Restaurants

Grilled bread for the table and a crisp rose wine!

Pasta Pomodoro in one sentence: Sure, it’s part of a chain of Italian restaurants, but in the consistent, reliable sort of way, with a tasty menu, good sized portions and healthy options.

Who you’ll see there: Singles who don’t feel like cooking after work, couples who don’t feel like cooking after work, families who don’t feel like cooking after soccer practice and work…you get the idea. The cafe in Laurel Village is a well-known “child-friendly” spot, so it’s a big spot for the local nannies at lunch.

Make sure to try: The butternut squash ravioli, the chicken marsala, the broccoli sauteed with garlic and chile flakes, and the “mista” mixed green side salad, which has a wonderful mix of fresh vegetables and a light but tasty dressing. Also, the wine list is surprisingly extensive.

It’s okay to skip: The bruschetta. They bring you grilled bread and a garlickly dipping sauce for the table.

Best dessert: Simple but delicious affogato: espresso poured over vanilla gelato.

Seriously, isn't that a nice looking salad?

Service: It’s perfectly fine. They get your meal on the table without dropping it in your lap. There’s not a lot of variety on the menu for them to explain, but they’re nice kids, you know? Leave a nice tip, they try hard.

Average meal price: Pretty affordable and recession-friendly. The most expensive thing on the menu is the $16 steak. The Laurel Village cafe offers week night specials, half-price bottles of wine, and the servings are always big enough to bring home for left-overs.

Pasta Pomodoro Logistics:

• You can usually walk right in and get a seat
• Credit cards, yes
• It’s kid-friendly, which means there’s a good chance there will be a screaming child one or two tables over. There aren’t any fancy table cloths to absorb the sound. It can get loud. Be ready to roll with it, or get your order to go.
• Heated patio

Parking:

Officially street parking, but everyone parks in the Laurel Village parking lot.

Location:

Laurel Village
3611 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94118
415-831-0900

Photos: Cat Lincoln

Beautifull in one sentence: Healthy, clean, mostly organic prepared food that you can pick up on the fly and not feel guilty about eating.

Who you’ll see there: Neighborhood moms, after-work professionals, after-workout couples, the occasional girlfriends at lunch.

Make sure to try: The red quinoa and edamame salad, tea smoked salmon, turkey meatballs and always check the daily specials.

It’s okay to skip: Trying to sit and eat in the cafe which can get busy, loud and crowded.

Best dessert: Yummy and kinda guilt-free cookies, especially the chocolate chip cookie made with cocoa nibs.

Service: Friendly counter help, polite cashiers and attentive managers.

Average meal price: Deli prices, in the neighborhood of $8 sandwiches, $7-10/lb salads, $10-12/lb entrees.

Beautifull Logistics: You can do pick up, delivery, or curbside – as in you call in your order, and they have someone standing on the corner, ready to toss it through your window as you drive by. Located at the Laurel Village Shopping Center, so you can grab dinner, shop for kids’ clothes or drop by the bookstore.

Parking: A big and beautiful free parking lot in the back, meters in the front

Location: Laurel Village

3401 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 728-9080

Hours:

Open 7 days a week
9:00am – 8:00pm

Photos: Cat Lincoln

From Nancy D. Brown of What a Trip

Cruising & Dining - A Match Made At Sea

Killer coffee, healthy halibut and fresh cornbread with caribou chili; throw in a side of Alaskan king crab legs and you have yourself one heck of a party. As I’ve been known to say on a recent trip to Alaska, “when in Alaska, eat like an Alaskan. And so it began when I boarded Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas ship, bound for…you guessed it…Alaska!

This was my first time on a cruise ship other than a two night stay on the Carnival Splendor, floating around the San Francisco Bay as the company introduced its newest ship.

I can see why the cruise industry is so successful; floating hotels offering gourmet, international-inspired cusine and no dishes to clean up. I could get used to this. I particularly enjoyed Royal Caribbean’s Portofino specialty restaurant with its Northern Italian menu. I recommend the filet of halibut over a citrus, crab and shrimp risotto, finished with salsa verde and lemon butter sauce.

Portofino Halibut with Crab & Shrimp Risotto

Raven's Brew - the Last Legal High

Deadman’s Reach - Coffee for Seafearing Souls

One of my favorite Alaskan discoveries is Deadman’s Reach, a flavorful caffeinated jolt from Raven’s Brew Coffee. My husband loves the coffee, while I’m captivated with the graphic designs on their packaging.

For the sweet tooths in the bunch, stock up on handmade fudge, truffles and chocolate candies from KetchiCandies in Ketchikan. Sarah Palin’s not the only thing going in Wasilla, Alaska, I discovered cashew brittle made by Klondike Candies.

Denali Bound

Halibut Fish and Chips

Heading to Denali National Park while you’re in Alaska? We stayed at the McKinley Village Lodge where I ordered halibut fish and chips from the Gold Rush dining room. I wanted to get a quick bite before our visit to the Husky Homestead Tour and my waitress rose to the occasion when I requested a speedy turnaround. Good food, good service.

If you find yourself in the tiny town of Talkeetna, stop by the Road House for some caribou chili and a hunk of cornbread. The homemade cinammon rolls looked amazing, but one can only eat so much. However, I did manage to revive my appetite the next day for some reindeer chili at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. I also tried the reindeer sausage at the Anchorage Marriott Downtown for breakfast on my last day.

Our group of travel writers, on a Royal Caribbean Cruisetour, dined at the Snow Goose Restaurant our last night in Alaska. I wasn’t impressed with the food or the service, (they forgot to fire my order) but the beer drinkers in the group enjoyed the beer on tap from the Sleeping Lady Brewery on premise.

All photos courtesy of Nancy D. Brown

Window seat @ Hamano Sushi

Every neighborhood in San Francisco seems to have its anchor sushi restaurant, and in Noe Valley it sure seems like Hamano Sushi is THE place.  We often stop in for an easy delicious healthy dinner any day of the week.  Their daily specials are in front.  They often have space at their counter by the window, at least when you show up at 5:30. Add in their convenient location, along with fresh sushi and you will see why they are often crowded once the dinner hour gets going.  If you can’t arrive early, I suggest calling for table reservations especially on weekends. Read More »

Domo in San Francisco

We are all trying to save our money these days while looking for the right balance between an inexpensive meal and healthy foods when we eat out. Having menu items like Firecracker Balls and Sexy Mama Rolls is a nice touch to the experience. Check out the sushi bar called Domo in Hayes Valley.

We found Domo while wandering the neighborhood looking for something healthy to eat that wasn’t too expensive.  While standing in front of Suppenkuche, we noticed a small billboard near the telephone pole highlighting the lunch specials at Domo. We followed the sign then grabbed a seat at the window.

I was immediately tempted by the a la carte choices like nigiri sushi and the appetizer menu. I love the fresh and vinegary taste of cucumber sunomono, and real Hawaiian style tuna poke is the best!

Sashimi over rice

We kept to our budget and went for the lunch special. For $10 we had our choice of sushi combo, sashimi salad, maki (roll) combo, open face dragon roll (eel, tempura shrimp and avocado over rice) or sashimi over rice. These all came with miso soup and a salad. We also had delicious real ocha (green tea), not the stuff in a tea bag.

For San Francisco this is a bargain. We ate plenty of food that was fresh and healthy. I would definitely go back for dinner. The more exotic rolls like the Spicy Hulk, the Kobe Beef, the Fire Cracker Balls and the Sexy Mama (broiled asparagus topped with sliced lemon and salmon) looked delicious.

Don’t forget to try their seasonal specials highlighted on their wall near the bar and ask the waiter for help if you like sake – our guy recommended a cold sake that went perfectly with our lunch!

511 Laguna St
(between Fell St & Linden St)
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 861-8887
www.domosf.com

Mon-Fri. 12:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Pacific Palisades is a tony, leafy suburb of Los Angeles CA – the type of town where children play outside until dark, small shops line a couple of main thoroughfares, and neighbors are friendly to each other. It’s no surprise that one of the most popular restaurants in town is called Mayberry. After all, despite the hip and urban feel of most of Los Angeles, this town that abuts the Pacific Ocean can feel like a throwback to the eponymous ’50s show.

This restaurant used to be Terri’s Cafe, a longtime fixture on Swarthmore Avenue. A few years ago, the waitresses bought out the owner, and now co-operate it under this new name. Mayberry is a success in this town, bustling on the weekends. The child-friendly, casual restaurant has crayons at each table, photographs and paintings by local artists on the walls, and menu items that range from healthy to decadent. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served 7 days a week.

Full disclosure: There’s a farmers’ market every Sunday in Pacific Palisades, and one of my favorite lazy Sunday activities is to peruse the market, and then have brunch at Mayberry. My family does this often enough that the cadre of waitress-owners know us and – unless we shake things up – know what we’re going to order before we sit down.  The barbeque chicken salad used to be my standard Mayberry brunch order, but lately I’m liking the island curry chicken salad.

There are always daily specials written on the chalkboard, and one recent special called an Angel Omelette was really great. Egg whites, goat cheese, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes may sound a little pedestrian, but the ingredients are always as fresh as it gets, and the egg dishes have the right balance to be flavorful and savory, without ever becoming overwhelming.  The kiddie items include standards like chicken strips and macaroni and cheese, and that theme of American comfort food runs through the regular menu as well.  The sandwiches are filling and fresh. The eggs Benedict is reliably fantastic for brunch, and the granola with fruit and yoghurt is a guilt-free way to start the day. I recommend this granola – it’s a little chunky, just the way I like it. If brunch is more of an indulgent meal, then go for the lemon chiffon French toast. It’s light, superbly tasty, and barely needs syrup.

There’s usually a wait on Sundays, but as the Palisadians can tell you (since they come to Mayberry again and again), this restaurant is worth it. In the meantime, enjoy the farmers’ market.

Mayberry
1028 Swarthmore Ave
Pacific Palisades, CA
(310) 454-3123

San Francisco Japantown

Do you find yourself out shopping when suddenly you’re hungry but you don’t want a big meal? Going to catch a movie at the Sundance Cinema in Pacific Heights (formerly the AMC Kabuki) and need to eat something more than popcorn? If you are short on time and love fish, this is your place.

Isobune is “sushi boat” dining located within Japantown, in the center of the mall. It is a uniquely Japanese experience because you line up at the entrance and when a seat opens you take a spot at a circular counter, with two sushi chefs in the center. The chefs stand and prepare various types of sushi, sashimi and other dishes. They fill in the gaps as customers help themselves to the trays resting on the boats, slowly moving past your seat in a little chain. Each tray is color coded with a little diagram in front of you, describing the prices for each dish.

Soon after you sit down someone will be at your elbow with a hot towel to wipe your hands and a cup of hot tea. After I fold my towel, I like diving in and getting edamame, fresh salmon sashimi and a maybe a tuna nigiri or two.

Sushi for people in a hurry

You have to use a critical eye though and let anything go by if it looks suspect to you. They do sometimes have fish that looks like it isn’t that fresh or that it has been seasoned in a way that might upset my stomach. You will also have to be open to having neighbors eating next to your elbow that can be highly entertaining, a quiet family eating or an obnoxious person drinking too much sake. Overall this place isn’t the cheapest but it is fast and a healthy alternative to nachos and movie popcorn.

photo credit to shiny things and wharman

Mention Mexican food, and many people think of greasy, cheesy, refried and unhealthy – but admittedly delicious – entrees. While this is true in a lot of downscale restaurants, there are some casual Southern California spots that focus on healthier Mexican food without losing those great Mexican flavors. Kay ‘n Dave’s Cantina is a great example of (relatively) healthy Mexican cuisine in a Los Angeles area local chain restaurant.

There are just three Kay ‘n Dave’s Cantinas, with a fourth opening soon in Culver City. All are in pretty, somewhat high-end neighborhoods of Los Angeles: Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, and Rancho Park. The original Kay ‘n Dave’s was right on the Pacific Coat Highway in Malibu (another high-end town, to be sure). The original Kay ‘n Dave’s set the tone that continues today; a friendly, informal, well-lit environment, bustling with hungry people of all ages and fresh, large portions of Cal-Mex fusion and traditional Mexican food.

For families visiting Los Angeles or looking for a fresh and healthier Mexican dining experience, I wholeheartedly recommend Kay ‘n Dave’s. The restaurants are child-friendly: You’ll see the kids’ menu includes non-spicy Mexican standards like tacos and quesadillas, along with your standard grilled cheese. Children are given crayons and paper; their scribbles and sketches are treated like art by being hung on the restaurants’ walls.

You’ve got your standard drippy, cheesy enchiladas and nachos at Kay ‘n Dave’s, of course, along with quesadillas and tacos. But the menu has much, much more, and nothing is ever cooked in lard. There are no trans fats in the fried foods, only skinless white meat is used in chicken dishes, and the salsa, sauces and soup are made from scratch, fresh daily.

Now, Kay ‘n Dave’s is not a stereotypical health food vegan restaurant by a long shot (I’ve enjoyed far too many steak fajita burritos there to even pretend this is true), but there are enough meat-free choices here to keep my vegetarian brother happy. In fact, every time he visits, Kay ‘n Dave’s Cantina is the one restaurant he looks forward to eating at, again and again. It’s his favorite great, healthy Mexican restaurant chain in Los Angeles. If it’s a casual, attitude-free lunch or dinner you want, Kay ‘n Dave’s Cantina may become yours, too.