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malachi

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    delfina and salt

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    It might just be personal taste.

    I've eaten at Delfina a lot (mmmm... maybe close to a hundred times, seriously). I've never found it to be over-salted.

    The fact that you found all the dishes to be too salty might indicate that you simply prefer less salt than other people.

    Shrug.

    Roadfood, Brewpubs, & Other Good Cheap Eats in CA

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    If you're driving from Yosemite to Death Valley, then you'll probably be going through Tuolumne Meadows and then down 395.

    At the intersection of 120 and 395, right outside the town of Lee Vining, there is a Mobil gas station. In the back of this gas station is a restaurant.

    YOU MUST EAT HERE.

    Seriously.

    Don't get a burger or slice of pizza. Get something real. Try the Kansas City Steak Caesar, or the Fish Tacos or whatever the special is.

    I know it sounds odd, but trust me. It's very, very good.

    ...This might have been the best recommendation of all. Seriously. Thank you! What a place, and not to be missed if you want good road food and are traveling through the area from Yosemite to Death Valley. Hell, I would even drive out of my way for road food there. They do serve unexpectedly good food, in what seems like an unlikely setting, and decent wine to go with it. You place your order at a counter, where you also pick up your wine or whatever to drink and then find your own table. It's a great place for a trip on a budget like this one was, with reasonable prices and self-service saving on tip. Morten and I got the Fish Tacos and Camilla got the Steak Caesar. It's all good. I wish I had taken pictures of the food and the place, but we were charging my camera while we were eating and I didn't think of it at the time. Here's a website.

    I'm so glad you went - and so glad you enjoyed it.

    It's a pretty amazing experience - and the views are truly to die for.

    Coffee ain't coffee, Sol.

    in Coffee & Tea

    Posted

    It's ironic to hear this.

    I recently had the pleasure of spending a bunch of time with a collection of Ausie coffee pros (over here for the SCAA conference).

    They arrived with a lot of expecations about US coffee (as one of them, Paul, said, "I'd been warned that I wouldn't be able to get a decent cup of coffee in the US."). They left with a different point of view (quoting Paul again, "we're way behind you when it comes to roasting coffee.").

    It ALL depends on where you go. There are thousands of terrible coffee bars in the US, just as there are in Australia.

    But there are truly world class ones as well.

    Oh... finally... most of the Ausie pros were shocked by how light the roast was on many of the truly great coffees here. I gather you all tend to burn your coffees a bit more than we do (grin).

    High End in San Francisco

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    Some starting points for design in SF...

    Visit Limn Gallery of course (and you can grab some moule frites at South Park).

    Spend the day at SFMoMa of course (followed perhaps by dinner at 5th Floor).

    Go out to Valencia Corridor and check out some of the used modernist furniture stores (brilliant) and while you're out there you have the choice of places like Ritual Coffee (best in town), Panchitas #4 (my favorite Salvadoran place in town), Taqueria Cancun (my favorite burritos), La Taqueria (my favorite tacos), Delfina, Bi-Rite (wonderful market) and Pakwan (yummy Naan).

    Go to the Clift Hotel and ogle the weird Philippe Starck-ness of it all - be sure to check out the elevators (while there you can run up the street to Cortez for desserts).

    Walk down to the new fuseproject offices and be awed by the insanity (have lunch at Town Hall).

    Do the walk through Hayes Valley and look into the various galleries and boutiques (in particular the shoe stores) and afterwards refresh yourself with a stop into either Hayes and Vine for a wine flight or at the Blue Bottle Coffee stand.

    Go to William Stout Books and waste a huge amount of your life and your money but be glad you did so (wander through Chinatown checking out the markets but don't eat anywhere near here).

    Just my $0.02 worth.

    What Beers Did You Drink Today? Or Yesterday? (Part 1)

    in Beer

    Posted

    Yesterday - Delerium Tremens (on tap), Westmalle Tripel (bottle). The former - classic, oily, warming, nice spice, certainly no session beer. The latter - one of my favorites and the definition of the style. Lovely.

    Today - Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (bottle), Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout (bottle). The former - the last bottle of my cellared stock of the 2003 bottling. So nice. Smooth, rich, creamy... one of my favorites. The latter - a bit of a dissappointment. Seems to not know what style it's going after.

    Roadfood, Brewpubs, & Other Good Cheap Eats in CA

    in California: Dining

    Posted

    If you're driving from Yosemite to Death Valley, then you'll probably be going through Tuolumne Meadows and then down 395.

    At the intersection of 120 and 395, right outside the town of Lee Vining, there is a Mobil gas station. In the back of this gas station is a restaurant.

    YOU MUST EAT HERE.

    Seriously.

    Don't get a burger or slice of pizza. Get something real. Try the Kansas City Steak Caesar, or the Fish Tacos or whatever the special is.

    I know it sounds odd, but trust me. It's very, very good.

    USDA trying to shut local dairy Smith Brothers

    in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining

    Posted

    It is so depressing to me.

    It's one thing to see market forces (american laziness, lack of palate) drive small local producers out of business. It's another thing to see them lobbied and legislated out of business.

    The idea that I might not be able to support local, small, family owned dairies... that I might not be able to choose a product based on taste... and that we're going to see a futher "lowest common denominator" lack of choice here...

    I grew up surrounded by small family dairy farms in New England and watched one after another go out of business or be bought up by large agribusinesses. I went from having our fresh milk dropped off by our neighbors to having local dairy milk delivered from a truck to buying generic aggregated milk in the supermarket in less than 15 years.

    Running a small family farm is hard enough under the best of circumstances - the idea that our gov't is trying to make it harder is appalling to me.

    Oregon Recommendations Needed

    in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining

    Posted

    cross posted...

    (all personal opinions and in no order)

    the Ripe empire (aka Family Supper, clarklewis, Gotham Tavern) -- severely hyped, but the food is really very good indeed. while clarklewis is more consistent, the food at Gotham Tavern, when on, is the best of them. in general, these tend to be liked by folks who tend to be cool with a more "urban" hipster experience, and less enjoyed by people who want something a bit more sedate, comfortable and traditional. if you go to clarklewis i'd suggest skipping the menu and getting the tasting menu instead.

    Hurley's -- has been the best in PDX for a while. has also seen some turnover in the last year. has some restaurants nipping at its heels now. if you want the sedate, comfortable and traditional - this is the place to go.

    Paley's Place -- consistently over-rated and disappointing. i've given it "a second chance" time and time again and am now just over it.

    Taqueria Nueve -- great cocktails and somewhat predictable but enjoyable "nuevo" mexican. nothing like what you'd get in LA or Miami, but not bad. skip DF (their Pearl District restaurant) as it's an over-priced inferior version of the original.

    Navarre - loved by some, hated by many. if you want "inventive" food and prefer amped up "flavours on steroids" you will not be happy here. if, instead, you want simple and unpretentious food that is perfectly balanced and actually tastes good - and especially if you love wine - this might be perfect for you. best Thurs-Sun.

    Pho Van Empire (Beaverton, Pearl and SE locations) -- ranges from decent to very good. i find the Pearl location to be the weakest and the SE location to be the strongest. the latter is probably my favorite Vietnamese place in town and has my third favorite Pho in town. their whole baked catfish is a must.

    APizza Scholls -- the best pizza in town by a huge margin. in fact, saying so diminishs the acomplishment. may well be the best pizza on the west coast (there is a contender in Seattle and one in San Francisco). this is true, real pizza. personally, it's one of my favorite places in town. love it.

    Bewon -- quite good Korean. good Korean is hard to find and the difference between good and average is enormous. i love their salt crusted mackeral as well as all the standards.

    Park Kitchen -- good breakfast, very good lunch. i've actually been thoroughly underwhelmed by their dinners, which i find to be unbalanced and overly complicated and not well thought out.

    Visiting Portland

    in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining

    Posted

    (all personal opinions)

    the Ripe empire (aka Family Supper, clarklewis, Gotham Tavern) -- severely hyped, but the food is really very good indeed. while clarklewis is more consistent, the food at Gotham Tavern, when on, is the best of them. in general, these tend to be liked by folks who tend to be cool with a more "urban" hipster experience, and less enjoyed by people who want something a bit more sedate, comfortable and traditional. if you go to clarklewis i'd suggest skipping the menu and getting the tasting menu instead.

    Hurley's -- has been the best in PDX for a while. has also seen some turnover in the last year. has some restaurants nipping at its heels now. if you want the sedate, comfortable and traditional - this is the place to go.

    Paley's Place -- consistently over-rated and disappointing. i've given it "a second chance" time and time again and am now just over it.

    Taqueria Nueve -- great cocktails and somewhat predictable but enjoyable "nuevo" mexican. nothing like what you'd get in LA or Miami, but not bad. skip DF (their Pearl District restaurant) as it's an over-priced inferior version of the original.

    Navarre - loved by some, hated by many. if you want "inventive" food and prefer amped up "flavours on steroids" you will not be happy here. if, instead, you want simple and unpretentious food that is perfectly balanced and actually tastes good - and especially if you love wine - this might be perfect for you. best Thurs-Sun.

    Pho Van Empire (Beaverton, Pearl and SE locations) -- ranges from decent to very good. i find the Pearl location to be the weakest and the SE location to be the strongest. the latter is probably my favorite Vietnamese place in town and has my third favorite Pho in town. their whole baked catfish is a must.

    APizza Scholls -- the best pizza in town by a huge margin. in fact, saying so diminishs the acomplishment. may well be the best pizza on the west coast (there is a contender in Seattle and one in San Francisco). this is true, real pizza. personally, it's one of my favorite places in town. love it.

    Bewon -- quite good Korean. good Korean is hard to find and the difference between good and average is enormous. i love their salt crusted mackeral as well as all the standards.

    Park Kitchen -- good breakfast, very good lunch. i've actually been thoroughly underwhelmed by their dinners, which i find to be unbalanced and overly complicated and not well thought out.

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