Wednesday, August 29, 2012

E Tutto Qua



 

Since Andrea the friendly & humorous guy at the door constantly tries to get me to dine at this establishment while I’m waiting to catch the bus to the ballpark I was excited to finally say yes to him and come in for a meal. Stop #8 was E Tutto Qua, which translates to "It's All Here" True story. This place has it all, amazing atmosphere, super engaging & attentive staff, and fabulous food. Even though I wasn’t going to the Giants game I of course still wanted to watch it, so what better way to do so than at a fun restaurant with my girls? Diane & Erin were able to join me and we were lucky enough to get a cozy corner table and a channel change so we could view the  

the game. The restaurant is nice from the outside but it is even more impressive inside. Extremely lively. The wait staff is so comfortable with each other they even yell orders out across the room and manage to do so in a non-distracting way. We started with the burrata pomodoro de rucola: creamy Italian mozzarella with cherry tomatoes, arugula, and Kalamata olives. When they say creamy it is not false advertising. Absolutely delish, a great combo of flavors. I just wish there were more tomatoes with it. For our main dishes, Di got the spaghetti Bolognese, I had the gnocchi in a gorgonzola sauce (big surprise) and Erin had one of the specials- spinach fettuccine with prosciutto, mushrooms & sweet green peas in a light cream sauce. We were all very happy with our pastas, spicy D just wished hers had a bit more spice. It felt like a traditional Italian meal where you truly get to sit for hours and enjoy wonderful rich food & conversation with good peeps. Erin called the wait staff ninjas since they would manage to fill up water glasses or clear dishes from the table with out us even noticing. I actually liked it better when the “ninjas” would stop by and chat with us. They were all very entertaining, which was a good thing since the game sucked. L For dessert I was talked into getting the panna cotta and I’m very happy about that. Andrea did not steer me wrong. It was decadent. Half of it was covered in strawberry sauce and the other in chocolate hazelnut. AMAZING. The girls both had gelato, Di had chocolate chip and Erin had chocolate hazelnut. The gelato was really good too and they have 12 flavors to chose from. Wonderful experience. The service was above and beyond (and easy on the eyes) and the food and atmosphere were just like being in Italy.  

I think you can guess how many Ciabatta loaves this one got:


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Yokohama




Sushi restaurants in NB? There are three. Great sushi in NB? There are zero. Decent sushi in NB? There are two. Bad sushi in NB? There is one. Stop #7 brought me to me first bad review: Yokohama. My lunch companions were two out of towners, actually, out of the country-ers. Niamh from Ireland & Nate from Australia. Both lived in Tokoyo for several months. Now, I know what you are thinking, Why would you bring two peeps visiting SF with amazing sushi experience to a sushi place in Little Italy? Well, cause it was next on the tour, and I follow the rules! Upon entering the restaurant we were not greeted warmly, in fact we were barely greeted at all. After much deliberation we decided on the monkey ball (spicy tuna, shichimi, goma & sesame oil), the Broadway roll (halibut & cream cheese), and the tempura roll. Oh, and Nate got the chicken katsu one of his faves. The tempura was spelled tempera on the menu, which is defined as a permanent fast-drying painting medium. This might be the reason it did not taste very good. The texture was extremely different than i'm used to. The food didn't taste fresh, or unique, and wasn't anything I would want to order again. When we were leaving Nate noticed Polaroid pictures on the wall of past customers with quotes written on them about how great the food was. Notice I said Polaroids which should date these rave reviews, but just in case you need an actual date- they were from 2001- maybe the food was as well. Still in search of delish sushi in NB, but at least I have amazing Italian food to hold me over until I do. Sorry N&N for subjecting you to this, but at least you got a free meal. :) 

*This restaurant is not worthy of any Ciabatta bread.