ProfessionalHobbit
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Posts posted by ProfessionalHobbit
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16 minutes ago, weinoo said:
I'm thinking the poster above doesn't really get the point of Sam Wo's.
Some places aren't only about the food.
You're right, I didn't.
But since this is eGullet and since this thread is about a restaurant, I was going to limit my comments to the food. I don't care about the other stuff.
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On 5/21/2011 at 11:38 PM, Carolyn Tillie said:
I reiterate that I think Attelier Crenn would be a much better choice than Coi considering you are looking for modernist-styled cuisine. Much more and consistent use of molecular techniques and far superior flavor combinations....
For sure.
And if you can't get in there, her restaurant Petit Crenn is a silver lining.
The brioche alone is worth the price of admission.
Canapes.
Top: French breakfast radishes, herb butter.
Middle: Gruyere gougères,
Bottom: Oysters with shallot and samphire; tuna crudo, radish, shrimp cracker; cured trout, trout roe.
Seafood bouillabaisse, with clams, mussels, potato and fennel.
Sourdough bread, with butter, crème fraîche and espelette pepper.
I'm sure you're noticing a theme.
Pan-seared turbot, celeriac mousseline, pea shoot, with beurre blanc and herb oil.
This was outstanding.
Gnocchi à la Parisienne, beurre noisette, mushrooms.
Whole-roasted cauliflower, almond crumble.
I was not a fan of this, mostly for the color and the fact that the nuts didn't really add anything. Was just "fine".
Endive salad with green goddess dressing, shaved beets and Comté cheese.
Wonderful salad course.
Valhrona Manjari chocolate ganache, brown butter crumble, grapefruit and orange, lime curd, buttermilk snow.
It was awesome.
Mignardises.
Background: strawberry chambord gelée.
Middle: salted caramels.
Foreground: strawberry macaron.Service charge is included. With two glasses of wine, tax and additional gratuity, it came out to $125 per person.
Petit Crenn
609 Hayes Street (Laguna Street)
Hayes Valley-
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They've since reopened.
Photos shot in July 2016.
Duck jook.
Pretty average as far as porridge goes.
Mongolian beef.
Relatively unexciting. It was as average as it looks.
Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce.
The stems were as tough as nails, but the leaves weren't. I'm learning to distrust any review written by Michael Bauer.
Salt-and-pepper chicken wings.
This was billed as a "must-get" item. I don't know about that, but it was the best thing we had that night. And now that we've been to Sam Wo, we don't ever have to go back again. -
On 5/21/2018 at 2:16 AM, MetsFan5 said:
Thanks. I’m thinking about Zuni Cafe for the roast chicken— is it as good was people mentioned in the past? And Liholiho Yacht Club because the menu is amazing.
Photo shot in June 2016.
I would have liked a touch more acidity in the vinaigrette. Very good roast chicken but no crisp skin. Moist, very flavorful.
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10 minutes ago, rotuts said:
Exactly
For other folks.
now days
maybe they buy frozen ?
waffels ?
They buy whatever they want. Or if they're lazy like I am sometimes, they call for takeout. Or go without.
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I have to go look for that article now. This is kind of what I had read but not quite the same: https://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/mining-salt-from-the-sea/
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I don't really care what other folks do. Not covering any new ground here, and the reason why I prefer from scratch is because I know what goes into it.
I told someone once that I'd make my own butter and salt if I could. There was a story once about a guy who would trudge home with buckets of water from the Pacific and boil it away to get his own sea salt. But now that we have micro-sized pellets of plastic in the oceans, I'm not as interested as I once was.
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14 minutes ago, rotuts said:
if you don't keep flour in your home
That's not a possibility as far as I'm concerned.
For other folks, sure. But not me. We have at least three kinds of flour on hand - bread flour, cake flour and AP flour. Guess who decided to teach himself how to bake after years of saying he would. So flour is a given as are the other items.
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From scratch.
Pancakes are easy - flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, eggs, milk.
Why would I need to buy packaged mix when I can throw together something in nearly the same amount of time? That's where I'm coming from.
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12 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:
I’m sure they’d sub it out. The rest of the dishes look amazing! Thanks again!
They definitely would. My hubby doesn't like tarragon, fennel or anything that reminds him of anise. And they accommodated him as well.
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I had completely forgotten about our dinner there in December.
Anyone who is a serious eater here on eGullet needs to come here soon. Highly recommended. @MetsFan5 - here is one place you might love over Gary Danko. You too @rancho_gordo.
I'll let the pix speak for themselves...
Horchata - Koshihikari rice, almonds, black cardamom, cinnamon.
Scallop chicharrón, scallop ceviche, crème fraîche.
Jicama empanada, shiso, pumpkin, salmon roe.
Smoked mushroom taco with pickled wild mushrooms.
Dungeness crab tostada, sour orange segments, sour orange-habanero salsa, Castelfranco radicchio, tarragon.
Pineapple guava sorbet
Fuyu persimmon, habanero honey, tarragon
Tasmanian trout ceviche, dashi, Granny Smith apple
Aguachile, parsnip, red bell pepper
Black bean tamales steamed in banana leaves, with salsa on the side
Smoked squab broth, pomegranate seeds, cilantro flowers
Tres frijoles with sturgeon caviar, shallots and edible gold leaf
Black cod, salsa verde, green grapes
Wagyu beef, pickled onion
Smoked squab breast served with spiced cranberry sauce, quince simmered in cranberry juice, pickled Japanese turnips and charred scallion, and sourdough flour tortillas
Yes, it's the same squab from which the broth was made.
And now the desserts:
Foie gras churro, with foie gras mousse, cinnamon sugar, served with hot milk chocolate infused with cinnamon, Lustau sherry and coffee.
By the time I remembered to take a pic, I'd eaten half of the churro. Dunk the churro into the chocolate.
Dulce de leche spooned atop pear sorbet with chunks of Asian pear, macadamia nut butter
Pecan ice cream, candied pecans, shortbread cookie, apples, clarified butter
The cookie was on top of the apples. Break the cookie and spoon everything over.
Cherry extract digestif, vermouth, sweet Mexican lime
We'll definitely return. I'm an instant fan.
Prepaid tix were $230 per person, plus there were additional charges due to wine pairings. It's worth every cent you'll spend.
Californios
3115 22nd Street (South Van Ness)
Mission District-
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On 5/10/2018 at 10:17 PM, MetsFan5 said:
I’m thinking about dinner here next month. The business casual dress code is appealing, as is the ability to order how many courses you want from their entire menu seems like a great concept.
Has anyone been there recently?
B and I went there
last yearin 2016. How time flies!We found our experience not as good as it could have been.
We arrived early, and they didn't seat us until 50 minutes later, 20 minutes past our reservation time. When I asked what was taking so long, I was told "Well, you arrived early." That's not the point -- we had a reservation time of 9 pm and it's now 9:20 -- does everyone who comes here get seated late? Strike #1. Furthermore, we were seated at the bar and no staff came by to alert us; I had to get up to go speak to the host.
On to the food...
"Thai soup" -- while it reminded me of tom kha gai and hit all the right flavor notes, I was asking myself why are we eating pseudo-Thai food in this restaurant?
Not exactly an auspicious beginning. Strike #2 was that it took nearly 5 minutes *after* being seated before we received the menus, and when they brought us the menus, they also brought us the first amuse-bouche. It felt like a weird combination of: (1) we're being rushed and (2) we're being punished.
Buckwheat blini, salmon, osetra caviar.
Well-made blini -- perfect, actually. Like butter-flavored clouds.
Seared foie gras, caramelized onion, poached rhubarb.
Plating doesn't exactly inspire confidence, a theme you will see repeatedly throughout. Was prepared well though from what little I tasted.
Figs, arugula, fennel, Gorgonzola cheese.
Average salad, nothing special.
Seared scallops, morels, English peas, Madeira.
Excellent flavor, from the bite or two I stole off of B's plate. Sear on the scallops poorly executed though.
Lamb loin with farroto, Medjool dates, carrots and chermoula.
The lamb was well-cooked. The plating sucked, the sauce was oversalted (basically, if you can taste it, it's too much), and the accompaniments slapdash. At this point, I was starting to become irritated. This is a restaurant that is supposed to be in the vanguard of San Francisco dining and for the prices that are being charged, everything should feel like perfection from the moment you step inside to when you depart.This was not it. Ixnay on the square plates.
Cheese cart.
Sauternes.
Louisiana butter cake, peaches, huckleberry compote, vanilla ice cream.
Amateurish plating. Cake itself was "fine". Maybe I ordered wrong.
Flourless chocolate birthday cake.
I suppose it might have been a good restaurant -- in 1995. You can do better in the City.
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We had dinner at Upperline, fittingly one of the best restaurants in the city.
It’s a handsome room with an abundance of art on the walls.
Virgin mojito
Oysters St. Claude - fried oysters with a garlicky sauce; these were addictive.
Slow roasted duck served with ginger-peach sauce and garlic-port sauce and a dish of sweet potatoes
the duck was amazing - juicy with crisp, fabulous skin; the sauces seemed unnecessary.
Lamb shank braised in red wine over risotto - fork-tender and gamy (a good quality BTW) served with a flavorful, cheesy risotto and paired with greens.
Honey-pecan bread pudding with toffee sauce - this was fine and not memorable
Pecan pie - lighter than most pies I’ve had in past
Good night!
It’s been a fabulous week!
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Thanks all
we have one more trick up our sleeve and you’ll not want to miss it
so sit tight
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We had brunch at Brennan’s today.
You can judge a restaurant by the bread it serves. At Brennan’s, it’s a loaf of French bread fresh from the oven.
green tomato gazpacho
oyster and shrimp gumbo
eggs sardou - poached eggs with artichoke hearts, sauce choron and creamed spinach
eggs hussard - poached eggs with Canadian bacon, English muffins and marchand de vin sauce
bananas Foster, vanilla ice cream
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@Katie Meadow - B’s response to that poem is “one fish, two fish, redfish, gefilte fish”. They say laughter keeps a relationship fresh and that’s why he’s a keeper.
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Today is our last day in NOLA and we’ve elected to go out in a blaze of gastronomic glory.
More later.
I’ve already asked B to start booking a return trip.
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We went to Arnaud’s last night.
We each ordered a glass of the French 75 cocktail based on the advice of our waiter.
And to go with our mains, a glass of the Sancerre which had notes of pear and vanilla.
This was a menu that celebrated the restaurant’s 100th anniversary.
Dishes in red are the specialties de la maison.
The bread is stellar and served right out of the oven.
Oysters Rockefeller
unlike the one at Acme, this was on another level
Shrimp Arnaud - Gulf shrimp with remoulade sauce
Pompano Duarte - pompano with Gulf shrimp and tomatoes
Asparagus with hollandaise sauce
Quail with seafood boudin and gastrique
Cafe brulot made tableside.
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1 hour ago, rotuts said:
@rotuts - it was exactly what it says: a mixture of lard, spices and chopped pork that you could use to spread on bread as if it was butter, or consume by itself.
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And here are some more menus for your viewing pleasure
this is the brunch menu at Sylvain and we’re sorry we have not had time this trip to make it
And here is a wine menu in an alley near our hotel
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We went to a few NOLA museums today and here are some food related pix
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We went to Cochon today for Saturday brunch.
Boucherie platter.
clockwise from top left: pate; mustard; head cheese; toast points; pickled vegetables (green tomatoes, bread and butter pickles, dill); salami; lard mixed with chopped pork; some kind of ham.
beef short ribs, rice, mushroom gravy
cochon (baby suckling pig), cabbage, pickled turnips, crackling
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pineapple upside down cake, coconut lime sherbet, dulce de leche
Was amazing. With a 20% tip, came out to $125 for two.
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@MetsFan5 - thanks but it’s ok, the five books plus the one I bought on Thursday will be my reading material on the trip back. I didn’t buy any heavy books this time.
It won’t be Southwest Airlines but the usual United garbage we have to deal with...so I need something pleasant to distract me from our ordeal.
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Noticed this on the street as we were headed to Snug Harbor for a jazz concert
the menu below was not very interesting though
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Sad Day in San Francisco as Sam Wo Closes
in California: Dining
Posted
In this thread, I only care about the food and what there was wasn't worth it. Perhaps I ordered wrong...who knows? Unlike NYC, this town has only two resto critics of note and so far one of them has been decidedly mixed. YMMV.