked, we were re-directed around the corner to The Thirty Bear, [661 Howard St., San Francisco, 415.974.0905], a fabulous brew-pub which specializes in Spanish tapas. With two bar-sized pool tables upstairs, we had both privacy and great food and beer. Running through a taster sample of their brews, I was surprised to be most happy with the Golden Vanilla, although their seasonal Porter came in a close second. We shared two small plates; Congrejo Toastado, warm crab & Manchego cheese dip toasted on sourdough bread with mixed green salad and Gambas al Ajillo, sautéed prawns with garlic & chili flakes. The prawns were excellent except a little heavy with the chili flakes for my taste. The crab cheese toast is downright decadent. We were also given a stack of great bread to eat wi th their tapenade, which can be ordered for take-out. I will look forward to shooting more pool there for while the tables are not regulation-size (like Jillian's), the "bar food" is far more appetizing. For a pre-Christmas celebration, we met B&P at Ton Kiang [5821 Geary, between 22nd & 23rd, San Francisco, 415.752.4440]. Paying more attention to the company than the food, I especially recall enjoying the shrimp-stuffed mushrooms, garlic greens, and pork dumplings. There was tons more and while I still think Koi Palace is a bit better but, not necessarily wanting to head to Daly City, this is a great back-up being right on the 38 bus line. Another pre-Christmas celebration was spent with J at Ame [689 Mission Street, San Francisco, 415.284.4040], a place I had been dying to try since it opened. I opted for the 5-course tasting menu with wine pairings but, so as to not disturb the pace of the meal, J and I decided to order four appetizers to be served simultaneously. I started with a four-way sashimi platter that was much more than hunks of raw fish; each were composed and accompanied by rare and unusual ingredients such as the sashimi of sea bream “Kombu-Jime” with Japanese cucumber, bonito flakes and ume plum vinaigrette. Mine was served with a sake whose name I should have written down. J's first dish was tuna “Kibbe” with zatar flatbread and sumac. It was the tuna that was standout and better eaten with a fork as the flatbread was on the chewy side. The next course for me was stated as a mussel saffron soup with red kuri squash and caramelized onions although it was more of a thick squash soup garnished with mussels. Very nice and rich but hard to compare with J getting the “Chawan Mushi” with Maine lobster, nameko mushrooms and mitsuba sauce. The chawanmushi was exquisite. J's next course was gnocchi served with a poached egg and garnished with a brunoise of squash, all served tableside with fresh white truffled shaved atop. Interestingly, we were both raptured by the smell of the truffle and the taste of the squash while the gnocchi itself did little to carry the dish and the flavor of the truffle practically diminished upon eating. My next course was a grilled white fish (not remembering which) served in a lovely ginger broth with two large ravioli of mushrooms and more mushrooms and greens in the broth. Interesting that the broth and the vegetables were more interesting than the protein component. My 'entree' portion was a small roasted quail served with cipollini onions, greens, and more of the gnocchi. Getting full, only a bite or two of this was taken, knowing I would be eating it for breakfast the next day... J's last savory course was Kurobuta pork ribs served with roasted carrots, cauliflower, and fresh microgreens. This was my least-favorite dish as the ribs were fried and unexciting. J liked them more than I did. Being too full for two desserts, we shared my fifth course, Okinawa donuts with a small coffee shake. It is hard not to love fried dough in any form and these were a perfect finish to a great meal. Lovely to know this is also just around the corner from Jillians so it may not be hard to talk K into just sitting at the sushi bar for a course or two. New Year's Eve dinner was spent at Top of the Mark [One Nob Hill, (999 California St.), San Francisco 415.616.6916], mostly as we had good friends who were visiting who wanted something over-the-top. A fish mousse amuse was brought out in martini glasses and certainly whet the appetite. The first course was a trio of foie gras, a brulee'd mousse, a small croquette, and a one-inch piece of seared foie all served with baby mache lettuce with red shizo and a black truffle vinaigrette, accompanied with a Riesling Auslese sorbet. Clearly the winner of the evening. The next course was a creamy lobster cappuccino with thyme-ginger foam and Osetra caviar. The lobster cappuccino was quite nice, although almost too rich but the caviar wasted on "foam" that was hard and chewy. The main course was a Kobe beef and veal tenderloin with a port jus, sauteed porcini, fava beans, and brioche dumpling. Interesting that someone must have complained about a lack of a fish course for as an afterthought, a piece of seared halibut was also added to the plate. Very odd. Dessert service were plated bittersweet chocolate and orange "treasure box" with a Champagne mousse "sparkler." Basically chocolate walls held the mousse and a white chocolate cylinder held the Champagne mousse. All were topped with decorate chocolate clocks and Champagne bottles a bit on the cheesy side. The morning after New Year's took K and I up Fillmore, looking for some breakfast. While we had cocktailed often enough, I had never bothered to eat at The Elite Cafe [2049 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, 4 1 5 . 6 7 E L I T E (673-5483)]. I don't go out for breakfast very often but this was worth a return visit. I ordered corned beef hash with poached eggs and bechemel and the only disappointment was that the potatoes were not part of the hash, but large roasted versions on the side. The has contained more carrots and celery than I'm accostomed to but it still all tasted wonderful. K had a Cajun version made with brisket but his was served sans potatoes and in a cast-iron skillet. A side of donut holes and a few mimosas made for a rather expensive, but much-needed morning-after meal... Now that it is January and DAT is getting started, I am looking forward to trying new restaurants that were previously off-radar.

Marlena, when next you are in SanFran, I'm sure we can find a few places for you to visit. I had a lovely tea/pear cocktail at Campton's bar that should fit the bill!

Went to Elite Cafe on Fillmore this morning -- just happenstance and was completely charmed. I had corned beef hash with poached eggs and a bechemel that was a bit heavy on carrots and celery with roasted potatoes on the side instead of part of the hash. K had a Cajun version made with brisket instead of corned beef, served in a cast-iron skillet that he enjoyed. A side of donut holes made the meal.

It might be a bit of a drive -- but would ultimately be a nice trip -- to head to Ramekins in Sonoma.

Couldn't agree more -- they are one of the few wineries who produce a 100% Carignane and the case I bought was drank far too quickly.

For a white, consider finding a Roussanne -- I am finding them far more pleasurable and substantive than Chardonnay and able to hold up to "big" food. Ridge, BTW, is a California Zinfandel and they have vineyards all over; from the Santa Cruz mountains to the Russian River Valley.

In his Beard on Bread, he also states he doesn't like sourdough... Now WHO doesn't like fresh, crusty sourdough bread?!?!? go figure.

I go here for a lot of specialty glassware...

I used to always make Cassoulet, but am now part of a family where I am a guest instead of a host... Maybe next year.