Branching out to The Plant

I had been putting off visiting The Plant for months. Its “organic, vegetarian, local, farm-raised, vegan, all natural, zen, unprocessed, anti-George Bush, macrobiotic ” pitch simply wasn’t doing much for my appetite. However, still blocked up from a four-day weekend food-for-all, I was actually in the mood for a salad and a tall, cold glass of …water.

And to clear something up: The Plant actually has meat on its menu. One can choose from chicken, shrimp, (or tofu, of course) in many of the sandwiches and wrap options. To my great surprise, I actually had a harder time than usual choosing what I wanted because so many of the choices sounded interesting and different. The Tikka chicken wrap, pumpkin seed & corn meal encrusted tempeh*, and duck confit pizza all looked enjoyable. Ultimately, my mom and I went in together on the Thai Green Curry with shrimp and the wild mushroom pizza.

The Good: the food tasted fresh and healthy. I didn’t walk away feeling bloated or like I’ll have to hit the gym twice as hard tomorrow. The curry had a pleasant lemon flavor that I’ve never noticed in a curry before. You can’t beat the view (we sat on the patio overlooking the bay).

The “Ehh”: Everything was kind of bland. “Pleasant” is a good word to describe it. In my stomach’s eye, I see curry as warming, comforting, and potent – this was not. Shouldn’t you be able to pour the curry sauce over the rice? The pizza crust was too thin and the cheese was finely shaved on in fingernail size portions.
I have no doubt many would enjoy this, especially the health conscious. It just doesn’t have me coming running back for more.

*Tempeh is not a characteristic often associated with anger. The waitress definied it as “tofu-like” but nuttier.

Fourth Time is a Charm

Marking our fourth attempt to dine at Barbacco, my parents and I headed to the new-ish California street spot armed with reservations (which seems to be the only way to get a seat after 11:30am). Upon being seated, we ordered the salted focaccia bread to tie us over while we browsed the menu. This isn’t a slight on the rest of food - because the bread is truly one-of-a-kind - but the $1 app was my favorite aspect of the meal. It’s doused in olive oil and topped with flavorful sea salt. Top 3 bread of all time.

Since it’s polite to spend more than $1 and actually order an entrée, I ordered the warm duck confit spinach salad and split the salumi platter with my dad. My dad had the lasagna and my mom the muffaletta sandwich. The salumi platter is what Barbacco is known for and I can see why. The platter consists of several salami and bologna-type selections, bread sticks, and small toasts. By the time my spinach salad arrived, I was closing in on full. I suppose it was wise ordering, as the salad was light and didn‘t make me uncomfortably full. It was tasty but not something I’ll be talking about in a day or two (do salads every ingrain themselves in one’s memory, though?). My dad’s lasagna looked amazing (warm, cheesy, comforting), and the bread in my mom’s sando gives carbs a good name.

I use a gymnastics analogy to describe my attitude toward certain genres of food. Just as there are varying maximum scores on the vault in gymnastics depending on degree of difficulty, some kinds of food are simply not out of a perfect 10 for me. Even if Barbacco were to “stick it,” it’d probably be out of a 9.0; pasta simply doesn‘t have the thrill-factor for me. Burgers, on the other hand, have a max score of 10. That being said, Barbacco probably scored an 8.5 - which means it’s about as good as it can get for me but just can’t compete with the more difficult routines…

An SF Institution Delivers!

For reasons I cannot explain, I have walked right past Tadich Grill for the last three years. It’s across the street from my office and has been around since 1849 (the oldest restaurant in the city!) so I have no excuse. After reading this blog entry, you have no excuse either!

This spot continuously nailed it from the moment I walked into the door to the last bite of bread pudding (and assuredly again when I re-heat the leftovers tonight). We walked in, reservation-less, and were immediately seated in a corner table by the window overlooking California Street (+ 1). Authentic SF sourdough bread was already on the table when we sat down (+1). Room temperature butter on table (+1). Our old-school waiter (think long, white overcoats) brought us our menus and water promptly (+1). Upon his recommendation, we ordered a ceviche appetizer, which appeared before us as we were still perusing the lengthy menu (+1). And probably one of my favorite touches: waiter brings out a large, wide-mouthed bottle of ketchup without us requesting it. Clutch! (+1)

I was torn between the daily Mahi Mahi special and the seafood curry casserole. When my mom said she was getting the Mahi Mahi, I was sold on the curry casserole. The moment I started getting antsy for my plate, the waiter appeared with a glorious dish of baby shrimp, jumbo shrimp, crab, and prawns swimming in a thick curry sauce served over a bed of white rice (see before and after shots). I am a sucker for curry and this was right up there with the best I’ve had. It was everything curry should be: warm, comforting, hearty, and filling! I saved half of it for dinner tonight. Man, that was good! (+100)

My mom had the Mahi Mahi special (see pic) and I was privy to a bite or two. Right away, I could tell this was quality seafood. Moreover, the fillet was large (to the point my mom didn’t finish it). My dad had corned beef hash (I can NEVER predict his orders) and walked away happy (+1 and +1).

Lastly, the waiter mentioned they had bread pudding and we all know I cannot say no. I am always excited to see how each restaurant will approach a bread pudding (bread pudding is like a snowflake - no two are the same). Tadich’s take was unlike any I’ve seen and I was quite impressed. First, it was just barely warm (as opposed to steaming hot like most) and was more like layered pieces of French toast with a thick bourbon sauce. Sometimes bread pudding comes out more on the “pudding” side, but this one definitely comes out on the “bread” side of the spectrum. Upon first bite, I had my doubts, but then I couldn’t stop digging in (+ infinity).

I lost track of the exact score, but Tadich is a winner!

A Healthy Dosa

Last Friday night’s plan consisted of dinner at Dosa followed by a screening of Sex & the City with four of my running gal pals. Having read the reviews of SATC, I was definitely more excited to see how Dosa handled high-end Indian than how Carrie handled the Middle East. Like Mexican food, I’m not convinced Indian should be served in a luxurious vicinity with double-digit prices … but it’s always worth a shot.

With five of us at the dinner table, I rescinded all ordering power to those around me because I’ll try anything and everything on the menu looked good to me. Either it’s hard to find a miss at Dosa or I just found myself some excellent new wing-women! We ordered an assortment of curries, samosas, and Dosas. The highlight for me was definitely the Bhatura, the puffy bread in the picture. Not only is it an unusual site to see on your dinner table, the sweet’n’savory flavoring reminded me of a thin pancake. Give me a little dipping sauce and that’s a happy meal for me.

It’s been several days since Dosa and I’ve done some soul searching about the difference between expensive Indian and take-out. Shalimar – previously reviewed on this blog – is incredible Indian food and one of my favorite take-out spots in the city regardless of genre. One of its greatest virtues is that one can get out the door in under $15 and still stuff two adults. So, is Dosa worth the premium? I say yes, when the occasion is right (for comparison sake, expensive Mexican is NEVER worth it). Take a look at the pictures – the puffy bread and rolled up bread is not something one can order take-out. The presentation of these dishes is an exciting and unusual treat in itself. The serving sizes (again, unlike expensive Mexican) is generous and easily shared among multiple people. Moreover, the Indian staples – curries, samosas, etc – were just as memorable as the stuff you get in plastic take-out ware. Lastly, the first adjective that pops to mind to describe Dosa’s Fillmore location is “luxurious.” Dosa has a lot going for it.

And since this is exclusively a food blog, I’ll spare you the SATC movie review…

Harry saves the night!

5:25PM Text from Sarah G: Happy Hour?
5:26PM ME: YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

45 Minutes later we found ourselves bar-side at Out the Door, which is about 25 feet from my apartment and about 75 from hers. In all fairness, we had some wine and shared a small salad appetizer, so probably not fair basis for a full review. But still, there were some issues about the visit that are still lingering in my mind.

First, I knew OTD had a dish on 7X7’s Top 100 Things to Eat in SF Before You Die list. I actually brought the list with me, but didn’t bother to cross-check it when the waiter told us it was the green papaya salad. Not only was the salad unremarkable, it wasn’t even the dish on the list! Anyone who knows me knows I love a list and I love crossing things off a list even more. Imagine my dismay when I went to check off the green papaya salad only to find we should have gotten something else. Furthermore, we advised the bartender upfront that we were here for a drink and maybe an appetizer. He must have asked us about our dinner order five times. He refilled our waters ten times. “Another glass of wine?” six times. He wiped down the space in front of me. You’ve heard the term “helicopter parent;” this guy was a “helicopter waiter.” Chill out!

Feeling a bit like we put the edge on rather than taking it off, we agreed a pit-stop at Harry’s was our only option. Ah, yes. Redemption. Laugh all you want, but that’s a fun bar with great food. After sampling our friendly bar-neighbor’s sweet potato fries, we placed a small order of our own. $2.95 gets you a big bowl and these suckers are TASTY! The mayonnaise-based dipping sauce hit the spot too.

On to a pun I cannot resist: I won’t be going In the Door at Out the Door anytime soon.

Thursday night’s dinner with Brooke & Jeff at RN74 contrasted starkly with Friday’s parent lunch at Lafitte. I truly believe it is healthy to have a bad dining experience (Lafitte) to make one appreciate the great ones (RN74).

Let’s start in chronological order. Brooke & Jeff asked me to join them at RN74, Michael Mina’s newest outpost in the Millennium Tower, to celebrate an assortment of things. I had been there once for lunch when it first opened but was tickled with excitement to see how Mina does dinner. I remember remarking to B&J that RN74 has one of the neatest interiors I’ve seen in SF; it’s modeled after an old-fashioned train station.

PETA members, pig-lovers, and animal-rights activists – please overt your eyes now. As an appetizer, I had the sautéed pork belly & manila clams. Pork belly: fattier and thicker version of bacon. Jackpot. Jeff also got the maitake mushroom tempura for the table to share (fried – ‘nuff said). For my main course, I had the bacon-wrapped pork loin (like I said, not a good day for Babe). Let me say, this place is pricey but the servings are generous. These are not two-bite meals (appetizers included) like many high-end restaurants. In fact, I only ate half of my main and packed the rest for the weekend. Everything was delicious, but when I’m on my deathbed, I will remember that pork belly. Ya can cut it with a fork and it melts in your mouth. All this washed down with a good glass of wine – how did I get this lucky? Seriously.

Fast forward approximately 18 hours to lunch with the parentals along the Embarcadero. On my weekly waterfront runs, I noticed a new restaurant popped out – literally – of the north end of Pier 5. The space is an enclosed outdoor dining patio (check out the website for better visuals). Anyway, the place is called Lafitte and is about six weeks old. My diagnosis here is the chef is trying to be clever and innovative with his menu options – but it just totally backfires.

Parents both ordered the “Dagwood” sandwich. Take a look at the picture: WTF is that? Let’s just say anchovies, bacon, pork pate, and four pieces of bread were involved. I’m really glad I didn’t order it because:

-I had a few bites of mom’s and it was dry
-I honestly didn’t know how approach it
o pick it up?
o Eat it as two different sandwiches?
o Knife and fork?
o Four separate pieces of toast?

I ordered the seafood chowder (still blocked up from RN74) and out came a bowl consisting primarily carrots and potatoes. Sorry to be harsh, but an $18 bowl of soup should have more than two pieces of shrimp. Oh, and I used my fork to eat it. Huh?

Thank you Brooke & Jeff for providing me with such a special treat. Thanks Mom & Dad for hanging in there during an unfortunate SF showing. We’ll get ‘em next time.

The burden of expectation

Frascati has some of the best word-of-mouth publicity I can think of in this city. Everyone I talk to who has been to the Green & Hyde spot nearly falls over him/herself at its mere mention. Sorry to say, I’m not one of them. I will try my best to articulate why. Bread pudding is involved..

There was a very strong disconnect between price and value. Entrees range from roughly $22-28 per plate and apps are in the mid-teens. For me, this is the definitely the higher end of what I normally spend when I go out to dinner. My companion and I shared the Roasted Half Chicken and a penne dish. To evidence the level of an impression the pasta left on us, neither of us can remember what was in it. Monday morning GChat:

ME: “Did it have meat in it?”
Response: “I don’t think so?? Maybe? It was red.”

It was described as spicy on the menu, but I don’t recollect that part, either. The chicken didn’t fare much better. I distinctly remember thinking the $7 roast chicken at Safeway is moister and juicer than what was on my plate at Frascati.
Lastly, the bread pudding. Multiple sources (friends, websites) billed this as the best in the city. Good, yes. Great, no. Not even on the same spectrum as the bread pudding served at Luna Park. It reminded me more of a piece of moist chocolate cake than anything else.

To end on a positive note: Frascati is located on one of my favorite blocks in the city (Hyde & Green). Cable cars are rumbling by and white Christmas lights wrap the tree trunks year-round. It’s a classic SF view, which is not something I ever take for granted. The restaurant itself is charming and cozy. Service was well above average – friendly, knowledgeable, and well-paced. Just wish the food was as impressive as the setting.