Fifth Floor was very nice.

Recipient of one Michelin Star, Fifth Floor restaurant is located in the historic Hotel Palomar in downtown San Francisco. The restaurant has a really nice and cozy lounge feel. For a fine dining place, the restaurant gives a surprisingly relaxed vibe. The chairs are low, leather lounge chairs that invite you to just sit and relax. The art deco decor is contemporary yet warm.

The Sommelier recommended a really nice Pinor Noir, Byron Vineyard from  San Ynez Valley region. It has the nice balance with fruit forward quality that I enjoy in Pinot Noirs. The tasting menu is the chef’s selection of 5 courses that can also be ordered a la carte. One of the standouts that evening was the amazing heirloom tomato with sweet watermelon salad. The combination is mouth-watering refreshing and the balance between the sweet acidity taste of the heirloom tomato and the sugary sweetness of the watermelon is wonderful. This was my favorite dish next to the tea-smoked duck. Perfectly cooked with a very nice and tender texture. The Zen Salad was also interesting. The fresh vegetables were individually positioned on the plate as if the chef was giving each of them a chance to shine, yet allowing them to work wonderfully together.  

The amuse bouche was a single shrimp half cooked and smothered in Asian spices with hints of curry and pepper. It was nice.

The foie gras and the lamb were mediocre, but the other dishes were enough to create a nice and memorable experience.

Worth visiting.

www.fifthfloorrestaurant.com

Charming Flea Street Cafe in Menlo Park

No pictures available – sorry. It was a last minute decision to give this a try. Charming restaurant located on Alameda de Las Pulgas in Menlo Park where each section is like a room in a house. Very fresh ingredients and their short rib was absolutely amazing. Definitely worth trying!

http://www.cooleatz.com/flea-st-cafe/index.html

Las Vegas Dining Experience: Cut, Aureole and Bouchon

Please forgive the short entries as life has become more and more hectic.

Aureole in Mandalay Bay Resort is known for its 1 Michelin Star dining experience and the 42-foot-tall glass-enclosed “wine tower” filled with Lucite wine bins and thousands of bottles of wine. It is a quite a site as you spiral around the tower on your way down to the restaurant. The restaurant is beautiful and the food was good, but wasn’t great. We expected more but walked away with a less than memorable experience.

CUT in the Palazzo, on the other hand, was absolutely delicious! It is the second location for Wolfgang Puck’s Beverly Hills steakhouse of the same name in the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel. I love the ultra-modern decor even though it doesn’t feel like a steakhouse. The steak was cooked to a perfectly seasoned medium-rare and we ordered a wild mushroom medly with shishito peppers that was absolutely and innovatively delicious. Our dessert was a very interesting new twist to a classic fruit cobbler. It was so refreshing and delicious with the balance of the strawberries and raspberries paired with the crumbling cookies. Absolutely amazing!

Bouchon in the Venetian surprised me this time with the best chocolate croissant I’ve ever had. Crumbling and flaky crusts and real dark chocolate on the inside. Fabulous! They also make the most crispy bacon – just the way I like it. Yum!

Sorry for the lack of pictures. It was difficult to use flash as we didn’t want to disturb someone else’s dining experience and sometimes we forget to take them because we’re eager to taste the food.

Aureole  http://www.aureolelv.com/

Cut http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/fine-dining/3801′

Bouchon http://www.bouchonbistro.com/

Kaygetsu in Palo Alto was absolutely delicious!

Kaygetsu is located in a strip mall on Sand Hill in Palo Alto near 280 which is surprising as I wouldn’t normally expect a great restaurant in such locations. It is unpretentious located and the decor is very simple, but the Kaiseki style is anything but. Kaiseki has its origin in tea ceremony, but has evolved in the 19th century as restaurants in Japan began to serve this sytle in a less formal way. According to Kaygetsu, it “is designed to delight the mind and the spirit as well as to satisfy the appetite”.

Here’s the 9 course menu:

Sakizuke (starter): red-bell pepper “tofu” with sea urchin, avocado, chive, dashi sauce and wasabi.

Sashimi: we had Alaskan wild salmon and other fresh daily assortments.

Takiawase (slow-cooked dish): shrimp, jpaanese eggplant, snow peas, sato imo potato cooked in clear fish broth with bonito flakdes and rated ginger and kinome.

Hassun (assortment of flavors): soft-shell crab with spaghetti squash, anago (sea eel) roll with burdock, cucumber with kinzanji miso sauce, lotus root stuffed with mustard, seasonal fish,  miso marianted and grilled seared kampachi (amberjack) sushi

Agemono (deep fried fish): bamboo shoot and kobe beef (American), yuba (tofu ski), hajikami giner, shiso leaf

Yakimono (grilled dish): organic petaluma chicken roll with minced fish, corn and carrot, endive and orange salade, truffle oil dressing

Gohan mono (rice dish): rick cooked with vegetables, dark red miso soup, house picked vegetables

House-made original desserts: black sesame kudzu mochi, green tea/banana roll cake

http://www.kaygetsu.com/

Spruce was good, not great

Located on a charming street in Presidio Heights, Spruce is a beautifully decorated restaurant with a contemporary look and feel. At dinner, our friend told us that this restaurant used to be a car repair shop. Unbelievable as it definitely been transformed into an elegant and non-pretentious space. Voted by Forbes as one of the top 50 new restaurants in 2008, we were all trying this place for the first time. It is contemporary American cuisine serving locally and organically grown produce.

Overall, the service and ambience were great. We all especially enjoyed the servers’ simultaneous and rhythmic placing  of our dishes in front of us. It was quite a treat. For appetizers, we shared a charcuterie plate which is always a nice starter, ravioli with sweet corn which was pretty good and the potatolings cooked in duck meat fat which was the absolute best. I ordered a braised short rib which was decent, but  overcooked. It did however had an interesting pairing with peach wedges. It was a really nice complement to the short ribs. Our friend Danny had the duck breast with grilled foie gras. The fois gras was absolutely delicious: crunchy skin and tender inside that just melts in your mouth. My husband ordered seared tuna with wild mushrooms which he said was uneventful, but is always a safe dish. I thought the wild mushrooms were really good. Overall, Spruce was good, but not great.

http://www.sprucesf.com/

Napa Rose is a gem in downtown Disneyland

 

One of my top 5 favorite restaurants in the United States, Napa Rose was a surprisingly wonderful experience when we were first introduced to it a year ago. All I can remember was the most fabulous, juicy and tender short ribs I’ve ever had and the variety of delicious bread they serve. So during this Disneyland trip, we definitely wanted to go back to Napa Rose, located inside the Grand Californian Hotel. Executive Chef, Andrew Sutton came from Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley to create a Californian cuisine with French and Asian flair. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with earth-tone woods, 20-foot-high vaulted ceilings and an impressive wine cellar. It’s floor to ceiling windows provide you with a serene garden view that’s both tranquil and beautiful.

The basket of different kinds of bread started off the dinner on the right note. I wish I could eat all the bread and still have room for dinner. It was that good. Our server recommended a wonderful Pinot Noir from Ambullneo Vineyards of which only 4,800 bottles were produced. I asked for a glass of which he filled and with a little less than another glassful left in the bottle, he volunteerily left the remaining for my enjoyment. That was a really wonderful and sweet gesture. 

We shared an ahi tuna tartare dish as appetizer that had a nice contrasting taste of creamy sauce with mango, green salad and seaweed; somehow all of these unique tastes came together wonderfully. For my entree, I ordered an Osso Bucco dish. I honestly am not crazy about Osso Bucco at all, but the description was so yummy and the server highly recommended it, saying that they marinated the Osso Bucco days ahead and assuring me the meat will smell and taste great and that it will fall off the bone easily. I think it speaks volume when a chef can prepare a dish that completely changes someone’s dislike for that dish into loving it. I loved it! I wish I could finish it, but as you can see from the picture, it was a generous portion. Luckily, my husband was kind enough to finish the rest for me along with his nut encrusted halibut which he said was one of the best halibut he’s ever had.

Dessert was a trio of house-made sorbetto and fresh raspberries. It was so good that we dived right into it and forgot to take a picture until we were done. So if you’re interested in finding out, I guess you’ll just need to go to Napa Rose!

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/hotels/dining/detail?name=NapaRoseDiningPage

Coi Restaurant – Creative inspiration on a meticulous canvas

Six San Franciscan gourmands shared an evening together dining in the private room of Coi Restaurant (pronounced Kwa), a contemporary, serene, and sophisticated oasis in a pool of the conspicuous neon-lit strip clubs on Broadway. 

Daniel Patterson, the self-taught chef, prepared a complex assortment of dishes using dozens of locally sourced ingredients to meticulously prepare his menu inspired by French, Japanese and molecular techniques.  Each of the 12+ dishes was an intellectual journey, with all the senses at play.  This was a special dinner not to be taken lightly.

 

The wine list was impressive.  350 wines selected from around the world, with a focus on France and California.  The list was eclectic and refined to accompany Patterson’s mastery.

 

The gastronomic evening began with a few dishes in which texture and scent were the main force.  We started with an amuse bouche of cold gelatin of milk with a tiny flower garnish.  Then, a solitary white globe arrived in an exquisite small ceramic bowl; the cold mousse-like creation was filled with pink grapefruit infused with ginger, tarragon, and black pepper. We were told to dab the perfume of grapefruit oil on our wrists as an accompaniment to the dish, (I kid you not).  The next dish was three small slices of sculpted beets of different colors perfumed with citrus oil and vadouvan, an exotic blend of Indian spices.  Fun and experimental, I was happy to try a few cold small dishes that kick-started the critiquing around the table.

 

The dinner progressed with a simple salad of chicories and a “sheet” of olive and cheese tart.  Next came the “Winter into Spring”, first of the season asparagus topped with shaved buttermilk ice, while others ordered the parsnip and green onion soup filled with local snails, pardon chile flakes, and radishes.  I particularly liked the sturgeon poached in smoked oil with a transparent small slice of pig’s head, decorated with caviar on a small bed of crushed potatoes infused with nasturtium.  The “Black and White Shellfish Porridge” of abalone, mussel, clam and broccoli di ciccio, and “Slow Cooked Farm Egg” on roasted farro, erbette chard in a brown butter parmesan sauce represented the true essence of the ingredients selected.

 

What is that I tasted in the dish named “Earth and Sea” (too sophisticated to be simply called Surf and Turf), the steam tofu mousseline, yuba, fresh seaweeds, mushroom dashi?  Is that UMAMI I sense in the French-influenced mousseline and in the Japanese-inspired dashi?  The savory course ended with Prather Ranch beef loin, a fine cut of pasture beef accompanied with a traditional French-style reduction sauce. 

 

A simple yet refined presentation of Andante’s Trio cheese arrived with some micro-greens.  The mignardises were placed on the table.  And the dessert course began.  First, a plate of blood orange curd, Douglas fir ice cream (yes, pine flavor) and walnut crumble.  Then, we partake in the richer course of chocolate mesquite cake and squash sherbet.  We were sipping our Sauternes, sharing our thoughts at what we believed to be the end of the meal, and just then, like in the final scenes of The Return of the King, to our delight, the meal continued on.  Exquisite, delicious truffles covered with a crumbly coating were devoured.  We dared to ask for another plate.  Before finishing the truffles, and a cup of warm vanilla crème anglaise drizzled with olive oil was served as the final dish of the evening.

 

No doubt, the chef is a perfectionist.  Each dish was carefully crafted – the marriage of colors, the creation of contrasting textures, the balance of flavors, and the selection of each ceramic and porcelain plate – a canvas for a chef with a poetic and artistic vision.

 

The evening was special, most of all because a group of thoughtful and opinionated foodies shared an experimental multi-course meal together.  The secret to enjoying the meal at Coi is to enter with an open mind, and to simply enjoy the unique experience that arrives with every course.

Shokolaat is chocolaticious!

My friend has recommended Shokolaat to me for awhile and I’ve driven past it on so many occasions while dining in Palo Alto. Finally, I was able to convince Alvin that we should go try it. It was a good decision. The restaurant has a big outdoor seating in the front but we opted to sit inside to stay warm. When you walk in, you’re faced with a bakery-like counter full of chocolate sweets and desserts. What a sight! We were seated in a corner table with a good view of the restaurant and open kitchen. I like the simple and nice contemporary decor. The menu looks delicious and I settled for the braised ribs while Alvin opted for their flank steak; hopefully leaving room for dessert. Both were tender and juicy. “We found a new place in Palo Alto”, we both exclaimed. For dessert, you can simply walk over the dessert counter and scout the endless plates of cakes and tarts and chocolates. I salivated over this crispy dark chocolate thingy while Alvin went for the hazelnut chocolate mousse. We’re told they’re famous for their chocolate souffles though so we’ll have to try that in the future. We’re super excited to now have another place to dine on a casual evening other than La Strada. Their restaurant menu is more comprehensive than online, but it gives you a good idea the type of food they prepare!

http://www.shokolaat.com/ on University Avenue in Palo Alto, CA

Nopa – Love the open floorplan more than the food

I love the self-proclaimed “urban rustic food” Nopa describes themselves as on their website. It just sounds cool even though I really don’t know what that means for the palate. A corner building on Divisadero and Hayes near the Panhandle, the entrance opens up to an open floorplan with very high ceiling and open kitchen. The place is cool with its rustic decor and wooden beams on the ceiling. The open floorplan makes this place very noisy, but I think that’s the charm of restaurant. So let’s go right into the wine. I ordered a glass of Pinot Gris and it was awfully bitter. I’ve had better Pinot Gris. About the food, this is what we ordered:

Warm marinated olives – YUM!

Oven roasted calamari – Not bad, nothing special

Flatbread with mushroom and sausage – this was quite good

Oven baked giant white beans – this was good too, but it’s only white beans…

French fries – very good because it’s crunchy and that’s the way I like it (though Bistro Elan’s fries are still the best!)

Steak – I can’t remember what kind. I didn’t try it but by the look of it, it seems to be a perfect medium rare.

Overall impression is that it was a good restaurant, but nothing special or spectacular. There are so many great restaurants in San Francisco to try that I’m not sure I would want to go back to Nopa anytime soon. I recommend trying other restaurants in the city.

http://www.nopasf.com

Bistro Elan is still one of my favorite.

Hidden in between tree plants is the narrow entrance into this charming French restaurant on California Avenue in Palo Alto. With an open kitchen, the restaurant is bustled with customers and waiters. We haven’t been back for over 9 months which is a really long time considering we used to go there at least once every two months. When you are seated, they always bring a very small plate of exactly one per person serving of cheese biscuit (yum!), salami and olives to start the evening. Bistro Elan always have fresh produce. Selections on their menu change relatively frequent, but there is always a few of our favorite entrees that thankfully, remains constant. Their steak is always perfectly textured. They used to offer skirt steak which I love, but they’ve stayed with either the hanger or flatiron steak for the past couple of years. They also have one of the best fries! Their appetizers and desserts are really good, but we’ve learned that ordering both is too much for us, so we would skip appetizers, sadly and save our tummy for desserts. This time, I ordered the chocolate souffle and sadly, was the least favorite of the many desserts I’ve had at Bistro Elan. Their coffee is always good and the service is always pleasant. Love this place…always good food.

I highly recommend making reservations for normal dining hours. Otherwise, expect to eat after 8 p.m.

http://www.bistroelan.com