Restaurant Reviews from Our 4th of July Weekend in San Francisco, CA

Hubby and I decided to spend the 4th of July weekend in San Francisco.  We love going there because it's a pretty easy drive and is just so different from Los Angeles.  This trip was mostly about eating and enjoying time with friends. One of the highlights of the trip was meeting my blogger friend, Nami, for the first time!  She has a wonderful blog called Just One Cookbook that mostly concentrates on Japanese food.  We clicked immediately when I first met her in the blogosphere.  It turns out she is a Dragon like me, but a whole cycle behind me;o)  Please check out her blog...

http://justonecookbook.com/blog/

We met Nami and her husband Shen for a fabulous Chinese Feast at Koi Palace in Daly City on our way into San Francisco.  We were so busy eating and chatting that I didn't take any photos, but we had Soup Dumplings (XLB), Peking Duck - 3 Ways...Skin, Soup & Lettuce Cups, Ong Choy (Chinese Spinach or Hollow Veggie), Suckling Pig, Geoduck & Salmon Sashimi.  The food was delicious and we chatted it up for almost 3 hours! Towards the end of our meal there was a commotion at a table near us.  We looked over and there was a huge platter of something.  It turned out to be a huge pile of shark fin!  A $1,000 worth!!  Unfortunately, they didn't offer us a taste;o)

http://www.koipalace.com/shell.html?page=home

The next day we met for brunch at nopa with another set of friends.  Again, no pictures, but the food was wonderful! We shared most of it...Goat Cheese Bread Pudding...I usually don't like Goat Cheese, but I loved it!  Maybe cooking it makes a difference;o)  Smoked Trout w/housemade bagel, Salad w/Pluots, Garlic & Sage Sausage, Chili Braised Pork, Hamburger, &  Custard French Toast.  Loved the fact that they have loose leaf teas and some unusual cocktails.  I had the Negroni Frizzante, a Negroni w/Cava added ;o)

http://www.nopasf.com/

Dinner was at Prospect, it was good, but not great...  The menu sounded really good, but a lot of it was over salted.

http://www.prospectsf.com/

**Please excuse the poor quality of my photos for this post, but they were all taken w/my iPhone w/out the flash.**

Toro Tartare @ Morimoto Napa

Nori Tsukudani, Wasabi, Sour Cream, Chives, Guacamole & Rice Crackers

When we were at brunch with our friends we were discussing other places that we'd be going to eat.  We talked about driving out to Napa for the day for lunch and they reminded me that Iron Chef Morimoto had opened his restaurant out there.  I was excited to try it out, but unfortunately, couldn't get a reservation :o(  You need to make it on Open Table and there was no availability.  When I called in, I couldn't get a real person to pick-up they just said that reservations are made online.  Next best place to go was Tyler Florence's new place Rotisserie & Wine, they just recently started to serve lunch, so was probably the reason we were able to get in.  When we got into Napa and to the restaurant it turned out that Morimoto was right next door, so we walked in to see if we could get in...Score!  Yes, they had availability :o) So, Tyler out, Morimoto in!! We had gone to Tyler's Wayfare Tavern in the past and I wasn't overly impressed, so I much preferred going to Morimoto.

Loved this place!  I wish that he'd open one in LA.  We learned that his restaurant in Philadelphia & NY has investors and the one in Napa is his first one solely owned by Chef Morimoto and it's his baby :o)  They said that he comes in at least once a month.  He also recently opened one in Waikiki and working on another one in Mexico City.

The first time I saw the Toro Tartare dish was in a photo that my brother had taken a few years ago. I had no idea what it was, but it looked intriguing!  Then it was featured on Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate and I had an Aha moment...lol After seeing that episode, I so wanted to try that dish!  So, first thing I asked when we sat down in the Napa location is if they had it...yes, so happy and it was worth the wait!

It's chopped up Toro (Fatty Tuna) & Akami (Reg Tuna) and served with Nori Tsukudani, Wasabi, Sour Cream, Chives, Guacamole & teeny tiny Rice Crackers.  Nori Tsukudani is seaweed that is cooked down to a paste, it's a common condiment in Japan.  The dipping sauce wasn't your usual soy sauce, it also had dashi (bonito broth) added to it.  Then they give you these little shovels to use instead of chopsticks and you mix and match whatever condiment you like.  I want to make this at home next, it shouldn't be too hard as long as you have the ingredients...

http://www.morimotonapa.com/

Duck Meatball Soup

The whole menu looked really good.  Hubby had a box set which included Veggie Tempura, Miso Soup, Sushi & he picked Braised Black Cod all for $25.  I had the Duck Meatball Soup which was light and refreshing, they put grated Mountain Yam in the meatballs which makes them super fluffy and the broth had a little bit of a kick to it too!  I wished that I could have it with udon, but they wouldn't allow it...they said that all the noodles were portioned out, so no substitutions...boo!  They make all there udon & soba on sight!

I also had some sushi & sashimi.  What's nice is that even sashimi is served by the piece.  I had Otoro, Kinmedai (Big Eye Snapper) & Wagyu Beef as Sashimi (w/out rice). I also had the Uni &  Kanimiso (King Crab Tomalley) as sushi (w/rice).  I had to try the Kanimiso because it sounded so interesting, I've never seen it as a sushi item.  I didn't really like it, it really was JUST the tomalley, I would have liked it if it had a small piece of crab with it.  When we were in Paris, there was a Japanese restaurant called Aida that grilled lobster and then used it's Tomalley to make a sauce...decadent!  I wrote about it in a previous post....

http://myhomecookedmeals.blogspot.com/2011/04/our-tour-de-francemay-2010-part-1.html

Roast Chicken

Our last night we went to Alexander's Steakhouse. We really enjoyed this place.  When I first looked it up on the internet, I thought I found the wrong place because there was so much Asian stuff on the menu such as sashimi.   It turns out that the Chef is half Japanese.  Unfortunately, since we went on a Sunday night he wasn't there, but the food was all still very good.  Hubby had the roasted chicken that was smoked for 3 hrs over Bincho coals.  Those are the same coals that Yakitori places use.  It was incredible how smokey the chicken was.  There was also braised daikon served with it, but it was braised too long in too concentrated soy sauce sauce, so it was a bit salty.

http://www.alexanderssteakhouse.com/san_francisco.html

Prime Dry Aged Rib Eye w/KimChi Butter

This was my dish and I loved it!  Who would have thought to serve a full on steak w/KimChi!  Well, at Korean bbq's you get sliced meat w/KimChi ;o)  The KimChi is usually served with the Filet, but they let me change it out and have it with the Rib Eye. It also had a side dipping sauce of Spicy Sesame Oil.  They also have Wagyu Beef and do their own dry aging.  The service was very friendly and professional.  We loved the bartender, Steve, (his father grew up in Burbank;o) with his innovative drinks.  He made us some New Orleans type cocktails like the Vieux Carre & Sazerac and even gave us our last round on the House! What I really like about San Francisco was that they are a gin town! Every bar that we went to had at least 10 different types of gin and only a few Vodka. Alexander's even had Citadelle Gin which is a French gin and is very hard to find, it's one of my favs!   LA is starting to get more gin, but doesn't compare to SF.

Complimentary Cotton Candy

It was a nice touch that they serve cotton candy at the end of the meal.  This one was a blueberry/cherry flavor :o)

My Sculpture...

You can only eat so much cotton candy, I had more fun playing with it than eating it...lol

View from Alioto's @Fisherman's Wharf

I know that Fisherman's Wharf is considered a tourist trap area, but I really like going to Alioto's!  We often stop here for lunch before our drive home to LA (or we love going to Swan Oyster Depot).  It's so civilized w/their view and white table cloths.  They even provide a traditional Finger Bowl after you finish eating your cracked crab;o)  The rest of the food is ok, not great...

http://www.aliotos.com/eat.htm

Cracked Crab

I know that Dungeness Crab isn't in season in San Francisco now, but I love getting it still.  It's really hard to find plain old, hot cracked crab w/drawn butter nowadays.  It just seems like such a SF dish to me.  This version at Alioto's is called "For the Adventurous"...lol  It's called this because it's not all completely cleaned up for you and you need to use a crab cracker & bib to eat it.  I wouldn't have it any other way!  I love this version because it is served with the crab soup/fat in the top shell.  When I was drinking the "soup" the waitress said that the only people that appreciate this part are Asians & Italians...lol  She also suggested that I put the fat on bread...yum...wish I had thought of that before!

With the lid on...

Dabney Coleman Steak

Our last dinner for 4th of July weekend was our old haunt Dan Tana's right by our house.  I just can't resist their NY Strip Steak...the best in town :o)  Is it bad having two fatty steaks, two nights in a row??  I wrote a little about Dan Tana's in a past post...

http://myhomecookedmeals.blogspot.com/2011/04/dinner-tonight-ny-steak-made-into.html

http://www.dantanasrestaurant.com/home.php

My loot from Dean & Deluca :o)

I love going to Dean & Deluca when we are in the Napa area.  We stopped by here after our lunch at Morimoto.  The store is located in St. Helena.  I know most all the stuff you can buy at other stores and probably for a lot less, but I just love going there!  I got...Giant Posole (hominy), Small Posole, Black Rice, Dried Fava Beans (this is the 1st time I've seen dried), Cheese Scraper, Coffee Measuring Spoon, Glass Container and Mariage Frere Tea (not pictured).  

http://www.deandeluca.com/

Tonight's Dinner - NY Steak made into another Japanese Dish....Gyu Don

Sometimes it's challenging to come up with a new type of way to use up leftovers, but it can be fun too, like a game.  It seems like there are only so many things that you can do with steak.  Also, when it's a good cut of NY Steak, you don't want to cook it long like in a chili or stew or something like that. It's typical to make the steak into a salad or sandwich, but I wanted something else. I was able to come up with Gyu Don, a Japanese way of cooking beef and putting it on top of rice.  I changed it up a bit, so it's not quite the same as Yoshinoya Beef Bowl...lol  To try to keep the meal healthy, I served it with Hiyayakko (cold tofu w/green onions, ginger, bonito flakes & soy sauce) and a salad.

Another steak from Dan Tana's...

When I bring home a doggie bag I realize how much food that restaurants serve!  I ate about 1/3 of the steak and had enough to make this dish and I still have some left for lunch!  Well, I did have a small portion of another steak too;o)  

Eringi Mushrooms (Trumpet Mushrooms)

I really like these mushrooms because they are very meaty.  It has a much lighter taste than a Portabella Mushroom, another meaty mushroom.

Onions & Eringi Mushrooms

Ginger for the Tofu

This is an old fashioned type of grater for the ginger.  I usually use a rasp, but most of the ginger gets stuck on it and I don't get much ginger out of it.  I thought I'd try my old grater and it worked a lot better ;o)

Green Onion & Ginger

I put the large pieces of the onion in the beef while it was cooking and used the smaller chopped pieces to top the finished dish.  The ginger was for the tofu, but since there was extra, I threw it into the beef mixture.

Daikon Grater

This is another old fashioned cooking tool.  I saw it being used at a restaurant called Asanebo in Studio City  and loved the texture of the daikon radish.  I couldn't find one out here, so my sister-in-law found one for me in Japan a couple of years ago.  She even had a hard time finding one over there! But now, it's become popular in Japan too, they've been demonstrating it on morning news shows and other media.  With this tool, you really need to  be extra careful not to grate your skin.  Even though it's all made out of wood, it's very sharp.  It seems that older daikon is harder to grate because they are firmer than young daikon.

The daikon is coarse when grated with this old fashioned tool, it has a nice crunch to it when you eat it.  The daikon is even good just eating it by itself with a little bit of soy sauce.  It's a pallet cleanser and helps with your digestion.

This is my other grater. It grates the daikon much finer...

The salad had lettuce, radish, carrot, celery leaves, & red onions with Japanese Onion Dressing.  Hubby likes salad, so I try to serve it with most every meal :o)

Beef ready to be served...

I sauteed the brown onions & mushrooms and while they were cooking I mixed together about a cup of water with dashi powder, sake, mirin, sugar & soy sauce.  When the onions were starting to carmelize I added the dashi mix and cooked it down until it became a thicker sauce.  At the end I threw in the ginger, sliced green onions and the beef and cooked just until the beef was warmed through...the end :o)

Some people cook it with egg in it, but I don't really like it like that.

Gyu Don

Gyu means beef and Don is short for Donburi which means bowl.  Most Donburi dishes have rice in them.  For instance, Ten Don is Tempura over rice, Tekka Don is Maguro (Raw Tuna) over rice, Katsu Don is some kind of cutlet such as Tonkatsu over rice.

I finished off the Gyu Don with the grated daikon, chopped green onion and a little bit of sauce.

Lunch Today - Steak Sandwich w/Leftovers...

I love making meals out of leftovers.  It's a game to me of what I can come up with that's different than the original dish.  This one isn't that hard to come up with, but it still is leftovers!  

Fixin's for the sandwich...

This time I figured out an easy way to add the veggies to the sandwich. (Not that a sandwich isn't easy)  Duh!  Just mix it all up just like a salad! I guess I'm a slow learner sometimes..  At sandwich shops I sometimes see them add oil, vinegar, salt & pepper to the lettuce on the sandwich, but sometimes that makes the bread soggy.  Last time I made a sandwich and I added the dressing to the lettuce only, I thought I was brilliant;o)  Today I came up with the salad idea.  Instead of layering all the veggies, why not just mix it up! This one has mixed greens, red onion, tomatoes, pepperoncini's & avocado on the side.  Then I added a simple dressing of oil, red wine vinegar, salt , pepper and some other seasonings.  I added the dressing right before putting the sandwich together.  There also was watercress with the leftovers, so I threw that in too.

Sliced Steak Ready!

We got the leftovers from a small restaurant called Sly's in Carpinteria, CA.  I didn't like the restaurant much when they first opened, but they've really warmed up on me;o)  Sly was the chef at Lucky's Steakhouse in Montecito and then decided to open his own restaurant a few years ago. He's French trained, so he also has a rotating Prix Fixe French course every month.  Of course the steak isn't as good as Dan Tana's, but it's pretty good!  He uses the freshest of ingredients!  Last night I noticed that even the twist that they put in  my Martini was organic.  As soon as I put it up to my mouth I could smell the wonderful aroma of a lemon, I thought it could be a Meyer lemon, but it turned out it was just a regular organic lemon.  I think sometimes we forget what stuff is really supposed to smell like.  I was raving to the waitress and chef about how impressed I was by this, so they gave me one of the lemons with the rest of my leftovers!  It's the small things and gestures that put a big smile on my face :o)  Also, their Coconut Cake is to die for...

For the sliced steak I seasoned with soy sauce, ajishio and pepper.

French Roll

One of my pet peeves is that it's hard to get a good sandwich!  I think it's mainly the bread and of course the meat inside.  I think the only sandwich I like eating out is at a deli called Bay Cities in Santa Monica.  They have an Italian sandwich called the Godmother.  Some people think that it's overrated, but I don't think you can get much better than that!  They bake their own bread, so whenever we go I get a couple of loaves to go and freeze it.  I cut it into serving size, wrap in foil, put in baggie then freeze it. To thaw it, I put in oven or toaster oven @425 degrees for 15 mins and it's almost like having fresh baked bread!  I wasn't able to go to Bay Cities, so I had some frozen bread from Vons Grocery in the freezer.  I'm pleasantly pleased and surprised at how good the French rolls are at Vons!  If I can get a decent roll from Vons why can't sandwich shops get at least that quality??

Steak Sandwich w/Avocado & Salad...

To peel and slice an avocado can be a pain and messy, so I just scoop it out with a spoon and put it on the sandwich.  It's all going to get mooshed together, so presentation doesn't matter that much.

Nov 2009 - Yakitori

Yakitori is another Japanese meal that I adore.  It's normally just skewered grilled chicken, but I also added meat to the mix.  Yaki means grill and tori means chicken.  We usually go out for Yakitori, so we can get more of a variety, but  I thought it would be nice to try it at home. Another reason I don't make it at home is that it takes a lot of time to skewer each small piece of meat ;o) The marinade I use is the same that I used for the Teriyaki chicken. 

Salt Brined Wings, Chicken Thigh w/Green Onions & NY Strip

In a typical Yakitori restaurant, they grill the meat over Bincho Charcoal...a very hard charcoal.  They serve just about every part of the chicken...tail, gizzard, heart, neck, skin, liver, ovaries etc.  Of course, they also grill the regular parts like breast, thigh, wings etc.  They usually do not serve feet ;o)

I skewered NY Strip and chicken thigh w/green onions flavored with Teriyaki Sauce then grilled it on the stove top.

I was too lazy to skewer the wings...  I just brined them in salt then baked/broiled them in the toaster oven.  This was VERY easy to make!

Dinner Tonight - Leftover NY Steak made into a Japanese Steak Dish

This is another of my favorite dishes I like to make with leftovers.  I make it anytime I have leftover steak or Prime Rib.  It's another dish that my mom used to make.  I think though that all the dishes that my mom used to make, I've put in a little bit of my own touches. 

I got the leftovers from our favorite (I have many favorites of everything;o) place to get a NY Steak. It's a neighborhood restaurant called Dan Tana's.  They are a small place that people either love or hate. They may not have the "best" food, but it's solid and we love the Old School ambience, but they seriously have the best NY Strip Steak!   They've been around since 1964.  If you remember the show VEGAS, you may remember the character Dan Tanna, the character was named after the restaurant, not the other way around!  It's also a semi-celebrity hang out.  It's always fun to get a glimpse of a Star! Danny Vito once told me I was gorgeous when we saw him there...lol  It took us about 8 years, but now we are finally considered regulars!

 Daikon Oroshi (Grated Daikon Radish)

I thinly slice the beef and then arrange it on a plate and place Daikon Oroshi, Chopped Green Onion, Ponzu (Citrus) Sauce and a little bit of Soy Sauce for extra saltiness.  Sometimes I will add Yuzu (Citrus) Juice to brighten it up. This is a ceramic grater to make the Daikon Oroshi.  You need to be careful that you don't grate your knuckles when you are at the end;o)

 Ponzu Sauce

I normally don't like the pre-made Ponzu/Soy Sauce combos because they have an artificial flavor to it, but I finally found one I like!  Ponzu is a generic term for a citrus sauce made with vinegar, lemon juice or some other citrus.  This one is made with Sudachi which is a ctirus that looks like a lime.   Then there is Yuzu which is a delicacy and is similar to Sudachi. It is hard to find fresh in the US and when you do, it's pretty expensive.  In the past it was more commonly used for it's zest, but now it is sold as juice.  You can buy small bottles of Yuzu juice without the soy sauce mixed in.  

 Slicing the NY Steak

See how marbled it is...yum!!  The steak stays cold and it is so delicious when you eat it with hot rice!

 Stirring the Miso into the Soup

I made a very simple miso soup tonight.  I just used Dashi Powder instead of making stock with konbu (seaweed) and Katsuobushi (Dried Shaved Bonito Flakes).  I also added a splash of Sake in it.  You bring everything to a boil  and cook the ingredients until it's done then turn down the heat and mix in the miso.  I like to use a strainer, so their aren't small pieces of softened soy bean from the miso.  I'm not sure exactly the reason for it, but you are never supposed to let miso soup boil!

This miso soup has tofu and napa cabbage and it's topped off with chopped green onion and togarashi/hichimi (Japanese Chili Pepper w/7spices)

 Hiyayakko (Cold Tofu)

This was a healthy meal because we split a leftover steak and then had rice & two types of tofu with it.  I love tofu and luckily, Hubby likes it too! Hiyayakko is a very traditional tofu dish.  It just has drained cold tofu, grated ginger, chopped green onion, bonito flakes & soy sauce.  I like med firm tofu, but many people like the soft.  It's all personal preference.

I was in Japan and talking to some friends about tofu and when I told them the tofu we have here lasts for months in the refrigerated package they were a little horrified.   In Japan tofu is such a fresh and perishable product it lasts for only a few days!  I kind of like the fact that I can always have a package of tofu in my refrigerator;o)

 Assembled Togther..

Recently, I was able to try out a new lens my brother got for his camera that takes awesome food shots.   Since I've been so diligent with my new food blog, Hubby bought me the lens too!  It takes beautiful close up shots!  My husband is the best!!  Most of the pictures today are taken with the new camera lens.  I still need a separate camera for the wide shots;o)

My first food post...

 Hitching Post II, Buellton, CA

I think that big honkin steak in the back was ours :o)  We usually get the 24 oz Angus Rib Chop and then share it. They also have the best Baby Back Ribs!  They just season it with their own blend of spices called "Magic Dust", no sauce, just the seasoning and the nice flavor of the oak!  The only problem with that is it's only available Sun-Fri only...

They have a window where you can watch them grill your food...

Steak Hash

From September 2009

I love leftovers from both my own cooking and restaurants! I think these leftovers are from the Hitching Post which is about an hour away from Santa Barbara. I use both the steak and baked potato leftovers and turn it into hash. I just saute some garlic and onions then add the potatoes and then the steak at the last minute, so it doesn't get too well done. I'm not the best at making eggs, but this breakfast was sure tasty :o)