Wednesday, August 26, 2009

San Francisco Again and Again and Again......

I know that I was here a month ago...

So what...

I'm here again...

There's a reason, there is...Promise



I WANTED TO....



Hmmm....

Reason enough for me....



No one in their right mind NEEDS a reason to visit San Francisco on a regular basis...

(especially someone who lives in blaring, unreasonable, unforgiving, cruel heat, like that of

Dallas....)

Miserable is not a state in which I find happiness or contentment, so I escape it at all costs....

(if I can...and I can....)

Work yourself to death? Sure...You gotta keel over from something...Might

as well be in luxurious surroundings....



My Father told me last week, (my Mother had just said that she was going "to die in two years", and I think that I commented on that extraordinary premonition), "Well, you might as well start
preparing for DEATH the minute you're born, cause it might just be a rumor, but I think a valid one, that everyone DIES"...



THE TRUTH.....EXPOSED....



I was dumbfounded....Part of my childlike demeanor vanished forever!



So, I am in one of the most wonderful places on earth, in my opinion...

San Francisco....

Love is the word that comes to mind....

Love for weather

Love for hotels

Love for people

Love for art

Love for unique and beautiful jewelry (don't ask...Okay, but I could not stop myself!)

DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....



LOVE FOR INCREDIBLE CUISINE!



Now, it is no secret to any of you that follow me, that I am a bonafide "Foodie"...

I was a "Foodie" before anyone would admit it, before anyone cared to even discuss it....

We certainly weren't the group that we are today...

Large and Looming...

Bonded and Interesting!



I do a lot of research before I leave town...I do it about everything...hotels, art, theater, weather, general happenings, but CUISINE is absolutely paramount! (hotels and food being the very most important of all...)



I do my homework, and 9 1/2 times out of 10 it pays off....

Tonight was NO exception....

Having been here a month ago, I was very interested in making reservations at a different hotel and two different great restaurants that I had not visited last month, or ever...

This time I elected to stay at "The Campton Place Hotel"....First thing is...Perfect Location...
Second...Lovely...
If you can get a decent rate as I did, (it's usually WAY overpriced), I highly recommend it...
Simple, streamlined elegance....
Service is incredible....
Royalty is the word that comes to mind...



I DID hit a "HOME RUN" with my choice to dine at "The House", an unassuming little "you'd never know unless you knew", Asian Fusion restaurant in the North Beach area of the city.



There are many restaurants in North Beach, and in my opinion, they are head to head with the delicious cuisine that one can find in the "Mission" area....

Both are known for the best dining venues in this "Foodie Heaven"....



I walked in to "The House", and almost hit someone with the door, as there were several people "crouched" around the opening of the restaurant...It was small, unadorned, LOUD, and crowded...It is Tuesday night...Even in San Francisco, this is CROWDED!

About 1/2 of the restaurant patrons are Asian...



THIS IS A VERY GOOD SIGN!



Everyone in the restaurant has a look on their face that is reminiscent of a child on Christmas morning after Santa has visited...



THIS IS A VERY GOOD SIGN!



I had read that even if one has a reservation, they still have to wait...

On the way over, I mention to the cabbie that I have heard that this restaurant is very good...

He responds, "Yeah, that's what I was told..."

This doesn't feel promising to me, and he goes on to say, "Just don't order the seafood combination plate...There was a little scoop of rice, and then only 4 shrimp! (turns out there is nothing that even begins to resemble a "seafood combination" on the menu...I feel sure that he is confusing this restaurant with "Red Lobster"....)

I felt just a twinge better...It dawned on me that he was just "cheap".

I know "cheap" when I hear or see it....For some reason, people that work in a hospital tend to be afflicted with it...

Sorry, just the truth...Not sure why...



When I arrive at the restaurant, I start to feel a bit negative that no one has come over to ask me
if I have a reservation...I ask the group of people next to me, "Is there even someone that comes to ask?"
They reply "Yes...It's usually just one of the waiters...They came about 20 minutes ago and told us that they were getting our table ready..."

Hmmmm.....

The waitresses look harried and crazy...The patrons look exhilarated...

I say, "Well, you know, it's Tuesday night, and there are many other places that I could go..." as my eyes gaze at the bevy of cabs driving up and down the street...

A young woman in the waiting party asks, "Have you ever been here before?'

"No", I reply....

"It's Asian Fusion, you know..."

"I know"

"It's amazing"...

"Not what my cabbie said..."

This, by the way, is an entire family waiting together..Her Mother smiles at me...
One of those, "I know something that you don't" smiles"..

"I can't imagine...It's quite amazing...", the young woman comments....



About this time, people are starting to line up out on the street..
Cramming to try to get into the door...One of the waiters comes over and says, "Please shut the door...You have to stay out on the street....You MUST close this door!"

A poor, waiting girl on the street pleads, "But we just want to put our name in ....Paleeeeessseee!"

The owner...it appears...goes outside, and is heard to pronounce, "It will be at least an hour, unless you have a reservation...."

No one moves...They all look like they're having a "block party"...No one attempts to leave...

People just keep coming...There is an absolute small "crowd" outside...
You would think there that was a celebrity inside..

They wait tirelessly...They MUST have dinner here....
It's an obvious obsession...



Finally a waitress comes over...She asks me if I have a reservation...I tell her that I do and in my Bitchy "KNOW IT FRIGGIN ALL VOICE" ask her...

"How long is the wait expected to be?"

( I have one foot in the door and another headed for the Mission area....)
She says 10 minutes...I wait...

I get a table...Near the kitchen, which I usually turn my nose up at, but somehow this time it is inconsequential....

The aromas that waif from the kitchen are heady and aromatic to the point that I almost feel weak with anticipation...

Suddenly I remember what it felt like to fall in love...

I am mentally drooling....(I think that I have mentioned previously that I NEVER drool in public)



I start with the crab cake with a spicy Asian remoulade..



It comes beautifully stylized, standing up in a shallow dish dressed and fried as a "pear" and the stem is a "taro chip strip"....(now I only know this because I have seen and tasted taro chips at Whole Foods....)



I have had MANY crab cakes in my time, some of which have been utterly delicious...

This one is unspeakable...There are no words to describe the sensation my tastebuds are
experiencing...It's obscene....

When I take the first bite of this crispy amazing concoction and dip it in the spicy Asian Remoulade, I have to take a deep breath, for fear that I will cry in public!

From that point on, I take small delectable bites, chewing slowly to savor each flavorful moment...


Next is a dish of spicy Sechuwan Noodles with a Grilled Flatiron Steak....


The noodles are homemade and thicker than spaghetti or the usual oriental noodles......They are mixed with a sauce, 2 or 3 different julienned peppers, sesame seeds, and other ingredients, then layered with sauteed and delicious shredded Napa cabbage, then the flavorful grilled steak, and finally topped with more sauce, flash fired onions, peppers, and sesame seeds...
Across the bowl are a couple of thinly sliced radishes topped with a very small amount of a florescent orange substance, which I believe is salmon roe, though that is just an educated guess...
(the only kind that I care to make...Okay..just hit me...)

This dish is so creative and beautiful that it takes me a moment to delve into it....but ONLY A MOMENT.....

The homemade noodles, of course, do not even resemble those in a box, and the sauce is so complex that even I (a pretty good dissector, as cooks or foodies go...), cannot quite place all of
the ingredients together in my mind....
The steak is sliced and cooked to a PERFECT Medium...pink and juicy, and the entire dish is a dream....

Dessert is not NEEDED (when is it ever?), but is ordered out of sheer curiosity...
What will an Asian Fusion restaurant, which is quite clearly, "the real thing", do with a homemade apple pie?
Curious foodies everywhere need to know...
It is my duty to find out!

What can they do?
A LOT... is the answer to that...
Now, some would say that it was not sweet enough, but then I am not one who likes an overly sweet melange of apples...
The topping IS sweet with cinnamon and the crust is something that my Daddy would be exhilarated over, plus the accompanied scoop of vanilla ice cream was the perfect foil as usual...


The dessert looks so appealing, that a diner next to me exclaims,

"WHAT IS THAT? THAT LOOKS DELICIOUS...OH, MY..."

She is eating her entree, but I ask her if she wants a bite anyway...She doesn't, but a very pleasant conversation follows between the couple and myself...
He wanted to know how I found out about the restaurant, as it is somewhat obscure to those who don't already know about it...
They ended up wanting to know what the website address of my blog was, and I hope that they enjoy it...
(I can be such a braggart...almost as bad as that aforementioned type of parent that sticks window stickers on the back of their cars about their incredibly talented child...)

Most of the time, I think that I am almost just as bad....even worse because it's about MYSELF!!!!


SHAMELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I go to the Tony Award Highly Touted Play, "August, The Osage"....
It stars Estelle Parsons, and from the Tony Awards presentation, it seriously looks like a winner...It is said to be one of the best pieces written in many years...
I am stoked..

It will be amazing...I can already feel it...(It better be...it's 3 1/2 hours long!!!!!)

Well, I have finished the "Lemon Drop Martini" that the Bartender brought while I wrote this...

I have had a nice impromptu conversation with a Drop Dead Gorgeous YOUNG man from Switzerland next to me on the other computer, so now it's time for sweet dreams....(which should be NO TROUBLE after this lovely evening's end...Oh to be young again...In a city by myself...Beautiful and appealing...To meet, by chance, a member of Switzerland's Royal Family...the Prince himself...)

Aw....c'mon...who am I talking about?
IT'S SO TIME FOR BED!

Later....








Time for a sweet dreams........Later......

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