max's

palo alto, ca

website

by now, derek and i have been to the stanford shopping center many times. when we try to find a spot to eat, we usually end up at the palo alto creamery (which i have apparently forgotten to blog - it is probably one of those photos in my collection that i didn't recognize). the restaurant next to bloomingdale's always looks too dark and imposing. but one day, we didn't feel like the creamery and decided to venture into the dark and imposing restaurant.

inside it's completely different. bright lights, fun music, tons of families. huge menu full of awesome choices. i love the slogans on the menu "this is a bad place for a diet" and "everything you've always wanted to eat." we've been here a few times now and i always get the caesar salad with grilled salmon. each time, the salmon is perfectly cooked - just the right amount of char on the outside and melt in your mouth tender on the inside. derek has gotten a few things off the menu and he always enjoys his choice.

ozumo

san francisco, ca

website

after a couple of days of working hard at the SF office, the team decided to go out for a celebratory dinner when our project was finished. we ordered several dishes for the table and several bottles of excellent sake. i really don't remember much after that. but i do remember that i did not want to inflict my uni-obsession on my co-workers, so i did not order the dish that i really wanted.

i have no qualms, however, on inflicting my obsession on derek. derek had just finished taking the california bar, three days of stressful exams, so we went out to celebrate at ozumo. i ordered that dish i was eyeing - the yamabuki - fresh uni, shimeji and shitake mushrooms in a healthy Genmai brown rice risotto. after the uni-xtravaganza i had at sakagura, this was a disappointment because it lacked strong uni flavor. the rest of the menu was good, though. quality japanese food, but maybe a little toned down for the financial district crowd.

karendipity cooks: black bean orecchiette with spicy pork and broccoli

this is one of derek's favorites. another recipe from ming tsai's cookbook. this one is super easy to make. one thing to keep in mind is that you should chop up the broccoli into bite-sized pieces, otherwise it can become unwieldy.

not going to post the recipe, but i will explain my modification. the recipe calls for fermented black beans. as they do not sell fermented black beans in our whole foods, i had to go with the garlic black bean sauce. this sauce does not have as strong of a flavor as straight black beans, so i use more than the recipe calls for.

cafe encore

millbrae, ca

link to yelp

derek picked me up from SFO after a very long cross-country flight from JFK. not feeling all that great, i was craving solid chinese food, perhaps a bowl of noodle soup. just a hop and a skip away from the airport, we found a small strip-mall-food-court-thing that is so common in california.

derek wanted in-n-out, but i convinced him to try cafe encore. hong kong style cafe food. kind of greasy, but it hit the spot after such a long flight. i ordered a large bowl of noodle soup topped with saucy pork. derek had the same saucy pork over rice. solid chinese food near the airport, good to know.

bonfire @ jfk

queens, ny

link to yelp

i had to make a few work calls while at the airport, so i decided to settle into a quiet corner of todd english's bonfire restaurant at the united terminal at JFK. waitstaff was very polite and left me alone while i finished up my calls, except to refill my soda.

i was craving a hot dog ever since i made the tactical error back at la silhouette, so i ordered the hot dog and fries with coleslaw. expensive. greasy. heavy. the bread was too thick and dry. but the fries were good. typical airport food, but i was hoping for something better from a restaurant with a famous chef's name attached to it.

la silhouette

new york, ny

website

it is always a treat to eat with y&a. they know good food and they know good restaurants. and in the case of la silhouette, they also know the owners. which translates into excellent and attentive service (and free freshly baked cookies!) one of the great things about nyc is that there are always new restaurants popping up everywhere and this one happened to pop up right in their hood. convenient. convivial. what's not to love?

i joined y&a for brunch, for which silhouette has an entire section devoted to "hangover sandwiches." i made the dumb decision of ordering a more healthy option (eggs benedict with spinach and salmon, sauce on the side) which was decent, but nothing compared to y's "hot duck" (hot dog with duck sausage - get it?) or a's "short rib brisket burger queen" which were both amazing. even baby n's scrambled eggs (more like scrambled butter) and fries was a better choice. i've learned my lesson for next time.

sakagura

new york, ny

website

CR is queen of finding hidden little japanese gems in midtown east. this time, jenny and i joined her at a difficult-to-find restaurant with a tiny little sign outside. walk a few flights down to the basement and you are transported to japan. the decor, complete with a wall stacked with sake bottles, reminds me of restaurants i visited in kyoto. love it. menu reads somewhat like a standard izakaya menu, but with a few more entree-like choices. the sake menu is massive and a little overwhelming. CR, jenny, and i decided to go with the daily special, advertised to taste like "snow" - and it was bright, fresh, and crisp, all the things clean snow should taste like. both bottles. or did we get three? i don't remember.

i do remember that the food was amazing. pictured are the soba noodles soaked in a uni broth topped with huge pieces of uni. uni-tastic. uni-licious. it's really a miracle that i didn't immediately dunk my head into the bowl, but managed to let jenny and CR try some before devouring the rest. uni-rrific. one note - if the waitress recommends that you each order a "buta kakuni" - do not believe her. order one to share for the table. it's incredible stewed fatty pork and it's delicious. but eating an entire portion by yourself might kill you.