Restaurants

I was 29 years old before I walked into a Chinese restaurant.

Egg Roll #1's sweet and sour chicken

Growing up, I knew all about foods my friends merely stared at: mush, fried Spam, grits, black-eyed peas. The child of a Southern cook, I was familiar with fried green tomatoes and okra, even if I couldn’t stand them. But an egg roll? Couldn’t tell you what it tasted like and didn’t really care … I was too busy exploring my new-found love of Mexican dishes.

Then we had a chance to travel to China, and I got it into my head that I should get comfortable with the food before heading to the airport. So I called a friend and begged her to serve as my interpreter in one of those hole-in-the-wall restaurants with a generic name, Egg Roll #1. I’d seen a lot of people flowing in and out of there, so it must be good.

She was more than happy to oblige, and suggested I would like sweet and sour chicken with fried rice, and the famous egg roll. She was half right: I loved the fried chicken nuggets and fried rice, wasn’t overly fond of that sticky sweet sauce poured all over it and couldn’t stand anything stuffed with cabbage.

It turns out the effort was wasted, since food in China tastes nothing like Chinese food. But I did launch a love affair with chopsticks.

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Partridge @ Galvin Bistrot de Luxe London, UK

Planning a special trip to London?  Are you in town for a city break and taking advantage of one of the capital’s hostels?  If you are staying in central London and want to treat yourself to an amazing French dinner or lunch, there is only one place I know within walking distance of The Landmark London that knocked my socks off – Galvin Bistrot de Luxe, winner of the prestigious Michelin Bib Gourman.

Rose Prince from The Daily Telegraph writes “Chris and Jeff Galvin have revved up bistrot cuisine” and I couldn’t agree more! We had dinner here recently and the food was superb, these two brothers are excellent chefs! It is no surprise that Galvin Bistrot has received rave write ups in many London restaurant guides, newspapers and Time Out London. You will definitely need to make reservations if you decide to go, but it will be worth it.

The good news for those of us on the dollar side of the exchange rate is that this popular restaurant has two well-priced fixed menus for lunch and dinner. Galvin Bistrot de luxe is open all day for food and wine, with prix fixe menus that include three courses for either £15.50 or £17.50 depending on whether you are there for lunch or dinner. Read More »

Contigo San Francisco Jamon Serrano

The Noe Valley neighborhood in San Francisco has another new restaurant that is so good, when you add in the recently opened Whole Foods Market; the area seems to be turning into a destination for foodies. The area can definitely support more good restaurants, and when the menu is created with local and organic products and sourced from humane farmers, ranchers, fishermen and artisans; locals applaud and line up at the front door.

Contigo Kitchen + Cava is a fabulous restaurant that serves only dinner and they do not take reservations. It is worth arriving early but if have to wait, they have a counter you can stand at sipping wine while you watch their kitchen cook everything from scratch.

Contigo is the only restaurant in San Francisco where you can sample the fabled jamón iberico de bellota — and an assortment of Catalan coques (flatbreads) from the wood-burning oven. Having had this ham in Barcelona, what we tasted at dinner was a flashback to our amazing trip years earlier. Read More »

San Francisco Landmark Tadich Grill

Another “must see and eat at” for any San Francisco visitors or new residents, is Tadich Grill in the Financial District.  I read somewhere that Tadich was referred to once as, “It’s kind of like the Peter Luger’s of Seafood”. Having eaten at both The Palm Restaurant on Second Avenue in New York and Peter Luger in Brooklyn, I have to agree.

When you dine at Tadich Grill be prepared to be served large portions by sometimes grumpy but always no-nonsense waiters. This is not your trendy super-friendly chain restaurant, this is a piece of San Francisco history that has survived a hundred trends. If you close your eyes, the atmosphere is a little Nick and Nora in The Thin Man, especially if you hear a cable car clang its bell on the up/down California Street outside the restaurant.

Now for lunch but especially for dinner, you have got to try the Cioppino, white bib around your neck and all. Read More »

Crusty Sourdough & Fresh Oysters!

San Francisco has few restaurants left that illustrate the city’s rich history like this restaurant in the financial district. Sam’s Grill and Seafood Restaurant now permanently anchored at the edge of Bush Street and Belden Place, began in 1867 as a simple seafood stall run by an Irishman, named Michael Molan Moraghan.

The fresh fish and shellfish supplied by Mr. Moraghan went to all the best restaurants and hotels in San Francisco. He became very successful and even flourished after the famous 1906 earthquake and fire.

In 1922 his company was called the Burlingame Oyster Co. which he sold to Sam Zenovitch. By 1931, after several tries, the name “Sam’s Seafood Grotto” stuck.

The business moved to a few locations but always stayed near what is now the Bank of America building on California Street, and home to the Carnelian Room. After Sam Zenovich passed away in 1936, and the restaurant was bought by Frank Seput, who gave the name, “Sam’s Grill and Seafood Restaurant.” The restaurant has been at its current location since 1946. Read More »

Millie's Kitchen is THE place for breakfast in the East Bay

We are out of our element, driving in Lafayette, California. This sleepy, suburban town across the Bay Bridge is a world away from San Francisco but only about 30 minutes driving time.

However we discovered that Lafayette might be sleepy but it has one of the most happening places for breakfast called Millie’s Kitchen. They are close to the Highway 24 but you won’t see them unless you are already on Oak Road.

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Let's Be Frank in San Francisco

I may have found the best hot dogs in San Francisco, let’s be frank, they were dog gone good then GONE, because we ate them.  Our family eats hotdogs on a regular basis so we like to find tasty dogs when we are out walking the city.

Let’s Be Frank is a very cool hotdog operation with street vendor carts in San Francisco and Los Angeles.  They also have catering, a new retail shop in the Marina area and you can find their franks and pork brats (bratwurst) in groceries like Andronico’s, Bi-Rite Market here in the city.

Their recipe was carefully developed by Sue Moore, former “meat forager” for Berkeley’s famed Chez Panisse. The dogs are made from premium cuts of grass-fed beef and the brats from pure heritage pork. Both use organic spices. No nitrates, nitrates, preservatives, filler or junk.

What I love is that they often have a cart set up on a regular weekend basis at Crissy Field near the Warming Hut in San Francisco.  This part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area is very popular with families and tourists.

Yummy Hotdogs @ Crissy Field

We often head over to this area to picnic or celebrate a birthday on the weekends.  Ever since Crissy Field in the Presidio of San Francisco was rehabilitated, coming over to the Warming Hut or Fort Point is like a mini-vacation.  Discovering these delicious hotdogs with their fresh Acme bread buns and fancy condiments, like Napa Yellow Mustard is another draw, just be ready to spend $5.50.

Grass-fed Beef Hotdogs

New Shop Open Everyday!
3318 Steiner Street
San Francisco, CA
www.letsbefrankdogs.com

Sopes de Monterrey

Hollywood, Florida, is a bit skinny on Mexican restaurant selections, which is how we first stumbled onto the Cancun Mexican Grill off the Howard Young Circle. Now you can’t keep me out of the place — and my brother is even more of a fanatic. While in Miami for one day with tickets to the Super Bowl, he still drove up to this suburban restaurant for lunch.

It’s the salsa and the people-watching opportunities, frankly.

I usually order food to be polite, and then ask for a tub of the salsa and chips to take back to my refrigerator at the Manta Ray Inn, so I can make a few more meals out of it. They’ve never shared their recipe with us, but we suspect there’s garlic stirred in with the peppers.

However, you can’t take this caliber of oddball people back with you, which is probably a good thing. On my last visit, I thought the old guy riding the pink bicycle up and down the sidewalk while he hooted at cars would be my winner. Then I was sure it was the old geezer with Super Fly glasses who drove up in a Mercedes, took a sidewalk table with his arm bracelet wife/girlfriend/escort, and proceeded to play the hot shot with the waitress. And then Steve took a seat.

Steve, as I was able to eavesdrop from the five tables away, is a concierge. He grew up speaking Spanish, but his kid is failing that course in school, as he told the two women he was buying drinks for — a couple of giggleheads I dubbed Thing 1 and Thing 2. He wore a jacket, buttoned-down white shirt and a tie with bright blue Keds tennis shoes. If you’d asked him who he thinks he most resembles, I’m sure he’d say JLo’s husband, Marc Anthony. (He was certainly bragging about how he could sleep with her any time he wanted, along with Angelina Jolie. Teeheehee, said his fan club.) He was more like a cartoon of Ricky Ricardo.

I nearly spit Coke all over my table laughing when Steve started taking gadgets out of his pockets and inadvertently mentioned during his ongoing chatter that he had “another little tool right here,” which is quite the unfortunate phrase when you’re trying to pick up women. His adoring audience didn’t seem to notice, though, no doubt because the margaritas were flowing.

Hollywood beach

And then he felt compelled to impress these chicks by describing how a doctor stuck needles in his eyes during a surgery. “Ohhh, that must have been so painful,” said the chorus. No, macho Steve assured them, he could handle that. It was the nausea afterward that wasn’t any fun. He hates feeling nauseated. And Thing 1 cried, “Ohhh, nausea. I hate that,” and Thing 2 echoed, “Nausea. Disgusting.”

OK, there’s a difference between being a small tool and having a conversation about vomit while I’m trying to eat Sopes de Monterrey. Steve may have won this round of “who’s the weirdo?” but I lost my appetite. Well, for that hour anyhow. Me and the salsa had our own party about midnight out on the beach.

Cancun Mexican Grill

1828 Harrison St.

Hollywood, FL 33020

(954) 922-8515

Photography: Julie Sturgeon

Not your typical restaurant theme

I’d heard that GQ’s food writer Alan Richman called it the best burger in the country. I know Oprah flies down to Hollywood, Florida, to eat at this little joint.

So this trip, I decided to try it for myself: Le Tub on Ocean Drive just south of Johnson Street — in large part because I finally found the place, hiding behind a rickety fence.

Once you attract celebrities, your story gets out there. I was aware this local restaurant was once a Sunoco gas station and that the owner is the guy who thought up flying the Coppertone banner behind airplanes to advertise to sunbathers in South Florida. I could tell you it was decorated with bathtubs and toilets.

But I didn’t expect the dichotomies of this dockside restaurant. You can’t help but notice it’s a dump, and not in a theme-restaurant cutesy way, like a Dick’s Last Resort. I’m talking about wooden tables and seats that might not last through the meal. Be particularly wary of the the bench below the “Under Marsh Harbor JIB Room” sign — you will walk away with splinters in your ass, if you can stand up out of that hole at all.

Joey Campbell and Belle

The menu is handwritten, the staff brings their dogs to sit at the tables, they only accept cash and the menu mentions they prefer not to see kids after 8 p.m. No kidding. I heard the a few waiters throwing around the f-bomb and a nice four-letter s-word befitting the theme at 4:45 in the afternoon. Joey, the maintenance man, cleans tables by dumping the leftovers into the Intercoastal Waterway so diners can watch the fish bob for food.

And yet this establishment expects men to wear collared shirts in the evenings, and offers a parking attendant to watch your car. A wooden sign in the parking lot declares Le Tub is “an inexpensive for people with money,” which is your first warning you’re about to pay $12 for a cheeseburger. Not a cheeseburger, fries and Coke, mind you. Just the sandwich.

On the other hand, you’d be a bigger person than I if you could eat more than that. At 13 ounces, it comes out of the kitchen stacked so high, you can’t get your mouth around the whole thing. I’m guessing that’s why they included the plastic silverware. I’d have liked to salt my tomato slice, but I had to dump the clumped up salt out of the holes onto the table first.

Did I mention Le Tub is a real dive?

A cheeseburger in paradise?

But trust me, you’ll embrace these eccentricities if it means a chance at another burger like that. These guys know what medium rare means, and they make sure the Swiss cheese (or cheddar or American) is actually melted on there, not just slapped on and slightly warmed. The bun is so fresh, I think they baked it just before I wandered in. These burgers may not be everyone’s favorite, but it sure earned that “best” award with me.

But don’t say I didn’t warn you about that seating thing.

Le Tub Saloon

1100 N. Ocean Drive

Hollywood, Florida 33019

(954) 921-9425

Intimate tables at Alegrias Spanish Restaurant

Date night in San Francisco is popular among my married friends, especially those with children.  Since there are so many romantic restaurants in San Francisco to choose from – I will help by suggesting Alegria’s Restaurant in the Marina neighborhood.

When you walk into this intimate restaurant, the first thing we thought was how the decor and lighting reminded us of a cozy European hotel lobby.  We loved the decorations, the dark, rich fabrics and the use of beautifully framed mirrors.

The restaurant is run by the Gonzalez family and you will see all of them moving quickly between tables and the kitchen.  They did a great job at serving our dishes while they were hot.  They did not serve them all at once which I liked. We had a chance to savor each slowly.

Spanish tapas are small plates of hot and cold dishes.  Alegrias (pronounced A-le-gree-as) serves a large selection of tasty tapas along with traditional paella.  The evening we stopped in, they had a few specials on the menu including frogs legs.

Frogs Legs at Alegrias

With our meal we had a carafe of cold sangria that went well with the selection of dishes – crisp and not too sweet. Besides the frogs legs and seafood paella, we also had the incredible Tortilla de Chorizo and pair of Empanadillas de Carne.  The Tortilla de Chorizo is a classic Spanish potato cake with pieces of slightly spicy sausage – YUM.

Tortilla de Chorizo at Alegrias

We loved every dish, and my husband even commented on how tasty the Spanish olive oil was that they served with the bread. Fun fact for you local foodies, Alegrias was a selected restaurant on Check, Please Bay Area and they have told me that this exposure has helped bring more customers to enjoy their restaurant.  We will definitely return for another great dinner date!

2018 Lombard St
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 929-8888

www.alegriassf.com
Open everyday for dinner at 5:30 except on Tuesdays.

All photo credits to my iPhone.