Top 10 Tastes of California

[dockhl]

There is another restaurant (forgot the name now.  Pomeroy and Cypress St? - the only one with long line outside) which has award-winning clam-chowder soup.  Not to be missed if you pass by during the day.

That would be Splash Cafe, also now in San Luis Obispo on Monterey by Cal Poly. Clam chowder in bread bowls. IMHO, Pismo is an icky town and SLO is much preferable for walking around !

Really?  It always seems to take me much longer along 101 (then I-5).  I think distance-wise it is about 420 miles along 101 - quite a bit longer than along I-5 because of the 101's windiness.  6 hours would assume absolutely no traffic (hard to come by unless travelling in the middle of the night),  no stop plus an average of 70 MPH.  No sight seeing.  I think in reality it takes much longer going that route.  I always plan to take a whole day driving along 101.  And 2 days if I take highway 1, with many sight-seeing stops along the rugged coastline, and some part of highway 1 you can only drive through at 20 MPH - or prepare for an extremely long driving day. 

Faster, yes, but SO BOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRING ! I HATE driving up the 5..........don't forget, they are planning on hitting Santa Barbara anyway, and Carmel. May as well incorporate some Central Coast wine country and Big Sur beauty while they are at it. Makes the LA-SF drive bearable.........

[Kouign Aman]

At the very north end of the Napa Valley, in Middletown, is a place that makes great shakes and malts in custom flavors. I stop there every time I'm near despite the name: Custard's Last Stand.

[alanamoana]

the fact that tupac and his dad have dinner reservations at manresa on tuesday at 6:30 prompted me to recommend that they take the 5 all the way up. if they take the 101 or PCH and plan to stop, then they might as well not bother with manresa (in my opinion...i hate rushing and worrying about schedules).

a quick aside: according to google maps, driving from pasadena to los gatos on the 5 is 343 miles and approximately 6 hours. i think for these things, they assume an average of 55 mph.

unfortunately, i think skipping most of the middle of california by taking the 5 might be the best way to go, time-wise.

edited to add: all of this is moot if you decide to start your drive on monday afternoon instead of waiting until tuesday morning?!

i'm going to say it again: skip the french laundry (this decision might be made for you) and go to two restaurants in napa, maybe even four for the same price. i would go to one for appetizers and another for more apps or entrees. more fun and cheaper. i sometimes think apps are better than entrees at most restaurants, so this way you can taste more! i'm only half joking as i've done this before (charles nob hill first and then on to gary danko back when ron siegel was still at charles and when gary danko had only just opened).

Edited August 2, 2006 by alanamoana (log)

[alanamoana]

another unpopular suggestion might be to skip dim sum altogether and just try restaurants that are unique to california. i know, i know, the dim sum is different and better and whatever...but tupac, you live in new york (during the school year) and dim sum is great in nyc and cheaper(!!!) than here in cali.

i just think that trying to cram everything in is an exercise in futility and that you might end up regretting it.

i think it was campton place that got a bad review recently from michael bauer. if that's the case, not that i take food critics all that seriously, i wouldn't go there. besides, daniel humm is at 11 madison park now...so you can go there and get the food he was serving at campton.

i guess i'm only telling you where not to go...but i hope that helps narrow things down a bit?!

[alanamoana]

here are some more questionables (to edit your list down a bit):

Paul Bertolli who used to be the chef at Olivetto hasn't cooked there since 2000+/-. I haven't eaten there, but it was his name that made the restaurant what it is. Check out their website (Oliveto) and see if you want to trek over there. Maybe just the cafe before you go to Chez Panisse?

I would pick La Folie over Fleur de Lys...personal preference. Plus, Polk Street has some cute shops, bars and restaurants which might be more fun to see.

I might avoid Terra because Hiro and Lissa might be focusing on Ame at the St. Regis nowadays. If you check out the Ame thread (or docsconz's and molto e's california trip) you'll see it hasn't received raves...some decent reviews, but the fact that the owners are now multi-tasking makes me think attention to detail at both places might be lacking.

I know this trip is for your benefit, but you are dragging your dad around who is admittedly not as much of a foodie as you are...that might color some of your decisions, unless he's just a really good sport .

I guess another thing to think about is choreographing everything so that the driving is manageable. Try to do things in the East Bay when you go to Chez Panisse on Wednesday...so I'd drive up that side after visiting Stanford and stay over there until after dinner? Thursday you can spend the morning in SF (Ferry Building, etc) and then make your way up to Napa for the afternoon/evening. It is an hour drive at least to most destinations in Napa/Sonoma from the city. This is what is going to limit your dining options more than anything else. You might opt to just skip Napa/Sonoma if you don't get the coveted French Laundry cancellation. That way, you have the whole of Thursday to check out SF. More relaxing...

Am I being a spoil-sport?! I hope not, I just want you to get a good picture of what you're up against. If it were me...I'd change my flight from Friday morning to Sunday evening. Then you'd have the weekend to hang out with dad and eat your way around the Bay!!!

[samgiovese]

FWIW, in my opinion, Alana has given you some of the best advice so far. If you try to cram too much in, you're not going to be happy. California is a BIG, CROWDED state, with the two areas you're visiting being the most crowded and having the worst traffic. I wouldn't want to spend the entire day in the car and then sit down and try to enjoy a 4+ hour 18 course gourmet meal, and unless you leave Pasadena around 4:00 AM on Tuesday, that's what's going to happen. I would definitely go I-5...boring, but it's the only way you're going to make your 6:30 PM res, unless you drive all night on Monday.

Other thoughts:

If you make Napa, there is an In-N-Out on Imola in the South Napa Center; you could kill 2 birds with one stone. If you can extend to Sunday night, the weekend would be the time to experience the wine country, otherwise, I think you're again trying to cram too much into too little time.

Agree on the Terra comments and TFL comments; you'd be better served going to Redd, Martini House, Bouchon or Bistro Jeanty.

[tupac17616]

It's an ambitious schedule, but a good one.  I think you should have one dinner in San Francisco, so if TFL falls through, I would have dinner at one of your choices there.  We just had a great dinner at Incanto, which would save your dad a whole lot of money over TFL.  Lunch at Tadich Grill wouldn't be bad either- it has a real old-time SF feel.  I love Fleur de Lys and La Folie, but you might like Gary Danko better is you want something more upscale.  Hard to go wrong with that list.  I wouldn't even think about changing Chez Panisse though. [...]

I was thinking the same thing about doing a dinner in SF if TFL falls through. San Francisco is, after all, the city that I most look forward to seeing on the trip. The eG thread on Incanto is enough to make that a very appealing option, and the offal tasting menu might just be the clincher.

As for saving my dad a ton of money by not doing TFL, if only it were so. Knowing I have a pretty ridiculous appetite and a typical meal for me could probably sate a normal family of four, he and I made what I think is a pretty fair deal: My parents will take care of our transportation & lodging. And I'll pay for all the food.

I figure you only live once, and who knows when I'll be back in California again. So budget (mostly) aside, I just want to have the absolute best food and the best experience possible on the trip, whether that's a $0.60 egg custard tart or a $240 tasting menu at TFL (gotta have that foie gras supplement, you see ).

Oh, and don't worry, Chez Panisse isn't going anywhere. I am extremely excited about that one. The way I see it, Manresa, Chez Panisse, and (hopefully) TFL are sort of the "big three" for the trip. Everything else is important, no doubt, but those are the ones I am most excited about.

[alanamoana]

sounds like you have your priorities straight .

all the other restaurants are going to be icing on the cake after manresa and chez panisse (and possibly TFL).

just relax and enjoy yourself. i love google maps for most things and their driving times seem to be pretty reasonable. map out all your desired locations and the drives between them...that will probably save your heartache while you're here.

other than that, i just say go with your gut!

[tupac17616]

the fact that tupac and his dad have dinner reservations at manresa on tuesday at 6:30 prompted me to recommend that they take the 5 all the way up.  if they take the 101 or PCH and plan to stop, then they might as well not bother with manresa (in my opinion...i hate rushing and worrying about schedules). [...] unfortunately, i think skipping most of the middle of california by taking the 5 might be the best way to go, time-wise. edited to add:  all of this is moot if you decide to start your drive on monday afternoon instead of waiting until tuesday morning?!

i'm going to say it again:  skip the french laundry (this decision might be made for you) and go to two restaurants in napa, maybe even four for the same price.  i would go to one for appetizers and another for more apps or entrees.  more fun and cheaper.  i sometimes think apps are better than entrees at most restaurants, so this way you can taste more!  i'm only half joking as i've done this before (charles nob hill first and then on to gary danko back when ron siegel was still at charles and when gary danko had only just opened).

I'd rather do Manresa than take in the scenery of the PCH. And for my dad's back's sake, the shorter the drive, the better. I am guessing a couple of stops would be in order regardless, just to try to keep him as comfortable and loose as possible. Sounds to me like the 5 may be the best bet. Although I'd still like to see some coastline scenery at some point. Hmm...

I do hope we end up having the opportunity to start the drive sometime Monday afternoon, but that part is unpredictable, as I don't know the exact schedule yet of when the different CalTech faculty and students will be meeting with me and showing me around. Worst-case scenario, I assumed we'd be done at CalTech at 5:00pm, and there is no way I'd start a drive at rush hour like that. Maybe later that evening, though. Or maybe we'll be done mid-afternoon. I probably won't know this info for a couple of weeks.

If we end up having to skip TFL, I am guessing it would be easiest to stay in SF and enjoy the city for the full day on Thursday. I definetely agree with the order-an-appetizer-at-a-couple-of-places thing. That is fun. I do that in NYC often.

another unpopular suggestion might be to skip dim sum altogether and just try restaurants that are unique to california.  i know, i know, the dim sum is different and better and whatever...but tupac, you live in new york (during the school year) and dim sum is great in nyc and cheaper(!!!) than here in cali.

i just think that trying to cram everything in is an exercise in futility and that you might end up regretting it.

i think it was campton place that got a bad review recently from michael bauer.  if that's the case, not that i take food critics all that seriously, i wouldn't go there.  besides, daniel humm is at 11 madison park now...so you can go there and get the food he was serving at campton.

i guess i'm only telling you where not to go...but i hope that helps narrow things down a bit?!

I know I can get it in NYC, but dim sum was the one specific request that my dad had for the trip (it is nowhere to be found in San Antonio, that's for sure), so I'd like to honor that request if at all possible.

I guess I didn't know much about Chef Humm's history. But I do know his food has been getting lots of praise lately at 11MP. I definitely need to give that place another try some time soon (I tried it a couple of years ago, but dropped in just for desserts and that was it).

By the way, telling me not to go is extremely helpful. With a list as long as mine, God knows I don't need many more options for places I should go to.

I know this trip is for your benefit, but you are dragging your dad around who is admittedly not as much of a foodie as you are...that might color some of your decisions, unless he's just a really good sport  .

I guess another thing to think about is choreographing everything so that the driving is manageable.  [..] More relaxing... [...] If it were me...I'd change my flight from Friday morning to Sunday evening.  Then you'd have the weekend to hang out with dad and eat your way around the Bay!!!

He is a great sport, and has given me free reign to take care of the food stuff on the trip. That being said, while he may not be as much of a foodie as me, I am very aware of what he likes and doesn't like (after all, I do cook for all of us every single night when I'm home for the summer). I am doing my best to plan our culinary adventure in California accordingly. (For example: Several months ago we watched a documentary on high def PBS about Alice Waters. That got him excited about Chez Panisse, and he now refers to Alice Waters as "the lady who talks to her tomatoes" after seeing that show. Likewise, when I showed him all the pictures I took when I went to Per Se back in May, he said he's never done anything like that (an extended tasting menu, I mean), and he'd love to try one out sometime. Thus, my attempt to get us a spot at TFL (and Manresa, for that matter, which is a similar style of dining).)

Making the driving manageable (and more importantly, somewhat enjoyable!) is definitely a big priority. I am a notoriously lazy planner, so I've surprised myself already by having started even this early. I imagine we'll get the details sorted out here in the next few weeks. I'm not terribly worried about it.

Ooh, and believe me, if we could stay in the Bay Area for a couple more days, we most certainly would. Unfortunately, I've got a flight back to NYC to catch early Saturday morning, so I can check-in to my dorm that afternoon. Should make for an interesting couple of days of travel.

If you try to cram too much in, you're not going to be happy.

Indeed. Which is why I am trying to plan things out the right way so that we can eat some awesome food while we're in California, and have a great time in the process! Just takes some time, that's all.

[alanamoana]

i'm not sure what your schedule is like at stanford. if you spend the night on tuesday in los gatos area (for your dinner at manresa), you can get really good dim sum in cupertino on wed morning. there's a restaurant called "joy luck place" in a chinese strip mall called "cupertino village" that does very good, fresh dim sum. they open at 11am though and that might make it difficult. stanford is only a 15 minute drive from there though.

if that doesn't work, any of the other san francisco dim sum places mentioned upthread are great also.

you'll see coastal scenery in san francisco (the bay)...so if you miss it on pch, don't worry . besides, with the taste for california firmly in place after this visit, why would you even consider MIT? i mean, you know what boston winters are like...worse than new york, dammit!

[Carlsbad]

Further thoughts on logistics: According to Mapquest, it would take about 6 hours 25 minutes to drive up 101 from Pasadena to Los Gatos, and 5 hours 18 minutes via I-5. Having just driven up 101 a few weeks ago, I found their estimates to be just about right on or even a little conservative for driving time if you avoid the really bad traffic times. Driving up I-5 is a total waste of time, while the scenery is interesting on 101 even without stops. IMHO, saving an hour isn't worth it.

If you can drive up part way on Monday, it would leave less driving the next day to Los Gatos. If you want to leave Pasadena Tuesday morning, you should try to leave by 6:00 a.m., which would allow you to avoid a lot of the morning traffic. Once you clear the 101/405 interchange, it should be pretty clear.

After visiting Stanford, I would hop on the 280 right into the city. It's a very scenic drive and much nicer and quicker than the 101. With a 6:30 pm reservation, you can take BART to Berkeley, and if you go early, you can check out the campus before dinner.

[Carlsbad]

One final thought. If you want to avoid the long drive altogether, you could always fly from Burbank to San Jose. Southwest has flights for about $100 every couple hours and the trip is only about an hour.

[Andrea Nguyen]

Artichokes + berries = Monterey Bay between Monterey and Santa Cruz. All you have to do is visit a farmer's market. We have one practically everyday right now:

San Jose Mercury News list of NorCal farmers' markets

As for those itty bitty strawberries -- called frais de bois -- they're NOT grown here in the Monterey Bay Region. Among the topnotch berry growers around these parts is Swanton Berry Farm. (U-pick ollalieberry season just ended at Swanton.) For ollalieberry pie, try on of this source... Gizdich Farm in Watsonville.

From the 101, cut over at Salinas through Castroville to Highway 1. Cruz up the coast and stop at farmstands or a farmer's market. In Santa Cruz, pop over Highway 17 to Los Gatos, which is about 20 minutes from Santa Cruz.

Andrea

[Kouign Aman]

Day before you leave, check with AAA about road closures on your prospective route.

My experience - I-5 is much faster & more predictable than the coast, especially during the RV season. The coast road can be driven fast but the guy in front may not want to. Plus I-5 allows for a steak breakfast at Harris Ranch, no?

Boysenberries are better than ollalieberries, if you are faced with a choice.

(oh, such a choice).

Driving partway on Monday night leaves you dealing with where to sleep. You might want to check out options in case you find yourself in that position.

editted to clarify verbal shorthand

Edited August 2, 2006 by Kouign Aman (log)

[JFLinLA]

Day before you leave, check with AAA about road closures on your prospective route.

My experience - I-5 is much faster & more predictable than the coast, especially during the RV season. The coast road can be driven fast but the guy in front may not want to. Plus I-5 allows for a steak breakfast at Harris Ranch, no?

Boysenberries are better than ollalieberries, if you are faced with a choice.

(oh, such a choice).

Driving partway on Monday night leaves you dealing with where to sleep. You might want to check out options in case you find yourself in that position.

editted to clarify verbal shorthand

←

I know folks here at eG like to trash Harris Ranch. However I've had some perfectly respectable meals on that drive up and down I-5, including one this time of year where I had an amazing steak and tomato salad. August -- you can't go wrong with tomatoes. Yum.

Let me stress again, when you're done at Caltech, think about heading into LA's Chinatown or the San Gabriel Valley for Chinese. Both a relatively** short hop. It would be too late in the day for dim sum but you can get some good food.

** Remember, distance (and therefore travel times) are different in California.

[hzrt8w]

More choices for you: Dim sum in San Jose area. Some flexibility added to your trip.

I am not too familiar with the San Jose area, but I have been to:

Mayflower Restaurant

(408) 922-2700

428 Barber LN

Milpitas, CA 95035

a couple of times. Really great dim sum! I heard people (chowhound) said the "ABC Restaurant" right in the next mall is even better though I have not been to ABC.

And a bonus: There is also a Kee Wah Bakery in the same mall as Mayflower. Great pastry.

Edited August 3, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)

[tupac17616]

I think I may be officially the most indecisive person in the world. I'm not sure if these lists of LA area & SF area options are getting shorter or longer, but here are the current ones, sort of grouped in (very) rough categories. Whaddya think?

CURRENTLY HAVE RESERVATIONS AT...

Lucques (have reservation for Sunday Supper)

Jar (have reservation Monday, but thinking about cancelling, as I hear Mozzarella Mondays may be on the way out)

Manresa (have reservation for Tuesday dinner)

Chez Panisse (have reservation for Wednesday dinner downstairs)

LA AREA

Tacos Baja Ensenada

El Parian

Langer’s

Philippe’s

Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles

In-n-Out Burger

Pie n’ Burger

Hatfield’s

Grace

Table 8

Campanile

Spago

Providence

Sona

Sweet Lady Jane

Boule

Jinn Patisserie

Amandine

La Brea

Frances Bakery

Bread Bar

Susina Bakery

EuroPane

Kee Wah Chinese Bakery

Fosselman’s Ice Cream

SF AREA

Ferry Building Marketplace (this one is basically a sure thing)

Tartine (this place looks really good)

Citizen Cake (My dad and I both have huge sweet tooths)

XOX Truffles

Bay Bread Boulangerie

Mitchell’s Ice Cream

It’s It Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich (where to find one?)

Tadich Grill (cioppino)

Fish

Koi Palace

Mayflower

Fook Yuen

Zen Peninsula

Yank Sing

Golden Gate Bakery

AA Bakery

Joy Luck Place

Aziza (this one looks interesting)

Canteen (only considering for breakfast)

Piperade

Jardiniere

Bix

The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton (anyone done the "salt-and-pepper" tasting menu?)

Michael Mina

Fleur de Lys

Gary Danko

Fifth Floor

Incanto

Quince

A16

French Laundry (still hoping...)

Bouchon

Ad Hoc (if it will be open yet)

Edited August 9, 2006 by tupac17616 (log)

[Carlsbad]

You've decided to stay a month?

[rjwong]

I think I may be officially the most indecisive person in the world. I'm not sure if these lists of LA area & SF area options are getting shorter or longer, but here are the current ones, sort of grouped in (very) rough categories.  Whaddya think?

←

tupac17616, I think you should seriously consider using the services of experienced culinary tour guides, one for the LA area & one for the Bay Area. It would save you a lot of time being so indecisive, as well as saving everybody's sanity, particularly your father's I suspect, by not seeing you act so indecisive regarding culinary matters. If you and your father wish to take this approach, I would be more than willing to put you in contact with an experienced culinary tour guide for the LA area.

CURRENTLY HAVE RESERVATIONS AT...

Lucques (have reservation for Sunday Supper)

Jar (have reservation Monday, but thinking about cancelling, as I hear Mozzarella Mondays may be on the way out)

Manresa (have reservation for Tuesday dinner)

Chez Panisse (have reservation for Wednesday dinner downstairs)

←

tupac, you really need to cancel that Monday night reservation from Jar ... now ...

There are better places in LA for Italian food, IMO. In fact, let me PM you about the best Italian chef in Los Angeles. Oh, did I get your attention?

You need to be your father's son, tupac, and honor your father's culinary requests: Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles and Chinese dim sum.

There's a Roscoe's on Lake Blvd. in Pasadena, a 10-15 minute drive from Cal Tech. Eating at Roscoe's for lunch on Monday would be a great time to fit it in your schedule, as you two visit Cal Tech.

Trying Chinese dim sum on a Sunday morning would be the best time. You won't be able to have it on Sat. night , Sun. night or all day Monday. Tuesday, you leave for Manresa at 6:30 p.m. in Los Gatos. Having dim sum with 6-8 people to a table is ideal, because you can try a greater variety of dishes. If you and your father want to, you should post an ISO in the California forum to invite others to join you for some dim sum. Just an idea ...

With your schedule in LA, here's my suggested itinerary (culinary & otherwise) for you and your father:

Sat. night: La Terza

Sat. late night (where 11 p.m. is early): Sweet Lady Jane; Hollywood Blvd, Thai Town & Koreatown (until 3 a.m.)

Sun. morning: Chinese dim sum (i.e., NBC Seafood in Monterey Park; Empress Pavilion in Chinatown)

Sun. afternoon: Farmer's Market/The Grove (3rd & Fairfax); Boule

Sun. night: Lucques

Mon. morning: Cal Tech tour

Mon. afternoon: Roscoe's

Mon. night: Spago or Providence

Tues. morning: Leaving for Los Gatos

I hope this gives you a more organized look, a little more structure, you being a practical M.E. instead of an E.E., ehh?? Because your visit is located in Pasadena, east of downtown LA, eating at restaurants over in Santa Monica & the Westside would seem a bit impractical ... for this trip. Of course, you will get accepted to Cal Tech and you'll be moving out to Southern California, correct??

[Ling]

We took 2 separate trips down to San Fran and LA to eat recently. I scanned your list and we hit some of the places you're considering.

You might want to look at this thread, where we chronicled our 2.5 day San Fran/Napa eating extravaganza. San Fran/Napa trip

In short, we loved Chez Panisse cafe, Tartine, Bouchon Bakery, Don Giovanni (in Napa) and we also very much enjoyed The French Laundry.

We did not like Michael Mina. The Slanted Door was OK, but I'm sure we could have chosen a better place for lunch.

In LA, we were less fortunate with our food picks. We only had 1 day in LA, and tried to fit a lot in. I liked Beard Papa, but it is what it is--a good cream puff. I didn't think Boule or Sweet Lady Jane were very good at all. SLJ is probably the worst bakery I've ever eaten at. We didn't think the roast beef dip at Phillipe's was anything special either. I wouldn't go there again.

Providence was good, but we probably wouldn't go again because I'm pretty sure there's better food to be had for that amount of money. It is probably somewhere in the Top 20 meals I had this year thus far.

A friend recently flew down to have a birthday dinner at Fifth Floor (he is a restauranteur, if that lends him any clout ) and he wasn't impressed with the food at all. He said the service was also quite inattentive.

Edited August 9, 2006 by Ling (log)

[tupac17616]

tupac17616, I think you should seriously consider using the services of experienced culinary tour guides[...]

tupac, you really need to cancel that Monday night reservation from Jar ... now ...

There are better places in LA for Italian food, IMO. [...]

You need to be your father's son, tupac, and honor your father's culinary requests: Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles and Chinese dim sum. 

eGullet itself is all the tour guide we need! Seriously, though, we'll have it sorted out soon enough. The main hindrance to that being finished yet is that there aren't crystal clear standout places I feel like I have to visit in the LA area and the SF area; that, and I have also not reviewed the list much with my dad. There just hasn't been much time. And I don't think either one of us is at risk of losing sanity in trying to make these choices. It's food we're talking about here, people! Having such a wealth of options is a good problem to have.

Lucques is definite. Manresa & Chez Panisse (and hopefully TFL) are the places I most look forward to checking out, so those are definite, too. The starting point (LA area) and end point (SF area) are the question marks that remain. They'll get cleared up, though. Just takes time.

BTW, a couple of new guidelines that have come up the past couple of days:

-- No Italian food in LA. That was my call. I'm not as intrigued with the menus of several places I've seen in LA as I am with a couple of Italian places in SF (Incanto, A16, etc).

-- Nothing north of San Francisco that doesn't involve Thomas Keller.

-- No dim sum anywhere outside of San Francisco. That was my dad's doing. He's got it in his head that dim sum anywhere else in the state will be inferior to that in San Francisco. I can't say that I agree, but it's a detail I'll adhere to for his sake. I can get dim sum in NYC. But here in San Antonio, not so much. So I'd like for him to enjoy dim sum in California as much as possible.

I've updated the lists above to reflect these and some other changes.

You might want to look at this thread, where we chronicled our 2.5 day San Fran/Napa eating extravaganza.  San Fran/Napa trip

In LA, we were less fortunate with our food picks. [...] I didn't think Boule or Sweet Lady Jane were very good at all. SLJ is probably the worst bakery I've ever eaten at.

Thanks for the link, and all the advice regarding some specific places! Very helpful.

Can you explain what was so bad about SLJ? I'd seen some kind of berry cake or some sort on their website that looked quite good, but with words like that coming from the Official eGullet Queen of All Things Sweet, maybe I should re-think.

Edited August 9, 2006 by tupac17616 (log)

[Hest88]

-- No dim sum anywhere outside of San Francisco. That was my dad's doing. He's got it in his head that dim sum anywhere else in the state will be inferior to that in San Francisco.

That would be quite a shame, because although there are a number of really, really good dim sum restaurants in the Bay Area (NOT in SF proper so much, though), much of the Asian food, including Chinese, is superior in So Cal.

[rjwong]

-- No Italian food in LA.  That was my call.  I'm not as intrigued with the menus of several places I've seen in LA as I am with a couple of Italian places in SF (Incanto, A16, etc).

tupac17616, you wrote something completely different in the e-mail you sent me when I wrote to you about La Terza. Are you being ... uhh ... indecisive?? I might have to do a Regis on you and ask: Is that your FINAL answer?

-- Nothing north of San Francisco that doesn't involve Thomas Keller.

Now that sounds rather decisive. Are you a Kellerite?

-- No dim sum anywhere outside of San Francisco.  That was my dad's doing. He's got it in his head that dim sum anywhere else in the state will be inferior to that in San Francisco.  I can't say that I agree, but it's a detail I'll adhere to for his sake.  I can get dim sum in NYC.  But here in San Antonio, not so much.  So I'd like for him to enjoy dim sum in California as much as possible.

Your father can have it all, tupac17616: Eat dim sum in Los Angeles and in San Francisco. He doesn't have to participate in the "full dim sum experience." Personally, I order some dumplings from the Chinese deli and take it back home. Besides, you're dragging him all over California (and/or vice-versa), ehh?? Your father deserves a few perks. It's his trip too!!

[tupac17616]

-- No Italian food in LA.  That was my call.  I'm not as intrigued with the menus of several places I've seen in LA as I am with a couple of Italian places in SF (Incanto, A16, etc).

tupac17616, you wrote something completely different in the e-mail you sent me when I wrote to you about La Terza. Are you being ... uhh ... indecisive?? I might have to do a Regis on you and ask: Is that your FINAL answer?

Not being indecisive in the least. I had that thought about Italian food in LA from the beginning. Was not really interested in the places that had been suggested (here on eG and elsewhere): Angelini Osteria, Il Grano, Trattoria Tre Venezie, etc. What I wrote you about La Terza was written well after I'd made the post you quoted above. (Both are 100% accurate, btw). And my response that e-mail had much more to do with my recognition of a great opportunity for an enjoyable evening than any desire to eat (or not eat) a certain type of food that night.

-- Nothing north of San Francisco that doesn't involve Thomas Keller.

Now that sounds rather decisive. Are you a Kellerite?

My reasoning on that was that if we weren't able to snag a cancellation spot at TFL, we would like to spend as much time in San Francisco on Thursday as possible, since we've never been to there, either, and it's a city we'd like to explore.

-- No dim sum anywhere outside of San Francisco.  That was my dad's doing. He's got it in his head that dim sum anywhere else in the state will be inferior to that in San Francisco.  I can't say that I agree, but it's a detail I'll adhere to for his sake.  I can get dim sum in NYC.  But here in San Antonio, not so much.  So I'd like for him to enjoy dim sum in California as much as possible.

Your father can have it all, tupac17616: Eat dim sum in Los Angeles and in San Francisco. He doesn't have to participate in the "full dim sum experience." Personally, I order some dumplings from the Chinese deli and take it back home. Besides, you're dragging him all over California (and/or vice-versa), ehh?? Your father deserves a few perks. It's his trip too!!

Argh! Why do I feel like I'm on the defense stand in this post?!

The idea for no dim sum outside SF was my father's choice, as I stated above, and I felt I should honor that. FWIW, I was interested in NBC Seafood in Monterey Park (with a stop at Kee Wah Bakery afterwards) and Mission 261 in San Gabriel before he made that specific reqeust about the dim sum and I took those off the list.

[ludja]

Just a small note on some logistics--- Tartine and Mitchell's Ice Cream are close by together in the Mission district so they could be lumped together. It's It ice cream bars are typically sold in the frozen case of small corner convenience stores or at gas stations. I'm not sure if they are down in LA or not but I'd check the freezer case at each gas station you hit. You might run across them this way.

Roughly how many lunches and dinners do you think you'll have in SF in addition to the places you already have reservations for? And can you recap what you have reservations for in the Bay Area so far?

Edited August 10, 2006 by ludja (log)