Jason M.'s Profile

I was pleasantly surprised the first time I went to Sweet Breams.  This was my first experience with taiyaki which I found tasty and flavorful, yet light enough to grab for a quick snack after lunch or as an antidote to the late afternoon doldrums.  

The owners really have an outstanding attention to detail and show
their passion and creativity.  A clean and clutter free aesthetic. with cool, local artwork on the walls (for sale) and magazines to flip through while your order is prepared.   The website is also great for checking out off-menu items and catching up on current specials.

The biggest challenge I had was trying to succinctly describe taiyaki to people back at the office. "Little fish cake things" really didn't inspire others to get involved. I settled on "bite size fish shaped waffles with tasty filling".

Sweet Breams is a welcome relief to the annoying explosion of "FroYo" sameness that is taking over downtown San Mateo (yogurt and eye glasses! WTF? What's next yogurt and vitamins? yogurt and dry cleaning?).  

And don't forget your frequent fishers card. Five stamps gets you a
handy bag and 10 gets you a free school!

Orin Swift makes fantastic artisan wines, The Prisoner (Zin blend) and Papillon (Cab Blend) are made with suburb craftsmanship from grape to bottle.  The owner (and wine maker) Dave Phinney  worked his way up from the fields of Mondavi turning a passion for wine into a great business.  Not only are the wines fantastic, but each label really conveys a unique story and artistic element as well.  

The 06 Prisoner is very approachable and smooth for a Zin, not hot or overly alcoholic.  Slightly different in taste than the 05, but both are outstanding.  

We had a chance to visit the new office/tasting room in downtown St. Helena.  You need to call ahead and schedule an appt which I usually find slightly pretentious, but Neil, the front of shop manager, put us down for 30 mins that same afternoon and was a very gracious host.   You're literally sitting in the middle of their office, with the phone ringing, filing cabinets, etc.  Perfect last tasting after a few hours going through the Napa gauntlet.

OK my erstwhile RI Yelpers, WTF?? I'm the first to review the Canteen?  Wow.  

Much of this information is from the memory banks, which may result in a slight skew towards the nostalgic.

The Old Canteen is w/out a doubt my favorite restaurant in the entire state.  Every time I'm back home, I head over with Grandmother.  Ex-mayor Cianci went there for lunch the FIRST day he was free from prison/home confinement.  Think about that...he was looking forward to a meal here for like 5 years.  Unlikely you'll find Mario Batteli type cuisine ever come out of this kitchen.  

The location on Federal Hill is solid.  On my last trip I noticed several new bars opening up nearby, nice to see the neighborhood modernize slightly.  I even went over and checked out my cousin's music store (DiPippo's).

Food is very old school Italian.   Range of fish and meat dishes, all with the obligatory pasta on the side.  The spumoni dessert is the way to go.  Keep it real.

Sadly Joe died a few years ago (his son Sal manages the Canteen now).  Having Joe come by our table and give a quick handshake and smile was fantastic, I'm sure Sal carries on the tradition well  Salute!

Buddy and I stopped by for lunch last week.  I had been to Sneakers a few times before and remembered a decent burger place with a solid bar.

Sadly, my memory must have been heavily influenced by the bar component because the food was pretty disappointing.

I went with the Philly chicken, which for some reason I expected to be prepared "Philly" cheesesteak style...but was really just a big'ol chicken breast on a giant bun.  Not sure what's Philly about that...maybe the cheese? I also forget to order w/out Mayo.  So that had to be scrapped off and spread over several napkins.  Fries were average.   (Yes - I know it says everything comes with Mayo on the menu, but honestly it just came as a surprise)

My co-worker ordered a turkey burger, no cheese...which of course came out of the kitchen with cheese.  No problem, send that bad boy back and pull the cheese off.   Minor nit - the shape and texture of the burger looked like it was frozen and out of a box (perfectly symetricaly, dry meat). Was this fresh prepared ground turkey?  

Service: Decent, food came quickly, no fuss on the returned item.  

Value: Very low.  Both sandwiches were  over $10.  Wow...that's 2 Burritos!  

The place is great for watching sports.  Individual TVs at each booth are fantastic.  However, this is more of a "beer with friends that like sports when there is a game on and the everyone's plasma is broken" type place.

No offense, but saying this place has the best Ramen in town is like saying Everest has the best views in Nepal....both are in really inconvenient locations and take forever to get what you came for.  

The waiting/ordering process is completely bizarre and highly inefficient.  You wind up staring into the restaurant while the lucky few who have actually gotten food eat, silently hoping they slurp faster so you can take the table.  Also, during lunch almost every four-top had only two people seated.   Literally 15+ tables that were under utilized.  A slight reconfiguration would eliminate the wait entirely.

BUT, that would mean you were just sitting at your table starving instead of standing in line.  

Lunch @ Santa Time-line:
12:45 - 1:00 Searching for a parking spot
1:00 - 1:20: Waiting in-line
1:20 - 1:45: Waiting at table (remember, order placed in-line)
1:45 - 1:55: Hastily eating to make it back for 2:30 meeting.
1-55 - 2:05: Pay, try to get back on El Camino.
2:05 - 2:15: Mario Andretti impersonation down El Camino Real.
2:15 - 2:25: Steal parking spot from little old lady
2:30: Dive into conference room as meeting commence...

Wow.  ~2 hours all in.  That's a commitment.  That's nearly a Hollywood marriage...

Food. - Noodles were fantastic.  (Apparently hand rolled to order).   Broth and meat...average to below average.  Fatty pork, warm but not hot broth...veggies were decent.

Price - High.  $10 per person, with no drinks.

I know Santa is an institution and may have been fantastic back in downtown San Mateo.   With some attention to details (give people something to do while waiting in-line), some thought on the layout (reconfigure seating), and a decrease in the order time (add a second noodle prep station), I'm sure the new location can live up to reputation and expectations.  

For right now, I'll stick to Oidon and other lunch spots downtown.

Decided to make some Gumbo for the Super Bowl, er sorry "The Big Game."  Lets be clear, making Gumbo isn't picking up a box of Zatarain's at Safeway and throwing in a couple of pieces of organic free range chicken from Whole Foods...it's whippen up a good'ol soup stock from scratch, fresh rouge and authentic meats that make it a Cajun masterpiece.

My recipe mixes seafood (crab + shrimp) and meat (chicken + andouille) and takes 2 days to prepare.   Dittlmer's is the only place west of Lake Charles that sells Andouille sausage worth spending time to put the rest of the ingredients together.  The other meats are that worthy as well...is it made from antibiotic free, shade grown pigs?  I have no f*ing idea, but it rocks.

They also carry a bunch of German food stuffs and bonus points for knife sharpening once a month.   My Wusthoff appreciates the fine Tuetonic tuning.

Coffee Bar combines my two favorite artisan beverage categories, coffee and wine, in an elegant, modern atmosphere.  The design and architecture blends perfectly with the surrounding area; sorta industrial, yet still casual and inviting.

You enter through a great little courtyard with tables just waiting for a sunny weekend afternoon.  Outdoor seating is a huge plus, there are so few places in SF which provide comfortable not-on-the-sidewalk-or-in-the-middle-of-the-street tables.

Drink menu is comprehensive, with both pick-me-up and mellow-me down options to suit your need or addiction.  I went with a latte which was very smooth and well balanced.  All too often many baristas either go overboard on the milk or get so absorbed in designing some Rorschach froth art they forget someones going to drink it in about 2 seconds.  

Sat at the little bar on the side of the counter, which was a great spot for watching preparation and just general comings and goings.  Upstairs seating looked very casual as well, with some spots looking down into the entry and out the huge glass wall.

Why go to Coffee Bar instead of the Starbucks across the street?  Simple..this place has SOUL.  You feel connected to the rest of the world in a way that Starbucks and Peets just can't reproduce.  

Good drinks, mellow crowd and supporting a local business.  What more could you ask? Drink early and drink often...

Lots already written about AB Fits, but worth mentioning again how refreshing it is to go grab a pair of jeans at a place that knows their shit and doesn't carry an attitude to prove it.

Went a few weeks ago not really looking to buy anything, but decided to try a few pairs on anyway.  I'm not super picky, but generally don't buy spur of the moment.  

The woman working that day pulled out some sizes, had me try a bunch of options on and found a pair that fit perfect, decent price and exactly the style/wash that I prefer (plain pockets, dark wash, and straight cut).  

Yeah prices are high in general, but you (should) know that going in.  The free alterations shave a couple $$ off buying other places, combine that with the good karma of supporting a local business and you've almost self justified the extravagance.

Landed at Little Sheep for lunch last week. Walking in the front door, definitely seemed more like a dinner spot, but we were hungry, it was raining and we dove in.

Got seated pretty quickly, given a "menu" to order (e.g. double-sided piece of paper with copious amounts of individually priced items) and left alone for a few minutes.  I'm familiar with hotpot (been to Shabu-Shabu right around the corner several times) but a summary of pricing, size of items, etc would have helped tremendously.

We went with the "mixed soup base" for the stock and got some advice from the waiter on meat/vegetable options.  

He suggested:
- Mixed meat plate (Chicken, Beef, Veal, Pork?)
- Bok-choy
- Tofu
- Udon noodles

The amount of food recommended was definitely overboard for two people. The meat and noodles alone would have been good enough for a decent lunch.

Halfway through they added more "stock" to the hot pot, which was most likely cold water...we waited for a few minutes while the temp get hot enough to continue cooking.  Tossing raw meat into tepid water, not super appetizing.  Extracting food items proved fairly challenging as well (try pulling tofu out of boiling water with a spoon sometime)...the utensils provided were pretty rudimentary.  

We were both left with a constant feeling that the input/output yield was considerably off, somewhere at the bottom of the boiling vat of liquid all the good stuff was secretly hiding...despite our best efforts at harvesting, we just kept pulling out clove after clove of garlic.

Overall, food was decent, service was slightly below average and price was definitely more than I'd usually pay for lunch.

I'll keep in mind for dinner with a larger group and possibly bring my own soup harvesting apparatus.

The Living Room is a great addition to the growing list of new Winslow food and beverage establishments.  We visited on a casual Friday evening after Thanksgiving and left certain we'll visit again on the next trip home.

Bainbridge is basically a bedroom community for the Seattle white-collar workforce.  Most people get off the ferry and head home to a nice dinner, a few hours of TV then back to Seattle on the ferry at 7:10 a.m.  For years, locals have lamented the lack of "good" local restaurants and bars.  This place has a  comfortable neighborhoody feel and would easily be  right at home in Wallingford, Queen Anne or Capitol Hill.

The decor is very hip-to-the-groove modern, but not so crazy that the over 25 set (like me) feel out of place.  There are several seating areas that feel cozy for a small group, as well as a nice bar.

The wine selection is solid.  There is a nice selection of WA, CA and International wines.  Many by the glass and bottle, for those that had a rough day.  I'd like to see slightly more emphasis on regional wines (nothing from Bainbridge Winery??), but certainly enough to satisfy the average to knowledgeable wine drinkers.

Food selection is perfect.  Olive plate, cheese plate, salami and a few other tasty morsels.  The mini-burger choice sounded tasty, but will save for next time.

If you're looking for a nice twist, swing over to the candy store around the corner and grab some great sweet chocolate compliments.  (Great x-promo opportunity as well!)

The Living Room gives everyone a great excuse to stop for a few minutes on the drive home (or walk!) and meet their spouse/partner/friends and take a minute to relax and contemplate how great life is in the Pacific Northwest.