Baker and Banker: Upscale Food at a Fair Price

A small group joined this month, but nonetheless we had a culinary feast diving into the chef's tasting menu at Baker and Banker. This new restaurant occupies the former space of Quince - one of our all time best dine abouts. This place had a lot to live up to, and it did!

This month diners included Phu, Winnie, Jon and Mollie. A mighty foursome, we had an intimate and enjoyable evening with superb food, pleasant atmosphere, and friendly, if not top tier, service. We all said we want to come back!

Food: 91
The tasting menu was filled with fresh ingredients, . We started with a panko crusted mozzarella ball with basil and some type of tomato puree. Very nice way to get our palates going! This was followed by a dish of asparagus, with poached egg, and watercress - a very nice mix of flavors and textures. We then moved on to one of the highlights of the evening a snapper lightly grilled with a crispy exterior over a tart curry noodle dish. Lots of flavors that all meshed well together. We then added an extra course - we had to have the pappadelle with short ribs and English peas, even though this wasn't part of the tasting menu! We were so glad we added this - it was probably our favorite dish of the night (along with the snapper.) The meat course let us down a bit. They served us dishes of the rabbit wrapped in bacon and two dishes of the new york steak (they mixed the steak in because they ran out of rabbit.) We were happy to be able to try another dish, but neither really impressed. The gnocchi on both dishes was great, and the rich sauce on the steak was really nice, but overall they fell flat. Finally, the baked Alaskan for desserts was extremely good - a great mix of textures and again, flavors, but very rich and the portions were really too large. All in all, the food was very strong, a great mix of ingredients and flavors and very creative. Jon ordered the wine pairings which were decent, but nothing special.

Atmosphere: 87
Nice, inviting, allowed for easy conversation, but nothing that knocked our socks off (let's just say it wasn't the chef's table in the kitchen like at Quince!) Kind of a '40s French feel.

Service: 87
We enjoyed our waiter - he was very attentive and very friendly. But, not very refined. I asked about one of the ingredients in a dish (I think it was yuzu) and he had no idea what it was. Phu had to inform him, nicely of course! But, that said, they made sure we were taken care of, all plates were cleared promptly and new utensils appeared just when needed. I did think the pacing was fairly slow, and I especially didn't like how they brought Jon's wine pairing up to 15 or 20 minutes before the course came that it was pairing!

Value: strong
A tasting menu for $55! By the time you add in all the extras it's not a bargain. But we felt like the quality of food, along with the inviting atmosphere and attentive service made this a very enjoyable experience for a fair price.

Hope to see you all in June!

Saison: a 9 course delight

Phu once again keeps us on the cutting edge of culinary innovation. We dined at Saison last month, a little gem tucked away behind a skanky bar in the mission. Doesn't sound inviting. . . don't be fooled! You walk through a gravel driveway past the aforementioned bar and step into a small but charming kitchen. You are literally in the kitchen. You walk through and enter into the dining room. The whole room is probably 16 x 16 feet with maybe 9 small tables lining the room and one gigantic table occupying the center. This was our table!

Dining this month were the Phan's, Carter's, Lehmann, Jason, Tim and Laura. It's been a month and we're actually off to our May Dine About in a little while, so I'll do my best here. . . overall, we had a top rate experience and would definitely recommend this place to those who appreciate culinary adventure & excellence.

1. Food - 94
outstanding - one of our best. Very creative, unique and fresh ingredients paired beautifully. Really original and expensive ingredients (e.g., wild caviar en gelee, asparagus roasted with bonito & sea urchin, etc.) A few standouts: the caviar, the farm egg with smoked butter and golden trout roe, the asparagus were perfectly cooked, the scallops with green peas were divine, and the point reyes inverness and sun toasted walnuts would make a cheese plate for dinner lover out of anyone! The biggest hit, though, was the lamb. To give you a sense for how good it was. . . Winnie said that while she really can't stand lamb and has "never liked any lamb I've tried, but this lamb I wouldn't give it up. It wasn't gamey at all." 9-courses that kept us guessing and salivating all night!

They paired each course with a different, complementary wine. The wine was very good, and the pourings were very generous.

2. Atmosphere - 85
This is a tiny place, did I mention it's stuck behind a bar in the mission? I love that you walk through the kitchen to get to the dining room and can casually say hi to all the staff., Very intimate. However, as charming as all this was, there was a big problem in my opinion. The table was just too big. Yes, we originally reserved a space for 10 and we ended up with 8, but the table was just too wide, making conversation extremely difficult.

3. Service - 89
There were more waitstaff than diners. They swooped in like a coordinated orchestra serving each of the 9 courses. Phu and Winnie both thought it would have been nice for someone to greet us when we sat down and explain how things worked. Phu said, "with the large wait staff, I didn’t like the fact that there didn’t seem to be someone in charge of our table." There was a lot of confusion over how the wine would work and no one seemed ready to explain to us how the evening would flow. Apparently, though, Phu argued that we should have known by their website how it worked, and that people go there knowing what to expect. (in other words, you foolish novices! Do your homework.) One other addition to the ratings debate, Lehmann specifically felt like the service rating could go higher than my original rating of 87 - she felt like we had a great experience!

4. value - mixed reviews on this one. This place isn't cheap. But, then again, we got 9 courses including some very expensive, extravagant ingredients. A lot of the cost was in the wine, as usual, but as previously mentioned the pourings were very generous. I would have preferred to pair down on the extravagance and make it a little more reasonable. But, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for. We got an amazing array of cuisine that you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else except maybe from the likes of French Laundry (and pay beaux coup $$$$).

We're off to Baker and Banker in a few hours. But, I must mention that attendence has been down in recent months. We're expecting just 4 of us tonight. We hope to keep attendence strong in coming months so that we can carry on this tradition! Mark your calendars now for the first Saturday in June. Let's make it a grand coming back for all of you long time readers, been a long time since diners!

Bar Bambino: Forgettable but Good

I have to caveat this posting before I even start. It's now March 30th and we dined at Bar Bambino on March 13th. You know what that means. At least I wrote down the ratings the night we dined, but beyond that my memory is a little hazy! Fellow diners - please chime in!

This was our first Saturday night Dine About, and I would say it was a success. At least Jon was more awake than usual. Diners included: Phu and Winnie, Cecilia, Jon and Mollie, and Julia (Mollie's sister visiting from Phoenix.) I think I win the award for most Dine Abouts with family members. Given my caveat above, let's go right to the ratings:

Food: 85
Nothing was bad, but nothing really surprised or delighted. Good antipasti to start (with some added wine thanks to Jon. . .wait, maybe he wasn't as awake as I thought). Desserts were good, but again, not amazing. The receipt shows we had halibut, macchiatoo (don't even know what that is), octopus salad, papardelle, piatti special and veal chop. For the life of me, I can't recall these dishes. I think that says something in and of itself!

Atmosphere: 85
Had a cool, hip Mission feel to it. The wood paneling made us feel as if we were in a swedish sauna. We sat at a common table and had a group of pre-theater women diners join us.

Service: 75
Can't remember why it wasn't good beyond Winnie getting peas in her lap. . . but that should be enough for a 75, right?

Value: 90
At least the bill was reasonable!

Let's hope I make it to this Saturday's Dine About and write up our ratings in quick fashion. This Saturday at Saison is a special one Phu has been looking forward to for a while now. . .so come back soon to read all about it! Or, better yet, join us on Saturday!

Mochica - Muy Bien y Great Value

Dine About was resurrected this month! After several months of very low turn out (only the Phans at the last couple), we rallied the troops and confirmed that DASF is still alive and kicking!!

We dined at Mochica - specializing in Peruvian cuisine. Out for a foodie Friday night this time around were: The Phan's and Carter's sans babies and kids, and Lehmann and Jason. DASF is not new to Peruvian fare, having dined at La Mar and Lemon in past years. The group was unanimous that Mochica's food was the best of the 3, though atmosphere and service did not really stand out. We tasted a lot of different food and not one missed the mark. We would all recommend Mochica as a great place to meet up with friends and have a solid dinner out.

Note - for future months we are switching our long standing Friday night tradition and will be dining on Saturday night instead. With so many parents now in our ranks (i.e., parents who are exhausted on Friday night & have no plans on Saturday nights), we think Saturday will be a nice change and motivate more of us to join in. Hope to see everyone in March - when we will be dining on the 2nd Friday of the month.

Ratings:

Food: 89. I loved the freebie on the table - garbanzo beans with corn, onions, and spices. I could have just eaten this for dinner! We ordered lots of small plates to start - the ceviche was fresh and tart, the empanada were very nice - savory inside with a bit of frosted sugar outside, nice combo. The dinners were all very nice. The standouts: halibut stuffed with shrimp and a nice side of mashed sweet potato, paella was solid, fried fish plate - who doesn't love lightly fried fish?!, the lamb was quite rare but bursting with flavor. Lomo al jugo (similar to lomo saltado) was probably our least favorite - meat was a little tough. Desserts were nothing to write home about - they seemed like an after thought for this little restaurant.

Service: 82

Pace felt overly rushed (we were done in about 2 hours). Missed all the little things. . .serving spoons brought late (so many restaurants fail here!), no explanation of what dish was what, slow on the water refills, no coffee/tea refills, and overall while not unpleasant, just not very interesting waitstaff.

Atmosphere: 80

Amazing to us there is even a restaurant at 5th and Harrison - but certainly no surprising oasis awaiting you when you step inside. A nice/basic place, but nothing that stood out except the pictures on the wall were hung very high and ominously loomed over our heads. It was crowded while we were there and that made it very noisy.

Value: very good

One of our lowest price dine abouts - even with 2 pitchers of sangria, tons of appetizers, and an extra plate of food (that we had no problem devouring!)

RN74: Chic in style, solid food

Dine About was back on in October after a brief respite in September. Unfortunately, in September, due to births, impending births, travel and other excuses, for the first time in it's history, Dine About did not take place. But, a core group of diners made up for it in October dining at RN74 - a restaurant in Michael Mina's empire. This was a "make-up" after a water main break in August closed the restaurant on the night of our reservation (see Aug09 write up below).

In attendance this month were the Phan's, including a first appearance from Reina, 3 weeks old - perhaps our youngest member to make dinner; the Cho's with baby still in utero; Peter - his first DASF appearance; and the Carter's, including 10 week old Zoë making her 2nd Dine About appearance.

Expectations were high for RN74, given that it is a Michael Mina restaurant. On style and hippness, RN74 knocked it out of the park. The service was also particularly good. Appetizers and desserts shined, but main dishes, as we often find, were lackluster. Value was on par - not a bargain, but not over the top. All in all, we had a very enjoyable dinner, we felt like we were part of a fun scene, and all the food was solid. I would recommend RN74 to anyone looking for a hip night out with some very fine food.

On to the scores. . .

Food: 83. Appetizers were fantastic. Agnolotti pasta with inspiring shitake mushrooms, tempura mushrooms, and the blue prawns were favorites. Hamachi got mixed reviews. None of the main courses surprised us, but all were well done. Halibut was perfectly cooked, but a little bland. Chicken was also on the bland side. Duck was enjoyed by some, but not others. Green beans seemed to be everyone's favorite. We ended on a high note with excellent sweets: pumpkin beignets, bread pudding, and a cool and delicate panna cotta (still not as good as Zuppa, though.) The coffee served with french press service was outstanding - felt like I really was in France! We also chose on of the wines on their "train schedule board" which lists their wines that only have limited supply left. After we ordered the Launois champagne, it was removed from the board. I nice gimick.

Service: 92 Started off with a hitch, but a quick recovery and flawless for the rest of the evening. The hitch was no plates for our 1st course - we used our bread plates until the manager noticed their mistake. Our waiter was friendly and knowledgeable telling us about the founding of the restaurant and it's decor (inspired by the RN74 thorough way in France - with subtle references to the old train stations in France).

Atmosphere: 93 Very chic style. Creative lighting, music was on the loud side but we were still able to converse with ease. The baby's liked all the noise and both slept like, well, babies!

See you in November!

Zinnia - a very belated review!

In June, we had the pleasure of holding the 5-year anniversary of Dine About a Zinnia's, the new restaurant situated in the former Scott Howard space. In attendance were the Phans, Lehman Koo, Avis Klinke, and the Minns, while two other scheduled attendees were MIA due to back injuries and lack of babysitters.

We sat in the Chef's table area closest to the kitchen with a specially prepared menu for our group. I've scanned a copy of the menut and it is available here. As it's been a while I can't recall all the details, so please feel free to add to this blog.

Food = 88

The bread they started us off with was warm, delicious and crusty, with a perfect olive oil and balsamic vinegar mix for dipping. The Ahi Tuna poke was very refreshing with the cucumber and shiso sauce, while the Asparagus salad was well complimented with capers. However, my favorite of the three appetizers was the chilled Thai Coconut Soup with Dungeness crab - a little on the salty side, but with a nice touch of ginger.

The second course was solid overall. Rigatoni pasta with foie gras cream; seared scallops in lobster sauce with crispy potatoes, and the creamy risotto with English peas were all cooked well.

The main course included poached Alaskan halibut with heirloom carrots and saffron sauce, grilled hanger steak with green peppercorn sauce and fries, and a seared organic chicken roulade with bacon jus. The halibut was the favorite, followed by the tender and juicy organic chicken. The main disappointment of the night was the Hanger steak - while the green peppercorn sauce and the fries were delicious, they couldn't save an over-cooked and tough steak.

For dessert we sampled warm chocolate mousse over an eclair with cocoa fruit parfait - a chocolate lovers dream dessert, while the thyme scone with champagne, strawberries, and balsamic sorbet was a fruity and light contrast.

Ambiance = 90
While the restaurant was not very crowded, and there wasn't much updating of the decor from the Scott Howard incarnation, it was still a warm and inviting space. The new light fixtures were quite pleasant and welcoming.

Service = 87
My memory of the service is that it could have been a somewhat better - our waiter took quite a long time to bring out water and the first courses.

Phan's Save the Day with Chez Spencer

We were originally scheduled to dine at Michael Mina's RN74. However, an hour before our reservation the restaurant called to say there was a leak in the Millenium Tower where they are located and they had been forced to shut down for the night.

What's a committed (with babysitters in place) group to do???? Phu and Winnie to the rescue! The Phan's were quick to act and found us a suitable alternate restaurant - Chez Spencer near the Mission. A great big extra thank you to our fearless leaders for finding us a fun alternate home for the evening!!

In attendance - many of our usuals. . .the Phan's (last prego DASF for Winnie!), the Minn's (both Ken and Mo!), Lehmann (announcing a new home purchase - congrats!!), and the Carter's including our newest member, Zoë (who did very well sleeping to all the white noise and I think will be invited back!)

Overall, Chez Spencer was a pleasurable dining experience. The cozy atmosphere is where they out shined, while the food was quite good, but service lacking (maybe that was to be expected given the French theme!) I would recommend this restaurant as a quaint neighborhood establishment, with above average food.

The ratings (disclaimer - I again have mostly forgotten the exact ratings. . .so diners, please feel free to correct me!)

1. Food = 88
We chose the chef's tasting menu at $60/person - a good value (before you add drinks in of course!) They were flexible enough to substitute one of the dishes for those not eating shell fish or fois gras. The bouillabaisse soup started us off with a bang. A bit spicy and creamy. The 2nd course was a choice between Fois Gras - rich, with a nice blackberry accompaniment - and scallops - cooked perfectly with a nice green sauce (not sure what this sauce was, but very tasty!). The main courses were either the filet mignon (tender, tasty) and sturgeon - both served with tasty mushroom morsels. Finally, for dessert we had a strawberry granita (good, but average - not up to the lemon/mint granita served by the Carters a few weeks ago) and a chocolate cake/pudding - perfect for those needing a chocolate fix!

2. Atmosphere = 92
Small, a cozy romantic feel, a nice buzz without being too loud, subtle mood lighting - perfect!

3. Service = 82
The pace of the courses was extremely slow, which would have been ok if we hadn't started dinner after 9pm and then been hovered over to leave when we finally finished the meal around midnight. Staff lacked much personality, and a switch to the closing staff late in our meal felt very abrupt.

See you in September!

Luce - Innovation Delivers!

This month we dined on the 2nd Friday of the month due to the July 4th holiday. A very small, but committed group of diners - Phu, Winnie, and me - carried on the tradition this month. We dined at Luce, located inside the 1 yr old Interncontinental Hotel in Soma. Phu led us here to experience the "perfect marriage of local flavors and global inspiration of the New American cuisine" of Dominique Crenn, Esquire's chef of the year in 2008. And, this chef's reputation did not disappoint.

The dishes were extremely original, while maintaining a certain simplicity that made for easy enjoyment. While the economy seems to be having a big impact (there were very few other diners in this beautiful, large open space) - it was to our benefit. . . we received helpful, attentive service and thoroughly enjoyed our whole experience! On to the ratings. . .

Food = 92
All 3 of us felt the food was fantastic. A large baby greens salad satisfied all. The one dish that failed was the raw surf and turf. Ordered for Phu only, it was an interesting idea - a roll cut into thin slices of beef and seafood, it was mushy with muddled flavors. The pasta dishes were excellent - very rich and perfectly cooked. The stand out of the night was the parpadelle with short ribs. The entrees were excellent as well. The flat iron steak was tasty and tender, especially the ox tail it came with. The dory fish was very good - especially the potatoes and mushrooms it came with. Finally, we were all full given the large portion sizes, but we managed to try the rhubarb napoleon highly recommended by our waiter. Again, a very unique dish, with very thin wafers with pieces of jellied like rhubarb and refreshing basil ice cream.

Service = 90
Very attentive and friendly. Nothing was missing (water always full, new place settings after each course), and they actually brought the entrees out with 3 portions on each plate for easy sharing. The waiter got a little overexcited with the water early on in the meal, but we think he was actually the maitre'd filling in given the low volume of clientele.

Ambiance = 90
A very comfortable, interesting space. A large room, modern decorations, easy to talk since we had a small table and there were very few other diners. Phu liked the comfy chairs with arms.

Overall - I would definitely recommend Luce. Very original, excellent food, a pleasing atmosphere for a sophisticated meal, and not too bad on the value scale!

Happy Dining,
Mollie

Field Trip to Yountville for Ad Hoc: Enjoyable Details but Main Course Misses

SF Dine About hit the trail in May and with 6 adventurous-babysitters in place-members of our group we journeyed up to Yountville for a night away! We were all excited for what awaited us at Ad Hoc. This is Thomas Keller's "locals joint". This was a temporary dining room Mr. Keller set up while renovating the French Laundry. But the locals liked it so much, Mr. Keller kept it open. It's a simple set up - 1 menu each night. Everyone in the restaurant has the same menu and food is served family style at your table.

Expectations were high - this may be a locals joint, but it is Thomas Keller after all. The problem, I believe, was that our expectations may have been too high. Overall it was a very enjoyable evening and the attention to detail was not missed. But, when the main course fails to impress, there's not much you can do to recover. I would still recommend it to others. It's a fun way to dine (no big decisions, lots of sharing), all the little details are right on, the service is strong, and who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and have a great main course!

On to the ratings. A note from management. . .these ratings reflect the somewhat obscure recollection of one member of our group. It's been a month since our dinner and I'm having trouble recalling my own ratings, let alone those of the entire group. If you were at Ad Hoc and feel I am off in my memory - please add a note and let us all know!

Food: mid 80s

Great salads (though some thought a little salty). Great butter. It's a little thing, but the butter for the bread was a local variety and was smooth and rich. Then the trouble began - the pork tenderloins. They were perfectly cooked, very moist, but no flavor. Really, very bland. We all agreed we'd had better pork from Messr. Phan. Desserts were delightful and the real stand out was the special course of local cheeses, nuts, and a wonderful honey. The perfect combination.

Phu - To add to Mollie's comment on the Pork Tenderloin, they were cooked sous vide method, a new trendy form of poaching that I feel is overdone these days (some thanks to Top Chef Season 3 Winner Hung Huynh). The result was the most perfectly cooked pork tenderloin I have ever sink my teeth into, tender, moist and juicy. However, without the seared mark or sizzle, the pork just lacks flavor.

Atmosphere: 90

Casual, but modern. We had a nice table of 6 where we could all easily converse. And, getting away for the night, all of us parents were in a state of bliss.

Service: 92

I remember the waiter was very helpful to the 3 pregnant ladies - making sure we knew what was pasteurized and what wasn't. New plates and settings were all perfectly timed with each course.

Value: this would have been good value, but we opted as we usually do for a quite expensive bottle of bubbly that put us over the top! Salud!

Next up. . . .SF Dine About hits 5 years!!

Midi - Excellent food and service but will it survice in this tough economy?

For the April 2009 DASF - we had a very nice dinner at Midi. In attendance are the Phans, the Minns, Lehman, Jason, Tim and his date (Dani's aunt from Brazil). The Executive Chef at Midi was a Chronicle Rising Star Chefs in 2006 and formerly the head chef at Ponzu. The cuisine is Cal-Med and focuses on using local, sustainable, and organic ingredients whenever possible.

Midi or "mid-district" is adjacent to the Galleria Park Hotel and has a modern feel to it. We were seated in the cozy, upper section of the restaurant.

Food = 88
Excellent appetizers all around, especially the salads (mixed mesclun salad with shaved green apples, fennel in a red wine vinaigrette dressing and the warn seafood salad with fava beans). The Hawaiian Kampachi crudo was clean tasting and nicely flavor. For entrees, we had the pan-fried skate wings, pan-roasted local rock cod, roasted chicken and pappardelle with fine herbes. All dishes had good flavor and cook perfectly. The only minor complaint was that some thought the pappardelle was a little too salty. I can tell Dani's aunt really enjoyed the food.

Atmosphere = 85
The space at Midi is modern and stylish. It is a small space but with the right amount of mirrors, it has the feel of a much larger restaurant.

Service = 90
The service was solid overall. The waitress was very friendly and attentive. The rest of the dining room staff were also very pleasant.

Side note - of the San Francisco restaurants in T&L's list of 50 best new US restaurants that are not casual, take-out or breakfast/lunch joints, we managed to dined at all that are listed (The Moss Room, Spruce and La Mar).

http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/50-best-new-us-restaurants-2009

La Mar Cebicheria Peruana – a beautiful waterfront restaurant that specializes in Ceviche

On March 6th, DASF dined at the highly popular restaurant of Latin America’s celebrity chef Gastón Acurio, who has plans to introduced his concept of Peruvian Cebicheria to the Americas. Acurio has elevated Peruvian food to white-table cloth status. In attendance were the Phans’, Tim and his mom from Portland, Terry, Jen and Errol, Lehman and Jason and my neighbor Peter.

Food = 87
Due to the size of our group, they requested us to go with the set menu (see image).

Para Comenzar
The Cebiche Clasico was very good and on par with Limon’s. The Tiradito Clasico (similar to Japanese Sashimi but with marinate) was rather bland. The Ensalada Nikei (green papaya and jicama salad with rocoto dressing) was solid. Everyone loved the Causa Casera (purple potato puree), the toppings were especially delicious.

Especiales
As for the two main course seafood specials, both the Chorillana (roasted striped sea bass filet) and Atun (seared Peruvian spiced Ahi tuna) were cooked perfectly and has good flavor. Although some thought the sea bass filet was a little too salty.

The Lomo Saltado (traditional Peruvian style beef tenderloin stir-fry top with fries) was a solid and hearty dish and the Piqueo was a disappointment – perhaps it is because they left out a few items (Peruvian corn and the Chalaca salsa) and the servers failed to tell us.

Postres
For dessert, the two chef’s choice dessert we got were the Picarones (traditional warm pumpkin and sweet potato fritters with spiced Chancaca honey) and the Tiramisu de lúcuma. The Picarones were pretty good but the Tiramisu tasted just like those from the frozen section of your local Safeway.

All in all, the food at La Mar was pretty good but for the price we paid, it was not a good value. We can get just as good Peruvian food at Limon or Fresca for half the price. Lehmann did us right again with her wine selection – a Rioja from Allende.

Atmosphere = 90
La Mar is a swanky restaurant with beautiful views of the San Francisco Bay. The dining room is highlighted by a huge open kitchen and an impressive Ceviche bar that glow blue at the bottom (like the sea) and show cases pristine pieces of fresh fishes. The only complaint we had was that the sound travels and the space is very loud. We could hardly hear each other at our own table.

Service = 75
Lackadaisical service. All our waiter did was took our order and was rarely seen again. The food runners did a good job of explaining some of the courses. The worse offense was when they brought us a dish that was missing two key items. We had to ask another waitress about it and she corrected the mistake by bringing us the missing items but only for one of our two dishes. Definitely room for improvement here.

Joey & Eddie's - Maggianos or Buca di Beppo for the Yuppies??

Joey & Eddie's - Maggianos or Buca di Beppo for the Yuppies??

On February 5th, DASF returned to San Francisco after Pampas didn’t live up to expectation of a Brazilian Churrascaria. DASF dined at Joey and Eddie', which took over the space that Moose’s occupied for the previous 16 years. Moose’s served very good food and was a fun place to go for brunches and dinners. The space/location has great energy and is in a great location overlooking Washington Square in North Beach. I was very excited to hear that Joey Manzare (Exec chef of Zuppa and Globe) is going to serve Italian classic dishes family-style in an upscale setting. Moving here from Philly (and nearby Jersey and NYC) with many great Italian restaurants, I felt that SF is missing this type of Italian restaurant. In attendance were the Phans’, the Currys’, Lehman and Jason.

Food = 85
The menu has many Italian classics like Spaghetti and Meatballs, Caesar Salad, Fried Calamari, Linguini and Clams. In addition, J&E has a nightly special and on Friday, it was Market Fish. To start, we had the J&E salad - your basic Italian-style mix of iceberg and romaine lettuce with salami, Parmesan shavings and tomato bits awash in oil and vinegar, decent but nothing special. We also had the Baked Clams Oreganatta that was nicely season and delicious. Jason specially requested the Sweet Italian Sausage in Iron Skillet. The sausage has excellent flavors and would have been a big hit but it was over salted.

For the main courses, we ordered two pastas, a meat and a fish to share. The Spaghetti and Meatballs arrived with 3 large tennis ball size meatballs, the pasta was perfectly cooked and the sauce was very good. Perfect with the Garlic Bread we ordered. The second pasta, Spaghetti with Chubby Crab, has very little crab and didn’t taste very good. It was a disappointing dish! For the fish, we ordered the evening special – Oven roasted Arctic Char. It was a large piece of Char – perfectly cooked with crispy skin and moist and tender flesh. The accompany gnocchi was light and pillowy with a thin crust on the outside – very tasty. Finally, we had the Pork Braciole, Pork Ribs, Meatballs and Sausage in a Tomato Gravy. It was a huge platter of meat. The sauce was excellent and the meat tender.

For dessert, we ordered the Cannoli per the waitress’s recommendation and of course, we must have the Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta (since Joey Manzare’s Zuppa had one of the best Panna Cottas). Both desserts were quite good but the Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta was not quite as good as the Meyer Lemon Panna Cotta we had at Zuppa.

Overall, with the exception of the flavor-less Spaghetti with Chubby Crab and the over-salt Sweat Sausage, the food at J&E were pretty good and the portions were huge! The menu is a little too limited. With a brick over, they could have featured it more and have more dishes come from it.

Atmosphere = 83
J&E didn’t altered the space much. We had a booth table by the open kitchen. The table was comfortable and the conversation flows but something was missing – it lacked the energy that Moose’s had. Our reservation was at 8pm on a rainy Friday night and the place was two third empty. Even with the rain, this place should be pack with a great location like that.

Service = 70
Lackadaisical service. Our waitress was friendly and nice but only checked on us maybe twice. We waited for a long time before our orders we taken and there was a long wait between courses. When we had leftovers from our main courses, the busboy dropped two bags right in the middle of our table before we even had desserts and coffee/tea.

Joey & Eddies has potential to be something like Moose’s. The service needs to be improved and the menu expanded to highlight their wood burning oven more.

Lastly – the “Jon” at J&E is not worth a haiku.

Pampas in Palo Alto - a far cry from Brazil

On January 16, DASF ventured beyond the SF city limits to Palo Alto for what was expected to be a Brazilian culinary explosion. Unfortunately, our high hopes were drowned in mounds of non distinct meat. However, beyond the disappointing food, we once again had a great group in high spirits. 9 total diners gathered, including the Phans, Currys, Carters, Lehmann and Jason, and Avis.

It's been more than 2 weeks since we dined, so I apologize if some of the scores are different than what you all remember :) Feel free to add your own comments to my somewhat hazy recollections.

Food: 70
While the salad bar was top notch and offered probably 50 different fresh and intersting salads, the main attraction left us yearning for the real Brazilian churrasco in Rio. We tasted over 10 different types of meats, but while the beef should have been the most impressive, it fell flat with only the roasted chicken really impressing. Perhaps we've become too demanding in our tastes. . . but, our resident Brazilian, Dani, said it best when she rated the food a 7! (a record low!)

Atmoshpere: 92
Pampas is lively and modern and allowed for a good flow of conversation.

Service: 85
The pacing was off - men offering sticks of meat showed up at the table too often. We had hardly taken a bite of one dish when the next waiter came hovering. And, waiters seemed hesitent to move around the table and diners were forced to reach across each other to grab onto the meat on a stick.

All in all, we enjoyed each other's company and a new experience, but we will be glad to return to San Francisco next month!

A Modern Take on a Gastro Pub.....

After the biggest turn out for our November, 2008 DASF, we had a small and cozy DASF for December 2009 at the Urban Tavern. We got the Krugers all to ourselves.

Food = 85
Excellent Gnocchi appetizer, flavorful, light and pillowey. The grilled pork chop was perfectly cooked and the accompany black pepper and Armagnac sauce was the perfect compliment. The braised boneless short ribs and the herbed, oven roasted Branzino with Saffron & Citrus Vinaigrette were both solid. One side really stands out; the caramelized butternut squash.

Atmosphere = 83
The space at Urban Tavern was designed by one of Patricia’s Architect friend. It can be best describe as modern mixed with country western gastro pub. The exposed wood beams gives the dining a warm touch. The giant flat screen TV dominates the bar area and really give the place the “tavern” feel. However, I’m not really sure how the giant rainbow horse fits into the overall theme.

Service = 77
The service was pretty average, it’s just like what you would expect from any large hotel restaurants. Our waiter was friendly and pleasant but it took him a while to come greet us. The support staff did a decent job.

The Moss Room - Nov '08

We had the largest turn out to date for the Nov ’08 DASF at the Academy of Science’s Moss Room. The group included two first timers (Niaz and Patricia’s friend Norbert). Rounding out the group: the Phans, the Minns, the Klinkes, the Curries, Jen and Erol (back for the 2nd DASF), Patricia, Lehman and Jason. We also celebrated the Klinkes’ 5th Anniversary party…congrats again!

We had our very own private all glass room (the fish bowl) with views of the dining room, the Moss wall, kitchen and wine cellar. The Moss Room is a collaboration effort by two well known Bay area chefs, Charles Phan of the Slanted Door and Loretta Keller of CoCo500 and Bizou. The cuisine is contemporary Californian and they use only sustainable seafood and local, seasonal organic produce. The food was very solid but the service could use some refinement. Read more below.

Food = 85
Excellent salads and appetizers. The persimmon, dates, endives and radicchio salad was creative and definitely very fall. The sweetbread was light, crispy and nicely flavored. The Bavette steak was a big hit for everyone. So was the whole oven roasted Branzinos (one of my personal favorite fishes). Between, Niaz and I, the Branzinos were eaten to the bones. Every dish was simple and solid, nothing spectacular. The Biodynamic wine was interesting and decent but not at $100 a pop – definitely a novel marketing concept. All the desserts were pretty good…including the Chocolate Truffle Torte from Schubert Bakery.

Atmosphere = 87
The mossy wall dominates the room. In addition to serving as a decorative element, it also help keeps the underground room (no windows) fresh by converting the carbon dioxide we exhale into fresh oxygen. They could have chosen a better table (more rounded or oval) for the private room instead of the skinny long table. The rooms felt a little cold but that’s because the tables had no table cloths (because it takes water and energy to wash them). High marks for the hand dryer in the bathroom.

Service = 78
The service here still has plenty of room to improve. Our waitress was friendly and pleasant but she was definitely overwhelmed by the size of our party. At times, she seemed flustered and lost. I had to remind her a few times of things missing or need replacing. The rest of the support staff did a decent job.

Murray Circle in Marin: One of our Best!

This month marked the first ever Marin Dine About for our group as we trekked over the Golden Gate to Murray Circle at Cavallo Point. An impressive 12 diners made the journey to taste the creations of 2 Michelin Star chef, Joseph Humphrey. In attendance - our incredible leaders Phu and Winnie, Tim and Dani our Peninsula Shuttle, Cecilia with the active zipper and her partner in crime Victor, Mo and disappearing Ken, and rounding out the Peninsula crowd: Avis, Mollie, Lehmann and hot legs Jason.

Besides a couple service snafus, this was one of our best Dine Abouts to date (in my humble opinion, that is). The chef's tasting menu was extremely creative AND delicious, the atmosphere was warm and inviting, and with bubbly pouring all evening - it was a really fun evening. A few examples to give you a flavor for what went on. . . we did the wave - several times; Cecilia kept the conversation going with stories about her. . .ah, better leave that part out of this G rated blog; Jason shared his award winning legs; and we all enjoyed the "god damn" beets!

On to the ratings. . .

1) Food - 95 (with scores from 120 to 85)
In a word, extraordinary. 8 courses that took us on a culinary adventure. My favorites were the 1st course - the dungeness crab with bisque and kafir lime, the 3rd course - halibut wrapped in roasted fig with sassafras, orange, and fennel, and the 7th course - warm vanilla lemon pound cake with ice cold huckleberry sorbet and dollops of lavender creme. The other courses of eggs (partridge, quail, and pheasant), squab & lobster with zinfandel marmalade, rib eye with dreamy whipped turnips and god damn, er golden beets, and carpaccio watermelon with salt & pepper ice cream were all fabulous! The only course that didn't please all was the goat cheese plate - Tim thought it reminded him of smelly feet, I thought it was tasty - hmm, what does that say about my taste?! The tasting menu is the only way to go when you have the chance to experience this imaginative, extremely talented chef!

2) Atmosphere 94 (with scores from 98-85)
It was a rainy night at the old Fort Baker in Sauselito. We found our way into the bar and restaurant and were immediately invited into the warm but lively atmosphere. The dining room was crowded, but did not feel so, but instead gave off a nice buzz and an autumn energy. Our group of 12 was split into 2 tables of 6. With every couple courses 2 people switched tables - so everyone was able to catch up with everyone else. This format made for a very "lively" evening (see the examples above). I compliment the owner/host (not sure who he was) - but he welcomed us just after we arrived and was very accommodating working with our group to figure out the best arrangement and ensuring our evening started off right.

3) Service 85
A couple problems keep this score in check: 1) a waiter broke a champagne glass right on some of our diners; 2) we had asked that our tables be served in sync, but 1 table ended up receiving extremely slow service. I will say, however, the staff was very nice and at least at 1 of the tables they took great care to explain all the different ingredients we were experiencing. Very important with a tasting menu!

Value - the tasting menu is good value at $75. However, with this lively group and 6 bottles of champagne, we did quite a bit of damage on top of this! But - all in all, a fantastic evening! I will be going back.

With such success on our first outing across the bridge, I could see more adventures in our future! Happy fall dining - until next time!

CAV Wine Bar: I'll take Top Ramen instead, please

CAV wine bar had a lot going for it. Nice environment, friendly people, tasty wine, a chef who knows how to cook fish. . . but, have you ever been to a restaurant where 1 dish was just so atrocious that it ruined the entire dining experience? Well, that's what happened to us at CAV. I know, you're saying what a bunch of lunatic foodies overreacting. . .but when you pay top dollar for noodles that are worse than ramen, and you pay an automatic 20% gratuity for an evening filled with service mistakes too long to actually list - you can't just chalk it up to an off night.

Diners this month included Phu and Jon Carter and their harem (Winnie, Mollie, Avis, Patricia, and Mo.) It was a cold foggy night in the city, but our spirits were high as we started the evening. We launched with some lovely cheese selections and crisp white wine, crudo and pleasing salads. But, the food went down hill from there and the service never took off. The relative high bill at the end sealed the deal for us. . . none of these diners will be back for a 2nd tour.

Food: 73
Started strong with good, not-too-smelly cheese, nice Gem salad, salted watermelon & tomato salad, and delicate crudo. Fish plates were definitely the high light, the chef here knows how to cook fish. Very light but rich Branzino and Arctic Char were very strong. Steak underwhelmed and the lagging noodle soups were absolutely appalling. We rarely complain about anything after all our dining experiences, but this time Phu had to speak up about the poor quality of this noodle dish. We've all had better Top Ramen. Desserts held their own (especially the fig tart), but they couldn't save the other misses.

One bright spot - the wine. The white Schmelz GV Steinwandfed '06 paired nicely with the cheese, and the Limerick Lane '05 Zin was fabulous (strong notes of cherry and fig, with a soothing, but sweet aroma.)

Atmosphere: 78
This small restaurant off Market has a hip, trendy feel to it. The focus is on the wine, the music is soft, and the table was just right for good conversation. But, nothing stood out and the bathrooms don't even deserve a Jon on the Jon - not as bad as Zuppa (see previous write up), but akin to something you'd see in a low cost diner.

Service: 72
This is where CAV really fell short. While the staff was pleasant enough, there were just too many gaffes, including no explanation of the cheese we asked them to select, forgetting to bring an ordered side dish, missing water glasses for the entire meal, consistently missing serving spoons, and the list goes on.

Value: poor
Given the other ratings, we all thought the final bill was steep for what we had just experienced.

You win some, you lose some. . . we'll be back on the horse in October!

Gone to the Dark Side.....

On 08/08/08 at 8pm, DASF journeyed into the darkness…COMPLETE DARKNESS!!! We dined at Opaque/Crimson Lounge using only our smell, taste, touch and sound to taste the food. We had a fun group of diners: The Phan's, The Curry's, and the Chan’s.
When we arrived, they had us wait in the narrow crimson hallway until everyone in our party showed up and since this was the last time we will have the use of our sight for the evening, our waitress (Coco – who was legally blind) took our food ordered. The menu was a pre-fixe menu and the price is similar to those of a dinner show or cruise, except here we are paying for the experience.

Once you enter the space at Opaque, you can’t see a thing…it is complete darkness. Coco has us formed a chain and she led us to our table. Without your sense of sight, the other senses take over and are heightened. I could hear conversations nearby and smell the steak and asparagus nearby. Once seated, my hands did a lot of the "leg" work, trying to find where things were.

Now close your eyes and use your other senses for the ratings. . .

Food: 88
Normally, the food here would have received an average score of around mid-70’s to low-80’s but with our taste bud on overdrive and our sense of smell heightened, the food really do smell and taste better than they really are. It was a challenged trying to cut your meat into bite sizes and getting food into your mouth. Winnie gave up her knife and fork and used her hands instead. So I decided to toss her some of my mashed potatoes. I know there was also a lot of food thief going on.

A note on the wine. . . the ladies didn’t want us to order red wine fearing that we may purposely spill it on them but we did it anyways and the bouquet smell fabulous!

Service: 90
Coco did a good job guiding us through a fun and successful evening. We had a chance to experience for a few hours what her world is like without sight.

Atmosphere: 85
Hmmmm…close your eyes and use your imagination. The chairs were comfortable and the music was decent, although a bit too loud. The room was bit too warm but since no one can see you, you can take off as many layers as you like (right, Victor??).

Value: Going in, we had the expectation that you are paying more for the experience in addition to the food. It is like going out to a dinner show or cruise. The interesting part is that "the show" is basically about you, your senses and your friends. This was a fun experience that adventurous folks should definitely try. Definite go with friends or guests visiting.

Until September, happy dining!

The Village Pub Lives Up to Expectations - on Quality and Price

On Friday July 11, we took our annual trip south of the city for "Dine About on the Peninsula". We gathered at The Village Pub, a restaurant I have heard about for years as somewhat of a culinary institution in Woodside - the kind of place you go for a special occasion or to cut a big VC deal. Dine About is occasion enough for us! (note - Village Pub is the original dining mecca from the owners who next opened Spruce in the city - see earlier post for Spruce review.)

Diners included the regular suspects: The Phan's, The Carter's (including life of the party JC), The Klinke's back in action after a few months hiatus, The Curry's, and new diner - Phu's nephew Kevin visiting during his break between Sophomore and Junior year at George Mason.

The Village Pub did not disappoint. All dishes were very solid, it served up a great, welcoming atmosphere, and top notch service (beyond a few missteps). On to the ratings. . .

Food: 95
One of our best yet! Life of the party JC got things going with Martinis (great, if you like strong vodka martinis) and an assortment of gooey, smelly cheeses. Next, the beet salad was once again fresh, earthy, and delicious (in my humble beet loving opinion, that is). The Fois Gras was extraordinary served on fresh brioche like rolls. The charcuterie was good, but fairly average.

Dinners were all strong. Fresh, homemade tagliatelle pasta with mushrooms and crisp corn was the hit of the table. Halibut was light and fresh. Chicken, besides the very salty skin, was moist and incredibly tasty. Lamb, duck and tuna were good, but not very memorable. The panna cotta dessert was surprisingly amazing - so light and cool - I'd go back just for this. Chocolate souffle was chocolate and good, but not divine.

Special note on the wine. . . Avis and our very informative, chatty somelier delivered 2 excellent wines. The Talley '05 Rosemary Chardonnay had strong notes of pear, apple and oak, and best of all left a very subtle, smoothness lingering on the tongue. The Groth 05 Cab was spectacular. This winery is across the street from Silver Oak and it shows. Both wines were perfectly paired with the meal, but not exactly bargains! But more on value later.

Service: 91
Friendly, knowledgeable staff - including the Somelier Max who provided life of the party JC with much information on our wine choices. A couple missteps keeps the score in check - spilled water on Messr. Klinke, no serving utensils for the salad/appetizer course, less than prompt coffee service. We're a tough crowd!

Atmosphere: 95
We had a great table for 9 by the window, which allowed for an easy flow of conversation. The room buzzed without being loud. The art work didn't strike fear in us like that at Spruce!

Value: it took a couple years to find a place to exceed our record high tab at Frissone. . .but we did it at the Village Pub! We have a new record folks - mostly due to our top notch wines and cocktails!

Life of the party JC will be adding the next installment of Jon on the Jon. Stay tuned. . .

Until August, happy dining!

Anchor and Hope Delivers Great Appetizers, Average Meal in East Coast Style

A small, but mighty group came together for the June installment of Dine About SF. We dined at Anchor and Hope - the 3rd eatery from the group that brought us Town Hall and Salt House. Diners included: The Phan's, Lehmann and Jason, and Mollie.

Overall an enjoyable meal - mostly for the company, fun setting and surprising appetizers. The rest of the food failed to impress, and service was quite average, verging on disinterested. Of course, after years of extraordinary meals, our expectations are very, very high. . .

The Ratings:

Atmosphere = 90. It was no chef's table like Quince, but the charm of this east coast boathouse made for a fun evening. Airy, high ceilings, boardwalk like lamps, thick ropes hanging from the ceiling - felt like Maine! One caveat -- Anchor and Hope is lucky there was no "Jon on the Jon". I am told the bathrooms were very second rate.

Food = 82. Started out very strong and raised our hopes. Delectable appetizers of smelt (fried little fishies), oysters wrapped in bacon (can't go wrong here), and most impressive sea urchin w/ crab and the tuna belly blt - imagination that delivered! Entrees mostly pleased: solid black sea bass, less solid muscles stew, and dry chicken (with good potatoes and mushrooms). The $6 coleslaw was a disappointment. The fries, as usual, were very good. Desserts were tasty, but failed to delight. Chocolate cake with pudding and nuts was the favorite, panna cotta like dish was average, and 3rd dessert I can't even remember.

Service = 70. Definitely fell short. Nothing stood out and Lehmann got snubbed multiple times by the waitress (left hanging while ordering the wine, was not poured any wine, and coffee delivered before the dessert when otherwise requested.)

Hope to see you all in July!

Epic Roasthouse Serves Up Epic Size Portions

For May, DASF dined at Epic Roasthouse, the second of the conjoined restaurants on the San Francisco waterfront. Like Waterbar (see the March ’08 blog), Epic Roasthouse left many San Franciscans salivating as delays push the opening to January of this year and the wait was worth it. Epic plays on the contemporary steak-house idea, applying the modern sensibilities of Chef Jan Birnbaum to an American classic. Everything is a la carte and the steaks are dry-aged for 28 days.

Diners included: Ken & Mo (coming through as a last minute fill-ins), the Phans, Tim and Dani and Tim’s dad and stepmom, who were visiting from LA.

We sat in a long table right in the center of the main dining room, under seawater-pump fire hose and a steering wheel of a tug boat. The vive was festive and the view magnificent.

Now, onto the rating…

Food: 90 - Appetizers were a mix bag. The wood oven roasted chili squid salads were excellent. The squids were tender and they were served with perfectly cooked white beans, olives, tomato confit and wild Arugula. The hearts of romaine with mortar & pestle anchovy dressing was solid. The Chef’s nightly selection of house-cured meats and the clam chowder with Hobbs bacon and classic mirepoix should be skip altogether. Side note: cocktails were all pretty good.

The Entrees are where Epic really shines. There were many enticing selections on the menu. The group had the wood oven roasted bone-in Rib Eye for 2 with horseradish and black pepper crème fraîche, the New York strip with coriander, black peppercorns and coffee beans, the long bone Beef Short Rib with whipped truffle potatoes, the Filet and the wood oven roasted Half Dungeness Crab with Cipollini onion and fingerling potatoes.

Sides – there were 15 to choose from and the portions were HUGE!!! We shared 7 sides, 2 steak fries with roasted garlic and fried herbs, 2 scallop potatoes au gratin, 1 sautéed wild mushrooms and 1 grilled garlic Broccolini. The fries and the potatoes au gratin were solid. The wild mushrooms were mostly King Trumpet Royals and lacks flavor. The grilled garlic Broccolinis were a little too mushy.

Service: 78 – Our waiter did a decent job and his support crew (Sommelier, Bus Boys, and Food Runners) did a solid job. However, we were not happy that he didn’t advise us of the gigantic portion size for the sides. On top of that, most of the entrees already include a side or two. At $9 - $10 a pop, we spent an extra $40 - $50 unnecessarily. I really hate it when Waiters do this to pad their automatic Service Charge for large parties.

Atmosphere: 90 - Epic Roasthouse is a beautiful restaurant a beautiful view of the bay and the Bay Bridge. The restaurant has great energy and the design is sleek with modern lines.

Note on Value – with food prices rising as much as it has recently, expect to spend more on future DASFs. Also, San Francisco has made it mandatory that all restaurants offer all their staff health benefits and the restaurants are passing some of that expense to diners (4% of total bill).

Orson: A Cacophony of Flavors

10 people strong, DASF dined at Orson this month. For the first time in history we dined on the 3rd Friday of the month - our fearless leaders the Phan's were in Europe earlier in April. Expectations were high for Chef Elizabeth Faulkner's innovative share plates and specialities from the wood fired oven. A little too innovative it was! But, kudos to Phu for putting together a fantastic tasting menu! And - we even got our own menu (helps in writing the blog 2 days later!)

Note - a learning for future DASFs. We should avoid pre-ordering. When our #s change it's very difficult to order the right amount of food and our value rating suffers (read - hit our upper end at over $100/person).

In attendance - the usual suspects - The Phan's back from Italy and Vienna; The Carter's/Brown's (Mollie's parents make yet another appearance at DASF!); Avis sans John (who stayed home with the kiddos); Cecilia sans Victor (partying in NYC); and Tim and Dani just back from Miami.

Ratings:

Food: 85 - hits and misses and overall just too many different flavors competing for attention. Example - chocolate fois gras appetizer - some liked it, most found it to be a dreadful combination.

The good: Duck fat french fries with butter bearnaise - how can you go wrong?! Salads were great (octopus tender; biodynamic greens/beets salad full of smooth flavors). Carrot dumplings got rave reviews. Pork buns good/but forgettable. Roasted pig pleased. Desserts were very good (chocolate french toast tasty; rosebud creme brulee with sensual; blue potato ravioli with citrus salt unexpected) - but they brought out 15 dessert plates for 10 people!

The bad. . .and the ugly: foie bon bon (see chocolate fois gras notes above.) Mixed reviews on the Cod and Halibut. Who ordered the Blood Sausage? Thumbs down from all.

Service: 93 - very friendly and attentive. She was really trying to to ensure we were all happy.

Atmosphere: 85 - this is where I thought Orson really fell down. Main dining room was edgy and cool, but we were upstairs where the decor consisted of plain black walls, black table cloths and spot lights on the diners (better when bright lights focus on the food.) The restauranteurs were going for a Citizen Kane like feel, just felt dark and plain to me.

"Jon on the Jon" - unisex bathrooms, Jon's favorite since he says they're much cleaner!

All in all a very fun evening - great company, conversation and a roller coaster of tastes! See you in a couple weeks for the next DASF.

Looking for good seafood in SF??? Look no further...Waterbar delivers...

Our March Dine About spots filled up quickly and for good reasons. Waterbar – one of two high-profile restaurants (the other is Epic Roasthouse) to opened recently on the San Francisco waterfront to high fan fares and expectations. Waterbar is co-owned by Mark Franz of Farallon and features seafood from around the world. Both Waterbar and Epic Roasthouse are designed and co-owned by Pat Kuleto.

Diners included: we had 4 Klinkes this time around, Avis & John and first timers Ray & Janet Klinke, Lehmann & Jason, Ken & Mo and the Phans.

We had a short wait at the buzzing bar area before we were led to two round tables to enjoy our dining experience (they don’t have a table in the main dining room that can accommodate a party our size). We decided to break up the couples and mix up the seating (Ray’s idea) and Ray ended up in the table of 4 with 3 lovely ladies.

Food: 93 With this being a seafood restaurant, we started off with a few dozen oysters (Hog Island Kumamotos & Preston Points from Tomales Bay, Miyagis from Washington and Chincoteagues from the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland). They tasted fresh, clean and just the right amount of creaminess. Most impressive was that Mo not only had her first raw oyster but she followed that up with a second!! The oysters were followed by a Sea Bass & Sea Urchin Ceviche for one table and Geoduck Ceviche at the other. The Sea Bass & Sea Urchin Ceviche was definitely the better of the two. We also had two salads – the Fuji apple, endive, aged Gouda grilled cheese salad stood out. Main courses: this is where Waterbar really shines. The pan-seared Black Bass was well seasoned and accompanied by shaved baby artichokes in a cream sauce. We had two types of whole fishes, a John Dory (oven roasted) and two Turbots (a mild sweet white fish, one oven roasted and one poached). The oven roasted Turbo was outstanding (Avis said it was the best fish she has ever tasted!!). One table also ordered the roast free-range chicken that was very good. All the main courses were perfectly cooked. We shared 3 desserts and they were all solid; a Meyer lemon crème brulee, a roasted pineapple tart with crème fraiche custard and a warm bittersweet chocolate pudding cake with coffee ice cream

Service: 85 We had two different servers – a female server that was very good and the male server that was pretty “rough”. The rest of the staff help brought the averages up. I think we just got unlucky with our bad server.

Atmosphere: 90 Waterbar is a beautiful restaurant. In the main dinning room, there are two dramatic, 19-foot tall, five-foot diameter, floor-to-ceiling circular aquariums filled with an eye-catching array of fish and marine life from the Pacific Ocean, while walls of vividly illuminated fish tanks display a gallery of fresh lobsters and spot prawns. Our tables had excellent views of the bay and the Bay Bridge. It would have scored higher except a few thought it was pretty loud.

John on the Jon….

Spruce: Come For The Food, Stay For The Service

Our February Dine About came up quickly (it was on Feb 1st), but left a lasting impression. Spruce - the encore of famed Village Pub founders, expectations were high. I don't know if it's because I've missed the last 4 Dine Abouts, or because it's the first adult dinner I've had in months, but Spruce made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening!

Diners included: our steady leaders Phu & Winnie, 2nd timers Ehren and Karen Kruger, Mollie and her possy (Jon and Ella stayed home, Mollie and Mom and Dad Brown hit the town), and pinch hitter Maureen filling in last minute for Jon. A fun loving crowd all around.

A short wait and we were led to a perfect round table to enjoy our dining experience.

Food: 92 Started nice and continued strong. My memory is a little fuzzy, so perhaps others can fill in the details. Starters: Nice salads, sweet bread that no one likes but Phu always orders, tasty duck pate and salty meat plates. Main course: wonderful, light sole, sea bass just ok, nice beef (w/duck fat potatoes), other dishes escape me! Desserts - hazelnut cake took the prize.

Phu: The duck pate and salty meat plate, aka their House–made charcuterie was one of the best I've had. The other entree was a delicious pan seared pork tenderloin served on top of some large white beans. It was perfectly seasoned. I also liked the Beignet dessert with two dipping sauce.

Service: 95 So smooth - some of the best we've seen! Plates and settings appeared and disappeared without notice, glasses always full, pacing perfect.

Phu: The Sommelier select two wines that everyone liked (a very fragrant Lynmar Chardonnay and a bold Trueblood Cabernet).

Atmosphere: 89 would have scored higher except for the athletic jersey framed like art and the terrifying white teeth staring from the wall during dinner.

Phu: Yeah, the artworks were a bit odd and out of place. The wine cellar is pretty impressive though.

Jon on the Jon. . .perhpas we'll have a guest columnist this month!

See you in March.

Nice Little Jewel in the Tenderloin

A small turn out for this month’s Dine About SF at Fish and Farm restaurant, with just the Phans and the Chos. I like to congratulate Avis and John on becoming proud parents to two beautiful little girls, Juliet and Sabrina. We hope to see them soon in our future DASFs.

Fish and Farm is another one of the many new restaurants that is following the trendy concept of the moment – organic and local (all its ingredients are sourced within a hundred miles of the restaurant). It is a small restaurant (in the Mark Twain Hotel) that serves up delicious “New American” cuisine. We walked away satisfied and quite please with the food.

On to the reviews:

Food = 88
The appetizers were the standouts, we had the grilled Monterey squid will citrus and fennel, fried oysters with a celery root remoulade and Meyer lemon marmalade and a home made parpardelle pasta with winter vegetable. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the sauce flavorful. The squid was tender and nicely seasoned. The fried oyster was light, crunchy on the outside and moist and creamy on the inside. The celery root remoulade that accompanied the oysters was excellent. Main courses were solid all around. We had the bone-in rib eye, the sable fish and the gnocchi. Particularly good was the house-made gnocchi with roasted pumpkin. The Chef definitely has a knack for home made pastas. For desserts, we ordered the persimmon bread pudding with cinnamon sabayon and the huckleberry and pear crumble. I’m a huge fan of persimmons and when I saw the persimmon bread pudding, my eyes lit up but when the desserts came out, I was disappointed to see that it was regular bread pudding garnished with a few slices of persimmons. The huckleberry and pear crumble, however, was quite delicious. We also noticed that the same ingredient was used multiple times on the same menu – a must for a small restaurant.

Atmosphere = 85
Fish and Farm is a cozy small restaurant. We sat in a chocolate-colored booth, very comfortable. The room is decorated with vintage boat oars, a giant clock, and paintings of fishermen and farmers. It was a little on the noisy side.

Service = 83
Service was solid all around but on the slow side…perhaps intentionally. They kept our water glasses full.

According to Victor, the “John” was part of the Mark Twain hotel and does not deserve a "John on the Jon" haiku!