Twohearted

The places already mentioned are still there, although Ten01 is gone. St. Jack is a new Lyonnaise restaurant in the Cliton neighborhood. Kyle Webster is part-owner and runs the bar there. He is doing some very good things like: Vieux Rhum CarrÉ NIESSON VIEUX RHUM RESERVE, RITTENHOUSE BONDED RYE WHISKEY, CARPANO ANTICA FORMULA VERMOUTH, BENEDICTINE, PEYCHAUD'S & ANGOSTURA BITTERS

I think we will be going to Clock Bar tonight after we get in since it's very close to our hotel. Great recs so far. I really appreciate it.

Made reservations at Jardiniere for dinner on Saturday. More recommendations for breakfast, lunch, beer bars and cocktail bars would be great.

Normally I would put in the time to research some choices here, but I'm extraordinarily busy and hopefully the community here can take pity on me. My wife and I are going to be in San Francisco this weekend and we'd love some recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner and bars. We will be staying at the Hilton in Union Square and we will have a car. We are open to any kind of food at any price level. For bars, we like places with a high quality, diverse selection of beer or places with excellent cocktails. I already called French Laundry a month ago and Gary Danko just now with no luck so anywhere else is a possibility.

I think they've just started their $35 tasting menu, running through July & August (?), which should be a FANTASTIC value. I had the Lobster & Tomato Bisque for my app and the Pork Tenderloin (proscuitto wrapped Carlton Farm's pork, Parisienne gnocchi, fava beans, morels, leek puree, rhubarb molasses) for my main. Both were absolutely flawless. My dining partner had the Duck (roasted duck Magret, Belgian endive, artichoke hearts, English peas, saba, foie gras) which she said was excellent, also. But really, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. Enjoy! ← Yep, I saw on Twitter that they started the $35 tasting menu last night.

Hearing about the protests has compelled me to go to Sel Gris tonight.

Cool Moon is very good.

All the places already mentioned are excellent. Sandwiches: Kenny & Zuke's

$150 per person for the tasting menu. It consists of 8 courses (5 savory, 1 cheese plate, 2 desserts).

Photos from a chef's tasting dinner there on 5/16: radishes, cucumber, fennel with black olive tapenade gougeres Aperitif: Louis Roederer Brut Amuse bouche: cucumber gazpacho with creme fraiche cobia sashimi, watermelon, arugula, avocado tempura crab, braised fennel with crab bisque lingcod, pate negra (iberico ham), manila clams, artichoke puree duck breast, truffle and potato ravioli, spring onions, bacon lamb shoulder, lamb loin, haricot verts, carrot rice pudding, rhubarb sorbet, rhubarb gelatin, rhubarb foam chocolate mouse, fresh berries (a special dish from the chef for our 1 year wedding anniversary) The best courses were the crab bisque, lingcod and duck breast. The pate negra with the lingcod was a real treat. I'd definitely recommend dinner here if you happen to be in the area. So many of the other restaurants in the area seemed mediocre or downright tacky (Casanova). We didn't intend to have the tasting menu here, but so many of the dishes on the menu looked so good that we couldn't limit our choices to just 3 or 4 items. I thought the dining room was a bit lacking and rather small. The tables have very large metal bases that are rather ugly and obtrusive. Aside from that, the service was superb. If you do dine here, I highly recommend timing your dinner to be able to make it down to the Carmel beach for watching the sunset and enjoying a bonfire.

I agree...it is a bit early. For me, Oberon causes a rush of visual memories: 1. Working at a research lab in Ann Arbor during the summer, riding my bike to and from work and having a keg of Oberon all to myself in our house's kegerator. 2. Boating through the Inland Waterway ( http://www.fishweb.com/maps/inlandwater/ ) out to Lake Huron on the 4th of July weekend with a bunch of friends and a keg of Oberon.

It's officially summer for me because the first batch of Oberon has been released. No, I have not had it yet, but a friend who was visiting the Detroit area was kind enough to tip me off to this exciting development.

When I return home for the holidays there are a few places I simply cannot avoid: 1. Zingerman's: I eat here as much as I can while home. A trip to the Zingerman's Road House is an added bonus if I can fit it in to my schedule. 2. Red Coat Tavern: I've eaten here for years, grew up a few miles north on Woodward, have had friends work here and I still know the staff. It's a Detroit institution and is routinely regarded as the best burger in town. Personally, I always order the Piedmontese, fried pickles and a Long Island Ice Tea (the bartenders here make them extra special for us). 3. Hunter House: Between Greene's and Hunter House, either way you're going to experience the epitome of a Detroit slider. I'm a patron of Hunter House just because I grew up in Birmingham where one of their restaurants is. 4. Berkeley Front: This place is my all-time favorite bar. It's kind of like a beer garden, it's kind of like a dive and it's definitely local. Honestly, I try really hard to hit up all these places when I'm back in Michigan. The other quintessential foods of the area are coney dogs (Lafayette is king), polish food (Hamtramck), various restaurants in Greektown, and some excellent middle eastern food (La Shish).

My impromptu fried bread concoction: 1. Fry up some bacon in a skillet 2. Remove/reserve bacon. Take a slice of good hearty bread (I used some French Campagne) and make a ~2.5" hole in the middle of the slice. 3. Put the slice in the still hot skillet with the bacon fat and then crack an egg in the hole. 4. Top cooking bread and egg with the bacon and a slice of cheddar 5. Cook until the egg is done to your liking The great thing about this is that the slice of bread becomes nice and crispy from frying. I meant to take a picture of it this morning, but work interrupted.

I'm not really seeing how that's much easier than smoking a pork shoulder on a grill. If you have a charcoal grill of suitable size (large Weber), it's very easy to produce incredibly good pulled pork. Plus, I don't see how you can get some charring of the outer layer of the meat going, which adds some great texture variation to the pulled pork. I also avoid using liquid smoke in anything other than barbecue sauces.

I think you may be about six months out of date. Bell's had a dispute with its distrubutor a few years ago and pulled from the market. While I cannot recall whether they were back on the shelves the last time I was there, I do recall reading last summer that they planned to return to the market. Anybody local know the current status? ← Although I'm not a resident of Chicago, I'm a huge Bell's fan so people always keep me up to date with any Bell's related news. They did have a dispute with their Illinois distributor and due to a stupid Illinois law that protects beer distributors, they could not simply switch distributors. To circumvent this problem, Bells was selling beer in Illinois with a different distributor under a different name (Kalamazoo Brewery I think, which used to be the real name for the brand until they switched a few years ago to Bell's). Finally Bell's was able to return to the Illinois market since the distributor who previously had the rights to Bell's in Illinois left the state. So, yes, Bell's is available in Illinois. In terms of beer, I don't think you can do better than Bell's in the entire Midwest. I think it's better than Goose Island, it's definitely better than Boulevard (KC area brewery) and I think it's better than New Belgium.

You had that in the KC area? Where? ← They have three kegs at The Flying Saucer downtown. ← They actually have it at The Foundry in Westport as well. I had that and some St. Bernardus Abt 12. I was surprised that they had a keg of St. Bernardus.

It's amusing to see the NY Times get attacked for using the wrong term to refer to Scotch whisky: http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/0...ner=rss&emc=rss My dad taught me this lesson a while back, even before my whiskey drinking days.

You had that in the KC area? Where?

Ahh...shame, I could almost taste them!

For wine, may I recommend Cellar Rat in the Crossroads - knowledgable, friendly staff, great variety and frequent tastings/events. They also make their own fresh mozzarella and stock various delices. For a more warehouse approach, Riverside Red X has a vast selection of wine, beer, liquor (as well as a grocery, tobacconist, dollar store, tools - and 'historic' items - must be seen to be believed). Seafood is a challenge in these parts. It sounds like you've found most of the spots. McG's will order just about anything for you (I called yesterday and am picking up some barramundi in a couple of hours). I have had mixed luck at Dean & DeLuca and needless to say it's not inexpensive. There is a high-volume Hen House on the NE corner of 119th & Roe that seems to have better seafood than many of the other locations (they also have kosher certification and offer a variety of kosher foods). Depending on what you're looking for, the Asian markets in the City Market area might be a more budget-friendly option. The large market to the northeast in particular has a lot of fresh fish, some in tanks, and you can predictably find head-on shrimp and the like as well as some more exotic species. I still miss the VC (Village Corner), Merchant of Vino, The Party Shop on Packard, Sparrow Meats and especially Monahan's - so I feel your pain! ← I forgot mention that I think it's a complete travesty that D&D is in Kansas and, as such, doesn't sell wine/beer. I have been meaning to check out those Asian markets down in the City Market for some other ingredients so I'll investigate their seafood as well. You know, it's really going back to Michigan that makes me miss good wine stores. There are all those in Ann Arbor, but also a bunch in the Birmingham area. I think McGonigle's is right on par with Sparrow Meats, which I love. I hate to mention it, but Merchant of Vino closed and a new store named Bello Vino opened in it's place. Bello Vino turned out to be just as good, if not better, than Merchant of Vino, but now Bello Vino just announced they were closing. Shame. Probably what I miss the most about Ann Arbor is Zingerman's, but that shouldn't be too surprising. It's especially bad because I can't find a decent Jewish deli in the KC area. -------------------- Back to the sourcing topic, I found a place that makes blood sausage/boudin noir in the area. There's a little shop over in KCK called Krizman's House of Sausage (already mentioned in this thread a while back). From what they told me at McGonigle's the guy who owns the shop is Croatian so that might give you an idea of the style of blood sausage.

OK, now I'm going to have to stop by there tomorrow night for some cocktails and gougeres. They've been a horrible addiction for me since having them in Paris and at Central Michel Richard. ----- In regards to Bluestem in general, my wife and I have been going here since we moved to KC in 2005. By total coincidence we happened to pick an apartment that you could literally see Bluestem from (Cityplace) so it was a natural choice as the place to become "our restaurant" in KC. It's always an excellent place to have a great meal and excellent cocktails. I think my favorite experience there thus far was an Empson wine dinner that featured some Jermann wines and picolit.

I have a couple things to add to this discussion for now... Wine I had been on the search for a great wine store since I moved to KC from Ann Arbor, MI 3 years ago. Prior to a recent discovery I was relying entirely on Consentino's in Brookside, Costco and Lukas Liquor. My main problem with all of these places is that they focused heavily on California wines. Lukas Liquor probably had the best overall selection, but it's a pain for me to drive way out there just for wine. Consentino's has great prices and selection for being a grocery store. Costco, of course, has great prices and a good, yet limited, selection. I have been through several other wine/liquor stores in the area, but those three served me well for a while. I absolutely hate Berbiglia for anything (wine, beer or liquor). My recent discovery was a shop just called Wine. It's located right in Brookside on 62rd St on the same side of the road and just a little bit down from Charlie Hooper's. I was shocked after a thorough examination of their selection. They had the expected high quality cabernet selection, but also excellent selections from regions other than California. I wasn't exactly on the hunt for a bottle, but I ended up walking out of there with a Jermann Pinot Bianco, a great Spanish Rioja Crianza and a bottle of Unibroue's 17th anniversary beer (dark Belgian style). I was also happy to see a nice representation of Oregon Pinot Noir and Washington Chardonnay, which is something I always look for. I also spotted a few bottles of Roederer Crystal Champagne, which brought to mind a lunch at l'Ambroisie in Paris (decadent, sentimental). In addition to the selection, I think their prices are right on and they're locally owned (by local I mean the owner lives in Brookside). They also keep a level 2 sommelier on staff if you have any questions. Lastly, they also hold wine tastings every Friday from 4-7 PM and due to the proximity to my house, I'll probably be there every Friday (including this one) with my wife and friends. Yes, I am infatuated with this place. Seafood/fish What is a good place for seafood/fish? Costco has some cheap stuff, but the quality seems questionable with certain things (I usually just buy trout there). McGonigle's selection seems to be very good and I have gotten fresh hamachi from there before, but at a price. McGonigles will also order pretty much anything too. Whole Foods seems to have a decent selection that looks high quality. Attempting to find seafood/fish in the middle of America can, of course, be challenging, but I'm trying to identify a good source for it.

IPA with Indian food - probably already mentioned IPA with barbecue - something like BBQed brisket, fries and beans

Bell's Twohearted Ale to accompany homemade chana dal and naan. It was excellent.