Caesar's

Caesar's is an old institution that opened its doors to San Franciscans in 1956. If it is traditional Italian cuisine you want and the famed San Francisco dish, Cioppino, Caesar's is the place to go.

I was finally able to try Caesar's when Enrique's sister, Chris and her husband, Russell took us to dinner here for Enrique birthday. Russell is second generation Italian. Caesar's is his Italian parents and "nonna's" (Italian for grandmother) restaurant of choice for family get togethers.

Chris whispered as we were sitting down, "you come here for the food and ambiance, not for the service." Sure enough, Caesar's is packed and loud with multi-generational families--mostly Italians but diverse enough with Asians and other non-Italian families. "Godfather "would have been happy to bring his la famiglia here.

If you want to practice your Italian, this is the place to do it. The place was loud with Italian dialects spoken all around us. Fiance's sis pointed out the staff who are from the old country who barely speak English but has been working at Caesar's for decades.

Caesar's is indeed old-school from the decor, immigrant restaurant staff and traditional Italian cuisine. The waiters wear black and white tux.

As much as I wanted to try the Cioppino, they were not serving it that night. Chris and Russell suggested that we go for the $35 Seven Course dinner. And for $35 per person, you will get plenty of delicious fare to get you stuffed:

1st Course: SALAD of lettuce, tomato and onionwith Italian dressing.

2nd Course: ANTIPASTI of calamari salad, garbanzo bean salad, grilled eggplant (caponata), cured ham, etc.
*The dishes were fresh and delicious. Future bro-in-law's told us his nonna made these dishes for the family every Sunday. I could dine on these small dishes alone! I could not stop eating the garbanzo bean salad, caponata and calamari salad.

3rd Course: A small dish of PASTA WITH MEAT SAUCE.
*I ate around the meat sauce since I am a pescetarian. I would say that the sauce was very flavorful and definitely NOT Chef Boyardee's!

4th Course: A delicious bowl of lite MINESTRONE SOUP.

5th Course: Choice of main dish.
*Enrique chose GRILLED LAMB CHOPS which he requested as well-done. It came to him medium rare. He said it was still delicious, not gamey and very tender.

*I had the GRILLED SEAFOOD PLATTER. My meal came with a skewer of plump prawns and very tender scallops with spinach and potatoes. As simple as my meal was, it was surprisingly very good! I had to take half of it home since I got stuffed from eating the antipasti,salad and soup.

6th Course: SPUMONI.
*You get to choose from their dessert menu but the spumoni ice cream was a great way to end this nice Italian dinner.

7th Course: COFFEE

OVERALL:
Service was polite and not so bad. This was a leisurely dinner and you might have to flag your server down once in a while. They leave you alone but not forget about you. You will still get your water refilled and your dishes on time.

They even gave Enrique an amaretti flavored cheesecake with a candle in it for his birthday dessert. Rich and delish! The whole restaurant joined in when we sang "Happy Birthday."

I have traveled to Italy and have had the pleasure to eat well in Rome and the Umbrian region. Caesar's is indeed authentic, traditional and old school. The dishes are not as delicious as what I had in Italy but at Caesar's it is about tradition. The dishes were simple, fresh and light--not the heavy, cheesy, Italian-American that is standard in the US.

On our way out, Enrique's sister spotted BUGIE COOKIES for sale at the counter. She said their nonna made these Italian sweets. I grabbed a couple of boxes for $6 each and gave one to her as a thank you present for the nice dinner treat. Bugies I found out later are fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar. Delicious but not diet food!

FOODIE GIRL'S RATING: 3 Stars

Key:
0 Star: Never again!!! These people should not be in business.
1 Star: Chalk it to bad experience. Live and learn.
2 Stars: Very disappointing but there it has some good things to offer.
3 Stars: It is okay but do not expect much. I will still return.
4 Stars: I like it! I will be singing your praises!
5 Stars: I will be dreaming of you at night!
6 Stars: Perfection (or close to!)

Wayfare Tavern: Chef Tyler Delivers

Holiday Dinner with Girlfriends: December 17, 2010 @ 6PM

It was raining cats and dogs last night but the storm did not deter us 4 girls from having a delicious and enjoyable Holiday dinner at Wayfare Tavern.

DECOR/AMBIANCE:
The best description I can give WFT is it looked like a sophisticated saloon with heavy dark wood furniture, oriental rugs and hardwood floors. One of my gf's commented that it was like dining at one's elegant ("but not stuffy" another gf chimes in) dining room. The restaurant was dark, narrow and divided into different sections. Main level is where the open kitchen is located where you might see Chef Tyler Florence in action if you are lucky like us. Upstairs dining has its own bar.

SERVICE: Professional, efficient but slightly stoic.

SOCIAL SCENE:
The place was packed with mature nicely dressed holiday merry-makers.

DRINKS:
Um, we had quite a few. We had 10 between 4 of us. I wouldn't say who had how much but the drinks were nicely crafted and strong! We pretty much tried almost every mixed drink on the menu of about 5 drinks including MAPLE SIDECAR, LIEDESDORFF and dessert wines.

I had the OCCIDENTAL which probably could also function as a horse tranquilizer. :) Tangy and too strong for me but well-made, then another glass of a nice Chardonnay. I was still intoxicated 5 hours later! (I took the BART train home.)

STARTERS:
POPOVERS: Complimentary hot, custardy pastries instead of traditional baked loaf. The server generously offered us more before our main dishes arrived.



LOCAL FORAGED MUSHROOMS $8
Olive oil & garlic. Oh, so simple yet so delicious! The mushrooms tasted earthy and fresh.

GRILLED MONTEREY BAY CALAMARI $9
Toasted garlic, squid ink vinaigrette, smoked chili oil, breadcrumbs & celery. Another OMG! I didn't want to order this at first because I thought it was the greasy deep-fried kind. This dish was a delicious of fresh tender octopus with tentacles sauteed with of garlic and spices. The crunchy breadcumbs were a very nice addition. We really enjoyed this one!

MAIN DISHES:
HANGTOWN FRY $23-
A dying man’s last meal: fluffy Petaluma eggs, crispy oysters, smoked bacon, Jack cheese, Sausalito watercress; potato hash. I've had this few times before at different places. This was the best I've had with the fluffiest egg omelette topped with tender oysters sans bacon. Heather and I ordered this same dish except she had hers with bacon.

GRILLED SANTA MARIA TRI-TIP STEAK $26 -
Slow roasted heirloom onions, truffle butter, crisp Kennebec potatoes.
My picky carnivore friend Jannette loved her dish!

VEGAN "CUSTOM MADE" DISH
Our friend Alexis is vegan. She asked the server if the chef could make a custom made vegan dish for her. She told them to just surprise her. And she was surpised with a nice dish of polenta with mixture of fresh veggies. Maybe Chef Tyler made this dish for her.

DESSERT:
FRIED APPLE PIE $9 Orange caramel, sage ice cream. We liked the apple filling but not fans of the crusty thick pie crust. The sage ice cream with fried sage leaves were exotic and nice.

COMPLIMENTARY GINBERBREAD COOKIES: Yummy and sweet touch!

OVERALL:
Chef Florence creates dishes that are traditional, comforting and familiar but taken to the next level. They were delightful and not overwhelming ambitious. The potions were generous that despite our hefty tab we had leftovers to take home. A definite must return for me!

TAB: $360 including 10 drinks, tax and 20% tip. ($90 per gal.)

CHEF TYLER FLORENCE:
I didn't expect to see him but he was working last evening. I had the biggest crush on Tyler when I used to watch his food shows when he was still hot and single. He is still cute as I imagined. It was pleasure to see him in action.

FOODIE GIRL'S RATING: Solid 5 Stars even pushing 6!

Key:
0 Star: Never again!!! These people should not be in business.
1 Star: Chalk it to bad experience. Live and learn.
2 Stars: Very disappointing but there it has some good things to offer.
3 Stars: It is okay but do not expect much. I will still return.
4 Stars: I like it! I will be singing your praises!
5 Stars: I will be dreaming of you at night!
6 Stars: Perfection (or close to!)





Ozumo: Uber-Hip Sushi

Saturday Date Night: November 27, 2010

Want to eat sushi at ultra-chic, uber-hip and trendy bar/lounge/sushi restaurant? Ozumo fits the bill.

It was senses overload for me as soon as I walked in. The place is "warehouse huge" with exposed pipes on high ceilings. Different colored lights in contemporary shapes lit up the dark modern lounge. It had the glamous LA feel to it than the usual more "subtle but cool" Bay Area ambiance.

The place is divided into two parts: a swanky bar and a fun but more formal sushi dining area.

Enrique and I went straight to the main dining area for dinner while I was doing a mental note to come back and have a drink at the swanky bar and seat right next to the wall fountain.

The huge lighted sushi kitchen was in the middle of the huge dining room where chefs prepare your dish. The rest of the place was dimly and dramatically lit.

We ordered few starters which arrived immediately. We were impressed with the deliciousness of these dishes:

a. Futago $13: Grilled washu beef flatiron, sauteed spinach, eggplant wtih goma-miso sauce. My fiance reported that the beef was melt in your mouth. I only ate the veggie parts and they were very tasty.

b. Nasu $5: Another grilled eggplant appetizer without the beef. It was very similar to Futago but also very tasty.

While waiting for our sushi, we enjoyed a complimentary amuse bouch, small hot sake for me ($8) and Voss Sparkling water for my guy. We were enjoying the ambiance, admiring the architecture, people-watching, talking, sipping......and waiting and waiting.....

Our sushi finally came 40 minutes after our drinks and starters were served. We had:
a. Spider Roll ($9)
b. Dynamite Roll ($15)
c. Uni Nigiri ($10)
d. Tako Nigiri ($6)

Our sushi were fresh but forgettable. I could have gone to a mom and pop sushi joint down the street and probably have gotten the same quality. The sushi rice was even on the hard side and fell apart.

Our Saturday Date Night dinner started out fun enough but waiting for almost an hour for run of the mill sushi was not fun even at a cool place like Ozumo. Service was very friendly and our server was taking care of almost every table at this huge place. Ozumo needs to hire more servers. She apologized for the delay.

$90 later (after tax and 20% tip) Enrique drove into a Burger King drive-in for french fries and shake. He was still hungry but we did not want to wait another hour for a sushi roll.

(You may also try Ozumo San Francisco on Steuart Street.)

FOODIE GIRL'S OVERALL RATING: 3.5
Food: 2
Decor/Ambiance: 4.5
Service: 2

Key:


0 Star: Never again!!! These people should not be in business.
1 Star: Chalk it to bad experience. Live and learn.
2 Stars: Very disappointing but there it has some good things to offer.
3 Stars: It is okay but do not expect much. I will still return.
4 Stars: I like it! I will be singing your praises!
5 Stars: I will be dreaming of you at night!
6 Stars: Perfection (or close to!)