The Best Pasta, and other recommendations

We've gotten busy, so it's time to catch up. Last night we went to Caffe Puccini's, a top-5 "Best Pasta in North Beach" recommendation. When I dropped S off, she went, "Are you sure this is a restaurant? They just have drinks..." but boy are we glad we stayed. I had a pasta with orange duck sauce, and S had a mushroom one, and the sauces were just amazing! Plus, they're just across the street from our favorite pastry cafe Stella's, where the Sacripantina is still a taste of heaven.

Other awesome recent experiences include Chez Maman's on Union - very inexpensive French .. try the steak!!! Also, Laiola's, a Spanish tapas restaurant, just newly opened, was so fabulous we took home 2 biz cards. However, despite all the good food, we've actually gotten tired of trying out places in our neighborhood.

We drive by Citizen Cake on Gough on the way to 101, so one day recently we decided to try it. It's a block from Davies and a huge theatre crowd favorite, so reservations are recommended, esp for 7 or earlier seatings. The chef's been on Food Network, and the food does not disappoint. Entrees like steak are mixed with a hint of dessert - mushroom-flavored ice cream, which melts over the steak for unbelievable flavor. We also had rosewater-flavored Creme Brulee, the best S has ever had. We had to try 3 different desserts!! The portions are small but very distinct.

While we'll be planning return trips to the above places, we definitely won't be going back to Marina Pizza. Bleh!! Can anything good be found on Lombard St.? The pizza was soggy, very greasy, and gave both S and I knots in our stomachs!!

With house hunting and other things occupying our time, not sure when we'll write again, but happy eating in the meantime!

And the ones to avoid

OK, here are the places I really don't like. Left at Albuquerque -- very bland food, even worse than Chili's. What's it doing in Cow Hollow??? That's the worst dining experience I've had in this whole area. Also, the bar restaurants in the 3 corners - Eastside West Cafe, Balboa Cafe, City Tavern -- are all bad in their own way. We had brunch at Eastside West. The food was extremely oily, not particularly good, and the service horribly slow. The popular local bar Balboa Cafe is filled with smoke and people, too much of a bar scene, and the food really not that good. The City Tavern was similarly unimpressive. If you're in the neighborhood, skip on by these places.
-E

Naked Fish fills the stomach and fits the budget

When you go out to eat all the time, two things happen: 1) you break your dining out budget easily, and 2) you get tired of eating out. Which is why it's nice to find a place like NAKED FISH, closeby, inexpensive (most plates/rolls $10 or less), with an inventive menu, and tasty. $4 for Nigiri brings you huge chunks of silky fish over tiny balls of rice, and there's the standard rolls like spider, rainbow, etc., but try the Hawaiian-influenced long list of tapas, such as the $8.50 kalua pork with Maui onions wrapped in lettuce, with a side of unagi fried rice. Yummmm! And then there's the relaxed bar area where one can catch Giants night games on a widescreen TV, plus lots of beautiful people around. I saw an Asian guy with 3 blondes... score! This place'll definitely have me coming back. We also went to JUDY'S CAFE recently -- they have very crispy eggy french toast, yum.

So, to make our dollars last longer, there are several strategies: first, don't order drinks -- S and I already do a good job of that. Second, skip the dessert and appetizers -- that one I have a harder time with, especially when all these restaurants make such great tapas and desserts. Finally, don't order too much, because often times left overs are wasted and aren't eaten. This is where places like Naked Fish help. Having the flexibility to order a bunch of smaller plates lets us control portion size easier.

Man from Mythbusters - Ristorante Parma

S wanted pasta with a cream sauce, so we wandered down Steiner, turning into Ristorante Parma, the very first restaurant that we almost invariably just pass by on the way somewhere. Prices were reasonable and they had the cream sauce S wanted, so we went in. It's small and cute, lots of tables for two, with a large overhead wine rack on the right. The waiter nicely divided our lentil soup into two portions when I indicated I wanted to split the soup with S, and was very knowledgeable about the menu. Our entrees were great - my penne with italian sausage and mushroom, vodka tomato sauce just came together beautifully and I'm still loving the aftertaste - but the food was not even the best part. The folks near us started chatting and we joined in, and before you knew it, we were talking to a cameraman for the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters show, his beautiful date from Italy, and an investment banker/writer with his date. It was great fun, and only in the City would you find such an interesting mix of people regularly. I was probably the only engineer in the whole room - that's kinda cool! To top it off, the flan was just heavenly, very light and airy, with a hint of orange, topped with a caramel sauce. All the flavors just leave a wonderful aftertaste in my mouth. I'd have to say Ristorante Parma is definitely a keeper!

Fireworks!

We debated watching them from our rooftop, with the cityscape as the foreground, or in the Marina, with water and clear views, and in the end decided to join a whole bunch of other drunk fools and some smokers/dopers. We were just about the only ones with a tripod and serious camera gear. A few folks flash their cameras into the night sky, which is always funny for me to see.

Bistro Yoffi: Jazz adds to a cozy atmosphere

Dear readers,

Apologies for the long gap, we have visited tons of good places in the meantime, but just not had time to blog about them. We had visitors for the first time tonight, and were excited to show them around. We spent the last week looking for places that they might like, and since they were staying over for the night to prepare for a long bike ride the next morning in the Marin county, they suggested starchy foods, such as Italian. We checked out E'Angelo last week, and even though Mr. Calamari enjoyed his eggplant parmigiani, very cheesy and it just melts in your mouth, everything was very greasy, leaving a thin layer of orangy oil at the bottom of every plate, and Mrs. Calamari decided we would not be back. Right across this place on Chestnut, however, was Bistro Yoffi, with a list of jazz bands playing several times a week. Both of us, especially Mr. Calamari, was very excited as he loved live Jazz and swing music, and we soon agreed on this place. Not until later in the week would we realize that it's not an Italian place, but it wouldn't matter.

After our friends arrived and Mr. Calamari showed off the 360 degree views on our apartment roof, while Mrs. Calamari displayed her scrapbooking stuff, we headed out to Bistro Yoffi. We got there before the band started setting up and immediately noticed the cozy atmosphere. A couple small tables intimately set up before the band, right next to a bar area, with another dining area slightly further back, and a very nice garden with heated lamps in the very back. At first the four of us sat in the dining area further back, next to an unused old piano, but got lucky and sneaked into one of the cozy tables right in front of the band. The menu is very New Orleans and we loaded up on appetizers -- the cheesy garlic bread is very flavorful, and the crab cakes delicate and wonderful. We also ordered blackened catfish strips, fried calamari and something else -- and that calamari was some of the most tender and best battered I've eaten.

As we enjoyed our morsels and waited for main courses, the place filled up and the band started playing. They were from New Orleans, and it was lead by a DJ artist who mixed in recordings with keyboard, along with drums, acoustic bass, strings, trombone, sax, clarinet. With the trombone pushing in and out, maybe just 20 feet in front, the dim white christmas lights illuminating the LP covers of Billy Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and other legends on the walls, the coziness of the room itself, and the wonderful seafood gumbo right in front of me, the atmosphere couldn't be any more perfect. Our friends, who are both musicians, loved it. It helped that the band was very talented, both with faster and slower tempos. Mr. Calamari wanted to dance several of the songs with Mrs. Calamari, but there was not enough space. The next day, one of the tunes kept going round and round in Mr. Calamari's head. It was such a good experience that dessert became secondary.

The Dessert Scale is Born

As a pre-monthiversary celebration, we decided to go to THREE SEASONS. We didn't have to wait to get a table, but then again, it was a Wednesday. They have a whole section on their menu for spring rolls. There were so many to choose from, but we took their advice and got the duck roll. The summer, scorpion, and spider rolls will have to wait for another visit. We also got the shaking beef and the prawn/garlic noodles. Everything was so amazingly good, we couldn't believe how each dish was so amazing, they were all so good. I purposely saved part of the noodles & shrimp so that I could have it for lunch the next day and didn't let hubby eat it. (It was still good the next day!) Oh, and here is where we first started our discussions about the Dessert Scale... from the fried banana dessert, which was so yummy, one of the best, scrumptious to the last bite. We reminisced about past yummy desserts. Stella's sacripantina rates a 10, because it stands the test of time, it was good on our first date, good at our wedding, and was good just the other day. His 9 is from New Zealand, when we were at Franz Josef Glacier, we had this yummy warm sticky plum tart or pudding thing w/ ice cream. So Three Seasons fried banana rates an 8. I liked my sorbet trio also (passion fruit, mango, berry).

Burgers, but don't drink too much!

I was really excited when we discovered a Barney's in our neighborhood. Not Barney's the department store, but BARNEY'S GOURMET HAMBURGERS. I grew up w/ one, in Oakland, which I thought was the only one, and they have awesome everything! It was crowded, but we were able to get counter seats. We ordered my usual portabello burger, a regular burger (don't remember what extras we got), and curly fries (with ranch dip, of course!). The fried veggie basket is also good, as well as the giant onion rings, but that would have been overkill. Oh, I also got a lemonade. Everything tasted great, even though I only ate half my burger (we also saved some fries too), and I asked the waitress for a lemonade REFILL. She brought me another one, and everything seemed fine. Until we got the bill... TWO LEMONADES!! We got the waitress' attention and asked about it, she said no refills. B**** If there were no refills, why didn't she just say that when I asked for a refill? I was so annoyed, I decided to skimp on her tip, because I thought she should have said something, and I refuse to go back. I'll go back to the Oakland one, I'm pretty sure they give free refills there. But be aware if you go to the Marina one.

Trendy Japanese, anyone?

With a name like ACE WASABI'S ROCK 'N' ROLL SUSHI, you know it's not your mama's sushi. No asian music playing softly in the background with the tinkling of a water feature and asian art on the walls, Ace Wasabi's traded that all in for modern rock blaring out and on the walls. Also include some made up sushi rolls. I don't remember everything we had, but it was good, even for someone like me that doesn't eat raw stuff (much to Mr. Calamari's chagrin). Oh, we probably had some assortment of rolls involving cooked ingredients, and an ahi tuna for him. And of course, fried or grilled calamari... I think we decided this was a good place to come with a group of people. Especially if he wants to try more of the raw stuff.

Asqew Skewers As Askew As You? Ask Q!

Try saying that ten times fast!! (I know, I'm a dork. You can always go read someone else's blog...)

Tonight we just wandered down Steiner, not really sure where we were going to eat. Mr. Calamari walks down this street to his shuttle stop, so he's been checking out the eats. Not wanting to spend a lot of money, we on ASQEW. The concept here is to pick an entree, most of which are some type meat on a skewer, then pick a side from a list of starches or salads. They also have some starters as well. We picked tofu & mushroom skewers w/ garlic mashed potatoes and Thai beef skewers with cilantro jasmine rice. The beef skewers were ok, a little on the well done side. The veggie skewers were really good, but it was the dipping sauces that really sealed the deal. The potatoes were creamy & fabulous. Oh, they also mix their own fruit
juices/punches, called quenchers. Mr. Calamari says we had a dessert, it was probably the grilled bananas (also on skewers) with caramel sauce only (hold the hot chocolate) and ice cream, and that it was a "work in progress." Maybe a nice way of saying it was just ok.

Local Pizza Joint

We saw this place while walking around exploring the neighborhood, the name caught our attention... PIZZA ORGASMICA. The menu is equally shocking, with pizzas named Menage a Trois, Doggie Style, Kama Sutra, The Farmer's Daughter, and Honeymoon. I'm not sure I'd want to try the Divorce pizza, with bleu cheese sauce, anchovies, garlic, onions, & clams topping, it's sure to make a stink in any relationship! Later we found out that our friend's parents own this building, and they used to own this place (under a different name). We had a half Garden of Eden and half Orgasmica, and cheesey garlic bread while waiting. Everything was so delicious we decided that we don't have to bother trying any of the other pizza places around (there's at least one on Union, and a couple on Chestnut). Will we keep that promise? We'll see...

Our First Day

We moved in today. After unloading our cars, we tried to settle in a little, though we didn't have that much at the time to unpack. A few hours later, we decided to go out, so we went to check out the local grocery store, which I'm happy to say is mostly organic, but I'm sad to say is pricey. While I walked around the isles checking out what they have, Mr. Calamari, of course, had found a local magazine and was reading the restaurant/dining section. There was a review for a restaurant close by that serves fancy comfort food, lobster mac & cheese w/ truffle oil, crab stuffed tater tots, I was sold. After taking the groceries back to the apt, we headed down to CIRCA, which was surprisingly close, just two blocks away. The inside looked fancy, dark w/ dangling strings of shiny crystal. I wondered if this look only worked for dark restaurants or if we could do this in our home. The menu is tapas style small plates, which works well for trying more things. We ordered the crab tater tots & lobster mac & cheese (of course) and also added a spinach salad, fancy french fries, and sliders. The crab tater tots were amazing, as was the mac & cheese (I've tried to replicate it w/ scallops & truffle oil, and just w/ truffle oil, but somehow, it doesn't taste as good). I don't remember what we had for dessert, Mr. Calamari might, but I'm guessing it was also really yummy. We are anxious to come back here to try more stuff from the menu, and are excited about how close by it is.

The Maiden Post

This blog is for all of you who have been asking us about our move to Cow Hollow, with questions about restaurants, and things to do. So, since we decided to chronicle our adventures (and mis-adventures), of course, I needed to start at the beginning...

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Ok, seriously, we'll start back in March (yes, we're backdating), we visited a few apartments in a few different areas. Mr. Calamari (yes, we're keeping ourselves anonymous) was skeptical about the CH area, but, as we all know, the Mrs. can be very persuasive (plus she was doing all the apt-hunting). We walked around that evening, up and down Union St., and Mr. Calamari became very excited by all the restaurants, especially how most of them had brunch menus. We decided to be cheap and ate at Crepes-a-Go-Go. I don't remember much about the meal (it probably involved sharing a savory crepe for dinner & a sweet crepe for dessert), but it was decent, and the price is good.

Oh, and the clincher was that Union St. also has Mrs. Calamari's fav store - Lush. The best fresh bath & body & skin products you'll ever use, and the store itself, even when closed, smells so good!!

We quickly found an awesome apt in prime location, close to Union, Fillmore, and Chestnut Streets, with great views of the Palace of Fine Arts & the Golden Gate bridge. When there's no fog (yes, there have been a few days) we have beautiful sunsets from our living room window.