Zuni Cafe: Great Bread and the Rest of the Food Ain't Bad Either

Zuni Cafe
1658 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415.552.2522

Zuni Cafe is one of those "must" dine at restaurants in San Francisco. It is always packed (reservations a must for dinner and a good idea for lunch). The food is fresh and generally well-prepared (although I have had an over-cooked pasta before), the space is interesting covering two floors in a triangular-shaped building, there are always a few vegetarian choices and the homemade bread is wonderful - so much so that it's one of the rare places where I eat the bread.

I've eaten there several times for dinner - one complaint would be that it is noisy - but made it for lunch this week. The lunch menu is a little lighter, but stays true to the fresh ingredients that are well-prepared ...and there is the bread. The bread is a homemade peasant-style bread. It's crusty, but chewy on the inside.


For starters, I had the wild arugula salad with pomegranate seeds, mint, walnuts and sheep's milk ricotta (above). What I liked about this salad is that the ricotta and pomegranate seeds could have easily been lost in the dish, but they added plenty of both so that the flavor was in every bite.

Polenta is sort of a fancy word for cornmeal, but I like it anyway on a crisp winter day, especially with a cool dollop of mascarpone (above). The texture was good - like a firm porridge.


The tagliatelle with chanterelles, nettles and pistachio picada benefited from the homemade noodles. The flavors of the main ingredients were a bit overwhelmed by butter, but it was still enjoyable and worth ordering again.

Parking can be a bit difficult in the evenings here, but valet parking is available for $10. Any nearby lots are the same price.

ABC Kitchen Simple yet Amazing

ABC Kitchen
35 East 18th Street
New York, NY 10003
212.475.5829
www.abckitchennyc.com

The latest in Jean Georges' restaurants is undoubtedly my new favorite. The food is sublime - with simple dishes that have outstanding flavor.

The best way to sample the food is by sharing several plates. There are too many wonderful things on the menu to limit oneself. I went back twice over two days and nothing disappointed, quite the opposite.

The best dishes were the ones that I expected the least out of. Pistachio pesto with whole wheat pasta and julienned squash blossoms had outstanding flavor in what could have been such an average dish.

A salad with strawberries and fresh goat cheese (above) blended sweet with slightly bitter for a nice way to start to the meal.

Pizza and house-cut fries from the lunch menu (above).
The bland housemade ricotta ravioli with herbs and tomato sauce (above) was the least appealing dish.
The sundae with salted caramel ice cream, candied peanuts and popcorn and whipped cream was a delightful surprise. The flavors worked perfectly to taste like a cool box of Cracker Jack. This is not to be missed.

Vegetarian entrees run about $25 and appetizers and small plates about $16.

Manresa - Where Veggies Travel Just 13 Miles to Your Plate

Manresa
320 Village Lane
Los Gatos, CA 95030
408.354.4330
www.manresarestaurant.com

Pick up Bon Appetit this month (August 2011) and you'll find a story about Manresa's David Kinch, who, as the magazine says, takes local "sourcing a step further, chefs who won't call produce local unless its truly their own."

This is a treat for vegetarians who dine at Manresa as Love Apple Farms in Santa Cruz, just 13 miles away, provides all the produce for the restaurant. I was fortunate enough to feast on the vegetarian tasting menu the night Bon Appetit was taking photos at the restaurant.

I lost track of the number of courses - there was no menu and I've just featured a few of the plates here - but most every plate was a delightful surprise both in the vibrant colors and flavors.
Dinner began with bell pepper and black olive madeleines (above). It finished with chocolate madeleines that looked identical to the savory ones. A clever way to "bookend" the meal.
Fried kale with garden beignets (above).
The juniper berry soda with sorrel sorbet was the one offering that didn't work for me. Fortunately, it was a small serving (above).
Mandarin oranges with jasmine tea gelee (above).
Tempura radishes with creamy salsify emulsion and pickled cucumber with dill (above).
Asparagus with rice, and wild rice vinegarette (above).

Mustard cream with vegetable purees and green vegetable veloute and pansies (above).
Polenta with green pickled strawberries (above).
Potato and green garlic fritter with grilled morel mushrooms and roasted radishes (above). Fruit sorbet with rhubarb yogurt ice (above).

Given the nature of the restaurant, with all the produce coming fresh from Kinch's garden, everyday's offerings will be a bit different. The dishes a friend had just a week or two before had the same basic dishes, but with several different fruits and vegetables than I received.

Manresa doesn't get the attention of French Laundry - probably because being in Los Gatos it's not a destination restaurant - but I find it far better and more deserving of acclaim. Service is attentive and the space is warm and relaxing, with tables placed well apart for privacy.

Munich's Tantris - A Blend of the Strange and the Sublime

Restaurant Tantris
Johann-Fichte-Strasse 7
Munich, Germany
089.36.19.59-0
www.tantris.de

When architect Justus Dahinden set out to build Tantris, he wanted to make it something exotic and strange. He came away with a restaurant that has stood the test of time. And, while still exotic, is not so much strange, but sensual and sublime - and that doesn't just apply to the architectural elements.

The design of the restaurant, which has two Michelin stars and stands at 80 on the San Pelligrino list of the world's top 100 restaurants, has changed little in the 40 years since it opened. There is orange, shag carpet on the ceiling and oversized mushroom-cap-shaped lamps. Metal flowers in bright colors are reminiscent of daisy chain headbands. And the best throwback - the restaurant was designed with intimacy in mind. Although I spotted a few people who didn't remove their cellphones from their ears all evening, tables were spaced far enough apart to insure quiet conversations.
But enough of the design; let's get to the food. A la carte options are available, but the restaurant features tasting menus as well. The vegetarian dinner tasting is five courses, changes daily and features seasonal produce. Dinner began with a flavorful pea ravioli with vegetable and lime-ginger cream (above).
The season's wonderful white marinated asparagus with minced egg and orange hollandaise (above) followed. The flavors were light, with none overwhelming the other.

The artichoke risotto with artichoke stock (above) was nicely prepared with the risotto cooked just to al dente and the stock adding an appreciated extra hint of artichoke.

Flavor-on-flavor combinations proved popular as with the spinach dumpling with fresh morels and spinach (above). This was almost a bit too heavy at the end, but still quite good.

Tantris is still an unexpected treat in Munich, not quite fitting in with the rest of the city, but in a wonderful and creative way.

Dosa Creates Colorful, Festive Meals in San Francisco

Dosa
1700 Fillmore
San Francisco, CA 94115
415.441.3672
www.dosasf.com

Every time I eat at this South Indian restaurant in San Francisco, it's as though I'm at a festive party with the brightly colored food, lively flavors and snappy spice-infused drinks.

Dosa, which has its original location on Valencia, offers an innovative menu with plenty of options for vegetarians and vegans. Starters are the real appeal and it's easy to make a good meal by sharing a few. And while I don't usually focus on drinks, the drink menu here is not to be ignored. The cocktails feature drinks such as the Peony with gin, hibiscus nectar, coconut, lime and bird's eye chili. I've yet to try one that wasn't only pleasing to the eye, but also the palate.
The colorful, spice-infused cocktails (above and below) are unique and flavorful. This is one of the few places I always order a cocktail.
Dosas are basically a filled crepe that you eat with your hands, dipping it first into the lentil soup or sambar and then add some fresh coconut or mango chutney. One order can make a filling meal or share it will the table in order to sample more from the menu. Fillings range from a blend of potatoes to cheeses and vegetables, such as the paneer and peas dosa (below).

The vada pav or vegetarian sliders (above) have a spiced potato patty, chutneys, caramelized onion and ground chilies and lentils. They're flavorful and the different textures provides a nice balance to the dosas.

Dosa, with its simple yet elegant interior with modern chandeliers, is an excellent choice in San Francisco for dining with those who eat meat and those who are vegetarians as the varied menu offers a good selection for each.

Tough Not to be Sweet on All-Dessert Espaisucre in Barcelona

Espaisucre
Calle Princesa 53
Barcelona, Spain
34.93.268.16.30
www.espaisucre.com

It would be easy to say Spain's top pastry chef Jordi Butron's all-dessert restaurant, Espaisucre, is a sweet treat, but that's not entirely true. It's also savory.

The restaurant, which features three- and five-course tasting menus, serves up such combinations as raspberries with red pepper and chocolate with tobacco. Every plate is an unusual mix of flavors and textures that neither left me feeling as though I'd overloaded on sweets or needed a more traditional dinner.

While the five-course menus tend to not be vegetarian-friendly, offering dishes such as cod rice with tomato ice cream, there are plenty of other menus for vegetarians, including the chocolate menu and the cheese menu. The chocolate with vinegar, strawberry, mint and pepper (above) shows up on a couple of the menus. This is one of the few dishes I tried where one flavor - the strawberry - overpowered everything else. That's not to say it was bad, but it tasted less creative than perhaps it was on a technical level.


Each flavor in the passion fruit, coffee, lemon cress and mint sorbet with lemon foam (above), on the other hand, stood out well on its own while at the same time complementing the others. The variety of textures, from the coffee-flavored cake to the light foam, was also appealing.

Despite a strange mix of ingredients that included chocolate, prunes, oak, rum and tobacco (above) this blend came out very well. The prunes were oddly moist and there was an occasional hint of tobacco and oak, but it was difficult to tell what part of the dish the flavors came from.

This goat cheesecake (above) with raspberries, red pepper and ginger was an interesting mix of savory and sweet. The cheese was surprisingly strong on its own, but softened with the other ingredients.



The truffle mushroom, butter, hazelnut and chocolate concoction (above) had a strong truffle flavor with a topping the texture of crumbled Oreo cookies.

Each menu concludes with an assortment of petits-fours in flavor combinations such as sesame with licorice and green apple with laurel.

All menus come with a choice of wine pairings or it's possible to order wine by the bottle or glass.
Tasting menus range in price from 30 to 50 euros and wine pairings are from 10 to 18 euros.

Kauai Grill: A Beautiful Place for Beautiful Food

Kauai Grill
St. Regis Hotel
5520 Ka Haku Road
Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii
808.826.9644
www.stregisprinceville.com/dining/the-kauai-grill

I tend to have a soft spot for several of Jean-Georges' restaurants. A large part of it is no doubt that many of them are vegetarian friendly and the other part is that they're consistently good. Kauai Grill at the St. Regis Hotel in Princeville is no exception.

In an area of Kauai where there's no shortage of restaurants that offer vegetarian fare to cater to the many local vegetarians, Kauai Grill is able to stand up to the best of offerings from nearby restaurants such as Postcards and BarAcuda. The one major downside is the vegetarian menu doesn't change much. In two visits late last year and in looking at what appears to be the current online menu, the two vegetarian entrees haven't changed.


The salads haven't changed either. I don't think they're expecting many frequent repeat guests. The salads are good, fresh and highlight local ingredients. The heart of palm salad (above) has vine-ripened tomatoes, avocado and coconut. The produce was sweet and flavorful. A nice start to dinner.


The watermelon radishes on baby romaine salad (above) with baby arugula, avocado and spicy corn vinagarette does not appear to be a staple of the menu. While not as tasty as the hearts of palm salad the various flavors and textures worked well.

I started this blog, in part, to feature restaurants where vegetarians could get something other than tofu and seitan. I've always felt if I wanted something that took on the flavor of meat, I would eat meat. But I admit the tofu with a nut and seed crust in a sweet and sour sauce (above) can hold its own against most any non-animal-based dish I've ever had. Tofu or not, it's simply good. The tofu has a nice firm texture and the crust provides flavor and texture. I was not at all disappointed to find this to be a staple on the menu, although I would certainly like to see Kauai Grill expand and change its vegetarian offerings over time.

Service is basically what you might expect from waiters who are more accustomed to spending time on a surfboard than in a fine restaurant. They’re pleasant and they get the job done, their skills just aren’t as fine-tuned as one might hope.

Prices are about $26 for entrees and $14 for salads.