Movie Review: "Decoding Ferran Adria"

I recently received this documentary as a gift. To my embarrassment, I wasn't familiar with Ferran Adria prior to watching this culinary-life changing 45 minute dvd.

...more coming soon....

Warakubune, 8/23/07

I went to this sushi place by my house last night for a quick dinner. It's called Warakubune and is located on Church St. between 15th & 16th, across the street from "secret sushi". It has the moving sushi boats on a conveyer belt above the sushi bar. I know this can be a turn off for some people, but there's something very pleasing about having endless options of perfect sushi rolls and nigiri floating by. You have to react and hand select each dish. And the portions are smaller for the larger rolls (3 pieces), so you can sample more. You can also order off of their menu & order rolls/sashimi from the sushi chef that you don't see on the boats. Everything I tried was very good and the fish tasted incredible fresh. There are defintiely cheaper sushi spots in the neighborhood (secret sushi & Miyabi), but I really enjoyed my meal here. The service is impecible and fast and the atmosphere is fun. I'm not always into eating at the counter because you're shoulder to shoulder with your neighborhood (I know, that's SO American of me), but the food here is worth it. My friend and I ordered a large Sapporo and about 10 plates off of the boat. Our total was $38, which seems like a good price for what how much we ate and how high quality the food was.

Zuppa, 8/18/07

My parents were visiting from Portland, Oegon over the weekend while my dad was attending the APA conference with some of his old college friends. On Saturday, they wanted to go out to dinner with a couple of his friends and their wives. I made a reservation at Zuppa, since I had heard good reviews from a couple of friends and Italian food is usually a crowd pleaser. We walked in and were seated at this very long, long table. It must have been a (single) table for 20, but they seat one party at either end. The atmosphere is modern-rustic. It has the feel of the open kitchen, brick oven trattatoria, but has a lot of stainless steel touches and sleek details.

We started off with a couple pizzas, that were both delicious. We ordered a funghi pizza with wild mushrooms (gamboni? and another mushroom I can't remember) and another pizza, Carciofi, with artichoke & prosciutto cotto. The pizzas were absolutely delicious. The crust was thin, crunchy and chewy and the toppings were light and fresh. The sauce was sweet and it wasn't overwhelmed with cheese. This may have been my favorite part of the entire meal.

Next, Molly and I shared a chicory salad with an aged goat cheese and simple oil and vinegar dressing. A classic and tasty dish with fresh ingredients. For my entree I ordered the Tagliatelle con Granchio e Pomodorini, which was tagliatelle with fresh dungeness crab and ella bella cherry tomatoes. The crab mixed with the tomatoes and made a very light and sweet sauce. The pasta was cooked perfectly, very aldente. Molly's dish was delicious as well. She ordered the Pappardelle alla Ligure, a long wide pasta with mariquita farms green beans, fingerling potatoes, squash blossoms and pesto. The Pappardelle was cut extra thick, almost an inch wide, which gave it a great texture. The potatoes and the pesto went well together and the squash blossoms & green beans added a nice fresh element to the dish. I didn't sample everyone else's dishes, except my dad's kobe beef brisket which was delicious, but everyone seemed very pleased.

The desserts were definitely above par and the coffee was very good. We ordered a Dark Chocolate-Amaretto Tort with crispy wafer crust, fleur de sel caramel sauce, candied hazelnuts & caramel gelato and the Stone Fruit Crostata fruit filled pasty topped with vanilla gelato. Both desserts were great, but I was especially impressed the the Dark Chocolate-Amaretto Tort. The service was good, and was what I had been worried about after reading multiple reviews about the poor service. We had two bottles of delicious Italian medium-bodied reds, my favorite being the Nero d'Avola, Morgante, 2003. Most dishes also credited the local farmer they came from, which is always a good thing. Overall, I think Zuppa is good. I would definitely eat there again, especially for the Funghi pizza and a glass of wine.

The Slanted Door, 8/17/07

I've only been to the Slanted Door once before and I was excited to return. I had made reservations 2 months in advance as a surprise birthday dinner for my dad. I knew it would be the perfect setting and perfect menu for him. We arrived 30 minutes early, because I wanted a few minutes to get a cocktail and go outside to enjoy the view. It was a perfectly clear evening, about an hour before sunset, and the bay bridge was beautiful and the Oakland Hills were sparkling (I know that sounds cheesy, but they really were). I ordered a ginger limeade (which is my favorite drink that I've had there, and my dad got a french 75--- Molly and my mom had sparkling water).

We got seated and were soon asked to move tables so they could accommodate a large party-- not a great start. I was feeling a little nervous since I really wanted my dad to have a great dining experience. We were moved to a new table by the windows that, besides being under the air conditioning vents, had a better view and a better waiter. We started with a round of appetizers; live baked spot prawns, abalone w/ black chantrelles & peas, daikon rice cakes, green papaya salad (this was delicious---so thinly julienned with a delicious light dressing). Because they made us move tables the waiter brought us the fried salt & pepper wax beans with fried garlic and cherry tomatoes-- a very yummy dish. We took our time eating our appetizers and eventually put in our dinner order.

We waited for quite a while and our waiter came to the table and apologized that our order hadn't gone through. He felt badly and even though we had been waiting for quite some time, we were glad to finally know what was going on. The entrees finally appeared and everything was delicious. We had sweet corn with chantrelles & green onions, yellow snow peas with fresh baby corn & torpedo onions, caramelized tiger prawns with garlic, onions & chili sauce and cellophane noodles with dungeonous crab. The corn was some of the sweetest I've ever had, though I'm not sure the dish really needed the chantrelles. The snow peas were ok, but not my favorite dish. They had fine flavor, but the fresh baby corn were pretty fibrous {side-note: I ate the leftovers of this dish a couple days later and the baby corn were delicious. I think they just needed a little time to absorb more liquid}. The tiger prawns were plentiful and absolutely delicious. They were cooked perfectly and had a delicious sweet flavor. I loved the dungeness crab & cellophane noodle dish. There were huge pieces of crab and very light seasoning. A light and perfect dish for summer. ....then our waiter, Robert, brought us ANOTHER complimentary dish because our entrees had taken so long. The dish was butterflied shrimp with Shishito peppers & chilies. I think this might have been my favorite dish of the entire night. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the peppers were amazing. Apparently, Slanted Door has a local farmer who grows and harvests these peppers just for them. They are small and green and wrinkly with a mild but punchy pepper taste. I loved this dish.

In the end, our great service redeemed any mistakes that were made and we had a great experience at The Slanted Door. As usual, the food is local, fresh and simply prepared to retain the integrity of the ingredients. I will definitely go back to The Slanted Door.

House Of Nanking, 8/17/07

I've eaten at the House of Nanking several times before and decided to take my dad there for a birthday lunch. We arrived at 2pm on a Friday and the place was packed. There was a line outside that we joined and were seated within 10 minutes. I think everyone will agree that you don't come to this North Beach institution for the service, but the food never lets me down. The distinctively white haired owner took our order, without cracking a smile or looking up from his pad of paper. My parents had never been there, so I took charge of ordering--- well, my dad ordered the fried eggplant, which proved to be our least favorite dish. It had good flavors, a garlicky chili sauce, but was a bit heavy on the fried for us. I ordered the peashoot salad with fried yam strips and crispy tofu. I love this dish. I think I could eat it almost everyday. The light vinaigrette on the peashoots is perfect, a little sesame oil, a little rice vinegar, and whatever else is in it. The peashoots have a great texture, soft and a little crunchy and they begin to slowly wilt in the dressing as the meal goes on. Then we got the sesame chicken with sliced yams and some asian melon that I'm not sure what it is. The chicken is barely battered and has a slightly crunchy edge and a sweet sesame sauce. Its served with white rice and is delicious. This place is an institution for a reason---they do what they do incredibly well. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone and everyone.

Tangerine, 8/16/07

I've never been drawn to dine at Tangerine, so when my dad (visiting from Portland) suggested eating dinner there I was a little bit hesitant. He thought the menu looked interesting and it was close to the bed and breakfast that my parents stayed at. I walked in feeling optimistic. The menu looked good- interesting flavors, etc. The waiter was nice, but we soon determined had no idea what he was doing and seemed very unfamiliar with the restaurant and food. The food was awful. I mean, it was bad, really bad. And for the prices they were charging, it was ridiculous. It was like they wanted to be a fine dining restaurant, but none of the ingredients seemed high quality or fresh. The seafood all tasted metalic. The bread was stale. Almost everything was fried. They forgot to bring out a dish, which we didn't realize until the end of the meal. I think the intention of this restaurant may be good, but the execution and delivery doesn't translate the owner/chef's vision. I will not be dining at Tangerine again, anytime soon. At least not until I'v forgotten about this experience.

Explanation of Out-of-Order Photos...

So, I know all of the photos I'm posting are out of order. Since I've just started this blog I'm trying to go back and use some photos that I had previously taken. Well, Molly has taken almost all of them. Once I get all of my past photos up I can start being a little more up to date!

Molly's website: www.mollydecoudreaux.com