Z & Y Restaurant

photo - foodhoe's foraging (foodhoe) / CC BY-ND 3.0

Z & Y Restaurant, Dinner, Chinatown 

P&J:
Scallion Pancake
Spicy Numbing Beef Tender
Chicken with Explosive Chili Pepper
Tan Tan Noodle
Peking Duck


Notes:
After a string of somewhat disappointing experiences, we decided it was time to take things in a different direction with a visit to Chinatown.  We headed to a Szechuan place I had visited only once before, knowing we get great food without emptying our wallets.

This place is popular, highly rated, and there's always a 30-45 minute wait.  By the time we were seated, we were ready to eat.  It took a while before anyone approached the table, so once our server came around we just rattled off a list of things from the menu; we stopped after picking five, but could've kept going.

The scallion pancakes arrived well before everything else, these were nicely layered, delicately flaky and piping hot, but ached for some sauce.  Next came the Spicy Numbing Beef Tender: thinly sliced beef tendon dripping with chili oil and seasoned heavily with Szechuan peppercorns and five spice powder.  This dish is a favorite of mine, the tendon has the texture of (very) al dente pasta, and the fiery sauce makes your lips numb and tingly.  If only we hadn't inhaled those scallion pancakes, they would have been perfect for mopping up that sauce.  The chicken dish, another must have in my opinion, arrives as a (very) large pile of wok fried dried chilies on a round platter.  Scattered within that pile of chilies are bite size pieces of lightly fried chicken thigh exploding with flavor, and surprisingly not very spicy.  It's like digging for treasure - delicious, delicious treasure.  The tan tan noodles are a simple dish of springy egg noodles and pork in more of the same fiery, numbing sauce, but this with a deeper flavor, likely gaining richness from the ground meat.  Finally, the Peking Duck, carved tableside, is served with paper thin pancakes, sliced scallion and hoisin sauce.  The crispy sweet-glazed skin was (and always is) the best part of this dish, though this was my least favorite overall; the meat was dry and the subtle flavors couldn't compete with the rest of the food at the table.


We had a great time at Z & Y, and didn't break the bank doing it.  We'd go back.  

Bi-Rite Creamery

photo - Yelp, Meghan H.

Bi-Rite Creamery, Dessert, The Mission
May 6, 2016

P:
Chocolate with TCHO Chocolate

J:
Salted Caramel


Notes:
Bi-Rite Creamery is a neighborhood ice cream shop that has been in operation since 2002.  It's so popular that it's not unusual for there to be a line out the door and down the block, day or night, no matter the weather.

That night, we'd had dinner at the restaurant next door.  It was a slightly disappointing experience, and we decided the only way to turn things around was with a scoop from Bi-Rite.

Long ago, Bi-Rite was recommended to me by a friend who is a die hard fan of their salted caramel ice cream.  Before you say that flavor is "so last year" you should know that they've been doing salted caramel ice cream since before salted caramel ice cream was a thing.  And it is hands down, by far, the best salted caramel ANYTHING I've ever had.  I've probably been to Bi-Rite only about a half-dozen times.  Once, I got a scoop of "ricanelas", cinnamon ice cream with bits of snickerdoodle cookies.  It was good, but it was no salted caramel.  Another time I had a scoop of malted vanilla with peanut brittle and milk chocolate pieces, along with a scoop of salted caramel (smart, eh?).  But the malted vanilla, also good, was no salted caramel.  Ever since, I haven't bothered with anything else.  Their salted caramel ice cream is divine.  Ultra creamy and rich textured, the caramel flavor is deep and smoky, bordering on burnt, and the saltiness is just right.  It's HAY-mazing.

Patrick went with chocolate on this visit.  He's a big chocolate fan generally, and TCHO is an exceptionally good local chocolatier.  The ice cream he describes as having a deep chocolate flavor, almost as if there were chocolate extract added to the mixture.  I had some, and it was delicious, but it was no salted caramel.


SALTED CARAMEL.

Namu Gaji

photo - Yelp, Ann. L

Namu Gaji, Dinner, The Mission
May 6, 2016

P&J:
assorted pickles
kimchee
dumplings - shiitake, dashi, butter, nori
lamb tsukune - avocado, brûlée yolk, dill, cumin, calabrian chili
stonepot - market vegetables, kimchee, egg, koshihikari rice, gochujang, steak


Notes:
This was the last of the three dinner reservations I made during my friend's visit to San Francisco.  He's a restaurateur and was interested in catching one of the latest in food trends, "new" Korean; Namu Gaji seemed the perfect choice.  Unfortunately, it wasn't what I thought it was.  Their focus seems to be on Asian flavors generally, leaning more towards Japanese than Korean it seems.

Most of the food was good, but it wasn't particularly exciting, and generally we were put off by the everything else (more on that later).  The assorted pickles were a mess - little honshimeji mushrooms, red cabbage, and bean sprouts -  each tasted like they had been soaked in straight vinegar.  The napa cabbage kimchee on the other hand was top notch, and I'd love to know their secret.  It was supple but still a little crunchy, hot and sour and just a little fizzy on the tongue, just how it should be.  The dumplings were very good: mushroom filling stuffed inside thin wonton-type wrappers cooked until just tender and served in a rich, buttery broth.  The lamb tsukune, a skewer of ground lamb seasoned heavily with cumin and Calabrian chili was grilled until lightly charred but still juicy.  It was served with a brûléed yolk - raw egg yolk with a thin coat of sugar so as to be scorched, just as you would the dessert - topped with a heavy dose of finely chopped dill.  Potentially phenomenal (seriously - we're talkin' egg yolk), but it had no flavor to speak of.  Finally, the stonepot - a take on the Korean dish bibimbap.  Cooked white rice is layered in a giant, blistering hot stone pot with vegetables, kimchee, thinly sliced raw beef and a fried egg.  We were instructed to allow the pot to sit for at least 5 minutes, during which time the rice at the bottom of the pot would crisp, and the sliced beef would warm through.  When it was time, we stirred in the accompanying gochujang (Korean chili paste), mixing everything together while scraping up the crunchy rice and whacking the egg and beef into smaller pieces.  This was really tasty; the dish was well prepared and nicely proportioned between the rice and toppings, but it wasn't anything new, it was just really good bibimbap.

Sure, it was disappointing that the food wasn't what I expected, but I had only myself to blame.  The restaurant has a website, they have their menu posted, it shouldn't have been such a surprise to me.  But the real problem here was the experience itself.  When we walked into the tiny restaurant it was completely full but for the end of the bar seating which ran the length of the room against the windows.  There, in a space large enough for two people, were three bar stools.  We all knew - that was where they intended to seat us.  We should have said something, but we didn't.  Maybe we should have left, but we didn't.  Instead we sat, three people to a space built for two.  It was awful.  And did I mention the noise?  Restaurants these days are being designed for the modern aesthetic with little attention paid to the acoustics.  I know this.  I have been to countless restaurants which suffer from this affliction.  But this one was so bad, we gave up on trying to talk to one another.  There we sat, crammed together at the end of a sad little bar, left to stare out the window in between courses.

We cut the meal a little short that night and went for ice cream next door.  I doubt we'd go back.

The Progress

photo - Yelp, Andrew H.

The Progress, Dinner, Fillmore
May 5, 2016

P&J:
A few things for the table:
roasted brooks cherries with almond cream
buttermilk biscuit with apple bourbon black butter
ginger-chickpea hummus on seven pepper cracker
lettuce hearts with smoked paprika tonnato
tofu with sunflower seed pesto

Courses:
taylor bay scallop with white ponzu (add-on)
BN Ranch beef tartare - smoked oyster-ramp aioli, kohlrabi & puffed rice
black cod "toast" - maitakes, buttery favas, fermented turnips & lemon oil
So-Cal swordfish - pistachio "crema", fennel-blood orange relish & flowering kale
lamb shank-flat noodle "stir fry" - seasoned with ground 7  pepper, wild ramps & snow peas
rhubarb compote with cornmeal crumble (add-on)

Cocktails:
Martini - vodka, vermouth, smoked castelvetrano olive juice, rosemary oil
Sunny Jim - gin, lemon, vanilla, pineapple, kaffir lime leaf, soda
Black Metal - lemon-verbena infused tequila, fino sherry, swedish punsch, strawberry, lemon, grapefruit bitters
Great Mana - mezcal, aged rum, banana, coconut, lime, bitters


Notes:
The Progress was the second planned restaurant visit during our friend's stay in town.  This is the sister restaurant to the joint next door called State Bird Provisions.  I've been wanting to go to State Bird forever, but it's (still) impossible to get a reservation, and we really don't like long waits, so we've just never gone.  And since we could get a reservation at The Progress, and since it seems to be equally well-loved, I thought it a win.

The other draw (for me) was the concept, it's different - think tasting menu served family style.  Diners are charged per person, 4 courses are served to the table on large plates (versus plated for each individual) and little bites start off the meal.  It's an interesting take if you ask me, and I was excited to give it a shot.

As we were brought into the restaurant, we're once again met with modern aesthetic so popular in restaurants today: the soaring ceilings, exposed concrete and steel.  But here, thin slats of raw wood lined an entire wall, warming the room and dampening some of the noise.  The dining room was a little crowded, though, we were at the table that always seemed to be in the way.  On the other hand, this didn't feel out of place; the restaurant had a casual, communal vibe, so what's the harm in making room for a few friends?  Except I don't like people.  Kidding!  I do like people.  I also like cocktails.

We started with a round; all of their cocktails sounded appealing, so we each ordered something different.  Mine was the winner - the Sunny Jim - tart, not too sweet, and refreshing.  But we were all off to a good start, frankly.  We sipped our drinks, the server handed us a pencil and a menu, and we went to town, marking off the items we wanted to have by filling in little bubbles next to each.  It was like a test you're happy to take.  Shortly thereafter, we were brought little snacks from the kitchen.  The winners for Patrick were the roasted brooks cherry (roasted just long enough to maintain its integrity, stem and all, but the flesh inside was warm, soft and juicy) and the buttermilk biscuits - he's a biscuit man, and these were proper - tender and buttery.  (But tiny!  One bite!)  I couldn't believe how good the hummus tasted; was it just the ginger that made the difference?  The little lettuce hearts with smoked paprika tonnato were delightful - cold and crispy lettuce with a dab of unctuous, savory sauce (tonnato is essentially a tuna mayonnaise).  The tofu didn't win any favor - it was good but on the bland side and came off as "healthy" more than anything else.  (Ptooey!  Nah, I thought it was fine.)

Next came the little bay scallops.  These were a joke; they were tiny (I mean, TINY) and the white ponzu only served to mask their flavor.  But, we soon forgot the letdown once the beef tartare came along, a truly lovely dish.  Curls of paper thin kohlrabi and a generous smattering of herbs were laid over a small dice of deep-burgundy colored beef, tossed with crisped grains of rice and the pungent, umami-heavy oyster-ramp aioli.  I could have eaten just this, and I would have been in heaven.  It was full of flavor, the textures were complimentary and playful, the seasoning was perfect, everything was in balance.  The black cod "toast" arrived next, another winner.  Large pieces of lightly seared, succulent cod were placed over thin rectangles of toasted house-made bread.   Tender fava beans, earthy maitake mushrooms, and piquant turnips were scattered across the top; the pool of smoky, buttery, citrusy sauce soaked into the toasts and brought it all home.  This was a great dish, but this is where the excitement ended.

The flat noodle "stir fry" was more redolent of an Italian dish than the Asian-influence suggested by the menu.  (I'm not sure they know how to use air quotes.)  The noodles were a wide-cut fresh pasta and rested on the plate in a tangled lump.  The lamb was seasoned nicely, but so meager in proportion it was hard to get a proper taste, and the garnish of cucumber spears, sharp with vinegar, were a distraction.  This dish had potential, but it wasn't executed very well.  Finally, the swordfish; this was the most disappointing for me.  The swordfish was a thin, bordering on overcooked.  The pistachio "crema" (there are those air quotes again) at the base of the plate had little to no discernible pistachio flavor.  The "fennel-blood orange relish" (please note the proper use of air quotes, here) was actually just slices of fennel and blood orange, and the flowering kale was little more than pretty.  That's all this dish was - pretty.  And that's if you like deliberately plated food, where the plate is the blank canvas, the food is the artist's medium, and tweezers are involved.  I'm being overly dramatic; maybe they didn't use tweezers.

Dessert could turn this all around, right?  Well, no.  Dessert is not part of the deal, it's an additional charge.   But I was looking to end the meal on a positive note, so I pushed for it. There were three choices offered, and none really grabbed us, so we asked the server to choose for us.  He wouldn't tell us which he'd picked, but when he set forks on the table, it became clear, we were not getting either of the ice cream desserts.  Because who (willingly) eats ice cream with a fork?  No one, ever, and that's a fact.  Nevertheless, our dessert was sad and disappointing: cooked until just soft rhubarb with rock hard crumbles of cornmeal cookie and the tiniest dollop of fresh whipped cream.  In an effort to let the rhubarb sing, they forgot to add (enough) sugar; it was entirely too tart.  The crumble served as an example of why people don't like cornmeal (and I am not one of those people); it was like eating gravel.  Sadly, the best part was the thimbleful of cream.


I don't know that we'd go back.  It was a lovely restaurant with an interesting concept, but only half of what we ate was worth raving about and the total bill was outrageous.  I'm still not sure how everything added up to be so expensive, but it did.  We are happy to pay (very well) for good food, but this just wasn't that good, and we left pretty disappointed.

The Cavalier

photo -Yelp, YueStudio Y.

The Cavalier, Snack, SOMA

J&Guest:

Corned Beef Scotch Egg, spring greens and chive creme fraiche

Thrice Cooked Fries, horseradish aioli

Cocktails:

Pimm's Cup, City of London Gin, Pimm's No. 1, ginger beer, cucumber, lemon, mint

The Treasure Hunt, Sipsmith Gin, Cocchi Americano, Tempus Fugit Cacao, lavendar bitters

Dark and Stormy, dark rum, ginger beer, lime juice

Notes:

My friend and I shopped the day away in Union Square and ended up at The Cavalier, being one of the few places around that was serving food at 4pm.  By the time Patrick joined us, we had already eaten a few bites, so he had a only cocktail.  Ordinarily, I wouldn't write about a place that Patrick and I didn't visit together, but I thought this worth mentioning since it's a question in my mind whether we would come back.

This place is on our list, with an upscale take on British pub food.  It's yet another restaurant in the Marlowe family, and I have a thing for these restaurants, the idea of them, at least.

My friend and I sat at the bar, and were eventually approached by "the aloof bartender", you know the type.  We ordered a couple of cocktails; nicely made, but it took longer than I think it should, a complaint I have in general with the "craft" cocktail.  For snacks, we opted for the Scotch egg and thrice-cooked fries.  The egg, a single egg, enveloped with a thin coat of finely shredded corned beef and deep fried, was served nestled in heavy sauce flecked with mustard seed and garnished with a few micro arugula leaves on the side.  The breading on the outside was paper thin, and evenly golden brown; when we cut into it, the white appeared tender and the yolk, perfectly runny.  It was a beauty, but it was nearly cold.  This masterpiece, this $15 egg, was cold, the sauce was oddly textured and unappealing (and definitely not the "chive creme fraiche" listed on the menu), and the little leaves of arugula were sharp with vinegar .  If I'm paying $15 dollars for AN EGG, it better be mother-loving perfect.  And it wasn't.

The fries were pretty awesome, though a paltry serving.  They forgot the horseradish aioli, and by the time I realized it, there was no bartender in sight to fix the problem.  And had I waited until there were, I would have had cold fries.  So I begrudgingly ate the delicious fries without the (delicious, I'm sure) horseradish aioli.

Soon after, Patrick joined us and ordered a dark and stormy from a different, slightly more amiable bartender.  The drink was terrible - entirely too much rum and not nearly enough of the ginger or lime - it was bitter and boozy.


So, after all of that, I'm not sure we want to come back here.  I'm not sure I want to give this place (and the food) another try based on my first experience.  If the prices weren't so outrageous, I might not be so...outraged.  But seriously, how could I not be?

Liholiho Yacht Club

Photo by Connor Bruce

Liholiho Yacht Club, Dinner, Lower Nob Hill
May 6, 2016

P&J:
fried oyster, beef carpaccio, 1000 island, butter lettuce
duck liver toast, jalapeno, pickled pineapple
marinated squid, crispy tripe, cabbage, peanuts
hopper shrimp, miso avocado, walnuts, kumquat
roasted octopus, curried raisins, castelvetrano, butterball potatoes, fresh coriander
asparagus in parchment, bone marrow bearnaise, brioche
grilled shortrib, escargot, bone marrow, mushrooms, leeks, fresh horseradish
butter mochi

Cocktails:
Castaway - Hidalgo Manzanilla, Green Chartreuse, Salted Falernum
Coconut Telegraph - Banks 5 Island Rum, Coconut Syrup, lime
Yacht Club Fancy - Plantation Pineapple Rum, Amaro Nonino, Hidalgo Manzanilla


Notes:
This place is out of control popular right now.  It's practically impossible to get a reservation before 10 pm, even on a week night, and when I called to ask how long the wait would be without a reservation, I was told 2-3 hours.  I'm sorry, what?  But we went anyway, with a 10 pm reservation on a Wednesday night; I've been dying to try the place.

The food here is influenced and inspired by Hawaiian, Indian and Chinese foods and flavors, and yes, they even have Spam (relax, Patrick, it's house made).  The restaurant, with its soaring ceilings and varying colors and textures, feels full of energy and warmth; next time, we'll try to grab a table next to the open kitchen.

Liholiho has one of those menus that I find overwhelming, in that I want one of everything.  But, with a party of 3 (a friend joined us), we were able to try a good deal of the menu, so crisis averted (MORE!!).  We started with the "fried oyster, beef carpaccio, 1000 island, butter lettuce" - this read like a salad to me, but it arrived as 3 crisp butter lettuce cups each filled with a cornmeal-fried oyster, a generous dab of 1000 island, and a thin slice of beef carpaccio (raw beef, essentially).  It was delicious, but the beef got lost in the mix, and we felt like this would have been just as good without it.  The duck liver toast was a bit of a misnomer.  The slightly sweet, soft and thick-cut oatmeal bread was barely toasted and layered with a rich and smooth duck liver pate, tangy pickled pineapple relish and fresh herbs.  I was first disappointed by the toast not being toast, but the flavors and soft textures were so good together, I had no trouble finishing the last bite.

The marinated squid dish, a salad really, had a discernibly strong Southeast Asian influence, it seemed a take on the Burmese ginger salad.  Crispy shredded cabbage, crunchy little bits of fried tripe, squid, peanuts, fish sauce, lime - it was packed with flavor yet incredibly light and refreshing, the kind of thing I'd love to eat on the regular.  Next was the hopper (aka pink) shrimp with miso avocado.  The shrimp were beautifully cooked, plump and succulent, the kumquats were nicely candied, the avocado perfectly ripe, but the individual components didn't come together for me on this one; I couldn't find the harmony.  The roasted octopus course resulted in a split decision at the table.  Patrick and friend did not find the curried raisins and castelvetrano olives necessary or even agreeable, and it more or less ruined this dish for them.  I was loving it.  Super tender octopus and crispy, craggy smashed and fried new potatoes sat atop a generous swath of cilantro-heavy mayo.   I didn't at all find the olives or raisins to be an unwelcome distraction, but instead little briny and sweet-tart accents to and otherwise rich dish.

The asparagus in parchment was nice, even with no discernible flavor of bone marrow in the bearnaise.  A wedge of lemon was served alongside, and the dish perked up considerably with it's juice, which left us wondering why it hadn't been incorporated into the sauce by the kitchen.  And because you can never have too much marrow, we ordered the grilled shortrib.  This dish didn't wow for me.  The beef approached medium, overcooked in my view.  The escargots were nestled in the marrow bone and topped with toasted breadcrumbs, overall a little over-the-top rich.  The sauce was delicious but thin and with no bread to mop it up, it laid to waste on the plate.  My general tendency is to avoid entrees on menus these days, and this dish just reinforced that inclination.

Now, the butter mochi.  Nobody really wanted dessert, we were all done if you catch my drift, but I HAD to have the butter mochi.  I'm not really sure why, but I HAD to have it.  It arrived in a little square pyrex dish and looked something like a custard, but it cut like a firm flan (okay, yeah, that's also a custard).  It was amazing, people.  It was both chewy mochi (think soft gummy bear texture with a sweet rice flavor) and buttery soft custard, AT THE SAME TIME.  Amazing.  I loved it.  I asked to take it home, but forgot the little box and was inconsolable once I realized my mistake.  Inconsolable.  Seriously, it wasn't at all rational and I'm a little ashamed of it.


I'd like to go back to Liholiho.  I'm not sure Patrick was as enamored as I was, but if nothing else, I need more of that butter mochi.

The Corner Store

Photo by Patrick

The Corner Store, Brunch, Lone Mountain
May 1, 2016

P:
Classic Benny
Cheddar Grits
Fresh OJ

J:
Cambridge House Smoked Salmon - potato pancake, tartar sauce, red onion, poached egg
Sophia Loren (cocktail) - Espolon tequila, Campari, grapefruit, lime, agave, ginger beer


Notes:
The Corner Store is a cute little spot that opened up a few years ago; we've been there a handful of times, and only for brunch, if I'm not mistaken.  It's usually pretty busy on the weekends, but we happened in late that day, so the place was quiet.  We sat in the tented patio area on that beautiful, sunny, not-too-cold San Francisco afternoon, and it was one of those moments you wish could last forever.

Patrick's biggest complaint about this place is that they over complicate things; he thinks the food is good, but he often finds himself wishing there was 1 less ingredient in every dish.  This time he went with the Classic Benny: toasted English muffin served open faced and topped with ham, poached eggs and hollandaise.  The hollandaise looked a little thin and the eggs were maybe a touch overcooked, which meant more of a jelly-like yolk than an oozy one, but it was a satisfying, uncomplicated dish.  Served on the side were new potatoes that had been lightly crushed before pan-frying, resulting in home fries with a thick, craggy, golden brown crust - damn good and hard to resist - perhaps it's a good thing the portion wasn't generous.  Sadly, the cheddar grits were a bit of a disappointment.  They were very good, cooked to the proper texture and consistency, rich with the savor of a hearty chicken broth, but no cheddar cheese flavor to speak of, and that is what got me excited about them in the first place.  Ahem, CHEDDAR grits.  Sigh.

Now, I love their Cambridge House smoked salmon dish, and may never need or want to order anything else here.  It's a well-composed mix of flavors, textures, and temperatures.  The flat, shredded potato pancake is a little oily and not crispy but for a bit of the edges, but if you've been keeping up with me, you know I don't discriminate much when it comes to the potato.  Draped over the warm pancake are thin slices of buttery, textured, lightly smoked salmon that just melts in your mouth.  A pile of peppery arugula sits over the salmon; the dressing on the arugula smacks more of herbed creme fraiche than it does tartar sauce, and that's not a complaint, but an improvement.  And when you cut into that poached egg nestled on top of everything, and warm egg yolk oozes everywhere, it becomes this mess of loveliness.  Everything in this dish just works for me.


We like this place.  I have a particular fondness for places with (somewhat, in this case) outdoor seating.  It's hard to say if we'll ever give dinner a shot, but at the very least well come back for brunch.  Preferably on one of those beautiful San Francisco spring days.