smitten

It's no secret that I'm very fond of Hayes Valley. I've been meaning to check out Smitten Ice Cream for a long time but until last weekend, the right moment had never presented itself. Either I was too full or the weather was too cold or some other such nonsense would get in the way. Anyway, on Saturday, Daniel, our friend Atticus and I took sandwiches and a bottle of prosecco down to Patricia's Green for an impromptu sort of picnic. We watched dogs and small children frolic and then it was time for ice cream.

After some deliberation, I ordered olive oil with lavender shortbread; Daniel and Atticus both had earl grey with milk chocolate chunks. 

{earl grey ice cream}

Smitten makes their ice cream using liquid nitrogen to chill it, which apparently keeps the ice crystals really small, resulting in creamy ice cream.

And it is extremely creamy. Extremely. Almost to the point that it felt like too much. I ordered the smallest possible size and still couldn't finish even half of it. 

Fortunately, Ritual Coffee is right next door. I shook myself from an impending sugar coma with a macchiato. 

{macchiato}

And then we stopped to listen to a string group performing in the park. They played Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and Daniel gave them $5- they were really good. 

So, the verdict? Good ice cream, but a little too heavy for my taste. I'll be sticking to the homemade stuff for the time being. Still, an excellent Saturday afternoon. Hayes Valley does not disappoint. 

Smitten Ice Cream

432 Octavia

SF 94102

bar jules

Bar Jules is one of my favorite places to go out for dinner in the city. Somehow over the past few years, it has turned into the place that Daniel and I go when we want to celebrate something over a glass of champagne and some very good, simple food that we don't have to cook ourselves. Last night, for example, we went to celebrate our anniversary. We toasted with glasses of Prosecco and shared a plate of la quercia prosciutto with endive and walnuts. I had perfectly cooked scallops with english peas and Daniel had grilled ahi with chickpeas and artichokes. It was, as always, a delight.

Bar Jules
609 Hayes St.
SF

plow

Earlier this week, I bumped into my friend/neighbor Ashley in the street outside my apartment and we hatched a plan to go out for breakfast at Plow. Ashley and her husband Josh just got back from their honeymoon in Costa Rica and Guatemala so I was looking forward to a chance to catch up over scrambled eggs and fried potatoes.

{breakfast @ Plow}

{me & Ashley}

{lemon ricotta pancakes}

Even at 9:30 the wait was over an hour. Usually waiting that long to be seated at a restaurant makes me madder than a wet hen- I am wildly impatient, especially when it comes to breakfast.  But thankfully, there was a coffee shop just down the street and we were able to wait there comfortably. When we finally got into Plow, the food- especially the lemon ricotta pancakes- was worth the wait.

After brunch, we made it a fully rounded yuppie experience by going and browsing through a furniture store in SOMA and then stopping by the farmer's market. All very nice, and now that I'm off to scrub the bathroom (New Year's resolution: clean weekly), I can do it cheerfully.

Hope everyone had a delightful weekend!


Plow
1299 18th St.
SF CA 94107

thursday with m

On Thursday I took the day off of work to spend some time with my mom while she was in town and take advantage of the freakishly perfect weather we've been having in San Francisco. We started off with coffee at Blue Bottle, followed by more coffee at Ritual Coffee, followed by shopping in Hayes Valley, followed by lunch near Jackson Square.

{lunch @ Cotogna}

{pappardelle with rabbit sugo}

{post-lunch double espresso}

{somewhat blurry view from parents' hotel room}

Lunch was fabulous- my dad was able to slip away from his meetings long enough to join us and we feasted on fried tripe with arrabiata, crostini with mushrooms and creamiest, most unctuous ricotta imaginable, and various decadent pasta dishes. I do eat awfully well when my parents are in town.

Anyway, it was a wonderful day in a wonderful week. Lucky me!

commonwealth

{Jerusalem artichoke salad}

My parents are in town all this week, which has, in addition to allowing me to spend all kinds of lovely time with them, given me the chance to mooch some exceptionally nice meals. Last night my father was attending a business dinner, so my mother took my brother and me out to dinner at Commonwealth. Between us, we shared:

Kettle chips with seaweed
-
Arancini with truffle cheese
Chicken tsukuna
-
Jerusalem artichoke with chickweed, quinoa, and a quail egg
-
Beef cheeks with chanterelles, gem lettuces, marble potatoes and bordelaise
Pork loin & belly with brussel sprouts, beech mushrooms and kohlrabi

And everything was delicious. Really, I think it's the best new restaurant I've tried in months. The restaurant itself is small and tastefully decorated, the servers were extremely pleasant and accommodating, and it really ended up being the perfect place for an elegant but low key dinner with family.

Commonwealth
2224 Mission St., San Francisco

old port lobster shack

On Friday, Daniel picked me up at work for our drive down to Big Sur and we went for lunch at the Old Port Lobster Shack in Redwood City. 

I had been dreaming about lobster rolls for weeks.

{naked lobster roll}

{macaroni & cheese with pulled pork}

I got a plain lobster roll with no dressing and Daniel got one with mayonnaise and green onions. We also got a side of delicious (but wholly unnecessary) macaroni and cheese. 

I think lobster rolls are my new favorite food. 

the fremont diner

A few months ago, the Sage Cafe in Sonoma closed. I was crushed; they had, hands down, the best BLT I've ever had in my life. Something about the way they dressed the lettuce and the perfect crispiness of bacon. We used to stop there when we'd drive out to visit Daniel's parents in Napa and I always looked forward to it with a level of anticipation bordering on the unseemly. But now that it's closed, we've had to find a new lunch spot for those drives up from the city. 


I now consider the search officially over.

I'd been wanting to try the Fremont Diner for a while but hadn't because the pull of the Perfect BLT had always been too strong. Now, free of such constraints, we decided it was time to check it out. 

As soon as I saw the oyster po' boy on the menu, I knew what I was having. Daniel ordered a cheeseburger. 

And it was sublime, all of it. The place was crowded and the service slow, but it was a Saturday and we had time. There were also about a hundred other things I wanted to order (hello, skillet caramel cake!), so I'm already looking forward to our next trip. I'll still miss the Sage BLT, but I won't be going hungry any time soon.  

sunday brunch, nopalito

One of the things I like best about my neighborhood is the food. There are so many fantastic restaurants within walking distance of our apartment. This morning I drove out to pick Daniel up at the Oakland airport- he was down near LA for work all week- and we went out for brunch at Nopalito.

Nopalito is one of my favorite places to go for brunch. The food is always excellent and they have marvelous cocktails. I had the El Diablo (Pueblo Viejo blanco, cassis, ginger beer, and lime) and Daniel had a Mayan Sidecar (Hacienda Vieja Reposado, Xtabentun, and lemon)- both were delicious.

We started with the totopos con chile and then split a quesadilla stuffed with cheese and fresh squash blossoms. For our main course, we shared and an order of carnitas. 

It was an enormous quantity of food, but I'm not complaining. I love Sunday brunch.

Nopalito

306 Broderick St.

San Francisco 94117

chile pies (and ice cream)

Tonight after dinner, Daniel and I decided to go on a postprandial stroll around the neighborhood. We found ourselves in front of Chile Pies & Ice Cream, and since neither of us had been there, we decided to drop in for dessert.

Daniel had zero interest in the green chile & cheddar pie (...understandably) so we ultimately ended up settling on the peach pie, with lemon cookie ice cream. Pie a la mode.

We didn't eat a whole pie, no, but we did enjoy a very ample slice with two scoops of ice cream. The ice cream tasted just like those lemon frosted Girl Scout cookies. 

Chile Pies & Ice Cream
601 Baker Street

San Francisco, CA 94115

foreign cinema

As a surprise for her engagement, my friend Ashley's mother threw her and her fiance a soiree at Foreign Cinema this weekend. 

It was adorable- she was completely surprised. There was hardly a dry eye in the house.

After milling around and meeting some of the out of town visitors and the champagne toasts, we sat down to dinner.

It was a lovely celebration and a lovely night.

saison

My dad is in town this week for a conference and is taking me out to dinner tomorrow night at Saison. I am seriously excited by this dining prospect- it's a fixed menu and the food looks to be fairly spectacular.

An excellent way to spend a Wednesday evening, if you ask me.

Photo credit: SaisonSF

new digs

Today was a better day than yesterday. First, we've found an apartment! We won't be moving for another week or so, but the lease is signed and it's an amazing relief. I can't wait to be in our new home.

As a sort of celebration, we went to PPQ Dungeness Island with Daniel's roommate and his girlfriend. It's one of those restaurants we walk by all the time and have always meant to try but never gotten around to. We shared the fixed dinner for four, which included deep fried soft shell crabs, cabbage salad with chicken, peppercorn crab, steamed shitake sea bass, smoky pork, braised string beans, and garlic noodles.

My god it was good. We were all kicking ourselves for having waited so long to have tried this place. I'm so happy it's the weekend and I can relax on the sofa with my very full stomach!


PPQ Dungeness Island
2332 Clement Street
San Francisco 94121

point loma seafoods

Words really cannot describe how much I love Point Loma Seafoods.

My mom picked me up at the airport today and we drove straight there. 

I always get the same thing: a fish sandwich, french fries, and a lemonade. And lots of tartar sauce. 

We looked out at the harbor while we ate our sandwiches. It's good to be back in San Diego.

Point Loma Seafoods

2805 Emerson St.

San Diego 92106

rose bakery

Yesterday was pretty much perfect. 

I woke up late and read the paper in bed then pulled myself together at a leisurely pace to go out to lunch around 12:30 at Rose Bakery.

In case I haven't mentioned it before, I adore Rose Bakery. 

Yes, it's always crowded and, yes, it can take an unholy amount of time to be seated, but it's still one of my absolute favorite places for lunch in Paris. Maybe a funny thing to say because the food is not French and most everything is vegetarian- doesn't sound very exciting when you put it that way, does it?- but they have the most wonderful tarts with roasted shallots and pumpkin seeds, and salads with ingredients like kohlrabi and mustard cress. They also have incredible desserts. I'm especially partial to their cakes- simple frosted loaves in bright flavors. The citron, in particular, is to die for- and I usually despise lemon desserts. Also, the date slice. Be still my heart. 

I used to go there all the time but I hadn't been in a while and so lunch there yesterday was something of a treat. In a fit of nostalgia, I bought their cookbook. I can't wait to try it out. 

After lunch, I went wandering with my Diana. I didn't really have a destination in mind, but I ended up over in the 6th. I shopped for little things like Christmas cards and tins of tea. I took pictures and felt a little bit sad because the day was so lovely. 

Rose Bakery*

30, rue Debelleyme

75003 Paris

*There is also a Rose Bakery in the 9th on the rue de Martyrs and, apparently, a new one that's opened by Bastille. But usually I go to this one, in the Marais.

bon voyage, maman!

For my mother's last night in Paris, we decided to go out for Italian food. I know, I know- Italian for a last night in France? But both of us were feeling a little bilious after a week of French food.

L'Altro is one of my favorite Italian restaurant in Paris. The food is simple and delicious and they have an upstairs dining room that allows for great spying on people-watching on the street below. I ordered caccio e peppe and enjoyed my last evening of having my mama in France.

It's always a bit sad to say goodbye at the end of a lovely visit, but a delicious bowl of pasta can work wonders on a despondent spirit.

L'Altro

16 rue Dragon

Paris 75006

le dome, revisited

One of my very first posts here, over a year ago, was about the restaurant
Le Dome.

It's one of those venerable old Parisian restaurants, famous for their seafood.

Last night, we went there for dinner.

This time of year is the best for shellfish, which is what I make a point of ordering when I come here. They also have wonderful fish soups. I came here a few years ago with one of my friends who lived just across the street from the restaurant and ordered an appetizer of the soupe de poisson. When you finished your portion, they would shimmer over and refresh your bowl. We were elated- soup refills! I don't even think we ordered main courses; we just gorged ourselves on warm, briny fish soup.

However, this time I was going big and ordering the Plateau de fruits de mer.

You need a lot of implements for the enormous tray they bring.

Oysters, mussels, clams, tiny shrimp, crab, winkles...

See, I told you it was enormous.

And though there were six of us at dinner, my mother and I polished this off pretty much by ourselves.

 

We are like-minded.

For our main course, we ordered the Bouillabaisse Marseillaise, which is for a minimum of two people. They come out with a huge platter of the cooked fish that goes into the soup and show it to you before dousing it in broth and ladling it into your bowls from a large turreen they keep warm on the table.

Bouillabaisse is emphatically not Parisian, but it was delicious, so who cares.

Still, it's the shellfish that have my heart. We are already scheming about how to fit in another oyster fest before my mother leaves on Saturday...

Le Dome
108 boulevard Montparnasse
Paris 75014

change of plans

Well, we meant to go to Fontainebleau yesterday.

But we ended up sleeping in and then breakfasted in a leisurely manner on toast, coffee, and Poilaine pastries while listening to Billie Holiday and didn't make it to the Gare de Lyon until after noon- too late, as it turned out, to catch a train to Fontainebleau. So we bagged the idea and decided to go to Montmartre instead.

We took the metro to Notre Dame de Lorette and then walked up rue de Martyrs. We stopped at Jiga, a darling candy store so Joleen could pick up sweets for her five-year old twins.

Then we went to Rose Bakery to see about some lunch, but there was (as always) a line out the door, and since patience does not run in my family, we left and went for brunch at the Hotel Amour.

Very charming.

After lunch, we started the trek up to Sacre Coeur.

That's my mama, with her little red umbrella.

Even though it was sort of wet and windy, it was still fantastic. The church really is so impressive, poised on top of the hill the way it is. And even though my mother studied in France when she was in college, she had never been to Montmartre before. She was duly impressed.

The area has character. Something cool around every corner.

One of my favorite things is the tiny vineyard on the Rue des Saules, the Clos Montmartre. It's the only remaining vineyard still left within Paris.

Then it was time to go- we'd made reservations to see the Monet exhibit at the Grand Palais. 

It was pretty amazing to see so many of Monet's paintings gathered together in one exhibit. The organization of the pieces was sort of confusing (not by date but by subject...kind of) but so many of the paintings were so breathtaking, that it seems rather small to quibble over the curation of the show.

Some of my very favorites were the series of paintings of the Parliament in London.

For a post-exposition dinner, I had made us reservations at the newly revamped Mini Palais, which is actually inside the Grand Palais. The decor was sleek and the food was delicious (I had a duck burger!), perfect after a long day on our feet. 

Finally, to top it all off, Jolene wanted to see the hotel George V, so after dinner we hopped in a cab and headed over. We sat in their beautiful lounge and listened to the piano. Jolene and I had champagne cocktails and my mother had an armagnac. Yes, it was heavenly.

Such a lovely Sunday. I love having my visitors in town!

Jiga
17, rue de Martyrs
75009 Paris

Hotel Amour
8, rue de Navarin
75009 Paris

Mini Palais
Grand Palais
Avenue Winston Churchill
75008 Paris

George V
31, avenue George V
75008 Paris