Dinner with mommies and karaoke

Over the break, my family friends and I got together. With people home for the holidays, (some of them live in NY currently) we decided, as daughters, to take our moms out to dinner and a night out on the town in SF. It isn't too often that we can wine and dine our mothers. Best. Idea. Ever. Or, one of the best ideas ever. And some of the best money I've ever spent on somebody :)

First, our moms are completely traditional and old fashioned. None of them come to SF often at all, even though they live a mere 40-45 minutes away in the east bay. All were immigrants into the US and can be a bit embarrassing and "fobby" than your normal embarrassing mother. For example, at dinner, every single one of them whipped out their cameras and took pictures (with flash) of all the dishes. The restaurant was dimly lit and people stared at us. And yes they all took the same pictures...multiple times. Nonetheless, we love them and chuckled at how cute they were amidst rolling our eyes and taking some more sips of our drinks.

Above is all of us at dinner. Look how cute the moms are! Can you guess the mom and daughter pairs?

This past Sunday, we took them to dine at RN74. I picked up some rose boquets for each of them on the way over, just as a special thank you. The last time they got flowers from someone was probably a while ago- and the dads definitely haven't gotten flowers in a while. So we wanted to spruce things up a bit :). Anyway, RN74 is the new Michael Minna restaurant in SOMA. The Yelp reviews of this place weren't the best- 3.5/5 stars. However, the food was actually really good. Main courses were definitely good. Not too big a fan of the swordfish, but the pork, chicken, and scallops were good. We got a bunch of appetizers to share and I just got to say that the Hamachi Sashimi and the Maitake Mushroom Tempura was yummy.

Pictured below is the Beef Carpaccio and Butternut Squash Agnolotti. Delectable.

The main course I got was bacon wrapped pork loin over a bed of spinach with this cornbread wheat bread. So good. I've realized that I love pork and pork on pork. YUM again.

I should have taken cocktail pictures as cocktails are important to the meal. Our moms don't drink too much normally so each of them felt "dizzy" and "lightheaded" after a few sips of a cocktail. Precious. My mom got a margarita, which she didn't quite finish. We also got a bottle of wine for the table and tried our best to encourage the moms to finish their drinks to get them liquored up for karaoke. Don't worry, the daughters were responsible and became the DD's for the evening.

The desserts at RN74 weren't to die for. I wouldn't really recommend getting desserts there. They all were very unique and different tasting. We did get their beignets, which were probably the best thing on the dessert menu. But again, not my favorite place for dessert.

And then we headed to Karaoke. Amazing night. Singing in chinese, singing 80's songs and old classics was a lot of fun with the moms and they had a great time together. The night will need to be repeated again in the future. Maybe we'll add the dads in next time.

This will probably be my last post of the year. Here's to wishing you and your loved ones a very safe, healthy, and happy new year. Cheers!

500K dinner. Droooollllll

I've been bad and haven't been writing so I will revive my absence with a very worthy post. I work at Facebook. I have tried to not mention this before because I feel like anytime I say I work there, people either ask me for a job, or they freak out. Sometimes, they don't care, which I kind of appreciate now and then. Nonetheless, I am very proud and happy to work for such an amazing company that invests in its employees, and whose employees always put their best foot forward.

Our cafe, headed by Chef Josef Desimone, has a tradition of offering a custom- made five course meal to one lucky winner when the number of people coming through the cafe hits a specific number. This time around, it was me and the winning number was 500K. 500,000 people have gone through the amazing Facebook cafe and I was number 500,000. Surprisingly, as big of a foodie I am, I didn't even know that they were counting winners the day I won. My coworker, Jon, came by and told me that they were getting close so my other coworker and I, Marisa, made a pact that if one of us won, we'd take the other. (If you win, you can take 5 people with you). So we walk in, and Josef looks at me and says "you are soooo close." Sooooo Marisa and I decide to walk around a bit and go back in line. And then....I won!!!! It was amazing. I jumped up and down like a little schoolgirl and received what looked like a huge publishers clearing house million dollar check. Except mine was a large congratulatory sign (you can see pictured). I felt like I had just won the lottery. =)

So I took 4 friends/coworkers and my roommate, Vik. It was VERY hard to decide who to bring. And you might be wondering why I am pictured with all dudes. I am wondering the same thing. I didn't even realize I would be eating with all boys until the day of the event. Some of my original guests got sick or were out that day so I substituted with the next people in line. They called themselves "Team B and Team C" haha. But everyone is Team A in my book! And yes, I do have female friends at work. I just happened to somehow decide to invite boys. Oh well. Their company was good and the food still tasted scrumptious!

Anyway, below are pictures of a very hearty and satisfying meal. Five courses. All made for me. All paired with a different glass of wine. I sat down with Josef a few weeks prior to discuss my likes and dislikes (mostly my likes since I eat mostly anything) and then he devised the menu. And here were the winners:

Amuse: Micro crab cake

Course 1: Hamachi carpaccio with yuzu, thai basil, fleur de sel, olive oil and cucumber, carrot and daikon noodles

Course 2: Seared butterfish with chanterelle and morel mushroom ravioli with a black truffle broth and crispy leeks (I started getting drunk right about...now).

Course 3: Seared foie gras and confit duck atop a black pepper biscuit and wild huckleberry compote and point reyes bleu cheese fondue 

Intermezzo: Blood orange champagne granita

Course 4:  Apple braised pork belly with vanilla pecan sweet potato puree

Course 5: Braised short rib with caramelized brussel sprouts and pancetta and roasted veal bone marrow

Dessert: Chocolate caramel pot de creme and a dark chocolate mint truffle

At the end of the meal, I was very very happy. Not only did I have about 7 glasses of wine by the end of the night, I was with friends and was surrounded by good food. Was there food there? YES...a ton of it. Definitely a night to remember. Thanks Josef and the Facebook culinary team!

 Me and Josef

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Ok folks, this post is well-delayed. I guess my excuse is that I've been too busy stuffing my face since before Thanksgiving. First, a picture of our family turkey...all 19 pounds of it!

I thought I'd start out by giving everyone a run-down of the history of Thanksgiving. The credit for this info doesn't go to my elementary school teachers, but to the History Channel. Yes, from time to time, I do watch the History Channel. Hey, you actually can learn something on TV!

Abe Lincoln was the President to declare the first official Thanksgiving in 1863, however, Thanksgiving started long before that.

1619- Virginia settlers say thanks when they arrive at the Berkeley plantation.
1620- English settlers wahsed up to Plymouth, Massachusetts and gave thanks to God. Unprepared for the harsh winter, only 52 settlers survived with the help of Squanto, a Native American man.
1621- Fall settlers invited the Natives to New World Harvest Home. It was a party of Thanksgiving prepared by the only 5 surviving English women.
1777- George Washington declared the first Thanksgiving across all territories and it became the tradition to delcare Thanksgiving Days whenever something great happened. (I still think this should happen so that we have multiple Thanksgivings throughout the year. The downfall? I guess we'd all be a lot fatter.)

Sarah Hale (the very first Martha Stewart) was an editor of Godley's Lady's Book, which was the most widely circulated publication at the time. She encouraged everyone to unite their efforts and asked the state governor to delcare Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday of November. After all her efforts, Abe Lincoln finally declared the first official national Thanksgiving Day.

Above, homemade apple cider wasail.


Ok so, now onto 2009. I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family in the East Bay. My grandparents and cousins came over, and it was great to have everyone together, smiling, and spending time together. There was a lot of food- turkey, mashed potatoes, yams (which I made), homemade pumpkin pies, brussel sprouts, chinese sticky rice, vegetables, etc. I even rolled spring rolls from scratch! It took me a while to get the hang of it, but I did it successfully after a few broken rice skins and mutilated shrimp.

Below, my Vietnamese spring rolls that I so proudly rolled after 10 initial failures.

  To the left, the feast.

Playing mah-jong

 

My brother, Michael's, homemade ratatouille from the movie "Ratatouille"

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Hopefully you got to eat yummy food and got to spend some good time with your loved ones. And, as previous settlers used to do, let's all celebrate Thanksgiving not just once a year, but everyday, as there is always something to be thankful for.

A girl's guys meal of a night: Giordano Bros. and The Saloon

I had my first full day of work today after taking 3 weeks off. It went well and it was great to see friends and coworkers at the office. Needless to say though, I was pretty tired coming home as I haven't looked at dual monitors for 8-9 hours a day for a while now.

I fell asleep on the shuttle coming back to SF, but was awoken by a text from my old roommate and dear friend, Dave Stychno, who is visiting SF from Boston. I haven't seen him recently so decided to meet up with him and some friends first at the Old Ship Saloon on Battery and Pacific. Cute little place with brick walls. They serve normal food- bar food and basic drinks. Got a wheat beer there and then we all decided we were starving so we headed over to North Beach where we ate at Giordano Bros (pictured).

Now, I don't know if any of you have ever been here before but this place is a total guy's place and while I am no guy, I can say that this place is delicious and their sandwiches are awesome. It doesn't take a guy to be able to taste the crunchy, chewiness of their meat sandwiches. They call themselves the "All in one sandwich". I like to call it the "Everything sandwich." Why? Because it's literally everything you'd get in one sandwich order in a single sandwich. You can choose from a variety of meats: steak, pastrami, turkey, salame, etc. I chose pastrami because it has that unique and strong meat taste, which is what I was craving. Then after you choose your meat, they put provolone, french fries, and olive oil and pepper cole slaw inside it. They use a soft white french bread, which is perfect because while the sandwich is tall, the soft bread makes it easy to eat in bites so you don't lose pieces of meat or fries as you consume yumminess. We got a bucket of beer to go along with it, while monday night football played in the background, and of course the meal was accompanied with some great laughs and good conversation.

I was getting pretty tired, but we stopped by The Saloon, which is one of the gold rush bars original to SF (I'm such a sucker for peer pressure). We got some anchor steams there and listened to a local band play. There was a guy on the bass, a guy on drums, and a third on the guitar. They were really good- very folksy/jazz music to go along with the beer and old wood feel of the place.

Now, I am finally home. I'm listening to Michael Jackson and watching the nightly news. I am also about to pass out, but had to document the amazing sandwich I got to eat. Quite an eventful Monday night that I wasn't expecting to have- but glad I decided to go as it was great to see my old roommate and hang with friends. It's nights like these that I really love SF, the diversity it offers, the variety of amazing cuisine around, and the great people that make life meaningful, memorable, and enjoyable.

Cheers! Until next time...

For food: Across the globe and back

I just returned from my 2.5 week vacation to Sydney, Auckland, and the Whitsunday islands. All I can say in one word is: amazing. It was an amazing break from work and I have come back feeling renewed, re-energized, and happy to be alive and living in the great city of San Francisco.

The picture below was taken by my friend, Hazel, who just moved to Sydney. If you don't know me, I always always take pictures of my food. I usually take it on my blackberry and upload it immediately to Facebook. If you're my friend, you'll know how big of a foodie I am. Anyway, back to the picture. It was my first meat pie: beef and mushroom at Janet's Pies in Newtown. It basically tasted like a really good pot pie on steroids. The other food while I was traveling was just as good and I'll write more about it later, but I'd like to intro my true foodie personality first.

The plane ride back had a showing of Julie and Julia, which inspired me to create this blog and start writing about my true passion in life which has always been food. My senior year quote in high school was Look for the dream that keeps coming back. For me, it's always been simple: food. Ever since I can remember, food has always been on my mind no matter what. If there was a family party, wedding, a get together, church event, etc. I always asked the one question: will there be food there? I asked it in my head and out loud. If the answer was yes I was excited to go. If the answer was no, I tried  not to go. This isn't the case anymore as I'll still attend a party even if there is no food there, but seriously, if there is no food at a party, what kind of party is that? And if there is no food, there need to be drinks- something to entertain the mouth.

Alas, here I am, 26 years old, and still asking the same question: will there be food there? Luckily I work for a company where food is ever-present and delectable. So as I sit on my bed and listen to Christmas music, what better time for me to start writing about my passion? Here is my attempt to document my love for food. I hope that you'll join me and find my little stories and tid-bits interesting and entertaining. If not, I apologize.