Sibby

716 S Railroad Ave
San Mateo, CA 9440

Occasion: Just because... We had a fun filled day that started out with Brunch at Brendas then ended up around the block for some Philz coffee, which led to hanging out at my big sis' place before we headed to SJ. After our little field trip down to the south bay for some Vietnamese grubbing, we headed back to my big sis' place for girl talk/ wedding talk...and of course desserts from sibby's! They only take orders and you must have an order of at least half a dozen.  I decided to order a dozen with the Sibby Sampler that included a variety of their most popular flavors (half for our girls fun day and half for family). 07.21.12

From the top going clock wise: Chocolate & Cream, Cinnamon Latte, Butter Cup, July's flavor of the month: Smore's, Grandma's Chocolate Tea Cake, Red Velvet
My favorite to least favorite: chocolate and cream, butter cup, cinnamon latte, red velvet, grandma's chocolate tea cake then the smore's

The chocolate cakes were a lot more moist than the other ones.  I love fluffy, light frosting cupcakes.  The simpler the better.  Though these are delicious, I've definitely had better.  My fondest memories of these cupcakes were for my 25th birthday.

Sweet Woodruff

798 Sutter St
San Francisco, CA 94109

Occasion: Office Lunch! July 2012

Strawberry Salad

Arugula, sunflower seeds,chevre, basil red wine vinaigrette
What a fresh and delicious salad. The smokiness of the arugula, creamy chunks of goat cheese with crunch sunflower seed.  So simple, but so delicious.

Peach and speck salad

Mixed greens, ricotta salada, pistachio with balsamic and orange vinaigrette
Another amazing salad. I love that citrusy taste the peach adds to the salad. The speck was a great addition to the salad, as it added a nice savory flavor.  The cheese had a chalky texture that melted in your mouth.  Can't complain about the added texture and flavor the pistachio brings out.

Fennel Salad

Blue Barn Gourmet

2105 Chestnut St
San Francisco, CA 94123

Occasion: New favorite salad spot in the city.  I swear, I've had this place at least once a week for the past 5 weeks or so. Fresh ingredients that are delicious and cutely packaged.  August 2012

My favorite is the spicy tuna, but their nicoise and detox are pretty good too. Check out their menu to find what suites your taste buds best. They also have some pretty amazing deli sandwiches or grilled cheese sandwiches...Mmmm their burrata grilled cheese sandwich is unforgettable.

Chaya Brasserie

132 The Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA 9410

Occasion: Brunch with my kdphi fam bam! 07.08.12

Banana Bread

with whipped maple syrup
Their light airy whipped maple syrup complements the moist banana bread perfect.  I love how there are generous chunks of walnuts. It really is delicious.

Jalepeno-Bacon Cornbread

with white cheddar cheese scallions
One of the tastiest cornbread I have had. It has a rich buttery cheddar taste with chunks of jalepeno-bacon.  It's definitely something completely different than the banana bread.  Both were good.

Smoked Salmon Benedict.

Poached Eggs with spinach, hollandaise sauce and home fries
It was good, but nothing special.  I enjoyed it because everything else on the menu sounded to heavy for me. 

Warm Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding

with caramel ice cream
Seriously the best bread pudding I have ever had.  It's rich, it's decadent and  it's unforgettable.

Molten Valrhona Hazelnut Chocolate Cake

with Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream and candied walnuts
Another amazingly delicious dessert. I seriously didn't have the stomach to eat any more, but the bite I did have was very very memorable. I will definitely be back for more.

Skool

1725 Alameda St
San Francisco, CA 94103

Occasion: Catch up dinner with my Big sis.  I got there a little bit earlier than our reservation time and made it there while their happy hour was still going on.  We ordered a couple of items on their Detention Hall (Happy Hour Menu) as well as from their regular dinner menu. Their food is AMAZING!  07.05.12

Eryngii Mushroom Fries

with Cornmeal Breading Served with Skool Miso Aioli

Deep fried mushrooms= amazingly delicious, especially when dipped into their miso ailoli sauce.  They're great to snack on and absolutely addicting. Genius.

Skool Sliders

Pork Belly Confit Sliders with Sugar Miso Glaze, Serrano Chille and Togarashi on Baby Brioche Bun

Another amazing bite from their happy hour menu.  Their buns were just whatever, but I loved the spicy and sweet combo on the pork belly.

Sexy Cocktail Drinks

Crab Bon Bons

Dungeness Crab Balls with Yuzu-Citrus Hollandaise and Herb Oil

They're okay, not too memorable though. 

Grilled Ika-Yaki

Large Grilled Squid with Tomato-Ginger Fondue 

Loved the charred taste of the grilled squid, which were really soft and not too chewy.  There were chunks of tomatoes that were so soft and flavorful. 

Squid Ink Spaghettina

Monterey Squid, Local White Shrimp, Garlic Tomato Compote, Japanese Red Curry, Lemon Grass Dashi-Broth, Seaweed Butter, Enoki Mushrooms, Shiso

This is seriously my favorite thing to get here.  One serving is enough to share between two and you can request for them to split it for you.  The soup is flavorful with a kick of spice to it.  The quid ink pasta is fresh and chewy. Oh and the variety of seafood in the bowl is generous.  It's just a really well put together dish. I love it and would highly recommend it.

Lavendar Panna Cotta

The taste of lavendar was just too strong for my liking.  It just didn't do it for me, but the little biscuit cookie it came with was delicious.

Sushi on North Beach-Katsu

745 Columbus Ave
San Francisco, CA 9413

Occasion: While the girls got together to have dinner at R &G Lounge in Chinatown, the boys had sushi in North Beach. 06.30.12

Foie Gras sushi

Special delivery to the girls from the guys.  This was the last day to enjoy any bit of foie gras in California before the ban.  So glad I got to have some on the very last day. Foie gras on top of hamachi. Delicious!  What a gem in the middle of north beach. I need to try their sushi one day, soon!

Vietnamese Flair

Henry's mom is such an amazing cook! She always makes food that hits the spot.  One day, I'll learn how to master some of these authentic dishes; which happen to be some of my favorite dishes to have.

Banh Xeo

Bun Rieu

Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream

2790 Harrison St
San Francisco, CA 9411

Occasion: I had to try these foie gras ice cream sandwiches before the ban.  Since I missed it a couple of times that week, we finally made it on the last day.  Yay for being first in line 06.30.12

Foie Gras Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ginger snap cookies with foie gras ice cream.  The taste of the foie gras is pretty subtle, but the combination of the gingersnap cookies with the creamy sweet ice cream with a hint of savoriness was the perfect pairing for these cookies. I love ginger anything and have the gingersnap cookies as a part of this ice cream sandwich was an absolute plus!

Delfina

3621 18th St
San Francisco, CA 9411

Occasion: Date night on a weekday! 06.27.12

Grilled San Pedro Calamari with warm white bean salad
For the price we're paying, we should definitely be getting more calamari in it.  The white bean salad was super delicious though.  I loved the taste of the grilled calamari together with the fresh greens and the white beans. It tasted really fresh and it was a great appetizer to get our appetite going.

 

Pappardelle pasta with Devil’s Gulch rabbit sugo, roasted peppers

For how tasty it was, there just wasn't enough on the plate.  The portion just doesn't fill you up completely, but it satisfies the belly.  The pasta is so fresh and the rabbit sugo with the roasted pepper adds a nice sweetness to it.

Spaghetti with plum tomatoes, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, peperoncini 

Fresh ingredients with sweet tomato chunks.  It's not overly saucy, but there's still great flavors.  It's simple, but good. Again, I just wish they served more per plating.  Don't bring a big guy here, they will either leave with a hungry stomach or order 3-4 entrees to themselves.

Prime Dip Sandwiches

1515 Fillmore St
San Francisco, CA 94115

Occasion: Throughout the month of July, I have come here a good number of times.  For lunch, after work snack before I drive down to Santa Clara to lunch.  My coworkers love this new place that is pretty close to our work.

Lobster Roll 

Such a generous amount of lobster in the sandwich.  It comes on a roll that reminds me of those of vietnamese sandwiches.  It also comes with a side of your choice.  Pictured is their mac and cheese. Yum!

Prime rib

It comes with a horse radish mayonnaise spread and some au jus to dip the sandwich in.  This one is definitely a favorite amongst the crowd.  I got a side salad, which is delicious. Crumbled egg and beets (and I'm not even usually a beet person).

Straw

203 Octavia Blvd
San Francisco, CA 9410

Occasion: Brunch double date with Phil and Fiah. Very cute somewhat hidden spot near Hayes Valley. Everything was carnival themed, which was pretty unique.  06.24.12

rocky mountain madame
egg-in-the-hole brioche toast/proscuitto/swiss/garlic ailoi/bechamel/hash browns 

I had ordered this because Henry got the chicken and waffle.  I really liked it, but it was a bit heavy to have as my first meal of the day.  There's a lot of bread going on, so if you're on a no carb diet; this would be a bad idea.

fried chicken-n-waffle monte christo
free range chicken breast/belgian waffle/rasberry jam/swiss/maple syrup/powdered suga

I love the idea of chicken an waffles.  These are fluffier belgian waffles, which I am a fan of.  I definitely enjoyed this more t han my own dish.  Simple carnival food.

Limon Rotisserie

5800 3rd St
San Francisco, CA 94124

Occasion:Catch up dinner with 2/5 of my bAbiEs and to celebrate Tiff's belated birthday! 06.23.12

Ceviche 

It was good, but I've definitely had better.

 

A Whole chicken

Filling and flavorful and definitely more than enough! My favorites are usually the darker meat, but their white meat is pretty juicy and not as dry as I would expect white meat to be.

 

Sangria

It's strong, but still very sweet and refreshing.  It's so much more worth it to get a pitcher

 

Truffle Mac and Cheese

Truffle anything wins my heart!

String beans

Sweet Potato Fries 

I love sweet potato fries. 

Overall, this place has good food for a pretty reasonable price.  Nothing super fancy, but satisfying. I loved it.

La Folie

2316 Polk St
San Francisco, CA 94109

Occasion: Double date night for some foie gras grubbing before the ban. Henry opted for the 5 course, while I got the 3 course, especially since I had a little bit to eat prior to dinner. Unfortunately, not everything is pictured. Shame on me. Another wonderful experience here. 06.22.12

Amuse Bouche

Another Amuse Bouche

Henry's foie gras soup
It was interesting, but nothing special to be.  Though it did come with a generous piece of foie gras on the side.

 

Foie gras torchon

Seriously the best torchon I've had!!  The torchon was creamy and it sat on a bed of some kind of peanut butter wafer like thing.  The peanut butter brought out some nuttiness of  the foie gras and it was amazing.  I definitely played around with this dish, as I tried different combinations of everything on the dish.  There was a strawberry jam like thing, some juicy tender squab and a cheese pastry puff.  My favorite combination was the peanut butter wafer. So good, I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Hudson Valley Seared Foie Gras

The biggest chunk of foie gras we've had at any restaurant and also the tastiest.  This time it came with some cherry glaze, but the first time I had it here there was a cinnamon apple glaze that was absolutely memorable and delicious.  I've never been big on cherry glaze, but it was still very delicious.  Henry and I as well as Fanny and Thomas also go their own portion of this.  It really is that amazingly delicious.

Foie Gras with Scallop

The scallop was buttery soft and sweet.  It was topped with a piece of buttery foie gras.  It was good, but just not enough scallop. I guess the chunk of foie gras makes up for the lack of scallop.

Trio of Rabbit

Rabbit prepared in three different ways with a side of fresh veggies. Meat from left to right: Loin, rack, leg .  It was not gamey at all, which was great!  The meat is stiffer and denser than chicken, but not as dry.  The meat was lean  and somewhat had a rubbery texture to it, not like rubber bands, but it just has a springy texture. 

Palate cleanser

Thomas' meat with truffles and foie gras

Foie gras dessert

Very subtle in taste. It was mousse-like and creamy.  Good, but not that memorable.  However, the hazelnut praline sponge cake was really really good.  There was also bacon ice cream.  A lot of different textures and flavors going on, which I liked; variety.

Jasper's Corner Tap and Kitchen

401 Taylor St
San Francisco, CA 9410

Occasion: Happy hour before dinner at La Folie 06.22.12

Mini burgers

shropshire blue cheese, sesame bun 

I love the idea of mini burgers because it's not as heavy and you don't feel as guilty eating a mini burger than  an actual burger.  The buns were nicely toasted and the meat was so juicy.

Bay Bridge Buck

Hangar One Buddha’s Hand Vodka, strawberries, orgeat, lime, ginger beer. 

I'm always sold when there's ginger beer involved.  It was absolutely delicious. Citrusy, but sweet.  I loved the combination of everything.