wayfare tavern

san francisco, ca

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one of my new favorite restaurants! derek discovered this place while working in his firm's san francisco office. it's actually tyler florence's restaurant - the menu is very similar to the dishes he cooks on his show (which always look delicious). the atmosphere is upscale gastropub - the prices are a little high, but the ingredients and preparation are worth it. we walked in on a saturday afternoon and the place was packed - but thankfully we were able to get a seat at the bar, where we could watch chefs put the final touches on each plate.

wayfare tavern is known for their fried chicken, which derek thinks is amazing. if you're not in the mood for fried chicken, the dish to get is the tomales bay mussels - perfectly plump little mussels served with herbsaint cream, crispy chunks of pork belly, sweet potato, celery salt, and grilled toast. it's a little on the rich side, but trust me, you won't have any problem finishing it.

clyde common

portland, or

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this was the first stop on our epic trip down the pacific coast, driving derek's car and 4 suitcases from seattle to our new home in the bay area. derek, the driver, was craving a burger. so i searched for "best burger portland" on my blackberry and found clyde common. it's located in what i think is downtown portland and was very easy to get to from I-5. the restaurant is clearly part of that whole farm-to-table movement and it looked like they brought the tables from the farm too. long wood tables with tiny little chairs lined on each side. the table is shared space, so be warned that you might literally be rubbing elbows with some portlanders. they're nice, though.

derek and i both ordered the burger. i remember really enjoying my side salad. the burger is not as good as the shake shack or any of the other amazing burgers that we loved in nyc, but derek and i are hard to please when it comes to burgers. the menu looked great, so if we ever come back, i'll try some of the other items and probably something off their extensive beer list. also, clyde common is just a short walk away from the famous powell's bookstore, which is a great place to walk off your lunch.

blind tiger

bleecker/jones

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our night on the town that ended at big daddy's started at blind tiger. we had a large group of people, all there to say farewell to vanita and hubby before they move to the left coast. luckily, we managed to snag enough bar stools and tables to seat and feed everyone.

blind tiger has an impressive beer menu, but my focus was on food. we ordered olive tapenade (too salty), hummus (alright), deviled eggs (not as good as spotted pig), beet salad (hard to share), a blt sandwich (eh), and various grilled cheese sandwiches. the grilled cheese was definitely the winner - gooey, filled with onions and tomatoes. one word of caution though, there was a surprise jalapeno in one bite of the grilled cheese sandwich. no one else tasted any jalapeno, it was apparently only in my piece of the sandwich, but i swear it was there. beware.

spotted pig

new york, ny

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our walking tour of manhattan continued after the high line through the meatpacking district and into the west village (where we managed to hit all 5 marc by marc jacobs shops). when it was snack time, i decided to lead christine and val to the spotted pig, which started the whole "gastropub" trend in nyc. as far as i can tell, "gastropub" means that a restaurant has uncomfortable seating, an impressive beer selection, and excellent food (often inspired by british pub food).

val ordered a beer, the ladies had grapefruit juice (very good) and we ordered a round of bar snacks for the table. although famous for their deviled eggs, they must have been having an off day because ours were too vinegary. the fries, however, were amazing! extremely thin and crispy, they were covered with sprigs of rosemary and thyme. christine was brave enough to order the "roll mops" - which are pickled herring topped with creme fraiche - it was surprisingly tasty. spotted pig has figured out how to make british pub food gourmet and appealing.

elephant & castle

washington, dc

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there's an elephant & castle in the west village. i've walked by a few times, thought it looked interesting, but never tried it. when derek and i walked by elephant & castle in DC, i thought it was a branch. it's not. unfortunately.

it is, however, a theme restaurant. the theme here is british pub food. the quality of the food here is okay, but prices are reasonable. it seems like a good spot to meet up with friends for a cheap drinks and bar snacks while you're downtown. i enjoyed my curry chips (apparently a popular british pub snack) - french fries with curry. for my entree, i had a decent shepard's pie. anyway, it was good, but not great.