l'avant comptoir

paris, france

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love this place. super busy spanish tapas bar in the saint germain district in paris (apparently anthony bourdain featured this bar on his show). pigs decorating everything everywhere, which is usually a sign that the food is going to be excellent. menu items are helpfully hung from the ceiling with pictures. a small chalkboard lists two wines - one red, one white. my glass of red (arbois 2011 pascal et evelyne clairet) was an amazing complex wine - almost savory in flavor. my favorite dish is pictured - the ouef au plat champignon with a rich red wine sauce which only got richer with the warm yolk mixed in. we also ordered jamon croquetas and a slice of spanish tortilla. when i asked for the check (in french!) the bartender laughed and told me no. which just confused me, but eventually i got a check and he let us leave. although jenny and i would have been happy to stand there all day in the crowded bar drinking fantastic french wine and eating small plates of porky goodness.

primitivo

venice, ca

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bottomless mimosas and sangria always sounds like a great idea for brunch, but i never drink enough to make it worth it. and they usually use low quality alcohol, which makes business sense, but makes it even harder to drink enough to make it worth it. otherwise, primitivo was okay for brunch. my eggs were a little on the bland side, but it's probably my fault for ordering a poached egg on grits. there were some better things on the menu that i might try next time.

txoko

san francisco, ca

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california is going to ban foie gras beginning in july 2012. i don't actually like foie gras, but it shouldn't be banned. based on all 3 articles i've read on this issue, i believe there are humane ways to make foie gras. also, i'm generally a fan of allowing individuals to make informed choices about their ethical obligations when it comes to food - over a certain baseline standard, of course. given that there are humane ways to make foie gras (the duck/goose doesn't seem to be in any discomfort or pain), i don't think that baseline standard is met.

okay, what does that have to do with txoko? april is on a quest to try all of the great foie gras dishes in the city before the ban begins. while i'm not a fan of foie gras itself, i'm a fan of restaurants that serve foie gras, so derek and i joined april and lennon at txoko for dinner in the city. april enjoyed her foie gras appetizer and did a full write-up on her blog. derek and i shared the massive rib-eye which was very juicy and fatty. i started with an amazing green garlic soup - creamy, garlicky, and delicious.

joya

palo alto, ca

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one problem with living in the south bay is trying to convince your SF friends to drive an hour down to meet you for dinner. lennon and april graciously made the trek to meet derek and i for dinner at a spanish tapas place a few blocks from our apartment. i loved the vibe of this restaurant - modern interior, fun atmosphere, interesting menu items, and lots of great drinks.

the food itself was just okay. guacamole with taro chips was alright, but i've had better guac (i.e., jinny's homemade guacamole which is amazing). paella was kind of soggy, missing the crispy rice edges that should be a paella requirement. but i loved their homemade white sangria with fruit - delicious. the sangria and the fact that it's walking distance from the apartment (which means we can drink as much sangria as we want without worrying about the drive home) will probably be sufficient for me to come back here, but i'll try something different from the menu.

bar pilar

washington, dc

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my meeting ended up getting extended to a second day so i had time for a quick late night snack with anthony. we went to bar pilar, a drinking spot in his hood. i had an excellent glass of wine and anthony enjoyed his cocktail. he had already eaten, so i just ordered a couple of tapas for my meal - arugula salad, sausage, and octopus.

my favorite was the grilled octopus (pictured). it's hard to cook octopus correctly, but this was done perfectly. just the right amount of char on it, the texture was chewy and tender, and it had a hint of spice from the smoked paprika. delicious. this is definitely a good spot for some late night snacks and drinks.

pipa

19th (park/bway)

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located in the basement of ABC carpet & home (there's also an entrance on 19th), pipa uses the store's merchandise as its decor with price tags hanging from the chandeliers. it kind of feels like you're dining in an antiques store, which is a little weird. service is also a little slow. but the food makes up for it.

pipa serves spanish tapas, but XYZ and i were there for brunch. we both ordered the salmon eggs benedict - two poached organic eggs, smoked salmon, potato pancakes, mascarpone cheese and traditional or poblano hollandaise sauce. i recommend the traditional hollandaise sauce, which i asked for on the side. but i suggest dumping that sauce over everything - it's buttery and has a hint of truffle flavor - it's really the highlight of the dish. it was an expensive-tasting brunch for a reasonable price.

casa mono

new york, ny

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this is not a place to take vegetarians. or people on a diet. this is a place for meaty fatty gluttony. and wine. derek and i are big fans of batali and i love wine bars and tapas, so we've been trying to get into this restaurant for a long time. but there's always a long wait, so we usually pass. memorial day weekend at 10 pm, however, turned out to be a perfect time to snag a table. derek ordered a lovely glass of red wine and then we tried to figure out the menu. we ordered fried pork croquetas, pork belly, fried sardines, and bone marrow. the waiter actually laughed out loud and said "wow" when we finished our order.

that should have been a hint that we needed to order something lighter. oops. it was a very very heavy meal. the fried sardines were good (and reminds me of the free fried fish that bcd tofu house gives as banchan). the meaty fatty gluttony highlight, however, was the bone marrow. amazing. its served with crusty crispy bread covered in garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. this is the best version of "meat jelly" (as a from y&a fame refers to marrow) that we've ever had. next time, to lighten things up, i think we'll stick to wine and marrow.

boqueria

new york, ny

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lovely tapas place recommended by opal. it's a bit crowded and loud on a thursday evening, but it definitely quieted down by 10 pm. again, i love small plates and my favorites here were the meat & cheese platter that we started with and the churros dipped in chocolate that we ended with. sorry for the fuzzy photo - my berry was running out of juice...

in addition, the service was awesome. our waitress regaled us with unique food and wine recommendations and funny stories about devious grapes. boqueria is spanish tapas, as opposed to the italian small plates of alta. but again, two bottles of wine, a dozen plates of good food, and excellent company make for a great night out.