Foodie Thoughts of the Week

First, a shoutout to the Celtics, who as a team, came through and beat the Lakers in 6 in very very convincing fashion.  It took a real team, rather than Kobe and his four horsemen to win it all.  The Celtics got huge performances throughout the playoffs from so many players.  Pierce was no doubt the MVP, outplaying the regular season MVP in the finals.  But the team got excellent defense from Garnett and consistent outside shooting from Ray Allen (at least in the finals).  Role players such as Kendrick Perkins, Rajon Rondo, Leon Powe, James Posey and PJ Brown all came up at the appropriate moments.  Congrats to Boston which is absolutely dominating the sports scene with 2/4 championships and one near perfect team.

Anyway, back to food….some place I’ve been the last week:

First, Garcon in the Mission for dine about town.  Very nice ambiance like a french cafe.  The mission is a strange place–you have an antique french cafe next to a dirty, old laundromat.  I had escargots in a mushroom/wine sauce as an appetizer.  I had never had escargot in anything but a garlic butter sauce, but this tasted great.  It was like mushrooms in a brown sauce.  I definitely soaked my bread up in the left over sauce.  For the main course, I had mussels and fries.  The mussels were excellent in a light tomato sauce. My friend who had the duck seemed to like it–she said it was not particularly gamey which is a plus for duck.  The fries were spiced and tasted great with the aioli they brought out.  I ended my meal with a soft, marshmallowish tasting dessert in custard.  Since I’m not a big fan of marshmallows or custard, I didn’t enjoy it.  That said, the meal was solid…the menu is somewhat heavy on seafood.

Next afternoon, went to Absinthe Cafe in Hayes Valley for lunch. This time I stuck to more traditional fare, like a burger and fries.  The fries were paper thin and they bring out three types of sauces–a vinegar, a delicious aioli and mustard.  I have never had fries this thin in my entire life, delicious.  The burger was simple–a meat patty with Gorgonzola and some onions (notice–no lettuce or tomatoes).  Cooked perfectly, the meat meshed well with the cheese and the aioli on the burger.  It was juicy and tender and the sauces were soaked up perfectly in the sourdough bun.  Definitely would do it again (spent a total of $20 with tax and tip)

Then went to Foreign Cinema, the highlight of my weekend. Decor here is amazing, light and airy with those string lights outside.  They also project a movie, this time a Warren Beatty 1970s paranoia pick, on the outside wall.  We sat inside, but apparently you don’t actually watch the movie.  Place seems to attract a sort of yuppy, trendy crowd.  Had the calamari as an appetizer which was lightly friend in a delicious, crisp batter.  I didn’t care for the other deep fried veggies, but the calamari itself was good.  For the main course, had a pork tenderloin that came in a tangy red sauce with a side of kidney beans and artichokes.  Putting all the flavors together gave the dish a somewhat Mediterranean flavor, spiced but not overwhelmingly so.   I also tried a bite of my friend’s chicken which was a better dish–more flavorful and the chicken was very tender.  Her dish came with a side of a Mediterranean yogurt and some cous cous.  The platters as a whole combined to create a really unique flavor.  The dessert was also excellent as we had a chocolate ganache cake with a walnut prailine crust with ice cream on the side.  The cake had a citrusy flavor but for some reason had salt on it.  That was the only odd part–there was salt on the dessert!  Not gonna lie, didn’t like that.

A16-went here tonight for dinner.  Quick review: Delicious Italian-style, flatbread pizza.  The bread was so thin that it tasted like Naan.  My pizza, topped with sausage and onions, had a strong hint of garlic in the right places.  The sausage was delicious too.  Very reasonable for $15 as the pizza was huge.

Off to Hawaii tomorrow, probably no more blog posts for awhile.