Monthly Archive for January, 2009

Lagunitas Brown Shugga Ale

Published on January 29, 2009 in Beer, Condiments, Drinks and Ingredients. 3 Comments Tags: , , , .

 

Every time I walk through Andronico’s, I stop at the beer aisle and stare.  Brown Sugar Ale?  It always caught my eye, and finally my date said “let’s just give it a try”.  I wasn’t going to argue. We barbecued some vegetables and buffalo and topped them both with Bone Suckin’ Sauce (make sure you buy the HOT). The hidden caramel notes of the barbeque sauce and the Lagunitas Brown Shugga’ Ale paired perfectly.  If you have an Andronico’s near by, go get some fresh produce, buffalo, bbq sauce, and Lagunitas, you won’t be disappointed.  

Info:

  • 9.90% ABV
  • Smaller head, spotted lace
  • Medium Amber in color
  • Smells like: Brown sugar (obviously), cinnamon, just all around sweetness
  • Tastes like: Extremely flavorful, a bit of citrus came and went with hoppy and burnt caramel with the aftertaste of molasses
  • Full bodied
  • Velvety and thick finish almost syrupy
  • Limited Release
  • Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, California
  • www.lagunitas.com
  • Grade: A-
Being that the ABV is a bit high, and the smooth beer is so easy to drink…if you look below, my little date couldn’t handle this cervesa.
     

Frjtz Valencia

Published on January 23, 2009 in Adventures, Beer and Drinks. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

I drive passed Frjtz all the time, and for a french fry lover, it’s pathetic that I JUST went a few days ago.  So the concept is french fries, mussels and Belgian beer.  The menu also has crepes and a few salads and sandwiches.  I just went for the fries and the large assortment of dips.  I’m all about dips, so we chose the monthly special, Morrocan Saffron Aoli, Curry Ketchup, Thai Chili Ketchup, and Parmesan Peppercorn Ranch.  Curry Ketchup was amazing, so was the ranch, obviously.  I was really disappointed with the special dip, I got zero saffron and I couldn’t find anything Moroccan about it.  We ordered small regular fries and small white truffle oil fries. Truffle always wins in my book.  To drink we had Gulden Draak.  It’s a Belgian Strong Dark Ale with a 10.50% ABV.  The aroma was fruity, I got some apple and all around sweetness.  Tasted malty, sweet, and very rich.  Great full-bodied beer, we just weren’t in the mood for it with the french fries.  Pretty cool place, watch out if you have a buzz, bright colors start changing under your seats… definitely caught me off guard.

     

 

590 Valencia St
(between 16th St & 17th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110

(415) 863-8272

Blue Bottle Cafe

Published on January 22, 2009 in Adventures, Drinks and Other. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

My date and I stopped in for a quick breakfast the other morning at the famous San Francisco cafe, Blue Bottle.  They are known for their Artisanal Micro-roasting.  I found out about Blue Bottle from a New York Times article raving about their 20,000 dollar Japanese Siphon bar.  It is a halogen powered coffee pot, that you must see in person to believe.  Blue bottle uses only certified organic coffees from all over the world.  For a “regular” cup of coffee, they don’t just pour a pot that has been sitting on a burner for god knows how long, or pull a tab from a large coffee machine, they use the filter drip method.  On the website you can read about the process of the filter drip, along with french press and mokka pot (stove top espresso).

Now for the food, we split Judy’s farm poached eggs atop thick toast and whipped butter.  It really was perfect.  There was the same dish with some prosciutto, but we weren’t in the mood.  For only 9.50, we started the day off utterly satisfied.  

     

66 Mint St
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 495-3394

Weekdays 7am-7pm; Sat 8am-8pm; Sun 8am-4pm

Swan Oyster Depot

Published on January 18, 2009 in Adventures. 1 Comment Tags: , , .


I came to Swan Oyster Depot at least six times before I could get one of seventeen stools at the bar.  When I finally realized I had to go at an off hour, about thirty minutes before closing, my date and I practically had the place to ourselves.  This 2000 James Beard award winner, for “America’s Classics”, is brilliant.  For me it felt like a shack on the beach at the Jersey Shore.  I’m not sure if it was the hustle of the guys behind the counter, singing classic rock while shucking my oysters, or the neighborhood feel and smell of fresh seafood and ocean, regardless it felt like home to me.  

The turn over is ridiculous, as it should be with the limited seating.  The menu, as shown above is staring at you in the face, so order quick!  On the right of the menu is the daily selection of oysters available.  I got a sample of each, but my favorite were the only natives from Washington, Olympia. They were so tiny, but damn, the flavor was BIG.  I had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, which was one of at least six or seven white wines in a bucket of ice.  They only had one bottle of red and a few good beers to choose from.  In front of every two or three seats there was a giant stack of napkins, big bottle of tabasco sauce, fresh lemon wedges and oyster crackers.  

My date had the clam chowder, and loved it.  That’s when those oyster crackers came into play.  After the oysters and soup, we were still a little hungry so one of the guys told us about the Combination Seafood Salad.  It was definitely satisfying with the crisp shrimp and crab meat, crunchy lettuce, and creamy house made dressing.  Between the oysters, chowder, salad and sour dough bread (which was devoured immediately) we walked out 100% satisfied.  So pleased, I returned a few days later with some new dates and have been making frequent visits ever since.  

*Don’t call, they won’t answer.  Open Monday-Saturday 8am-5:30pm.  Cash Only (WaMu across the street).

Swan Oyster Depot

1517 Polk Street (Cross Street: California)

San Francisco, CA 94109

415-673-1101

  

Nobu Fifty Seven

Published on January 8, 2009 in Adventures. 3 Comments Tags: , , .

Nobu Fifty Seven is the second location to open in Manhattan after renowned chef, Nobu Matsuhisa’s success with the original Nobu downtown.  I went for dinner with some of my favorite dates, and truthfully we had no complaints.  I know D wanted to go because Robert De Niro is a co-owner.  That means a lot for this bunch.  We loved that the restaurant was completely packed, but we could only hear ourselves.  Nobu is a great time, from the slamming martinis to the hot waitstaff.  The menu style is made up of cold dishes and hot dishes to share.  Our waiter recommended moving to sushi and sashimi after finishing the cold and hot plates.  I apologize for the blurriness of the pictures as the meal progresses, the bartenders were very generous.  

We all started with a dirty Grey Goose martini but then shortly parted ways.  After, I had the Cucumber Martini, Spiced Apple Martini and we got a bottle of California Pinot Noir.  The Cucumber Martini was the best I’ve ever had, made with citron vodka, cucumber puree and lychee juice…perfect.  The Spiced Apple was STRONG but good, rye whiskey, ginger cognac, fresh apple cider, bitters, lime and nutmeg.  

        

Here is our menu…

Fresh Yellowtail Sashimi with jalepeno was THE perfect start to this dinner.  We took one slice of cilantro from pile and put it on each bite.  It was kind of like our ordered amuse bouche.  19.

Next, we had Nobu Tacos which were a special that night.  Two were ceviche and two were king crab, the ceviche was amazing and “an explosion of flavor” in the words of D.  12.

Ah, we loved the Bigeye Tuna Takaki and Tosazu.  I had no idea what Tosazu was, but I liked it a lot, so I  looked it up, it’s a soy sauce, bonito and vinegar sauce.  Solid dish. 21.

It’s clear that we love our tuna, so we had Bigeye Tuna and Scallop on Spicy Renkon Chips.  Because we were a party of 4, I chose the scallop because A and M are the big tuna fans.  The scallop was wonderful. 14.

Recomended by A, we ordered the Rock Shrimp Tempura with Creamy Spicy Sauce.  It comes with the option of Ponzu as well.  As promised by A, the dish was so good we ordered another shortly after.   I was looking around, it was a clear Nobu favorite as it was on almost every table in the room.  20.

The minute I opened the menu, Halibut Cheeks with Wasabi Pepper Sauce caught my eye!  How could it not?  I had never had halibut cheeks, thank god I tried them.  We were all blown away.  So tender, and the sauce was unbelievable, the mushroom texture added so much to the dish.  My favorite! 21.

For our last dish, ordered by M, we had the Beef Toban Yaki.  Toban Yaki means cooked on a ceramic plate, again, had to look that one up.  I enjoyed the enoki mushrooms and the sauce was killer…I wish I knew what it was, I do know that it was the perfect combination of salty and sweet.  23. 

As our waiter said, we wanted a few more bites before dessert.  During the Spiced Apple, I forgot to take pictures of our sushi and sashimi selections.  A, of course wanted the Spicy Bigeye Tuna roll and D ordered Bigeye Tuna, Bluefin Toro and Hamachi for the table.  The quality was unreal, and at Nobu you get what you pay for.  Each piece was between 5-7.  

And now for dessert, I chose the White Peach and Jasmine Soup, ONLY because it came with Nobu beer ice cream and peanut crumble.  I was pleasently suprised with the whole thing, the jasmine soup was served in a tea pot which was poured, by Shane, I mean the waitress, into the bowl of beer ice cream and peanut crumble, it was fucking great.  I’m going to try and duplicate this for sure.  12.

A and M wanted the PB&J, which came with warm peanut butter and chocolate in crunchy balls, peanut butter ice cream and a plum wine gelée.  I usually can’t stand the consistancy of gelée or anything of the sort, but this complimented the peanut butter just like the classic sandwich! This was D, delicious.  14.

If you’re in New York, go to Nobu.  That’s all there is to it.

Thanks for dinner D! 

     

40 West 57 Street

New York, NY 10019

212.757.3000