Banana cake with pecans and dark chocolate chips

French press with freshly ground beans from the Iguaque/Bachue, Colombia. And banana cake with pecans/dark chocolate chips. Great way to start the day.

Sunstream Café

On my way to run errands this morning, I finally walked by Sunstream Café which is this teeny tiny Brasilian café close to my apartment in San Francisco. I had heard decent things about it.

I checked out the menu and they had all kinds of tropical fruit juices found in Brasil. They even had caju and graviola juice, but unfortunately they are not fresh squeezed and in fact frozen. Also $5/each. They do have the acai with honey and granola. I want to try that next time.

I had this seriously soft, moist, and delicious coconut pastry. I ate it fast before I could take a photo.

And of course, a conxinha ! Although different from what I had in the North of Brasil, it was still very good. I believe instead of the catipury cheese, they put cream cheese in it. The chicken was very moist and seemed to have been braised in a tomato based sauce.





Sunstream Café
2884 Geary Boulevard
(between Collins St & Wood St)
San Francisco, CA 94118-3408
Tel: (415) 567-5330

Simple creations

In other news, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARLO !

Commis Restaurant part 3, 4, 5...?

It's obvious that I am extremely partial to dining at Commis. I don't really need to say if I thought the food was good or not. This will just be another one of those picture posts that I do for myself for inspiration and good memories.

Green tomato, pickled strawberries, avocado mousse, and mint (and hay water, I think!). A seriously amazing dish.


Raf's dish: halibut tartare with ginger


Buttermilk poached chicken, pea porridge, crisped skin "soil"


Raf's lamb loin + braised shoulder dish, with fermented eastern spices


Oh my gosh, I forgot to take a photo of the Chocolate brioche pudding, and rhubarb torte (GOOD sh*t) which were both DELICIOUS.

I <3 you, Commis. As always.

Commis‎ Restaurant
3859 Piedmont Ave
Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 653-3902‎

Mickey's Beach

COMPLETELY not related to food, but...

Kaygetsu Restaurant

I had interviewed with Kaygetsu last year for a line cook/hot foods position. I was able to see the back of the house (which is great, by the way), however, I had never officially eaten there until tonight (FINALLY!). With several postponements of this reservation, my sister and our other friend, Elva, finally made it tonight for the kaiseki.

Sakizuke (starter):
- spaghetti squash salad with string beans
- red bell pepper, shiitake mushroom and micro shiso
- black sesame flavor, topped with dried bonito threads

This was a great starter. Light and refreshing.


Sashimi: (upgrade) octopus, hamachi, toro

Um, YES. They do live up to their reputation as having some of the best sushi in town. Fabulous, fresh, melt in your mouth sashimi.


Hassun (assortment of flavors):
- washu beef sushi, nori topping, oak leaf
- seared white tuna, carrot daikon, warabi fern, ponzu gelee
- julienne potato and carrot tempura
- burdock rolled with anago (sea eel)
- rolled egg omelet, topped with uni
- sautéed konnyaku (yam jelly)

This was a great assortment of small bites. I wasn't a big fan of the yam jelly or tamago with uni, but going back and forth between the potato/carrot tempura and seared tuna with ponzu gelee was very nice. The washu beef sushi was to die for. I absolutely LOVE raw beef sushi. In fact, it was the first thing I ate during my first trip to Japan when I was 15. I could have just eaten a plate of the lightly seared washu beef sushi here. Wonderful!


Seasonal dish:
- eggplant, flash fried and cooked with dashi
- minced shrimp with thickened kudzu sauce
- sugar peas, tororo konbu

This is the first time that I've tasted tororo konbu, which is seaweed that has been soaked in vinegar for a day before being shaved into fine flakes and dried. The texture was wonderfully light, but at the same time, full of flavor. The combination of eggplant, shrimp, dashi and kudzu sauce was nicely balanced. Another dish that we all enjoyed very much.


Yakimono (grilled dish):
- organic petaluma chicken with fuki (butterbur) miso
- spring salad with bamboo, bakchoy, radish, orange, chive and chervil
- side of clear miso soup, pickled vegetables

Let me just point out that I typically don't order chicken dishes (aside from at Commis restaurant). What a difference free range, organic chicken has. Some of the most moist, tender, perfectly cooked and seasoned chicken that I have had since Commis. I loved this dish, though I was too full to finish the clear miso soup.


Dessert: green tea bavarois with Okinawan black sugar molasses, red bean, strawberry, mint and whipped cream

The dessert was alright. I found the Okinawan black sugar molasses quite interesting. But give me anything with matcha green tea and red bean, and I am a happy girl.


I found this meal to be very well-balanced, and "light" even though I was pretty full by the end of the meal. The kaiseki here sticks to it's Japanese tradition and roots. I'm glad to have finally dined here. Highly recommended.

Kaygetsu Restaurant‎
325 Sharon Park Drive
Menlo Park, CA
Tel: (650) 234-1084‎

Zeni Ethiopian Restaurant‎

It's been awhile since I had Ethiopian food. In fact, I haven't had it for almost 6 years when I was an undergrad at Santa Clara University. And the restaurant I dined it was forgettable so I don't think it was the best place to judge Ethiopian cuisine. Zeni, however, has a great reputation by my foodie friends as well as their Ethiopian friends. For lunch we dined on the following:

SAMBUSSA - deep-fried thin dough shells stuffed with lentils, onion, hot green & herbs


Injera - unleavened bread


MEAT COMBINATION - A combination of Alitcha Fitfit, Doro Wot, or Key Wot and Beef Kitfo, Home made cheese

VEGETARIAN COMBO - A combination of YE-MISER WOT ,YE-KIK ALITCHA, ATAKELT WOT, YE-GOMEN WOT, YE TIMATIM FITFIT


I have to say that I stuffed myself silly today with all that delicious spongy bread, sauces, braised meats, and vegetables. Though I can't exactly match up all the Ethiopian names to the dishes [yet], everything I tasted was great - my favorites being the lamb, spicy split peas, greens, and chicken. Miam miam.

Zeni Ethiopian Restaurant‎
1320 Saratoga Avenue
San Jose, CA
Tel: (408) 615-8282‎

Delicious sugar-coated sweet potatoes

Often found as a dessert at Chinese restaurants. You dip the sweet potatoes in cold water to cool down and harden the sugar.

Delish


By the way, I am alive and well! My eating adventures have been a little slow lately. Working tons, and just moved to San Francisco (can you believe it).