chaud-froid

It sounds like fun to try to re-create the recipes that Kinch and his team used. The cabbage leaf Napoleon is probably the easiest one to try. First step would be to re-watch the show and take notes.

I've started working on the "Kuroge Wagyu" recipe. It looks doable with time and some chemical collecting. So far I've made the dehydrated red bell pepper, and sous vide'd some ribeye steak and the acorn squash. As soon as I score some Ultra Tex 3, I'll make the two puddings. Only comment so far is that dehydrating the bell pepper strips shrinks them by about 70%... so pay attention to the 1/8" spec and place them close together on the dehydrator tray when making the "web"

I attended a special wine dinner at Bizou on Tuesday and the restaurant prepared a special menu to accompany the wines... Dungeness Crab with Celery Root and House Made Steelhead Caviar Mediterranean Branzino with Bacon, Currants, Pine Nuts and Escarole Breast of Squab with Potato Leek Galette and Truffle Oxtail Ravioli Cheeses: Pont L’Évêque, Cave Aged Gruyère, Fourme d’Ambert Wine Poached Pear with Pistachio and Crème Fraiche The service and food were excellent. Just to round out the post, the wines (brought by the participants) were: 1985 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1990 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1990 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 1982 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 1988 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 1989 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 1994 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 1995 Domaine La Milliere Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2002 Alban Vineyards Estate Syrah Reva Vineyard 2001 Sine Qua Non Midnight Oil 2001 Michel Ogier Côte-Rôtie 1998 Alban Vineyards Estate Syrah Reva Vineyard 2002 Saxum Syrah Bone Rock James Berry Vineyard 1986 Château Climens, Barsac The moral of the story is: if you want to have a special event, Bizou can accomodate you.

I've seen Might Leaf at quite a few of the better restaurants. I've been drinking Asian tea for the past few years, but every now and then I don't feel like bresing a pot. So I'll give Mighty Leaf a try. ← Whole Foods carries Mighty Leaf.

TFL does have cancellations and does hand them out. Call them. Also book a flight for next month too!!!!

Here is my take on Hayes Street Grill.

There's an Unasawa in the SF Bay Area?

I agree with tanabutler about Manresa. Right now I think the two best restaurants in the Bay Area are The French Laundry and Manresa. Manresa is much more reasonably (?) priced and it is not difficult to get a reservation. If you are looking for the best food possible, Manressa is probably better than anything in the City right now. If you go, be certain to get the tasting menu, and to mention that you have read the London Oobserver article. If they know you are going there for the food you will be treated to an amazing repast. Warning: such a dinner can last three hours or more. There is an extensive Manresa thread here on eGullet. I also agree with the advice on Mina and Fifth Floor. With Chef Gras recently leaving and Melissa Perello recently installed, Fifth Floor is a gamble now, at best. I've eaten at Mina and was not overly impressed. If you have your heart set on eating your one-great-meal in San Francisco, the two best choices these days are Gary Danko, and The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton now that Ron Siegel and his crew have taken over.

Take a cab from the Holiday Inn to the Oakland Coliseum/Airport BART station. It is even likely the hotel will have a shuttle to take you there. Use the BART website to plan your BART trip. Note that they have a PDA version of the schedule for downloading here. When you get back, either call the hotel for the shuttle or take a cab back to the hotel.Oliveto (or the Cafe downstairs) at the Rockridge BART station is a very good bet for what you are looking for. Another good bet is Boulevard which is a five minute walk from the Embacadero BART station and has very good food, people watching and an excellent wine list. If you don't mind waiting for a seat at the bar, The Slanted Door in the Ferry Building is a three minute walk from the Embarcadero station.

KISS is fine. I was there a month ago and was impressed with the quality. You should also consider Takara, right next door to Ino. It's big, but the quality is good and it is highly regarded by the Japanese community. Two additional choices (both more formal and commercial) are the sushi bar at Kyo-ya (in the Palace Hotel), and Ozumo. Both are expensive but very impressive.

I visited Rubicon once in January, but I've been back three times in the last six weeks because the food has improved so much. One of these visits was for a small wine dinner with the following menu: Amuse of truffled salmon curry Sautéed Skate wing served with a Gewürztraminer-Ginger butter sauce, soybeans, mushrooms, and cashews. Squab with a corn puree, foie gras mousse, mission fig relish and wax beans Venison served with Chanterelle mushrooms, Brussels Sprouts and a Butternut Squash / Pomegranate gastrique (sweet and sour sauce). Cheese course served with toasted bread, roasted walnuts, figs and a prune and dried-huckleberry paste Miniature crepe stack filled with Calvados apple butter, Ricotta cheese apple butter, apples and candied huckleberries, and topped with blackberry sorbet. Grand Marnier Chocolate Truffles I think Rubicon is currently serving some of the most creative food in the city.

Are you sure about that? Despite all the press raves about their Dungeness crab & garlic noodles, I've heard from several people that Crustacean uses frozen dungeness crab(they don't like to admit it)!! -Steve ← I don't know about Crustacean, but their "big sister" restaurant, Thanh Long, way out on Judah served me one of the best meals I have ever had. They are famous (or infamous) for their garlic noodles and roast crab. Here is my story.

There are a lot of great places for solo dining in San Francisco. Here are a few of my favorites:the bar at Aqua (expensive, Financial District, elegant new-French seafood) the bar at Bizou (Cal-Mediterranean, neighborhood, moderate prices) the bar at Fringale (French/Basque, neighborhood, all entrees less than $20) the "dinner counter" at Boulevard (downtown, expensive, excellent wine list, American Bistro) the bar at Jardiniere (Cal-French, high end, Opera/Symphony area, expensive) the bar at Absinthe (French-American Bistro, moderate prices, interesting wine list) the bar at Town Hall (American-Southern Bistro, moderate prices) Chapeau! (French Bistro way out in the Avenues... no bar, but a great place) Chez Papa (French Bistro on Potrero Hill) (Those on this list most resembling "local haunts" are Bizou, Chapeau!, Chez Papa and Fringale).

The sign on the building is misleading. It says they are open for the general public on Saturday's but it neglects to mention that they are also open for the public Monday through Friday during regular business hours!

Economy Restaurant Supply @ 7th and Irwin in San Francisco is another good place to get the kinds of things you would expect to find in a restaurant supply store. It's like a cooks candy store.

B? = Botella

1. The French Laundry 2. Gary Danko 3. Anywhere Ron Siegel is cooking (currently, The Dining Room @ The Ritz Carlton) 4. Quince (the pasta is absolutely tremendous) 5. Ino Sushi or Kyo-ya or Kappa (all somewhat tied; still haven't tried KISS) 6. Boulevard 7. Aqua 8. Jardiniere

Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 1520 today.

It does sound like a good year, but that wasn't the question. I could have mentioned The French Laundry, Masa's, and Michael Mina, but those weren't THE LAST THREE restaurants I've eaten at.

Hitching Post II (Buellton) Bizou (SF) Fringale (SF)

No, this has been changed. The food vendors are now located along the walk next to the pier railing. Now, there is plenty of room for the grazers.

I've eaten there in each of the last four years and each time I ask that they match the wines to the dishes. They obliged this request on every visit. They have always been willing to do this if you didn't mind buying full- and half-bottles to allow them to "pair the wines to the courses". They seem to have many more wines by the glass now. If they did a wine-by-the glass pairing for you in the past, you were lucky and should feel honored!

I ate lunch at TFL the last week of July. They do indeed now offer wine parings. I thought the quality of the wines was top notch, and it is a much needed upgrade from the previous policy. For two we spent about $650, and I throughly enjoyed the experience, but it is a bit expensive and it will be a while before I return.

Maybe the Governor will veto it. He was making fun of the bill the other day. It didn't pass with a veto-proof majority.

This article: Assembly votes to ban force-feeding of birds to produce foie gras indicates the law passed yesterday.