Food catch-up

Ok, so I've been a bit negligent in my postings here. I've had a few noteworthy food experiences in the last few weeks that have not been properly documented.

First and foremost, Frances.

Everything aboaut this relatively young restaurant is a win. Its a small place on a quiet street in the Castro. As such, it has a neighborhood-y feel that it might not have in another location. Especially not when the restaurant is practically bursting with popularity. It took us 3 weeks to get a Wednesday night reservation (and that was at 8:45). True, we had a party of 5 and the restaurant isn't really set up to accomodate very many larger parties, but we also went on the tail of a couple sterling reviews in various food publications.

I'm happy to say that all the hype is absolutely worth it. The evening started off right as we were greeted by Patrick, the effervescent and supremely friendly host. The food that followed did not disappoint. We started with a "Market Shot" - a fun idea where they take whatever fresh fruit they can buy that day, spike it with some alcohol, and make a shot out of. On the night we were there, it was a citrus based drink with a whole bunch of fruits that I can't remember. It was GOOD.

We shared Bacon Beignets (because really, what's wrong with fried dough and bacon put together), the Spring Onion and Nettle soup, and the Dungeness Crab Salad to start. The beignets were good, and had a nice smokey bacon flavor. The soup was delicious and rich. The crab salad had large, fresh chunks of crab meat with some citrus- easily enough to share without fighting over the delectable crab pieces. Yum.

The menu is small-ish for entrees, but everything we tasted was executed well. I had the Sonoma Duck Breast, one of us got the steak, and the rest had the scallops. I have a hard time NOT ordering duck when its on the menu at a nice restaurant. This duck was worth it. Perfectly sliced, nicely pink in the center, with a layer of fat and crispy skin on each piece. Furthermore, the duck was served over Butter Beans. I don't think I've ever had butter beans before, but I can tell you now that I'm a fan. It might have had something to do with the fact that they were sitting in duck juice as well, but they were DELICIOUS. Yum.

Scallops were cooked perfectly and had a really nice sweetness to them. The other fun thing about Frances, is that they serve their house wine in a pitcher and charge by how much you drink (by the ounce). The price is relatively reasonable, and you have complete control over how much you want to drink! Fun!

So yes, highly recommended and totally reasonably priced for what you get. Go if you can manage to get a reservation.

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In a semi-unfortunate (depending on how you look at it) collision of dates, we ended up going out again the next night to The Elite Cafe on Fillmore. This place is an upscale southern/creole restaurant. Everything we ate was good, but probably a little pricey for what it was. The biscuits were a highlight, and the ribs looked pretty delicious (although I didn't try them). The gumbo, while it was served in a HUGE portion, was just decent, as was the Jambalaya. They had a decent cocktail menu with some fun spins on classic drinks. All in all, I'm glad I went but wouldn't necessarily rush back. While I love southern food, I think you can do better for cheaper in the Bay Area.

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Finally, had dinner with some friends who used to live in SF but have since moved back to the East Coast. We went to one of their old favorite neighborhood spots, the Nanking Road Bistro. I haven't been since these friends left, even though it's pretty close to our house. Now, the Bistro might not have the best food, technically speaking, but everything there is decent and they have one of those dishes that you feel must be made with some kind of addictive substance added. The "Honey Sesame Chicken," while maybe not one of the most authentic dishes, is delicious pieces of breaded, fried chicken in a sweet and spicy sauce. This is one of those dishes I could eat and eat and eat. On top of that, the Duck Biscuits (tender slices of duck in a little taco-like thing made of the same stuff as pork bun outsides) are quite tasty and the Chow Fun we ordered was also good.

When I'm in the mood for some saucy, americanized, yet quite satisfying chinese food, I need to remember that the Bistro is only a few blocks away.

Alice in Wonderland

I saw Alice in Wonderland at Pixar on Friday. I did not have high hopes, which is why I was happy to see it for free. Remarkably, it made somewhere over $115million over the weekend. Wow. This movie is not good. Don't rush out to see it, or, if you must, go in with low expecations. Also, don't see it in 3D (especially not if it costs you more). Unlike Avatar, this movie did not do a good job with the 3D technology.

I've always liked Tim Burton's style, but there are times when style trumps substance in his films. This was one of those times. The story was weak for me- scattered at times and utterly predictable at other times. The design was fun, but possibly a little bit on the dark side for the property. Usually I appreciate Burton's dark twist, but in this case it didn't feel quite right to me.

Furthermore (and perhaps most damning), I didn't care about any of the characters and didn't really ever feel any sense of danger. That's one of the problems with prophecy playing a major role in the storytelling- you already know what's going to happen. On top of that, the CG (Computer Graphics, for those of you who aren't in the "industry") was often jarring and took me out of the movie.

And the dance. Don't get me started on the dance. Ugh.