Here are my reviews: Went to Bar Julesin Hayes Valley in san Francisco, celebrating a good friend's birthday.cute place, nice decor, waitress with attitude,dismissing our question about types of wine served by the glass( there is no mention on the menu if it is a red or white)" everything goes with the kind of food we offer", then pirouetted out of our sight, probably rolling her eyes( another group of ignorant women on the town......could be her thoughts).hardly anything vegatarian ( poor me), but for a canellini and greens soup, and a gem lettuces salad, both of which are staples at my house.The best was for desert, a ricotta cake with huckelberries with a big pot of fresh mint leaves. The cake was light, lemony,tart and rich, and the berries were tasty (in season ??) if not a little hazzy. and stainy.
review: 3 ( out of 10)
The it was off to Berretta, in the Mission for a cocktail and thin crust pizza in this fairly new place, that sells itself as an authentic Italian restaurant, with mucho alcoohol, big cocktail list with a mixicologist with a degree in " how many flavors can I put in a drink"school. My drink was pretty in cantaloupe tone, and went down well, but still can one improve on the classics ?my answer is NO. One of the pizza ordered was with baccalau ( sounds good doesn't it, until you are told that it is dry cod). I, myself love brandade, when the cod is mixed with garlic and mashed potatoes and slightly gratineed), but a ltlle weird on pizza.Yes, I know... anchovies are one, so why not cod. half the pizza remained uneatten, that's why.
review: 4 ( the margharita was decent, but boring)
The it was off to Sea Salt in Berkeley for what turned out to be a pretty poor experience. The restaurant was full on a saturday night, and as Dot said " they are trying to be like Cesar",but when you have an open kitchen that produces a lot of deep fried food, you end up smelling like a batch of fries. most unpleasant. Keeping up with their name, their use of salt was overly liberal and left my mouth parched, my stomach was upset for hours:The grilled octopus was peculiar, no smokiness of grill.just two big tentacles nestled in a pool of mayonnaise.The cocktail was good and strong.
review: 2
Finally a totally satisfying meal at Camino, in Oakland.Chez P. alumni, opened this restaurant about a year ago. Love the room, craftsman gone medieval, with lots of wood, wrought iron chandeliers and a massive wood fire oven facing the room. The notes were perfect, the food prepared simply but imaginatively,the wine satisfying.I took some pix, but unfortunately they didn't look as good as I hoped for, so trust me simply, head over there ASAP.
review 8
ditto on Sea Salt!
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