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Chopper's
Category:
Restaurants
330 Townsend St Ste 101
San Francisco, California 94107
(415) 974-5599
Chopper's is my default spot for lunch and dinner, considering they are in the same building as my office. At least twice a week I'm having a breakfast sandwich (fried egg, cheese, bacon and tomato...
Chopper's is my default spot for lunch and dinner, considering they are in the same building as my office. At least twice a week I'm having a breakfast sandwich (fried egg, cheese, bacon and tomato on a bagel), often calling it in as I walk to work so it will be ready as I arrive... and the other days I am there at least once a day for a coffee refill. The staff is nice, and Luna and Nicole (the owners) put their heart into the place.
Everything is made fresh - nothing comes in pre-made or frozen... and though the espresso drinks aren't great, a large cup of Joe is probably the best within a two block radius and reasonably priced at $1.50.
Arabic music, great breakfasts, and a little yappy dog named Sparkle… what isn't there to like?
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My wife and I have been patrons of Janet Masamitsu (and her assistant Vicky) for the past few years... since 2002 I think. She's made custom rings for our anniversary, a beautiful blue topaz set ...
My wife and I have been patrons of Janet Masamitsu (and her assistant Vicky) for the past few years... since 2002 I think. She's made custom rings for our anniversary, a beautiful blue topaz set for last year's holidays and shipped product all the way to Germany when we were living there. My wife must have a dozen pieces by now. When we've asked for adjustable spacers to be added to necklaces and anklets so that they would sit differently based on my wife's mood, she took care of it with no issue or added cost.
Not only are her designs unique, but when a gemstone fell off of one of my wife's earrings, she found a matching stone, made the replacement and shipped it back at no cost. As an artist and a business person, she seems to stand behind her work.
The shop is a small space divided evenly between her workshop and the retail area and showcases all of her current designs.
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"The Bubble is Back" was what a good friend said when walking into Tres Agaves for the first time. The brick and wooden support beams, the open kitchen, the vibe of entitlement and money... and I...
"The Bubble is Back" was what a good friend said when walking into Tres Agaves for the first time. The brick and wooden support beams, the open kitchen, the vibe of entitlement and money... and I had to agree, it just feels like the sort of monied-hipster joint that were scattered around in SOMA during the 1999-2002 Internet Bubble Era.
Since then, I've been back four times, both for lunch and dinner, and overall, the food is above par, even if you have to deal with a gaggle of PR chicks and marketing execs who seem to be constantly clogging the bar area. The food, tequila selection and masterful margaritas are what you would expect from the love child of Tommy's Mexican Restaurant and Globe. The riblets and carnitas are excellent, as are the fresh tortillas - but watch out, the portions are uneven - with the carnitas being massive (but tasty) but other dishes leaving people at the table still hungry.
The margaritas are, as you would expect, made to Julio's specifications (the master of the Agave from Tommy's) - fresh lime, agave nectar and tequila... and are some of the best in the city. However, get a pitcher, because it can take a while to get drinks out of the bar when the place is packed.
Overall, it's recommended. The drinks get a definite 4 stars and the food gets 3.
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Is it right to give a cafe a full four stars when you've only had coffee and bagels there? It is when the coffee and the bagels are as good as the ones at Caffe Centro.
Living in the South Park...
Is it right to give a cafe a full four stars when you've only had coffee and bagels there? It is when the coffee and the bagels are as good as the ones at Caffe Centro.
Living in the South Park area, if you want a good espresso drink, especially on a Saturday, your only choice really is Caffe Centro. Sure, there are three Starbucks in the neighborhood, but I wouldn't say that their espresso is passable, let alone good. Caffe Centro's, however, is exceptional. I mean, it's no Ritual or Blue Bottle, but they make a mighty fine cappuccino.
More importantly, Caffe Centro makes a mean bagel. You would think in a city like San Francisco that there would be a number of places that produce good bagels, but don't kid yourself, the average bagel in The City isn't even in the same universe as the bagels from H&H or Ess-A-Bagel in New York. Caffe Centro, however, makes a very good simple bagel with cream cheese, putting it on par with Katz Bagels for the best in the city.
My wife says the sandwiches here are better than average, but I can't personally vouch for them. However, if you're looking for a good cup of joe and a bagel to get you going in the morning, you can't do much better than Caffe Centro.
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Slow Club
Category:
Restaurants
2501 Mariposa St
San Francisco, California 94110
(415) 241-9390
The Slow Club is my office's default lunch spot... not to say that it isn't a great place, just that when we want to go out but can't decide where to go, we always end up heading there.
The staff...
The Slow Club is my office's default lunch spot... not to say that it isn't a great place, just that when we want to go out but can't decide where to go, we always end up heading there.
The staff is always nice, and the beer selection is well thought out - recently there has been a beer from Speakeasy, one from Drake's and at least one from Anchor. Recently it was Prohibition, Blonde and Liberty Ale, along with Guinness, something from Full Sail and one last one that I cannot recall.
The burgers, always solid, come well prepared and cooked to the requested level of "done-ness" and the fries are fantastic. A recent sausage sandwich was excellent, and the grilled flatbreads range from good to amazing depending on the toppings. Even the olive oil and italian bread they start you off with are better than average.
Why only four stars? As much as I like the place, there are occasional consistency issues. The quality dropped in the fall with what might have been a change with the chef but is getting back to its old days of glory. If everything stays consistent for the next quarter, I might bump it up to a full five stars.
Recommended for lunch. Good luck finding parking.
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First off, I have to admit, I've been a Speakeasy Mobster and shareholder since the late 1990s - so I am a little biased. As much as I love the current lineup of bottled beers: Big Daddy IPA,...
First off, I have to admit, I've been a Speakeasy Mobster and shareholder since the late 1990s - so I am a little biased. As much as I love the current lineup of bottled beers: Big Daddy IPA, Prohibition Ale, Double Daddy Imperial IPA and the Untouchable Pale Ale (and the elusive Godfather Barleywine), it's the keg-only and the dearly departed brews that made this brewery tops in my book.
Keg Only:
The Bootlegger Black Lager holds up to the classic Sapporo Black and the archetype of the style: Kostritzer Schwartzbier. Malty and a little sweet, but also refreshing. There's a reason they're commonly called black pilsners.
The Shylock Maibock is also a great example of a German spring bock beer. Strong but balanced with a sweet malty character.
Even the Satchmo Stout, which should be bottled as there is a real lack of good local stouts, is a fantastic beer... nice and roasty and proof that stouts can aspire to be more than a Guinness.
However, the three best, most unique beers are ones that are unfortunately not being made any more.
White Lightning - their attempt at a berliner weisse, a sour beer that had undergone lactic fermentation. Even though it was a pain to produce and a bigger pain to clean out of the tanks and pipes, it was an amazing beer when stored and served properly (the trick was to make sure some live yeast made it into the glass like with a Belgian beer)
Common Beer - The San Francisco Common Beer was quite possibly the best beer produced on the west coast when it came to pairing with food, and it's a shame that restaurants all throughout the Bay Area didn't stock it. Maybe it was the name, or maybe the restaurant industry lacked the vision to pair a domestic beer with food the way they do now with Belgian brews. Either way, it is sorely missed.
Finally, the best of the bunch: Untouchable Lager - a perfect Maerzen beer, and possibly the best California-made lager I have ever had. This beer was fantastic, but unfortunately suffered in sales because the local market is biased towards ales.
The city is much better for having Speakeasy supplying its bars with fresh, local brew.
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Quince
Category:
Restaurants
470 Pacific Ave
San Francisco, California 94133
(415) 775-8500
An amazing birthday meal sitting next to the ex-Mayor? What isn't there to love.
Yes, if you want to come here, be prepared. It's hard to get a reservation and it's a meal that will take hours...
An amazing birthday meal sitting next to the ex-Mayor? What isn't there to love.
Yes, if you want to come here, be prepared. It's hard to get a reservation and it's a meal that will take hours of time and hundreds of dollars to be done properly. However, if this isn't an issue, read on.
When I called two weeks ago to make a reservation for my wife's birthday, the best they could do for a Saturday night was 10pm - which isn't really a problem as we're night owls anyway. When they asked if it was for a special occasion, I mentioned it was my wife's birthday, and that was that.
This afternoon, the restaurant called to ask if we wanted an earlier seating - which we jumped at. 10pm is fine, but 7:30 is better as we would be able to relax through the meal.
The service was amazing. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by name, coats were taken and we were seated. It was then that we were presented with special menus that simply said "Happy Birthday Janet" on the top. No big spectacle, just a nice touch showing that they remembered it was a special night. These small touches ran the whole night - our water and wine glasses never ran dry, and the service was transparent - never intrusive or invasive. When the dessert menu was presented, we were asked if we were having a celebratory dessert or just coffee - a small but genuine touch that finished with a single candle in my wife's gelato.
The food was expertly prepared Alto Adige style cuisine. I started with two sea scallops with pureed sunchokes and black chanterelles, followed by a polpette with German bacon (speck), and finally a trio of pork preparations: belly, house made sausage and loin. Janet had a beet salad followed by a maccheroni with foie gras sauce and a perfect petrale sole.
The unexpected highlights were the beverages. From the champagne we started with to a hidden find of a 1994 white Rioja to the Quince ESB - a beer that was more Belgian than bitter - made by one of the chefs.
As we left, they presented my wife with one of her menus, rolled and tied with a bow. Walking past Willie Brown who had just been seated next to us, we were happy to have had the experience.
A perfect place for a celebratory Italian meal.
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Ok. Color me biased because not only were the folks at Omni suppliers for my comic book fix when I was still living in Connecticut - but one of the owners is a kindred spirit and good friend. Not...
Ok. Color me biased because not only were the folks at Omni suppliers for my comic book fix when I was still living in Connecticut - but one of the owners is a kindred spirit and good friend. Not only will you find a very knowledgable team when it comes to comics and collectables (ranging from trading cards to sports stuff), but you can get interesting opinions on everything ranging from beer to sushi.
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What to do when living in Hartford on a snowy Saturday.
1) Get in the car
2) Drive to BruRm @ BAR in New Haven
3) Consume many great beers brewed on the premises
4) Eat lots of excellent pizza...
What to do when living in Hartford on a snowy Saturday.
1) Get in the car
2) Drive to BruRm @ BAR in New Haven
3) Consume many great beers brewed on the premises
4) Eat lots of excellent pizza (sorry Pepe's... you may have met your match - these pies can't be beat!)
5) Decide to get another couple of pizzas for tomorrow
6) Kill some time until you're legal to drive back to Hartford
Yep, that was our regular routine for three years. I still miss those pizzas and their outstanding beer.
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It's not an amazing beer bar compared to places like San Francisco's Toronado, but for the Hartford area, it's your only choice if you're a beer geek when it comes to a real multi-tap bar with well...
It's not an amazing beer bar compared to places like San Francisco's Toronado, but for the Hartford area, it's your only choice if you're a beer geek when it comes to a real multi-tap bar with well chosed beers.
Not only do they offer a good selection of beers, but their hot sauce selection is also pretty darned good - and they can cook up a pretty solid set of chicken wings. It's been a few years since I've been there, but I still remember the place fondly.
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