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Special Poll for San Francisco and North Bay, CA #1 - Swan Oyster Depot, ad hoc


Which San Francisco / North Bay / Sacramento Restaurants Do You Want Reviewed?  

7 members have voted

  1. 1. Which San Francisco / North Bay / Sacramento Restaurants Do You Want Reviewed?

    • Delfina (Modern Italian in Mission District)
      1
    • Ad Hoc (American in Yountville)
      2
    • State Bird Provisions (Modern American in Western Addition)
      2
    • Swan Oyster Depot (Seafood in Nob Hill)
      3
    • Liholiho Yacht Club (Asian Fusion in Lower Nob Hill)
      1
    • Lazy Bear (Modern American in Mission District)
      1
    • Tosca Cafe (Italian Wine Bar in Chinatown)
      1

This poll is closed to new votes


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I'll be making a brief trip to San Francisco, and will be happy to review a restaurant or two out in that general vicinity (North Bay area is fine, too). Please feel free to submit requests for reviews, and I'd like to add that I really don't want to go insane on this visit (French Laundry, Meadowood, Saison, Atelier Crenn, Coi, Manresa, Keiko, etc.) - I'll do it if they're voted in, but I'll probably only do one instead of two, and I'd really like to get two under my belt. Note that I've already done quite a few (see the San Francisco thread in The Intrepid Traveler).

I'd like to get these nominations in and the poll done well in advance, so that I can make plans (I'll be paying for two and I prefer not to bring a dinner jacket, so I emphasize: Please have mercy on the pricing - think "interesting" and not necessarily "Silicon Valley CEO"). If the top two, or even three, restaurants, are within reason, I'll try to get two or three reviews done.

I actually *do* want to go to these luxe restaurants, but I strongly prefer to wait until 2017 - I'm still on the semi-Walking Dead Diet, or at least pretending to be, and I have a ways to go - I went crazy in France, and need to take a little break from huge tasting menus.

Go ahead and state your rationale when you nominate, so others can see what might interest them also.

I'll keep these nominations open until Monday at 5 PM, and close the poll sometime late next week so I can make advance plans.

Also, start thinking about places you'd like to see reviewed in Tampa. I reviewed Bern's Steak House once here, but I'll be happy to do it again (we'll save Tampa for another thread).

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12 minutes ago, silentbob said:

Delfina - we always try to eat here while in town, still really tough to get a table.

Ad Hoc - same as above, if you make it up to Napa?

State Bird Provisions - never been, would love to know if it's all that. 

I've been to Delfina twice, but have never reviewed it (I loved it both times). Ad Hoc won't be a problem (in Napa, I've been to Oenotri about five times, and in Yountville, have been to Bouchon twice - I've never had a bad meal at either one. State Bird Provisions had a *big* year at the James Beard Awards in 2015, and I'll be happy to go. All three are really good selections that won't break the bank.

If any of these win, think about whether or not there are any particular dishes you want me to try (same goes for everyone else).

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35 minutes ago, jrichstar said:

Another vote for State Bird Provisions.

We'll do a poll starting Monday at 5 PM, and run it until Thursday at 5 PM - whichever places get the most votes, are the places that will be reviewed. I'd be delighted to review State Bird Provisions, or any of these other fine restaurants people have mentioned.

Note: Even though the Washington, DC Restaurant Forum is now open to the public, *this* forum is still limited - like the Dining Guide - to our most venerable members - the ones who have made 10+ posts.

Nobody else even knows it exists, and that's fine with me.

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27 minutes ago, Bart said:

Lazy Bear

If Lazy Bear wins (and it's fine if it does), it will probably be the only restaurant I review - they require ticketed reservations, and only sell the tickets once a month, so I'm not even sure I can get in - this will be a $600 dinner.

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Yikes!  I didn't realize their prices were that high, but I guess the times they are a changin'.

I really only nominated it because I sat next to the chef a minibar years ago when he was a law school student at Georgetown, so I feel some sort of connection.

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24 minutes ago, Bart said:

Yikes!  I didn't realize their prices were that high, but I guess the times they are a changin'.

I really only nominated it because I sat next to the chef a minibar years ago when he was a law school student at Georgetown, so I feel some sort of connection.

It's okay - I want to try these places, but I honestly think I might have trouble getting a ticket.

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22 hours ago, DonRocks said:

If Lazy Bear wins (and it's fine if it does), it will probably be the only restaurant I review - they require ticketed reservations, and only sell the tickets once a month, so I'm not even sure I can get in - this will be a $600 dinner.

How will it be $600?  Food is generally around $185, beverage pairings are around $85, and even when you add in 20% for gratuity and 10% for tax (which I think is a smidge high) you don't even hit $400.  Not saying it's cheap, but I have always felt that it was a good value for the overall experience.

Of course, here is the disclaimer - the chef/owner of Lazy Bear is my brother-in-law, so there is some implicit bias.  However, that also means that I might be able to help you get in.  :-)  Let me know when you're going and I can see what I can do...

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1 hour ago, bettyjoan said:

How will it be $600?  Food is generally around $185, beverage pairings are around $85, and even when you add in 20% for gratuity and 10% for tax (which I think is a smidge high) you don't even hit $400.  Not saying it's cheap, but I have always felt that it was a good value for the overall experience.

Of course, here is the disclaimer - the chef/owner of Lazy Bear is my brother-in-law, so there is some implicit bias.  However, that also means that I might be able to help you get in.  :-)  Let me know when you're going and I can see what I can do...

Because I don't want to get pelted with a frying pan when I get back? :mellow:

"Here, I brought you some leftover m..." <WHACK!>

reedm, we'll vote on all these nominations next Monday at 5PM. If Lazy Bear (or equivalent) wins - and it's fine if it does - that'll be the one; otherwise, I'll try to get in at least two.

Betty, why didn't you tell me this was your brother-in-law's place? I would have gone a long time ago.

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I went to Lazy Bear three years ago, and I loved it. It was before they had a permanent location, when they were considered "underground," and we had to be part of a lottery to get a ticket. The evening was fun, and the food was tasty and creative. We got to go into the kitchen and watch and ask any questions we wanted while the food was being prepared. The portions were very small, but there were a lot of courses. We sat at a huge, communal table and enjoyed conversation with the other guests.

The most unusual thing we had was the monkeyface eel (pictured below). Apparently there is quite an art to catching them. It wasn't the best thing we had, but it was something I hadn't had before and I haven't had since.  

IMG_0769.jpg

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Nominations are now closed - if Lazy Bear finishes 1st, that will be the only restaurant reviewed; if it doesn't finish 1st, I'll go to the 2-3 highest restaurants that aren't Lazy Bear (note: It will be easiest for me to get to Ad Hoc, so if that finishes near the top, it would be "convenient").

E.G., If Lazy Bear finishes 2nd, I'll go the 1st-place and 3rd-place finishers, and *maybe* the 4th-place finisher. For me to go to Lazy Bear, it will need to finish 1st (and that's assuming I can get a ticket - Betty I might be calling on you).

We'll close the poll Thursday evening at 7-ish.

Also, start thinking about Tampa, FL - we'll be doing the same type of special poll for there as well.

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I was going to surprise everyone with a Lazy Bear review after a friend sent me this:

Jean-Louis Palladin Dinner at Lazy Bear

(If anyone can figure out a way to save that as a .jpg, please email it to me.)

I wrote Lazy Bear as follows:

---

Hi! I'm writing about the Palladin dinner on Nov 15. 

First of all, is it sold out? If so, then this is all moot.
 
If not, I have to fly out early the next day, so the ticket is something of a risk. How, exactly, is this related to Palladin other than 1) the name 2) the 80s wines? I know Jean-Louis' food pretty well, and am actually friends with his wife, Régine. The pictures I saw don't really conjure up notions of him (when I think of Palladin, I think "Fricassée of snails, [sweetbreads, chanterelles, and prosciutto]" - mmmm
 
Anyway, this all may be for naught anyway, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least curious. How do I go about getting tickets, and what would the total price be for two? Can you guess about the pour-sizes of the wines? I have a flight the next day, and my companion isn't a huge drinker, so she could get *plastered*.
 
---
 
They wrote me back as follows:
 
---
 
Hello Don,
 
Thank you for your interest in joining our tables for the Palladin inspired dinner. Tickets are almost sold out, and you will be able to purchase them by clicking here. For 2, the total is  $717.75 (inclusive of service charge and tax).
 
Our chefs have looked over Chef Jean-Louis' cookbook extensively and are curating a menu as we speak. I cannot go into deep details as we are keeping it a secret until the day of the dinner. We have purposely kept photos from social media and our emails.
 
The beverage pairings are good pours and your companion should be able to enjoy herself without the concern of over-drinking.
 
We hope you'll get tickets and join our tables. If you have any further questions, please let us know.
 
Best,
Anna Lee
Thank you!

---

I was seriously considering going, but then I thought about it for awhile, and decided against it:

* $720 is a *LOT* of money to spend on dinner

* I've had Jean-Louis' food at the hands of Jean-Louis.

* Although I'm fascinated by the tribute, the thought of Lazy Bear chefs cooking from a cookbook, instead of from their hearts, just doesn't appeal to me that much.

* When I do try Lazy Bear, I want to try David Barzelay's own artistry, and this is more of something that any great chef can do - cooking from someone else's cookbook.

* So, what initially sounded like a wonderful idea, and a nice surprise for everyone, quickly lost its appeal, and seemed like an expensive mistake.

* But know that I *did* think about it, quite seriously in fact.

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I closed all the polls yesterday, but noticed that this one had a *lot* of votes after the thread had been locked awhile back - I remember which restaurants had won (Swan Oyster Depot had 3, followed by a tie with Ad Hoc and State Bird Provisions with 2 each). I reset the counts to what they were.

Vote earlier next time! :) I come to San Francisco fairly often, so it won't be a problem going forward.

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