October 13, 2009 - Farina

Farina

18th St

San Francisco, CA 94110

(415) 565-0360

http://www.farinafoods.com/

Another super meal at Farina. We always like to sit at the pasta bar and watch them make all of the pasta from scratch. We started with the Misticanza di campo con scaglie di parmigiano, $10, which translates (?) to sweet and bitter green salad with shaved parmesan cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. It was very nicely balanced and was a great start to the meal. We then had one of their signature dishes, the Pizzata di Recco with is a stuffed pizza with very thin crust. This one was stuffed with tomato sauce, capers, anchovies and oregano. So decadent and wonderful! Then we split an order of the Lobster Risotto, $20, which had genovese style lobster, congnac, white wine and tomato sauce. The waiter even served it in two different plates for us. It was definately the best risotto I have ever had.

August 17, 2009 - Tangerine

Tangerine

3499 16th Street

San Francisco, CA 94114

(415) 626-1700

http://www.tangerinesf.com/

I still don't understand why no one has ever heard of Tangerine. Maybe it's San Francisco's best kept secret. But, the food and the service is excellent and it's easy to recommend Tangerine for any kind of occasion. Last time we had some heavy small plates, so we tried to choose some lighter dishes this time - but we still couldn't help ourselves. We had the Crab and Cucumber salad, $9, which had a little bit of Vietnamese mint and chili lime dressing. There must have been the meat of 2 whole crabs inside the lovely covering of thinly sliced cucumbers. Simply decadent! We then had the Crispy Wonton and Ahi Tuna Stacks, $9, with ginger, cucumber, sesame seeds, daikon sprouts and wasabi mayo. Simply heavenly! And, finally we had Smoked Salmon Curry Potato Cakes, $9, served ginger-caper sour cream and pickle vegetables. These had a very unique combination of flavors and was simply delicious!!

July 22, 2009 - at the Shafran residence

Dinner at Daryl and Mike's house. Mike built a wood burning pizza oven in their back yard inspired by a trip in Italy. I had the wonderful opportunity to be invited every time they "experimented" with their quest for the perfect pizza dough. Well, they accomplished it by the time my birthday came around. We had a couple of pizzas with lots of wonderful veggie toppings and had pizza and salad in their back yard on a warm summer evenning in Los Altos followed by a bocci ball game in the front yard. One of my favorite birthday events!! Thanks Daryl and Mike!

July 7, 2009 - Beretta, Italian

Beretta

1199 Valencia Street(between 22nd St & 23rd St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 695-1199
http://www.berettasf.com/

Another great dinner at Beretta. This restaurant is warm and cozy inside. And, if you have your heart set on going to this restaurant, make reservations - they had a two and a half hour wait the last time we thought we would dine at Beretta. The pizza margherita, $11, is perfect. The crust, cheese and sauce are exactly what they should be. We also had the baccala with grilled polenta, $7. Baccala is a dried fish that is reconstituted and warmed. It was a very tasty meal indeed.

May 11, 2009 - Moshi Moshi, Japanese

Moshi Moshi

2092 3rd St

San Francisco, CA

(415) 861-8285

Get the oysters when they are on special at Moshi Moshi!! Also, there was a one time special of "Jalepeno Poppers" unlike any you have seen before. It is the perfect sushi for any Mexican. It's a whole jalepeno stuffed with crab and cream cheese then covered in tempura batter and deep fried. EXCELLENT! Gringas like these too.

May 5, 2009 - Regalito, Mexican

Regalito

3481 18th St

San Francisco, CA

(415) 503-0650
http://www.regalitosf.com/

We didn't have small plates or appetizers at Regalito, but it was by far the BEST Mexican food I have ever had. We had the Enchiladas Rojas, $13.00, which were corn tortillas diped in a red chile sauce stuffed with a little spinach and toped with crema and onions. The red chile sauce was amazing. We also ordered the Chile relleno, $16.00, which as you can see in the photo was not your ordinary chile relleno. This one was a grilled poblano chile ( not dipped in batter ) and was stuffed with zuccini and topped with Oaxacan cheese. Even my Mexican husband said that this is the best Mexican food in San Francisco.

April 7, 2009 - Tangerine, Asian Fusion

Tangerine

3499 16th

San Francisco, CA

(415) 626-1700
http://www.tangerinesf.com/

Special Offers:
2 for 1 Mondays
On beer, wine and cocktails
20% Off Tuesdays
20% off all dinner menu items
Wine on Wednesdays
A complimentary glass of Coppola house wine with your entrée
Thrifty Thursdays

$9.95 entrée special of the day

I had never heard of Tangerine before but I think I found it on Yelp.com and I liked the name. The food here is excellent and the service could not have been better. We were treated like we were the most special guests. We started with the Scallops, Avocado & Papaya Salad, $ 10. It's hard to call this a salad but it was scrumptious. We had the Stuffed Portabella Mushroom, $12, which was stuffed with salmon, shrimp and calamari served on a bed of julienned carrots. The flavor and texture of this was unique and fabulous. Then we had the Croissant Salmon, $10, which is pacific salmon wrapped in filoo served witih grilled artichoke dipping sauce. This isn't everyday food, but it IS a real treat. Our last dish was the Tangerine Yam Cakes, $8, with pine nuts, parmesan cheese and frish basil pesto. A perfect creamy cake of yams cooked on a bed of parmesan (which is crispy) and the addition of the pine nuts adds additional texture. Fabulous!! And, everything was 20% off!! We will definately return.