Happy New Year!

Hey hey hey!

I have about an hour and 15 minutes until 2008! More than half of the world is already in 2008, but I still wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy new year! Have fun, but don't be too crazy! Take care everyone and see you in the 0-8!

Yours,
Jo

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Bittersweet Café - Rated X - Parental Discretion Is Advised

Restaurant: Bittersweet Café
Address: 2123 Fillmore Street b/t California and Sacramento, Pacific Heights, SF
Cuisine: Chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate
Date Last Visited: November 14, 2007
Dining Partners: Dev and Elle

Chocolate is seriously the food of the goddesses. My coworker Dev suggested we go check out this chocolate café for lunch. I was excited because it was listed in one of my books, so I was ready to go. I really did not know how great this place was until I stepped in the door.

They seriously have almost every chocolate that has been concocted. There many various types of chocolate bars from your standard milk, dark, and white to your fruit, nutty and chili-infused chocolates.



Bittersweet presents several fine chocolatiers such as: Scharffen Berger, Cote d’Or, Caffe Tasse,Valrhona, E. Guittard, among many others. They even sell their own “B’Sweet” t-shirts and baby onesies. I should grab one of them one day.



Though the chocolate bars looked heavenly, I think I was most enthralled by the desserts and confections behind the glass. Of course, chocolate ganache truffles are on the menu…they have flavors such as the classic dark and milk chocolate with fleur de sel…



Chocolate chip cookies, chocolate pudding, chocolate croissants, brownie bites, cupcakes (peanut butter and German chocolate are the flavors available)…And Bitterweet’s specialties: Cinnamon Hot Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Nib Scones, Pear Chocolate Ginger Muffins, Chocolate Dulce de Leche Pudding…good Lord…



The thing I HAD to have were the homemade marshmallows. No, these are not those spongy marshmallows you buy in those plastic bags at the supermarket. No, no, no, Grasshoppa, this is the real thing. They have both vanilla and espresso flavors for your taking.



I came here for the Hot Chocolates; however, there are several varieties of drinks hot AND cold (taken from the menu):



The Bittersweet: A deeply chocolate experience. Non-dairy, rich and wonderful.

The Classic: The classic, sweet and creamy chocolate delight.

Spicy!: Hot and spicy, a kick of pepper and a hint of cinnamon and rose.

Mocha: Chocolate, espresso, milk: Bittersweet’s signature chocolate latte.

White Chocolate Dream: Venezuelan white chocolate infused with cardamom and exotic spices.

Chocolate Chai: Wonderfully spiced chai with our unique blend of chocolates. Yum.

Bicerin: A classic Turino-style dark mocha drink, layered and topped with a dollop of fresh whipped cream.

Chocolate Thai Iced Tea: Sweet, floral, cool, and refreshing.

Chocolate Milk: What could be better? For kids of all ages.

I wanted to start off at this place on the safe side (I know, I’m a wimp.), so I ordered “The Classic” with a vanilla marshmallow and a mini chocolate chip cookie. It ran me about 5 bucks.



There are two seating areas: one up the stairs where you can look down on the café and a lower area where the bright green walls are. We chose the lower area for now (and my bad knees are grateful). So we sat down and while my companions got their orders, I had to wait for mine. Meanwhile, I munched on my cookie.



I love my cookies chewy. Have you ever had a Mrs. Fields cookie and noticed that the edges were a little chewier than the soft center? The edges are my favorite part of the entire cookie. It must be the brown sugar because it almost seems caramelized. Now this cookie is the epitome of what I had just described. Chewy and nutty. Awesome Now if I only had my hot chocolate to enjoy it with.

I waited and waited and I got up and asked the boy at the espresso machine where my drink was. Since Dev ordered the same thing I did, he probably got mixed up and thought he made mine already. Punk.



Since we were already pressed for time, I asked him to make it to-go, so there is no picture of my hot chocolate in a pretty cup. Boo-hoo. Let me tell you though: the first sip is equivalent to soft-core porn. It was so luscious. No seriously. I felt the warmth of the rich chocolate and creamy milk caressing my lips and then hugging my tongue. My taste buds were having orgasms. It was like silk, so luxurious and almost sinful. Having it going down my throat was satisfying. See, I warned you. The consistency of the hot chocolate was viscous, but not too thick. It was not thin either like those Swiss Miss packets you can make at home. No, it had the perfect texture. The marshmallow lent its own creaminess to the drink. As it sat in the liquid, it melted down into it. By the time I got to it, it was warm and soft. It basically melted in my mouth. Awesome. The chocolate taste itself was so good. It was not too bitter and not too sweet. All hot chocolates should be like this.



I grabbed another marshmallow for the road. Plus I wanted to eat one that has not been sitting in hot chocolate. They make them from scratch and they keep them separated by coating them in potato starch. I bit into it and I heard singing. It was like eating a cloud. It was so light. Seriously, I can eat these forever, but I shouldn’t because I would definitely need major tooth repair.

I felt like I was a kid in a candy shop, but this my friends, is a woman’s candy shop. You know the saying, “Just give me my chocolate and no one gets hurt!”? If this lady got her chocolate from here, I would totally understand. I would love to try their chocolate pudding and pastries. As a female, I am so happy there is a place like this in The City because when I want chocolate, there are no if, ands, or buts. If it is chocolate I crave, I will not be happy until I satisfy that craving. Damn, now I’m craving The Classic with a marshmallow. See what I did to myself? Even though I am not a chocoholic, I can fully enjoy their offerings. Now if you ARE a chocoholic and have not tried this place yet, what the hell are you waiting for?

Oh yeah:



I should really start on conserving napkins...

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Picante Cocina Mexicana - Jackets, Burritos, Lizards, Oh My!

Restaurant: Picante Cocina Mexicana
Address: 1328 Sixth Street, Berkeley, CA
Cuisine: Mexican
Date Last Visited: November 23, 2007
Dining Partners: My Sweety K, K’s Momma, K’s Poppa

After spending the afternoon looking for a jacket for My Sweety K in both San Francisco and Berkeley, we all got hungry and decided to eat. Since we bought his jacket at The North Face store, K’s Poppa suggested a taqueria that was very close by.

The inside reminds me of a Chevy’s, but a little more casual. Somewhere between a Taco Bell or Del Taco and a Chevy’s. You go to the cashier to order first and THEN you are allowed to sit down. That is an interesting way of doing things.



The menu is like your usual Mexican taqueria’s. The burritos run about 6 dollars, so it is very affordable. After we finished ordering, I caught one of the ladies making tortillas by hand. She used a press to flatten the dough balls and then she proceeded to put them on the griddle. She did not have any spatulas or any other tools. She did all the cooking with her fingers. I looked so amazed and she smiled, but she was probably thinking, “Oh this dumb Asian girl. Does not know anything about Mexican food.” Hahaha. If I saw myself through her eyes with that gawking look on my face and taking pictures like a damn tourist, I would probably agree with her.



As opposed to Chevy’s or Taco Bell, the décor was more tribal Mexican. There were idols and masks hanging on the walls that looked something from the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. Even the napkins had that type of art.



The dining area was huge. We came in right before dinnertime so it was not very busy. But I can imagine families coming in and having a nice casual dinner. There was lots of color, but it did not scream, “You will get a sombrero if it’s your birthday,” which I appreciated.



What I thought was totally dope was the refrigerator containing the different salsas. There were three kinds: Habanero (fiery hot - the spiciest), Chipotle (smoky flavor due to the smoked jalapenos) and Salsa Verde (the mildest out of the three). I chose the Salsa Verde because it’s my favorite, quite frankly. I love the use of tomatillos, and though it does have some spice and heat, it refreshes my palette rather than burn it. It had a nice clean flavor and fresh quality which I enjoy about salsa verde.



Below is my watermelon agua frescas and K’s Poppa’s horchata. I would have loved to have a whole pitcher of the watermelon agua frescas for myself. It was sweet, but not too sweet. It really tasted fresh and not artificial. It is my favorite thing to drink while eating Mexican food.



I took a picture of the stickers because I love how organized they are. I worked at places where stickers are an integral part of the business: shoe size stickers for the clearance shoes at my retail job and surname stickers for my patient charts at the doctor’s office. Seeing the stickers here was so amusing to me for some odd reason. Yes, I am a square. This was my Super Pollo Asado Burrito with Refried Beans.



This was My Sweety K’s Super Carnitas Burrito with Black Beans. My Sweety K L-O-V-E-S his black beans.



My Sweety K and I agreed to split our burritos and share them, so his was to the left and mine was to the left.



Let’s start with his. I found the beans to be a bit too al dente, meaning I would have liked them a bit softer. His had pork in it so it had a deeper meaty flavor. We both had the same rice, cheese, crema, and guacamole thing going on. Mine was a bit mushier because I had refried pinto beans and chicken. Mine did not have as much flavor as his, but I think I liked mine better anyway. Good burritos. The only thing I would complain about is I could barely detect the cheese, and we both missed the lettuce. Other than that, not bad.



You’re probably thinking why these guys are here. After supper, we went to the East Bay Vivarium (1827 5th St., Berkeley) which was not too far from Picante. The guys from Myth Busters came here on an episode that we saw a few days after we visited it ourselves, and you should have seen me squeal, “Oh! Oh! We went there!“ This was a place My Sweety K frequented when he was a lot younger, so it was nice to see this with him now that he’s turning into an old man. Just kidding! 25 isn’t old! That’s Boo Boo on the upper left hand corner. He was my favorite.

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Merry Christmas!

I do not know when is the next time I'll have a chance to blog, but I just wanted to wish my fellow foodies out there a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year! May your tables be filled with the blessings of life, love, happiness, and of course, FOOD!

Yours,
Jo

P.S. Can't wait to see you SF foodbuzzers at Slanted Door in just a few weeks!

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Ritz-Carlton Family Christmas Party - Memoirs of a Ritz-Carlton Employee’s Spawn

Venue: The Ritz-Carlton Ballroom
Address: 600 Stockton St. @ California St., Nob Hill, SF
Cuisine: Eclectic
Date Last Visited: December 16, 2007
Dining Partners: The Fam Bam

I’m a lucky charm. Really, I am. If you want something to eat, I will either cook something up for you or scour through my memories and suggest a place. I basically eat, breathe, love, feel food 24/7. Now let me tell you why I am a lucky charm. 17 years ago in April, there was a grand opening for a luxury hotel in Nob Hill. That hotel was the Ritz-Carlton. In the next coming years, this hotel would be the only hotel in San Francisco to win five diamond and five star awards at the same time. This hotel is an extraordinary temporary home for celebrities, dignitaries, diplomats, royalty alike. I myself have stayed at this location as well as the ones in Half Moon Bay and Pasadena, and the service is flawless. But I digress. Now let me tell you why I am a lucky charm. 17 years ago, this hotel was the grandest hotel of all. The staff was hired the month before, and my Momma was one of the lucky ones to be hired. And when did she get hired? On my 7th birthday. She missed half of my birthday party because she was at the hotel. That is why I am a lucky charm. =) For nearly 17 years, my Momma has worked at this outstanding establishment, and it certainly does not hurt to be related to someone who does.

For the past 3 years, I missed the annual Christmas party due to work. Since I took some time off this December, I finally got to go back. Prior to those 3 years, I went ever years since I was 7. Walking through those ballroom doors brought back so many memories. I am a Ritz Brat: attending Momma’s award ceremonies as a youngin’ and dining on high-class things I had never seen before, like terrines and napoleon desserts (quite a difference from the customary cheeseburger and fries), eating a sushi brunch at the Terrace for my little sister’s birthday, spending nights here and eating warm scones with strawberries, Devonshire cream, and whipped cream at the Club Lounge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I love it. My next venture is The Dining Room, baby! I have met so many people who have worked here, and though I do not remember all of them, I know that each of them has been an integral part that kept this hotel going for this many years. So seeing those people again and having them comment of how much I have grown and matured was awesome. Some of these folks I have known since the grand opening.

So we walk in and I am in awe because the ballroom was transformed into a place where families and friends can catch up, take pictures with Santa, and most importantly binge on the offerings the Ritz chefs prepared. Of course, this is not Chef Seigel food. There was no Maine lobster with shiso puree or sashimi of live spot prawns with yuzu and pink peppercorn gelée. Come to think of it, I do not think Chef Seigel was there either. There were kids, so the menu had to be very family-friendly. So let’s begin shall we?

Let’s talk beverage. Like I said before this is a family event, so there was no open bar (wish there was though!). Along the back wall was your hot beverages like hot chocolate, hot apple cider, coffees, and assorted teas:

And then you have your sodas. There were Cokes and Sprites, Fiji and Pellegrino waters, but check at the presentation. I think it is these minute touches that can send a typical hotel stay over the edge and into some sort of paradise. These details that say, “Hey, we’re doing this for YOU.” Only at the Ritz. Only at the Ritz.



Okay, onto the food. It was buffet-style, which was great because you can go and get as much food as you wanted. Like I mentioned before, this is not 5-star food by any means, but it was tasty!



There was a small salad buffet with your usual greens and prepared salad like potato salad and what I found interesting, a Hawaiian macaroni, macadamia nut and ham salad. Unfortunately I did not get to sample much of this table, except for the potato salad, which was good. Nothing to write home about, though.



They seem to do this every year. They always have some sort of Chinese food. Hey, with Chinatown down the street, why not?



This was the fried rice. All it had in it was corn, egg, and peas. No meat. I guess this was made with vegetarians in mind. It was okay. I personally think I can make it better, and it was certainly not as good as fried rice from a real Chinese restaurant. C’mon, let’s get real here: a French-inspired hotel making Chinese food? I think not. I’m Pinay, so this rice was better than no rice. It was just, meh.



I did not have any of the dim sum because I have it a lot already in my everyday life. I would not be surprised if they called up a dim sum place along Grant or Jackson to send over 200 pink boxes filled with assorted dim sum.



Now this I believe was made in-house. It was a chicken stir-fry with red and yellow bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, and chicken in a soy-based sauce. Nothing like an authentic wok-stir-fried dish from Grant Avenue, but like the fried rice, it was okay. I think they were careful not to make anything too extreme in a particular flavor, like sour or spicy, because they have to cater to everyone’s palette. I would have loved for this to have some spicy kick to it. Panda Express has more punch.



This was a simple bow-tie pasta in a vegetarian tomato sauce. When this was gone, a tortellini dish replaced it. I preferred the cheese-filled tortellini over this, but it’s nothing I can’t prepare at home.



Now this was the object of my desire. The giant beef roast. It’s carved to order and depending on the location of the meat on the bone is how done it is. Closer to the skin is more done than the meat on the bone, of course. I asked for both a well and rare piece and they happily obliged. Gravy, horseradish sauce, and rolls were available to accompany the meat, as well.



They also had a kid’s buffet with pizza and hot dogs. My Godson Nu-Nu seemed to enjoy their pizza very much. I did not have a sample, however.



They also had a big pan of curly fries. Now you know the Fam Bam and I jumped on that. Us and fries are destined to be together. Forever.



Now onto desserts! This was probably the part of the buffet that I was most excited about. There was so much to choose from like the breads, pound cakes, and homemade caramel popcorn pictured above (which I didn’t try sadly).



Fudgey brownies and nutty blondies. It’s great how you get the best of both worlds here.



Miniature chocolate tarts, some topped with raspberries and crushed pistachios, and the others topped with unidentifiable orange balls.



Baby lemon meringue tarts…oh, I couldn’t wait for this one.



Snickers and Butterfinger candy bars, Oreo cookies and marshmallows…accoutrements for this BEAUTIFUL sight:



The most perfect chocolate fountain I had ever seen in my entire life. It was a fountain that came straight from chocolate Heaven. You just use the provided wooden stakes to stab a marshmallow and baptize it in the chocolate. OhHhHhHhHhHhHh…



This was a plate of the carved roast that I had. The carver gave me a piece of rare and medium-well/well piece. Surprisingly, both (even the well piece) was very juicy and tasty. You all know how much I love meat. The gravy I poured overtop and the horseradish I dolloped to the side were perfect accompaniments. I loved using the roll to sop up all the juices and sauce. Yeah, you bet I went back for seconds!



This was a plate of the blondie, brownie and chocolate tart. The blondie was nice and sweet due to its butter and brown sugar base. Chopped walnuts were added in the batter, as well. Nice and rich without being too much. The brownie on the other hand was so chocolaty and decadent. There is that nice fudge crust that forms on the top during baking that I love so much, and the brownie itself was soft and rich. I took one bite and I was done. If you are a chocoholic, this probably has the right amount of chocolate for you. I preferred the blondie over the brownie. The tart was not one of my favorites either. I bit into the crust, which was like a shortbread. Sweet and incredibly buttery. The chocolate in the middle was made with dark or semi-sweet chocolate. I’m partial to milk or white chocolate. Since my cousin Jenn said, “I love dark chocolate!” I gave it to her.



Now this tart is something else. The crust was similar to the chocolate tart’s, it being like a shortbread/cookie-type crust. I am not too much of a fan of the meringue, so I put the white cloud to the side. I did have a bite of it however, and it was light as air. As I was eating it, I could not help but think of the lemon cream tart I had at Tartine Bakery. A lot of the lemon tarts out there have a gelatinous lemon curd on it that is often harsh and has a strange texture. This tart’s lemon filling was refreshing and smooth. The best dessert out of the entire selection. I went to get another one, but they were all gone, to be replaced by a flavorless flan and what looked like a raspberry-chocolate cake that I did not sample because I do not do raspberries.

Though the food here was so-so, it was still so fun to see people I have not seen in so long and to participate in the activities. What?! A dance contest?! I was SO there. It sure is great to be a Ritz Brat. And the best part? It was all FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

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Little Hunan - Do You Remember the Time?

Restaurant: Little Hunan Restaurant
Address: 6217 Mission Street, Daly City
Cuisine: Chinese
Date Last Visited: October 2, 2007
Dining Partner: Ate Di

I was flipping through channels today and I came up across Reading Rainbow. When I was a “little human,” I loved watching Reading Rainbow and Sesame Street and Barney when I was a kid. I was pretty much a PBS whore for half of my life. On Saturday, I watched Frugal Gourmet, Yan Can Cook, Jacques Pepin and Julia Child. After school, I watched all the kids shows. It was the only thing I would watch because we did not have cable at the time. Though I do have it now, I still have fond memories of my PBS days. Anyway, I stopped the channel surfing and left the channel on Reading Rainbow. Why? It was the episode where Levar Burton was made to cook at a diner and he had to learn “Diner-ese.” He had to understand what “a shingle and a shimmy with a squeeze,” “life preservers with a hot top,” and “wrecked hen’s crew with side arms” were. (Toast with jelly and orange juice, donuts and hot chocolate, and scrambled eggs with salt and pepper, of course.) I remember on Sesame Street, they showed one segment about a child whose family owned a Mexican bakery. She helped them make their breads, more specifically the bread that looked like a seashell, the concha. I remember the child placing the sugar on each of the breads. Since I went to a school just up the street from a Mexican store, I marched to that store and bought me one of them conchas. On Barney, there were episodes on food as well. Lucy made an example of a tostada on Cinco de mayo, the friends made and decorated a cake for Barney’s birthday, and they had giant (for real, humongous) scoops of ice cream when they all screamed for ice cream. I think this was when my inner foodie was starting to come out. You would have found me staring at the television screen with droll trickling from the crack of my mouth. Food episodes were always my favorite episodes.

Now that I have talked about my memories, I am going to gracefully transition into the restaurant I am going to review. This place is a restaurant that my Ate Di suggested. Growing up, I lived near Top of the Hill in Daly City. I was never too far from Mission Street, which I think is the main artery from Top of the Hill to Downtown San Francisco. Though I lived in that area for a good 9 years, my family chose to move all around Daly City. When I met Ate Di about 2 years ago, she told me where she lived and I told her where I lived. We lived just 2 blocks from each other and did not even know until now. So when she asked me to meet her in my old neighborhood to have a Chinese lunch, I was excited.

Little Hunan is one of your small Chinese places along Mission. There are probably 100 of them on Mission now, no joke.



As opposed to other Chinese hole-in-the-walls, this place is so CLEAN. And as you can see, it was not busy when we went.



Have you noticed that most Chinese restaurant menus are leather-covered and have a metallic writing? Or is it just me?



Ate ordered the potstickers. There were filled with pork and cabbage. I usually do not like Chinese-style potstickers, but these were very tasty. Dipping them in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce and red chili oil was money.



This was Ate’s vegetable fried rice. I usually order a fried rice with meat, so this was my first time having an all veggie rice. I really liked the addition of broccoli in it. But then again, you really cannot go wrong with any fried rice.



This is the restaurant’s version of Walnut Prawns. This is the first time I have seen the walnuts to the side, which was cool. I did find the sauce on the prawns to be too mayonnaise-y, meaning I could still taste the raw, out of the jar mayo flavor. Usually they make the sauce with the mayo and some type of milk to make it a bit sweet. And I also missed that crunch that the prawns get after frying and before the sauce is put on them.



This was my rice plate: beef stew with veggies. I really wanted something hearty, and this was on point. The beef stew was placed on a bed of either steamed or lightly-blanched Napa cabbage stems. The cabbage itself was cooked, but still crisp, which I liked. As we all know, Chinese beef stew has random fat and even skin in it, so I was expecting it. Going past that, I found the beef to be very tender from the hours of braising on the stove. The softened sinews from the meat made the sauce so lip-smacking good. It was a breeze to tear apart the meat with my fork and spoon. The gravy was so hearty and flavorful. It must have been those spices of star anise, Szechuan peppercorn and five-spice powder that brought some warmth. I drizzled the tiniest bit of soy sauce and red chili oil, and it was the best. This is the epitome of Chinese comfort food in my eyes.



Okay, okay, it is really hard to find a superlative Mom and Pop Chinese hole-in-the-wall in Daly City, and though this place is not “OMG this place is so friggin’ awesome!” Little Hunan is quite tasty. I have basically grown up with eating Chinese food all the time, but it is good to see that some places still offer good dishes. Later in the week, I sent My Sweety K to get me the beef stew rice plate. Yeah, that’s how much I liked it. Thanks, Ate Di for lunch, bringing me back to the old neighborhood and conjuring up all those childhood memories!

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