Work Holiday Party 2012

Custom Chef Catering by David Monson
www.customchef.com
415-990-6300

Occasion: Another year, another holiday party, but same caterer! January 14, 2012 @ Dr. Wong's newly remodeled house!

Passed Hor d'oeuvres

Mini phyllo dough cups with triple cream brie, meyer lemon jam and candied lemon 

There's a mix of sweet and savory in this little bite.  Flaky phyllo dough filled with creamy cheese and a sweet lemon jam.  It was definitely something different, but it was good.

Baked medjol date stuffed with goat cheese and almonds; wrapped with applewood smoked bacon

This was definitely a favorite amongst our group of foodies.  Henry does not like goat cheese, but he loved this appetizer.  I am not a big fan of bacon, but I caught myself having seconds and thirds.  I love the marriage of flavors as well as the different textures of this dish  I am totally going to try to replicate this appetizer at my next get together.

Fresh fanny bay oysters on seaweed salad with salmon pearls and wasabi aoili

Another amazing hor d'oeuvre.  This was served cold and added a refreshing feel to the palate.  I love raw oysters and found this absolutely tasty.  I loved the crunchy texture of the seaweed salad and the juicy surprise of the salmon pearls after it explodes in your mouth.  The wasabi aoili was subtle as it tastes away the fishiness of the scallop. 

Marriage of two soups: butternut squash and celery root puree with chestnuts, smoked bacon bits and green onions

So simple, but so good.  We were all raving about it still days later.  I love butternut squash soup and this was definitely something different.  I'm not usually big on bacon, but it actually added a nice smokey flavor and great texture to the soup.  I really really enjoyed it.

Seared duck and bay scallops with a napa cabbage salad, snow peas, toasted almonds, rice noodles and kumquat vinaigrette

This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. I loved the chunks of scallops and the crunchy texture of the snow peas as well as the crunch of the toasted almonds.  There are so many textures and flavors in this dish that make it amazing.  

Chilled beef tenderloin and poached salmon with pickled turnip, celery, enoki mushrooms and radish sprouts with a red bell pepper sauce

It actually surprised me that it was chilled.  I had expected it to be warm and was a bit disappointed, but good thing it was absolutely delicious.  The bell pepper sauce complemented the salmon very well and the beef tenderloin with the enoki mushroom was very tasty.  By the time I finished my piece of salmon I was already pretty full, and can not remember weather or not I finished the beef.  Beef usually fills me up really quickly, so I most likely didn't finish the piece of meat.  Portions were generous and I loved his variation of surf and turf.

Pair of lamb chops on a maple and dried fruit polenta with a celery root salad and toasted fennel

Lamb was not too gamy and the polenta was delicious. The dried fruit bits added a unique sweetness to the polenta that I actually enjoyed a lot.  With all the other delicious food and alcohol in my system, I definitely was not able to finish this! I love how unique this dish is because it's not something you'd be able to find in a restaurant.

Saffron and honey creme brulee, mini three chocolate cupcake and blackberries

No matter how full I get I always seem to make room for dessert.  Too bad i was only able to finish the saffron and honey creme brulee, which I enjoyed!  The caramelized sugar on the creme brulee was nice and thin and the honey and saffron flavor was perfect.  Great way to end the meal before we took pictures and said our good byes for the night.

Work Holiday Party 2011

Custom Chef Catering by David Monson
www.customchef.com
 415-990-6300

Occasion: Our work holiday party that always happens after the the holidays to accommodate every one's crazy, busy and hectic schedule.  Hosted by Dr. Lieberman and Catherine. Good food and good company, what else can you ask for? January 22, 2011.  Sorry for the super late update (yes on year late).  It was just sitting on my drafts folder for the longest time and I thought it would be appropriate to post this before I post pics from this year's holiday party! We love David Monson and his catering team so much, we've hired them for our past 3 holiday parties.  If you're planning a party and need a caterer, I'd highly recommend hiring him!! He's sociable, fun and cooks up some delicious food! 

Passed Hor d'oeuvres

Ahi tuna tartar with mango, cucumber and wild rice on a crispy wonton

They were a delightful appetizer to start the evening with.  Chunks of sweet mango and and cucumber balls added a refreshing taste to each bite.

 Seared Rosemary and coriander marinated shrimp with meyer lemon 

I love seafood and this was another great teaser before our actual meal! Plump, seasoned perfectly and delicious!

 Potato  and celery root pancake with horse gravlox, sweet mustard, dill and icicle radish

Another amazing appetizer.  If it's anything, it's the taste and texture of the starchy potato that I love.  The marriage of flavors on this one was definitely a winner! Yum!

Arugula and Belgian endive salad with marinated duck breast, candied kumquats, pomegranate and blackberries in a mint ginger vinaigrette

Our first entree of the night was amazing! I've always loved the flavor that arugula brings to a dish as it adds somewhat of a peppery taste to it, but I've never been too fond of endives.  The two veggies worked together though.  How? I don't know...perhaps it was the sweetness and the acidity of the vinaigrette and the kumquats that made the dish so refreshingly good! The duck was tender and seasoned perfectly.  What an impressive first dish already.

Chilean sea bass with a lobster ravioli in a saffron broth with shaved asparagus

The seabass melted in my mouth and the ravioli came in one big piece stuffed with lobster meat.  It was perfect because I'm big on seafood.  After this dish, I was pretty stuffed, but it was so good I just had to continue.  Definitely something I'd order at a restaurant.

Marinated beef tenderloin with herbed spaetzle, caramelized parsnips, and sweet carrots in a Merlot thyme sauce

By the time this dish came out, I was super stuffed with food and yummy drinks.  From what I can recall, it was good, though I probably would have preferred my meat more on the rarer side.  Anyhow, another beautifully presented dish.

 Angel cake or pound cake with a grand marnier sauce

I was so in love with last year's bread pudding that I was secretly disappointed that we got served this instead of the anticipated bread pudding.  It wasn't what I was expecting, but still good.

Tekka Japanese Restaurant

537 Balboa St
San Francisco, CA 94118 

Occasion: Friday night date night for some Sushi! Little hole in the wall restaurant hidden in the inner richmond district.  They only seat 11 people per serving; one at 7pm and one at 9:30pm.  So glad I had the opportunity to dine at one of the city's hidden gems. 01.13.12

Sashimi Platter

with tuna, white tuna, hamachi, salmon, squid, scallop and octopus

All of which were cut in generous cuts, fresh and delicious. My favorite has to be the hamachi as it is not only "melt in your mouth" soft, but it also has a sweet buttery taste to it. Octopus came second with a crunchy and chewy texture that I absolutely enjoyed.  Then there's the buttery goodness of the salmon, followed by the soft cartilage like crunch of the squid.  Scallop was good, but very very fishy.  The tunas are always a classic as it is probably the least fishy, but still soft.  I got filled up pretty quickly with these heavenly tasting goodies.  I guess you can say it served as our appetizer.

Steamed clams

Warm and delicious with a generous portion.  It was definitely a plus that there were chopped up scallions sprinkled on top.  It's not a fancy dish and that's why I like it.  It's simple, homey, delicious and comforting.  

Spicy Tuna Roll

I've never been a big fan of spicy tuna rolls.  Perhaps they're too plain, or too spicy for me.  The bf requested for it, so that's what we got.  The rice definitely filled me up even more! Overall, it was a good filler, but nothing spectacular.

Eggplant stirfry

Since eggplant is something I absolutely love, I requested to order this dish. My only complaint is that there's not enough in a serving.  If we had not ordered all the things we ordered and filled up on everything else, this dish would have been too small to serve me.  Anyhow, the eggplant was cooked perfectly as it was not too soft, nor was it too hard. It was perfect!!

Hamachi Kama

I was craving it and just had to try it.  It was a generous piece and of course delicious.  No complaints and just what I wanted.  The collar bone of the fish seriously has the tastiest and softest chunks of fish meat. Make sure you dig around for those hidden chunks of heavenly goodness.

Uni for two

We could have totally ordered one, but Henry went wild and ordered two.  It was rich, decadent, buttery, slimy and scrumplicious.  Henry thought it was a little bit fishy.  It was such a generous portion that neither of us could finish.  Next time, I'll be sure to put henry in check and not let him over order.  He has a tendency to do that.

Kingdom of Dumpling

1713 Taraval St
San Francisco, CA 94116

Occasion: Wednesday night dinner. Cravings satisfied! 12.28.12

Cold Wide Bean Noodle

It had a gelatinous texture to it that somewhat looked like the jellyfish that we eat at Chinese banquets. It was tasty, yet refreshing and was a great appetizer to start off with. Not exactly sure what the noodle is made of, but its definitely something different from what I normally see at northern Chinese restaurants.

Chives Pancake

It's been a must get item for us since our first encounter with it.  We love the batter of the pancake that's stuffed with chives, noodles and fried eggs yumminess.  It's not only delicious, but super filling.  I almost always have to get this now.  A great dish to get.

Chicken and spinach dumplings

Another one of our favorite items here.  We've tried about three other flavors, and this one just does it for us.  Yummy!

Beef Chow Fun

It's one of my all time favorite Chinese dishes.  For some reason, I think it tasted really good here.  It must be the sauce they use to stir fry everything in, or I was super hungry, because it was so darn tasty, I could almost say it's the best I've ever had.  The noodles were chewy, it wasn't overly greasy and it was just amazingly delicious.

Don Pisto's

510 Union St
San Francisco, CA 94133

Occasion: Friday night, date night! 12.30.11

 Tortilla Soup

stewed chicken, tortilla strips, avocado, queso fresco 

They say that it serves two, but if  you're all planning to share everything, I'd say it could serve up to 4.  This was super filling, but perfect on a cold and rainy evening.  It's simple, but at the same time comforting.  I would definitely recommend getting this to share between 4-6 people.

Pescados Taco

It came with two and we each had one.  I was reminiscing the fish tacos we had in Cabo so when I saw this on the menu, I was hoping for something that's only now in my memory.  Unfortunately, it did not compare.  It wasn't bad, it just wasn't fabulous.  For more than double the price, I just thought it was okay.  Sigh, now I've got to find another place to satisfy my fish taco cravings.

House made chorizo mussels

mexican country sausage, white wine, and cilantro  

Absolutely flavorful, especially with the chopped up chunks of chorizo in it.  Henry really enjoyed the extra kick the chorizo chunks added to this dish.  Though it was delicious and flavorful, I found the dish a little too salty for my liking, which means, I couldn't load up on it as much as I usually would. Overall, a great dish.

It was somekind of mexican drink with hot sauce and beer.

Reminded me somewhat of a bloody mary, but tasted nothing like it. Disgusting to me.