Friday, November 9, 2012

The Stinking Rose












Got Garlic? Well if you go to the Stinking Rose you will. Any place whose slogan is, “We season our garlic with food” is good to me. I had actually already been to stop #14 several times and always look forward to going back. As much as I LOVE this place a couple of warnings: 1. It is very touristy, my suggestion go during the non-peak hours. 2. You WILL smell like garlic the rest of the day & possibly part of the next day. 3. You WILL taste garlic for the rest of the day and if you don’t own an electric toothbrush or down a bottle of mouthwash possibly the next day as well. Still these warnings do not deter me from diving right into the most garlic-y dishes on the menu. So I was happy when to start my boss, Josh ordered the garlic soaking in a hut tub: garlic cloves, oven roasted in olive oil & butter, with a hint of anchovy. This is served with their house made focaccia bread, yum. The roasted garlic on the bread is quite tasty. And as if the skillet of garlic we ordered wasn’t enough there is a garlic spread brought to the table which I of course decided to put on top of the roasted garlic, this gave it more of a kick and really enhanced the flavor. We also shared the shrimp & crab sizzling iron skillet. I’ve had the shrimp on prior occasions and it’s my fave. Getting the crab legs was something new. As much as I like crab and this was good, it was so messy. I guess I should of known when they brought plastic bibs with the utensils. It was a ton of work cracking it when it was covered in garlic and oil, I will stick with just the shrimp from now on. Lastly we had the baked brie, which was amazing. I wasn’t crazy about the texture of the bread it was served with though. Josh said it was exactly what you look for in a baked brie, chalked full of brie goodness. Festive atmosphere- great music, garlic cloves strung across the ceiling, and entertaining art on the walls. A fun and always satisfying meal, just be sure to have breath mints & body spray readily available afterward. 

http://thestinkingrose.com/


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Giordano Bros.










One of my fave things about doing this blog is bringing friends together. So what better excuse than Monday Night Football and delish sammies? Stop #13 brought us to Giordano Bros. Touchdown! This place rocks. The initial crew consisted of Erin, Megs, Shawn and myself. The atmosphere is great, very lively, tons of TVs, several beer options and even a few wine selections. Plus they have happy hour from 3-7pm. Score. All the sammies come on Italian bread with provolone cheese, fresh cut fries, and oil & vinegar coleslaw. Yes, the fries & slaw are ON the sammy. Hence the all-in-one sandwich.  They are also very fairly priced. I shared the smoked turkey with Erin. I’m generally not a fan of slaw, but this was so different and actually really tasty. Shawn ordered the Capicola and Megs the Coppa. Both of them really enjoyed their choices. There was a lot of head nodding after everyone took their first bite, silently agreeing that the sammies were amazing. Shawn liked how the bread was extremely soft. Megs thought it was cool how the flavor went back and forth between the fries and the slaw. We did feel they would be even better if the fries were crispy, just to give the sammy more texture. We got beer battered onion rings and fried pickles to share. Erin was ecstatic about
the rings since she thought they were some of the best she had ever had. They were great and not greasy at all, which is always a plus. Megs thought the pickles were done perfectly since they didn’t have too much batter and weren’t over-fried. And any place that serves Ranch with your sides without requesting it gets bonus points in my book. We finished off our meal with two warmed peanut butter chocolate chip rice crispy cookies. This was the only part of the meal we weren’t too impressed with, they were a little dry, but still very interesting. After that our late arrivals joined us: Matt, Faham, and Ryan - fresh from the gym, they were smart and worked off their meal first. Matt & FZ had double turkey with fried egg and Ryan had double pastrami with fried egg- guess they worked up an appetite.  The boys loved their sammies too and everyone was happy with the food and locale. Lastly I have to mention the amazing bar man. Not only was he hilarious and friendly, but he was the only one working the room and he was on top of everything. Job well done, my itchy mustache friend.




5 Ciabatta loaves:


Friday, November 2, 2012

Viva!








When the World Series happens in SF so do out of town guests, so I was happy Judybug who lives in San Diego was able to join me for stop #12: Viva. Only fitting that we would go somewhere (when translated) called Hooray on game one of the World Series. Viva serves up traditional Italian dishes, so of course Judy ordered the Gyro plate. J She really enjoyed her dish that had very hearty strips of lamb. We started with the minestrone soup, 

it was good, tons of different veggies and lots of noodles. I also ordered the bruschetta to share, and when it arrived Judy informed me she doesn’t like tomatoes…oops. More for me! And I was happy about that since it was very tasty. For my main dish I had the garlic pasta: fresh garlic, virgin olive oil, chilies, and Italian parsley. It was punchy. Very big kick to it, but it was enjoyable. The waiter was an interesting character- we asked him what he recommended and he told us he no longer eats there since he’s been working there for so long and too much of a good thing can be bad. I obviously enjoyed my time with my lunch companion and the food was average, but I probably won’t be running back to Viva any time soon. Maybe for game one of the next Giants World Series since its tradition now.


Two Ciabatta loaves 

Pizzelle di North Beach


Ok, so in case anyone in SF hasn’t heard the Giants are the World Series Champs…AGAIN! I did consume Columbus during their wild run, but blogging about it was a challenge since I was consumed with baseball games. Back on October 21st I went to stop #11, Pizzelle di North Beach. What better way to fuel up before an NLCS game than a slice of pizza and a beer? I was extremely impressed with this place. I ordered my pesto slice, a side of ranch dressing and a Peroni (all for $7.25!) from the very friendly man behind the counter. While he heated it up in the oven I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Pizzelle is MUCH more than just pizza by the slice. They have a full menu. I wasn’t even aware of this until I started checking out my surroundings and saw the large chalkboard above the counter with several menu items on it. They offer appys, salads, pasta, and sammies as well. This is a very good thing because if the slice of pizza I had is any indication of how good the rest of the food is, it will be delish. My pesto slice was one of the best I’ve had. Soft cheesy dough on top of a crunchy crust. Yummo. They have a couple of TVs for your viewing pleasure, friendly staff, good prices, and comfy booths. I look forward to going back to check out other menu items. 


5 Ciabattas