Restaurants

We’re not breaking news here, but just in case you still weren’t aware, the LES is f*cking done. Max Fish moving out was the proverbial nail in the coffin. Motor City, St. Jerome’s, Dark Room, and Welcome To The Johnson’s will likely all follow suit very soon, which is a sad state of affairs. We used to get hammered there in our 20′s, and restaurants like Tiny Fork moving in only kicks salt into the wound. Look, we’re all for an oyster and lobster roll joint with excellent beers on tap. In fact, places like that tend to be our favorite kind of dining establishments. But, it’s also important to take your surroundings into account. Tiny Fork legitimately feels like it was air lifted straight off a fancy block in Nantucket – Vineyard Vines, popped collars, and sweaters around the neck in tow. That sounds kind of awesome now that we think about it, but it unfortunately feels brutally out of place on the Lower East Side, regardless of how gentrified the neighborhood has become. The crowd here is hysterical. Did they open a country club inside The Ludlow we didn’t get a terrible press release about? If Tiny Fork were awesome, this whiny tangent about the Lower East Side probably wouldn’t have been nessecary. After all, good food has a way of making everything OK. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here. The $25 lobster roll? Not good. Oysters? Questionable. And if you’re going to name yourself after a tiny shellfish forks, at least have the wherewithal to explain what oysters you’re serving. Don’t just plop a dozen in front of a customer without pointing out where they come from and why they’re awesome. We’re not saying you can’t have an oyster bar on the LES. It’s definitely possible to execute this type of place appropriately for downtown NYC. Just look at Upstate Beer & Oyster Bar. We love that spot because they know what they’re doing and they’re passionate about the product. Tiny Fork just misses the mark. Photo Credit: Urban Daddy Food Rundown OystersThey have a nice selection of oysters, but as we complained about above, the overall execution wasn’t great. We like to know what we’re eating when it comes to oysters, and just dropping off a dozen assorted oysters sans explanation is bush league. As is serving oysters that suck, which more than one of these did. Oyster SlidersWay. Too. Much. Bun. That is all. Lobster RollAs we declared above, this wasn’t our favorite roll. It was no where near the complete debacle of Claw, but it just wasn’t our favorite. It looks huge in the photo, but, for $25, it was actually not as big as we had hoped. The lobster salad had nice chunks of lobster in it, but for some reason it didn’t have much flavor at all. The lobster needs to steal the show and for whatever reason, it didn’t. Hand Cut FriesGreasy, soggy and pretty gross.

Paiche just opened in Marina del Rey and I swung by a couple of weeks ago to check out dinner and drinks. Paiche from the chef Ricardo Zarate is billed as a Peruvian… Read More →

I’ve noticed En Sushi for years in Los Feliz but never checked it out until I found myself in the area recently for lunch. We wanted something simple and light and sushi sounded… Read More →

      The Eventbrite Blogger Tour continues for the month of May with two events. I checked out Cheese 101 at Andrew’s Cheese Shop a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t grow… Read More →

Hello (again).  You're (back) looking at the food blog named mmm-yoso!!! Kirk and His Missus are enjoying their vacation in Portugal (and other places).  ed(from Yuma) and His Tina are venturing around Yuma and making plans for their next vacation. Today is another post from Cathy and The Mister and their staycation. The other day, we drove West on the 8, drove South, somehow ending up near the Marina. We had passed several restaurants and decided to take a walk. Neighborhood clientele as well as yacht owners hang out near the South end of Rosecrans. The jacaranda trees are in bloom and just beautiful. We decided to stop here.  It's right across the street from The Living Room, which I posted about last year. Let me just say I wish I had stopped here sooner. Grabbing a menu, we sat down and...I smelled fresh-fresh coffee... Slightly confused, because I saw all these pump pots, I ordered a cup of coffee and was told they roast all the beans right here(!)-that's why I smelled fresh coffee.  Organic, free trade and bird free, roasted in small batches coffee.  We ordered and I took a small (1/2 pump) taste of each of the three coffees that interested me (decaf and a vanilla something flavored coffee are not anything I'd choose, ever). Ultimately, I preferred the middle selection-"Mad Red". After ordering from the lunch menu, which had an admonition of "We guarantee 'same day' service. Thank you for your patience in preparing your handcrafted meal.  Delicious not pretentious slow food." I walked around the small, ten table large interior, finally comprehending the theme.  There was also a very nice outdoor seating area in the back. Beads on the ceiling, Mardi Gras masks, skeletons and skulls, voodoo.Combined with some of the French named and Cajun spiced items on the menu...the synapses connected-New Orleans.     Of course, the eclectic condiment selection on every table was also a clue. It did not take too long for our food to be brought out.  I must say that every person working here was helping on all the tables and each one was very friendly. When we ordered, I only slightly mentioned that The Mister and I would be sharing the sandwich and salad we had ordered, and the sandwich was brought out in two baskets. Nice.  This was under the 'grilled cheese' part of the menu- a "Cochon" ($9) Provolone and Swiss cheeses...with pulled pork, ham and artisan pepper bacon, on sliced brioche. It's served with a house made jalapeño strawberry jam. No, not a Monte Cristo, not a Cuban, just a great, wonderful, fresh, tasty sandwich. The menu has pork belly on it and I suspect the bacon comes from the same place; it was not crispy bacon, but thick sliced, lightly peppered and excellent. Toasted seasoned bagel slices as a side was a very nice, different touch. The Paleo salad (large, $10). Mixed super greens (kale and spinach and other lettuces) avocado, tomato, a boiled organic free range egg, walnuts and sunflower seeds and the artisan peppered bacon that was on the Cochon sandwich. This photo does not do it justice, but the salad bowl was HUGE and  more than enough for us to share. When we went to pay, I noticed some very nice looking pastries next to the cash register, probably wonderful also.  I am already planning a return visit.  Reds 1017 Rosecrans Street San Diego 92016 (619) 523-5540 Website open 6 am-11pm  

I had a chance to nab my noodles partner for a meal before she headed to London for a trip. We chose Nha Trang, a Vietnamese cafe with a 5-item menu. Well, that’s… Read More →

It’s been a couple of years since I last went to Wat Dong Moon Lek. It’s taken over the space next door and didn’t seem as cute and funky this time around. However,… Read More →

Wayfare Tavern. [Photo: joeyparsons/Flickr] SAN FRANCISCO—Wayfare Tavern is the latest restaurant to come to terms with the city regarding the Healthy SF surcharge scandal. They don't have to pay anything, as they distributed all unused healthcare money to employees at the end of the calendar year, and no longer collect a surcharge. The Chron has a list of all restaurants to be cleared or pay restitution; the biggest offenders still outstanding are janitorial firm Trinity Building Services, Prospect, The Cheesecake Factory, Max's Opera Cafe, and the particularly odious Squat & Gobble, which collected $160K and didn't pay out a dime. [Chron] SAN FRANCISCO—Speaking of restaurant employees, Michael Bauer posed an interesting question today: is service at restaurants better outside of SF? He thinks it is, if only for sheer quantity: "Having traveled back east recently, I noticed that the service staff seemed to be larger at restaurants in New York than in San Francisco. Actually, they also appear to be larger in areas just outside of San Francisco. I think that one of the ramifications of the cost of doing business in San Francisco — higher minimum wage, health insurance and no tax credit for owners — has affected the number of people on the floor...San Francisco is an expensive city to live in and our per capita ratio of restaurants to residences is one of the highest in the United States. Staff is spread thin." [Inside Scoop] THE MISSION—Supervisors David Campos and Scott Weiner are co-sponsoring a bill to loosen restrictions on liquor licenses in the Mission, which were tamped down back in 1996 when the neighborhood was quite a different place. The new rules, which likely won't see approval for several more months, could mean beer and wine at the Roxie Theater and more full liquor licenses for local restaurants. [SFist] BERKELEY—Conflict is brewing on Telegraph: Rasputin founder Ken Sarachan wants to open a new ice-cream and cookie shop, Dream, in a portion of his record store, which is right across from existing and megapopular ice-cream and cookie shop CREAM. It's a provocative move (really? that name?), but considering the sizable lines at CREAM every night, it might not be all that detrimental. For now, the City Council has voted to table Dream's license application until a public hearing later this year. [Berkeleyside Nosh]

The unfortunate fire trend in the Bay Area continues: the latest victim of a blaze is East Oakland's Genny's BBQ, which had a chimney flue catch fire on Friday morning. No one was hurt, but firefighters had to put a hole in the roof to extinguish it, which means they'll be closed for a month. On the upside, owner Virginia Roberson is plotting a revamped menu and a day of free food for the grand reopening. [EBX]

[Photo: Food Network] Though his show, like many TV productions, has tried to keep things under wraps, no one could help but notice that human PT Cruiser Guy Fieri has been bouncing around town this week for a new SF episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Inside Scoop raided the Twitter account of a crew member and self-described "senator of Flavortown," who divulged stops at Senor Sisig, Show Dogs, and the Front Porch, congratulating the owners along the way. Meanwhile, Zagat picked up on intel that Fieri and crew had visited Nopalito's Sunset location. Considering that Fieri lives in Santa Rosa (where his yellow Lambo was famously stolen by a teenager), this was a home-base trip for him. (Last time around, he shot at Grubstake, Tee Off Bar & Grill, HRD Coffee Shop, and Joe's Cable Car.) Still, you might be surprised to learn that he doesn't actually drive his signature red Camaro from place to place. On the upside, the hardworking, camera-toting, Camaro-driving crew got to attend a Giants game last night, complete with gifted hoodies from Nopalito to keep them warm. And their fearless leader approves of their work: shootin' some killer San Fran joints this week for DDD...Nor Cal rocks— Guy Fieri (@GuyFieri) May 22, 2013 · Nopalito Filmed for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives [Zagat] · Guy Fieri makes the rounds in San Francisco [Inside Scoop]