Eat, Live, Run » restaurant reviews

The Time I Fell In Love With Oysters

jenna — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:16:31 +0000

Going out to eat is important to me, specifically to try new dishes I wouldn’t normally make at home. I’ll very rarely order something like chicken or pasta out, just because I know I can make it myself at home for a fraction of the cost.

Instead, I like to be adventurous at restaurants. I’ll try anything once, and thankfully I was born with a stomach of steel and a voracious appetite to boot.

Squid ink pasta with grilled octopus? I’m down.

Pork belly sliders with sweet tea barbecue sauce? Serve it up.

Louisiana hot oysters? Yes, please.

All this is leading me to tell you that last night’s dinner was a meal to remember.

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Post tags: foodie adventures, restaurant reviews

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The Best Burger of my Life: Fact

jenna — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:25:58 +0000

I’m sort of in love with the little coastal town of Valley Ford. It has that whole old movie ghost town feel to it—slightly creepy, but very cool.

And filled with great local restaurants that really present the true essence of Northern California dining establishments: casual, funky and delicious.

Oh, and I may or may not have eaten the best burger of my entire life there.

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Post tags: dining out, Lunch, restaurant reviews

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It’s Bloatfish, Not Butterfish

jenna — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:42:41 +0000

Happy Monday!

I’m currently sitting in the auto glass repair shop, waiting on my new window after Friday’s fiasco. Nothing says happy Monday like a brand new car window, right?!

On another note, however, last night Almanzo and I had a lovely dinner at Osteria Stellina, down in Point Reyes Station. I picked this restaurant for our weekly date night because I had been once before and it totally blew my mind with its housemade pasta, organic ingredients and local wine on tap.

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Post tags: dinner out, fish, restaurant reviews

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S’more and Gypsy Peppers

jenna — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:00:22 +0000

Last night Almanzo and I went with a few friends to P-30, one of my favorite little restaurants around here.

I’ve been to P-30 a few times before (here and here) and I’ve never been let down by their great food, service and atmosphere. It’s a little bit of a hike (the restaurant is out near Bodega Bay) but totally worth the drive. I think what I love most is that it really feels like you’re eating in a little house!

It’s very “Northern California” and I love all the funky retro decorations and lights. The boys all wanted burgers and zin, but since I’ve been nursing a migraine for a few days (not cool but it’s finally gone), I stuck to something lighter—stuffed gypsy peppers!

I know this is a bold statement, but I honestly think this was the best vegetarian main course I’ve EVER gotten at a restaurant. If you’re wondering what a gypsy pepper is, click here for more information. I wasn’t sure what they were exactly when I ordered them but I was enthralled all the same.

The peppers were tender and stuffed with a mixture of stewed leeks, mushrooms, spelt, hazelnuts and fresh goat cheese. It was super filling and incredibly tasty! I want to re-create this combination at home for sure.

Even better though was the dessert….

P-30′s signature dessert is “s’mores for two” and let me just say it does NOT disappoint. In that jar is a combination of house-made marshmallow fluff, decadent brownie bites and rich dark chocolate syrup. You then smear that heavenly concoction on the homemade cinnamon graham crackers and the result is pretty unbelievable.

I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s dangerous is what it is!

I’ll be back with a craft update and a special cookie winner!

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Happy Hour at North

jenna — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:03:37 +0000

I am still in Texas.

I think I kinda like it here! Gas is cheaper than California and the Mexican Martinis at Trudy’s are reason enough to stay. We’ve become addicted to Mad Men (have been watching at least two episodes a night) and even got to buy all new clothes at Target since we ran out. Tropical Storm Hermine has just the icing on the cake….I sort of feel like I’ve been living a movie? Very, very odd.

However, on a serious note, Almanzo is having surgery right now and I’m in the hospital waiting room sipping coffee and checking in on the blog world. He’ll be just fine and we are both ready for him to get rid of those darn kidney stones so we can get on with our lives!

Despite everything, we dragged the patient to happy hour last night at North, where his cocktail of choice was water with lemon and Morgan and I each had a large glass of red wine. Happy hour wine by the glass is only about four dollars—I took a deep breath of the wine and it smelled like home!

Dude. If you live in Austin, you MUST go to North for happy hour!!!! Never have I seen such amazing deals! Send me Dexter–I’m not leaving!!!!

I had the fig and goat cheese pizza, which normally is twelve dollars on the regular menu but only six for happy hour! It was out of this world delicious.

The crust was super light and paper thin, and was studded with juicy fresh figs and fresh balls of soft goat cheese. Just looking at this picture makes me want to eat the whole thing over right now!

Mmmmmmmmm…this could quite possibly be one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. I know I say that a lot but this is one of those “wake up at three in the morning and crave it” type of meals.

We also had the trio of spreads with grilled garlic bread, which was equally as fantastic and only four dollars? Seriously. I don’t lie about these things.

There was hummus, goat cheese and banaganoush, and the bread was hot and chewy.

Poor Almanzo ordered the mushroom pizza topped with arugula but only could eat half. I’ve got my eye on that when we get back to the house for a little snack later on….don’t tell him!

Almanzo should be out of surgery soon and then I get to play nurse all afternoon at Stephen and Morgan’s house. He’s already made me write down two solid pages of possible food options for later today (Rudy’s lean brisket and beans, Hoover’s fried catfish, Amy’s ice cream, pizza from Homeslice…..) because I told him I would go get him whatever food he wanted in all of Austin and I have a feeling he’s going to milk this for all it’s worth.

I’ll check in again later today and let you know what food we decided upon. Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts and prayers!

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Lunch at Wayfare Tavern

jenna — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:18:48 +0000

After much anticipation and counting down of days and hours, today was finally the day to experience Wayfare Tavern!

For those that don’t know, Wayfare Tavern is Tyler Florence’s new restaurant in San Francisco. The menu features down home classics such as fried chicken, steak and eggs and fresh seafood, all with a classy touch.

Oh, and I love Tyler. Really, I do. He’s from Charleston, too, and once we bonded over our mutual love for buttermilk biscuits. Okay so he probably has no idea who I am, but I swear I did meet him and he’s a super nice guy! Plus, he makes great biscuits.

Naturally, I couldn’t wait to try out his new place. I like to support the South in any way, shape or form and if that means stuffing myself with fried chicken, watermelon and sweet tea, so be it!!!

There were five of us there today and we ate A LOT. Starters included some beautiful fig creation:

Watermelon salad with ricotta salata and fennel

Padron peppers (my love!)

Steak tartare (I hear the collective eeeeewwwwwwwww…it’s an acquired taste and I’m not too big of a fan)

Oh! And a gorgeous heirloom tomato salad but I forgot to take a picture.

For my meal, I ordered the burger. Yes, yes I did.

This was actually not my burger but I couldn’t get far enough away from my own meaty delight to take a photograph since we were all crammed into a small booth. Mine pretty much looked just like this, minus the egg. It was local grass fed beef topped with Mt.Tam cheese (mmmmmm) and bacon on a fresh house made brioche bun. I didn’t eat the bacon because as you can see, this was sort of intense to say the least. I did pick at the fries though!

And drink some vino vino

You only live once, right?? heh heh heh

I obviously don’t eat indulgent lunches like this all the time, but once in awhile it’s a wonderful treat. And heck! I hiked six miles yesterday.

The restaurant had a gorgeous bar—I loved the dark wood and the almost hunting lodge feel to the whole place. Unfortunately I didn’t see T-dog himself, but I doubt he would remember yet another crazy blonde girl throwing herself at him after three glasses of wine at a gala dinner.

Not that that was me or anything…I’m speaking hypothetically of course. Oh wait…I was brunette then so it doesn’t count! Muhahahahaha

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Dinner at Poggio in Sausalito

jenna — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:41:57 +0000

I’m floored by all your amazing support! Thank you, thank you, thank you! It’s going to be a fun journey–I’m glad y’all are on for the ride!

So, in other news I have determined that I must live in Sausalito.

I am in LOVE with this little city by the bay!

I told Almanzo I thought it would be so perfect to someday live in one of the cute “little” apartments right on top of one of these cafes and he just stared at me. And then walked on.

But yes, we met five friends at Poggio for dinner, which was right on the cute little downtown strip. Poggio is an Italian restaurant that opens up onto the sidewalk and reminds me of bistros in the South of France.

The inside of the restaurant is warm and inviting, with an open air kitchen and a large food fire oven. I’m a BIG fan of wood fire ovens!

The lighting in Poggio, however, is NOT conducive to food bloggers so please forgive the awful white balance errors here. I tried to fix the white balance manually but then the photos were coming out too cold, so here’s what ya get!

I was more than a little obsessed with the menu, which was divided up in traditional Italian manner into antipasti, primi, secondi and finale courses. Everything looked really delicious and at the bottom of the menu there was a small note in fine print that the chef strives to use only local and organic ingredients when available. Since it was already 8:30 at this point and I was secretly gnawing on my arm, I ordered a bowl of the tomato and bread soup to start.

It was delicious! Made with fresh basil, vine ripe tomatoes and fruity extra virgin olive oil, this soup reminded me of something I would have gotten in Europe. Tomato and bread soup is actually a very popular (and economical) soup in Italy and is made by simply pureeing together the ripest of tomatoes with old bread from the day before. It was so thick it could almost have doubled as pasta sauce, and was best eaten on crusty French bread.

Another reason I loved this restaurant? Because they had small portions of all their pastas! I ordered the small portion of the squid ink pasta with garlic, cherry tomatoes and calamari for my entree:

And yes, squid ink pasta is BLACK! Of course I order the strangest thing on the menu….I love me some black pasta and baby octopus! The dish was very good though and extremely light. The texture of the squid ink pasta was a little softer than normal white pasta but it was still delicious and something fun and different.

I’ve always been something of an “adventurous eater” to say the least….whether that means trying still warm (!!) fois gras at a Parisian farmer’s market, wolfing down a bowl of wild mushroom soup at the tender age of four months or slurping down raw oysters in San Francisco.

Good thing I also have a stomach of steel (knock on wood).

Almanzo ordered the wood fired pizza with spicy roast pork and “gypsy peppers”

Pretty much, he ordered it simply because “gypsy peppers” were involved. We still don’t really know what gypsy peppers are though…

Glanced at the gorgeous dessert menu but we were all way too stuffed and it was already almost eleven o’clock at that point.

The menu featured yummy sweets though such as a nectarine crostata and tiramisu. All the more reason to go back!

Actually, we are going back today because Almanzo left his unopened bottle of wine from home on the table last night and we have to go to the city tonight anyway. No wine shall go to waste!

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Socially Awkward

jenna — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:44:09 +0000

Hello!

Thanks for all the feedback on my last post! I hope you all know how much I appreciate each and every one of you. Without y’all, this blog definitely couldn’t be possible.

So, last night Almanzo and I dressed up and went out on the town. I wore these strappy little red sandals that I bought while studying in Paris three years and just found again yesterday (love it when that happens)

And Almanzo rocked the stripe on stripe look.

I love it when he does that.

We went to Zazu!

Zazu has always been a favorite of ours. It’s our “go to” spot because when we are there, we are always guaranteed a great meal. Last time we went was for my birthday!

Last night because super special though because we actually ran into three blog readers there! It was Rachel’s 27th birthday and her family drove up from Berkeley for dinner. Happy birthday, Rachel!!

Sorry if I started to sweat profusely and stutter; I become incredibly awkward in social situations apparently. I know you wouldn’t know just by reading this blog, but in “real life” I’m actually very shy. Being a writer has granted me my all time wish of making a living by hiding behind my books and a laptop. I need help. Really. Almanzo thinks it’s funny!

Anyways, we had a fabulous dinner. Per usual, we started with some smelly cheese and honey:

Drank some delicious vino:

And I inhaled the most wonderful mozzarella ravioli with fresh tomato sauce. The tomatoes were fresh from the Zazu garden and the mozzarella was made right around the corner, in Point Reyes! The dish was topped with a simple green salad….it was fantastic!

Almanzo had a duck leg. Typical.

And we shared s’mores pie for dessert. This was unbelievable!!! Homemade marshmallow layers with thick dark chocolate and toasty graham cracker crumbs. Must re-create. Stat.

After that, I pretty much floated into my bed, visions of s’mores pie lingering in my head.

***

How many Austin readers would be interested in a meet-up? Email me if you’re interested…there might be something fun in the works!

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Moderation is Key

jenna — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 03:54:56 +0000

Mental health day was a success! I won’t go into too much detail, but there were pedicures and trashy magazines involved.

It was amazing.

You know what was even more amazing though?

BBQ.

For some reason, all I could think about today was pulled pork. When your newly pedicured toes make you think of little piggies going to market you know it’s gone too far. Luckily for me, I date a Texan who’s always down for some good ol’ Southern cookin’.

So, naturally, we went to our very favorite Sonoma County barbecue establishment—Smokehouse.

I ordered the usual, the North Carolina pulled pork dinner with sides of cowboy beans and slaw.

The best thing though was the cornbread, I’d have to say.

Woooahhhhhhhhhhh honey!

It’s all about everything in moderation, friends. Everything in moderation….

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Dinner at Chouchou in San Francisco

jenna — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 05:03:41 +0000

Tonight I had a date with the wonderful (and very pregnant!) BethT.

I was itchin’ to get out of Santa Rosa for the night and we decided to hit up a neighborhood French bistro, ChouChou, for dinner.

How adorable is this place?! It was actually right around the corner from Beth and Corey’s apartment so we braved the cold rain and fog (it was cold enough to see our breathes–crazy!) and walked it. I swear, I would never work out if I lived in San Francisco—just walking the hilly and windy roads is better than any stairmaster I know.

I loved the quaint and intimate feeling of this bistro. It long and narrow, just like the bistros in Paris, and was decorated with vintage French posters.

We took the only table left, which was right next to the door, and immediately ordered. You get a pregnant woman together with a starving food blogger and it’s a combination never to be reckoned with!

I ordered my very favorite thing to start, a bowl of the French onion soup.

If you know me at all, you know how much I love French onion soup. I more than love it, actually; I’m completely obsessed with it. While living in France, I went on a complete French onion binge and ordered it at every restaurant that I went to. I was on an endless quest to find the very best in all of Paris and I was victorious in the end (and five pounds heavier). If you care to know, the best I found was at a restaurant called “La Caveau de L’isle”, which is on Ile Saint-Louis.

The French onion soup from ChouChou though tonight was great, too! It wasn’t one of those soups where all you could detect was beef broth; it had a lot of flavor complexity to it and you could really taste the caramelized onions, the wine and the rich stock used. Yum.

I also ordered the wild mushroom tart, which was on the appetizer menu.

Another winner! This was a flaky puff pastry topped with a layer of delicious cheese and then a thick layer of smoky mushrooms. It had a really rich and earthy taste to it, and the small portion size was perfect.

After we ate we inspected the dessert menu but nothing was calling out to us…

It all seemed a little “meh” to me. When I order dessert at a restaurant I want something that I wouldn’t normally make for myself at home. For some reason “Strawberry Bruschetta” just sounded gross to me. I mean I’m sure it was good, but in my mind I’m thinking of a strawberry topped crouton and that just doesn’t sound very appetizing. Beth said that this place is known for their tarts (they had a bunch of different varieties), but we both weren’t in the tart mood.

So instead, I drove home and had some tea. Sometimes all you need is a good cup of tea anyways.

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