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.

Half Moon Bay Too late for you this time, but... I recently had dinner on a beach in Half Moon Bay, and chef Lewis Rossman of Cetrella Bistro & Cafe cooked. His food was just fabulous. I can't wait to get to eat at the actual restaurant. I also recommend Mezza Luna: very good Northern Italian.

San Jose airport: the 360° Burrito is good...it's in the larger American/Southwest Terminal. SJC

I can't believe I am uttering these words, but I will not be returning to the Oakville Grocery. I loved it intensely, but it just got more and more and more crowded. It's not worth going in there and being smothered in the lines snaking through the store. Last time I was in Napa Valley, we went instead to Dean and Deluca, and that's the route I'll take from now on. Comparable product quality (which is to say: the best), and so much more variety and space.

Yes, Manresa is "super expensive." There is a lot of good Indian food in Silicon Valley, including Amber India at Santana Row (there is also a Mountain View location, which I have not visited), and Dasaprakash in Santa Clara. The lamb roganjosh and butter chicken at Amber India are fantastic. Dasaprakash is the favorite of many of my foodiest friends, and of the Indians I know locally. There is a good Cuban restaurant, Habana-Cuba, in San Jose. The marinated pork, Lechon a la Cubana, is falling-apart tender and savory. Highly, highly recommended. (It's only $9 at lunch, and $15 at dinner.) Whatever you do, stick to the wine list and do not be lured into ordering a cocktail. They don't have a liquor license, and used some kind of Korean monkey vomit in a mojito, and it was gaksome. (It's been a couple of years since I went, so maybe they do have a license by now. Still, I'd stick to wine: their list is good, and you can order almost anything by the glass.) 45 minutes away, Santa Cruz is a nice place to visit, and there are a good number of bistros that offer the typical (wonderfully typical, that is) homage to Alice Waters: fresh, seasonal, farm-fresh California cuisine that is very affordable. Santa Cruz excels in little bistros that serve local/organic/seasonal cuisine, and the best of these, in my opinion are: Oswald Bistro (no website) Gabriella Cafe (I also do their website work for trade...I only work for restaurants I love.) Soif Wine Bar: lots of little plates, wonderful food by a skillful chef (with a wine store on the premises, too). Ristorante Avanti (no website): (I did take those photos) -- they have been doing the local/seasonal/organic thing longer than anyone in town...since 1986. These are all within a two-mile radius of downtown Santa Cruz. Finally, there is an excellent cheese shop that also serves breakfast, lunch, and desserts all day: River Cafe and Cheese Shop, just a block off the Highway One/Highway 9 intersection on River Street. (They are also clients of mine. Everyone loves Amy and Heidi!) Try the steak sandwich with gorgonzola-cognac sauce. Yum!

What are your tastes and desires? San Jose is a huge city with a lot of restaurants. Where are you staying? You'll have a car?

See, for breakfast, I'd suggest Bouchon. Seriously. Best jams and preserves I've had in any restaurant (housemade)...the corned beef hash was just perfect, and looked machine-tooled, it was so precisely fine-diced. Paris does have our favorite buffet, it's true.

It is also a question of sheer hygiene. I'm reading Pig Perfect: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them by Peter Kaminsky. The factory farmed pigs in North Carolina endure conditions that are beyond disgusting. They are forced to stand in their own urine and feces, and to breathe the toxic air that is the by-product of that filth. That air, of course, carries the toxins into the bloodstream and very flesh of the animals. Sows never see the piglets they nurse: indeed, they cannot see their own feet, as they are crammed into pens, never enjoying the camaderie of the "pigpile" or the chance to turn up the earth with their rooting noses. Between the antibiotics they are constantly fed, to the low caliber of non-organic feed, a factory pig's life is dismal and poisonous. Two ranchers I know describe being able to "taste the shit" (pardon the crudeness, these are people who are otherwise not crude at all) in commercial bacon. To raise pigs on dirt and grass, as nature intended, costs more: a rancher friend said, "If I can't convince someone it's worth $18 a pound, I might as well eat it myself." North Carolina laws (and elsewhere, but they're the worst offenders) ensure cheap, polluted, abundant pork to the world. The antibiotics pretty much guarantee they'll have no immunity when some devastating disease comes along. I think it's time all that changed. I'm not with PETA. This is about cleanliness, the environment, and the quality of food. While I may be a hypocrite for still eating "food from boxes" (which I try to avoid), I will never buy meat from the supermarket again. I'd rather do without—and luckily, working with two different ranches, I don't have to at present. I do recommend Kaminsky's book: it is a delight. (Not the chapters on factory farms, but his passion for finding the perfect ham.)

Try some of these at MouthfulsFood? What do you consider expensive, though? I think Cafe Fiore is very good, but it's been a couple of years since we ate there.

There is also a good thread at MouthfulsFood.com about Where to Eat in Madison.

Kuleto's [Closed Jan 2, 2017], the restaurant at Villa Florence Hotel on Union Square does a really nice standard bacon-and-eggs type breakfast (with a larger menu, of course), but with quality ingredients, and the baked goods made in house. It's very nice: classic.