Stones Throw

i am 110% thoroughly pleased with my experience at Stones Throw and have been raving the shit out of the this place since i went! 

for starters i did a super asshole move and came in with Peet's tea. my tea was still blazing hot and i'm at the beginning stages of sickness so i didn't want to toss it yet. most restaurants understandably frown on outside food or drinks but twice someone asked if i wanted my tea refilled with hot water. and it didn't seem like they were saying it in a snide condescending way either, they seemed to genuinely just want me to have hot tea. 

the service otherwise was excellent. each person that i encountered from the host to anybody who approached my table seemed to be sincere, enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the food. my server checked up on me quite a bit to make sure i was enjoying myself and offered her opinions as well. i had a clear view of the kitchen and could see that everybody was working hard and remained quite silent for the most part. this tells me that the team indeed works as an actual in sync TEAM with the understanding of each persons role and time constraints. i could tell they were operating like a well oiled machine. 

i treated myself (birthday dinner!) to an indulging meal of four small courses which ended up being five because the kitchen sent out their soup just to be nice. maybe it's because i was by myself or maybe it's because i had my DSLR with me, clearly taking photos of their food (could they have mistaken me for an actual somebody? i don't think so but one can dream. haha), but i (of course) welcomed the extra dish. 

puffed potato and eggs/cauliflower mousse/chives/crispy chicken skin

 holy hell! the gnocchi-like potato was thin and light. you slice into the puff and out pours the lusciously divine egg yolk. eaten with bits of crisp chicken skin and creamy cauliflower mousse, this was what dreams are made of.

the server told me that they take egg yolk, whip it and then freeze it. then they form the potato 'dough' around it. while it's cooking the yolk melts back into it's original form. cool stuffs, right?

sunchoke soup-confit egg/green apple/black walnuts

 a single egg yolk is presented accompanied by finely diced apple and walnuts. poured tableside is an earthy smooth sunchoke soup. a verrrrry nice soup. at this point i'd eaten the equivalent of five yolks which is a whole hell of a lot...whew.

squid ink conchieglie pasta-spicy capers/clams/calamari/tender greens

 oh my god i could eat this for days. the pasta was perfectly cooked and had a nice texture to it without lacking bite. the sauce was super buttery and full of flavor and the seafood was just right. the onion sauce on the sides brought it's A game too, complimenting the already fantastic flavors of the dish. so so SO SO SO very good. 

pork belly and crispy pig's ears-avocado/citrus/Moresque spice/kale

 soft, tender, rich pork belly with creamy avocado and citrus to cut through the fattiness of the dish. the pig's ears gave it some textural balance. one of the better pork belly dishes i've ever had. the Moresque spices were an (in a good way) interesting addition and brought the whole dish to another dimension. 

this is the dessert menu inspired by childhood treats. they ask you to write down your favorite childhood treat and if they choose yours to be featured one month, they invite you back to check out the dessert you've inspired. 

not your grandma's apple pie

 which was really a maple panna cotta with apple granita and a paper thin rolled cookie topped with a maple sauce and finely sliced and decorative apples. this dish was super light and very balanced. it wasn't too sweet and had all the right flavors of your favorite apple pie. 

i die! suuuuuch a good meal! i was so very impressed by every aspect of this restaurant that i gave my server a 50% tip for all of it's awesomeness.

afternoon tea at Craftsman & Wolves

one day upon roaming the Mission district i made sure to introduce Eva to Craftsman & Wolves, my favorite modern bakery. while we were there we saw that they had afternoon tea and immediately booked ourselves for a tea and crumpets session for my birthday. i couldn't imagine a better way to spend the afternoon than with one of my favorite people at one of my favorite bakeries with awesome little treats.

this is a cool way to do afternoon tea without having to be in a room where pink threw up and kitsch is unavoidable. you can dress however girly or not you want and share in the experience of tea and crumpets without feeling like you've entered a world of porcelain and creepy dolls. and hey, if your boyfriend is secure in his masculinity maybe he'll be willing to join you for this type of afternoon tea session too! 

the cutest tri-teared display of goodies

the tea selection is sparse but honestly, you come for the baked goods here, not the tea. 

fresh mozzarella, mushroom and fennel sandwich. the cutest little sandwich you ever did see. fromage blanc with honey and lime fried chickpeas. cute and delish. mushroom madeleines. 

vanilla candied citron scones, buckwheat crumpet. the buckwheat crumpet was good! Eva didn't love it but i totally did, especially with the clotted cream and passion fruit curd. 

chocolate marshmallow, pate de fruit (which i never eat) and chocolate praline cremeux with sable. 

cute. sweet little last bites. 

chorizo deviled eggs. light and whipped but deep in chorizo flavor. 

dark chocolate hazelnut sea salt cookies

stacks and stacks of cookies!

ever since i had a chocolate cookie with tiny bits of chocolate sprinkled about rather than in chocolate chip form i've never looked back. having the small chocolate shards spread evenly throughout the cookie ensures that every bite has a lot of chocolate flavor. i finally had the opportunity to try this method when i made these cookies for a birthday dinner i was throwing and i've got to say...oh my damn these cookies are good! take all things delicious and put them together in a soft yet crisp cookie and you cannot go wrong. dark chocolate? good for you! and slightly bitter. hazelnut? the best of all nuts. sea salt? enhancing and balances the sweet. you know you want some. i definitely encourage you to make these cookies! 

just the right ratio of chocolate vs. nuts

once upon a time my knife lost in the battle against salted caramels

shards of chocolate

oops, forgot the eggs...

dry ingredients with chocolate mixed in. i don't know if it makes a difference whether i put in in with the flour first or whether i mix it in with the nuts (i don't think it really changes anything) but this is just how i did it. do whatever you feel like..

salty sweet

dark chocolate hazelnut sea salt cookies

ingredients:
- 1c salted butter, softened
- 1/4 white sugar
- 1 1/2c packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 3/4c all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2c dark chocolate, chopped
- 1c toasted hazelnuts, chopped

directions:
1. in a small bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and chocolate
2. in a large bowl beat butter, white sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy
3. beat in vanilla and eggs (one at a time)
4. mix in dry ingredients (half the amount at a time) until just combined
5. stir in hazelnuts until evenly distributed
6. put cookie batter in the fridge to chill for at least ten minutes
7. preheat oven to 350 degrees F
8. roll dough into balls to your desired size (i used a small ice cream scoop to measure mine and they turned out to be pretty big)
9. evenly space and drop dough balls onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
10. bake for approx 15 mins. or until just browning on the edges
11. take out of oven and allow to rest on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely
12. devour.

i used these cookies as name tags for the seating chart. i stamped each person's name or nickname on the front of a tag and wrote little individual personal messages on the back and then tied the tag to the cookies. then they sat on a plate according to where each person was sitting for the night.

"special friend" is my friend Kristina. if you're curious about why i call her Special Friend here's the quick recap.

cookies for all!

on birthday gifts and a birthday surprise!

the other day i had a conversation with a coworker friend about birthday gifts. what kinds of gifts you give, whether or not you enjoy opening gifts in front of people, etc. i personally don't like receiving birthday gifts because 1) it feels awkward (this comes from a history of not really celebrating my bday), 2) if it's not a thoughtful gift then i don't really care. the obligatory gift is pointless. 3) i cannot pretend i love a gift that i hate. if i'm uttering "thanks" but my face displays "what the f*ck" then you know where i stand with your present. within our conversation we agreed that we only like giving gifts that are considerate to the person. the best gifts are those that are relatable to the person receiving. for example, this year my friend Adrian gave me a surprise present and i decided to open it in front of people because i know Adrian is a thoughtful person and would never gift something he didn't absolutely know the person would like. and i was right! he got me an old school stove top popcorn maker because i like all things popcorn and also because i was talking about how a bunch of articles say the microwavable ones cause infertility/cancer/etc. sure, people like to shop at Target but don't try to pass off a gift card there as thoughtful unless you have something specific in mind that you're contributing to (ex. last year my friends got me a substantial gift card for William Sonoma with the intention that i buy a kitchenaid stand mixer because they know i love to bake). but theeeee best gifts are those that don't require a lot of money and are just plain thoughtful. and if they can be funny too, then that's just icing on the cake!

a couple days ago i came home to a hallway full of balloons and the doorway of my room lined with strings of "30." Nattypants (my now former roommate. boooo to Edgar for stealing her away to take the next step in your relationship or whatever) rushed home after work to put this together and it was awesome!! when i walked into my room i found a bunch more balloons and attached to them were silly photos of myself that i assume she stole from facebook. this. was. hilarious! it was super unexpected and got me literally laughing for a few minutes. i love stupid cheesy stuff like this so she was on point with this one! this is the kind of gift that you'll remember right? and all it took was a little thought! 

calm down, i'm wearing shorts. this is not an inappropriate photo shoot, mmmkay? 

30's everywhere

thanks Natty! i loooooves it!!

my only christmas tradition

for about seven-ish years i've been handing out bagged lunches to the homeless on christmas morning. it started out with a friend of mine whose family also never really celebrated christmas in the traditional way. while everybody else was cozying up with their families, we decided to make use of our time doing something with the christmas spirit in mind. the homeless are never an awesome sight or typically a pleasant encounter but at the end of the day they are still human. and on christmas day while everybody else is nuzzled up with hot cocoa, warm hearts and smiling faces, they're left out in the cold without food or shelter. on any normal day i gladly give my leftovers to a homeless but for one day of the year i want to give them a full meal that was meant for them from the start. this year Tan joined me and also had his sister make satay chicken over rice so that they'd have a hot meal. as is the case every year, we were met with a lot of "god bless you's" and "thank you's" which makes it all worth it. 

why i love sf

1. due to the lack of weather variances, i can pretty much wear the same thing every day for 365 days straight if i felt like nobody would notice the slow deterioration and tattering of my clothing. maybe that's stretching it, but the temperature literally stays within a twenty-ish degree spectrum beginning at 55 degrees F. while visible seasons are beautiful, provided the choice, i'd take year round cool crisp SF air any day.

2. in one day you could lay on the beach (be it cold. oh and you might be pelted by a thousand grains of sand if it's windy), go for a hike among the beautiful Redwoods at Muir Woods, explore city life and little pockets of drastically differing districts, and (if you're extra game) you could drive up to Tahoe for some snow and boarding. what i'm saying is that it's central to a lot of varying terrains.

3. my tummy stays happy with all of the good food and ever changing restaurants. next to New York City, i would say that SF has a pretty competitive restaurant culture. there isn't an ethnic cuisine you can't find in SF or in close proximity and there are an endless number of really great restaurants. from mom & pop sandwich shops to $200 pre fixe meals, you'll never run out of delicious spots to get your grub on. for reference you could scroll up and down this blog or check out my Yelp page.

4. most of SF is chill and accepting of whatever sort of person you care to be. except for Marina folk. they are whack. just kidding (no i'm not)! in line for a free movie viewing there was a guy who looked like he was going to overdose on drugs next to a bunch of Silicon Valley programmers who were browsing the internets. then there were your average asians and some goth-ish people. all of these people coexisting and not minding each other's ways. okay, maybe the guy who looked like he might pass out or OD was a little disturbing, but otherwise it's a pretty be-whoever-you-want-to-be type environment.

5. i heart the random. buffalo in GG Park, the winding portion of Lombard, the famous Painted Ladies (none of which are the Full House house, btw), the creepy Bush Man, Off The Grid's awesome food truck pods with music and deliciousness, Easter day's debauchery Bring Your Own Big Wheel, and Robot Dance Party. the list goes on but i'll leave some for your own discovery.

6. summer days at Dolores Park. the city view from the top of the park. the gays sunbathing in the 'beach' portion. the children laughing in the new playground. stalking other people's dogs because i wish i had one of my own. the too cool for school hipster region where people sit and lunch on cheese and wine bought at Bi-Rite. the tightropers and hula hoopers. the weed truffles guy and the tamale lady (she's O.G. she came before food carts and pop-ups). aaahh Dolores Park, my favorite of all places!

7. the Ferry Building farmers market on thursdays and saturdays because i can't get enough of Roli Roti's porchetta sandwich. but also just the community of people all there for the same reason. and the purveyors who are all knowing and passionate about their goods. and how about the Ferry Building in general? roaming the stores and grabbing lunch there on any given day is one of my favorite things to do.

8. the view from twin peaks! breathtaking day or night. but let's be real... more so at night.

etc, etc, ETC!! i bleed love for SF!

Wakuriya

smile, Asian Man(!), smile!!!

Jeremy proposed our family eat at Wakuriya for my birthday. this was an excuse of course but i wasn't going to argue. we pretty much went because we figured why the hell not. you really have to premeditate having dinner here. they take reservations one month to the date and call-in time begins at 12am. lucky for everybody else, Laura took the responsibility of making the reservation which involved  furiously dialing with two phones simultaneously (thanks for doing that, Laura!). 

Wakuriya is a small restaurant run by a husband and wife duo. he cooks, she serves and they've got one other person who acts as busboy (for lack of a better term). they offer a kaiseki style dinner which is a traditional multi-course meal served on a tray. over nine courses the night's dinner showcases seasonal and local ingredients, progressing from cold, light dishes (ex. sashimi and appetizers) to hot, heavier dishes (ex. steamed and grilled). the tiny space holds only about fifteen people at a time. they've got two staggered seatings each night  allowing for a maximum of thirty diners. this narrow number of guests allows for complete control and the dishes to reach their guests at the precise moment the last garnish is plated. at $95 for the experience of this style of dining, i completely recommend it. the wife is charming, funny and there is a sense of ease about her. the husband conceptualizes and executes the dishes purposefully. you can tell he really cares about his passion. 

milky sake starter

sakizuki (starter)

oven grilled sesame tofu with uni

they poured a hot watery "sauce" over the scalding hot cast iron skillet which ferociously bubbled about for a few moments. the tofu was some of the most soft and smooth i've ever had. the uni was super fresh

zensai (appetizers)

fun!

japanese taro with two styles of miso sauce

a pretty average dish but done well. not overly sweet or salty. 

lobster with egg yolk sauce, salmon roe and avocado

maybe the best bites of the night. the lobster was just barely cooked, giving it a different texture than you typically find with lobster. the egg yolk and salmon roe added a luxurious richness to the dish.

snapper, fuji apple and seaweed soy sauce

also maybe the best bites of the night. the snapper was mild and provided a nice foundation for the slight sweet apple and deep seaweed. ugh...i could eat this all day.

on mono (hot dish)

duck meatballs, mochi, tofu, mushrooms in clay pot

the meatballs were light and fluffy as was the mochi. a good dish but nothing to write home about. 

tsukuri (sashimi)

scallop and trout with a yuzu/sudachi citrus dressing

the besssssst raw scallop i've ever had. damn that texture was on point! but so was the trout. they get their fish direct from Japan, so i wouldn't expect any less. oh and the citrus was a nice addition as well. 

muchi mono (steamed dish)

steamed Alaskan black cod, shiitake mushroom, brussel sprouts, sesame sauce

a nicely steamed fish but also nothing to write home about

hashiyasume

satsuma and sweet ginger sorbet

refresher

yaki mono (grilled dish)

wagyu sukiyaki with mushroom and tamago 

sitting in the hot sauce, the thin slices of wagyu overcooked. too bad...

gohan mono (rice dish)

ebi tempura donburi

nothing special here. sort of wish this wasn't how the savory portion of the meal ended.

dessert

grean tea and white bean mousse with taiyaki 

cute. light. a nice subtle ending to the meal.