I went to Cheesie’s, the new grilled cheese place at Belmont & Sheffield, for dinner before my evening activities (which Suzanne would feel is too geeky to make public on this blog) last Friday after work. I’d read about them earlier in the week and was eager to give them a try, seeing as I love a good grilled cheese sandwich.

The place is decorated warmly, with wainscoting, and bright orange walls above. It has a very startup feel: order & pay at the counter, stacks of napkins on tables. It felt like they had just opened the day before, which they had.

There are riffs on various classic paintings featuring grilled chsses sandwiches. I took a table next to one such spin on American Gothic.

You can get sodas and such at the front counter with your food. If you prefer beer, wine, or spirits you can get them separately at the bar at the back of the diningroom.

As I like spicy food, and I wanted to see how far they pushed on some of their edgier offerings, I went for the Jalapeño Popper (cheddar cheese, cream cheese, fresh jalapeño slices and bacon on sourdough bread) , sweet potato fries, and a Burning River from Great Lakes Brewery.

The sandwich was good. Gooey, creamy cheddar. Salty, yummy bacon. Fiery peppers. The bread was very nice. The thing that surprised me was that teh cream cheese was spread on the top of the sandwich … on the outside. This was, as I said, unexpected, and made the act of eating a bit more of a challenge. Nonetheless, it was very tasty and very satisfying. The fries accompanied it with style. They were fresh, and hot. It was a good meal and a decent value at under $10 plus a drink.

I have a feeling that a stop here on my way to gaming will become part of my Friday night routine.

I had a Chinese Food craving that had been going on for several days, and we had to go out to Best Buy anyway, so we decided to find a neighborhood Chinese restaurant.

We just went out wandering, choosing a direction we hadn’t explored before. A few blocks away we spied a neon sigh. “Sushi”? “Diner”? It seemed promising, so away we went.

What we found was a Chinese/Japanese restaurant: Dee’s

We started off with Vegetable Spring Rolls (Crispy filled with vegetables). These came served with a sweet sauce (which was vaguely reminiscent of pineapple, but had little merit otherwise) and a truly wonderful hot mustard that reminded me of wasabi. The rolls themselves were good, stuffed with vegies, with a crisp, hot wrapper.

Seeing as it’s winter in Chicago, meaning it was f&*king cold, we opted to have a soup as well. I was thinking of trying the hot & sour soup, but Suzanne noticed the Sizzling Rice Soup that came as a serving for 2. We opted for the seafood version with shrimp and scallops. This was hot and tasty. Perfect for a cold winter evening.

I’m a big fan of Chinese noodle dishes, to the point of being somewhat indifferent to rice. We got some Soft Noodles with beef (Stir-fried with vegetables in a brown sauce). Mmmm .. brown sauce. This was very tasty. The beef was tender. We were both surprised that the noodles were flat, as we had been expecting fat round noodles. In any case, it was good.

The final dish we had was Garlic Sauce (with Shrimp). We were somewhat amused by this section of the menu in that it was organized around the sauce, with various protein sources that could be added. Amused or not, I loved it. It was plenty garlicky, and the shrimp was nicely battered and cooked just right. Our server cautioned us that it was moderately spicy and asked if that was ok. In return we asked if we could have it very spicy. He was happy to oblige. What we got was loaded with chilies and just perfect. I’d order it again without hesitation.

Dee’s is pretty basic and certainly won’t win any stars. It’s Chinese food for midwesterners, but it’s hot, tasty, and well prepared. And it’s nearby. I expect we’ll be back on occasion.

We had a very cool dinner tonight. It was called “The ‘Wiches”, a Street Fixe event hosted by Heart. As the name implied it was all about sandwiches. It was essentially a sandwich tasting menu. And it was good.

We made reservations a while ago for the 6:00 sitting since the 8:30 was already sold out. We got there a bit early at about 5:50 and were seated pretty quickly. Seating was classic Heart style at communal tables, which can be both fun and not.

first

By Kitchenette

Willey Farm Beet, Cucumber & Persimmon Sandwich
with farmer’s cheese, shaved fennel, apple, walnut

Calling this a sandwich is a stretch: to me a sandwich is eaten by hand, generally surrounded or enveloped by some kind of bread. We discussed this while walking home. Is a wrap or burrito a sandwich (I say yes), what about a low carb burger wrapped in lettuce? (I’m on the fence on this) The thing about this was that the top and bottom layers (i.e. the bread) was a couple slices of cucumber. I hesitate to to call that a sandwich

Despite this, it was delicious. A lovely flavor combination.

second

By Soul Cocina

Sloppy Jose Poquitín with Soul Cocina Chorizo
house queso fresco, pickles, Rancho Gordo midnight beans

Living up to their name, these were pretty sloppy. Crisp, tart pickles, and salty crispy chips. Very tasty.

third

By Good Foods

Crispy Pork Belly Slider
pickled onions, spicy mayo

Mmmm … pork belly. A nice slice of pork belly, with onions, some greens and a bit of sauce. OMG tasty. The pork was perfect, crispy and rich.

fourth

By Toasty Melts

Duo of Melts
spicy cheddar with tomato, cotswold with cranberry

Oh ya, this is where it’s at. Grilled cheese sandwiches!

The cheddar was indeed spicy, it had a very nice kick. I wasn’t so crazy about the fresh tomato on it, however. I found them too juicy and felt that they make a bit of a mess of things. Some dried tomatoes would have provided lovely flavor without the mess. The cotswald and cranberry was over the top delicious. Nice cheese and a beautiful sweetness from the cranberries. Of the two, this was my favorite. The two complemented very well: spicy and sweet.

I will say one thing that may disgust some people: grilled cheese requires ketchup. That. Is. All.

fifth

By Sweet Constructions

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Sandwich
caramel ice cream, cinnamon-swirl snickerdoodle cookies

This was a great finisher to the meal. The ice cream was so yummy, and the caramel was brilliant. The cookies were really good as well. I didn’t think the combination was as good as the individual parts, though. The snickerdoodles were, I thought, too hard for the ice cream. To bite through the two layers of cookie, you end up squishing the ice cream too much. I think a softer cookie would have worked better.

To sum up

In all the meal was a delight. Little bits of a bunch of things, all very different. It was just about the right amount of food. The price was quite reasonable for the caliber of the meal. I can’t say that we’ll be back, as it was a one-off, but I’m glad we went. I’d encourage you all to look up the folks that made the food tonight and drop in on them when you can. I’d not hesitate to.

Our friend @Whore_Magazine tipped us off to Hog & Rocks, a new restaurant on 19th St (just off Mission). Their “thing” is ham and oysters. We went there for dinner recently with a serious fish and chip craving. Suzanne like oysters as well, so that was an added bonus.

The place is nice and looks like so many other trendy restaurants: open kitchen, high communal tables, lower tables to seat 2 and 4 at a time.

We went without reservations at about 5:30 on a Saturday evening. We were shown promptly to a table. Soon thereafter our server took our order for oysters, ham and a cocktail each. All this arrived fairly promptly and we gave our dinner order (and a beer for myself). The Newsom ham was very nice and Suzanne said that the oysters were as well, and had a couple rounds.

Our entrees arrived in a reasonable time. I went for the fish and chips, while Suzanne decided to try the Sea Scallops Crudo.

The fish and chips were ok. Just ok. The fish was tasty, and the chips were crisp. Everything was hot. I have a couple issues with the dish, however. It was served in a small bowl, with the piece of fish sitting on top of the chips. This made it problematic to cut the fish without mixing everything together.

The chips came with malt vinegar, as well they should. However there was no standard bottle that I’m familiar with (I’m from Canada):

Instead, there was a small dish of malt vinegar on the side. This meant that chips had to be dipped in it individually. Lame. You should be able to douse the chips liberally with vinegar and then chow down. Having the fish one top of the chips would complicate this.

To add insult to injury, there was no salt. No salt on the chips, and no salt on the table. Apparently I could have gotten some if I had asked, but as mentioned earlier, there was that great piece of fish overshadowing the chips, and thus making adding salt to the fries challenging.

Finally, it was good, but decidedly not a great, piece of fish. Also, I’d consider what I had to be a children’s size serving of fish and chips.

By now our cocktails were gone, and nobody seemed to be in a rush to refresh Suzanne’s or to bring me my beer. This kept up for some time. Far too long. In my opinion, the beer should have arrived when the fish & chips did, especially as I had ordered them together. When the beer did eventually arrive, it had no head. I can only assume that it had been sitting neglected for a while before being delivered to our table.

While the food was tasty, there wasn’t enough of it, and the service we experienced was worse than mediocre. Another gimicky and unsatisfying trendy restaurant. I doubt I’ll bother to go back.

Suzanne and I went to A16 the first time we went to The Exploratorium After Dark. That was in early February and I was new to dining in San Francisco. I asked Jean, the CEO’s EA where I was working at the time, to suggest a good restaurant in the Marina. The thing with Suzanne was new at that point in time and I was looking to impress. Jean was known to be a foodie and an explorer of the dining scene. She did not disappoint when she directed me to A16. We had a great meal.

Fast forward to early September. We were planning out monthly trip to the Exploratorium and thinking about places to eat. “What about going back to A16, we really liked it.” And so we did. It was one of the best meals we have had at a restaurant. Not just the food, but the entire experience.

We gave ourselves plenty of time to get from home in the Mission up to A16 (which is quite near the Exploratorium at the edge of the Presidio), as we often run a bit late. This time, however, we got there with plenty of time to spare. Instead of sitting around waiting for dinner service, we browsed a bit in a couple shops we’ve noticed but never gone into. Being foodies, these were the meat & olive oil shops near the corner of Chestnut and Divisadero: Marina Meats and We Olive, respectively.

We eventually arrived at A16, still with a few minutes to spare. After checking in with the maître d’ we took seats at the bar and ordered some WIne. A nice sparkling white for Suzanne and a Sardinian red for myself. Both were very pleasant. Or table was ready and we took our glasses and proceeded to be seated. We decided to continue with our wine choices, and I ordered a carafe of the red I was drinking. As Suzanne was drinking a sparkling she proceeded on a glass by glass basis, with me telling our waitress to “keep it from getting empty”.

I have to add that our waitress was superb. We both thought she was strikingly attractive, but beyond that she did an exemplary job. Knowledgable, and completely on top of the situation. One small thing that must be noted is that during our entrée (lamb, see below) Suzanne switched to drinking my red. She simply poured some into her glass from the carafe. Almost immediately, our waitress was there with the appropriate glass and deftly replaced the one Suzanne had had for her white wine.

We chose the daily special appetizer to start with: Roasted Padrón Peppers. OMG these were Good.

We had tried some pasta last time we were there, so this time we wanted to try A16′s pizza (although Suzanne thinks we had some pizza last time). Without discussion we agreed on the Funghi – (roasted mushrooms, smoked mozzarella, grana, garlic, oregano, wild arugula, olive oil). Very nice, and we had some the next day … just as good.

For an entrée, we decided on the special: lamb (description requested). I’m still developing a taste for lamb and was somewhat hesitant about the idea. But Suzanne was enthusiastic about it and I was impressed enough with A16 that I was confident it would be good, even if not to my liking. When the dish arrived, it contained two reasonably sized pieces of lamb (along with some wonderfully roasted eggplant). I opted for the smaller of the two pieces. A choice I later regretted. This was mouth watering delicious. Not very pungent & gamy at all. I savored every bite. Both pieces were bone-in and so we had a nice gift for our pooch at home the next day.

The lamb came with a side, and we chose the cannellini beans (with garlic and oregano). Very tasty, mashed but not pureed with a nice, course texture.

A16 is pricey, but the food is good and the service is excellent. Maybe not an everyday stop, but great for a special meal.

I’ve heard of Pizzeria Delfino for some time. We’ve often passed by on our way home from Delores Park. Suzanne has been there before, but I hadn’t yet. So one day recently, when I had a pizza craving around lunch, it seemed like the opportune time. It was a Thursday, about 1:30 so we figured we shouldn’t have much trouble getting a seat.

When we got there, there were people waiting outside. We got worried for a minute, but when we checked in we were asked if we’d like to sit at the bar. When we said that would be fine, we were shown to two seats at the end of the bar, at the back of the restaurant. It couldn’t have been more perfect, with two seats looking into the kitchen.

Oh, did I mention this place does pizza?

There were all kinds of homey little touches that we could see from our seats. The plethora of pizza boxes shown above. Various bowls of ingredients, such as this big bowl of mushrooms on the shelf between the bar & the kitchen.

You know how pizza places have peppers and grated parmesan in shakers? Those boring, functional, and ubiquitous things full of dried out grated cheese and chili flakes:

Pizzeria Delfino, however, does a classy take on this: Fresh shredded parmesan, fresh twigs of oregano, and nice course gound chilis.

So on to the meal. For wine, we got a bottle of Grillo from Moziese, Sicilia. Now, as a rule, I don’t like whites. But as with any rule, there are exceptions. This is one. Very enjoyable.

We started with “Crazy Melon” (w/chili, mint, extra virgin olive oil & feta). This was insanely good. Sweet melon, spicy chili, and mint. All bathed in a butterly, mild olive oil.

We decided to try two pizzas (we had leftovers later, they were great cold as well). The first was “Cherry Pie” (Marinated Cherry Tomatoes, Basil, Ricotta Salata). Lovely fresh cherry tomatoes, perfect time of year for it. The pie was light, with an over the top fresh tomato taste.

The second pie was a “Napoletana” (Tomato, anchovies, capers, hot peppers, olives and oregano). This is one of my favorite pizzas. I first had a Napoletana on a trip to Alghero (on Sardinia). The combinations of flavors is one I just love: earthy and robust. Similarly, I love puttenesca and arrabbiata.

I’m obviously quite taken with Pizzeria Delfino. I look forward to our next visit.

Suzanne and I went to a fragrance launch at Diptyque on Maiden Lane. We’d planned on finding dinner somewhere downtown or in SOMA afterward. So we wandered around for a while looking for a restaurant Suzanne had heard about and seen but hadn’t been. And we eventually did: Town Hall.

It’s a nice place. Good wine list, a handful of cocktails. The menu has a strong southern influence: cornmeal, okra, and lots of deepfrying.

We started out with cocktails, which were nice but not overly noteworthy.

The obigatory basket of bread was quite nice, though.

We selected a couple appetizers to kick off the meal.

First up was tuna tartare (cornmeal fried green tomatoes, garlic chips, Tabasco green onion vinaigrette). The tomatoes were nicely fried, the tuna was good, with a nice kick contributed by the tabasco.

We also had the crispy stuffed zucchini blossoms (spicy tomato sofrito, basil cream). Neither of us had had zucchini blossoms before, but we had been looking for a chance. And this was it, after checking that it was goat cheese free as I’m not a fan of the goat. We were both thought they were great.

Suzanne’s choice for an entrée was the Liberty farms duck confit (white corn, farro, blackberry jus). Suzanne loves the duck. I had a couple of samples and it was very tasty. I find Duck delicious but generally a bit too rich for me. With the corn and farro, the dish fit together very nicely.

One thing I love about Southern cooking is blackening. Also, I’m a big fan of salmon, so it was only natural that I opted for the blackened Atlantic salmon (white corn maque choux, okra, red wine sauce)

We both like okra, so I ordered a side of crispy okra (cilantro Tabasco aioli). Crispy batter, gummy okra goodness inside. Really nice aioli.

As a final touch, this is how the bill came: tucked inside a book.

All in all, we were impressed. Not cheap, but good.

As is the case with many restaurants in the Mission, I’ve known about Garcon! for a while and have never gotten around to going. More’s the shame since it’s a short walk from home. I was on a date one night having some drinks down the street from Garçon! when the chef and bartender came in after closing up for the night. The girl I was with knew them (being a regular both at this particular bar and the restaurant, her office being between the two) and introduced us. I love chatting with chefs and other folks in the food industry. Now I was determined to eat there, and it just so happened that I was looking for a place to take a good friend from out of town the following Saturday.

So we had dinner there, and I enjoyed it so much that I suggested it the next week as a spot for dinner with Suzanne and a couple friends that publish Whore! Magazine (who I shall refer to using their twitter names). Also, I was so engaged with catching up that I forgot to continue taking pictures after my appetizer. This then is the result of two dinners at Garçon!

On my first visit, I had the special of the day appetizer: grilled calimari panzenella. Both the squid and bread were grilled very nicely. The reassembly of a squid tube and tentacles on top of the salad was a crowning touch. I had gone on to have the pan roasted salmon for my main course, which I enjoyed very much.

Our table of four (on to the second visit now) had a total of three appetizers as two of us made the same selection.

Suzanne went with braised lamb , mint gnocchi, english peas, pearl onion, lemon confit, natural jus. She commented later that this was rather heavy for an appetizer, and that the lamb was slightly dry.

@Whore_Magazine had caramelized veal sweetbreads, potato puree, caper, lemon, grilled endive, beurre noisette. I’m no real sweatbread fan, but he seemed to enjoy them. I will say that the presentation was great.

Both @Princess_Whore and I had grilled albacore tuna nicoise, braised fingerlings, olive, haricot vert, egg, lemon aioli. Big juicy chunks of tuna, fresh greens, crisp beans, and very tasty aioli.

@Princess_Whore was meeting friends for pizza later in the evening so limited herself to the nicoise. Suzanne chose a halibut dish on a bed of quinoa topped with cucumber and a meyer lemon sauce. Once again she found the fish to be on the dry side, which I concur with based on the sample I had of it.

@Whore_Magazine and I had the steak frites. This was reasonably good, but nothing exceptional. I’ve had better steak elsewhere, and fries are … well … fries. Truffle butter on the steak was a nice touch, though.

So overall, the first meal I had at Garçon! was far more impressive that the second. For the price I’m confident we could do better.

I first learned of Thermidor back in June from Eater SF. It’s been in the back of my mind to go since then, and our planned shopping trip to use up our Gap Groupons offered a perfect opportunity.

Thermidor is located on Mint Plaza and has an outside eating area. Since it was a lovely day we decided to take advantage of it.

Thermidor boasts a mid-century modern inspired decor and menu. There are classics like Scallops Newburg and Lobster Thermidor, and cocktails that riff on the Harvey Wallbanger and Mint Julep. And that is exactly what we decided to start out lunch with: a Mint Smash (Buffalo trace bourbon, strawberry, mint, crushed ice – $9 each).

Suzanne decided to go with the Lobster Roll (maine lobster, drawn butter, housemade brioche roll, pickled tokyo turnips – $17). Although it was tasty, it wasn’t overly satisfying compared to the last lobster roll she had, at Nettie’s Crab Shack in the Marina.

Contrast that with the roll from Nettie’s (Granted, the roll form Netties cost about twice as much at $35):

After my experience at Tryptych I was keen on seeing what Thermidor could do for a club sandwich (roast turkey, heirloom tomato, bacon, lettuce, house mayo – $13). My beef with Triptych was that they sold a club sandwich made with two slices of toast. Wikipedia describes a club as “a sandwich with two layers of fillings between 3 slices of bread.” Well, Thermidor didn’t do much better. In additional to not being a club, it had way too much turkey on it.

So, Thermidor was cool and the food was decent. It wasn’t stellar though. Frankly it was a little disappointing for the price, but just. I’m curious as to what their dinner service is like. Hopefully it’s better than lunch.

“Wait,” you say, “brunch at an Indian place?”

That was my first thought, as well, when Suzanne suggested brunch at Dosa. Her main motivation was one of their dishes (Pani Puri) that is only available at dinner on Mondays and at weekend brunch. She’d had this when she previously ate at Dosa and was eager to repeat the experience. She talked it up so much that I just had to try it for myself. And so we found ourselves there for brunch one recent Sunday.

Being brunch, we started out with a cocktail. Suzanne loves mimosas and Dosa has both orange and mango. As orange is run of the mill, she went with the mango: (Poema Cava Brut sparkling wine & fresh juice). I had a Sinful Crush (Lillet with a splash of lime & freshly crushed mint & ginger) which was very minty. Yummy.

We decided to make a meal of snacky finger food. We started with Dahi Vada (Lentil dumplings, topped with cool Strauss organic yogurt, piped with tamarind & mint, mildly spiced). Tasty and very pretty.

Then it was time for the Pani Puri (Small hollow, crispy breads to be filled with spicy-sour mint & tamarind water, chickpeas, mung & potato). This was everything Suzanne said it was. Break a hole in one, fill it with beans or potatoes, add sauces then pop it in your mouth and prepare for a flavor explosion. We almost forgot to take a picture. Here’s one ready to be consumed.

The final dish was an assortment of Uttapam, served with fresh coconut & tomato chutneys and sambar. Uttapam are like a slightly thicker, pancake-style variation of the Dosa, topped all manner of savory things.

So, Indian food for brunch. You bet. It was different, but it was good. I do love good Indian food, and Dosa did not disappoint.