Ling

No, I didn't. I don't really care for macaroons, and my friend had purchased some from Bouchon Bakery and told me that the ones from Sen5es in Vancouver were better.

^I agree. The flavour of the fillings are very subtle. Shell is a little thicker than most molded chocolates.

No, it hasn't even occurred to me. I don't know if this is widely practiced in Vancouver. I think it's different at a club. Male bartenders usually pour free drinks for the ladies. I don't see that really as being given an extra b/c of generous tipping, because it happens regardless. I don't think I would feel comfortable tipping a maitre'd.

Don Giovanni They start you off with some awesome fried bread. Mmm...fried.... This was one of my favourite wines of the trip. This is the best pizza I'd ever eaten. The crust was even thinner than the crust at Chez Panisse, and there was a nice amount of charring. (I tried to smear the runny yolk on every slice of pizza. The only way this pizza could possibly be improved is if they put an extra egg on top!) We shared the rabbit and sausage pasta, so this is a half portion. Pasta was cooked a little bit past al dente, but the sauce was so incredible that all is forgiven. Loved Don Giovanni...9/10!

Bouchon Bakery Here are my favourite almond croissants!! Here are the "bouchon"...this is what the bakery's named after. They are like brownies with chocolate chips in them.

I loved the Riesling! It was very sweet, but good with the torchon. The date that came with the seared foie was also one of the highlights of my FL meal. My second favourite wine was the Syrah. HOW EMBARASSING! I can't believe you posted that for all the world to see.... But yeah, I did ask the waiter (with a charming smile, of course! ) if it would be "terribly gauche if I asked for all three" only because I am so into baked goods (as I'm sure you all know) and wanted to see the crust and crumb of each bread. Also, the unsalted butter was ridiculously rich. I needed a vehicle to get as much butter into my mouth as possible. And for some reason, I think spooning butter directly into my mouth would be frowned upon at FL. My favourite bread was the wheat one. It had a nice, crisp crust, and a moist, open crumb.

^Thanks! I did have a cocktail a ZigZag's with chartreuse in it a few months ago. I also heard that Le Pichet has some good chartreuse in stock?

I had a very good meal at Veil last week, in preparation for dinner at the French Laundry. Chef Shannon Galusha worked in the FL kitchen a few years ago, so my date suggested Veil as an apt precursor to our trip. At the bar, I had a cocktail that contained one of my favourite liquors, Chartreuse. That's not something I see often (if ever) on the bar menus in Vancouver, so I was happy to find it! My date asked Shannon to prepare a tasting menu for us, and this is what the kitchen came up with: tuna tartare We were drinking bubbly with our meal, which went great with the... soft-centered egg, caviar (with potatoes, creme fraiche, and smoked salmon underneath) -high-end, deconstructed potato salad! The runny yolk tied everything together. The caviar provided the salty element against the sweet flavour of the potatoes. I believe this is white salmon, peas and carrots (I apologize for the lack of details...I've been dining out a lot lately and should've been taking notes!) -pea puree underneath the fish, pea sprouts on top trout, shaved asparagus, mushroom This had shaved asparagus and I'm also forgetting the mushroom, but the earthy flavours were wonderful with the relatively rich-tasting fish. This was one of my favourite dishes of the night. I think they do an excellent job with the fish prep at Veil--we had three fish dishes, and the skin on all three were perfectly crisp, with the flesh being still moist enough to have a bit of resistance. (flaky=overdone=bad, in my book.) mackerel, chorizo, potatoes This was another really great fish dish--I love the strong oiliness of mackerel, and it went beautifully with the spicy chorizo and the roast potatoes. (I did notice how the fish dishes progressed from being rather subtly flavoured, to this dish. Very thoughtful on the chef's part. ) foie gras torchon, brioche (I loved the presentation of this dish. I noticed a few of the dishes we ate at Veil possibly harkened back to the chef's training at FL, with the various dusts on the plates, and the plating of the venison dish...but I'm getting ahead of myself.) -torchon is my favourite way to eat foie gras, and the consistency of this foie was very good. I noted that the brioche was a little dry, but the chef mentioned that at the end of our meal, so he was certainly aware of it and I'm sure that is already fixed. Venison, cheese polenta I love the off-center presentation of this dish, as it shows movement and the diner can better appreciate the food as a piece of art before tasting it. My date thought the venison was cooked perfectly (medium-rare), but I prefer my meat rare, especially for something as lean as venison. desserts! sorbet, shortcake carrot cake (It looks like a lot of cream cheese, but the topping was actually mousse-like so it was not too heavy at all. Delicious!) salted peanut butter ice-cream Lives up to the hype. This was my favourite of the three. Very creamy, and the saltiness balances the sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Veil.

I'm not done uploading all the pictures yet, but there are pics of dinners at Chez Panisse, Michael Mina, and French Laundry here. San Fran/Napa trip

I don't know if the chocolate machines are still the restored-vintage ones, but I googled an image and I don't remember seeing this: vintage chocolate machine at SB I remember seeing a bunch of shiny, copper-coloured equipment. So my guess is yes, the vintage machines are gone. Perhaps someone can chime in and let you know if I remembered correctly. (The walk through the factory was really quick.) The food at Michael Mina wasn't bad, but lacked the depth of flavour and skill in execution I would expect from a restaurant of that reputation, hence my low rating of 6/10. We were a table of six that night, and everyone was a bit disappointed with the food. At Don Giovanni, we ran into a couple whom we had seen earlier that morning at Bouchon Bakery. They are friends with the Michelin people, and told us that Fleur de Lys might be the third restaurant to get 3 Michelin stars in that area (French Laundry and Chez Panisse being the other two.) We spoke to some locals during our trip and everyone seemed to recommend Fleur de Lys, so it's definitely on my list when I get a chance to go down to San Fran next. Gary Danko is also on my list. I believe they have a 29/30 Zagat rating, though I know some people don't care for that rating system.

Yes, the star anise and pink peppercorn does sound like something we would like, doesn't it? But sometimes I think truffles are done moreso with creativity in mind, than taste. Star anise and pink peppercorn certainly marry well, but the chocolate seemed out of place. The flavours didn't add anything to the chocolate, and vice versa. The gold spiral stick is also pulled sugar, I believe. The stuff at Tartine was great, especially the ham and cheese croissant and the almond croissant...though I liked the almond croissant at Bouchon even more.

I did! They were so sweet and tender, and treated with the same respect and care as the protein on the plate.

^No, we didn't get a chance to see everything. I wish I could've spent more time down there! We did get in plenty of good food though. Here's a link to what we ate down there in San Fran. Lots of dessert pics, including ones from French Laundry. Trip to San Fran

The pictures from our FL dinner are here: FL dinner

I know I'm going out of order, but I have some time now to post the French Laundry pictures so I'll start with those. I don't have the menu with me--I think I put them in hhlodesign's bag, so he can tell you more about the ingredients in each dish. gougeres salmon cornets oysters and pearls oyster with pickled cucumber, sevruga caviar coddled hen egg with white truffle oil (Sorry about the blurry pictures...someone with shaky hands were taking them!!) brioche sticks...pan-fried in more butter egg custard with black truffle ragout (this was one of my favourite dishes of the night) I've never had such moist foie gras torchon...the consistency was definitely creamier than any other torchon I'd previously eaten. I wonder what their secret is...probably the quality of the foie. ($30 supplement for this) seared foie with Medjool date ($30 supplement) mackerel with vegetables...this was very flavourful. I loved the strong, oily fish with the bright sweetness of the red peppers. seared tuna with bok choy (the bok choy was so sweet! Love the vegetables at FL.) lobster "Caesar" (lobster cooked sous vide, braised romaine, shaved dried mullet roe, Parm crisp) Cute idea, but this dish was kind of bland. I'm missing a picture of the other lobster preparation...the one with beets and leeks. Maybe hhlodesign has it. The beet and leek lobster dish was amazing! I tend to like bolder flavours. boudin noir, quail egg chicken and white asparagus. I think the sweet asparagus stole the show on this dish--I was surprised to find the chicken quite dry. Elysian Fields lamb...this was cooked too much for my liking, and I found it a bit dry again. Great flavour in the lamb, though. The best part of this dish (and one of the high points of the meal) was the meaty king trumpet mushroom! The cheese was quite mild. Served with apricot and hazelnuts. This was pretty good on the walnut bread that came with the course, though the raisin bread made it too sweet. I would've preferred a more challenging cheese course though...the runnier and smellier the better. Cara Cara orange sorbet, and rhubarb jelly, I think blanking on this dessert...(drank too much wine) hhlodesign will fill you in Love the bold presentation! That piece of "wire" is actually just pulled sugar. The cake was layered with ganache and mint filling. there was peanut butter and caramel on the inside...another beautifully composed dessert creme brulee and these cookies made from the pate choux from the gougeres, rolled super thin and baked with sugar on top pots de creme the best chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. (Some genius thought of clipping the clothespin on the edge of the pot. So artistic. ) chocolates L-R: peanut butter, licorce, caramel, espresso, rhubarb (I think) kitchen (I was amazed by how small it actually is!)

I usually love the high ceilings and column look, but the columns didn't really match the decor, imo. But what do I know about design anyway. I loved the place setting--huge shells with pale blue napkins cinched tightly with a silver napkin holder. Gave the setting a touch of opulence. I didn't particularly care for the pale blue chairs though...kind of boring. It was lobster salad, lobster corndog, and lobster topped with wasabi caviar. We found out on our trip that our taste in food is very similar...almost too similar and freaky, in fact. He didn't tell me in which order he liked the scallops, but I chose the same as he did--squash version #1, caviar #2, and lobster #3. There was a $15 supplement charge for the foie. I was actually really disappointed with this dish. All the sauces were too sweet. Like hhlodesign noted, the torchon was t-i-n-y. I like my seared foie to have a good crust, and a quivering custardy interior (hint of pink). This foie was cooked almost uniformly throughout, offering no textural contrast. I liked the Fuji apple version the best. I found the acidity in that sauce to be the most apparent and it was delicious with the crispy pork belly. The belly and the cheek were all good. Tenderloin was kind of dry...but it's pork tenderloin so perhaps it's the nature of the meat. Lamb--done from L-R, with watercress, tomato, and olive. I liked the olive preparation the best. I should note that the dough in my tomato ricotta ravioli was raw...not really what I'd expect at MM, even on an "off" night!! Just for fun, here's a shot of one of my friend's appetizer plates. She had the langoustines. She also had the rib steak poached for 6 hours in butter (minimum 2 ppl, $20 supplement to the $88 dollar menu.) I tried a bite of her steak and it was OK but other than the buttery flavour on the outside, not too much different from steak cooked the standard way. It came with fries, creamed spinach, horseradish polenta, scalloped potatoes, etc. Ginger ice-cream was great. Very creamy. The tart filling could've been more tangy, I guess. It was an Italian meringue on the tart, if I remember correctly. I love it when bakeries and restaurants take that extra few minutes to do an Italian meringue instead of the regular version. The texture is so much nicer. Agreed. Pretty boring. But still tasty! I like saffron. In ice-cream...not so much. The key lime napoleon was the best citrus pastry on this plate. L-R chocolate peanut soft-centered cake with peanut butter shake, chocolate banana bread pudding, banana pot de creme, devil's food cake, caramel sundae All the desserts were good, though not mind-blowing or terribly creative. Here's my friend's banana desserts. L-R banana empanada, banana rum ice-cream, tart tartin, cinnamon ice-cream, banana charlotte, milk chocolate popsicle I finished her desserts for her...the banana rum ice-cream and the tart tartin were my favourites. Banana charlotte was very mild in flavour. Here's a better shot of the bonbons. Thought these were a cute touch. This kind of bothered me too. If I were eating at a normal pace (perhaps taking 25 minutes for the main course?) I would've been finished my main course before the wine arrived. The glasses came before our course. A good 15-20 minutes later, a server came by and said our wine would be along shortly. Our wine came perhaps 10 minutes after that. I thought the food was mediocre and not worth the price based on this one meal. 6/10.

^Chef Cory Lee (He also signed my menu!)

I had these awesome mini hangar steak burgers at Casadia Lounge in Seattle. They're only $1.50 at Happy Hour and it comes with blue cheese! The meat is cooked all the way through but it's still juicy and the flavour of the meat is great. Would love to try one in Vancouver...medium-rare in the middle. Mmm.

Bouchon Bakery I have more pictures from Bouchon Bakery, but here are a few to start off. ham and cheese scone sticky bun twice-baked almond pain au chocolat cheese danish (lemon flavoured cream cheese filling) The best pastry I had there was the twice-baked almond croissant. It was even better than the one at Tartine, because at Bouchon, the filling is smooth and there is not quite so much of it. Also, because the pastry is smaller than the one at Tartine, you get proportionately more of the crispy outside in each bite. I'll have to post a picture of it later. Bouchon Bakery...9/10.

THANK-YOU! I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the Taylor's Automatic Refresher burger. We really wanted to fit that in on the last day, but I woke up late and we had to rush to the airport. I also didn't get to eat at In-and-Out. Ah well. Next time! Here are some pictures of the stunning Darioush winery. I'm sure hhlodesign can comment more on the building (he said these cool cowhide chairs they have inside were designed by some famous designer/architect?) We had a wine tasting there. I especially love their cabernet sauvignon. (We also had a bottle of the cab at Don Giovanni.)

^I didn't know you two had booths down there! Maybe I'll be lucky enough to come down again in a few months. There are so many great places to eat down there I still haven't tried! I've gotta get to work now so I'll let hhlodesign take over with the pictures.

Here are some pics from the market. We didn't get to eat here, but they had stuff like sweetbreads, lamb cassoleut, and other goodies on the menu. It smelled so good from outside, and it was packed. I kind of wish we ate lunch here instead. We had to skip this too...although I saw someone with a burger and it looked pretty good. We passed by this place that sold tasting plates of flavoured caviar (whitefish roe). That night, I recognized the wasabi caviar on one of my dishes at Michael Mina. Yeah, I was already pretty stuffed at this point. But how could I walk by Acme bread without getting some sourdough? (It was great--the best bread I ate on the trip.) Cowgirl Creamery is located right next door to Acme. We were so impressed with the selection. I love Neil's Yard Dairy so we had to get a picture of this. Some kind of beef "nigiri" that we found in a Japanese fusion deli. (Sacrilege!!!!) But it was pretty anyway. I heart mushrooms. Monster chantrelle! $19.00US a pound. I was so excited to find Recchiutti Confections! He told me to stick my hand in there so you can tell how big that chocolate egg is... Display cases He bought me a bunch of chocolates and we ate them outside on the bench. I picked all the 70% chocolate truffles (Ecaudor, Columbia, Noir Force, and some others I'm not recalling...) the fleur de sel one, and the star anise and pink peppercorn. We both really liked the fleur de sel (it is salted caramel inside) and didn't care for the star anise one too much. Of the plain truffles, I liked the Noir Force. I felt there was so much flavouring in the other truffles, and they were pretty sweet for 70% truffles. We didn't take any pics of the Farmer's Market outside, but there were lots of good things to eat, including freshly-churned butter!

He surprised me with the trip more for the view than the food (we just had some drinks and split a creme brulee, leaving most of it untouched as it was just OK and we were pretty full from Michael Mina.) The view was beautiful! (I'll skip ahead and post the Carnelian Room pictures here.) View from the 52nd floor half -eaten orange tea creme brulee, biscotti, lace cookie I drank a lemon drop cocktail and he had something with vanilla Stoli and ginger ale (it was as appetizing as it sounds...bad choice on his part...heh heh.)

So lunch (less than an hour after Tartine) was at The Slanted Door, located in the Ferry Market. This was hhlodesign's choice for lunch, since I had chosen Tartine for breakfast. hhlodesign's view was beautiful. (Mine was decidedly less so, since I was facing him. ) The Imperial spring rolls photographed beautifully. The kitchen did an excellent frying job on these, but we both felt that the flavour of the filling and the sauce was dumbed down. The spring rolls were even blander when you fold them up with the lettuce leaves and add the undressed noodles to your bite. This dish was fine, but not something I would order again. We shared the ginger duck soup. The soup was very light and clear (something we didn't expect--a pleasant surprise!) It came with this spicy sauce that you could add to the soup base or use as a condiment for the duck. We thought the soup was very flavourful but agreed that the noodles were kind of on the mushy side... Then came the Niman Ranch flank steak and noodles. This dish was also pretty good--the flank steak had much more fat than I expected for flank...a very good thing. Some bitter greens provided a nice foil to the rich meat. Service was pretty informal. Mr. Architect commented that the decor and layout of the room reminded him of a cafeteria, and I agree with that. Though the food was fine at The Slanted Door, there's so many better restaurants in San Fran that we'd probably skip this place if we were to go down again. The food in the Market looked much better. 6.5/10.

In my defense, I never like seeing food go to waste. Especially food of the very good/excellent pastry variety.