Category Archives: French

Rue Lepic

Leave a reply

http://www.ruelepicsf.com/

Today was Ron’s birthday so we went out to dinner at Rue Lepic, a French restaurant that’s only a few blocks from where we live. We walk or drive by regularly (when parking or looking for parking) and have always wondered what the food was like. We were pleasantly surprised.

The staff of the restaurant seemed to only include three people: the chef, the sous chef, and the waiter. There are at least 10 tables with a minimum of 2 people each so it made sense that service was a bit slow. We were a bit disappointed that although I made a reservation for 7pm and arrived a bit before 7pm, the waiter sort of ignored us for about 5 or 10 minutes before seating us. But I’m glad we stayed as it was an enjoyable dinner.

We ordered from the regular menu (rather than the prix fixe chef’s menu) so started out with the esgargots sauteed in garlic butter, parsley, and tomato sauce served with angel hair pasta. The sauce was so good, we sopped it up with the delicious baguette.

The entrees come with the soup of the day, today’s happened to be a corn soup. Ron compared it to a bit like chicken gravy.

I ordered the boneless breast of duck with orange sauce. The duck was nice and tender but the sauce was a bit too bitter for me, it seemed to have more of the rind flavor than I would’ve liked.

Ron ordered the roasted veal with a truffle and mushroom sauce. The veal also was very tender and the mushroom sauce very tasty.

Since the food came out slowly, we were already pretty full but I really wanted to try their passion fruit mousse with strawberry and kiwi sauce. Oh my goodness, so delicious! I really need to learn how to make this. The strawberry and kiwi sauces were so good and went really well with the smooth passion fruit mousse. I could eat this every day…

So although service was a bit slow, it makes for a true European experience where they seem to eat more slowly than we do, in this case, the wait was worth it. I’d go back again for the escargots and the dessert. Plus interestingly enough, a couple who was seated next to us, it was also the guy’s birthday and they were both pharmacists! Small world. It made for enjoyable dinner conversation as they were planning their weekend in the bay area so we had the chance to share a lot of our favorite places to visit and eat.

Happy birthday to my hubby!


Rue Lepic
900 Pine Street

5-year anniversary at L’ardoise Bistro

Leave a reply

http://www.ardoisesf.com/

Today we celebrate 5 years of wedding bliss!

Ron surprised me today at work with a dozen long stem roses and a bouquet of tulips for our infusion center. It’s nice that we live in the city so that he can just drop by like this but a few years ago, he did send me a bouquet to my office so found a way around it. My co-workers were all jealous but also very happy for me and wished me well. I’m taking vacation all of next week but will be vacationing in San Francisco, starting with a busy day planned for tomorrow.

The roses were very fragrant and came in three beautiful colors: red, pink, and peach.

After I got off work, Ron came to pick me up and we went to see an apartment. Our lease at our current apartment ends after August and we’d like to move in a bigger place and closer to downtown. This apartment was in a beautiful building and very well maintained, it smelled so clean and was nice and quiet. The manager offered us a great deal and would hold the apartment for us until we were ready to move so we told him we’d take it. I’ll update everyone on the address once we physically move. It’s 2 bedrooms + office and 1 bath, there is 1 walk in closet and 2 smaller ones and the kitchen has a gas range! (I’m really looking forward to cooking more on it.) There are so many other lovely things about the apartment that we couldn’t believe we were lucky enough to get it… let’s just hope everything else falls into place.

After the apartment viewing, we headed to dinner at L’ardoise (pronounced LARD-WAZ) on Noe Street in the Castro. It’s a little French bistro with what I found to be delicious food and excellent service. Again, as I mentioned previously, my digital camera had gone kaput so I only had my phone camera with no flash so these pictures don’t do the food justice on how mouthwateringly beautiful it looked… nor tasted.

We had the escargot appetizer. The escargot were removed from their shells and served in a hollowed out roasted potato with a garlic parsley sauce. The sauce was so good, I soaked it all up with the baguette they provided. The baguette was really delicious as well, I could hardly control myself from finishing off the two baskets of bread they brought to the table, it reminded of the fresh baguettes from our time in France.

We also tried their tiger prawn ravioli. Ron really liked these, especially the texture of the filling, the tiger prawns had a bit of a bite mixed with the creamy sauce inside.

I ordered their hanger steak served with pomme frites (the picture is horrible… but oh so delicious). A garlic aioli accompanied the pomme frites which was so good but I can still taste the garlic now. The hanger steak was perfectly medium rare as I requested and whatever the sauce was on it was so good, it didn’t overpower the meat flavor but rather complimented it.

Ron had the almond crusted sole with a lobter bisque reduction and mushrooms. On the first bite, you could hardly taste the fish and there were so many almonds, not that we minded since we love nuts, but as you dug deeper, the fish was there. The mushrooms and lobster bisque reduction were delicious though, I’d love to have a bowl of that as soup.

As you can imagine, we were quite full after this meal, but pleasantly. The service was extremely attentive and pleasant with the staff whisking away plates as we finished and refilling our water quickly. The atmosphere is romantic as the lights are dimmed and each table has a single tealight. It was a lovely place to spend our anniversary.

L’ardoise Bistro
151 Noe Street

Gitane Restaurant

Leave a reply

http://www.gitanerestaurant.com/

Had a lovely dinner with Shirley & Patrick at Gitane Restaurant. The restaurant is hidden away and may be a bit difficult to find but it’s worth the search. It was our first time trying cuisine from the Basque region.

Photos courtesy of Patrick.

For appetizers, we tried the Bastilla: sweet & savory, crispy pastry with duck, chicken, raisins, almonds, moroccan spices, orange gastrique.

and the bacon bon bons: sauteed prunes stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in smoked bacon, anise and cinnamon port sauce. Highly recommended, not just for the concept, but also for the flavor (especially if you like prunes and goat cheese).

For drinks, I tried the Gitane Cobbler: amontillado sherry, triple sec,
lemon juice, diced peach & apricot, cinnamon. Really tasted like a stone fruit cobbler, that little bit of cinnamon made it something special.

We ordered three entrees to share, first, the sea bass: pan seared, arroz negro, grilled asparagus, parmesan tuile, romesco sauce

Next, Cataplana: portuguese fish stew, monkfish, baynes clams, hot chorizo, fingerling potatoes, bell pepper, lobster bisque

Lastly, Cordero: pan roasted domestic lamb noisette, rolled & stuffed with herb mousseline, tapenade, pisto manchego, baked polenta

Side order of choux: sauteed savoy cabbage julienne & smoked bacon

We shared two desserts, pan con chocolate: toasted baguette, spanish olive oil, vairhona chocolate ganache, vanilla fleur de sel. The olive oil gave it an interesting twist and the salt made it extra sweet.

Quatre Quart: tempranillo braised seckel pear, carmelized vanilla pound cake, carmelized almonds, citrus whipped cream. Yummy pears and cake and everything!

Looking forward to our next dinner in a few months!

Gitane Restaurant
6 Claude Lane
San Francisco

Las Vegas Weekend

Leave a reply

http://www.visitlasvegas.com/vegas/index.jsp

I was in Las Vegas this weekend for a bachelorette party, my first in Las Vegas. As the saying goes, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” but I wanted to share some the meals we had and share some of the not so good experiences.

I left on Friday night and unfortunately my flight got delayed. But at least I had a friend to pass the time with. I was a bit annoyed going through security though. I was chosen to basically get “frisked” or padded down so I had to step into the plastic case to wait for a female security guard. I was standing there without my shoes for a good 5 to 10 minutes while the guard in front of me was yelling something like “female assistance, no alarm”… there were 3 guys who were also called out and they were immediately padded down and let go. My things were sitting on the conveyor belt as everyone else passed through. It’s uncomfortable getting stared at. Finally a male guard got my stuff and I went through the machine that puffs air at you and I was allowed to pass through and put my shoes back on. I guess they might be short staffed but to allow three men to go through while I stood there and waited isn’t right. As people passed through, even they were giving me pitying looks.

When we finally arrived in Vegas, we checked into our hotel and met up with the girls at Blush Lounge at the Wynn. It was a pretty chill place, music I actually recognized, nice outdoor patio, and an older crowd.

On Saturday morning we had brunch at Bouchon in the Venetian.

We had beignets, the ones on the left are raspberry filled and the ones on the right are their classic ones covered with cinnamon sugar and served with peach preserves and nutella. Not as light as I remember beignets are in New Orleans but still yummy.

I had the croque madame, one of my favs. Those fries hit the spot and plenty to share.

A unique thing, chicken and waffles, in that the waffles have chives, sweet and savory. My friends said the chicken breast was really moist. It was served with maple syrup and gravy (mushroom I think).

Saturday evening we went to see Thunder From Down Under and all I can really say is that it was corny but I can see how it can appeal to some people. We also went to XS Nightclub at Encore which I guess is the newest club in Las Vegas and I thought highly overrated. We stayed at the Encore so went to the concierge to get free passes. When we got there, they said we needed one pass for each girl. We only had five passes because the concierge didn’t say we needed one per girl and it also doesn’t say it on the pass itself. So we were a bit irritated that we actually needed to pay to get in ($25 each x 4) when we could’ve just gotten more passes. So that started out the night on a bad note. Although the place is really cool with the outdoor pool area where you can enjoy sitting around (if it wasn’t so cold) but then the music wasn’t very good and the people in general were very rude. One of our friends was trying to leave and as she was walking away, a guy shoved her, she landed hard on her left knee and face (hurting her nose and two front teeth)… the guy just kept on walking and a bouncer was kind enough to stop to help her up. So rude.

We ended the night on a better note by going to Tao in the Venetian where the music was better and a girl in our group ran into people she knew so it was more fun to hang out with friendlier people. Some of the other girls went to gamble and had some good luck.

The weekend ended with a all-you-can-eat/drink mimosa brunch at Envy Steakhouse. Bacon & sausage… yum!

Uncharacteristically for me, I couldn’t have dessert, was too stuffed with the buffet. The piano player at this place was great, very entertaining. The atmosphere was very fun, kind of old school but a good note to end the weekend on.

Back at the Wynn, the hotel is vibrant.

We spent the afternoon shopping at The Palazzo and got my first pair of Jimmy Choo pumps! I swear, they were a good deal, on sale!

The parasols in the Palazzo before you enter the Venetian.

We walked for the 4 hours before our flight so I thought I’d be ready to sleep on the plane but couldn’t really doze off comfortably.

I feel much better today after napping for 3 hrs this evening. It’s highly irregular for me to go to Vegas this often and both were very different experiences. Both were great fun but this might be it for the year.

Congratulations to the bachelorette! The wedding will be June in Honolulu. I just got the confirmation for our tickets (great price, less than $300 per person), can’t wait!

Masa’s Restaurant

Leave a reply

http://www.masasrestaurant.com/

I had the pleasure of attending another pharmaceutical company dinner (Novartis) at Masa’s Restaurant. The speaker presented about Reclast, an intravenous drug for osteoporosis. We use it sometimes at work but not often since most of our patients have cancer, so we’re used to seeing Zometa. We had a very intimate dining experience at Masa’s in their wine room with about 14 people attending.

I was too self conscious to take photos until the end… the dessert was a baked Alaska with a little bits of fruits (mostly strawberries).