tanabutler

Sunnyvale quote name='mdt' post='107465' date='Apr 15 2008, 07:34 AM']Anyone have any suggestions on eats in the area? Local, fine dining, whatever... Do you like Indian food? Some of the best Indian restaurants in the country (according to AnotherSubcontinent.com, the brainchild of "Mongo Jones") are in the South Bay. Dasaprakash (Santa Clara) Saravana Bhavan (Sunnyvale) Udupi (Sunnyvale) Amber of India (San Jose on Santana Row: really Butter Chicken and Lamb Roganjosh) Turmeric (Sunnyvale: where Hemant Mathur at D�vi once worked) From all the recs I've gotten from people I know, Dasaprakash is thought best. Amber of India is pretty darned good, too.

Broken record: AVOID LONGHI'S.

On Michael Ruhlman's blog, "Next Iron Chef America" candidate, Chef Gavin Kaysen, gave some perspective about the lack of seasoning on his frog legs. Perspective (scroll down). Here is a link to a Google Map: the chef's hotel and restaurant are in Rancho Bernardo, and took some damage in the fire. Kaysen hasn't seen it yet, though, and himself has not been evacuated. I know three farmers down there, and a fruit grower whose orchard is on the fringers of the Fallbrook fire. Just praying for rain, here.

KA-DING!!! We have a winner! Not that I'm promoting the grilled-cheese-sandwich-in-the-toaster bag.

I ate last week with Suvir Saran (Indian chef in NYC) at Bocadillo's, which is a few blocks from the Embarcadero. I would highly recommend it for lunch, even though a couple of our dishes were not spectacular. Bocadillo's My review at Yelp: I am pretty sure they're capable of five stars, based on the report my chef friend and his fiance gave me after they went here for dinner. (They utterly RAVED.) We came in for a late lunch, and maybe some of the dishes were a little past their prime. I was with a chef who is fond of ordering a LOT of dishes, to sample everything, and that's what we did. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: the patatas brava (!!!!!), the roast beef bocadillo with goat cheese and onion marmalade, the salad with Green Goddess dressing, the cheese plate (four artisanal cheeses, all very well balanced), and the daily special soup (tomato basil: absolute perfect July soup). Their flan was, without question, perfect. The best I've ever had, and my chef friend praised its structure, flavors, and all the elements of perfection. I loved the "warm chocolate cake with sauted bananas crme Catalan," he, not so much. Medium okay: the bean salad with pickled onions (needed some salt to balance) and the pineapple bread pudding. Would not order again: the pistachio ice cream with macaroons. These disks were as hard as bricks, seriously, and were inedible. The pistachio ice cream was preternaturally green and, well, "eh." Would not order again: the spinach with pine nuts and golden raisins. It looked good on paper, but failed in execution. It was just too tasteless. It could have used a shot of something tangier than a few raisins: some kind of vinegar and even some salt. Would not order again: either the serrano ham bocadillo (WAY dry, WAY WAY WAY not enough of the supposed tomato sauce stuff they said was on it...barely a rub of it, and the bread, by 3PM was a little too stale), or the roasted vegetable bocadillo, in which the olive flavor simply overwhelmed everything else. The eggplant tasted like olives, the zucchini tasted like olives, and the bread tasted like olives. Overall: great place, great service, and not a shred of that self-conscious "look how cool we are" vibe, even though it is a very cool place. The waitress's recommendation of cava over champagne was a good one, even though the cava was cheaper. I love when they don't upsell you for a couple of bucks. I thought the value for the dollar was quite high, and would recommend Bocadillos to anyone. I'll be back soon. Pictured: patatas brava, salad with Green Goddess, flan, nice interior, cheese platter, and The Best Flan I've Ever Had. Very good stuff.

Having once had a fabulous meal there (mid-range, not stuffy, but nice) at Cafe Terra Cotta, I sent two traveling friends there last summer. They ADORED it. Said it was perfect. I'd recommended the garlic flans with hazelnut vinaigrette: those are show stoppers. My sister and I loved it so much we bought the cookbook. http://www.dineterracotta.com/

Wayne has lost most of his voice, and that's why he lost his contract at the now-decimated Stardust. I'd take the meal, or see Blue Man Group.

I ate in La Jolla last year at 910: lots of local farms on the menu, and good food. Sit outside on the sidewalk, and let people-watching enhance your meal. http://www.nine-ten.com/ WARNING: there is really obnoxious music on the website. (Like, do they think they're "Entourage"?) I HATE THAT. It's even worse when the button to turn it off doesn't work. Lame-o. Ignore the stupid web design: look at the food.

They give prices on their Small Plates menu (between $6-$17) but not on lunch and dinner. That's so odd. I would expect dinner to be from the low-thirties, then, but you could call them: 702.869.2251 http://www.rosemarysrestaurant.com/rosemar...urant_menus.htm

BUMP. I thought you people would be falling all over yourselves to discuss the Washington Post article about Bebo Trattoria And since I don't know where that discussion would be (a search proved futile, and while I can certainly design a beautiful restaurant website (that makes navigational sense), I don't know Seí±or Rockwell's filing system that well.Upthread, that stupid website with three lines of text? I hope they paid $5000 for that. What a useless pile of poop. Unless it's, like, a speakeasy for the Mob, which is what that page makes it look like. It's like a book of matches from a truck stop. NICE WORK. I have some thoughts about restaurant websites, but should compile a list before I start posting willy-nilly at happy hour.

A friend in Milano, Marina Malvezzi, who just attended the Congress of Gastronomy in Spain, recommends these (and I apologize in advance for the advertisement that eclipses part of the screen): Aimo e Nadia (that's her write-up, with recipes from the chef) Cracco-Peck: here is the (official website) Her other recommendations for great Italian chefs are here.

Well, it's been a couple of years since we've been, but we were going every few months for a spate there, and it just "won." We had a really great French waiter, funny and warm without being overfriendly, and I liked everything. I don't need pastries to be happy, so much of the Bellagio's sweets counter was lost on me. Sorry I can't give specifics, I wasn't taking notes and being critical, just going on our overall experience. But I'm probably done going to Las Vegas for a long time: I don't much care to travel unless, somewhere along the line, I can visit and photograph a farm (and deduct it!).

I have eaten the food of Millennium chef Eric Tucker at an Outstanding in the Field farm dinner: it was ]the worst food of any of the more than three dozen such dinners I've attended/photographed. I wouldn't go to Millennium with a gun to my head. The staff (and several guests) were obnoxiously, toxically preachy and holier-than-thou about the vegan menu. They were really not pleasant, and really not fun. When I did my own research on high-end vegetarian tasting menus, the suggestions I got favored: the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, Fleur de Lys, and Masa's. I would pick one of the first two, from having read the menus.

Wow, the Paris buffet is our favorite.

Louisville A bunch of recs from MouthfulsFood folks are here.