Day 365: Last Hurrah

My husband and I brainstormed lots of ways to conclude this blog but in the end, I decided to keep it simple. For dinner, we returned to the restaurant we visited the most times over the past year and then went to another local spot for one of my very favorite desserts.

It's kind of amazing to remember that we lived in our neighborhood for over a year before we checked out Bistro Aix, just 2 blocks from our house. But, ever since that first visit, we have not been able to stay away. The menu features several staple dishes that we have come to love and in addition, some dishes that come and go depending on what's in season. No matter what we've ordered, we've never been disappointed and tonight was no different.

I went with my favorite Bistro Aix salad, spinach with baby beets and goat cheese. Yummy. For my entree, I decided to go with something new: grilled yellowtail with creamed corn and a small salad. Every element of the dish was delicious but the corn was downright addictive. Had they wheeled a vat of it to the table, I would have dived right in.

Thank you to Bistro Aix for serving me so much amazing food over the past year. As it turns out, this blog is ending at just the right time. Bistro Aix is about to close for renovations for at least 6 months. What will we do??

For dessert, we walked a couple of blocks to Mezes and bellied up to the bar for galaktobouriko and a class of Samos (Greek dessert wine). Galaktobouriko is similar to baklava, but with custard so it isn't as dry. It arrives doused in honey - the whole thing is so sweet that I feel my skin vibrating. I love it.

So...that's it. A wonderful meal to conclude a year of mostly wonderful dinners. Stay tuned for a summary of the year. And thanks for reading!

Day 363: This Blog's Final Discovery

My husband and I recently discovered the show "Check Please Bay Area", which is produced by and airs on the PBS affiliate here in NorCal, KQED. The show features three guests who each talk about their favorite Bay Area restaurant and then the other guests go and visit it and each reports on their experience.

We recently saw an episode that featured Sociale as one of the three restaurants. Intrigued by the menu and the garden ambiance, we decided we needed to check this place out.

I was taken with the place upon arrival. We had to walk down a narrow tree lined alley which let us out at Sociale's garden patio. It was a bit too chilly to sit outside, so we were seated indoors. The service was stellar - prompt and super friendly.

One of the dishes on the appetizer menu is deep fried olives stuffed with fontina cheese. I needed to try this (pictured). Unfortunately, it was disappointing. It tasted like super salty olives. The cheese didn't come through at all. I ate two of the eight on the plate, my husband ate one, and the remaining five were uneaten.

Next I had a salad of prawns, peaches, and cucumbers. All of the ingredients were so fresh - super crunch cukes and the peaches were so sweet and delicious. I loved it.

My main course was pappardelle pasta with duck, peas, and truffle oil. This dish was rich, savory, and luscious. I'd order it again in an instant, although the menu contained lots of other dishes that I'm interested to try as well.

It would have been great if I'd had any room left for dessert - the goat cheese cheese cake sounded so interesting - the apple and quince tart sounded delicious, and the beignets with blackberry glaze sounded amazing. But alas, I was way too full. But we'll be back. Not in time to tell you the details - but that just means you probably need to check this place out for yourself.

Day 362: Thanks for the Memories, Balboa!

One of the restaurants we've visited most frequently over the past year (and since moving to SF 2.5 years ago), is the Balboa Cafe, a staple in our neighborhood.

As I've done during nearly every other visit to The Bal, I ordered the field green salad (mixed greens, raisins, sliced apple, candied pecans, and a crostini smeared with goat cheese) and the fish dish. The Bal always has a fish option on the menu, usually either halibut or salmon, plated on top of seasonal vegetables. The cooks at the restaurant really know how to cook fish. There is always a beautiful crust on top while instead remains soft and moist.

Tonight's fish option was halibut with fresh spinach and fingerling potatoes and crabmeat beurre blanc. I asked the restaurant to leave the potatoes off and double the spinach, which they gladly did (and always do for me). This was a delicious meal, due in no small part to the buttery crabby sauce which was absolutely divine.

Thank you, Balboa Cafe for serving so many amazing dinners to me this year. I look forward to continuing to enjoy your food for many years to come!

Day 358: Geez Louise - That Was Tasty!!

I had the urge to leave the 'hood for dinner tonight so we tried a restaurant we had never been to in Russian Hill - 1550 Hyde Cafe & Wine Bar.  Looking at their menu online, the numerous salads and fish entree appealed to me.

I loved the restaurant's setting right away.  It's small with simple decor - warm and welcoming with a very friendly staff.  The menu is somewhat limited - about 5 appetizers and entrees to choose from, but the menu changes regularly to reflect what's in season.

My salad was composed of baby greens with bing cherries, toasted almonds, and fiore sardo cheese.  I'd never tried fiore sardo before and as it turns out, this sheep's milk cheese was too strong for me.  When I ate it with a bit of each of the other components of the salad, it was okay - but otherwise it was just too much.  I wound up giving most of it to my hubby.  On the other hand, the almonds were among the most delicious I had ever had. 

I followed up the salad with salmon, served on top of a mix of fresh chickpeas, corn, and spinach.  I absolutely loved the veggies - the fish was okay.

The star of the meal, though, was dessert.  I rarely indulge in sweets after dinner but tonight's special could not be ignored:  nectarine and chocolate bread pudding with almonds, topped with vanilla ice cream.  Geez Louise - this dish was ridiculous!!  It had the perfect amount of chocolate and the nuts offered a bit of crunch.  It could have used a bit more nectarine, but it was amazing.

I adore restaurants that support local farmers and change their menu frequently to include seasonally relevant dishes.  We'll definitely be returning to 1550 Hyde Cafe and I'm glad I was able to include them in this blog before the 365 days are up!

Day 357: Last Entry From The Lovely Isa

I have mixed emotions as I approach the end of my blog project.  On one hand, it's been stressful to keep it up, knowing that I had to write an entry each and every night, regardless of how boring my dinner was or how tired I was.  On the other hand, 365daysofdinner.com has challenged me to cook and eat more interesting food and has served as a fun and interesting reflection on a year of my life.  

As I wind things up, I am trying to fit in one last visit to all my favorite restaurants.  Beginning Sunday, Isa closes for its annual summer vacation so tonight is my final entry from my very favorite neighborhood restaurant.

If you've been following along for the past year, you know that Isa is a shared plate place.  There are two dishes that we always get:  baked goat cheese with tomato, basil, & pine nuts and the scallops with pureed potatoes and fresh asparagus.  Our other orders vary, as does the menu, to reflect what's in season.

Our other dishes tonight were lamb chops with diced eggplant and red bell pepper (yummy), gulf shrimp sauteed with lemon and garlic (yummier), and grilled yellowtail with zucchini, red bell peppers, and olives (yummiest!!).  Honestly - that yellowtail is so good that I could eat it at least 3x per week and never tire of it.  

Of course, we will continue to regularly dine at Isa because WE LOVE IT!  But as far as this blog is concerned, we big Isa farewell and offer many thanks for the delicious dinners they served us over the course of the past year!

Day 351: The Steak-Free Streak is Finally Broken!

The last three times I went to Izzy's Steaks & Chops, I ordered fish.  Fish!  At a steak restaurant!  For some unknown reason, I hadn't craved my beloved prime rib dish on any of these occasions.  I hoped this trend would end, because that prime rib is SO good - finally tonight, my old craving returned, so off to Izzy's we went.

As always, I started with the prawn cocktail which is served with Izzy's amazing house made cocktail sauce.   After that, I had the prime rib with steamed broccoli and ate every savory, meaty bite.  Yum!  

Day 350: Sushi - Well Lit & Tasty

Before I even get into the details of this meal, can we just talk about how beautiful this plate looks?  We had a window seat at Asa and the natural light just hit the food perfectly.  I mean, this is food magazine cover quality!

I was treating my hubby to dinner tonight for helping out so much and for being so patient when our house was Grand Central this past week.  We had three different sets of guests over the course of a week.  It was fun, but hectic.  He chose Asa, our favorite neighborhood sushi restaurant.

At Asa, we primarily eat rolls, usually accompanied by some salmon sashimi and edamame.  Our favorite roll is the Red Dragon, the one to the far left in this photo:  tempura shrimp through the middle, spicy tuna and eel on top and tobiko on top of that.  I adore tobiko - those crunchy little eggs just make any roll better.

We also regularly enjoy the Honey Roll, on the right on the plate - avocado and tobiko inside and salmon on top.  The new roll we tried tonight was First Love (middle of the plate) - spicy hamachi (yellow tail) inside with eel and salmon on top.  For me, it was just shy of being too spicy, but it was good.

After this beautiful, classy meal, we went and saw The Hangover, which was neither beautiful not classy but it was freaking hilarious.  Feel free to steal out date night plan for yourself!

Day 347: Celebrating Wedded Bliss

My husband and I went to Spruce tonight for dinner to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary in style.

Spruce is a beautiful restaurant in the Presidio Heights section of San Francisco. We particularly enjoy their charcutterie and cheese platters and so always start and end our meal with them, respectively. In between, I enjoyed branzino (a mild white fish) served over mashed avocado with an olive caper sauce. It was light, savory, and really delicious. But back to the meat and cheese...

Spruce makes their own charcutterie, which we think is pretty cool. The platter tonight included a duck pate (I love it - my husband won't eat it - lucky for me!), a few different pork salamis, soppresetta, and cured pork tenderloin. I enjoyed some of the meats more than others, but that was okay since I had that lovely pate all to myself. We ordered an arugula, fresh cherries, and goat cheese salad to accompany the charcutterie because a little green on the side can make a person feel a lot less guilty about all the fat she is putting in her mouth!

For the cheese course, we ordered the European plate which included five types. The blue cheese (Valdeon Leon) from Spain was my favorite, followed by the crumbly sheep parmesan-like (Durgali) one from Italy and the Italian goat cheese.

All of this goodness was washed down with a really excellent Chateau Montelena Estate cabernet that my husband had acquired for the occasion. He's good like that. Glad I married him!!

Day 340: Nectar of the Gods

The focus of tonight's dinner was wine.  You've gotta love that!

Pey-Marin, a Marin County winery that we discovered a few months ago was hosting an evening at our favorite neighborhood wine bar, Nectar.  On offer was a 4-wine flight:  sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, merlot, and syrah.

To go along with the wine, we ordered several small plates of food:

> Phyllo dough triangles stuffed with blue cheese and spinach

> A mixed green salad with beets, almonds, and a minty dressing

> Tuna tartar (pictured)

> Ricotta gnocchi

> Charcuterie and cheese plate

All of it was delicious, but the highlight was the prosciutto on the charcuterie plate.  It was so soft and savory - among the best prosciutto I've ever had.

In terms of the wine, surprisingly my favorite was the merlot.  This is normally a grape I do not much care for but this one was so tasty that we bought 3 bottles!  Yum, yum, wine is fun!  

Day 337: Three for Three!

I'm a carnivore.  I swear I am.  But you sure wouldn't know it by looking at my last three entries from Izzy's Steaks & Chops.  I had swordfish every time.  What's up with that???

My excuse this time is that I'm still recuperating from a wisdom tooth extraction gone bad.  I can only manage to eat food that require little chewing and fish really seems to fit the bill.  As much as I would love to tie into a prime rib right now, it just isn't in the cards.  So, I went with good old swordfish with a side of creamed spinach and steamed broccoli, which I cut into tiny pieces.

The one thing that very rarely changes about my Izzy's visits is my appetizer order.  The prawn cocktail comes with 5 enormous prawns and Izzy's own cocktail sauce and is completely irresistible.  It's one of those dishes I dream about.

Next time I'm craving red meat, I'll have to find my way to Izzy's for my beloved prime rib.  It'll probably taste better than ever.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

Day 336: Seeking Softness

I'm having a rough couple of weeks.  First, I seriously cut my thumb while slicing eggplant for moussaka.  Then, a few days later, I had a couple of wisdom teeth extracted.  Now, I've found out that there's an infection at one of the extraction sites, which is why I continue to experience a lot of discomfort on one side of my mouth.  So, I continue to try to eat mostly soft foods or to cut things into very small pieces.  With all of this in mind, we went to Isa for dinner tonight.

At Isa, diners are supposed to share all the dishes they order.  My husband and I love to eat that way since we both get to try more things, so we love Isa.  Tonight we ordered:

> Tuna tartar (small pieces of diced tuna, served over mashed avocados)

> Baked goat cheese with tomatoes, basil, and pine nuts (wonderful - and soft - when smeared on the soft insides of Isa's baguettes)

> Scallops with mashed potatoes

> Grilled yellowtail with sauteed zucchini and artichokes

> Flat iron steak with roasted potatoes (I had a couple of bites, but this was mostly consumed by my hubby)

I didn't struggle too much through any of this and the yellowtail, a new dish on the menu, was absolutely amazing.  It was very simply prepared, with the fish left rare in middle, and the whole dish was full of fresh flavors.

It's probably going to be another few days until I'm able to eat normally again.  Fish seems to be the best solution, delivering yummy and healthy protein with minimal chewing required.  Soups, noodles, and well cooked veggies work as well.  As long as I can keep a nice variety of food on my plate, I'll be okay.  Food boredom is the worst!

Day 332: Doing Our Part

With the economy in the toilet, we've been doing the same thing many Americans have been doing - eating more at home.  In response, restaurants have had to offer incentives to drive diners through their doors and Jardiniere is no different.  For the past couple of months, they have offered a prix fix menu on Monday nights - three courses with wine pairings for $45 per person, each week focused around a different theme.

We first explored Jardiniere's Monday night menu about a month and a half ago when it was built around the arrival of spring.  We returned tonight - you know, to do our part to help improve the economy - and enjoyed their "Chinoiserie" menu (Chinese focus).

The first course was shrimp and hearts of palm dumplings with veggies in Shang Tong broth (pictured).  I looked up Shang Tong online and believe it means "superior stock/broth" but I didn't much care for it.  The dumplings and vegetables were tasty, though.

The entree was divine:  five-spice roasted duck leg with insanely crispy skin, served with green beans, spring onions, and apricot scented jus.  I absolutely love the flavor of five-spice.

Dessert was a plum tart with black sesame ice cream.  On its own the ice cream just tasted odd, but it paired well with the tart.  I was impressed that the tart was just fruit and crust - no custard or creme.  None was needed - those plums were so juicy and velvety on their own.

A Monday night splurge definitely means we have to be more economical during the week, but it was definitely worth it.  If you live in SF and are looking for a really good meal, check out Jardiniere's Monday night prix fix.  It's a great, (more) affordable way to experience a wonderful restaurant.

Day 330: Still Gumming It

Still on the road to recovery after my wisdom tooth extraction yesterday, I opted for a wholesome and soft dinner of grilled salmon at Capannina. It was served over a bed of artichokes, olives, and thinly sliced zucchini. The menu description said it was "pesto crusted" but I didn't get much pesto flavor. The dish was excellent in any case.

Lucky for us, it's still zucchini blossom season, so we ordered the special appetizer - said blossoms stuffed with cheese and lightly fried. Yum yum delicious.

Day 329: Mush Mouth

I had my last two wisdom teeth extracted this morning.  Fun!  After a day of smoothies and broth I was hungry and ready for some real food, but needed to be careful to find something soft.  We headed to Luisa's for their divine eggplant parmesan.  I've had this dish many times before and I love it, especially when the waiter generously grates parm over the top!

I had been planning to begin the meal with soup, but I noticed a new meatball appetizer on the menu.  Soft minced meat?  Sounded perfect to me!  They were delicious and easy for me to consume once chopped up into small bites.

I expect that I'll need to continue to find more tooth/gum friendly foods tomorrow.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.  Leave a comment if you have one.

Day 328: Perfect Night For Takeout

Takeout was invented for nights like tonight.  I didn't get home until after 8pm and my thumb is still healing from Monday's kitchen accident so cooking was just simply not going to happen.  We hadn't supported our favorite neighborhood Chinese restaurant in a long time, so Country Sky takout it was!

Primarily, I focused on my favorite CS dish, Spicy Prawns with Mango.  In addition to the obvious ingredients, this dish includes mushrooms, broccoli, and zucchini.  Over brown rice it makes for a very yummy, quite spicy dinner.

I also allowed myself a treat in the form of the Singapore Style Noodles that my husband ordered.  These super thin noodles are tossed with curry seasoning, pork, chicken, shrimp, fried egg, and veggies.  It is really amazing.

Of course, there is always a dessert when you have Chinese food - the fortune cookie.  Despite the fact that most of the time these days you don't get a fortune (you get a proverb or a friendly suggestion to do something), these are still tasty treats that I always look forward to.  Hopefully my real fortune  is "your thumb will heal quickly"!

Day 323: Liquid & Solid Experimentation

I want to love oysters.  People who like oysters are cool and living here in Northern California, loving oysters seems like the right thing to do.  I've had little experience eating them, though, and I have a mental barrier that says "oysters are snot-like".  So, I've decided to try them when the time and place is right and when I'm feeling adventurous.  Tonight was one of those nights.

After an exceedingly lazy day during which we hardly left the house, we ventured out of our neighborhood for dinner to try a new restaurant, Bacar.  I ordered the field green salad and one of each of the two oysters they were offering tonight:  Beausoleil (from New Brunswick, Canada) and Point Reyes (from California).  Surprisingly, I preferred the oysters over the salad, which I found quite bitter.  I squeezed some lemon juice over the oysters and spooned a bit of cocktail sauce on top and even chewed the flesh rather than just swallowing them whole.  Both were good but the Point Reyes, with a fresh flavor that I really enjoyed, was the better of the two.

For my entree, I chose a lamb dish with middle eastern component:  preserved lemon, harissa, and olives.  It was only after ordering that I found out that the dish feature lamb "three ways":  the loin, a lamb sausage, and braised lamb belly.  I was a little worried about that last one, but all of them were really good.

After our entrees we shared a cheese plate and my husband ordered a flight of Scotch.  Brown liquor (scotch, bourbon, whiskey) goes in the same category as oysters - things I currently do not enjoy but which I desperately want to want to learn to love.  My husband quite likes his brown liquor, though, so I always take the opportunity to sip his.  Two out of three were okay, but I still have a ways to go before I love them.

Still, it was a successful night overall.  It was fun to get out of the neighborhood and try a new restaurant and lots of new things, both liquid and solid!

Day 322: Chilling with Jen

A dear college friend is in town just for one night, so we wanted to take her somewhere that we know is good and that's not too noisy so we could catch up.  We decided on Bistro Aix.

After the delicious beet and goat cheese salad (one of my fave appetizers)  I had a bowl of spaghettini with tomato, basil, and grana padana cheese.  Then the three of us shared two desserts:  tarte tatin and chocolate cake.

As always, everything was delicious and it was great fun to hang out with my friend, whom I hadn't seen in almost two years!

Day 316: A Real Seasonal Treat

Tonight's dinner with my visiting in-laws was full of tasty treats, but the greatest of all was the stuffed squash blossoms that I had as my appetizer.  Filled with fresh mozzarella, lightly fried, and plated with drizzles of tomato sauce and pesto. 

As I almost always do when we go to Capannina, I ordered fish.  Tonight it was sea bass served with cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and grilled polenta.  Yummy.

And because we had special guests, we decided to splurge and have dessert. Of course I insisted on an order of Capannina's to die for profiteroles.  These light creme puffs are served with two dipping sauces - chocolate and caramel - and they are heaven on earth.  My hubby's choice was molten chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream.

This was a treatful night indeed.  Squash blossom season is a short one - I'll have to try to get back to Capannina again before it's over!

Day 315: Something New To Me!

As an open minded, experimental eater, it's not often that I run into menu items that I have not tried or at least heard of - but tonight was one of those occasions.  

One of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, Bistro Aix, introduces seasonal dishes to their menu on a daily basis.  Today, they featured a salad with agretti with shaved parmesan and lemon juice.  The waitress described agretti as a sea grass with a similar texture to seaweed but with a flavor similar to asparagus.  Well, I love seaweed and asparagus and so I thought I'd give it a try.

I didn't get asparagus flavor.  In fact, I didn't get much flavor at all, other than maybe a grassy taste.  But when paired with a bit of the cheese and lemon juice it was pretty tasty.  I wouldn't suggest that you hunt down some agretti and try it immediately, but if you see it on a menu it's worth a try.

I followed the salad up with my beloved bouillabaise - a mix of calamari, clams, and halibut in a light tomato/fennel broth with croutons and chunks of potato.  This is my very favorite dish at Bistro Aix and I order it nearly every time we go there.

So, a mix of the something well known and something brand new tonight.  Not a bad way to approach dinner!

Day 309: Habit Forming

Don't get me wrong.  I am a meat eater.  I love a steak as much as the next person.  But lately, I've been trading in my beloved prime rib for swordfish when I go to Izzy's Steaks & Chops.  It's becoming a habit!

Unfortunately, I forgot to request that they hold the sauce last night, so I tried my best to brush it off.  Other than that, the fish was tender, juicy, and very tasty.  And since I went with the healthier, lower fat, lower calorie fish option, I decided that instead of a double order of steamed broccoli, I would treat myself to some of Izzy's to die for creamed spinach.

I'm sure that eventually, I'll return to the succulent and amazing prime rib.  But meanwhile, I'm grateful that Izzy's isn't a one trick pony.  Their fish rocks as much as their beef!