Gettin' my French on at Garcon, Mission, SF.

french onion soup, gruyere, croutons 9

Yummy and a good size--one that you can finish! I find that a lot of times with French onion soup, it's too large and is a lot to finish.

“pate de campagne”, pork & duck liver pate, hazelnuts, green peppercorns, rosemary dijon 9

Not my favorite, but it was fine. I'm pretty picky when it comes to pate, but I'd heard so many good things about Garcon as a French restaurant so I thought it might be great here. And again, it wasn't bad, but I probably wouldn't order it again.

skillet blackened pork chop, potato-onion hash, green beans, grilled peaches, natural jus 26

The porkchop. This looked AMAZING! It was dark for a porkchop and looked more like a steak--so beautiful. :)

After our meal, we moved to the bar for some wine. The kind barman, Ryan, gave our party free shots! I'm not sure what all was in this, but it was a yummy little dessert drink. :)

After service we got to chatting with Chef Arthur Wall, who's a very cool guy. He was telling us about how the group of restaurants (mainly the Belden Place restaurants) are sort of re-branding. They've brought on Fortune PR, so I'm sure we'll see some exciting stuff soon. Chef Wall is helping by menu consulting for the various restaurants. His current sous chef at Garcon will be moving to Chouchou.

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Dine About Town: Campton Place, Union Square, SF.

Beautiful. I really liked the space and the service was great, too. Campton Place is one of the better deals with Dine About Town. Some of the restaurants you could go to normally and order a prix-fixe for less than $35.. Three girlfriends and I decided to dress up and go for a classy night on the town! :)

Amuse bouche tartare. Could have used more flavor.

Organic Greens, Root Vegetables, Aged Cow’s Milk Cheese, Fennel & Lemon

Emulsion

Kat said this was very nice. Good cheese.

Roasted Carrot Soup with Fine Herbs &Hazelnut

Unreal. My mouth is salivating looking at this right now and remember just how good it tasted!

Slow Cooked Flat Iron Steak with Truffled Yukon, Savoy Spinach & Veal Jus

Very nice. Amazingly smooth purred potatoes, nicely cooked steak with great sauce.

Lemon Tart, Meringue & Raspberry

Chocolate Parfait, Vanilla Cream, & Almond Praline

Mmmmm! Perfect finish. Chocolate mouse is always hit and miss for me--I don't like when it's too light, but this had the perfect density and texture.

Overall, Campton Place is one of the best Dine About Town's I've experienced! (The other favorites were Supperclub and Luella.) I'd certainly go back. :)

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Bday Brunch 1: La Boulange, Hayes Valley, SF.

Mmmm! Everything in the case always looks so fantastic.

I LOVE those mini baguette sandwiches! For a size reference, next to them on the right are normal sized chocolate Madeleine's! Those baguette sandwiches were the cutest!

When you order a normal coffee it comes out in this bowl! Love it. We got a chocolate snickerdoodle and it was amazing.

This was AMAZING. It was a savory veggie croissant of some sort.. soooooo yummy!

This quiche was NOT delicious. Bland, a bit too eggy and just very disappointing. Still a fun brunch though! :)

Thanks so much, Christina!! Now off for a little shopping and then my 2nd birthday brunch! Haha--what can I say, my friends know brunch is my favorite! :)

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Bday brunch 2: Absinthe, Hayes, Valley, SF.

CROQUE MONSIEUR 11.5 Black Forest ham, gruyère, Dijon mustard, toasted levain, mixed green salad

My favorite French breaky. Mmmmm! Matt had never had this before and he loved it, too, although he's not a fan of runny eggs. ;)

GRILLED FLAT IRON STEAK FRITES 22. red-wine butter, mixed green salad

Mmmm! Just look at that red-wine butter! Amazing. The fries were perfectly crisp, too. :)

Thanks so much for brunch, Matt!

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Best kept secret brunch: Red Door Cafe, Lower Pacific Heights, SF.

A special half order of the French toast! The French toast is their most popular dish, so we had to try it! I don't normally loooove French toast from restaurants, but this was divine. It's cut into little strips, which is great and the bread they use is sooo amazing! The toasted banana and maple syrup really completed the yummy eggy bread! Haha.

The Cuban quesadilla! This was soo sooo yummy. Their pico de gallo is amazing and the tortillas are special--very green and delicious.

Open-faced croissant with brie, ham, tomatoes, basil, capers, yummy, yummy, and yummy. There was a really nice vinaigrette sauce with it, too. Lovely dish.

I can't believe I didn't know about this place until now! It's just up the street from me and it doesn't have a load of Yelp reviews (surprisingly enough!), but apparently the weekend wait can me up to 2 hours! This is definitely my new favorite brunch spot. The food is spectacular and I didn't walk out feeling like I was going to have a heart attack or slip into a food coma. I was just very happy! :)

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The Butler and the Chef, S. Park, SF.

Tomato ravioli soup. Didn't love it.

Sundried tomato mushroom quiche. Pretty darn good. I loved the sun-dried tomatoes with the egg, and mushrooms on top, but I didn't like their crust! That's usually my favorite part of any pie! ;) Haha. Amazing quiche with perfect crust is definitely on my to-make list though. :)

It's always pretty busy here during lunch, but that doesn't mean the waitresses have to be rude. Let's just say they weren't my favorite people.

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Brenda's with my German friends, Tenderloin, SF.

Yogurt parfait.

Fried oyster and bacon scramble with biscuit and grits. This is what I got and it was absolutely amazing! I could only finish half, and I'm really glad I ordered it, but I don't think I'll ever be able to eat fried food again! Well, maybe just not fried oysters--I forgot how intense they are! Well, I suppose it was that plus the bacon, plus the buttery biscuit, plus the grits!! Eep! I seriously felt like I was 2 steps from a heart attack. Amazingly tasty meal, but not a good feeling at all!

My german friends who were visiting SF were shocked at how heavy the brunch was. They loved the biscuits and thought the grits were really interesting--I guess you don't get much corn in Germany.

They were horrified with the bathroom situation at Brenda's! You have to go through the kitchen to get to the loo and they said in Germany this place would be shut down because of that! They couldn't get over it! Haha. Oh, America. :)

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Brunch at Crepevine, Pacific Heights, SF.

Near: California crepe with smoked salmon, capers, spinach, cheese and honey mustard.

Far: Pumpkin spice pancakes.

We shared both of these and it was really filling. The crepe was pretty good, but not my favorite. The pancakes were horrible. They were dry, cold and lacking any flavor. The space is a lot bigger than that it looks from the outside. It reminds me of Squat & Gobble, but I prefer S & G.

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Late night Crepes A Go Go, SoMa, SF.

Oooo! The girl behind us was drunk and hilarious--"I've already had two tonight! These things are so freaking addicting!"

Ooooo, saucy.

We shared the apples & cheese. :)

Iluna Basque Haiti Benefit Night, North Beach, SF.

Sautéed Scallops over Ratatouille

These were perfectly light and delicious.

Plums Wrapped in Bacon

I've done figs, but haven't even heard of warm plums with bacon! Mmm--divine! And, c'mon, you can't really go wrong with "wrapped in bacon"!

Eggplant & Fresh Tomato, Goat Cheese

I always love eggplant. It was served like a tartare, which was so interesting! I've never had eggplant prepared like that, but it makes sense and is visually quite nice, too. The warm goat cheese added a nice punch of flavor and smooth texture.

Piperade with Sautéed Serrano Ham & Poached Egg

This was the dish I was most curious about. The mix of peppers was light, the ham was a bit lost, but the poached egg was a nice addition.

Stuffed Calamaries in Ink Sauce over Spanish Rice

This was my favorite. I LOVED it. The stuffed squid was soo succulent! I can't wait to go back and get this again. :)

Fondant au Chocolat Raspberry Coulis / Selection of Cheeses from Les Pyrenees with Membrillo

The chocolate cake was fresh out of the oven and was chocolaty, without being too rich. The cheese plate didn't have anything too robust either, but was a fine mix.

We also had the Baked Spanish Tortilla with Caramelized Onions & Chorizo, and I don't know how I missed photographing it..

Mattin (Chef/Owner of Iluna Basque, Top Chef contestant and friend.) hosted a fantastic dinner to a packed house, and all for a good cause. The deal was spectacular, too: 4 courses (2 tapas, one entree and one dessert) plus a flight of 4 wines, and some good karma for $40. Even if you missed this dinner, you really must go try the food!

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Morning mini food tour with Pat, Pike Place Market, Seattle.

Caramel cheesecake from The Confectional, and about to go into Beecher's for some handmade cheese!

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Beecher's website

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Meringues at Le Panier. Such a wonderful little French bakery.

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Pat, picking out our piroshky at Piroshky Piroshky. :)

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Pat at the original Starbucks. Not super amazing, but a fun Seattle destination.

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Brunch with Nani at Cafe Campagne, Pike's Plake, Seattle.

Oeufs en meurette Two poached eggs served on garlic croutons with pearl onions, bacon and champignons in a red wine and foie gras sauce served with pommes frîtes 15.

Ooo--look at that sun in Seattle! Haha.. This meal is my FAVORITE breakfast. Divine. Absolutely divine. :)

Croque-madame Parisian ham and Gruyère with a fried egg and a green salad 15.

My other favorite breaky.

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Going Away Dinner 4: Ti Couz, Mission, SF.

Cheers!

Seafood salad.

Delicious savory buckwheat crepe.

And, of course, cupcakes for all! :)

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Crepe at Honey Honey, Lower Nob Hill, SF.

Strawberry Nutella crepe. I didn't love the ice cream, but the crepe was fine.

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Birthday 3: Celebrating at Cafe Claude with Arang, Financial District, SF.

Pâté Campagne 6.
country style pork pate flavored with black pepper
and red wine

Arang and I went to Cafe Claude to celebrate our birthdays together--yay!

Chevre 9.50
cabecou, mesclun salad, nuts, tomatoes,
diced apples

Raviole de Champignon 11.
shiitake and oyster mushrooms, garlic,
red wine and port sauce, puff pastry

Preparing the steak tartare.

Steak Tartare sm 13. / lg 16.
raw flank steak, cornichons, capers, egg yolk, mustard, parsley, croutons, shallots

We were celebrating our birthdays so, of course, we had to share a little chocolate cake. :)

The food--my salad and Arang's steak tartare, in particular--wine and service were all lovely! And I just love the little alleyway restaurants in SF!

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