French Restaurant -- I think it was Bouche?

This is a perfect example of how to use the company dime to try a place you would never otherwise consider.

We needed a spot that was open late and found this little... and I mean little... French restaurant that was open until 1:00 or 2:00.  And they had duck which The Critic was actually craving (weird thing to crave, don't you think?) so we went.  HOW CUTE IS THIS PLACE???  I swear they can only seat 20 people total and possibly not even that many.

First up -- crispy pork belly.  Very tasty.

Critic's dinner -- Duck.  Delicious.  Came on Farro that was quite tasty.  The rillettes were not a texture The Critic enjoyed.  I was fine with it. 

My dinner -- Ummm... I don't remember.  I'm not a main dish person.  I remember my sides though.  Polenta (yum) and fall veggies.  It was great.  It was also late.  And we were VERY tired.

We also had dessert.  What was dessert?  I have no idea.  Did I mention we were tired?

Such a cute little french restaurant -- get a reservation and try it at least once.  I do recommend going when you aren't exhausted just so you can actually remember the experience.

Daville Cafe

This is my post to remind me of the little cafe we ate in after enjoying the area of Danville.  And still not finding a house.  Sigh. 

Cute little cafe, perfect for lunch.  Noted clientele are women are mother's ages.  Which, let's be honest, fits for Danville.

I think The Critic got a Cuban that was pretty good.  I got the risotto which was VERY good. 

A nice place to eat.  But really, we want a house!

Tartine Bakery

Of all the "must eat" places I have come up with in San Francisco there is one that I just knew was going to be a winner.  Tartine Bakery.  A while back I saw someone on The Best Thing I Ever Ate talking about Pan au Chocolate and knew The Critic would need to try it.  Then Tartine kept coming up in article after article of "must eat".  Each time something else came up.  I even sent him in an email with a list of places with an example item to try or a description of the food type.  Here's what I put for Tartine.

Tartine bakery -- Just trust me

So he did.  We went for breakfast on our first morning in San Francisco.  It was a Friday morning and the line wasn't too bad.  We got items to go so we could get to our realtor appointment.  As I recall, we ate the following items:

Pan au Chocolate -- sublime and worth every rave it got.  One is enough for both of us.
Morning bun -- essence of orange in a cinnamon croissant like muffin.  Tasty, but not what I crave.
A savory egg and gruyere pastry -- Um, yes please.  More please.  Loved this!  (It is better when heated I later learned)
Almond croissant -- stuffed and covered in powdered sugar.  Good.  VERY messy.

We also went a few days later and got the coconut tart (delicious).

The only thing not tasty and wonderful at Tartine is the coffee.  Get your cup from somewhere else and plan to enjoy delicious pastries.  Everyone who visits us in California will be getting a Tartine visit before they leave.  If there is a line, it's fine.  Totally worth the wait.

E&O Asian

Change is coming for us!  We're headed to the Bay Area.  Spent a weekend house hunting and dining -- thanks to the company dime.  First item on the agenda upon finding a house (ok that's the first item on the agenda) is getting BACK on the waistline friendly diet plan (a.k.a. eating at home).  But not this trip.

On our first night we hmmmed and hawed after a LONG day of looking at houses (and really skipping all meals... and having headaches as a result) and ultimately decided on E&O Asian.  Asian food is our comfort food.  And after a fairly discouraging day... we didn't find the house of our dreams... shocking I know... we decided we needed some comfort.


A bit of a back history to this point.  First I wanted to eat at In Canto.  It's closed.  Also wanted to try Rick Bayless's mexican restaurant in the Macy's building.  Closed.  Same for several other places.  Hey Food Network!  Update your recommendations to places that stay open!!!  I guess it truly is a sign of the times.  It's tough to keep a restaurant open.  Even for people who have recognizable names to the moderate Coach Bag Foodie. 

So this place place did not register on our "must see" list because the recommendation came from Brian Boytano.  Ummmm.... weird.  Brian Boytano is welcome to recommend the best place I ever ice skated, but the best thing I ever ate?  I don't know how much I believe you.  As tasty as he made Indonesian corn fritters sound, it's still, well, a recommendation from Brian Boytano.  But the name kept coming up... on Yelp, in the hotel directory... so we gave it a try. 

Upon walking in I noticed it was near Banana Republic which we went to 6 years ago and I remembered eating at some restaurant that was laid back and fun at that point... and tasty.  We sat at the bar and chatted with the bar tender.  Couldn't have told you what kind of food they had, but I seem to remember small plates. And it was a nice place.  But that's as much memory as I could muster.

Inside the decor was quite swanky and cool.  Definitely had a young club-going vibe.  The menu was intriguing.  Lots of fusion items.  And we were HUNGRY.  Plus we basically had a "the world is your oyster" budget (and let me tell you that would have been worth a LOT of oysters... except we're not huge oysters fans.  Come to think of it this place had oysters....).  Anyway, we opted, nearly, to get "one of everything". 

First up, butternut squash dumplings.  They were good, spicy... strong curry flavor.  Pretty good way to start!

Second up... Indonesian corn fritters.  Ummmm... HELLO!  So crazy good.  The dipping sauce made everything better.  Ok Brian Boytano... I'll take your recommendations more seriously now.  Maybe. 

Third.  Short ribs.  Pretty good.  Very strong hoisin flavor.  And a lot of pepper.  The butternut squash dumplings had lots of pepper as well. 

Fourth.  Shaking beef.  Um... perfectly cooked.  Quite tasty.  Very good.

Fifth.  Green beans.  They were fine.  They were not Din Thai Fung green beans.  We keep trying to find those somewhere else.  There is nothing like DTF green beans.  Sigh.  So sad.

And last but NOT least, black cod.  In a word... sublime.  Just. So. Good. 

Finally (because why not when the company is paying?) we had dessert.  Chocolate devil's food cake with 5 spice ganache (couldn't taste the 5 spice) and salted caramel.  Yum.  And warm ginger cookies.  Very good... but they didn't last into the next day. 

So here's the best part of E&O.  While we are eating The Critic starts to wonder if THIS was the cool, laid back place we went to six years ago.  Before our foodie craze.  And before our Asian food obsession.  He said "I remember giraffes and bamboo decor".  So we asked our server if they had remodeled in the past few years.  Why yes they had... before it was covered in bamboo and jungle animals!  How funny is that?  Guess that's a way to welcome us (back and) to San Francisco!

Red Robin

Too tired to cook = dinner at Red Robin. The Critic is having a boys' night out. 

The Big Guy ate a Tavern Double with special sauce on the side (no lettuce or tomato). He can't get enough of it! Special sauce is basically thousand island dressing. 

FIT and I shared a special BBQ burger with candied bacon. It's really good. Only problem is the price tag. 

And campfire sauce. Always campfire sauce. 

Yum.  

Arashi Ramen

Went as a family to a new ramen place in Southcenter.  Here's what I'm learning... despite my intense love of Asian food, ramen is not my favorite.  Maybe this is because of an article I read that talked about how horrible it is for you -- fatty cuts of meat and huge amounts of sodium... cholesterol off the charts.  Maybe, but honestly the nutrition of food has always been second to me if it tastes good.  And that's what it comes down to for me.  I'm not a fan of the taste.  It's too funky -- too fermented (miso?). 

I'll go with the family.  The Big Guy is convinced he loves it, but I'm not so sure.  But I will never crave a ramen night out with the family.

Cactus

We had brunch with The Critic's mom to discuss our plans to move.  Brunch turned out to be a great idea for The Guys as far as food goes at Cactus.  FIT ate nearly everything offered to him… Seafood enchiladas, tamales, and he loved his Tres Leches French toast.  The Big Guy was quite content with his scrambled eggs and bacon.  I got the tamales which were alright. The Critic loved his seafood enchiladas. All in all, it worked as a place for family to eat for brunch.