41 - Olivettos - Oakland

5655 College Ave, Oakland, 94618, (510) 547-5356

Oliveto's Website

Last Visit - February 2009

Oliveto's is a well-known restaurant in Oakland. It has seasonal menus and a deep selection of wine. The people that go there, are usually well dressed. I guess it's a place to cross off your restaurant list - and that's exactly why I wanted to go.

We got reservations for one of the rainiest nights. Yeah, it started with a leap out of the car. We got there around 5:45, exactly in time and got our bread and water around 6:00. I guess that's what it boils down to, bread and water, no matter how fancy you dress up the bread platter or the water cantor, it's still what it is. I looked through their winter menu and was a bit lost in the language. I felt embarrassed when I had to ask what the Steelhead was, which is of course a fish. They also had pigeon, wild boar, free-roaming beef, and rabbit. It was not your usual menu. I ordered the beef in the end, and my girlfriend ordered the rabbit. We were recommended a light red wine, "nothing too dry" said my accomplice. It arrived in a half-bottle and it started the night off right.

The fish was good and so was the rabbit. I'd have to say, when you're eating rabbit, you'd have to arm yourself with no thoughts of cute bunnies. "It's just food; food for you," I told myself. But then again my mind drifted to Golem in the Lord of the Rings movies and how he devoured the poor rabbit. It was weird, but all in all, I took a piece from my girlfriend and I found it quite delicious.

By then a few more parties have settled in on the tables around us. We had a little window that showed the streets below and I was happy to see umbrellas move about. The wine was just right for the night and so was our entree's. The dessert was chocolate cake, it's something my girlfriend prides herself on - trying all the chocolate cakes of the world. True to the rumors, the cake was amazingly rich and softer than any you'd get a super market. It reminded me of confections in Japan and I yearned for a nice cup of green tea. It was a sweet way to end a fabulous meal and dreamy night.

It's probably how I would remember it, everything was "just right". If I had to compare it, it'd be close to Rivoli's, except Rivoli's beats it by just an edge.

27 - Asia S.F. - San Francisco

201 9th Street, San Francisco, Ca. 94103, (415) 255-2742

Last Visited: August, 2009

Asia SF's Website

To borrow an over-used cliche', going to Asia S.F. isn't just dinner; it's an experience! There is a lot of confusion around even when you go knowing that it's a up-and-coming night club in San Francisco that's hosted by cross-dressers. The waitresses of the night are not women, but transgender men. Knowing this does help, but not too much when you're there.

I went with my girlfriend and her co-workers for a birthday bash/ company gathering. The place was packed and the ladies of the night were walking handsomely down the aisles. We took a preview of the dance floor on the bottom cellar and waited for our table to be cleared, a table for fourteen. As our pre-set meal started coming, we got ourselves comfortable by ordering drinks and making small talk. Naturally the focus was on the waitresses. For the men, it was mass confusion; for the women, it was a guilty stare of shock and envy. I mean, they have made-up faces, tone stomachs, and shaved legs - not to mention well-endowed tops. Surgery can do wonders I guess. But besides that, the food was good.

Our appetizers came and a small show ensued. I guess if this was the old days, I'd describe it as "burlesque". I guess it's cabaret, which reminds me of the word kyaba-kura, or cabaret club for short in Japanese. I enjoyed the pre-set dinner. It was four courses with a baby-back rib entre' and a memorable lamb course. I didn't care too much for the grilled banana dessert nor the ice-cream cones in the end, but it received spectacular response from my fellow dinner mates. I think they were all still gawking at the men/women.

When we finished our food, which came with a gigantic bill, we went down to hang out with the bachelorettes dancing and acting wild. It's one of the gimmicks for Asia SF, and they have regular bachelorette parties. I guess you feel safer getting crazy in a gay bar than a straight one. I ate, I drank, and I danced. I don't think there is much to say about the place besides to just go see it for yourself. The behavior is quite scandalous, but at the same time you're not sure if you should behave or set yourself apart. Boys will be boys I guess.

17 - Luce - San Francisco

InterContinental Hotel - 888 Howard St., San Francisco, CA 94103, (415) 616-6566

www.lucewinerestaurant.com

There were a lot of firsts in this evening, but I guess I should start by saying, it's the first time I've been to this restaurant. It was the first time I had raw deer, and it was the first time I had a six course dinner. Let me see if I can remember it all accurately, because it was a three hour event, and the longest and most engaging dinner I ever had with my girlfriend.

I first read about Luce and its chef, Dominique Crenn, on the pages of this month's Esquire Magazine. They had a six page spread on "restaurants we endorse" and I was intrigued by the column of Luce in San Francisco. There were only three restaurants in the bay area, and Luce was there. I mentioned it to my girlfriend and hinted that I wanted to try it, so she arranged to have a RSVP there for Saturday evening. It was going to be my belated birthday dinner.

We got there half an hour earlier than expected and we got seated right away. The hostess was all smiles and she was very attentive to us, although we seemed like we didn't belong there. Luce is a pretty up-scale restaurant on the bottom of the Inter-continenal Hotel. The clientele seemed like mostly business folk, or wealthy foreigners visiting San Francisco, but not people from Oakland to have a birthday dinner.

Anyway we got seated. We asked about the six-course dinner, and she was delighted to arrange it for us. My girlfriend checked out the wine pairing option and we ordered that also. Why not? it's rare for us to go to a restaurant like Luce. The hostess told us that the entree for the night was lamb, but for $25 more we can have wa-gyu (Japanese Beef or Kobe' beef) that was freshly flown in. I thought about that for a minute, and it has been maybe four years since I had that, so I affirmed that as well. She took an extra precaution and asked us about alergies to anything and mentioned that the first dish would be raw, raw venison. I told her as she left, "Well we're in your hands for the evening" and she smiled back like a magician before a show.

The dinner began with glistening champagin flukes brought to us by waiters dressed in black. The first wine of the evening was bubbly from a little pink bottle. I guess I can finally say I had crystal at a restaurant? I don't know how the rappers do it. It was light and we enjoyed it with the usual basket of bread that they brought out. Then the glasses and plates kept coming, one for each wine and course.

We started with the aformentioned raw venison patte'. Yes, that's deer. I had a hard time eating it, but it lead to some interesting conversation about food and the appreciation of certain dishes. The second dish was Foie Gras or goose liver, our French delacacy for the night. I was hesitant to eat it, but it was amazingly moist when I took my first bite. It was another first for me, and I have to say it was good. We had our flukes removed, and wine glasses appeared along with the first white wine for the evening. The second dish was quail with a side of mushrooms. I had to say, the French do know how to prepare fowl, another tasty treat. So that's how the evening went on. It's hard to recall, but it went something like this:

0. welcoming and bread
1. First Appetizer - Venison Patte with Champaign
2. Second Appetizer - Foie Gras with White wine
3. Pre-Entree - Lobster with Second White wine
3.1 Intermission - Citrus Sorbet Shot
4. Entree - Wagyu Beef and Lamb with Red wine
4.1 Intermission #2 - miso-flaked sorbet
5. Post-Entree - Bread with cheese sampler (and raisins from the Mojavi desert) with Red Wine
6. Dessert - Chocolate Egg with Green Tea tart and Macaroon, with a Dessert Wine.

Somewhere in between the lobster and the entree, I spotted the chef. Dominique wore a white chef's coat with her hair tied up. She had the face of a quarterback and Luce was her field. She surveyed the crowd regularly. There were many things that left great impressions about Luce, but one that we couldn't forget was the Chef herself. She actually came up to greet us! Now that was a first even for my girlfriend. She talked with a French accent and seemed very enthusiastic about food and her customers. It really made our day.

We finished off and walked our merry little way back to the parking lot, five blocks away. We were quite buzzed by the wines, and the thing on my mind was: why do they have grapes in the Mojavi desert? the Hostess made it a point to have us know that. I could spend another five paragraphs about the juicy beef and the succulent lobster, but it's just one of those things, you had to have been there.

It was three hours of my life well spent, with the person who I adore most, so I guess there is a bias, I have to admit. Luce was an experience that I won't forget, and I implore anyone to try it if they have the time. Bring your credit cards, it will be a heavy bill.

P.S. For categorization reasons, I'm putting a $50 plus tag on this restaurant, but it's a lot more expensive than that.

Yelp's two cents.

13 - Rivoli - Berkeley

Rivoli Restaurant - 1539 Solano Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94707 (510) 526-2542

Last visit Sept. 13, 2008.

Rivoli's Website

It was an odd day in September. To begin, the morning started with me not getting enough sleep from the Friday night of of before. I had been thinking a lot of my radical spending the last few months and how disappointed I was of myself. My constant surfing for internet "deals" created a unwarranted allocation of funds to materials that were rarely used. I woke up with two hours of sleep and had to bring my sister, Sylvia, to the airport. We got into an argument about the way she packed that really aggravated my feelings. But she's family and I could not hold her to it for long.

The day went on as I had to get ready for my friend Ada's wedding. It was the second wedding of the year, and most likely one more before the end of the year. She spoke with me a few nights earlier, apologizing for the last-minute invite, and asked me to attend. I thought about the last ten years and how she's always been on my AIM list. "We are the only peoples that had thoughts like this," I thought as I put on my old blue shirt and black striped tie. I fell asleep for a moment, and I got a call from my girlfriend that she was ready. I picked her up and had her help me with my tie. Embarrassing as it was, she's much better than me at it. Driving to San Francisco was a breeze, and parking was not too bad. We got to Old St. Mary's church in the heart of San Francisco and found out that we were an hour early. The oddness began. My girlfriend, in her teal green dress, and I decided to get a bite to eat in the fast-food across the way. They had ice-cream, hotdogs, and beer. Yes, that's what they advertised. We got a beer and some "lau-mai-gai", which is sticky rice wrapped in a leaf. I never had that wearing a tie.

The wedding began and I was happy to see Ada and her husband-to-be Alfred walk the altar. Intensely happy, nothing could ruin that day for her. I have never seen a pair that at ease at a wedding ceremony. We finished off, I gave her a hug, and we charged back down to down-town.
I thought we could get a table at the Cheesecake Factory within 20-30 minutes, but no, it was impossible. I felt like a big klutz, and I really disappointed my girlfriend at the moment. If anything, I was glad that she was understanding and was nice enough to not get mad at me. She warned me that it wasn't going to be easy.

We got out of San Francisco and drove back to Berkeley, where I had to pick up my computer that's been dead for half a year. I finally took my G4-powerbook into the shop. There was a faulty harddrive and we had to swap it out for a new one. I checked out the new install and was happy to see her alive and well. First thing I did was turn it on, and changed the HD to "Loretta 2.0". Hopefully she'll sail fine from here on.

We tried to get a bite to eat again from a place in Berkeley, and to our dismay the waiter greeted us at the door. We went to the Bistro Liaison on Shattuck and found out that they closed from 3pm - 5pm to get ready for dinner. The waitress was nice enough to alert us that all the restaurants around there did that. What a big jip. In retrospect, I think my tie was cursed. I never got anywhere with that tie; but I did like how it look.

We went back to my girlfriend's house for a break. I needed to rest and she needed to get out of her heels. It was not her thing. Now you're wondering, "where does Rivoli come in?" Thanks for getting through the first 500 words. Yes we decided to go out to dinner and finish off the day nicely. I removed the tie and she went in her tank-top, jeans, and flip-flops to Rivoli's in north berkeley. The greeter told us that the wait was going to be 20 minutes, and I told her that we'd take it. In the back of my mind, I was thinking, this must be Ada's doing. I declined her request for the Chinese Banquet at Milbrae and she's put a hex on me; one that won't allow me to eat in peace for the rest of the day.

--- and now in present tense ---

Rivoli's is a cozy place. They are slow to attend to us, but after they took the order, they got the ball rolling. I felt a bit out of place because of my age, but I am at least dressed for the part - coming straight from a wedding and all. The girlfriend didn't care too much. We ordered the mozarella appetizer. It is quite good, even for a person that doesn't enjoy cheese much. The lemonade they gave me grabs my attention more. I have to admit it is the best lemonade I ever had, and it came with refills. I order the "two styles of duck", and my girlfriend orders the roast beef. Both are amazing entre's. The duck is tender and the roast beef is the softest I have ever tasted. Finally, food in our stomachs after a long weird day. I look around me at the middle-aged men and women, and spied a table enjoying a round of cappuccinos and espressos. I want one, but I know that it will keep me up all night. I need sleep. My girlfriend orders dessert: chocolate cake with chocolate ice-cream. Ultimately, through the tiring day of rejects and misses, we end with chocolate cake - and it was delicious!

Rivoli is a French/Italian restaurant on the edge of North Berkeley. By no means will you live life any differently if you haven't visited it. But if you do go, you'll enjoy it, even if it's just the lemonade.

Yelp's two cents