Local: Mission Eatery, Mission

Local: Mission Eatery has been sitting in my "places to eat" list ever since I tried the baked goods from Knead Patisserie.  I got to try it this weekend with a couple of  girlfriends, and it completely exceeded my expectations. I love when that happens.

The menu is broken up into "bites" and dinner. The dinner choices all come in two sizes, small and large. We started with a couple of the bites.  These dishes set the tone for the meal - just a few ingredients, but those ingredients really pack a punch.  

I love how pretty this is. They poured the soup table side. This wasn't a hit with my friends, but I really liked it. I love cucumber soup in the "summer" (summer in quotes because I live in San Francisco).

The entrees were also great. Simple foods prepared really well. I loved the flavor combinations in all the dishes. I kept saying "wait, what is that?"

One of the things that really appealed to me about this place was that all of the dishes, even though they were pretty simple, felt like that had been prepared with tons of attention and care.  Clearly there is a lot of effort placed on high quality ingredients, and what's even cooler is that all of the ingredients are local (hence the name). 

Even when I really like a place, I find that it usually takes me awhile to go back - not because I don't want to, but because there are so many restaurants in San Francisco that I want to try. I need to start a new list, restaurants to make sure to go back to - "go to" restaurants. This place would top that list.
 

NOPA, revisited

Finally. Finally!! We made it back to Nopa, this time for dinner - and it really was worth the wait.

We got there a little bit before our reservations, so we were able to sit at the bar and get a drink. Just as our drinks were served, our friends showed up and our table was ready. Once again, we got seated on the mezzanine level, overlooking the kitchen, which in my opinion is the best seat in the house. I spent a lot of time peeking down there to see what was happening.

We took a long time looking over the menu. I wanted to eat everything - and I feel like I did eat everything, considering that as I write this 12+ hours after dinner, I am still full.

We finally decided on four appetizers. 

I looooooved the warm goat cheese crostini. The goat cheese was incredibly creamy and spread on the crostini almost liked whipped cream and the pluot was tart and sweet and the perfect companion to the goat cheese.  It was a perfect "summer is nearly here" dish.

We had been to the Farmers' Market earlier that morning, and had seen lots of beautiful squash blossoms, which was what inspired us to order that dish. I think I didn't pay enough attention to the description on the menu though - I wasn't expecting the whole thing to be fried. It was good - but certainly not my favorite. With all the fresh produce right now, I haven't been wanting much fried stuff.

The roasted onions were more my speed - they had that same feeling of summer. We really liked the pea sprouts that were part of it too.

The last appetizer was the arugula salad. Clearly I was going to like this no matter what. And it had fresh strawberries. Delicious.

At this point I was 1) licking the goat cheese out of the dish and 2) ridiculously full and overwhelmed when my dinner arrived.

I ordered the seared duck, which was recommended to me by the bartender. The fact that it had grilled nectarines also sold it for me. It was fantastic and I had never had orach before, which kinda tasted a little bit like kale. I got about half way through and hit a wall - I could not eat another thing. The rest will be for dinner tomorrow.

Mark got the pork chop, which also could probably feed two. I had a bite and it was tender and juicy. I can imagine that next time I might order this myself.

Kev got the burger, which made me happy because I really wanted to try it. Like the pork chop, it was really juicy. He thought it had a bit of a bacon taste to it too, which was appreciated.  On the way home he commented that it was one of the best burgers he's ever had.

Britt got the homemade fettuccine with clams, tomatoes and peas. I took a bite and it was great. I love fresh made pasta.

All of us were way too full for dessert, which is disappointing because I would have loved to try it. I guess I'll have to save that for next time.

Lastly, because this is my 100th post (!) and because we had seats overlooking the kitchen, I'm including a little video (in case you want to see what the kitchen is like for yourself).  Hopefully the chef doesn't mind that I was sneakily filming him. Enjoy!

dinner @nopa from tastingsf on Vimeo.

NOPA
560 Divisadero St
San Francisco, California 94117
(415) 864-8643

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