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.

16 - Ole's Waffle House - Alameda

1507 Park St., Alameda, CA 94501, (510) 522-8108

Last visit: October 11, 2008

I went to Ole's Waffle house Saturday morning ready to wait in a long line. We drove past the bridge into Alameda on Park Street and found parts of it blocked off. There was a car show apparently, covering three blocks. The outlook for prompt seating was out of the realms of the question. But after a quick turn on Alameda Ave we found a nice spot a few steps away from La Pinata. We walked to Ole's and stood in line. To our amazement, they opened up a table for two right there, and we leapfrogged ahead of all the folks that were waiting with bigger parties.

We sat down to a loud and cheerful room of breakfast lovers. It seemed like Ole's would always be crowded. I have been going there occasionally for two years and I realized that they lacked one thing: an Ole-cam. Yes, that would tell people how many minutes they'd be waiting before going there. Every time we went there before this time, we had to wait; and the waits were up to 45 minutes. The food is good, and the service is accommodating, but the waits, that's the only thing that makes you not want to go.

So we sat down and ordered. I had eggs, a waffle, and a side of ham. The ham there was generously cut. Actually, I couldn't finish that slab of ham. Coffee is pretty good and eggs are usually done well. My girlfriend had strawberries with her waffle. It's no secret, the waffles there are great! I think you'll have a good time trying out all their different toppings.

We left after a morning of random banter. Nothing like starting the day out with a good hearty meal.

Yelp's two cents

09 - Zachery's Pizza - Oakland

Zachery's Pizza - 5801 College Ave., Oakland, CA 94618, (510) 655-6385

Last Visit - July, 2008

Zachery's Pizza website

“There’s something different about Zachery’s Pizza.” That’s what people usually say to describe Oakland’s favorite deep dish pizza. I can’t say it’s the best pizza out there, but there’s something about it that keeps people coming back to their little corner on College Ave. I mean, one step into their door and you see that they have more awards than types of pizzas. For the residents around there, there’s even a bit of emotional attachment to the hot pies. It’s usually bright eyes and smiles when you say, “Zachery’s for dinner” in Oakland.

In fact, the first time I had Zachery’s pizza, I was in High School. It made me realize that there are pizzas above and beyond the take-out giants. The deep dish feels like they made a gourmet sauce and just poured it onto dough. I recommend the Zachery’s Special, Pepperoni and sausage, and Spinach and Mushroom for vegetarians. There's something for every pizza lover.

I went there last weekend and it was packed as usual. The wait can get up to an hour or more. This was the caveat of Zachery’s, and any great restaurant for that matter; the wait was very long. Never go to Zachery’s when you’re truly starving. You’ll have to settle for the ready-made slices (which is still not bad).

Stores and eateries come and go on College avenue, but Zachery’s will always be there. They also have two branches at Berkeley and San Ramon. They don’t deliver, but you can order it for pick-up. I wish I can say more, but it's just one of those places that people love. They've just celebrated their 25th anniversary, I hope they'll be there for another 25 more.

Yelp's two cents

04 - Au Coquelet Cafe - Berkeley

Au Coquelet Cafe - 2000 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704, (510) 845-0433

Last visit - June, 2008

Celebrated as the latest cafe to close in Berkeley, Au Coquelet is one of my favorite eateries around the bay area. It's just always there for me whenever I want a coffee or a slice of pie. I first discovered it when I was a freshman at Cal in 1998, and I've been going there regularly ever since. It's competitive edge? It opens till 2am, and for some reason, that was worth walking eight blocks for from my unit 2 dormitory.

Flash-forward ten years, and it's 2008.

Me and my good friend Ivan went there for a late night dinner Wednesday night to hammer some things out for a new resume I was working on. We walked in from the back door, parking was two blocks away, which wasn't bad for a place like this. The place was booming for 10pm, but we noticed something different. We were seated by a bus-boy. I guess they don't want to sell at the counter and let you fend for yourself anymore. They wanted to make you feel like you're at a restaurant. Now the new system is quite dumb, because there's only one waiter at night, and there are like fifteen tables in the back. Ivan almost collapsed when the food came, a simple turkey sandwich. I had a woodchuck cider from the front counter, which the girl attended to in a minute.

Too bad for the new system, or it'd be a good night. But I wouldn't discount the cafe on one single event! The other fourty times I was there, they were pretty damn good! Their pies and cakes are decent, and their burgers are good. Try the cranberry tart, it goes good with coffee. Hell it also has wi-fi and cigarettes, not many cafe's have that and close after midnight. I'll definitely be stopping there again.

note: Au Coquelet means "the rooster or cock" in French, duh, I know.

Yelp's two cents.