Ling

Yes, it is! That's why I had to try it!

There's no visible sign from the street, but we saw the line... ...and guessed this must be the place! It was bustling in there. The little girl in front of me was having a hard time choosing... Her dad helped her out. Pastry case: Some savoury items, including a delicious-looking quiche. I had to make my choices. It was very nerve-wracking and difficult, but I came away with-- My breakfast pastry of choice--the twice-baked almond croissant. The filling is incredibly generous, buttery and flecked with sliced almonds. This pastry is HUGE, but I had no trouble finishing it. The croissant was very flaky, and a cut above anything I've found in Vancouver. This was my favourite of the morning pastries. Their famed morning bun--kind of like a cinnamon bun, but with some citrus flavouring. I liked how the citrus brightened up the rich dough and syrup. Here's hhlodesign's breakfast, the ham and cheese croissant! Again, the croissant was great. Very buttery and flaky. The ham is from Niman Ranch and I love how they warmed the cheese with the croissant so it's soft and gooey. Delicious. Here's my post-breakfast dessert--the banana cream tart. The crust was thick and browned all the way through. It had been brushed with Scharffen Berger chocolate before the sliced bananas, banana cream, and whipped cream were piled on. Before the gluttony... And mid-way through...he kept bugging me to save room since we had lunch reservations in less than an hour. I'll also admit to being horrible company at breakfast--I was shovelling it all in for a good 15 minutes straight, without speaking. I ignored the laughter coming from his general direction. I gotta add too that these pastries are pretty big--at least 1.5x the size of the ones I buy in Vancouver. Not that I'm complaining. Great breakfast! 8.5/10. I was pretty full...but we soldiered on to The Slanted Door.

The next morning, we got up bright and early to make our way to Tartine Bakery. I was so excited for my first morning bun!

We didn't take any notes about the food on our trip, so we're trying our best to remember each dish. First salad was puntarella, egg (yolk done to medium, as you can see in the picture) and anchovy. We also got a side of anchovies, which were great. I loved the warm goat cheese salad, and I never usually even like salad! But the greens were so fresh and flavourful, and the oil in the dressing was such a good quality. There were these little crunchy grains of salt dispersed throughout the salad, and the goat cheese was pan-fried in a lot of butter. Delicious. The sausage pizza was really great as well. At this point on our trip, it was the best pizza I had eaten in my life. The crust was so thin and crisp the entire way through--no sogging in the middle. Just excellent, simple ingredients prepared with great skill. The onion rings, as hhlodesign, were the highlight of the buffalo dish. Not that the meat wasn't great (it was) but it was too cooked for me (came medium-rare, and I like my steaks done rare, especially when it's as lean as buffalo.) The Meyer lemon ice-cream was great, but there was a lot of rind. Still, I enjoyed it very much. The profiteroles were baked all the way through (i.e. dry in the center) and I prefer them slightly underbaked (i.e. still a tiny bit moist in the middle) when I make them at home. They were filled with vanilla pastry cream and the praline provided crunch. Great meal, faultless service. 9/10. Loved the wine too!

We had the ginger-wasabi chocolate, but the one I liked better was the gorgonzola chocolate! (Sounds weird, but it really was good.) I love the concept of "Taste". The blurry shot of the wine is the Chateau Cheval Blanc Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru--I think it might have been 1999, but I'm not sure. That was my choice at "Taste". I liked it more than the Opus One.

Ahhh....you're making me sound like a know-it-all! The chocolate tour was indeed a wonderful surprise! I found some chocolate bars, including a 68% and a 70% bar that is not available in Vancouver. I also got some chocolate-covered champagne grapes and a SB apron! The tour started in a classroom-type setting and the tour guide went over the chocolate production process from bean to bar. She showed us pictures of the pods, the fermentation process, the various machines used in the factory, and then we put on our hairnets and eyemuffs and walked through the actual place where they were making the chocolate. There was more chocolate sampling at the end of the tour, including the milk chocolate hazelnut bar which I also haven't seen in Vancouver.

Veil has a new Happy Hour menu. I had the tasting menu there a few days ago, and there were several great dishes I really enjoyed. I particularly liked the foie gras torchon and the salted peanut butter ice-cream. I've only had dessert so far at Mistral, but I've only heard good things about the food and that restaurant would be my #1 pick for a date night. Also, didn't Cremant just open? I heard that the chef there was the former sous chef at Le Pichet.

I love the pics, kaneel! Especially the lamb baby cake.

I had an amazing time! To keep this post (kind of) on topic, I am kind of sad b/c I now realize that there's such a huge difference between the bread and baked goods in Vancouver and in San Francisco. Especially the bread. The best bread I had in San Fran was at Acme, followed by the bread at Chez Panisse, and then the bread at Bouchon Bakery. They were all excellent. The twice-baked almond croissant at Bouchon was even better than the almond croissant I had the day before at Tartine, which was already much better than the twice-baked almond croissant from Sen5es in Vancouver. (I think Sen5es does the best croissants in our town.) I couldn't believe how crisp and buttery that pastry was at Bouchon Bakery, and the filling was so rich. The almond filling at Tartine was more generous, but there was too much of it. Also, I didn't like the texture of the sliced almonds in the filling as much, and the pastry was so big that there is proportionately less of the crispy crust when you bite into it. But still...so good. I will dream of those almond croissants for a long time.

Awesome pictures, everyone! I just got back from my gluttonous San Francisco vacation...here's what I've been eating for dessert the last few days.... Today: -selection of Recchutti chocolates (is it just me, or is there A LOT of vanilla in those 70% ganache squares?) The fleur de sel one was especially good. -bouchon (these dense chocolate brownie-type things from Bouchon bakery) -twice-baked almond croissant, sticky bun, lemon cream cheese danish, almond pain au chocolat...all from Bouchon bakery (hey--this was my last breakfast in Napa! ) Yesterday: -dark chocolate ganache and mint cake, creme brulee, pots de creme, and a peanut butter and caramel chocolate dome, selection of chocolates, chocolate-covered macadamia nuts...all from The French Laundry -Paris Brest and almond croissant from Bouchon bakery Saturday: -again, Recchutti chocolates, various chocolate from SB and Valrhona -orange and tea creme brulee at this place in San Fran on the 52nd floor...the Carnelian Room? known more for the view than the food -banana cream tart, twice-baked almond croissant, and a morning bun (like a sticky bun, but citrus and cinnamon flavours) at Tartine Bakery -various desserts at Michael Mina (I think I had 9 in total)...along with chocolate ice-cream bonbons and Oreo ice-cream bonbons

I had dinner at The French Laundry as the climax to our whirlwind eating tour of San Francisco. I'm glad that most of our courses were different from the ones molto and doc enjoyed, so you all will get to see even more of what the kitchen can do. I would say that there were quite a few excellent dishes in my tasting menu, with the standouts being the foie gras, the king trumpet mushroom that came with the Elysian Fields lamb (lamb was a bit too cooked for my liking, though it was perfect for the two other diners who had the same dish,) the egg custard with black truffle ragout, and the lobster cooked sous vide with beets and braised leeks. There were also some dishes that I found were just OK--my least favourite dish of the evening was the other lobster sous vide dish with dried mullet roe, braised romaine, and Parmigiano crisp (their take on the Caesar salad)--and some dishes that were "just" good, like the coddled egg dish, and the seared tuna and bok choy. I have never seen such perfect service from start to finish. My dining partner and I requested that we have separate courses during the meal so we could taste as many dishes as possible (we each ate half our dish, then switched plates) and not only was the staff and kitchen incredibly accomodating, but seemed pleased that everyone at our table appeared to be really into food. We also got a peek at the kitchen at the end. We split 3 half bottles of wine, and had a glass of something that was like a Sauternes with the foie gras course. (I have the names of the wines in my folder, and I'll post them later.) It was a wonderful evening. Pictures and detailed comments to come.

^ You forgot about these!!

I will suggest Sweet and Savoury tomorrow, but I'm not driving so I can't say for sure whether we're going. I'm not heading to Portland--just stopping in Seattle to fly to San Fran. Thanks for the suggestions! I'll take pics of our croissants later.

^I am just stopping by en route to my trip tp San Fran! I am doing a croissant-run tomorrow instead. Hope to hit up Cafe Besalu, Le Panier, and some other bakeries for a comparison.

I am in Seattle again tomorrow! I might stop by Essential Baking Company, as I loved the bread they served at Union. (It had a very crunchy crust--much better than any of the bread I can get in Vancouver.) Looking forward to trying their pastries...any favourites?

Onion tart Serves 2 as Appetizer. puff pastry 1 tsp sugar 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 T balsamic vinegar (or more, to taste) 1 T olive oil 1 T butter 1 T heavy cream 1/4 egg, beaten salt and pepper 1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pan. 2. Slice the onions, sugar, salt, and pepper and let caramelize until brown (about 20 minutes). 3. Add the balsamic vinegar. 4. Cool mixture in fridge 5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir in the heavy cream and beaten egg, mound the mixture on the puff pastry. 6. (If the oven is still preheating, put the tart in the freezer until the oven is ready.) Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. Keywords: Appetizer, Main Dish, Easy ( RG1691 )

Sorry, haven't had a chance to be in lately. Going on vacation this week but I hope to do another shift at Rare very soon.

Yeah...I grew up eating these as my mom works there, and would bring them home all the time. I also went to school there until recently. The cinnamon buns are OK and aren't underbaked anymore (i.e. they get hard in the afternoon, so I only bought them occasionally for breakfast.) They weren't anything special though, but cheap and filling.

I wrote a review on Feenie's that's up on Eat Vancouver right now.

Thanks for posting that. If the link doesn't last, the food got a 4.5/5 rating.

I love the smoker idea. Another idea is to order him some Kobe! (well, Wagyu...)

I went to Hu Nan for dinner last night, and we got a lot more chilli in our dishes. My favourite was the dish you have pictured above--the Hunan smoked pork belly with garlic chives. I love how the outside bit of fat is slightly charred and chewy. It was great. We had another chicken dish that was entirely covered in Szechuan peppercorns--I couldn't believe how many peppercorns were used in that dish! Very fragrant and quite spicy again. The fish we had was also entirely covered with chopped chilli. I had to brush away most of the chilli for it to be edible (sorry, I'm used to bland Cantonese food! ) but my date can take more heat than me and he really liked the level of heat in the food.

Thanks everyone...yes, he's very sweet and thoughtful.

It's (free-range) Hainanese chicken! I love that at Miu Garden, and the beef brisket curry too.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations! I will keep that in mind and suggest that at dinner. Thank-you!