This week has been a category three hurricane of eating, like a private tasting event Sunday night at Saison highlighting Robert Mondavi Winery’s To Kalon wines (along with sniffing soil with Laura Parker—sounds hardcore but I promise, it wasn’t that kind of party), a white-tablecloth lunch at Thermidor, a late-night dinner at Café des Amis (great to see the place positively buzzing at 10pm on a Wednesday night), and then an all-day road trip on Thursday, starting with lunch at Fremont Diner, then a delicious wine tasting at Robert Sinskey Vineyards, followed by my happy hour event at Bardessono, and then a late-night dinner at Morimoto in Napa.
Oy.
It was a gorgeous evening in Yountville last night—thanks to everyone who so kindly came to the event! The Charbay cocktails hit the spot, and chef Sean O’Toole’s hors d’oeuvres make you challenge any shred of self control you have to eat just one. And Morimoto? Wow, that restaurant is really something special—am still thinking about the spectacular presentations, the taste of the custardy tofu they make tableside, and what a cool scene it was.
Yeah, talk about over-fed—restaurant booths have become my own personal veal fattening pen. Fortunately I’ve managed to get some exercise in every day so I don’t turn into el gran blimpo—things are already precarious. Like the hurricane category level states, “Devastating damage will occur.” To be honest, I am thrilled to have a home-cooked meal with my parents this weekend. (And it’ll probably be my favorite meal of the week.)
But one other meal of note is coming up this Sunday October 3rd: the eighth annual CUESA Sunday Supper. There’s a cocktail reception, with over 30 hors d’oeuvres stations and wines, and then the big feast, served family style in the Ferry Building’s Grand Hall, including a whole-beast tableside carving and 60 chefs who are contributing their talents to this meal. So whatcha waiting for? Get your tickets here and help contribute to a great organization.
One last thing to note: I’ve made a stylistic decision here at tablehopper regarding my restaurant reviews. From here on out, they’re going to be a quite a bit shorter in order to cover more places. While I enjoy writing longer-form reviews, there are just too many places I eat at and want to share with you, so it’s hard to be limited to one big review each week. So, it’s shorty time. I’ll just try to cover the salient points: why you want to go there (and when), what to order, why the chef rocks, and any other important things you need to know, like, are the bartenders hot?
So, let’s get this week started with a hardhat about the upcoming Twenty Five Lusk, and two, count ‘em, two capsule reviews of affordable and mighty tasty places in the Mission. I hope you enjoy the new review format.
See ya on the treadmill,
Caramel cake at Fremont Diner.View tablehopper Newsletter from Friday, Oct 1 2010
