Restaurants – Unhealed Wound

AL’s Place—A Favorite New Spot in SF

Written by diana on August 16, 2015. Posted in Local travel, Restaurants.

AL stands for Aaron London, the young energetic chef of Ubuntu fame (renowned for vegetarian food in Napa Valley). This newly opened San Francisco restaurant on the corner of 26th and Valencia is a standout. Beautifully presented, but in a very noisy, but pristine white environs, AL’s Place seats only forty-six diners. All the dishes we...

Son of a Gun—On Target

Written by diana on June 28, 2015. Posted in Local travel, Restaurants. 1 Comment on Son of a Gun—On Target

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of going to Son of a Gun, a newish West Hollywood restaurant. Small, intimate—when we first drove by, we had to circle the block twice to find it—the food is original and delicious. We started off with the hamachi with vinaigrette apple and radish sprouts. Hamachi with Apples, Sprouts and Vinaigrette...

Aldea—“An Epicurean Hamlet”

Written by diana on May 19, 2015. Posted in Restaurants, Travel (Domestic). 1 Comment on Aldea—“An Epicurean Hamlet”

Aldea drama We ate at the fabulous Aldea, a Michelin star restaurant in Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood, and for those of you who are going to be in New York City, this is our new gourmet discovery. Aldea means “village” or “hamlet” in Spanish and is a blend of Portuguese and Spanish small plates. Chef Mendes’s menu is eclectic, highly...

“Home on the Range…with Frances”

Written by diana on April 7, 2015. Posted in Restaurants.

We had the good fortune recently to celebrate the culinary fare at two popular San Francisco restaurants, Frances (3870 17th Street) and Range (842 Valencia Street). Both had imaginative menus and we felt so lucky being able to reserve a table on a weekend night. Friday night we dined at Frances, a very small elegant restaurant, not too...

FWD—Fishing with Dynamite

Written by diana on November 18, 2014. Posted in Restaurants.

Hamachi I first learned about this restaurant in Manhattan Beach (Los Angeles) in a January 22, 2014 New York Times review. It is amazing that such a tiny restaurant in a beachy little neighborhood received coverage from the premier East Coast cognoscenti. First and foremost, Fishing with Dynamite is a knockout—East Coast meets West Coast for...

La Balena—A whale of a meal

Written by diana on November 3, 2014. Posted in Restaurants. 2 Comments on La Balena—A whale of a meal

For a town like Carmel, it is exciting to find a restaurant that can really rival a good one in San Francisco. I think La Balena nails it! We started off with Polpo Grigliato (grilled octopus with potatoes, anchovy aioli, lemon and parsley). I have to confess that I am obsessed with this cephalopod. If octopus is on the menu, I have to try...