Afternoon Tea at L'Espalier

This past weekend, I went to one of my fave places for afternoon tea---L'Espalier. Now their days are numbered in this old space before they move to their new digs next year. I have to come to this cozy location and I LOVE it!

I took my friend Jea Hee (before she heads back to Korea) by the end of the month. First off she will be in London and Paris before heading over to Europe. I cannot believe I met her on the plane heading to Boston. Over six months later, she is heading back. This was her first time having afternoon tea. She got the "Make Way for Ducklings" (Petit fours, pastry and tea $27-L'espalier Swan, Blueberry Terrine, Cherry Tart, Chocolate Decandence Cake, Cherry Raisen Scone, Strawberry dipped in Chocolate) and I got the "Three Blind Mice" ($30 award winning cheese plate---off the website--with the traditional accompaniments). Since I tried a fromage tower in Sonoma this past trip, I wanted to try the famous cheeses that L'Espalier has available. She got the Oolong Jade tea and I got the Elderberry Nectar Herbal tea (which was very nice, light and did not need anything to sweeten it).

I must say they were very good and it makes sense to eat counter clockwise from mildest to strongest in flavor, scent and the different textures were interesting. My Cheese person did not mark off #1 so I am not sure what it was. I enjoyed all the cheese choices actually. Some were strong but very good paired with the bread, pinenuts in honey were lovely or dried fruits were lovely. Now I understand why there are accompaniments.

#2-Coupole --Websterville Vermont, #3 Pecorina Ginepro--Emilia-Romagna, Italy

#4 Epoisse De Bourgogne--Burgundy, France (Brined), #5 Gouda (aged 5 years) Holland, #6 Bayley Hazen--Greensboro, Vermont

It was lovely to try. If you wanted to buy some for your home, L'espalier does offer the cheeses to go.

10 forks out of 10 forks

*www.lespalier.com

*Recently the head chef was listed on the James Beard Foundation Best Northeast Chef for 2007 and he has gained Best New Chef in Food Wine Magazineas well as "Fine Dining Hall of Fame".

(website source) This restaurant will be moving from this cozy location in the future, to it while it is still at this location! It has been the site of many celebrations, wedding proposals etc.

Chef/Proprietor: Frank McClelland
Chef de Cuisine: James Hackney
Mâitre d’: Louis Risoli
Wine Director: Erik Johnson
Location: In the heart of fashionable Back Bay, in an 1880 townhouse on the corner of Newbury and Gloucester Street, one block from the Hynes Convention Center, Prudential Center and Copley Place. Walking distance to Symphony Hall, Berklee Performance Center and major colleges and universities. CuisineSophisticated and modern New England-French cuisine, with an emphasis on artisanal and New England ingredients.

LunchThree course Prix Fixe Menu $24.00á la carte also available DinnerThree course Prix Fixe Menu $75.00Seven course Degustation Tasting Menu $94.00Seven course Degustation Vegetable Menu $75.00Chef’s Tasting Menu $175.00Setting

Front Room: L’Espalier’s largest dining room with a color scheme of taupe and cream. With its carved marble fireplace, luxurious plasterwork, and views overlooking Gloucester Street, it has a feeling of classic elegance. A mirrored mantle and simple black and white photography accent this light-filled room.Salon: L’Espalier’s Salon dining room has a truffle and cream color scheme and offers an intimate setting for two or a lovely dining option for private events. With an over stuffed banquette, stylized fireplace, and sparkling chandelier, the Salon offers diners a more private dining alternative.Library:The Library, on L’Espalier’s third floor offers a pleasant alternative to the subdued color schemes of the Front Room and Salon. With salmon colored walls, mahogany woodwork, and another beautifully sculpted mantle, the Library exudes warmth. Tables overlook Gloucester Street and the surrounding rooftops.

Chez Papa Bistrot in Portero Hill area in San Francisco

http://www.chezpapasf.com/

Chez Papa is situated on San Francisco's Potrero Hill. It 's located at 1401 18th Street which lieson the corner of18th and Missouri.

Capresi Salad-----mozzerella and fresh roma tomatoes

Warm calamari over a little greens
"Pissaladiere", caramelized onion tart with anchovy and frisee salad
"Brandade de Morue" Atlantic salted cod gratinee with garlic croutons
Mussels "Provencale" with garlic, shallots, cherry tomatoes, nicoise olives and pastis
Seared foie gras with Banyuls and fennel pollen reduction, summer fruit
Pimentos del piquillos stuffed with Dungeness crab meat, saffron, tomato coulis and basil

Rasberry mousse cake

It was my first time to Portero Hill (south of Downtown) and you get a great view. My friend Sharerun and friend from DC came here to get a nice meal. I always have a nice meal with Shareun. This cute French Bistrot is quaint, small and is very busy. Luckily for us, Sharerun made reservations in advance for a Tuesday night meal.

We decided to just get a bunch of dishes and share to our hearts contents (my favorite way of eating---family style!). I got to eat all the foods I was craving or talking about earlier in the day! The Capresi salad was excellent with the delectable and juicy Roma tomatoes, the light and slightly salty mozzerella and the pesto sauce decoration was a nice flavorful accent. Next we got the "Pissaladiere" carmelized onion tart, a first for me! The layers of golden carmelized onion were heavenly and extremely flavorful with the onions sweetness! The warm calamari was very fresh and over the excellent olive oil and slight salad was done very well with a nice contrast of flavors of slightly bitter and to the freshness of the calamari.

Another surprise that Sharerun wanted to eat was the Brandade de Morue, everyone at the table was lapping it up! We never knew fish to be such an excellent spread on the garlic croutons. Slightly salty but the texture reminded me of being mashed potato like. The Pimentos del Piquillos were alright for me. They looked more exciting than they actually were but the crab meat was fresh and the everything was good just too much batter for my taste but I must admit the tomato basil coulis added a nice flavor contrast.

We got a generous helping of seared foie gras for only $16 and it was sublime, the outer crust was lovely and the inner smoothness and texture just melted in my mouth tasting of pure heaven. The accompanying summer fruit was lovely and a great flavor contrast of smooth rich to sweet. One fave that we had to get were the mussels, the sauce was used to dip our bread and we lapped them up. The right mix of shallots, wine sauce, cherry tomatoes and pastis made the broth amazingly good!

We shared the dessert a raspberry mousse cake with a coffee reduction sauce $8. A lovely fruity airy dessert to make a lovely ending to a wonderful meal.

Service---attentive and good, always got water cleared, brought bread (and more when needed)

Faves---Brandade de Morue, Foie Gras, and Pissaladiere stick out as the top three

I give Chez Papa Bistrot in Portero Hill in San Francisco a 10 forks out of 10 forks for price, quality, location and service.

Mitchell's Ice Cream---Mission District, San Francisco

Lucuma/Mango and Thai Iced Tea and Coconut

Peruvian Fruit---Lucuma

While I was traveling to Columbus recently, I saw a food show dedicated to ice cream and one place mentioned was Mitchells that was noted to be worth the trip. Though in an obscure location, the food show said they had great exotic flavors and have won many accolades for their ice cream! So I had to try this place!

On July 4th, we headed out there after spending time in Berkeley. The line was very long but parking was worse. We circled many times and had to walk a bit to get to Mitchells. But it was worth it!

For two scoops I paid under $5 and got some great flavors---one was a Peruvian fruit Lucuma (never had it before) and mango ice cream flavors. Truthfully, I liked the Lucuma more than the mango. I thought the mango a bit tame and not as what I expected. My friend got the Thai Iced Tea and that was fabulous and on point. The Lucuma (I never had the fruit before) but I thought it light and delicate but hard to place flavorwise. YUM!

I give 7 forks out of 10 forks.

*Wait was over 40 minutes, the number system helped them keep efficient and the clientele was patient enough to waitfor their ice cream with minimal grumbling.

*Parking is a pain and at a premium, the smallish parking area did not help and we circled a few times on a late July 4th afternoon too

The Girl and the Fig (Sonoma Town Square) CA

En route from Sacramento, to San Francisco, my friend MK and I stopped off in Napa and Sonoma. After the suggestions of some waiters at Domaine Carneros we went to The Girl and the Fig in Sonoma Square (110 West Spain Street, Sonoma/ http://www.thegirlandthefig.com/). *(We figured we could avoid the dinner time rush back into the City which we noticed was backed up.)

Right off the Sonoma Town Square, we went into this cute restaurant. When you first enter, there is a area to relax and have some cheese tasting and to buy their products (their fig port vinigrette is to die for!). According to MK, a food show visited this restaurant and sat in the patio in the back. We were lucky with no reservations to get a table for two in the main dining room.

Since we were not famished we opted for the famous arugula and fig salad and the fromage tower. We never had cheese and all its other accompaniements for a meal. It was a first. We had a choice of six cheese and we asked the waiter to surprise us. We had a mix of some domestic but the majority were French cheese. We were advised to eat the cheeses counter clockwise and you could choose from cow, goat and sheep's milk cheeses. The fruit, fig compote, nuts as well as the pates----chicken liver mousse, rabbit and pork were good.

Cheese Choices as advised by the waiter:

*Fiscalini Bandaged Chedder (Cow) Modesto, CA

*Jean De Brie (Cow) Seine et Morne, France

Sweet Grass Dairy Holly Sheep (Goat) Thomasville, GA

*St Maure (Goat) Loire Valley, France

Roquefort Coulet (Sheep) Aveyron, France

Petit Agour (Sheep) Pays Bosque, France

My faves are starred and my least fave was the Roquefort for its strong taste. Luckily I got more St Maure in exchange as my friend MK did not like it as much as moi. Or the chicken liver mousse in comparison to the pork pate I got to have more of as we negotiated our likes and dislikes. After all the toast points, fruit, nuts, compote, cheese, pates and salad we were full.

The fig salad was amazing and the fig port dressing was lovely! Just hints of chevre cheese, the nice bite of the arugula, bits of prosciutto were heaven and these ingredients made the salad delectable.

Now I have more of an appreciation of cheeses.

9 forks out of 10 forks

Hamburger Mary (Sacramento)

I went to Hamburger Mary in Sacramento for Brunch on the recommendation of our concierge. It was a fun place. Only 5 blocks up on J Street from the Sheraton Grand Hotel.

Two other friends opted for the same breakfast dish I got, which was the mixed grill eggs benedict. Mixed grill means mixed veggies of mushrooms, peppers and other veggies and it was great! The prices were great only $7 for our brunch dish!

Everyone in my group enjoyed their brunch and we were served well while our water glasses were refilled when needed. Great bang for the buck, good food, great company and convenient location from our hotel!

9 forks out of 10 forks

Hong Kong East Ocean Restaurant-Berkeley, CA

During my trip to the Bay Area, I met up with a good friend in Oakland. Before heading off to Sacramento, we had dimsum at Hong Kong East Ocean Restaurant. People eat here because there is a pretty view of the city (San Francisco) and water view. Lots of weddings are planned there due to the view.

The food was good and it was probably because I was famished. The dimsum was fresh but all the offerings hit the spot. The jook (aka rice congee) with the preserved egg and pork was delicious! We found out their secret weapon---salty egg was included too! One of the best jooks I have had! The usual favorites of ha gar (shrimp dumpling) and shu mai (pork and shrimp open faced dumpling) were well done. The woo gok (tarot ) was out of this world and the meat filling and crispy outer layer without tasting too oily was wonderful! The chives and shrimp dumpling was lovely! The beef tendons hot pot was great! I am used to it using curry but it was braised so well that you barely had to chew---it was great!

Overall we enjoyed our dimsum, the food was carried to our table, only three or four carts made the rounds to the tables.

Service: 8

Atmosphere: 9 (love the waterview)

Food-9

I give this place 9 forks out of 10 forks.

Tapa of the World -Sacramento

During my trip recently to California, I went to Sacramento. My good friend Betty took myself and my DC pal over to Tapa of the World -2115 J StSacramento, CA 95816-4738
+1 916 442 4353 (about a good 10 block walk -small ones) the first night we arrived last week (6.28.07). It was definitely hotter but not as humid as it was back in Boston.

Truth be told, this place on J Street (around 20th and 21st Street) was hit or miss. We adored the pitcher of sangria which was a value and we got more cups out of it than the waitress said we would. The sangria was a good mix of wine and fruit! The bread and butter were not special. I chose to have the gazpacho soup (cold tomato soup) and was sorely disappointed. The soup was nice but not as flavorful or multi-nuanced as the one I had at Tasca a few weeks prior. I missed the cucumber and it was very salty. We got some tapas (small dishes) to share---the mushroom empanadas were big, heavy and mushroom was filling the crust was a bit much. The Kobe beef – (Naturally raised from Snake River Farms, grilled medium rare & served with Austurian blue cheese butter and crispy onion streamers) with the fried onions was alright. I have had Kobe Beef and I was not impressed. (It was much richer tasting in Kobe, Japan than this version of Wagyu beef). The Champiñones al Ajillo -(Mushrooms sautéed in olive oil, garlic, parsley, and white wine) was good and we dunked our pieces of bread into the white wine sauce. Plato Combinado (Tortilla Española, Spanish olives, Spanish cured meats and today’s Spanish cheese) all my friends loved this dish!

The paella de mariscos took some time with a minimum of two people purchase and costs $15.50 a person! The price was very steep but the paella was very delicious! There was a generous amount of seafood and the rice was exceptionally flavorful.

Service was good and the prices were middle of the road save for the paella. There were some hits and some misses overall.

8 forks out of 10 forks