The Plant Cafe, Embarcadero

The Plant Cafe is becoming one of my go-to spots for a good, inexpensive dinner. I'll have to go back soon just so I can write a post on their amazing veggie burger, which is like no other veggie burger I've ever seen (or tasted).  This past weekend I brought my parents there for breakfast. We sat "outside" (in quotes because it was tented since it wasn't THAT warm) and had a good view of the water and the Bay Bridge.  

We got some coffee (Blue Bottle, served in the french press at the table) and I had the egg scramble (wild mushrooms, chives and pecorino) with country potatoes. It was good - but not as good as their lunch/dinner menu. My mom had the brioche french toast, which also was good, but not great. My dad - well I didn't get my love of food from my dad. His idea of a great breakfast is a completely charred bagel and potatoes. So he was pretty happy with his meal - though they could have burnt his bagel even more for greater satisfaction.

One thing to keep in mind if you're eating here: Go to the bathroom before you arrive, because there is no bathroom inside! If you need the toilet, you'll need to "walk down the Embarcadero, and you'll find it by the ATM machine".

SF Hot Chocolate: Farmers' Market, Ferry Building

You have to know where to look to spot this hot chocolate at the Ferry Building Farmers' Market.  There is a table tucked away against the wall, right by the Sur La Table entrance. And there you will find the most intense hot chocolate of your life - one small cup is more than Kev and I can drink together.

 

Get a group of your ten closest friends and go try it out.

The Fig Cafe, Glen Ellen

Over the weekend we had a great family brunch at The Fig Cafe.  Sunday was John's last day here, so we drove up to see the relatives in Sonoma County.

When Kev told me we where we were going to eat, and said "it's at some place with fig in it" I got really excited and shouted "The Girl and the Fig??!" but then had no idea where I knew it from or why I had wanted to go.

We ordered both breakfast and lunch from the menu, since it was already after 1:00 pm. I was torn between the two until I saw the soup of the day: winter root vegetable soup with truffle oil. Truffle oil? Sold! I also ordered the fig and arugula salad, with chèvre, pecans and pancetta in a fig and port vinaigrette.  The soup was made with parsnip, rutabaga and celery root, but I only really tasted the parsnip. It was really creamy and smooth, but I don't know that I would order it again. I think pureed soups are just not really my thing, even if they do have truffle oil. The salad was fantastic - our waitress told us it was one of three items that had been on the menu unchanged since the restaurant opened. 

 

The burger - with grilled onions and cheese - is another item that hasn't changed.  I'm getting hungry looking at this picture. 

Here's a fun fact about the Fig Cafe: they don't have a corkage fee.  Here's a fun fact about Kev's family: they bring their own champagne.  You've got to love a family that  brings their own alcohol and orders dessert at lunch.  You know, to have with their champagne. We ordered a whole bunch of different desserts, including poached pear cheesecake and fig and port ice cream.  The ice cream was a big hit - John loved it so much that he ordered a second bowl of it. Next time we can have it waiting in our freezer when he gets here - it's made by Ciao Bella.

Limon Rotisserie, Mission

Sarah and I wanted to have dinner, but there were a lot of logistics involved in making that happen. Neither of us were free on the weekend. I don't get out of work until late. Sarah doesn't have a car. And both of us wanted it to be inexpensive. Our criteria became: somewhere in the city (easier for me), near BART (easy for Sarah) and cheap. Normally that means burritos, but this time we came up with a better plan: Limon Rotisserie.

This might be the best deal in San Francisco, and I can't stop talking about it. For $7.25 you get 1/4 chicken plus two sides and two dipping sauces. And it was all really tasty. Sarah and I got the tacu-tacu, papas fritas, vegetales salteados and choclo. We didn't know what most of those things were either, so here's a visual aide. 

Sarah thought the corn was a little too mealy but really liked the tacu-tacu. I thought the corn was meaty and good, and really liked the papas fritas. We both liked the chicken, which was super flavorful and also the check, which was $25.

Sunday Night Dinner: Four Cheese Risotto

Really this dinner was on Wednesday, but it seemed like our normal Sunday night dinner, so I'm posting under this category.

Tonia's cousin Sylvia and her two friends have been visiting from Italy and volunteered to make us (and teach me to make) four cheese risotto.  They are from Asiago, so it was going to include asiago cheese, but they couldn't find it so in its place was: Swiss Emmental, Parmesan, Gorgonzola and Pecorino.

We sliced the cheese and diced half an onion, then sauteed the onion with some oil and butter. If you want to do this the true Italian way, you must say, "bellisima!" many times throughout this process. 

Sylvia discarded the onion after it had been sauteed (I think to infuse the oil and butter with the onion flavor, but we had a language barrier issue so I'm just inferring that) and then added many handfuls of arborio rice and began the stirring, stirring, stirring process that makes risotto. 

We gradually added some beef broth, did more stirring, then stirred some more, then added some more broth. Finally we added our cheese ("Bellisima!"). If you're like me and you don't like Gorgonzola, you take your portion before that bit is added.

Sylvia and friends also bought us this lemon meringue cake from Tartine. This is one of those cakes I see in their display and wonder if it tastes as good as it looks.  I really liked the meringue and the caramel/lemon creme filling but didn't love the cake layers. I realize I may get thrown out of San Francisco for saying this, but I haven't been that impressed with any of the cakes I've had at Tartine. I'd much rather have a tart or some bread or the quiche. Ohhh the quiche. We'll save that for another day.

Grazie, Sylvia, for a lovely meal (and not minding me taking a million photos)!

Charcoal Crackers

Not gonna lie, I only bought these because I liked the box and also, what is a charcoal cracker?
It turns out the point of the cracker is to be neutral, to be eaten with something else, and to let the flavor of what it's paired with to shine through.

And these crackers aren't just easy on the eyes: when I just checked the website, it also mentions that these crackers are good for "gastrointestinal distress".  Just in case you were wondering.

Guaymas Restaurant, Tiburon

Yesterday we made like tourists and took the ferry over to Tiburon for lunch.  It's nice to have visitors in town so you can do things in your city you wouldn't ordinarily do - like going to Fisherman's Wharf, for example.  The ferry to Tiburon drops you off right in front of Guaymas - very handy if you are bad at directions.

My experience with restaurants directly on the water - especially in touristy areas - is that the food is generally bad. I was really pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food here - especially the guacamole, which was really flavorful. I prefer guac to be a little more chunky, not so smooth, but the flavor made up for the texture.

There were 8 of us, so we ordered the appetizer platter which included these tamales wrapped like little presents.  There were also flautas, empanadas and chalupas.

By the time the entrees arrived, I was already pretty full.  I'm not sure why I even bother to order at Mexican restaurants, because this happens nearly every time I go to one - I eat WAY too many chips and then don't want the rest of my food. I ordered shrimp fajitas, which I didn't love. They weren't bad,  but they seemed to lack some flavor.  To be fair,  I will say that everyone else that ordered fajitas seemed to like them more than I liked mine. The best dish at our table was the Camarones Rellenos - giant grilled shrimp with cheese and jalapenos, and wrapped with bacon. 

While this certainly wasn't the best meal I had this weekend (see here and here) it was a really good time and great for such a large group. Go here for that - the food is really secondary.