Masimuddy Eats!

Hierloom Cafe SF

2011-03-05T10:36:00.000-08:00

I recently arranged a birthday dinner at Hierloom Cafe in SF. Fantastic meal, wonderful service - the owner in helped us arrange a birthday cake for the birthday girl. (The Eppoise burger special was amazing)

The wine list here is especially interesting and totally worth checking out. One great surprise was that the stocked some Italian wine from Ivrea, a lovely town I called home for a couple years. Ferrado vini - fantastic.

Great food and great wine? what more can you ask for?! - the interior is charming as well ...

Cheese from Lanark Onario

2010-12-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

As is typical on my visits back home, my sister and I made a stop on our travels to serious cheese. This time we looked for Canadian cheeses and walked away with a Madawaska from Back Forty. This cheese is made locally in Lanark Ontario from sheep raised by the cheese maker and was one best I've had this year. Rind, some solid curb and some oozy goodness. Wonderfully fresh.

While hard to find, you should seek some out. Some of the local Ottawa restaurant and stores (like Serious Cheese) might be your best bet to taste some of this great dairy product.

Canadian Wines - Part 2

2010-10-24T22:32:00.001-07:00

This is second 2 posts on my recent Canadian wine tasting trip. This post focuses on the wine region names Prince Edward County, which is a peninsula area near Kingston Ontario on the north end of Lake Ontario. (It's not to be confused with prince Edward Island. They have potatoes therem not wine.)

PEC is a much younger wine region then Niagara, and smaller so there are fewer wineries, but there are still some great finds here. Like Niagara, the area focuses on colder climate grapes like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and as such, are closer to the style found in Burgundy.

Long Dog - Some wonderful pinot's can be found here. I had one of their wine at Domus in Ottawa for a News Year's dinner and it was the first Canadian wine the I remember impressing me.

Norman Hardie - Pinot and Chardonnay, my favorite of the region.

Closson Chase - the specialize in Chardonnay and have an excellent range. very good, but be warned the tasting are pricey and like most places in PEC they don't waive the fee if you purchase anything.

Hinterland - one of the areas only producers of Sparkling wines have only recently opened their tasting room. They offer some still whites as well.

County Cider Ice Cider - I know it's not grape based, but the iced cider is simply fantastic in the desert wine category.

There are some great food stops here as well:

Buddha Dog - makes excellent "gourmet" hot dogs
Harvest - Excellent classically prepared foods. A good dinner option
Fifth Town cheese makes some absolutely wonderful goat's milk cheese. They do have a store in PEC and I've found their cheeses in Ottawa

Canadian Wines - Part 1

2010-10-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is first of 2 posts on my recent Canadian wine tasting trip.

On my last trip to Canada I managed to do tastings in 2 of the Canadian wine regions - Niagara and Prince Edward County. Now, before you ask - yes, canadian make more then just ice wine, and yes, it's actually good. So good, in fact, that I look forward to my trips home to sample more of it. My previous experience with wines from Canada were only ice wines (yay!) and a few of the mass produced wines (boo!).

My first day trip was to the Niagara escarpment area (which is about 1.5 hour south of Toronto) mostly near the towns of Beamsville and Jordan (Ontario, or course). The drive there is beautiful and relaxed. Here are descriptions of my preferred places:

Royal De Maria specializes only in ice wines and produces the largest range of varietals of any producer. Most produces use reisling or vidal, but de maria adds cab franc and merlot to name a few. Out of all the ice wines I've ever tasted, Del Maria is the clearly the champ (and I say that not just because of the table of awards they show you when you walk in the door). They produce an exceptionally complex and not overly sweet desert wine.

The reislings at Thirty Bench were fantastic - bright and crisp. They have a few small lots that they produce the reislings from and also offer a blend. Look for the one with the nose of 'rubber tires'. Seriously. (Being a designer, I also have to mention their identity design is beautifully done)

At Organized Crime is a smaller producer and I was fortunate to get some samples of the upcoming wines straight from the barrel. There are some great wines to come from this winery (look for the pinot noirs!) I walked away with a cabernet franc.

Flat Rock has a tasting room with a great view, and a super friendly staff. They had a selection of lower priced wines that are still great wines. The 2008 Rusty Shed Chardonnay was superb.

Food is a highlight here as well, I suppose partly because it's an agriculture area, and partly because thoses that like wine, usually appreciate a good meal.

Overall I was super impressed by the wines. Most of the places had very consistently well structures wines in a style that was more old world and not as heavy handed as the California wines, largely, I was told, because the climate is closer to that of Burgundy. I'll be coming back.

My winery highlights:

Thirty Bench Wine Makers
The Organized Crime Winery
Flat Rock Cellars
Clos de Jordan (visits by reservation only)
Royal de Maria Wines (ice wines only)

My food highlights:

Inn on the Twenty Restaurant - Jordan
The food truck at Flat Rock Cellars

Resaurant Cuveé in Napa

2010-05-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I managed to get out to wine country. We were late, so we only managed one winery, but fortunately for us it was Charles Krug, which remains one of my preferred wine makers in the Napa Valley.

It was the weekend, so like always it's hard to find a (good) place last minute but found a place we did at Cuveé Restaurant. The restaurant was not in the main downtown core of Napa, dinner was good overall but our service had a few hiccups. They served Californian cuisine and the highlight was main course. My friend had a truly excellent chicken.

Overall it was a good choice for diner, but up in Napa there a few more interesting and charming options.

Other features:

Rooms for larger groups
A nice sized outdoor patio
Lounge area

Cheese!

2010-01-23T22:19:00.000-08:00

In the last few days, I've tried a number of cheese from Neil's Yard Dairy (after a recommendation from a friend). The "farm cheeses from the British Isles" are fantastic! A stilton, wensleydale, shropshire - excellent. If you like cheese I highly recommend picking some up. I have yet to try their cheddar, but I've also heard good things.

In the Bay area, I've found some at Whole Foods and the Cow Girl Creamery in the Ferry building.

2010 Michelin guide

2009-10-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

So the updated guide is out, as are the updated list of Stars. French Laundry retains it's 3 stars, and I'm happy to see Ubuntu join the ranks of the starred. I had a wonderful meal there when my sister visited a while back.

More info available here at SF Gate.

Pizza in the Bay Area

2009-08-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

In my foodie adventures around SF, I discovered a few places that had some good, and some not so good, pizza and I thought I'd share some of the places that I enjoyed. Be warmed that my preference strongly leans to the Italian style thin-crust pizza.

Delfina Pizzeria in SF - Mission // Thin crust wood oven pizza. Certainly my favorite in the area! Here I went with the baseline pizza Margharita the first time I was there, and returned many times since. They also have some specials (like mussels on the evening I was there) and a few traditional antipasti like olives and salami and the desserts are also worth a sample. They opened another storre in Pacific Heights.

Pizza Nostra in SF - Potrero Hill // Napoli-style pizza is how they advertise it. A close second to Delfina (and certainly a shorter wait).

Piccino's in SF - Potrero Hill // Thin-crust pizza in the Dogpatch. They offer a special white and a special red (tomoato-based) pizza every night.

Pauline's Pizza in SF - Mission // They serve a slightly thicker crust pizaa that is quite good, and offer a few sizes. Every night the chef will prepare two special eccentric topping pizza's - one meat and one veggie. This is a good option when you have a larger group.

LuLu in SF - SOMA // I had the mushroom pizza baked in a wood-fire oven. Really excellent if you aren't tempted by the wonderful rotisserie items they have. They have a sister restaurant, Zibbobo, in Palo Alto that has the same menu.

La Pizzeria in Cambell // A more traditional style pizza that can be found in the south bay.

And a few places I have yet to try:

A16 in SF Marina / Farina in SF Mission / Cheeseboard in Berkely

Tcho releases!

2009-03-17T00:43:00.000-07:00

I was in the a store over the weekend and noticed a familiar logo in the chocolate section. It seems Tcho has gone out of beta, made some fancy packaging and is now selling their chocolates around. I asked the clerk and he said it's been 2 weeks, and they are ready for another order. I've only open the Nutty bar so far and it was wonderful!

Tcho is a new chocolate company located in SF (the only chocolate factory in SF, they say) and are focusing on creating dark chocolates "representing the natural flavors inherent in cocoa beans". They had Nutty, Fruity and Citrusy bars and a few other items, like chocolate covered nuts, available for purchase. I found the bars at Say Cheese in Cole valley (where, incidentally, they have a fine selection of cheese) and you can go to the factory store on pier 17 in SF.

Opentable adds map views

2009-02-19T00:08:00.000-08:00

Now when you are searching for restaurants, you can view the results in a map view, above a list. Red pins show exact times and grey pins show similar times. You can click on them to get restaurant details and get your reservations. This is certainly better if you need to choose a restaurant near a specific location.

Chocolate closing : (

2009-01-31T11:06:00.000-08:00

How sad : (

"The Hershey Co. said Tuesday it plans to close Scharffen Berger's West Berkeley manufacturing plant as well as the San Francisco factory that makes Joseph Schmidt chocolates and consolidate production at other facilities." - SF Gate (read full article)

When I took the tour a few months ago, I was impressed at how much quality chocolates can some out of a factory so small. It had a really great local feel, and was great outing for any chocolate lover. It will be missed. (Incidentally, their webpage has not been updated, maybe there is still time for a quick trip!)

The good news is, that their chocolate will still be made. I hope it stays as good as it's always been!

2 Star discount!

2009-01-27T00:41:00.000-08:00

So the recession seems to be setting in on even some of our favorite local stars, but it might mean new options for eating out : ) Manresa, for example is now offering a 3 course menu for $75. A good deal, and hopefully the same quality.

I really enjoyed the meal I had there last year, I'm definitely considering another trip over to Los Gatos.

For more details read the post on their blog.

Chocolates in SF

2008-10-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

If you love chocolates, here are a few chocolate shops I try to make a pitstop in whenever I'm in their vicinity. (I do have to thank my sister for drawing my attention to these, thanks!)

/ Christopher Elbow Chocolates (Hayes Valley)
American artisanal chocolates. Has a good variety of interesting flavors, the most memorable one for me is Rosemary Caramel.

/ CocoaBella (Union St.)
This store collects chocolates from makes around the world, and have a varied and excellent choice. A good mix of traditional flavors and more modern tastes.

/ Recchiuti (Ferry Building)
A local San Francisco chocolatier offering "fine chocolates, gourmet caramels and fresh chocolate truffles".

I got me Teh Book.

2008-10-22T00:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, I picked up the Michelin Guide for 2009. Many of you know, I've been exploring the area using Teh Book for a while now. The update has a number of new entries and a much improved layout. Such as restaurant names are shown on the map, so no need for crazy flipping frenzies when trying to find a restaurant. A simple yet effective update. These two reasons alone made me upgrade my book.

Crazy? Maybe. I still like food.

Urbanspoon is what I use

2008-10-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

Most of the time when I'm looking for a place to eat, I will use a few resources to pick the target restaurant. The main website I use is Urbanspoon. It's a great place to get information and reviews of restaurants from both real people and critics in one place and the reviews are available for a number of cities. Give it a try and see how it work for you.

You can also create a profile at the site to track the restaurants you've been to, and let other know what you like and don't like. My profile is there and available for you to see some of my favorite restaurants.

Urbanspoon also has a great mobile application for the iPhone. it will find where you are, and with a simple shake of your mobile, Urbanspoon will recommend a nearby restaurant. Check it out!

Junoon Cookery

2008-04-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went to a cooking demonstration at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay by the chef from Junnoon. The demo is part of a series from Inside the Kitchen. I chose to attend this one in particular, because I love the restaurant. Kirti Pant serves up truly excellent modern Indian style cuisine.

The class was full, and he demonstrated how to cook 3 popular dishes from the Junnoon menu: Tangy Semolina Shells, Konju Pappas (Shrimp in tomato/tamarind sauce) and Rice-flaked Sea Bass with Kokum Sauce. It was great for me, since I’m not really familiar with using Indian spices so I think I learned a little. The class was accompanied by a tasting of the 3 dishes (a decent portion, actually) matched wines and a take-away booklet with the recipes. Plus the hotel is really, nice and a good excuse to head to the seaside (if you need more excuses).

There is one more class in the series which I plan to attend … more soon!

Ledson Orange Muscat

2008-04-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Aaaah! The sun is out. The week is over. I finally decided to open the chilled bottle of orange muscat I picked up at Ledson wineries. Excellent. Hit the spot. Very refreshing. Not too sweet.