Fleur de Lhys

Great night in San Francisco, although the company was a lot better than the decor, and marginally better than the food. It was one of those nights when the chef had two attempts per course at hitting it out of the park, and one attempt was a home run and the other was a weak pop up on the infield. Still thinking about the french toast and mushrooms, but wishing there were a few other winners in the mix.

Josh x3

Great evening with friends, Levine, Rose, and Anastas, while enjoying the Latin delights of John Seidlar at Playa. Doing some great stuff, including chatebriand, and amazing tortillas. I liked it better than Rivera, but maybe just because it wasn't Downtown.

First SF trip of the year

One of my favorite food towns, and I didn't do it justice on this trip. No Prospect, no Wayfare Tavern, and I was 10 yards from Hubert Keller's Burger Bar, and never made it. Instead I joined the Napier folks at Waterfront, on Pier 7. The fish was fine, nothing special, but the fries were great. I am sorry San Francisco, I will make you proud on my next trip.

more Italian

Great night with Ben Wiener and Court Crandall from Wongdoody. After taking in the Lebrons animated series premiere, we headed over to Osteria Mozza in Hollywood. The burrata was second to none, we got the one with leeks, and my pork loin with fennel and onions was almost as good as the fennel and sausage pizza next door. The tables are a little small there, and the room is noisy, but the food is solid.

Where's the beef?

Had a fantastic evening of high brow Italian at Coco Pazzo in Chicago with the Toyota client and the GPJ/Torrance team. I'm not a huge Italian fan, but they did it right. The appetizers were terrific, and my pork loin as fantastic. I was sitting with Brent from the Toyota events team, who ordered steak for the second night in a row. As we all dug in to our entrees, his steak never arrived. Just an oversight. They were embarrassed, and rushed him out one in about 7 minutes. Unfortunately he ordered his well done, and this one needed another 17 minutes on the grill! They asked him if he was okay eating fish, which they magically had in their hand in seconds, and he dove in. I took a picture, but it was way too dark.

Sushi in Chicago?

It was actually pretty good. The GPJ/Detroit team, Ken & David are in the poorly lit picture, took me along with the Saab client who used to live in Chicago. This is his "favorite hole in the wall" for all-you-can-eat sushi, always a scary proposition in my book. Sushi and Noodles, on West Belmont, actually has some very good rolls, and decent sashimi, and some fun appetizers, all for $16. It was a great night.

Bad Medicine

Irene Virbila and I went out for Vietnamese last night and she let me choose. No, actually it was a few advertising folks and my new best friend, Nico Golfar. Love that guy. I also loved the beef and prunes, the crab spring rolls, the foi gras finger sandwiches, and the homemade soda (Squirt!). A great night.