Bistro Beaujolais

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I think we were over cooking and needed to go out for someone else's cookin'. My parents recommended Bistro Beaujolais, yet another one to cross off my list in Carmel. We were pretty much the only patrons on the holiday weekend, but it didn't diminish the lovely service, ambiance or fare. The perfect wintry dish, I ordered the coq au beaujolais, the restaurant's spin on coq au vin to delicious results. Being in the mall, I probably never would have ventured over here, but I'm eager to get back, even if it's just for French onion soup and cocktails at the copper bar. You also can't miss the murals throughout the restaurant, really impressive.

The only thing to watch out for is the family's (or owner's?) wine. We ordered a bottle of petit syrah and a bottle of zinfandel, assuming incorrectly the zin would be stunning and the petit syrah would be ok. The syrah turned out to be good but not amazing and the zin was nearly dessert wine it was so sweet. Good thing we'd had plenty of wine at home in advance!

Food Lust at A16

When A16 published their first gorgeous cookbook, I couldn't wait to give it to someone who could really appreciate it. Who else but Chris? Of course he said the book was more food porn than anything you could whip up in an afternoon, but I still couldn't resist making a reservation at A16 while he was in town this weekend. I think it's one of the great San Francisco restaurants. The ambiance is always lovely and although it's about impossible to get a reservation, I need to remember their bar seating looks like it's always welcoming.

Chris and I split the salumi plate and everyone ordered a thin-crust pizza while I crossed off #51 on 7x7's 100: Maccaronara with ricotta salata. It was made with ragu napoletano, a tomato meat sauce light enough on the meat for the al dente pasta to really sing. Fresh pasta is such a treat. I'm not sure if the ricotta was mixed in (though I'm leaning this way) or if it was cooked into the pasta, giving it an extra moist texture. Either way it was wonderful.

Chris' amazing White Pizza with olive oil, basil leaves, green olives and a few types of cheese including fresh mozzarella.

Visions of Thanksgiving

I always thought that if I hosted my own Thanksgiving dinner, I would do something entirely nontraditional. A vision of butternut squash homemade ravioli with brown butter sage sauce; dried cranberry wild rice; maple ginger pumpkin pie...and yet I'm not sure I could really go through with not serving a turkey! I think my cooking goal for next year is to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving. Time to get practicing.

Other cozy autumn recipe ideas for a house full of people: Beef Wellington, Yorkshire pudding, salmon terrine, stuffed tomatoes, roasted cauliflower with green onions and pancetta, butternut squash cappuccinos with maple foam and thick-cut bacon...

Thanksgiving at the Vanderwilts

Look at this feast! David's brined turkey, bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, sweet potato souffle, cranberry orange sauce and giblet gravy. Pure decadence. Carb killer.

Sweet Potato Pie

John's mom, Ellen (!!), has been trying a few different sweet potato recipes over the past few years and hasn't fallen in love with anything, so she asked if I had a favorite recipe. Do I ever have a favorite! Though I've never made it before, the Murphy's have brought it to a couple Thanksgivings and I remember it well. Linda was kind enough to share the recipe:

Souffle:

• 4 c. mashed sweet potatoes (peeled, boiled, smashed)
• 2 c. milk (1/2 if canned potatoes used)
• 3 c. granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1.5 sticks butter or margarine
• tsp. each nutmeg, cinnamon

Mix it all together and pour into a shallow casserole dish. Bake at 400º for 45 minutes or until set. (It actually took us 65 minutes to set)

Topping:

• 1.5 c. crushed corn flakes
• 1 c. chopped walnuts
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 stick butter or margarine

Melt butter and combine with corn flakes, nuts and brown sugar. Spread evenly over potatoes and return to oven for 10 minutes at 400º.

The texture is a cross between pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes with a crispy, crunchy sweet shell. It's like an excuse for dessert in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner.

Nopalito

After a day of exploring the universe at Cal Academy, my parents, John and I ended up at Nopalito in the Lower Haight. Known for delicious, local, organic, sustainable Mexican food, I'd only heard good things. My mom and I went straight for the pomegranate persimmon sangria and tortopos con chile thinking it might be a twist on some good old fashioned chips and salsa that would really hit the spot. Instead, nachos with spicy salsa, sweet onions, cheese and sour cream arrived to our delight. John and I split the beet salad, a fun mix of pickled red onions, orange slices, queso fresco and lime juice.

Even though the menu had all sorts of interesting choices, from goat stew to carnitas with orange, I went for my usual: enchiladas. These were presented in a rather unique fashion with two rolled corn tortillas sprinkled with cheese and enchilada sauce next to a bone-in roasted chicken smothered in more sauce. With each bite of tender chicken (the most moist chicken I've had) I included a piece of tortilla on the fork before popping in my mouth. I was very satisfied after this meal, not too full, not concerned with my carbon footprint...! I'm eager to get back and dive into some of the more adventurous entrees.

Tribute to Yoshida Ya

When I first flew into SF to visit John, he took me to a quaint Japanese restaurant across the street for romantic sukiyaki and sake. Seated in the window just off Union Street, it felt so deliciously comfortable and stylish to feast on blazing hot and soup. By the time I moved to SF, it had closed and reopened as the chic Umami, but we'll never forget Yoshida Ya!

Perfect Fish & Chips

Ok, if you know me, you know I have entirely mixed feelings about Nettie's. Since it opened about 18 months ago, I've been at least 10 times for various occasions from birthday dinner to meeting the gals after work to easy go-to on a Saturday night with John. The owner came from Spruce, so editors had high hopes for the spot, but it seems like the location (where Home and Palmetto have also been open since I've lived here...the past 3 years) just can't sustain good food. Furthermore, the space is long and skinny with a great patio and atrium but a feeling like you're being led into the basement the further back the tables get. I want to say 9 out of the first 10 times I went, the hostess directed us past the patio, past the light-filled atrium close to Union street, past the tables near the bar, past the giant tables filled with screaming kids and families (just not seen in Cow Hollow) to a table at the very back, back wall. Quite honestly, it feels like you're purposefully being hidden from prospective customers. It feels like you're being relegated to an area that may or may not even have an assigned waiter. It feels like it's not worth spending money at that point.

Most of the time, I'm vocal about wanting to sit anywhere but the back. This typically offends the hostess who dramatically rolls her eyes and subsequently the staff approaches our table like we're the most high-maintenance act in town. This is even more of a turn-off. When I brought my parents for my birthday, without even giving my mom a heads up, they led us to the back and she instantly demanded a different table closer to the front. And even though they are older, more respectable members of the community, we were looked at down each waiter's nose for the rest of the meal. It's just not enjoyable when you're throwing down $15 for an entree.

I'll tell you what works, though. This is the best fish and chips in town. Beer battered cod is flakey and crispy. The potatoes are wedge cut and the tartar sauce is less mayo, more herbs and lemon. Absolutely delicious. After so many attempts to turn this into our favorite, insanely convenient spot across the street, we realize now that it is best enjoyed for its simple specialty. I can't wait for summer to enjoy fish and chips with a cold Fat Tire on the patio.

I guarantee you'll be sucked in by the day's specials and funky appetizers. Don't do it. Everything is ok but the fish and chips (and the ceasar salad in a fun giant wooden bowl) are great. I've had some real misses, actually. Fish and chips. Do it.

Gitane

When Daily Candy published the story announcing the opening of Gitane on Claude Lane, I couldn't wait to go. French with Moroccan flair and an enviable bar menu, it was an easy sell. But it took over a year of attempts at reservations to finally book an evening with Shelly and her bridesmaids. It's a pretty unassuming store front, with some tables in the lane across from Cafe Claude and a simple door. But once inside, dark, ornate wood, glossy ceilings, anise scented cocktails and low-hanging chandeliers made it luxuriously cozy.

At the bar, I ordered a fresh white sangria with cucumber, apple and pear floating in a crisp sparkling wine. Shelly and Angela ordered a bizarre concoction that was supposed to have pear notes (I think) but it honestly tasted like bacon and antiseptic. They were so expensive they had to pretend like the drinks were worth drinking....

Seeing fois gras on the menu and feeling frivolous, I started off with the "au torchon" appetizer: sliced, cold fois gras (like salted butter anywhere outside Europe) sandwiched between cakey ginger-flavored cookies. Odd? Yes. Flavor? Really, salted butter sandwiched between dry, sweet cookies. Fortunately, there was a scoop of deliciously tangy apple-mango chutney and frisee generously coated in citrus vinaigrette that I savored once I'd plucked out the fois gras. Individually, these are all very interesting, complex flavors. Together, I was overwhelmed and not impressed with any unique element.

My main was an entirely different story. I ordered the chicken tagine with prunes, carrots, turnips, zucchini and eggplant. The dish arrives in it's own ceramic tagine wafting scents like cardamom and anise. It was stunning and exotic in a syrupy gravy. When my couscous arrived, the waiter instructed me to stir it into the tagine to soak up the drippings. What a great idea! Using plain couscous to extract the best part of the dish! As if I wouldn't have been all over that without any prodding. The vegetables were impressively al dente given how long they mist have been roasting with the chicken. I've had Moroccan food a couple times previously and recall bitter green olives, sticky-sweet orange peel and prune flavors lending to remarkably flavorful meat. This was no exception and I'm tempted to search out a recipe for chicken stew with prunes. It was delish.

We chose cocktails over chocolate for dessert...on an individual basis. For the table, we couldn't resist ordering the pan con chocolate, an attempt at Laiola's masterpiece that fell just short. Mainly in presentation, though. The taste and texture was lovely.

Overall, the space and experience at Gitane is fabulous. You feel so luxuriously taken care of (thanks, guy who always knows when you're looking for the bathroom and opens the secret door!) Even low ceilings don't keep the space from feeling rich with space and history. Exposed brick and a hidden location add to its mysterious charm. I highly recommend it for a romantic spot or a hideaway downtown, I would just say go for the mains and stick to wine.

Un Freaking Real

Are you seeing this? Does it look like a lobster that went swimming in a brandy cream pot pie with peas and root vegetables? And then hopped onto my plate fully shelled and delicious?? What you are looking at is real. I might need to repeat it because it took me a full 3 minutes of watching the server pop the top on 2 more pot pies before I believed what I was about to eat. It is REAL.

Each lobster pot pie is masterfully presented while everyone else at the table drools. The brandy was pretty noticeable in the cream sauce. And I guess lobster on a random Thursday is pretty unique. But it was the presentation; the sheer beauty of an inside out lobster pie in front of me. That's what's memorable. Dinner was at Michael Mina's XIV in West Hollywood.

Black Bean Soup

The first time I had this soup was at Kala Point on a cold autumn evening. October on the Olympic Peninsula is about as cold as it gets before the rain starts and we'd spent the day tasting beers at the Port Townsend Brewery and braving the winds at the beach. This soup was the perfect way to warm up from the inside out—it's comforting yet unique. Kristin discovered the recipe and was intrigued, as I was, by its interesting layers of ingredients:

3 cans of black beans, 2 pureed in a processor
1 can diced tomatoes, pureed
3 onions
4 garlic cloves
4 cups beef broth
15 oz. pumpkin puree
1 lb. cubed ham
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar

Pumpkin?! Sherry vinegar? Ham and black beans?! Ok. That last one made sense.

The soup is fantastic. After softening up the chopped onions and garlic in butter, you add the pureed beans, whole beans, tomatoes, pumpkin and broth. Go nuts with coarsely ground pepper and sea salt, as you know I do. About 15 minutes before serving, add the sherry vinegar and ham to warm them up. On a cold evening, it's hearty, comfy, very flavorful, and—bonus!—full of fiber!

Financier's BBQ

I used to gripe about how there were great BBQ spots in Seattle but I had yet to find one in SF until Wexler’s opened down the street from my office. Now, it’s no freezing-picnic-table-in-the-middle-of-winter-while-drowning-pulled-chicken-in-sauce-so-spicy-it's-remarkably-keeping-you-warm scenario, but it has equal appeal. It’s upscale BBQ. I know what you’re thinking. What?! But yes, it’s like the fancy booth at the chili cook-off. Speaking of chili, that’s exactly what I gravitated to on the menu. House smoked short ribs and tomato sauce made up the “meat” of the dish, with sour crème fraiche and vinegar-pickled shallots on top for color. The pork was so tender and delicious, not to mention simmered in the spicy tomato base to the point of easily separating into bite-sized morsels. I saved the pickled shallots for last, I love the juxtaposition of cool vinegar with rich, hot foods.

I need to get back and start working my way through that mouth-watering menu.

Presidio Social Club

Shelly’s considering this restaurant—hidden among the palms in the Presidio—for her rehearsal dinner, so we checked it out last week. The menu is filled with comfort foods like sloppy joes and mac n cheese, but the highlight were the brioche beignets that you dip in (no joke) pure maple syrup!

Cafe Cubano

On the rare occasion I’m able to make it outside the office to not only grab a bite but sit down and enjoy it, Paladar is an easy decision. It’s Cuban cuisine made accessible to the lunch crowd. I usually go for the Cubano sandwich, a pressed roll with Niman pulled pork, ham, swiss chesse and mild mustard. Add an order of plantain chips with garlic sauce and it’s pretty hard to rally back to the office. Last week I ordered the vegetarian plate because every time I’m there I breathe in the steaming spiced rice and beans as it wafts around me. It was a great midday meal: sweet plantains, greens with garlic dressing and a mixture of black beans and rice so delicious I can’t begin to imagine how many fresh herbs and spices were in there. Don't forget the sparkling pomegranate juice, it's a great, tart complement.