Leopold's

When I first started this (was about to say "magical little" good thing I stopped myself) blog, I wrote about Suppenkuche, the awesome German restaurant in Hayes Valley. Recently Leopold's opened up on Union/Polk and -- sorry to say Suppenkuche -- I think I found a way to save myself a $12 cab ride.

Without trying to find a creative way to describe Leopold's that is totally unfounded and only exists because I wanted to be witty, I would say Leopold's is like Suppenkuche without the bread or crazy licorice tasting aperitifs, but just as good, better for a date and a bit lighter in fare. The apps and entres are definitely smaller which is fine with me, they're HUGE at Suppenkuche (which is fine with others). You still get the festive atmosphere as well as the yelling and bell ringing that comes with the delivery of a boot, but you get a bit more 1:1 conversation and a little less sausage. I've had the vegetable strudel, braised short ribs, wiener schnitzel, and cured salmon among other things in my two visits so far and everything was well presented, fresh and oddly enough...light. Now don't get me wrong, it's no salad bar but you don't have to walk away feeling like you ate a whole pig either. The Linzer Tart on the dessert menu was aaaaaamaaazzziiinnng, but maybe I was really in the mood for dessert because after I wrote "aaaaaamaaazzziiinnng" I realized it was an overstatement. Regardless the place is good and you should definitely add it to your list of places to dine next. Oh, and yes, there will probably be a wait, but lucky you, Tonic's across the street and there's nothing wrong with a few cocktails before dinner in my mind. Nothing wrong with a few during and after either.

Herbs mmmmmm

Herb Quinoa Salad from Taste of the Test Kitchen

So I'm in a Book Club. Yes a Book Club. But I like to think of it as a Food, Wine & Other Booze Club where we also read books. I think most of my fellow members would agree.

Last night we were at our best and produced everything from fresh baked apple mint pie to salmon spring rolls to stuffed rosemary eggplant. The theme was fresh herbs, so I whipped together what you see above, a Mint Parsley Lemon Quinoa salad. I changed the recipe a bit from the original. I went a bit heavier on the quinoa* and instead of serving it with pita and greek yogurt, I eliminated the pita and found a way to incorporate the yogurt into the salad by making a light dressing with the following:

Plain Greek Yogurt

Lemon juice

Salt

Olive Oil

Simple as can be.

I tossed that with the quinoa, then added the herbs and tossed again before drizzling it all with a final touch of garlic herb olive oil. I'm not sure if everyone loved it as much as I did -- I'm a HUGE herb fan and fresh leafy herbs can be an acquired taste when not finely chopped -- but I didn't see any left over on the ladies' plates so I'll deem it a success.

* No matter what I do, whenever I see the work Quinoa, I always pronounce it in my head as quin-o-uh. I've tried to fight it but at this point I've accepted it's not going to change. Hey, at least it's a good way to remember the spelling.

Easter Eggs!

Easter Egg Cupcake Recipe from Cupcake Project

Fixed these magical little treats for Easter Brunch last Sunday ...wait... did I just say "magical", "treats" and "brunch" in the same sentence? Good lawd I am not starting this recommitment to blogging the best way now am I? Let's start again:

Easter needs eggs. Even for adults. I mean who wouldn't welcome an Easter egg filled with cake? I took this recipe from Cupcake Project and switched it up a bit. Remember that aversion to measurement? Yeah. I pulled a Semi-homemade with Sandra Lee on these babies, bought myself some blueberry muffin mix. The kind I used to beg my mother for when she allowed my nagging little Lunchable loving butt to go with her to get groceries. Anywho, they were quite the hit. Maybe not as "magical" as if you followed Cupcake Projects instructions, but damn good, and it left me more time to sip mimosas.

Bocadillos

I've realized I like little date places with little plates. I've found another great small plate place, now to find the date.

I'm a sharer and I like to try lots of things and always hate when I'm at dinner with people that won't let me taste their food, so places like Bocadillos are perfect for me. A broad selection of little tasty plates meant to share. Pair that with a great wine list and an awesome somewhat lively one-on-one environment and you've got an awesome light dinner/heavy talk restaurant. The shrimp with deviled eggs are fun, and the chorizo is dangerously rich. I would not suggest the "arm of a gypsy" dessert (even though I had it on a fantastic second date and the name has yet not to cause us a good laugh) but the bread pudding is a winner. Definitely keep the company to a great date or a great friend and leave behind the group...oh and drink lots of wine.

Bossa Nova

OMG I freakin' love this place. I think for a while I was going once a week. Now I will first say that I am not an expert in Brazilian food. When I was there I ate a lot of tourist group meals and to be honest I didn't like much of what I ate, but I admit I had a bad selection to judge from. That said, I love Bossa Nova. It's tiny and often you have to carefully squeeze into your table so not to tip over your neighbor's mojito, but it's well worth it as once you sit down it's easy to get comfortable in the festive foodlover environment. My all-time favorite dish is the Rio Style Moqueca with it's coconut lime broth and overflowing array of white fish, musscles, shrimp and clams. I also love that they have live music and a happy hour with $5 mojitos & caphirinas (hey, $5 is a happy hour for San Francisco!!). I wouldn't suggest going with a large group, I would say maximum 4 and best with 2 but no matter who you go with you MUST GO. Seriously, one of my favorite semi-secret SF spots.

Suppenkuche

Why is that so freakin' hard to spell??!

I think at Suppenkuche you get what you expect and some more and to me that's what makes a great restaurant. This place is awesome for groups not so good for first dates (especially first dates that are double dates) as it's pretty loud. The wine choices are limited because well...it's a German place, but from what I hear the beer is good. I think if I went here often I would get bored quickly (the food is heavy and uses many of the same ingredients because well...it's a German place), but for once every couple months with a good group of people it's a great choice. PROST!

Boulevard...Schmoulevard

Thursday night I finally made it to Boulevard. Having walked by a million times, seen it in an Infinity commercial and watched yelpers consistently give it 4 and 5 stars, it was only a matter of time before I got my butt through the door.

Ambiance: Upon arrival I was immediately surprised by the how busy it was. Walking by I always thought it was going to be more of a quiet older crowd but apparently I was mistaken. At first I thought it was refreshing but as the evening progressed it began to feel more like I was at a Cheesecake Factory paying $$$$ than at a fine dining San Francisco tradition. Not to mention it was absolutely freezing in the place which reminded me of the way in which Starbucks keeps a lower AC temperture in order to ensure minimal lingering and increase turnaround on tables. So although refreshing I was somewhat chilled.

Service: The service was good...not great. It was prompt to the point of being overly attentive. If my menu is still open I haven't decided yet. If my fork and knife are not placed in the finished position I'm not done yet. I know to a large extent this loss of awareness cannot be blamed entirely on the server as Americans have by and large, lost all table manners. Given this, it's difficult to know when to clear a plate if no one ever gives you the obvious sign that they are finished, but I do think if a server raises their level of awareness a bit they will notice when you haven't taken a bite for 4 minutes. Unfortunately this awareness has also been diminshed by the impatience of most diners and their desire to have the plate gone as soon as they've taken their last bite regardless of whether their other party members are finished. Overall I think the service was prompt and friendly, although a bit over powering at times.

Food: Here I have have mostly good things to say. The abalone appetizer was the perfect mix of crispy and tender. I think the cornmeal crusted green tomato was an especially nice touch although I do think the tarter sauce brought the quality of the dish down a bit (it was a bit runny). I had the lamb as my main and it was delicious. Perfect portions accompanied the perfectly cooked lamb which had been stuffed with sundried tomatoes, feta cheese and kalamata olives. Dessert in my opinion was a home run and brought the entire meals score up a few points. We had the panacotta, peach sorbet, roasted peach & meringue (sorry I forgot the name). Perfect portions and perfect pairing and although I'm sure some might find it a little too sweet I have what I like to call an "advanced sweet tooth". We also got a chocolate ice cream cake which reminded me of my favorite childhood ice cream and thus was an automatic winner.

Boulevard may not deserve the "schmoulevard" I tagged on the end, but I do think my experience was not quite what yelpers chatted it up to be. Perhaps I will try it on a different night of the week with a date and see if it feels more like "fine dining" but given the amount of restaurants in this city, I highly doubt that will be anytime soon.