Zuni

GIRLFRIENDS  LUNCHDATE: 05.25.12  @ 1 PM

In celebration of my beautiful friend Heather's birthday, we shared the following:
CAMPARI $7.5
*An aperitif for the birthday girl which she enjoyed. Water for me who is on the clock.

ARUGULA SALAD WITH CITRUS W/ 2 CROSTINI TOPPED W/ GOAT CHEESE $8.75 *Nothing remarkable. It was pretty standard that you can get at any decent salad place.

BROCCOLI DI CICCIO AND MANILA CLAMS A LA PLANCHA $11 with  white beans, lemon zest, and garlic:
*A must get! Very tasty and very delicious! A simple dish nicely dominated by the flavors of the garlic. The flavors of the broccoli, juicy clams, garlic, lemon and EVOO just married each other in harmony.

PIZZA WITH WAGON WHEEL CHEESE AND CARAMELIZED ONION $12.75:
*Another must get! Melted hot gooey cheese and sweet caramelized onion on nice thin crust. Very delicious!

SHOESTRING POTATOES $6
Relive your childhood memories with Pik-Nik Shoestring potatoes -- only Zuni's are the adult version. A fascinating tower of potatoes cut very thin and short like Pik-Nik but less salty than the packaged version and more tender. Enjoyable to munch but we prefer the traditional french fries.

TAB: $61 including tip

SERVICE:
A server who was very very pleasant and smiled a lot. I do not care to know my server's name usually but I wished I have known his name. A delightful presence during our lunch. Thank  you for your kind positve energy!

DECOR:
Zuni's architecture is a lovely brick and steel. Rustic and industrial. Multi-leveled dining spaces. It is very bright with glass walls all around allowing sunshine to come in.  A long contemporary bar, a rustic  dining area with brick fireplace and upper level where you have to climb the industrial stairs.

AMBIANCE:
Very energetic and loud with mature looking crowd dressed conservatively for lunch. Formal-casual place.

VERDICT:
A lovely lunch with simple yet well-executed dishes. A delightful professional server. Lots of sunshine.

* 7x7 Big Eat: Zuni's Roasted Chicken $48 is on the 7x7 SF Big Eat: 100 Things to Eat Before You Die.  I still cannot bring myself to pay $48 for a chicken!  http://www.7x7.com/eat-drink/big-eat-2012-list

farm:table

"Me" Time: 02. 15. 12

farm:table would have been a coffee kiosk if not for the communal table that could sit about 10 people uncomfortably. It is very, very small.

The kitchen counter is about 3 steps from the door where you will place your order. Turn around, take one step and you may sit at the square country table if you do not mind sitting elbow to elbow with strangers. It was a little too close for comfort for me that I chose to sit at the sidewalk outdoor table on
Post.

CHARMING:
farm:table is an eatery housed in a historic apartment building that is full of SF character. A street plaque on Post says so. Despite the tiny space, it is rustic, full of charm and cute. Menu for the day is written on the chalkboard.

DELICIOUS:
farm:table's offerings are packed with big and mighty flavors. Menu is seasonal (clue: farm) and changes often. They offer more food than what is advertised daily on their website:

A mouth-watering array of sweet pastries are on the counter. This little place does make use of every space and cranny. These pastries are from other bakeshops, though.

POLENTA WITH KALE GRANA PADANO (Extra $1 for bacon or egg) ~$9+
* A well-made silky polenta with kale. The sharpness of grana padano highly compliments this dish. I ordered mine with an egg which came out to be hard-boiled. I would rather have had runny sunny-side up or overeasy which I thought would add a silkier texture to this dish. The hard-boiled egg was a wild-card item in this otherwise perfect bowl of polenta.

ALMOND MILK LATTE ~$5
*At first sip, my tastebuds woke up to this intense well-made coffee. The silkiness of the almond milk is a nice surpise and contrast to the strong coffee. Blue Bottle or Verve, this was one great cup o' joe!

PRICEY!:
CHECK: ~$19 for polenta & latte with tip

KUDOS:
1. I applaud the concept. farm:table is an epitome of big city/urban dining.

2. The food was delicious and the coffee was superb. farm:table is a simple joy that feeds the soul. The simplicity of every dish also equals delicious.

DEAL BREAKERS:
1. Too pricey for my budget. For ~$20 (with tip) for lunch, I can eat well and comfortably at many full-service restaurants in SF.

2. On the day I was at farm:table, the table was packed and there was not a chance of asking anybody to scoot over for me. Eating at the tiny "dining area" is part of the farm:table dining experience but I need comfort when I am eating and paying premuim for my food. Sharing a table in a stuffy box also threatens my personal space. Sitting and eating street side on a beautiful day is a delight but it is not guaranteed with the SF weather and taking a risk that a garbage truck might pass by.

With my long tirade about the space, one can tell that the uncomfortable dining is  the deal breaker for me. Price is secondary if at least the venue is pleasant enough.

Despite my gripes, it was a delightful streetside brunch on a beautiful day in SF.

CASH ONLY.  

One Market

One Market is classy in its simplicity.  Huge windows looking into Market Street made One Market feel spacious.  The earth tones and white linen covered tables gave this restaurant  a formal business feel without feeling stuffy.  The open kitchen added a cozy ambiance to the place. Serious business suit seemed to be the preferred attire at One Market.

It was my beautiful friend Heather's birthday and I wanted her to feel special. We also wanted to check out Dine About Town's lunch menu. And we also wanted to sneak in our monthly gal-bonding lunch before we go on our trips separately.

Heather chose to try the DAT lunch menu. For $17.99, she got a FARMER'S SALAD: A simple salad of seasonal greens. Very fresh and generously portioned that we had enough to share between the two of us.

STEAMED MUSSELS (chili flakes, pesto and grilled bread): Heather loved her dish! The portion was also generous. I tried the mussels with the sauce and it tasted like curry instead of pesto but I thought it was good!

I was about to try the DAT menu as well until I saw two dishes on the main menu that I could not resist:

STEAMED GULF FLOUNDER (soy sauce, shitake and bokchoy) $22 The fish was sooooo tender, sooooo flavorful, sooo delicious! Yes, you can tell I loved it! I wish they gave me a little bit more fish but it was really good in its simplicity.

CHICKPEA FRIES ($5): Heather and I were intrigued that we had to have these. We thought they were deep-fried chickpeas but they were chickpeas that were mashed, formed into sticks then deep fried. They came with aioli type sauce but they were good even without. Light, not greasy and seasoned-well. Best to eat while hot off the fryer.



SERVICE:
Service was efficient and friendly. We opted for tap water but our server somehow insisted with a bit of pressure for us to try the flavored lemonades. We declined twice and the 3rd time, we just went, "What the heck. We'll have one each." They were refreshing but we just really wanted tap water.

LOWDOWN:
One Market's DAT is one of the best DAT we have tried so far. Heather and I have tried quite a few DATs over the last couple of years and somehow we oftentimes thought they were just okay.
At One Market the DAT dishes were executed well, priced right and generously portioned.

And I also found out after our meal that One Market is a 1 Michelin Star awardee. As good as our meal was, no stars fell from the skies for me. It was very, very good but I had better Michelin star meals in the past.

Tab: $70 including tax and 20% tip

Foodie Girl's Rating: 4.25 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: Some are good. Some are okay. Some are bad.
3 Stars: Like! I will return!
4 Stars: Love! I will be dreaming of you at night!
5 Stars: Perfection (or close to!)

Starbelly

Foodie Lunch Date:  November 18, 2010 @ Noon

Starbelly is my foodie buddy Heather's choice. I didn't know much about Starbelly except that if Heather  had chosen it, then I am in good hands.

Walking in, I was immediately impressed. Starbelly is a cute, bright and airy neighborhood restaurant in the Castro.  A long wooden bar that also serves as the communal table is the focal point of this eatery; along with the display of wine bottles neatly stocked up in the contemporary wooden cabinets on the wall by the bar.

I caught a glimpse of al fresco dining at the pretty wooden patio in the back.  Heather and I opted to seat at the casual 2-4 seater table with metal chairs in the main dining area.

The whole place has a casual and cheery feel to it.  Service was friendly and very efficient. As soon as we sat down we were given a choice between regular or complimentary bubbly water. We chose the bubbly, nice touch!

Once again, Heather and I ordered family-style to be able to enjoy and "critique" each dish.

1. CRAB LOUIE SALAD:  Since it is the very beginning of the crab season in San Francisco, we thought it was best to try this dish. And we were rewarded with big chunks of sweet  Dungeness crab meat on fresh lettuce wedge and not overpowering dressing. Divine!

2.SQUASH THIN CRUST PIZZA WITH GOAT CHEESE AND PEPITAS: I love pumpkins and squash but I was not so sure about them on pizza. At first bite this pizza put away all my worries. I thought that squash, goat cheese and pepitas on pizza would be a brave culinary attempt that could easily fail but this was a well executed dish. The result was a harmony of earthy fall flavors on a thin crust. The pizza was nicely grilled and slightly charred (but not burnt) in the  wood-fire oven. A delicious autumn dish!

3. FRIES WITH 3 DIPS: Uneven cut fries. Nicely salted. Nice fillers.

The dishes at Starbelly are seasonal. The chef makes use of fresh ingredients. They are most delicious in their simplicity but combinations of flavors are amazing and refreshing on the palate.

Once again, Heather and I had a wonderful "girl-bonding" lunch in the City in the midst of our very busy work day. Starbelly is highly recommended for such diversions.

Tab: $42.00 including tax, $1.99 Health SF Fee and 20% tip. ($21 per girl)

FOODIE GIRL'S RATING: 4.5 Stars for simple, seasonal yet delicious food.


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!)