Special 5 course dinner at Mission Beach Cafe with cocktail pairings

As my birthday present to myself, the boy and I attended the Top Chefs Tell All panel at the Commonwealth Club last night, which was followed by a 5 course dinner with cocktail pairings at Mission Beach Cafe, where Ryan Scott, a former Top Chef contestant, is the chef/owner.

We started off with an aperativo of campari with fresh citrus. Beautiful color, and great if you like campari.

For the first course, we were served “Sweet Corn Soup with Avocado, Tomato Oil, and Pancetta.” This was absolutely fantastic. The pancetta was very crispy, almost reminding me of pork rinds, and they were really generous with the avocado which was in nice chunks. There were fresh corn kernels in the soup which really gave it a bright sweetness. Everyone at the table loved this soup and we were thrilled to see it is on the regular menu at the restaurant. This was paired with a “Cabo Wabo Blanco Tequila, sweet pepper syrup, cucumber, fresh lime” cocktail. We all loved this too; it was fresh and unique, with a slight hint of spice but not in an overwhelming way. A great start to the meal.

For the second course we had the option of either “Heirloom Tomato Salad with Cucumber, Goat Cheese and Mustard Croutons” or “Rocket Salad with Parmesan, Plums, Dates and White Balsamic Dressing.” The boy and I ordered one of each and then traded halfway through. The rocket salad was enormous – a full plate of arugula with four big chunks of sweet plums and a good dusting of parmesan with a few scattered dates. While it was tasty, there was so much that after a while I got bored of eating it.

The heirloom tomato salad had many different colors of tomatoes, and was absolutely stunning, like a platter of jewels. The tomatoes were so sweet, the cucumbers were very thinly sliced, and the goat cheese was creamy and mild. The croutons added a nice crunch but were chewy in the center. This was my husband’s favorite dish. I’ve never heard him choose a salad as his favorite course, and he normally doesn’t even like goat cheese, so that was a surprise, and speaks to the perfectly balanced composition of the salad.

The cocktail pairing for the second course was called “Skyy Infusions All-Natural Citrus, fresh citrus, organic basil, agave nectar.” The basil was definitely the dominant component of the cocktail, and it paired nicely with both salads.

For the third course we were presented with “Fusilli Pasta with Tomato Confit, Baked Ricotta and Toasted Bread Crumbs.” The pasta was clearly homemade, rustic and with a bit of chewiness. The breadcrumbs really made this dish – they somehow retained their crunch and added a very pleasing contrast to the soft vegetables and pasta. My only criticisms of the dish are that it was slightly underseasoned, and the cherry tomatoes should have been cut in half. Because they were left whole, when you bit into them, the juices nearly burned your mouth.

The most disappointing thing about the pasta course was the cocktail. This one was “Thyme and black peppercorn infused Jean Marc XO Vodka, fresh lemon, heirloom tomato water.” It was, to be perfectly honest, pretty terrible. One person at the table diplomatically said it was “not nearly as approachable as the other drinks.” The majority of people seated at my table did not finish even half of their cocktail. It tasted like a lemony bloody mary that had been diluted by sitting for far too long on melted ice. The thyme and peppercorn flavors were indetectable to me, totally overpowered by the tomato flavor. The clear flop of the evening.

Next up was the main course. Both the boy and I ordered the “Champagne Grape Stuffed Quail with Summer Squash and Roasted Romano Beans.” This description was totally inaccurate, as there were no grapes in the stuffing, but they were served as a garnish on top. The stuffing was made of bread and herbs, and was comforting and delicious, which was good considering a quail only has a few bites worth of meat!

The cocktail to match the quail was “Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, Maple-Pinot Gastrique, bay leaf, fresh lemon.” I loved this one and would liken it to a sidecar.

The other option for the fourth course was “Wild Mushroom Crepes with Pickled Cherry Tomatoes, Pine Nuts, and Brown Butter.” We did not get a chance to taste this one, but people that ordered it were not impressed. I heard two complaints about dryness, one person said it was too eggy, and another complained about the mixed greens served on top of the crepe. The cocktail pairing for that was “Walnut Liqueur, a hint of Cabo Wabo Reposado Tequila, fresh orange and lime.” This was very well received and people commented that it was “a bit clovey” and “like strong cider.”

Finally we come to dessert, “Chocolate-Hazelnut Mousse with Salted Brittle and Summer Fruit.” This was not like any mousse I’ve ever seen, I think it would be better described as a pot de crème. It wasn’t airy at all, but incredibly luscious. The woman across from me said it was like “the best brownie batter you’ve ever had.” It was served with figs, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream, and the salted brittle. I wish the brittle was salted just a bit more, but otherwise this dish was pretty much perfect. The woman next to me could not stop exclaiming over it (and moaning with pleasure, which was both funny and a bit distracting.)



The pairing for dessert was “Flor de Cana 7 Year Grand Reserve Rum, muddled bing cherries, apricot liqueur, allspice dram, Blue Bottle Brazilian chipada coffee diamantine.” Quite a mouthful, both in name and flavor. This was the strongest drink served in terms of alcohol flavor, and was far too intense for the woman to my left. I quite liked it.

All in all it was a lot of fun, and for $80, I thought it was a good value. Portions were very generous (in fact I thought many too large, and I’m not a delicate eater.) My biggest complaint is that the pace was too slow...we had to wait quite a long time in between courses. It was hot in the restaurant and the meal lasted over three hours. Lots of people were really drowsy by the end. Which maybe isn't surprising given the six cocktails served throughout the meal, although they were all quite small.

After the meal chef Ryan introduced his whole kitchen crew, which I thought was nice - giving credit where it is due. He also said that was the first big event they'd done as a team, so I'll give them a break on the time issues.

Since I live in the neighborhood, I’ll definitely be going back to Mission Beach Café – especially for the delightful corn soup.

Mission Beach Cafe
198 Guerrero St. (at 14th)
San Francisco, CA
415-861-0198
http://www.missionbeachcafesf.com/

Seaweed Cafe in Bodega Bay

This review is from November, 2007 - I'm finally getting around to putting the text together with the photos.

Seaweed Cafe in Bodega Bay
1580 Eastshore Road, Bodega Bay, CA
http://www.seaweedcafe.com/

We ended up at this restaurant purely by chance. We
had driven around Bodega Bay looking for somewhere to
have a late breakfast. I was craving breakfast food
but it seemed like every restaurant was a seafood
place. We saw the Seaweed Cafe but the name didn't
really appeal to me, and I thought it might just be a
coffee shop. But after driving around some more, we
ended up passing it from another direction and saw the
words "Slow Food" painted on the side of the building.
That caught my attention and we stopped to go check
out the menu. It looked promising so we went in and
were greeted and handed a menu. While waiting for the
hostess to seat us our friends unexpectedly walked in
so it ended up being four of us for brunch.

My husband and I shared duck leg confit, which came
with some lovely fresh and very lightly dressed baby
greens and white lentils. The duck was delicious and
somehow not greasy, even though it had been stored in
fat.

We also shared the hay ham sandwich with cheese
and egg. The bread of the sandwich was fresh and
hearty, I'm guessing it was homemade.

We were told the hay ham special type of ham that is somehow marinated
with hay(?) Unfortunately this sandwich was ruined for
me completely by the very overpowering and unexpected
inclusion of horseradish, which completely permeated
the bread and cheese. I ended up just removing the ham
and eating it with the bread they'd brought for the
table. For people who enjoy horseradish I'm sure this
would have been great though.

Our friends had the sheep's milk yogurt with granola,
the queso fresco dish, which was baked with vegetables
in an earthenware dish,


and oysters on the half shell, which were served with two types of roe - one red, one
green. The green I think were marinated in wasabi.



Dessert was a fig gallette.


Service was slow but not painfully so. Our friends,
who had had dinner there, said that dinner was even
slower.

The kitchen is open and is beautiful - it reminded me
of the kitchen of an apartment we'd rented in Cassis
(France.) Beautiful copper pots hanging.

In the main dining room, worn brown tiles cover the
floor, flowers are on each table, and the walls are
covered with colorful watercolor art. The overall
feeling is very warm and cozy.

Besides the unexpected horseradish my only complaint
would be that they seemed understaffed - our waitress
was also the bartender and the hostess.

Grand Pu Bah - Thai Beach Cuisine & Bar

I took Browncow here for her birthday last Friday (bday was today, but we went out on Friday).

We really enjoyed it, despite a few off moments.

I made the reservation for 7:45 - we were unsure of parking in the area so we left a little early and ended up there just after 7:00. Lively bar when you first walk in - must have been happy hour with the Adobe employees and other dot.commers in the 'hood. I assumed we would need to wait at the bar, and made eye contact with the bartender almost immediately - everything about his expression and body language suggested he was eager to serve us. We checked in with the hostess and she offered to seat us right away. She chose the table closest to the bar - which was a bit too loud for us given the bar patrons, but when I asked for another table she immediately took us across the room.

We started with cocktails. These are going to sound odd, but they were amazing: BC had one made of gin, watermelon, lemon juice and cilantro. Mine was bourbon, peach juice and sage. The spices were very subtle - BC's drink was light and refreshing, mine a bit heavier but still very tasty.

We ordered appetizers and a salad as the first course. Sizzling prawns with lemon grass, cilantro and Thai chili. Golden carrot - julienned carrots battered and fried, looked a bit like a very hole-y fritter, with a spicy sweet and sour sauce with peanut and cucumber. Heirloom tomato salad.

Shortly after placing the order, our server returned to tell us they were out of the heirloom salad. Insert scratching record sound here. We went with out second choice, the salad with seared tuna. Ooops, out of that, too. So we opted for the Mango salad - trying not to be too disappointed.

The appetizers came out basically together - both were AMAZING. That carrot dish - damn. Lightly battered, flavorful, just spot on. The sizzling prawns were perfectly cooked - nice carmelized coating on the outside, cooked just right on the inside. And tasty.

The salad arrived a bit later - and we were both very happy with it. Julienned mango, cashews, a bit of heat, fantastic fried shitake mushrooms in a lime vinaigrette. Spot on again - at this point, we no longer cared they didn't have the two salads we thought we wanted more.

Somewhere in there we ordered a bottle of Rose. A very cute girl with punky hair was serving us at this point (they have the formation where a captain-like server takes your order and checks in, but a different server runs your food and drinks and provides table side assistance). When she brought out the pail full of ice with a bottle of champagne, I apologized profusely and told her we'd meant the bottle of rose wine they had on the menu, not the bubbly. BC and I like red wine - they had a good selection of white, a less good selection of red, but red isn't the best Thai pairing, so we went with Rose which we both like better than white. She was sweet - no problem, brought us the wine. (Note, their whites and roses are served in a table top chiller to keep them cold at the table).

Half-way through the salad, we ordered an entree and rice (we were both getting full). The entree was Flower of the Sea - stir-fried prawns, calamari and scallops with snap pea, onion, carrot and lemongrass. So good! The prawns were big and as perfectly cooked as the appetizer, the scallops were also the big kind, also perfectly cooked, and the calamari was all ring (I love tentacles but I know many people don't).

Everything we were served was absolutely fantastic, and they ask you how spicy you want things so you have some control. They pay attention to the presentation of everything from drink service to food. Proper glassware depending on the drink, pretty garnishes and interesting plating (the Flower of the Sea came in a huge red cabbage leaf, the carrots on a bamboo rack).

All told, for 2 appetizers, a salad, entree, rice, 2 cocktails, and a bottle of wine - just under $100 - $120 with tip.

The decor was really sexy - dark woods, light walls, interesting textures, good lighting. The service staff all very cute.


Picture of the interior - not taken by me.


I really want the management to figure out the not-running-out-of menu items thing (or not having prepped, which I suspect is more the case given the time of night) - because the food at this place was fantastic, the overall experience very good, and the only downside was basically being told "no" when we wanted a couple of the menu items. We were certainly happy (more than happy!) with the salad we ended up with, but still - having everything on your menu is just basic good restauraterurship.

4.5 stars out of 5!