Chez Panisse – San Francisco

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Founded by Alice Waters, Chez Panisse has been around since 1971. The idea behind the restaurant was to make it as though you were dining at a friend’s place, with special care given to every dish. Each plate always created with top-notch quality, organic and seasonal ingredients. The push to eat well using local products goes far beyond her restaurant. Alice Waters works with youth in schools to promote healthy eating and how to grow and prepare the meals at home. She is the first of her kind and has inspired many chefs and people around the world to improve the way they cook and eat. A truly amazing woman to say the least.

Chez Panisse came highly recommended not only by our favourite little black book, but also a trusted source and friend. Perhaps I expected too much, but the food did not meet my expectations at all.

We decided to make a reservation before leaving Ottawa to ensure we were able to get in. They were booked solid the entire time we were in San Francisco, every night except our last. What a wonderful way to spend your last night in a city, dining at a renowned restaurant. We hopped on the BART and made our way out to Berkley.


The menu is a set one, prix fixe at $75 per person for a 4-course meal (prices change depending on the evening). Luckily they allow you to bring your own wine, so we did, our delicious Ceja Cab Sauvignon that we picked up the day before. Corking fee is $25.


The first course arrived, green asparagus and blood orange salad with olives and hazelnuts. This was a nice, fresh dish. The toasted hazelnuts and olives added flavour, but overall, lacked heavily in the wow-department.


Roasted Maine scallops with watercress soup and olio nuovo came next. I commented on how nicely the scallops were cooked as I desperately tried to find something exciting about this dish. That was it.


The last of the savoury was grilled rack, loin, and leg of James Ranch lamb with chanterelle mushrooms, sweet pea, fava bean, fava bean shoot, and escarole ragout. The lamb was cooked the way we enjoy it, red and juicy, but again, nothing exceptional. I’ve had much tastier lamb in my own kitchen at home.


Maybe the dessert will blow us away, we hoped. The Meyer lemon soufflé was ok.

I hate to be negative about such a highly-regarded restaurant but the food was just plain ordinary. My husband’s exact words were, “It’s a restaurant you’d bring your grandmother to”. Even the staff are so efficient and do their job so perfectly they’re almost robot-like. Everything was nicely cooked, but the plates lacked personality, flavour and excitement. For some, this is perfect. For me, I’d prefer to spend the money on a more impressive and unique medley of . ingredients.

Besides our overall disappointment, we had a great time. Our wine was amazing, and well, I got challenged to write this review.

www.chezpanisse.com

A Day in the Napa-Sonoma Valley

Monday we decided to spend the day in the Napa-Sonoma wine country. We didn’t have a ton of time so we wanted to do everything on our own schedule. We rented a car from San Fran and made our way out there. It was a gorgeous, sunny day. The first thing I noticed as we drove into the valley was that because of the time of year, it wasn’t as beautiful as I had imagined it would be. The vineyards are naked, no greenery. But the view of the rolling hills still made me flutter. Just being there, and of course the wine, was an experience I would love to have again, but maybe next time for a lot longer than one day.


We pulled into the town of Sonoma first for a late breakfast. The Sunflower Café offered delicious pastries as well as omelets and a few other goodies. My husband had the breakfast sandwich on sourdough and I, the smoked salmon with capers, onions and toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese. I’m sure this all would have been enough but while paying, a massive cinnamon roll was staring us right in the face. We caved in and had it to share. It went extremely well with my tazo chai latte. We would have loved to sit outside on their stunning garden patio but it was still a bit too chilly out.

We had a lot of varying recommendations from locals and web sites but it wasn’t until we visited the bike shop around the corner from the café that we finally decided which wineries to visit. A gentleman by the name of Vito became our official tour guide, pointing us in the direction of really good, smaller, less-known wineries, mostly in the Carneros region.


We started off at the charming Homewood Winery. A tiny little spot with a nice selection of wines, including my favourite, port! Originally we had decided we weren’t taking any wine home because of the cost to do so from the US to Canada. After about 3 sips that changed. We left with 2 bottles of their rich petite sirah and one not-too-sweet merlot port. How could we not? They don’t even distribute their wine so how else would we ever get to enjoy it again? Roughly 300 cases a year and 10 separate batches are bottled.


Next was the Robledo Family Winery. This magnificent family-owned winery was bigger than the first but still quite small. We tried some of their award-winning wines, including a tempranillo that we immediately fell in love with. Thank god we decided to bring some home. 2 of those bottles made it out the door with us.


The view here was absolutely breathtaking.


By the third winery we figured it would be it, and it was. The more I drank, the more I wanted to buy – DANGER. Another two bottles of cabernet sauvignon from the Ceja boutique winery brought us to 7. We decided to bring one of them to dinner so we went home with 6, only two over the limit.


The Ceja winery, as was with each one we visited, had such wonderful, passionate staff. Here the woman serving us was the granddaughter of the founders so everything was very near and dear to her heart. They had the smallest selection and all were very yummy. It was her recommendation that brought us to our final stop, a marvelous tapas restaurant in Napa called Zuzu.


The tantalizing choices on the Zuzu menu made it difficult to stick to just a few dishes. I was really happy with our choices though.


We started off with the Boquerones – white anchovies, boiled egg and remoulade on grilled bread, delicious.


Next came the Bacalao Frito – golden, crispy salt cod fritters with lemon-truffle aioli, amazing.


The Harissa Spiked Lamb Burger was my favourite, garlicky and so full of flavour, this plate was served with chickpea hummus, tzatziki and homemade pita bread.


I insisted on getting one more dish even though my husband was full – Gambas al Ajillo. He did enjoy dipping some bread in the piquin chili and smoky pimenton juice that the meaty Gulf shrimp bathed in.


To drink we had a Lagunitas pilsner, something to break us away from all the wine we had during the afternoon.

I couldn’t map out a more perfect day for mouthwatering eats and heavenly wines. I was seriously in my glory and did not want it to end. It’s something I must do again soon, if not in California then in our beautiful offerings here in Canada. The Niagara region is already calling me, I can hear it loud and clear! Maybe by then I will have taken a wine course so that I can properly describe each wine, my knowledge on that end is limited, I just know what I like (which I must say has served me quite well until now).

Scoma’s – Sausalito

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This touristy restaurant sits right on the mouth of the San Francisco Bay. Their cozy patio allows you to soak in the sun while breathing in the fresh ocean air. Exactly what you want to be doing when on holiday. 

The food is also nice, full-on seafood. My husband started off with the Steamed Clams and I the Crab Cocktail. The fresh Manila clams were steamed in a broth of clam juice, garlic, onions and white wine, delicious. My Dungeness crab shaped like a scoop of ice cream, flaky and with a dollop of seafood sauce.

Staying on the crab side of things, I also got the crab cake served with a spicy remoulade. My husband ordered the Bay Shrimp Sandwich but ended up with the Crab Cake Burger (all my crab orders must have screwed them up). He ate it anyway, but left the most aweful-tasting potato salad that came with it aside.

Service was not great, which is the reason I only gave these guys one star. Food is good and fresh. And as mentioned above the patio and view are wonderful, and the only reason we decided to stay. Had we had to sit inside, we wouldn't have stuck around.

www.scomasausalito.com

Crab and Seafood Chowder – San Francisco

Yesterday was our best food day yet. It was beautiful, sunny and warm so we spent most of the morning walking along the water until we got to Pier 39. Then we got the freshest crab I've ever had, some creamy chowder served in a sourdough bowl and planted ourselves on a bench for the feast. 

Yummmm!

For dinner last night, we ate at another 4 star restaurant, but I was caught yet again sans camera! Because of that I decided I was going to skip blogging this place but it was so amazingly good and we had such fantastic service that I do have to make a mention of it – Zuni Café – go there. Thanks so much Paola for the recommendation! 

Frjtz – San Francisco

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This cute restaurant is THE place to go when you're craving French fries. Not only do they offer garlic, spicy or white truffle fries in addition to their regular salty ones, they also have a ton of dipping mayos and ketchups that for a sauce lover like myself, make your jaw drop. Flavours include pesto mayo, curry ketchup, ginger-orange mayo, parmesan peppercorn white trash ranch, jalapeno ketchup, chipotle remoulade, strawberry mustard, miso mayo, spicy yogurt peanut, roasted pepper mayo, bbq, ponzu ketchup, creamy wasabi mayo, grilled eggplant mayo, smokey-honey mustard, kalamata olive ketchup, white truffle artichoke ketchup, balsamic mayo, tamarind-cashew ketchup, Morrocan lemon saffron aïoli, Thai chili ketchup and bacon mayo. Oh the choices!

In addition to the above, they also serve sandwiches, salads and soups. My husband and I ordered a large fry to share, amazing white truffle artichoke ketchup and mild grilled eggplant mayo. My husband went with the Basquiat hot sandwich – roasted chicken, pesto mayo, caramelized onions, melted swiss and avocado on focaccia. I went with the Michelangelo – roasted peppers, caramelized onions, pesto mayo, grilled eggplant and melted gorgonzola.

Great spot for a quick lunch and fry fix.

www.frjtzfries.com

Sears Fine Food – San Francisco

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The best spot for breakfast when you're carrying the weight of a hangover. Actually, an excellent spot for breakfast any time! This old diner has been around since 1938 and it shows. They've perfected the first meal of the day with the Al's Special and even have staff that have been around for over 20 years. Untouched decor makes you feel as though you're stepping back in time. And I must say, it's pretty comforting.

Their world famous Swedish pancakes with warm maple syrup and country fresh whipped butter are what came in Al's special, served alongside fried eggs, crispy shredded potatoes and the best corn beef hash I've ever had. 

My husband got the same thing, minus the fluffy, golden pancakes but with a side of sausage.

Definitely a must when in San Fran.

www.searsfinefood.com

Foreign Cinema – San Francisco

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Until last night, my husband and I were actually questioning the level of quality of San Francisco restaurants. I mean, when you're comparing to New York City and Montreal, the only other cities we visit with a high food expectation, and then of course living in Ottawa, a marvelous city for quality restaurants, the bar is set pretty high. Foreign Cinema brought San Francisco right up there with our other favourite food cities.

This gorgeous restaurant, with it's insanely high ceilings, warehouse-like windows and soft lighting is the perfect recipe for a wonderful evening out. Not to mention fantastic service and heavenly dishes. The only difficult thing about the evening was having to make a decision on what plate to order.

The app (or premiere as they call it) I decided to go with was probably one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth. La Frita: sesame whole quail, jalapeno and bell pepper rings, onions, balsamic mayo. Where to begin with this dish... the light crisp batter that coated the quail and rings just flaked in your mouth with every bite, it was amazing. Everyone at the table had food envy. Although my husband's house cured sardine toasts with shell bean purée and organic hazelnut-fig aillade came pretty close.

Of the three mains (or local features), I would have to say I wouldn't order mine again. Not because it wasn't delicious, but because the other two were so much better. I got the seafood risotto with Maine sea scallops, Dungeness crab, baby clams, fennel, prosecco. My husband's dish almost made me fall off my chair it was so good, five-spice roast duck breast, golden turnips, roasted chicories, green olive-rosemary tapenade. Scott went with the juicy Tunisian spiced chicken under a brick, basmati rice, spring onion raita, baby carrots.

The yummy wine recommended by our server was perfect with every dish – Rosso di Montalcino.

If you ever find yourself in San Fran, you must take the time to come here. They've even got a large heated patio with even more tables outdoors where they project old movies onto a stone wall, hence the name of the restaurant. Premieres range from $8 to $14 and local features from $20 to $27.

www.foreigncinema.com

Grand Café – San Francisco

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Our second night in San Francisco was a fun one. After a long day of conferences, we ended it with a meal alongside new acquaintances – great conversation and company. The Grand Café was not a choice in our Black Book, rather a recommendation from the hotel concierge, and well, just easy that it was right around the corner from where we were.

This French restaurant is definitely GRAND, with it's extremely high ceilings, 156 tables and elegant decor. 

We started off with a bunch of appetizers to share. Artichauts Frits – fried baby artichokes with saffron bread sauce, Moules Marinière – Mediterranean mussels steamed in white wine, shallots, persillade and crème fraiche, and Assiette de Charcuterie – selection of house-cured meats. 

For my main I decided to go with the Tartare de Boeuf (normally an app) and got it with a side of salty fries. The tartare was made with waygu steak, endive salad and crostini. Not the typical tartare I've had in the past, this one was not very meaty in flavour, creamy if I can say that and quite mild.

My husband's dish was very nice, Carre d'Agneau à la Forestière – roasted Sonoma rack of lamb crusted with mixed herbs, vegetable tian, wild mushrooms and pearl onion sauce.

Everything was good, service was efficient but serious. Great spot for a group our size (6) and easy to get a table. Prices range from $8 to $19 for apps and $26 to $33 for mains.

www.grandcafe-sf.com

Luna Park – San Francisco

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We arrived in San Francisco 2 nights ago. I was so excited to get here that I figured there was no way the long traveling day would slow down my energy for an evening out. I was wrong. But we did make it out for dinner, a relatively short one since I was slowly falling asleep at the table by the end of it. My jet-lagged mind also forgot to bring the camera so I'm hoping text only for this post will suffice.

Down in the Mission area of town, on Valencia is this wonderful local restaurant. We chose this one from a review written in the Black Book for San Francisco. This gem of a book I swear has been written personally for us. We've always used it in our travels to New York City and have never had anything but the best time because of it. I trust it will be the same with the San Fran version. So far, we're off to a good start.

If we lived here this would probably be one of our local spots. It's not huge but is very open. I'm not used to seeing so much space around the tables. They've got cozy booths and a warm and inviting atmosphere. 

It was a toss-up but we finally decided on the Carnival Dogs to start. Assorted sausage-filled corn dogs, one lamb, chicken and pork served with a variety of mustards for dipping. So yummy, I absolutely loved this dish. Being a hot dog fan, this was very fun.

For my main I decided to go for the Painted Hills Braised Short Ribs with garlic mashed potatoes, ancho cress salad, fresh horseradish and natural jus. Delicious and so tender!

My husband went with the Grilled Atlantic Salmon with chorizo and scarlet runner bean sofrito, dandelion greens, and garlic croutons. Probably the most flavourful salmon dish I've ever had, mostly because of the chorizo. And the dandelion was cooked perfectly, not bitter at all. I've been used to juicing dandelion leaves recently so it was nice to eat it in it's entirety.

All-in-all, a very nice, easy place to go for dinner. Perfect for our first night in San Fran! Apps range from $8 to $12 and mains from $13 to $23.

www.lunaparksf.com