mmm-yoso!!!

San Francisco (Before Covid) - The Croissant Files and Angler

I was cleaning out photos that I didn't think I needed or wanted anymore and came across two sets from our trip to San Francisco right before the "official" start of the pandemic. It was January of 2020....I had thought about just deleting this.....but after pondering after a couple of minutes, I thought I'd just do a quick post, especially since I'd done posts on other places during that same visit. So here goes with a minimum of "chatter" from me.

We awoke to a nice sunrise.......and on this day, I thought we'd do a bit of walking and grab some croissants at places along the way. So we headed down Sutter Street to the first location I new was open on this day; Le Marais Bakery......which brought a smile to our faces since Le Marais is a frequent stop on our trips to Paris.

We grabbed some coffee and a Croissant aux Buerre to start things off.

 The croissant was a bit dry and the amount of butter to salt was quite low. Though it was nicely flaky/crusty...so decent texture, but nothing I'd return for.

Le Marais Bakery
1138 Sutter St.
San Francisco, CA 94109

From here we headed up Sutter Street passing some beautiful looking houses...yes, that architectural walking tour in Pacific Grove has developed a mild fascination with all these historical houses. Like the "Payne House", which is now a hotel.

On left here is the JACL Headquarters.....

And then walked thru a very quiet Japantown to our next destination.

To the bustling Jane the Bakery.

This would be the best of the three Croissants we had during this walk.

Jane The Bakery
1881 Geary Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94115

From here we headed down Geary, taking a right on Divasidero.....

Then a quick left on California to a place that had been recommended to me named B Patisserie.

This place was quite popular.....

Though I don't think it's for their plan croissants which lacked butter, was dry, and just not to our taste.

b. patisserie
2821 California St.
San Francisco, CA 94115

The great thing is; these three places are still open....so you can check them out and make your own decision.....

From here we headed down Divasadero and took a left onto Hayes Street; taking some time to watch the pooches having fun at Alamo Square Park.

We had fun watching the dogs......and I think next time I might pay more attention to the architecture in the area.

We headed back west on Hayes Street to the area known as the Hayes Valley, which seemed quite hipster to us....and took a break at a park named Patrica's Green, which is home to Tara Mechani.

There was also this structure which grabbed our attention.

From here we headed west and then took a left on Market Street, where we encountered the San Francisco I recall from visiting in the 90's. 

After taking a short break (nap), we headed out for dinner. I'd made reservations at Angler.

Which is kind of known for the seafood and such; but the Missus was interested in the vegetable dishes. It seemed like a great place (this was before the Michelin star) for a nice, light dinner. And, to be perfectly honest, in spite of the spotty service, it was the best meal of the trip.

We went with mostly vegetables; except for the Antelope Tartare.

Which I loved.....great balance of savory-gamy flavors and acidity.

The grilled cauliflower was meh.....

The Missus loved the potatoes....the cloying cheese sauce, not so much.

The texture of the potato was amazing.....which is how She "convinced" me to make Hasselback Potatoes, which was not nearly as wonderful in cut and texture as these.

The Parker House Rolls were very nice; especially with the seaweed butter.

We loved radicchio, so was really excited about the radichio with XO sauce.....

The actual radicchio was fantastic; lightly bitter, savory, prepared well. But the "XO" sauce....well, it brought nothing to the dish. Really........the Missus still prefers what I make at home.

The last dish to arrive was the Hen of the Woods Mushroom, which was delicous!

I've heard about the $500-$600 meals here.....I guess folks were having lobster and crab; our was not even close to that......and so we'll probably eat here again.

Angler
132 The Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA 94105

And I especially feel like I earned this meal.

And here are some signs for you......

San Francisco - Mister Jiu's (Before Covid)

If you recall; back in January, before the "you-know-what-hit-the fan" the Missus and I took a trip to San Francisco over the long MLK Day weekend. We had enjoyed ourselves at the Chinese New Year Flower Market Fair...man, looking back at those photos kinda sends a shiver up my spine right now.....that's how ingrained all the Covid-19 precautions have become.

We decided to head back to the hotel for a short nap before heading out to dinner.

Heading down Kearny Street I saw this on top of the building near the corner of California Street.

Take a closer look.

I wondered what these shrouded, hooded, ghostly, Grim Reaper looking statues were. Well, after doing a quick search I found that these are the Corporate Goddess Sculptures, created by Muriel Castanis. As to what they are...from the Atlas Obscura post:

“They are empty, toga-draped forms from which the figures have been removed, rendering the sculptures as abstracted reinterpretations of the neoclassical masterworks of Lorado Taft and Augustus Saint Gaudens.”

Okay then.....

We got back to the room rested, took a short nap, when we awoke, the sun was setting.

After catching up on emails and other things we headed out for dinner.

I had read been reading about Mister Jiu's since the much anticipated restaurant opened in 2016. And the Cantonese (with other regional touches) based fare had garnered Mister Jiu's a Michelin Star. Both the Missus and I were interested; since the other Michelin Star Chinese Restaurant on the West Coast we've visited, Bistro Na's has become a favorite of the Missus. So I made reservations in advance for dinner.

We liked the décor, a very tasteful design, and we especially enjoyed our cocktails for this evening.

We didn't enjoy our lead Server, who was a bit snobby and very condescending, acting like he was doing us a favor by just waiting on us...….. I guess that just meant I needed another cocktail.

We decided on items that interested us; most of which were riffs on staples both the Missus and I enjoy and dishes that I had read about. It was to be a rather light dinner, since we weren't super hungry.

First up was a very basic, simple item....but one which is very important to the Missus. to the point that we make a version of it at home every year. The Fermented Cabbage.

This version, crowned with a touch of spice was quite good....a nice slightly funky fermented nose and taste. A light spice really cleaned things up and the cabbage was nice and crunchy. A well done basic dish.

I love jellied pork dishes, so I had to get the Chicken Feet Terrine, which was also quite good.

Loved the contrasting firm textures of the terrine; it was obviously crafted with skill. Nice mild savory flavors with a touch of sour. Very nice.

Since we enjoy our Liang Cai (cold dishes) we also went with the Chilled Beef Tendon, which unlike the previous two dishes was not quite to our taste.

The chili oil was on the weak end of the scale for us and while it looked quite spicy, it wasn't. There was a real lack of the complex flavors (suan, tian, ku, la, xian).

The Missus loves Her Turnip Cake (and has been grumbling that I don't make it much anymore), so She wanted to try the Crispy Scarlet Turnip Cakes.

This was another non-starter, mainly because, while the exterior was slightly crisp; the interior was quite dry and lacked a light pungency....it was definitely not our favorite. The sauce was much too acidic as well. Give me the version Sea Harbour anytime.

The Missus wanted something with rice; so we ordered the Mapo Doufu.

I gotta say; the rice was absolutely perfect; in texture and fragrance. The mapo doufu, not so much. It was really bland, with a greasy mouthfeel, and really lacking in the basic ma-la we were looking for. I was looking for that numbing-hot (of course my tendency is toward Chongqing in terms of Sichuan), a deep savory - fermented bean flavor, a hint of pungency, all of which seemed to be missing.

Oh well, I had another Cocktail which was another winnah'.

As our final dish, we chose the Sourdough Scallion Pancake. Man, this was very impressive; a definite riff on the typical Chinese Scallion Pancake....texturally, this was amazing; a slight crisp-crunchiness in the exterior that gave way to a airiness, with a bit of a slight chew. The pancake was fragrant, with a definite hint of sourdough and scallion. This was delicious and a nice way to end the meal.

And while Mister Jiu's is now doing takeout during the time of Covid-19; the Missus and I might return once all of this is over and we feel comfortable with travel again. Though it might just be sitting at the bar enjoying a few cocktails and small dishes....and definitely that Scallion Pancake.

Mister Jiu's
28 Waverly Place
San Francisco, CA 94108

You can read Faye's post on Mister Jiu's here.

We enjoyed strolling around Chinatown after our meal. Things were much more quiet, though still quite bright and colorful.

While passing Portsmouth Square we noticed a small group of Chinese Women getting their "exercise"......we decided to sit and watch; just us, two homeless guys and the women getting their groove on. This just reminded us of China and we walked back to our hotel with smiles on our faces.

 

San Francisco - China Live Revisited and the Chinese New Year Flower Market Fair

The Missus and I decided to take a short trip during the long weekend. The Missus had really enjoyed our last trip to San Francisco; so we decided to head back for two nights.

Our flight over was quite pleasant; except for the arrogant and condescending young man who marched back and forth at the TSA security check-point telling people, "you can get it right...any idiot can do it.....it's not hard!" I understand that perhaps working for the TSA is not a pleasant job; but there's no need to be insulting....it's always the one that brings down the other ninety-nine. As my experience with the TSA has been that folks are at least somewhat professional. Or perhaps by "any idiot can do it" he meant himself? I heard the guy behind me mumble to his companion, "he's definitely a candidate for a colonoscopy without anesthesia".

We arrived fairly early; our room at the Marriott wasn't ready yet which wasn't a problem. We needed a place for a rather "early-ish" lunch....the Missus had really enjoyed the duck from China Live....yes, it was pricey, but we were on vacation, right?

Since Chinatown was basically right up the street, and China Live opens at 1030 we headed up Stockton. We quickly found that there were booths lining the usually busy sidewalks making things even more crowded with folks shopping and browsing.

We eventually got up to Broadway and China Live had just opened.

And in spite of the crowds and lines outside (the line at Good Mongkok went down and around the block!!!!), the place was empty.

We were tempted, and should have just had tea and the duck and called it a nice snack and head off....but we felt kinda guilty for just ordering the duck (albiet it being $27 - it had gone up a buck since September). We also didn't really enjoy anything else on our last visit. We just went ahead and ordered the Suckling Pig.

The Suckling Pig looked pretty nice.....

And it was decent; not the best I've had, but the meat was moist, the skin was a bit too thick and hard instead of crisp. It also lacked a good porkiness. So, not too bad, until you factor in the price....$34! That's over four bucks a wafer thin slice! I wouldn't complain if this was excellent; but it was not.

We did enjoy the duck ($27)

Which, like the last time didn't look particularly inspiring, but had a nice, thin, crisp skin....the subcutaneous fat perfectly rendered. Nice mild gaminess...moist meat. Like the last time; the "sesame buns" were dry and were just used for scallion-cucumber-hoisin sandwiches for us.

Looking at dishes on other tables....well, the rice and noodle dishes looked pretty mediocre. The total damage with tea was over seventy bucks......as we left the Missus told me, "I think we're done here...." I concurred....we'll try to find the best roast duck next time and just eat it in Portsmouth Square or something.

China Live
644 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133

We headed down Broadway and took a turn at Grant and oh my......the horde....the mass....the huge crowd.

But the Missus, who is usually not fond of crowds (neither am I), just smiled and headed off.

Grant was closed off....there were booths lining the street. I came to find out this was the Chinese New Year Flower Market Fair, which happens on the weekend before the Lunar New Year and everyone and their brother seemed to be checking it out.

To be perfectly honest; even I enjoyed myself.

The Missus found herself checking out many of the booths. "You know there's a problem with this, right?" She said. Not quite following Her logic I asked "Why?" She cracked up and said "No samples!"

Regardless, the Missus really had a fun time, She told me a few times, "this really reminds me of growing up in China!"

People watching was fun....checking out the folks in costume. I sent the photo to the right to my coworker "YZ" who is from Shanghai and she quickly pointed out to me that the fella' wasn't totally in character; "if he was really dedicated....he wouldn't be wearing Nike's!" You gotta love it!

Did I mention the crowds?

It was fun watching the kids having a good time with all the various characters. Call me out of touch but I wonder what the character "Fragrance" represents? And fragrance of what? Remember, this is Chinatown! The fragrance of roast duck...pork....fish, herbs, steamed buns, and other more "earthy" smells permeate the air. And that character looks like an egg?

I'd go crazy facing crowds like this everyday. But for one fine sunny morning in San Francisco, it was just perfect!

Happy Lunar New Year!

San Francisco - Kin Khao

I wanted something interesting for our last meal in San Francisco. We'd had dinner at Mourad the night before, so I thought following that up with a Michelin Star Thai Restaurant might make a nice pairing for this trip. To make it more interesting; the owner of the restaurant is former uber blogger Pim Techamuanvivit; who ran the super popular food blog Chez Pim. The restaurant claims to create Thai Food that is seasonal, sustainable, and yet stays true to its roots.

The rather tiny restaurant is located in the Parc 55 Hotel. The place was pretty packed when we arrived; luckily, we had made reservations.

There's a certain "hipsterness" to the place and the menu. Our Server was wonderful, sweet, friendly, and while not quite displaying what we'd call Michelin Star service, was very nice. She helped us make some decisions on dishes. We were looking for items with some spice....when we mentioned enjoying Issan-style dishes, she told us she is from Issan and helped us select items for our meal.

Instead of going with some of the heavier or entrée dishes; we kept it rather light and tried four different items.

Starting with the Yum Kai Dao ($12).

To be perfectly honest; we were drawn to the "Wok Fried Duck Egg" in the description and it definitely delivered a perfectly runny, richly flavored yolk. We both enjoyed this elevated Yum Kai Dao; basically a fried egg salad. There was a nice variety of sliced and torn vegetables; cilantro, mint, shallot, kale added a mild bitterness, and there were a few slices of sneaky sliced Thai Bird Chilies. This was very lightly dressed which suited us just fine as we could make out all the ingredients.

Next up was a dish I'd read about, being a fan of Nam Tok (I still make Neua Nam Tok on occasion); we both thought the Nam Tok Beans ($14) would be worth trying.

The earthy flavor of the Rancho Gordo Cranberry Beans came through nicely, but was quite dry. This dish really lacked the savory-sweet flavors along with having not enough herbaceous (mint-lemongrass-cilantro), nor enough spice and lacked enough nutty rice powder to suit our tastes.

One of the things I really enjoyed about Chiang Mai was the nam prik; basically dipping sauces for your sticky rice. So I just had to order the Nam Prik Ong ($18) a take on the classic Tomato and Pork dipping sauce. We also got sticky rice to have with this; sorry no photo....sadly the rice was too soft and wet.

The pork rinds were nice; crisp, light porky goodness. The nam prik was much too thick for our taste and just had too much pork. The acidic tomato goodness was missing......along with having enough spice. This really did seem to taste more like a "ragu" we had in Emilia-Romagna than a nice spicy-garlicky-tomatoey nam prik ong.

If you've read our little blog long enough; I think you'd be able to predict what our last dish would be; the Sai Ua and Nam Prik Noom ($19).

Finally, there was something that brought on the heat (I'm glad we weren't asked how spicy we wanted things - this place served items the way they thought it should be).....the fruity-fragrant and spicy chili paste - nam prik noom; had a nice variety of chilies. Our wonderful Server told us that this would be the dish we should order and she was right. It actually tasted great with those pork rind strips. This version of Sai Ua was very dense with a definite porkiness to it. It really didn't have as much herbaceousness as other versions we've had, but was quite good. The perfectly ripe cucumber was just the right foil to cure the richness of the sausage and temper the heat of the nam prik.

Overall, while kind of a mixed bag, it was a fun meal. The dishes try to keep a modern edge and a Thai soul, while creeping close to being fusion. While I don't think we'll return the next time we're in San Francisco, I'm glad we tried Kin Khao.

Kin Khao
55 Cyril Magnin St. (In the Parc 55 Hotel)
San Francisco, CA 94102

 

San Francisco - Z & Y Restaurant

After making that fairly long hike along the bay and up Lombard Street, I was left with trying to find a place to eat in Chinatown; there were places like R&G Lounge where there was nothing available....so finally, we decided upon Z&Y Restaurant. Especially since, I've been missing decent Sichuan food in San Diego.

So we made our way there.

Of course there was a wait; but since we didn't want to share table. it wasn't too long, maybe 20 minutes or so.

We ordered a couple of things off the menu, some smaller "snack" type items I've been missing and since we needed to finish everything up without leftovers, nothing extravagant.

First up was the Sichuan Liang Mian; which was pretty disappointing.

I'll readily admit; I enjoy the Chongqing version of Sichuan Liang Mian and this was pretty weak in the vinegar-spice-garlic-savory-sweet department. Remember "suan tian ku la Xian", this was pretty mild in terms of flavor and the noodles while decent in texture just didn't do a decent job of holding onto the "sauce".

The pork with garlic looked wonderful; and the cucumber rolled in the pork really helped to clear out the richness of the dish.

Our basic problem with this is how lean and chewy the pork was and the temp as it was nearly hot. The sauce, in spite of the look of it was quite mild and lacking in spice, at least for us.

The best dish of the meal was the fish filet with preserved vegetable.

There was that nice fermented-sour flavor in the broth, along with a good amount of spice and white pepper. The fish filet had been nicely "velveted", it was so tender and moist, the broth had a wonderful bracing, but not over-the-top sour-spicy flavor. This had that "aaah" thing going for it.

The last item we ordered were the won tons in hot sauce...….I'm still looking for that "kou gan" (mouth-feel) for the won tons we had in Chengdu, that wonderful mouth-feel, slippery and yet tender...and this was almost there.

And the pork filling was light and moist, very pleasant to eat. The sauce however, was much too sweet, too light and thin, without substance and spice, that made the dish a bit disappointing.

The staff here works really hard with the crowds; they are efficient and do a nice job. We both thought the dishes had been "adjusted" in terms of spice and taste.

Z & Y Restaurant
655 Jackson St
San Francisco, CA 94133

Still, we were having a nice time just wandering around......

San Francisco - Lotta's Fountain, the Ferry Building, a Walk Along the Bay, and the Fort Mason Center Farmer's Market

We must have both been exhausted. After a very nice dinner at Mourad, the Missus and I basically slept ten hours! We got up and with no real plans in mind, decided to take a stroll. Since it had been over a decade and a half since we'd been in the city, we thought a walk along San Francisco Bay might be fun; starting at the Ferry Building, ending near Fort Mason.

So, we headed down Market Street. We passed Lotta's Fountain.

This brass fountain was a gift to the city of San Francisco from Lotta Crabtree, a well known Entertainer, you can read more about her here. According to Atlas Obscura, Lotta loved San Francisco and donated this fountain to the city in 1875. And that would be just a "nice story" if not for the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. The earthquake damage and fires left the city in ruins. Lotta's Fountain though, was still standing and became an important landmark and meeting place for survivors of that disaster. Even though the last known survivor of the earthquake died in 2016, a quake remembrance and ceremony is held at this spot at 512am on April 18 of every year. The exact time the quake struck San Francisco.

This one is the Mechanics Monument,

The five figures in the monument are working a metal punching machine.

And then there's the Vaillancourt Fountain.

A fountain build of concrete squares that folks love to hate. One of the searches that comes up when typing in "Vaillancourt Fountain" is this:

We crossed the street to the Ferry Building, which we had visited before.

And picked up Cold Brew from Blue Bottle Coffee.

It had wonderful fruity tones and was just the pick-me-up we needed.

Blue Bottle Coffee
Ferry Building, One San Francisco Bay Trail
San Francisco, CA 94111

And caffeine in hand we were on our way.

It was a slightly hazy day, but the sun was out, and the temperature was fifteen degrees cooler than San Diego.

We wandered out to Pier 7, and enjoyed the view of the Transamerica Building.

We enjoyed a rather brisk walk up the Embarcadero...…..eventually getting to all the tourists at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf.

The haze had started to clear out and I finally got a decent shot of Alcatraz Island.

We meandered past all the tourist traps and got to Ghirardelli Square. Man, I don't recall it being so packed in like this when we last visited all those years ago.

As we neared Laguna Street, we noticed folks carrying bags filled with produce, so we followed the trail and ended up at Fort Mason Center where it was Market Day.

We spent a good forty-five minutes checking out the various stands and sampling the fruit....man, that yellow watermelon was so good.

It was a nice break....a little slice of life. If we lived in the area, this would truly be a weekly stop for us.

Fort Mason Center Farmers' Market
Marina Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94109
Sunday 930am - 130pm

From here; the plan was to grab an early lunch from one of the places on Chestnut Street, so we headed off in that direction.

But after sampling the produce at the Farmers Market and checking out the eating establishments on Chestnut Street, The Missus remained uninspired. So She told me; "let's head back to Chinatown". By heading back, She meant "walk". And then added; let's do it via Lombard Street. Yikes...…

So I huffed and puffed my way up Lombard.

Instead of walking down that crooked one block part of Lombard Street we headed a few blocks over and walked down Filbert.

Eventually we made it too Columbus Street, then Jackson. Now the question was, where to eat?

Stay tuned!

San Francisco - Mourad

Much like our trip to Portland in 2015, part of reason was just to rest in air conditioned goodness....which is what we did after lunch at China Live. We awoke refreshed and decided on a short stroll before dinner. We decided to just take a stroll down Market to the Ferry Building.

It was a nice stroll, past the hustle and bustle, the street merchants were just closing up for the day.

We walked through the Ferry Building, giving the Missus a chance to check out various places as possibilities for tomorrow's lunch.

We  walked through and past various shops.....most were closed or closing for the day. And then headed out back to the Ferry Terminals and just basically sat and watched.

I guess this must seem just routine to folks who live in the Bay Area; but for us, it was just relaxing and fun.

A short time later we decided to head to our dinner destination. Our good friend Candice had recommended Mourad, a Michelin Star restaurant that serves Moroccan inspired cuisine with local ingredients and modern techniques. The location was a few blocks from our hotel on New Montgomery Street. We were a bit early for our reservation, so we had a seat at the bar. Our mixologist was quite the showman and very knowledgeable. I had, what might be the best and one of the most expensive ($24) cocktails I've had in recent memory. A magical concoction called "Legend of the Brave".

A blend of Scotch, ciociaro, jalapeno-pineapple shrub syrup, "Scotch mist", and blood orange, this had that nice combination of smokey-savory-bitter and not-too-sweet flavors I enjoy in a cocktail. The Missus had some Scotch and is now somewhat enamored with it.

Soon enough, we were notified that our table was ready. It was in the upstairs portion of the restaurant.

Mourad does have a tasting menu and what they call "la'acha" family sized meals....which based on what we saw on two other tables would be just too much for the Missus and I. We ordered a couple of dinner items and two sides, which turned out to be more than enough for us.

The first three dishes were brought out together.

Things started off with the Lamb Tartare ($18), which was topped with sliced green apple.

The tangy green apple added a nice crunch but really didn't add much to the overly salty tartare. Ditto the wheatberry. The sodium level just wiped out any flavor the tender lamb would have.

Next up; what they simply call "Eggplant" ($18) on the menu.

This dish featured a wonderful range of textures and flavors. From the tender earthy eggplant and oregano, the brightness of za'atar, the crunchy, very clean-brininess of the cucumber. On occasion you'd have the distinct, nutty, resinous of pine nuts mixed in. The bread was hot and wonderful. The puree was slightly smokey, mildly sweet, but also on the salty side. It was best used as a spread for the bread.

When the Foie Gras ($26) arrived....well, we weren't too sure about it. Wrapped with shredded and from what we could taste, pickled green papaya and topped with freeze dried strawberries (??), this was very good!

The crunch, mild sourness of the green papaya and the light sweetness of that trendy freeze dried strawberries to complement the richness of the creamy foie gras was nothing short of amazing. We could detect the slight fragrance of rose water as well. Add to that crisp, buttery, and slightly sweet brioche toast and this was easily my favorite dish of the evening.

In a display of almost flawless timing, our last dish and two sides were brought out seconds after we had finished our first three dishes and our table cleared. We both thought the service at Mourad was very professional and pleasant.

The Duck Basteeya ($25) was presented to us as Chef Lahlou's signature dish.

You really couldn't fault the presentation. The filo dough around the eggroll-chimichanga-ish basteeya was light and crisp; it had been put together perfectly. Unfortunately, while the duck confit was lovingly, we found this to be much too sweet for our taste.

I enjoyed the Heirloom Bean Shakshuka ($10); topped with a "ying-yang" of  bread crumbs and what tasted like a feta cream.

The beans had a wonderful texture; just enough of a bite and I enjoyed the blend of flavors in this one.

The Missus really loved the Kale ($10).

This was a wonderful braised kale dish; the Harissa, something I use quite often in my cooking adding some zip. It was a wonderful, hearty dish.

Overall, we enjoyed our meal at Mourad; there were some nice surprises and the meal ended with two comforting dishes. The service was excellent. And that cocktail! I think we'll be back...probably to eat at the bar.....some foie gras, eggplant, kale, and beans......and a couple of those cocktails!

Mourad Restaurant
140 New Montgomery St. #1
San Francisco, CA 94105
Hours:
Mon - Fri 1130am - 10pm
Sat - Sun 5pm - 10pm

 

San Francisco - China Live

It was funny how we ended up staying in San Francisco over the Labor Day weekend. Both the Missus and I had been working pretty hard and there was no trip in sight for a couple more months. It was a brutal Sunday here with record temps in the high 90's. For some reason, I decided to check to see what the weather was like in San Francisco.....61?!?!? I basically told the Missus "the heck (using a more colorful verb) with this....let's go to San Francisco." And She agreed. It had been quite a while since we visited the city; in recent years we'd stuck to visiting places to the North and the South of San Francisco. And I couldn't remember when we last visited......so I dug into my photo archives and holy smokes! Check out the date on this photo!

We last visited nearly sixteen years ago! It was when the Missus and I took Her parents to visit. A trip was way overdue. So, I booked our flight, hotel, and a couple of restaurants....two had been on my "list" and one was a recommendation of my good friend Candice. Instead of the usual suspects; like Gary Danko, et al....we were going a bit different this time around.

We arrived, caught BART, and managed to check into the Marriott Marquis early, at 10am! Things were looking up. We freshened up and just headed on out. I figured a lot had changed over the last sixteen years.....but of course, some things stay the same.

There's a certain nostalgia to walking through Chinatown, a mixture of old school, somewhat traditional businesses, it was almost comforting seeing Golden Gate Bakery and ducking into various food shops. Along with all the cheesy souvenir stores....good lord' where there always that many here?

One thing the Missus and I quickly noticed....Chinatown seems much cleaner and tidy than when we used to visit in the late 90's and early 'oughts. 

I had been fascinated with the opening of China Live. We'd been to a couple of branches of Eataly in Europe....in Florence, Bologna, and Copenhagen. And when China Live was touted as being the "Chinatown" version, well, I just wanted to check it out. I'd also heard that the food; while priced on the high side was pretty good.

There a small shop with a variety of items; some really interesting looking tea and other stuffs. And a rather "hipsterish" looking dining area....you know; all that wood.

I kinda knew what I wanted to order; Sheng Jian Baozi, the "Peking" Duck, and the Pork Belly. They were out of the pork belly, so I went with plan B....which they were out of as well. So, we just decided to try the wings.

Meanwhile, the Missus ordered some tea; not cheap at $13.95....but man; it was really floral and helped to cut through all the richness of the food.

First up; the Sheng Jian Bao ($12)….yep twelve bucks for 4.

The filling was juicy, light, and had a nice porky flavor with just the right amount of ginger to balance things out. The dough was terrible; it wasn't cooked correctly making the dough on the top really gummy, the sides mushy....and the bottom was way too thick. I mean, I really didn't expect anything like we get in China or even what my MIL makes....but that wrapper was a total fail. Still, the filling was really good.

When our duck ($26) arrived, the Missus and I looked at each other, rather disappointed. The color didn't seem right......but we were oh so wrong.....

The skin was oh so thin and crisp; the fat had been rendered....it seems into the flesh of the duck which was supremely moist. The sesame buns were hard and dry and the duck delicately flavored, so we ended up just making cucumber (which was very good quality), scallion, and hoisin sandwiches and just enjoyed the duck on its own. This is the best duck I've had in a very long time. Like I mentioned earlier, the seasoning on this was quite mild as was the duck which wasn't very gamey. This might be the best item we had on the entire short trip.

Based on the previous two dishes we were quite surprised when the "Chicken of the Sea" Crispy Wings ($14) arrived. There were ten wings in this dish.

I bit into one and cracked up...….growing up in Hawaii, one of the must have Chinese Restaurant dishes is Ong Choi with what we call "harm ha" (Shrimp Paste). The wings had been battered with that....it was a bit of overkill and seemed really salty. Though, unlike the usual MSG laden wings we often get; this one didn't bring on thirst......still it was waaaay too salty. The quality of the wings was excellent, no broken bones, no blackening of the flesh....the skin was thin and perfectly fried....the flesh moist, the size optimum for that skin to meat ratio......we'd have really loved this if it wasn't such a sodium bomb. 

The service was professional, the meal, not cheap at seventy bucks. The place did fill up quite quickly, a mixture of younger Chinese who seemed well off, Chinese tourists, hipster looking folk, and some families. We enjoyed our meal here.....and will likely return for that duck.

China Live
644 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 1130am - 10pm
Friday      1130am - 11pm
Saturday    1030am - 11pm
Sunday      1030am - 10pm

Leaving China Live; we headed to Stockton and started weaving our way past the markets and dim sum shops. Near Washington Street, I could here drums and percussion going....there was a Lion Dance happening somewhere.....

We found it happening in this street.

We got there just as the fireworks were going off.

The Missus and I laughed and basked in the noise, smoke, and shower of red paper......

It had been too long since we'd been in this wonderful city.

Zen Peninsula (Millbrae) and Chocolates from Rue Du Thé/Leland Tea Company (Burlingame)

**** Zen Peninsula has closed

We had really enjoyed our time visiting Petaluma and hitting the Cheese Trail, which was a great time. But, all things must come to an end, and it was time head back to SFO. But not before the really friendly cat came by to bid us farewell.

I'd planned a single stop on the way to the airport and we decided to getting Dim Sum at Zen Peninsula which had been recommended to us. A big plus was it was basically on the way to the airport. The small parking lot is quite odd here, since the dining room is one of those cavernous dim sum places.

We were hungry and ended up ordering way too much food....well, it didn't seem to be a lot when we ordered, but the portion sizes seemed quite large.

We were also quite surprised at how slowly this place filled up....a slow trickle of people. The place wasn't even full when we left at 1145. Anyway, on to the food.

The Missus enjoyed the Chicken Feet.

This was decently flavored, good soy, fermented black bean, but nothing special. Still, it was toe-sucking goodness to the Missus.

The Gailan was under-cooked; very crunchy, lacking in flavor.

The flavor of the Pork Neck was nice; sweet and savory.

But the Missus didn't care for the almost crunchy texture of it.

The portion size of the Soy Sauce Noodles was quite large.

This was ok if a bit too salty.

The Missus saw Turnip Cake with XO Sauce and automatically thought it would be like Sea Harbour.

No such luck Chuck. The flavor was on the milder side and the radish cake a bit too mushy for our taste. Still, not bad. One funny thing; we didn't want to waste food so ended up taking this on our flight.......nothing like the smell of XO sauce on Virgin America!

I saw the Mustard Steamed Pork Intestine and decided I needed to try it. It was very fragrant, and the "sauce" tasted good, though I wasn't a big fan of all the scum.

And while there were some bits that looked like part of the Piggy's last meal floating around; the pungency of the dish masked all of that. This also added to the pungency of our carry-on....I really felt bad. In fact, I made sure not to buy any washed rind cheeses so as to not bother other passengers.....and here I was bringing pork intestine along for the flight. Luckily, no one sat around us and the flight was relatively empty. I didn't see anyone sniffing around wondering "what the heck is that smell"......

One last item I wanted to try was the Duck Liver Sausage Bun. Think ducky lapcheong.

While I felt the steamed bun could have been a bit lighter....it seemed to be getting gummy pretty quickly; I liked the flavor. The Missus's Shandong roots betrayed Her as She declared this way too sweet.

In spite of what you might think upon reading to this point; this was a decent dim sum meal; nothing spectacular, but still better, and cheaper than San Diego. Of course the Missus wanted to head to the SGV as soon as we got home.

Zen Peninsula
1180 El Camino Real
Millbrae, CA 94030

We finished lunch a bit earlier than expected, so I decided to head over to Burlingame. I'd heard that one of the Tea Shops also made tea infused chocolates. After finding a parking spot, which was a lot more difficult than I anticipated, then wandering around a bit....the shop isn't the easiest place to find....we got to Rue Du Thé , which I believe is also named Leland Tea Company.

Really friendly folks. And while not on the same level....according to the Missus as Wine Country Chocolates, She did enjoy what She selected. Especially the chili infused chocolates.

Rue Du Thé
1223 Donnelly Ave
Burlingame, CA 94010

We really enjoyed our short trip to the Bay Area. In fact, the Missus is already planning a return....for more cheese!

Thanks for reading!

Roadtrip: Dinner at Wakuriya (San Mateo)

Yeah, I know, perhaps I should mention something about the Michelin star in my title. But I figure there will be folks who know of Wakuriya and perhaps people "skimming" would spend enough time to read the first sentence of the post. I'm not totally sold on the Michelin Guide, it is after all a tourist guide. The one thing I've found with all the Michelin Starred Restaurants I've been to, the last one being The French Laundry, when I was young and thought it was all about expense and prestige, is that service in these named establishments have always been excellent.....sometimes a bit too much, but still excellent at its core. To be honest, it's not what the Michelin Guide said that drew me to Wakuriya, but the pedigree of the husband and wife team that runs the place. Katsuhiro & Mayumi Yamasaki both worked at the legendary Kaiseki restaurant Kitcho in Kyoto. The place has been on my list for quite a while. The restaurant takes only about 15 customers per evening, it's a small intimate experience. You call for reservations starting at midnight 30 days before. Knowing we were finally headed back up to the Bay Area, though only as North as Daly City, the Missus was all for a nice dinner...... So I called when I woke on a weekday morning 445 am, called an left a message for a reservation. And receiving a call back later in the day telling me, in the most polite Japanese way, "nice try, but you better try a bit harder if you really want to eat here...." I went home and told the Missus. Now usually, She'd be a bit irritated and decide the effort was not worth it....but for some reason, She was quite interested. So interested that She woke up just before midnight and called for reservations right when the clocked flashed 12:00.......and got a busy signal! She hung up and called back and left a message and later that day we found out that we'd gotten two seats at Wakuriya.

The tiny restaurant is situated in the most discreet and low-keyed locale....in a strip mall (of course - my kind of place) that contains a Safeway. It was the week after Thanksgiving; which turned out to be the coldest weekend of the winter. It was drizzling and pretty darn cold. As we walked to the door; we got the earliest reservations possible, 630, and had arrived a bit early....the door opened and Mayumi Yamasaki opened the door, saw us, and when we told her we had reservations, she asked us to come in because it was just to cold.

The interior is spartan; a couple of tables and a long wood bar. I don't know if it was by plan or just our timing, but we were seated at the bar, which only had two seats. We loved where we were, isolated from all the customers who would come in later, and able to watch the operations of putting together dinner take place.

I enjoy getting in early at restaurants.....though at time the kitchen hasn't hit its rhythm, I find the service and pacing to be much better, as was the case here; we got nice explanations of our dishes and even had time to chat a bit. Mayumi does the front of house.....this is basically a two person operation which means all of the front of house, Katsuhiro does all the cooking and most of the food prep. He works in silence. We heard him speak twice during our entire time in the restaurant...as we left; a "thank you" and "goodnight".

As you might guess the meal is in the style of Kaiseki, seasonal, much of it local, juggling taste and appearance, and was served in a fairly traditional order. I guess I'd call this "Modern California Kaiseki". Things started off with an apéritif, a wonderful infused nigori sake.

There are sake, wine, and other drinks available. We went with two of the tasting flights.

The Missus went with the "Fruity Flight"...the name still makes me laugh, with Yuzu Omoi - bascially yuzu infused sake, Kome Kome Shu - a light and tart "Riesling" like sake, and the Missus' favorite the Ume Shu.

I went with the premium sake flight; mainly because it had my favorite, Kubota Manju......

 It is typical for a Kaiseki meal to start off with a Sakizuke, basically a small appetizer, almost like an amuse-bouche. In this case it was a fairly size-able oven baked "goma-tofu" topped with uni.

Goma tofu is not tofu in the classic sense; it is made with sesame paste and a thickening agent. Loved the rich flavor of sesame with the rich though refreshing flavor of the uni. This was actually a pretty good size appetizer.

The Zensai - the true appetizers featured three items; the lobster with egg yolk dressing and avocado.

The Missus is not the biggest fan of lobster, but this was tender and sweet, the ikura (salmon roe) added a perfect briney balance.

Fried Fresno Satoimo with miso two ways.....

This was served "dengaku" (topped with miso) style. The milder, sweeter, and less salty Saikyo miso version was a winner.

The grated apple on the Madai (Red Snapper) nigiri was a revelation....I would never for the life of me think of this combination.

 The Onmono, which I thought of as "Futamono" was a nice, clean, dashi based broth with wonderful rich and velvety, kamo dango of sorts...duck meatballs.

So comforting on such a cold night.

Next up, the Sashimi Tsukuri. This was done in the form of a salad with a citrus dressing....

Nice, crisp, refreshing....the Missus said the Hokkaido Scallop hidden under everything might have been one of the best bites She's had in a while.

The Mushimono - steamed dish was a steamed black cod with sesame sauce.

Nice fish prep, the Missus isn't the biggest fan of sesame paste, so other than the brussel sprouts, this wasn't a favorite.

Some gelato to refresh....Satsuma Granite with sweet ginger syrup

By this time, 730 had arrived and all the other tables were full. Still, we had a bird's eye view of the proceedings. Things were never rushed, questions were always answered, and things moved like a well choreographed dance......no words between husband and wife, the magic of spousal instincts with regards to movement and order.

The next dish, the heaviest and most substantial was actually our least favorite of the evening; the wagyu no miso sukiyaki.

The meat was very tender, but had a strong metallic tinge to it; the miso sauce wasa bit too salty for my taste.

The end of the meal (except for dessert) was a typical Gohanmono - the rice dish. There was a choice of two offered, so of course we got one each.

The ebi no tempura donburi - fried shrimp over rice was nice, the shrimp tender, though the Missus enjoys a lighter, more crisp batter.....I loved the tsuyu which had a perfect balance for my taste.

The "Tai Chazuke" featured snapper with sesame paste and dashi over rice.

To me, this is comfort food elevated.......for the Missus, it had more sesame paste than She enjoys.

As for dessert, matcha and and white bean mousse with petit “tai-yaki”......

Well it must have been good since the Missus ate both of them!

We both really enjoyed our meals. The service was excellent, not only was our hostess efficient and knowledgeable, but also quite gracious....and those little things were apparent. When my first dish arrived, the settings were on my right....but after I ate it with my left hand, all my settings were placed on my left. The matcha to end the meal was as perfect as I've ever had.....we watched Mayumi preparing the tea; she added some hot water, then took a pause to check the temperature by feel, it was apparently too hot so she waited and then added water waiting to serve us until she thought it was the correct temp........which we got to see since we were seated at the bar.

While not quite in the league of Urasawa, I'd say this meal is well worth the $95 price tag (minus drinks). With 15 settings a night, you know this isn't a money grab......

I'm positive we'll try to return during another season....if the Missus can get through on the phone line!

Wakuriya
115 De Anza Blvd
San Mateo, CA 94402