Burger Bar
Of course, one of the foodie ventures I was most looking forward to in San Francisco was checking out Chef Hubert Keller’s casual restaurant Burger Bar in Union Square! (^__^)v Chef Keller was of course, one of the finalists in Top Chef Masters, who famously (or infamously?) doused his vat of pasta with cold water from the dorm shower stall during one of his challenges. His Burger Bar has a few locations, including St. Louis and Las Vegas. He also has the higher end Fleur de Lys – with one location in San Francisco, though we were unfortunately unable to secure a reservation for this trip.
Burger Bar doesn’t take reservations, but the wait wasn’t too incredibly long. We showed up around 1pm, and were seated probably in 20 minutes or so for a party of 5. The table was situated in the bar area, a high table with bar stools that was placed right up next to the glass wall overlooking Union Square. The menu is basically a do-it-yourselfer, where you can choose your meat, bun, cheeses, toppings, and sauces from an ample selection. There are probably an infinite number of combinations you could come up with! (@___o) Some of the toppings were quite decadent, including lobster and foie gras (or even black truffles: an extra $30). If you can’t handle so many choices at once, they also offer a few Chef’s Burgers.
The milkshake list is just as daunting. Ice cream, toppings, sauces…even liquor if you so choose, can be mixed any which way you want.
Pictured above is the peppercorn burger with Dijon mustard and accompanied by a basket of fries. I didn’t taste the burger itself, but my friend who got it had rave reviews. I did nab a few fries though, which were quite good!
More under the cut:
Tartine
The first of my San Francisco posts! Tartine is a lovely bakery/cafe that is every bit worth the 1.6 miles I plodded to get there. (Long story). After foolishly forgoing the bus and hauling myself a good distance on foot – something that I recommend for everyone to do first thing in the morning =D – I treated myself to yummy pastries and a hot cup of cappuccino.
It’s a lovely little shop, very quaint, though bustling. My only complaint is that that cappuccino was tiny!
Pictured above is the fabulous morning bun, sugary with a hint of citrus. I took one home, and it kept for a few days. X)
More under the cut:
Thanksgiving!
Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!! I’m a little backed up in posts, and I haven’t even gotten to my San Francisco material yet. However, I’m skipping ahead to do my Thanksgiving post now, before it gets so pushed back that you’re reading about it at Christmas. XD;;
So this year, I was invited again to my dear friends’ I & N’s place. (You know, I’m never quite sure if I ought to use real names here…if I blog about you, let me know if you mind?) It was as fabulous a spread as it was the year before, both food and company wise! The first thing that caught my eye when I entered the dining room at a quarter to four was of course, this gorgeous turkey pictured above, brined and cooked via a great recipe by Alton Brown. Several side dishes already lined the table, while numerous others were finishing in the oven. There were so many dishes it was hard to keep up!
I tried to take at least a bite of everything, but there’s sadly only a finite amount of food I can throw back in one sitting. There’s much to get through, so without further ado:
Fado’s Irish Pub
Posting has been sparse this past few days, as I’ve been recovering from my San Francisco trip from last weekend. The work week is always so hard to come back to after a getaway! The good news is, a whole lot of great food was had on the trip, and I’ve loads of posts to work on from it! Meanwhile, I’m going to clear off some of the backlog here.
Ah….Irish pubs. I love a good pub. It makes me wanna chug a pint of ale or beer, and I usually don’t drink either of those things. There’s something I really love about Fado’s Irish Pub in Chinatown. Maybe it’s the interesting, somewhat mismatched decor on the inside, blending odd, random pillars with authentic stained glass and woodwork from Ireland. It’s so unique and welcoming, somehow. It’s always bustling here, and I think for good reason. Obviously it’s in a great location, but the ale is good here, and the food is delicious (and relatively cheap).
Nothing really rivals Alton Brown’s excellent shepherd’s pie, but Fado’s is actually quite good. Pictured above, it’s served in a shallow dish with a side of garden salad and two slices of hard, grainy bread. I’ve ordered it at least 3 times, and it always comes piping hot! The mashed potatoes have a great crusty finish, and the filling is always flavorful.
afternoon tea dessert restaurants: cake cupcakes d.c. pastries sandwiches tea
by Lindsey
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Tea at Mandarin Oriental
If I could, I would have afternoon tea every Sunday of my life. Warm, flaky scones slathered in mounds of clotted cream and strawberry preserves! Dainty finger sandwiches made from cucumbers and lobster! Gorgeous desserts of all kinds, from cakes and chocolates to panna cottas and creme brulee! And of course, the perfect cup of tea to accompany every last bite. Fabulous! (*____*)
A good friend and I made our way to the Mandarin Oriental on a recent Sunday afternoon to partake in just such a tea, and it was utterly divine. It was actually my first tea at a restaurant in the city, though I’ve been to privately thrown teas here before. The Mandarin Oriental holds its tea Thursdays through Sundays between 2:30 and 4:30 pm in their beautiful Empress Lounge, located right beyond their main foyer and overlooking a garden. The room is gorgeous, with high ceilings, decadent wood paneling, and calming earth tones that match very well with the view outside the floor to ceiling windows.
We arrived about 15 minutes early, but they were nice enough to seat us anyway, while they set up. They do their teas a little differently here, than at other places. Some, like the lovely Secret Garden Tea Company in Vancouver, bring out each course separately. Others, like the Carlyle in New York City, bring out all three courses at once, on tiered plates. At the Mandarin, everything is set up buffet style, and you can go up and help yourself, going back for several rounds in whatever order you want. It’s a tea lover’s dream.
This here is the dessert buffet, featuring at least eight different desserts! But I’m getting a little ahead of myself, here. More after the jump:
Grapeseed
The bistro / wine bar Grapeseed is definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Bethesda, though I’ve only visited it a few times (mostly during Restaurant Week). Obviously they have a great wine selection, and I love their wine “flights” – tastings of three different wines in white, red, or sparkling.
I’ve heard the cuisine described as “seasonal” here, but the times I’ve come, the selection didn’t seem to change much. There was some variation in the sides that accompany the main courses, but not too much change otherwise. This is fine, really, since their dishes are mostly quite excellent.
Take the above picture, for instance: fried chicken livers with habanero pepper jelly. My friend says this is the best chicken liver she’s had in the area. Doesn’t seem like it ever lets her down. (^__^)
The other courses:
dessert dinner restaurants: chinese d.c. japanese pastries sushi
by Lindsey
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Zentan
I’m pretty sure I read about Zentan when they opened back in June, but it had somehow dropped off my radar up until now. How this happened, I’m not sure, since they are a sushi place, and I am always eager to try a new sushi joint!
Zentan is the restaurant connected to the Donovan House, a sleek, James Bond-esque hotel in Thomas Circle. First impression was very good. Loved the decor of the place, especially the rustic family style tables in the middle of the room. (Though the chairs for those tables have no backs! I’d be a little uncomfortable, unless I was just there for a happy hour).
I made my way over there last week to meet up with a friend who lives within walking distance to the restaurant. It’s also just a short distance from my place of work, so naturally we both wanted to really love this place. Unfortunately…I didn’t.
The evening started off strong, however, with the above dish: salmon crudo with cilantro, chives, sea salt, shiso & lime ponzu juice. Each slice came topped with a tiny sliver of lime. Loved the tartness of this dish! Ponzu (soy sauce and citrus) is a pretty classic flavor profile, and it was really well done here.
The rest of the meal:
Nata de Coco Yogurt
Oooooh my god I LOVE this stuff!! And I don’t even know what it is. That is to say, until I googled it just now. According to wiki:
Nata de coco is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food product produced by the bacterial fermentation of coconut water and carrageenan.
………uh. Well, it tastes much better than it sounds, I swear. There are plenty of lovely foods and drinks that are made by fermentation, so don’t let this particular description deter you from trying “Nata de Coco Yogurt Dessert,” which can be found at your Japanese grocery.
They call it “yogurt,” but the binding is more like the consistency of pudding or almond jello (anin-dofu). It tastes like coconut, which I suppose should be to no surprise. The nata de coco was, I’m assuming, the translucent cubed chunks inside the yogurt. These had a decidedly chewier consistency, much like konnyaku. It’s a very “clean” sort of chewy-ness, so it doesn’t stick to your teeth, which is nice. I really love this snack! =9
1905
The restaurant 1905 is located near U Street Cardoza Metro station…specifically, at 1905 9th Street, NW. (Oh hey, isn’t that cute). I am sorry to say that it actually took me a while to realize WHY this place was called what it was… I should’ve caught on much sooner, as it’s even more obvious than TenPenh, the restaurant located at 10th and Pennsylvania.
This place came recommended by a friend of a friend, and it was pretty much a first experience for the whole party of us that sat down to eat here a few weeks ago. The restaurant is located on the second floor, with a bar near the back and a narrow, smallish room for a dining area in the front. The benches that line the walls are a little on the narrow side, but I forgive this minor detail because the rest of the place is so dark and beautiful. It’s got a lot of character, and is all in all quite lovely.
The menu is also on the smallish side, but I think they put a lot of care into it, so each dish is executed well and thoughtfully.
So let’s see what they’ve got here:
Honey Apple Rice Crackers
I saw this adorable bag of “Kotsubukko” rice crackers at the Japanese grocery and had to pick it up. (^___^) Look at those weirdly cute looking creatures with bangs! At least, I think they’re bangs… I’m not sure what most of those animals are, but they’re so funny looking (especially the smiling frog-type-thing on the far right). Rice crackers are a tasty alternative when you want a snack that isn’t oily like potato chips or so-fake-they-can’t-be-good-for-you like Doritos. Actually, these tiny pop ‘em size rice crackers are very strange indeed, because I have experience eating “uni flavored” ones, and loving it. It’s still a mystery to me why I liked it, since I kind of hate uni.
This particular pack was “honey and apple” flavor, which sounded much more pleasant than sea urchin. It’s also “calcium fortified,” whatever that means. (I’m sure it had just as much calcium as those milk Pockys that made the same claim..) Anyway, these were delicious! I’m not sure I tasted much apple, but there was definitely a nice hint of sweet honey, which contrasted well with the salty soy sauce.
