Tajine - I've always had a soft spot for mom and pop run restaurants that seat about 30 people.. each tiny detail of their dishes are usually done with heart, and you can't find more personnable service anywhere.. Here's a new one to add to the list. It's a Morrocan cuisine newcomer in the tendernob area that seats about 30 people tops. I'm told that their old location, in the heart of the tenderloin, sat about 10 people. We waited about 15 minutes to grab a table late Friday night, and couldn't be more overjoyed with the reasonable and diverse menu. I think their most expensive item is $12.95. Service is a bit slow, but to their defense, it's a tiny place - the wait staff has to maneuver around tables to get to all the tables. Definitely worth checking out.
GoldStar Events - Daily Candy just made a posting about it, but it's great for discount comedy and theater tickets.. they even have specials on spas and massages.. Ooh la la!
Zoe Bikini - Another Daily Candy find. I actually haven't been here yet, but the concept is amazing. They carry a huge line of bikinis and, even better, they will make you your own customized bikini. 
Endless.com - So I'm constantly accused for shamelessly plugging amazon.com products (have you seen our stock recently??) but Endless.com is seriously a good thing. It's incredibly user friendly, giving you the tiniest detail of the shoe. The catalog is continually growing and the pricing is highly competitive. Plus you get an automatic 5 dollar coupon with each purchase, and free overnight shipping. I just bought these super comfy Jaques Levine ugg-like boot slippers for $34 bucks (down from $130). I ordered them on Monday at 4pm, and received them on Tuesday at 11am. You can't beat that.
Tuesday Parking on Nob Hill - Not that it matters to anyone, but it took me literally 1 minute to find parking last night. It's a personal victory that I thought I'd share.
Justin and I went out to a huge bday dinner last night at 5 star Gary Danko. It was the most extravagant meal I've ever had.. foie gras, oysters, frog legs, lobster, crab cakes, squash soup, cheese plate, duck breast, filet mignon, apple break pudding and a chocolate souffle. Oh and a bottle of wine, coffee and tea. I was hallucinating at the end of night.
As our taxi pulled up to our block, we noticed that the front of our apt was blocked by a fire truck and a cop car. A fireman was busy hosing down the side walk and the side of the apartment that sat directly across from ours. We assumed that a little fire had started and didn't think much more, until this morning when our neighbor filled us in on the gory details...
Here is Karl's recap of the events that occurred last night while we were out...
"Mark and I were having beers in north beach—we came up the hill as a bunch of cop cars showed up on the scene---we walked over to look, and someone had been stabbed---the person was still there—on the ground—couldn’t see him really, but I don’t think he was in good shape, though he may have been alive
We thought initially he had been shot, because there were 4 or 5 different blood splatters on the wall—basically, the guy got stabbed and fell against the wall—and I guess as he fell he kept turning over and leaving different blood splotches—and a huge pool of blood on the sidewalk where he eventually fell
Anyway—it was quite brutal—very freaky
As for what happened-----one of the residents of the building next to us apparently heard someone scream and looked out---the stabee was hitting the wall and a tall, well-dressed (?) guy was running down Washington towards North Beach—this person called the cops and gave a statement, but….from what I gathered, it seemed like an argument began the whole thing (which would make it a targeted attack and not random)—in any case, the stab wound alone suggested it was something very intentional---the guy had been cut really badly—I would generally think a simple mugger would not really be hoping to kill someone and the stab wound looked lethal
i don’t know much more than that—people were just milling about, talking about it—cops were asking anyone if they had seen it but none had
one of the weirdest things was that they kept letting the cable cars through—so cars full of 40 or so tourists just kept going past this blood-stained wall—I don’t think I would want my kid to see that
I’ve not seen anything on the news—I don’t know if the one who was stabbed was a nearby resident or just in the area---mark and I watched the cops doing their thing from the rooftop, which was kind of interesting, and kind of scary as we realized that they had almost no chance of catching the person if it was random violence"
Yes it's that time of year again.. my 29th bday. This year, instead of throwing a wild raging party (since i am such the rager), I'm opting for a 'me' day. Most of my weekends have been spent training for marathons and wedding planning, so I'm taking my bday off from everything, including TV. Instead, I will be treating myself to a much needed facial at Studio C Skincare, a spa in the Marina that has been getting top notch yelp reviews. Hopefully my experience will be as good as fellow reviewers.. I'm looking forward to it.
It will be followed up by dinner, Justin's treat at Cafe Chez Panisse (We decided on the cafe because the restaurant has a set menu and if that set menu happened to have any nuts, then I'd be missing out and miserable). Drool!
A few more things to spoil myself. A BCBG dress (image above and to the left) for the birthday date and possibly for Amy and Owen's up coming wedding. Of course since I am on a budget of some sort, I won it on ebay. I am also waiting on the auction results of this fantastic Juicy Couture Large Hobo (pic on the left). What can I say? I'm an Ebay fanatic.
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As for the wedding - our Save the Dates will be making an appearance in your mailbox in the next two weeks. We sent out the first batch last weekend, and I'm still getting a few more stragglers out. We used the Premium Postcard service provided by USPS. Basically you upload images intended for the front and the back, put in all the addresses of the guests, and the postcards will be printed and sent out. It even supports international addresses. At 80 cents a pop for postcards with US Addresses, it's a steal.
Myth Jackson Square, San Francisco
I dare say that Myth represents San Francisco cooking at it's best. To be honest, I was getting kinda sick and tired with the same old haunts in SF eateries.. I had been to 1550 Hyde Street 3 times.. Third time was only so-so. My weekly visits to Sanraku was wearing me thin, and the wait at Milano's was getting longer and longer. It was getting a little too cold for the eateries on Belden Place Ave (which I adore more for the people watching).. and so on so forth - you get the picture.
Then all of a sudden, my friend Katy called me with astounding news. She had gotten a reservation for us at Myth - a place that had been ranked as one of the best new restaurants in SF. I think she made the reservation two months in advance, but it was well worth the wait.
Over the course of the dinner, everything presented to us was delectable. The presentation was original - each morsel of food carefully mounted on the other one. The food combinations were experimental but well thought out and layered to complement eachother perfectly. The decor was hip and chic. Check out the private rooms as you make your way to the back where the restrooms reside.
A few things that keep this from being a 5 star on my list are:
Other than that, I'm looking forward to my next visit to Myth (aka Deliciousness).
Justin and I went on a restaurant binge this weekend so i have a slew of restaurant reviews.
Cafe Tiramisu - located on Belden Place alley which is a great place to go, eat, people watch and pretend to be in europe. It's one of the few outdoor San Francisco alleys that are full of cafes and restaurants. The alley is always busy and bustling with a good mix of tourists and locals. We had tried most of the restaurants before (cafe Bastille, Plouf, Voda), but managed to skip the one right in the middle, Cafe Tiramisu, a medium sized italian eatery that's known for it's home made italian and seafood combinations. I enjoyed a spicy shrimp risotta with a pan fried ahi tuna.. to be honest, when mixed together, it tasted like a fancy dish of chinese fried rice especially with its generous amounts of peas and corn. Still incredibly good though ( I do enjoy a serving of fried rice), and very well presented. Justin had the lobster and crab stuffed ravioli served with a creamy pesto sauce that was exquisite. I just love homemade pasta. Both dishes were well priced. You can enjoy a nice meal and glass of wine for under 30 bucks a person.
Luella - Saturday night, justin and i wondered into Luella, a relatively new restaurant in the lower Russian Hill area. It's very chic and modern, with mostly brown and blue hues lit by candlelight. The servers were not in uniform.. They dressed in clothes that you would find in Club Monaco, and BCBG, so you can sort of shop and eat at the same time. We ordered two apps - baked polenta with wild mushroom ragu, and baked eggplant, red peppers and onions in fontina cheese. Both were good, a little modest in size for the price range, but good starters. The main dish was one comprised ofa Coca-Cola braised pork shoulder over a white bean mash, with red onions and mint. This was surprisingly scrumptious, and the kitchen was good to break it up into two different plates for Justin and I to share. It was a huge portion so we were both pleased. The pork meat flaked off without hassle and had nice hints of vinegar (from the red onions) and mint which made for a pleasant combination. The mashed beans needed a little salt to balance out the flavors, otherwise it was perfect. The best part of the meal was the dessert. We got an plate of orange infused ricotta fritters drizzled with wild honey. Needless to say it was heavenly. All of this plus a glass of wine for under 60 bucks.
