Yesterday was April 1st; a day we always seem to forget is going to bite us in the ass until it actually happens. There are two scenarios here:
Scenario A - you wake up and don't realize that it's April Fools Day until something silly stumbles upon your life, and you tell your self "Ah ha! I won't be fooled today, but instead I will come up with a practical joke that all of my gullible friends will fall for! Muah Ha Ha!"
Scenario B - you wake up and don't realize that it's April Fools Day... all day.
I'm always a Scenario A person. I don't tend to plan tricks ahead of time on April Fools Day. They usually come to me mid-morning, like an epiphany, and I let it last through the rest of the afternoon until the guilt sinks in and I start to pity my friends for their unbelievable faith in my honesty. I too am pretty gullible, but this is the one day of the year where I don't let anything slip by me. But be warned, I will trick you, and you will like it.
Two years ago, I changed my relationship status to "engaged" on Facebook and fooled many people into thinking I was going to marry my then boyfriend. Last year I couldn't think of anything to top that (see last year's post, Everybody Plays the Fool), so I took a little holiday from my favorite holiday. But this year I wasn't going to let that happen again. No, sirree.
After perusing the far-fetched farces that people were posting on their Facebook wall, I decided mine would have to be utterly believable; something that people who really knew me could see the truth in. At 10am, it came to me:
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Just got a job offer in Melbourn!!!!!!!!! I start May 1st!!!!! Look out Australia, here I come :)"
Within minutes, my friend's mother commented asking what the job was. I replied that I would be working for a company that does marketing and distribution for Australian wines. Brilliant. Anyone who knows me knows that's my dream job, and that I would probably drop anything to do it. After that, the comments started flooding my wall with "CONGRATS!" and "I'LL MISS YOU" and "WHEN DO YOU LEAVE?" There was the occasional, "haha, very funny, April Fools" which I deleted immediately so I could keep up my scam. Friends of my parents were falling for it too! Before I knew it, there were 20 responses, and by the end of the day, there were 40!
People were contacting me in messages and in Gmail, telling me that they would be in Australia this summer and we should meet up, or that they have a cousin who just moved there who could help me get acquainted. In Gchat conversations with close friends, I made up even more lies: I have 24 hours to accept the job, and if I take it then I leave in two weeks. After a few minutes, the date would sink in and people would realize I was pulling their leg and they would kick themselves for falling for yet another one of my April Fools Day gems.
I could tell that this might get out of hand soon. So I sent a text to my boyfriend and said, "don't be alarmed by my Facebook status," but he was too smart for me. He knew immediately that it was a prank, and I was sort of glad. I told him to watch out and not to get fooled, but it was too late. Hours later someone (not me) would post his car for sale for $1200 on Craigslist, complete with a photo and a phone number (his cell) where he could be reached. A half hour after it was posted, calls/texts/voicemails were coming in by the dozens. Every minute someone else was contacting him, some offering cash, some asking if they could pick the car up that night, some even offering more than the listing price! It was insanity - and hilarity. I still don't know who this brilliant prankster was, but I have to hand it to them. Craigslist is an equally, if not better, venue for April Fools Day. But I digress...
Only one person noticed that I spelled Melbourne wrong in my status update - and he never believed me to begin with. You'd think if I can't even spell the name of the city I'm moving to, then I must be fooling you, right? Wrong. People will believe anything you tell them, especially if it's something that brings joy to your life. They want to be happy for you, they want to congratulate you.
Truth be told, if someone offered me my dream job right now with only a month to say goodbye to San Francisco, I would probably turn them down. Because timing is everything. I know someday it will be my time to take the leap and do something BIG, but for now I am happy in my cozy yet exciting city of San Francisco. And if you REALLY knew me, you would know that too.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Film Review: Alice in Wonderland
After three years of anticipating what I expected to be Tim Burton's most magnificent creation of his career, Alice in Wonderland is everything I ever wanted it to be. Though I am not entirely familiar with the original storybook by Lewis Carroll, I imagine he is giggling with madness in his grave. I may be biased as a self-proclaimed Tim Burton maniac, but I could not imagine any other director making this film with such acuteness (I heard Steven Spielberg was approached initially). It's nice to see Burton reunite with Disney on this project after twenty years of desperately trying to break away from their conglomerate. Perhaps it was the only way for him to execute the Disney Digital 3D effects with such finesse.
True to it's original intent, the film is like a strung out trip on a path to to finding ones own identity, no matter how mad - or bonkers - it makes you. It starts with Alice as a young woman, trying to escape an engagement and falling down the rabbit hole once again into this strange Wonderland. She doesn't realize that she was there thirteen years before as a young girl, even when all the characters in her "dream" insist they know her. Burton weaves the audience through the imagery and the characters that we know so well from the cartoon we saw as children, adding of course his own special touch that excites us and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Do not be mistaken; this is in no way anything like Disney's 1951 Alice in Wonderland. It's dark and twisted and frightening and it stretches your imagination until you find yourself as mad as the Hatter himself.
Speaking of the Hatter, Johnny Depp nailed it. He shined as a supporting actor, without stealing the show as one might expect him to in such a colorful role. (Burton tried to achieve this with Depp when he did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, even changing the title from the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" - alas he failed when poor Charlie was outshone by Willy's awkward bowl cut and creepy flashbacks). The audience was free to delight in the acting skills of Anne Hathaway, who played the White Queen with such charisma, gracefully flailing her arms around and floating through her pristine castle like a housewife on Quaaludes. Helena Bonham Carter plays her evil sister, the Red Queen. She masterfully brings a sense of naive vanity to the character, whilst managing to terrify all her subjects. And let's not forget about Mia Wasikowska in her breakthrough role as the one and only Alice. Everything about her - even down to the way her hair falls - echoes the perplexing journey that is Alice in Wonderland. All the little side characters including the caterpillar (voiced by Alan Rickman), the hare, the mouse, the Tweedles and the dog keep the audience in check and allow us to escape the fact that we're watching a blockbuster film. Like all of Burton's films, the characters are what move the plot.
It never hit me when I saw the cartoon as a child just how much this film echoes the storyline of The Wizard of Oz. A girl falls through a time warp and lands in a mysterious place with odd characters and dream-like occurrences, to be told by everyone she meets that she was brought there to bring down the evil sister and return the land to it's once peaceful balance. She falls in love with these characters and finds it hard to leave. The difference is, Dorothy goes home because she misses her family; Alice goes home because she has decisions to inform people of, life-altering decisions that seemed too vast to handle before her trip down the rabbit hole. But after a trip such as Wonderland, Alice can handle anything.
True to it's original intent, the film is like a strung out trip on a path to to finding ones own identity, no matter how mad - or bonkers - it makes you. It starts with Alice as a young woman, trying to escape an engagement and falling down the rabbit hole once again into this strange Wonderland. She doesn't realize that she was there thirteen years before as a young girl, even when all the characters in her "dream" insist they know her. Burton weaves the audience through the imagery and the characters that we know so well from the cartoon we saw as children, adding of course his own special touch that excites us and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Do not be mistaken; this is in no way anything like Disney's 1951 Alice in Wonderland. It's dark and twisted and frightening and it stretches your imagination until you find yourself as mad as the Hatter himself.
Speaking of the Hatter, Johnny Depp nailed it. He shined as a supporting actor, without stealing the show as one might expect him to in such a colorful role. (Burton tried to achieve this with Depp when he did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, even changing the title from the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" - alas he failed when poor Charlie was outshone by Willy's awkward bowl cut and creepy flashbacks). The audience was free to delight in the acting skills of Anne Hathaway, who played the White Queen with such charisma, gracefully flailing her arms around and floating through her pristine castle like a housewife on Quaaludes. Helena Bonham Carter plays her evil sister, the Red Queen. She masterfully brings a sense of naive vanity to the character, whilst managing to terrify all her subjects. And let's not forget about Mia Wasikowska in her breakthrough role as the one and only Alice. Everything about her - even down to the way her hair falls - echoes the perplexing journey that is Alice in Wonderland. All the little side characters including the caterpillar (voiced by Alan Rickman), the hare, the mouse, the Tweedles and the dog keep the audience in check and allow us to escape the fact that we're watching a blockbuster film. Like all of Burton's films, the characters are what move the plot.
It never hit me when I saw the cartoon as a child just how much this film echoes the storyline of The Wizard of Oz. A girl falls through a time warp and lands in a mysterious place with odd characters and dream-like occurrences, to be told by everyone she meets that she was brought there to bring down the evil sister and return the land to it's once peaceful balance. She falls in love with these characters and finds it hard to leave. The difference is, Dorothy goes home because she misses her family; Alice goes home because she has decisions to inform people of, life-altering decisions that seemed too vast to handle before her trip down the rabbit hole. But after a trip such as Wonderland, Alice can handle anything.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Back on the Beef Train
If you're a dedicated reader, you know that I spent the month of February omitting red meat from my diet. Though at first I thought this would be a hard task, I found it to be quite easy and very rewarding.
I found myself buying more grains and vegetables when I went to the farmers market or grocery store. I even cooked quinoa for the first time (though, I've eating it many times). I only ate tofu a couple of times, opting for chicken or turkey instead. I also found beans to be an essential source of protein for my diet, as well as eggs. I added kale and Swiss chard to vegetable stir-fry dishes, and tried lots of different kinds of salads.
Though I tried to avoid it most times, I ate pork 3 or 4 times throughout the month. I was really good about it in the beginning; I even declined bacon multiple times. But about half way through the month my friend made a delicious pozole dish with pork, and I just couldn't say no - though I did cut down on the amount of pork I put into the bowl. A couple weeks later he made a Moroccan dish with couscous, chickpeas, veggies and tri-tip. I simply ate everything but the tri-tip and it was filling and so tasty (also because my friend is a fantastic chef). My mother visited and we went out to some very nice dinners at Slanted Door and Absinthe. We just HAD to order the pork crispy imperial rolls at Slanted Door, and there was some bacon in the frisee salad that we had at Absinthe. In the end, I didn't feel as bad for eating the pork and I was more impressed with myself that I turned down steak when everyone around me was enjoying it.
I broke my red meat fast a little early (as did my parents, who were part of the friendly challenge). My friend from wine class invited me over to dinner on Saturday because he was planning to open a 1996 Barolo that he had been holding for a while. Paired with the Barolo was slow-roasted beef ribs, goat cheese polenta, Brussels sprouts with bacon, broccoli and a salad with feta, strawberries and pine nuts - certainly a feast, and definitely the appropriate way to break my fast.
Truth be told, my diet really didn't change all that much. I realized the only times I eat red meat is when I go out to eat or someone cooks it for me (or the occasional roast beef sandwich). So it would be pretty easy for me to continue eating in this fashion. Some of my vegetarian friends jokingly criticized me for eating poultry and fish, and encouraged me to go veggie all together. But that's one thing I don't think I'll ever be able to do, not even for a month.
So all in all, a pretty successful dietary experiment. Now, if only I could stop drinking alcohol for a month.
I found myself buying more grains and vegetables when I went to the farmers market or grocery store. I even cooked quinoa for the first time (though, I've eating it many times). I only ate tofu a couple of times, opting for chicken or turkey instead. I also found beans to be an essential source of protein for my diet, as well as eggs. I added kale and Swiss chard to vegetable stir-fry dishes, and tried lots of different kinds of salads.
Though I tried to avoid it most times, I ate pork 3 or 4 times throughout the month. I was really good about it in the beginning; I even declined bacon multiple times. But about half way through the month my friend made a delicious pozole dish with pork, and I just couldn't say no - though I did cut down on the amount of pork I put into the bowl. A couple weeks later he made a Moroccan dish with couscous, chickpeas, veggies and tri-tip. I simply ate everything but the tri-tip and it was filling and so tasty (also because my friend is a fantastic chef). My mother visited and we went out to some very nice dinners at Slanted Door and Absinthe. We just HAD to order the pork crispy imperial rolls at Slanted Door, and there was some bacon in the frisee salad that we had at Absinthe. In the end, I didn't feel as bad for eating the pork and I was more impressed with myself that I turned down steak when everyone around me was enjoying it.
I broke my red meat fast a little early (as did my parents, who were part of the friendly challenge). My friend from wine class invited me over to dinner on Saturday because he was planning to open a 1996 Barolo that he had been holding for a while. Paired with the Barolo was slow-roasted beef ribs, goat cheese polenta, Brussels sprouts with bacon, broccoli and a salad with feta, strawberries and pine nuts - certainly a feast, and definitely the appropriate way to break my fast.
Truth be told, my diet really didn't change all that much. I realized the only times I eat red meat is when I go out to eat or someone cooks it for me (or the occasional roast beef sandwich). So it would be pretty easy for me to continue eating in this fashion. Some of my vegetarian friends jokingly criticized me for eating poultry and fish, and encouraged me to go veggie all together. But that's one thing I don't think I'll ever be able to do, not even for a month.
So all in all, a pretty successful dietary experiment. Now, if only I could stop drinking alcohol for a month.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Yummies: Volume 6
This year's Valentines Day may have been my best yet. My boyfriend was skiing in Tahoe all weekend, coming back to San Francisco Sunday evening. This was great, because it relieved all the pressure of spending some ooey gooey Valentines Day afternoon together, and I had the whole day to myself to do whatever I pleased. While some of my friends like to spend their Sunday Fundays going to bottomless mimosa brunches - which I too enjoy, but only on occasion - my ideal Sunday Funday is spent in my neighborhood and home, pretending to be a suburban housewife. Forgetting all together that many people were celebrating some silly Hallmark holiday, and instead taking in the beautiful weather on this Sunday afternoon, I mapped out my version of Sunday Funday: yoga clothes all day (minus the yoga thanks to my recent knee injury), coffee and sunshine on my deck, farmers market and some gourmet grocery store shopping, a walk to the park, cleaning the house, some Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations episodes here and there, doing laundry, getting a pedicure, a long shower, and preparing for an elegant meal with my boyfriend. Mind you, the preparation was very minor. This whole meal is easy to make and it takes very little time to execute. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Seared Halibut with Green Beans, Tomatoes, White Wine Sauce and Orzo
(from Epicurious, but I've made some very slight adjustments - serves 2)
Apple Crisp
(From the Vegetarian Epicure)
Seared Halibut with Green Beans, Tomatoes, White Wine Sauce and Orzo
(from Epicurious, but I've made some very slight adjustments - serves 2)
- 1/2 pound green beans
- Two 7-ounce halibut fillets, skinned and cut into chunks
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoons canola oil
- 1/3 cup Sauvignon Blanc or other dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- less than 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- bunch of scallions, white part only, finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed
- 15-20 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 1/2 cups of orzo pasta, preferably wheat
- Chop tomatoes and scallions, and place in small bowl with capers. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
- Boil water for orzo. Add a teaspoon of salt. When water is boiling, add orzo and 1/2 a tablespoon of olive oil and cook for 8-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a another pot of boiling salted water, cook the green beans for 3 to 4 minutes on high heat, until tender. Once done, drain and place them back in the pot. Cover and keep warm on simmer.
- Season the halibut chunks on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large saute pan, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Cook the fish for about 3 minutes, until lightly browned. Turn, reduce the heat to medium, and cook about 4 minutes longer, until the fish is opaque in the center and browned on both sides.
- Once everything is ready, place the orzo on warm platter. Top with green beans and then fish. Cover with aluminum foil, and set aside.
- Add the wine and lemon juice to the pan you were cooking the fish in.
- Raise the heat to high and deglaze the pan by scraping up any browned bits of fish with a wooden spoon.
- Cook for about 2 minutes, then reduce the heat and stir in the butter, a piece at a time, to enrich and flavor the sauce.
- Add the scallions, capers, and tomato. Stir for about 2 minutes.
- Pour over the fish on the platter. Serve immediately.
Apple Crisp
(From the Vegetarian Epicure)
- 3 large tart green apples
- 1/4 cup water1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- Peel the apples and slice them thinly.
- Layer them evenly in a glass pie dish sprinkle them with the water.
- Put them aside while you prepare the crust.
- Sift together the dry ingredients and cut in the butter until all is well combined. Sprinkle this mixture thickly and evenly over the apples. Don’t mix the two together.
- Cover the casserole and bake at 350 degrees for ½ hour, then uncover and bake another ½ hour. The crust will be crisp on top, and will have partly seeped down through the apples, flavoring them and binding them slightly together.
- Serve with Vanilla Ice Cream.
Monday, February 8, 2010
I'm in it for the Ads
WHO DAT? The New Orleans win their first ever Superbowl and Katrina is officially over. Seriously though, congratulations on a fantastic win! With Mardi Gras just around the corner, I can only imagine what the topless girl-filled streets of the French Quarter looked like last night.
While I'll be the first non-football loving girl to admit that the game was actually quite entertaining this year, I'm usually in it for the ads. This year, however, I was quite disappointed. Not even Budweiser could come up with a funny commercial. The only decent one was the one that features the Clydesdale running along the adorable calf, turned raging bull three years later. What can I say, I have a soft spot for animals. The deserted island Bud Light commerical was okay, but I wonder if non-Lost fans recognized the parody. And way too long car.com and godaddy.com ads were stupid and had nothing to do with the product they were marketing.
I did, however, think that there were many entertaining movie trailers this year, especially and obviously this one. I'm also looking forward to seeing the new Robin Hood, as well as the M. Night Shyamalan flick. Some other winners include the Betty White Snickers ad, the Dorito-covered man in the gym ad, the stuffed animals coming to life KIA ad, and of course the long-awaited Google ad, which happen to be directed by a college friend of mine named Aaron Duffy. Congratulations, Aaron!
What I love about the Parisian Love Google ad is that it's simple, yet effective and heart-warming. It appeals to men for it's straight, dry humor and to women for its romantic side. It illustrates the development of a relationship through quick Google searches. I love the detail of the searches; how it corrects him when he misspells "Louvre" and how he goes off on a Trauffaut search tangent when he is looking up the meaning of truffles. This realistically depicts how someone conducts seemingly meaningless Google searches to come up with their end result, but also proves that these everyday web-surfing searches do have meaning, and in fact are very calculated. The subject of the ad goes from looking into study abroad programs in Paris, to searching for jobs in Paris, to looking up how to build a crib. And we get all of this with simplistic and familiar imagery that is the start to an excellent television campaign for Google.
If only the other many poorly executed commercials could have followed the path of Google and Dorito, then maybe the ad portion of the Superbowl would have been half as entertaining as watching 70+ year old musicians (aka The Who) belt out the lyrics to "Baba O'Reilly" - which many of you (including myself up until yesterday) know as "Teenage Wasteland."
While I'll be the first non-football loving girl to admit that the game was actually quite entertaining this year, I'm usually in it for the ads. This year, however, I was quite disappointed. Not even Budweiser could come up with a funny commercial. The only decent one was the one that features the Clydesdale running along the adorable calf, turned raging bull three years later. What can I say, I have a soft spot for animals. The deserted island Bud Light commerical was okay, but I wonder if non-Lost fans recognized the parody. And way too long car.com and godaddy.com ads were stupid and had nothing to do with the product they were marketing.
I did, however, think that there were many entertaining movie trailers this year, especially and obviously this one. I'm also looking forward to seeing the new Robin Hood, as well as the M. Night Shyamalan flick. Some other winners include the Betty White Snickers ad, the Dorito-covered man in the gym ad, the stuffed animals coming to life KIA ad, and of course the long-awaited Google ad, which happen to be directed by a college friend of mine named Aaron Duffy. Congratulations, Aaron!
What I love about the Parisian Love Google ad is that it's simple, yet effective and heart-warming. It appeals to men for it's straight, dry humor and to women for its romantic side. It illustrates the development of a relationship through quick Google searches. I love the detail of the searches; how it corrects him when he misspells "Louvre" and how he goes off on a Trauffaut search tangent when he is looking up the meaning of truffles. This realistically depicts how someone conducts seemingly meaningless Google searches to come up with their end result, but also proves that these everyday web-surfing searches do have meaning, and in fact are very calculated. The subject of the ad goes from looking into study abroad programs in Paris, to searching for jobs in Paris, to looking up how to build a crib. And we get all of this with simplistic and familiar imagery that is the start to an excellent television campaign for Google.
If only the other many poorly executed commercials could have followed the path of Google and Dorito, then maybe the ad portion of the Superbowl would have been half as entertaining as watching 70+ year old musicians (aka The Who) belt out the lyrics to "Baba O'Reilly" - which many of you (including myself up until yesterday) know as "Teenage Wasteland."
Monday, February 1, 2010
Dine About Town
Every year from January 15th to January 31st, San Francisco's best restaurants put together a prix fixe $35 dinner and $22 lunch menu. A self-proclaimed foodie, I take advantage of these 16 days and visit as many restaurants as I can without going broke.
Last year I went to dinner at Supper Club and Foreign Cinema, and lunch at Absinthe. Supper Club was overrated and kind of freaky, Foreign Cinema was fun and delicious, but Absinthe took the cake with their French inspired menu, and the fact that I got my in with Top Chef's Jamie Lauren.
This year I went to lunch at One Market, and dinner at Cassis, Foreign Cinema and Luna Park. Here's what I thought (ratings are on a Zagat scale):
ONE MARKET
First of all, they have amazing warm crescent rolls - some of the best table bread I have ever had! I ordered a glass of white wine (yay for boozing on lunch breaks), farmers market salad and dock confit. The salad was light and refreshing, a good start but nothing special. The duck confit was delicious! Not too heavy (even with a bowl of risotto), lots of great flavors, interesting texture. My co-worker ordered the Cobb salad. When it arrived we were both a little confused. It appeared to be a couple pieces of lettuce, some avocado slices, bacon and poached quail eggs on top of something that resembled a pita or flat bread. Turns out it was thinly pounded boneless, skinless chicken breast under the salad! Very well seasoned, the chicken alone encompassed all flavors that go into a Cobb salad. It was a very unique presentation on a classic favorite. The only bad thing about the meal was that our server was kind of all over the place, and she took a very long time to bring our entrees. Other than that, she was very nice and polite - probably just a little busy during the lunch hour.
Food: 20
Decor: 20
Service: 16
Cost: $37
CASSIS
I went here with my close friend and we left very pleased with our evening! We split a bottle of the Viognier, which was reasonably priced at $37 and a perfect fit for the meal. My friend ordered off the main menu: chorizo-wrapped scallops to start, and the duck confit for dinner. I ordered off the DAT menu: duck foie gras (suggested by the waitress - who was French and had a very high-pitched bubbly voice - "because it is a FRENCH restaurant after all"), day boat scallops with crispy Californian wild rice and chorizo, and of course the dulce de leche and hazelnut profiteroles for dessert. Both scallop dishes were delicious. I thought the wild rice was a little undercooked, but then again it was supposed to be crispy so maybe that was the point. The fois gras came with cornbread and blueberry port wine jam. The fois gras was so smooth and creamy - it almost tasted like butter (maybe a little too much), but combined with the cornbread and jam it was an explosion of flavor in my mouth! We decided to top off the meal with some Kir Matisse, because why not? When the waitress brought out the dessert, there was a candle on top and she started singing "Happy Birthday." She placed the plate out in front of me and prompted me for my name when it came to that part of the song. She told me to make a wish and blow out the candle, and then scampered off. It wasn't my birthday, or my friends, and the plate said "Happy Birthday Elyse" on it. It was pretty funny, but we told the hostess it was a mistake. She brought it back to the kitchen, wiped off the birthday message and removed the candle. Oops!
Food: 23
Decor: 19
Service: 20
Cost: $80
FOREIGN CINEMA
Always a pleasure, and great for a small group or a couple. I went here on a double date with my boyfriend and two friends of ours. We ordered a bottle of Cotes du Rhone for the table, and we each ordered off the DAT menu. I had a salad with fennel, croutons and Green Goddess dressing, the cioppino and creme brulee (I also tried the chocolate pot de creme). Everything was delicious, flavorful, light and fresh; I will vow to go back to this restaurant for all future DATs. They were also playing Casablanca on the big screen, which was a beautiful backdrop.
Food: 24
Decor: 25
Service: 24
Cost: $60 per person, I think. Thanks, boys :-)
LUNA PARK
I was with a group of 9 for this meal, and we made the reservation a month in advance. We were seated at a round table, which was very nice because we could all talk to each other. Though, the restaurant was so loud that it was hard to converse with anyone who wasn't sitting near you. It took them a while to take our orders; some people ordered off the regular menu, and some ordered off the DAT menu. My boyfriend and I split a Scorpion Bowl, which surprisingly didn't get us that drunk. Everyone was given a carrot soup amuse bouche, but it came the same time as our appetizers which was a little weird. I ordered an poke tuna appetizer, salmon in a tomato-based broth with fava beans, and make-your-own s'mores (that I happily shared with everyone). The tuna was nothing special; it tasted how all poke tastes but I guess that's what you expect. The salmon was good, but not memorable (maybe because of the Scorpion Bowl?), and the s'mores were good but I was a little too full to finish more than one. Overall, it was a fun night (thanks to the company) but I was a little disappointed with the restaurant itself.
Food: 15
Decor: 12
Service: 13
Cost: $58
Overall, I was very pleased with my Dine About Town experiences and I will certainly go back to Cassis again. I'm happy to have tried One Market and Luna Park, but I probably won't be back there. And to Foreign Cinema, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Last year I went to dinner at Supper Club and Foreign Cinema, and lunch at Absinthe. Supper Club was overrated and kind of freaky, Foreign Cinema was fun and delicious, but Absinthe took the cake with their French inspired menu, and the fact that I got my in with Top Chef's Jamie Lauren.
This year I went to lunch at One Market, and dinner at Cassis, Foreign Cinema and Luna Park. Here's what I thought (ratings are on a Zagat scale):
ONE MARKET
First of all, they have amazing warm crescent rolls - some of the best table bread I have ever had! I ordered a glass of white wine (yay for boozing on lunch breaks), farmers market salad and dock confit. The salad was light and refreshing, a good start but nothing special. The duck confit was delicious! Not too heavy (even with a bowl of risotto), lots of great flavors, interesting texture. My co-worker ordered the Cobb salad. When it arrived we were both a little confused. It appeared to be a couple pieces of lettuce, some avocado slices, bacon and poached quail eggs on top of something that resembled a pita or flat bread. Turns out it was thinly pounded boneless, skinless chicken breast under the salad! Very well seasoned, the chicken alone encompassed all flavors that go into a Cobb salad. It was a very unique presentation on a classic favorite. The only bad thing about the meal was that our server was kind of all over the place, and she took a very long time to bring our entrees. Other than that, she was very nice and polite - probably just a little busy during the lunch hour.
Food: 20
Decor: 20
Service: 16
Cost: $37
CASSIS
I went here with my close friend and we left very pleased with our evening! We split a bottle of the Viognier, which was reasonably priced at $37 and a perfect fit for the meal. My friend ordered off the main menu: chorizo-wrapped scallops to start, and the duck confit for dinner. I ordered off the DAT menu: duck foie gras (suggested by the waitress - who was French and had a very high-pitched bubbly voice - "because it is a FRENCH restaurant after all"), day boat scallops with crispy Californian wild rice and chorizo, and of course the dulce de leche and hazelnut profiteroles for dessert. Both scallop dishes were delicious. I thought the wild rice was a little undercooked, but then again it was supposed to be crispy so maybe that was the point. The fois gras came with cornbread and blueberry port wine jam. The fois gras was so smooth and creamy - it almost tasted like butter (maybe a little too much), but combined with the cornbread and jam it was an explosion of flavor in my mouth! We decided to top off the meal with some Kir Matisse, because why not? When the waitress brought out the dessert, there was a candle on top and she started singing "Happy Birthday." She placed the plate out in front of me and prompted me for my name when it came to that part of the song. She told me to make a wish and blow out the candle, and then scampered off. It wasn't my birthday, or my friends, and the plate said "Happy Birthday Elyse" on it. It was pretty funny, but we told the hostess it was a mistake. She brought it back to the kitchen, wiped off the birthday message and removed the candle. Oops!
Food: 23
Decor: 19
Service: 20
Cost: $80
FOREIGN CINEMA
Always a pleasure, and great for a small group or a couple. I went here on a double date with my boyfriend and two friends of ours. We ordered a bottle of Cotes du Rhone for the table, and we each ordered off the DAT menu. I had a salad with fennel, croutons and Green Goddess dressing, the cioppino and creme brulee (I also tried the chocolate pot de creme). Everything was delicious, flavorful, light and fresh; I will vow to go back to this restaurant for all future DATs. They were also playing Casablanca on the big screen, which was a beautiful backdrop.
Food: 24
Decor: 25
Service: 24
Cost: $60 per person, I think. Thanks, boys :-)
LUNA PARK
I was with a group of 9 for this meal, and we made the reservation a month in advance. We were seated at a round table, which was very nice because we could all talk to each other. Though, the restaurant was so loud that it was hard to converse with anyone who wasn't sitting near you. It took them a while to take our orders; some people ordered off the regular menu, and some ordered off the DAT menu. My boyfriend and I split a Scorpion Bowl, which surprisingly didn't get us that drunk. Everyone was given a carrot soup amuse bouche, but it came the same time as our appetizers which was a little weird. I ordered an poke tuna appetizer, salmon in a tomato-based broth with fava beans, and make-your-own s'mores (that I happily shared with everyone). The tuna was nothing special; it tasted how all poke tastes but I guess that's what you expect. The salmon was good, but not memorable (maybe because of the Scorpion Bowl?), and the s'mores were good but I was a little too full to finish more than one. Overall, it was a fun night (thanks to the company) but I was a little disappointed with the restaurant itself.
Food: 15
Decor: 12
Service: 13
Cost: $58
Overall, I was very pleased with my Dine About Town experiences and I will certainly go back to Cassis again. I'm happy to have tried One Market and Luna Park, but I probably won't be back there. And to Foreign Cinema, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Meatless Balls
I've decided to go red meat-free in February. Originally this started as a wager with my parents (though, the wages were never outlined). Once I tried to stop eating meat for a week (see Veg for a Week), but I failed because I ate fish and turkey bacon. So this time I decided to be a little more specific with no red meat, including pork (I know pork is supposed to be "the other white meat" but common people - does pork look white to you?). I thought February would be a good month because it's only 4 weeks, and it's after the holidays and Dine About Town and all those other opportunities to engorge yummy pieces of steak.
Last Thursday I made my boyfriend and I some delicious skirt steak for dinner. This weekend I enjoyed a pastrami sandwich and beef slider (actually, the beef slider was only so-so and I didn't even finish it - a good start to a meatless month!). I'm looking forward to learning some vegetarian recipes from my roommate, Maddie. I'm not looking forward to a meatless superbowl; though I'm sure I could whip up some veggie-friendly apps, it will not be the same as a big bowl of spicy chili. And I suppose I won't be dining at House of Prime Rib for that icky hallmark holiday on February 14th - but then again I don't think I would dine at House of Prime Rib anyway. I may be tempted to enjoy some pork when I go to Slanted Door with my mom in a couple of weeks, but fortunately they have a menu that vegetarian foodies rave about so I think I'll be ok.
Wish me luck! I'm sure you'll hear all about it on March 1st.
Last Thursday I made my boyfriend and I some delicious skirt steak for dinner. This weekend I enjoyed a pastrami sandwich and beef slider (actually, the beef slider was only so-so and I didn't even finish it - a good start to a meatless month!). I'm looking forward to learning some vegetarian recipes from my roommate, Maddie. I'm not looking forward to a meatless superbowl; though I'm sure I could whip up some veggie-friendly apps, it will not be the same as a big bowl of spicy chili. And I suppose I won't be dining at House of Prime Rib for that icky hallmark holiday on February 14th - but then again I don't think I would dine at House of Prime Rib anyway. I may be tempted to enjoy some pork when I go to Slanted Door with my mom in a couple of weeks, but fortunately they have a menu that vegetarian foodies rave about so I think I'll be ok.
Wish me luck! I'm sure you'll hear all about it on March 1st.
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