Flora, Oakland

I've been a delinquent blogger. I meant to do a whole bunch of photo editing this weekend, but didn't get the chance. And so - I will leave you instead with a few images from my iPhone from a recent breakfast at Flora. I love the style of that place - check out that wallpaper.

We did order a bunch more food, but I got caught up in the conversation and forgot to take photos. I highly recommend the "donettes" though, which are served with jam and chocolate. 

Great breakfast place, there's pretty much no wait for a table and if you're coming from SF, it's very close to BART.

Flora

1900 Telegraph Avenue
Oakland, CA 94612-2202
(510) 286-0100

Serpentine, Dogpatch

This post is a little old, since this brunch was actually on Mother's Day.  In a way this is a follow up to this post - we took my parents here the morning after our very triumphant dinner at Bistro Aix.  And, I am happy to report, it was a hit - we were able to check off all the boxes that make for a successful family meal with brunch at Serpentine.

Check boxes include: 1.  They take reservations  2.  They have awesome, non-greasy breakfast potatoes  3.  It's not too loud  4. The prices are pretty reasonable and 5. (Bonus!) They serve arugula on their egg sandwich.

That is the egg sandwich.  I got mine with scrambled eggs. It has a really tasty dill aioli on there.  Kev had his (below) with a fried egg and some pork sausage and was equally happy with it.

My parents both ordered the buckwheat pancakes (with a side of breakfast potatoes) and they were  pleased.  I was too full from my sandwich to take a bite, so you'll have to take their word for it. 

All in all, a very successful food weekend, including a dinner at home of tortilla soup and this rhubarb and raspberry crostata, which was not quite as pretty as theirs, but tasted amazing.

Happy (belated) Mother's Day!

Serpentine
2495 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94107-3110
(415) 252-2000

Bottega Louie, Los Angeles

I didn't have my camera with me, so here's just a few iPhone photos of the amazing baked goods at Bottega Louie. Dinner with some friends was pretty great also.  AND I bumped into an old friend from high school. A very successful night.

Bottega Louie 

700 S Grand Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90017 

(213) 802-1470

Bistro Aix, Marina

Last week, my parents were in town and I wanted to book some reservations for while they were here. Finding restaurants for my parents is a semi-daunting task: it can't be too loud, it shouldn't be too trendy, they should serve Diet Coke, and the food needs to be very accessible (read: American or "red sauce" Italian) for my dad.  

I didn't know much about Bistro Aix, but it had been recommended on the Top 100 Places to Eat list, and although it is considered French (not American or Italian) everything I read about it, including the menu, seemed to fit the above description.  I booked it.  We sat in the front room which was comfortably chatty, so that was perfect (the back room however, is quite noisy, so make sure to request the front if you don't like noisy).  The bar accommodated everyone, with both Diet Coke and this awesome beer. Love the label. 

We ordered a couple of appetizers: burrata on crostini with arugula and pea shoots, which doesn't fall into the "accessible" category for my dad, but wow, was it good.  The cheese was super creamy and the whole thing was seasoned really well,  in a light vinaigrette.  There was some coarse salt on it that added a little crunch that I liked. More accessible was the spaghetti with San Marzano tomatoes and basil.  Everyone loved this, and I'd be tempted to order it next time as my entree. 

Kev ordered another pasta dish, as recommended by our waitress, for his entree. This was tagliatelle with shrimp and clams in a spicy tomato broth.  It was a good dish, but not quite as good as the spaghetti.  My mom ordered the duck, which was great - juicy and tender. 

My dad and I both ordered the crispy chicken breast with baby red potoates: he was sold on "crispy" and potatoes; I was sold on the Patricia Unterman review describing the chicken.  It lived up to the description: the skin was really crispy and the meat was really juicy.  I was also eyeing the burger at the table next to us, which looked amazing. As good as the chicken was, I was having food envy.

At this point we were all pretty full, but they had tarte tatin. I had been thinking about tarte tatin just before we went to dinner, because I had read this Smitten Kitchen post and was thinking 1) I want to make that and 2) mmmm, tarte tatin.  And it really was lovely - warm and gooey and perfectly caramelized.  Even my dad ate it, and that is saying something (no warm desserts, either).

Moral of the story: bring a date or bring your parents.  And bring me, too.

Bistro Aix
3340 Steiner Street
San Francisco, CA 94123-2707
(415) 202-0100

Mission Cheese, the Mission

We've been walking by the Mission Cheese storefront for what seems like months. I loved the drawing and font they had on the sign in the window, and I love cheese and I couldn't wait for them to open. I figured though it would just be a cheese shop, so I was even more excited when I heard they serve food and wine and beer.

When we walked in at around 2:30, the place was full.  I loved the palette they chose in designing the space, and the Heath ceramic bar is just awesome.  We ordered two grilled cheese sandwiches: the Cheddarhead (2 types of cheddar with apple and ale chutney) and the Pork and Cheese (Gruyere, salami, mustard and cornichons).  Oh, and some coffee.

We loved our food, the coffee was great and it reaffirmed my love for this neighborhood. We spoke  to the owner, who was very sweet and also totally inspiring in that she opened this place in a year and a half without any previous cheese-shop or running-a-business type experience.  

I'm now plotting my return to try that mac n cheese. Yum.

Mission Cheese
736 Valencia Street
San Francisco, California

Scenes from Los Angeles

Got to eat some great food while down in LA for the weekend.  We mistakenly left our camera at home, so it's all iPhone photos instead. I like how they turned out! The Cross Process app is awesome.

We spent a lot of time on Abbot Kinney this trip. We had lunch at 3 Square, which we seem to stop at every time we are down there. This was their three sandwich sampler: pulled pork, salmon cake and grilled cheese with shrimp. The grilled cheese was my fave. 

 Intelligentsia Latte

We sort of happened-upon the Brentwood Country Mart by mistake. I was psyched when I realized that's where Farmshop LA was. We had already eaten lunch, so we just got a few snacks. The lemon raspberry cookie was insanely good. I really want to go back there for a meal.

We decided we needed dessert with our dessert, so we got an ice cream cone (Caffe Luxxe Coffee) at Sweet Rose Ice Cream.

So this last picture isn't in LA - it is at the brand new SFO Terminal 2. This place is awesome! Super clean and modern with lots of great restaurants, including the Plant Cafe. We got off the plane and needed to detox from traveling + all the sugar we had eaten.  We were so happy to see this in front of us, and we got a fresh squeezed juice (carrot/ginger/orange juice).  Plus we were able to pick up a loaf of Acme Bread at the Napa Farms Market, which meant we didn't need to go to the grocery store - so convenient!  I think I need to only fly on Virgin America from now on. 

Canteen, Nob Hill

Some pictures from a recent dinner at Canteen - which turned out to be one of the better dinners we've had recently. We were both super impressed with the meal.

The restaurant is tiny, and we sat at the counter. The very bright green counter.

Amuse bouche - avocado with bay shrimp. Fresh and tasty.

Fresh rolls, spicy crab soup and sea scallops.  The soup was super flavorful and not too spicy. The scallops were ok - but I think the weakest point of the overall meal. One of the highlights of the meal was watching the three guys in the tiny kitchen. The way they maneuvered around each other was amazing. Our waitress told us they had all been working together for years.

I ordered the lamb loin with sesame-chickpea puree and pepper relish. It was excellent. It was like  fancy lamb and hummus.  

Kev ordered the halibut poached in olive oil with green garlic, baby leeks, grits and spicy ham. Really light and nice flavors. 

For dessert, we shared the chocolate pot de creme with chicory and the vanilla souffle. The pot de creme was different than most - it didn't have the same thickness that I'm used to. I liked it - but not as much as the souffle, which was amazing.  The menu at Canteen changes weekly, but the souffle is always on the menu, for good reason.

The cool thing about this place is that it doesn't seem like it's trying all that hard - the food they make isn't anything crazy or fancy - it's all just done really well.