Goose & Gander

Posted on December 23, 2019 by steve

***** (5 stars)

This charming restaurant is located on a side street of St. Helena’s Main Street. The delightful space upstairs offers high beamed ceilings and an open kitchen, plus lots of duck hunting memorabilia. Downstairs is an atmospheric bar that also has table seating. And there is also lovely outdoor dining.

The menu offers elevated comfort food such as fish and chips, or cheesesteak sandwiches, both of which were good. The orange tart with kumquat marmalade was excellent.

The wine list is very extensive, with plenty of selections from around the world and a nice assortment of half bottles.

Service was very attentive and welcoming.

Goose & Gander
1245 Spring St
Saint Helena, CA
94574
(707) 967-8779
https://www.yelp.com/biz/goose-and-gander-saint-helena-2

The Restaurant At Meadowood

Posted on December 22, 2019 by steve

**** (4 stars)

It’s a bit difficult to rate a restaurant based upon a special meal, and we dined on the final night of The Restaurant’s Twelve Days of Christmas 2019 event. On the other hand, the final night is when The Restaurant’s own chef, Christopher Kostow, is in charge, so one assumes the food is representative of the normal quality.

Unfortunately, that seemed to be all over the map. There were indeed some of the stunning courses you’d expect from a three-star Michelin, such as the trout roe, the oxheart carrot, and the sunchoke trifle. But there were also some notable misses, including the unappealing quail, tough pork collar, and many others.

The service made up for a lot of that. It included the kind of synchronized moves that Michelin raters seem to fawn over, but also was very gracious and welcoming, and apologetic for the long wait for our table (no doubt the result of it being the third seating of a completely new menu).

The setting is also sublime: a not-overdone graceful simplicity, and a remarkably good illusion of snowflakes falling outside, to complement the festive mood.

What to make of it? Hard to say without a repeat visit, but at $1000 for two (with wine) I’m not in a hurry to do so.

The Restaurant At Meadowood
900 Meadowood Ln
St. Helena, CA
94574
(707) 967-1205
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-restaurant-at-meadowood-st-helena

Acacia House by Chris Cosentino

Posted on December 21, 2019 by steve

**** (4 stars)

Nice modern space inside a venerable old house. Friendly and accommodating staff. We went for Saturday brunch. The smoked salmon was served with all the possible accompaniments, including a nice dill cream cheese. Chilaquiles were also very good. The highlight was the best margarita I’ve ever had, served chilled, with a salty foam.

Acacia House by Chris Cosentino
1915 Main St
Saint Helena, CA
94574
(707) 963-9004
https://www.yelp.com/biz/acacia-house-by-chris-cosentino-saint-helena

El Jardin Restaurant & Catering

Posted on December 18, 2019 by steve

***** (5 stars)

Really good family Mexican restaurant in a shopping center. The service is terrific and the food is good. The lunch carnitas torta was huge and came with a delicious salad option rather than rice and beans or fries. Great blue cheese dressing. The appetizer sampler is also a nice variety. Very reasonable.

El Jardin Restaurant & Catering
1119 S Main St
Manteca, CA
95337
(209) 825-8552
https://www.yelp.com/biz/el-jardin-restaurant-and-catering-manteca

Quail and Crane

Posted on December 17, 2019 by steve

***** (5 stars)

Located in the Grand Hyatt at SFO, Quail and Crane is a dramatic two story space that offers a nice selection of sushi and Asian inspired hot dishes.

The sushi quality was excellent. We also tried the mussels, a generous serving in a lemon grass broth, accompanied by grilled sour dough.

Service was friendly, and pricing was reasonable given the upscale location. There’s a great view of the International terminal gates and taxi way across the street.

Quail and Crane
55 S McDonnell Rd
San Francisco, CA
94128
(650) 452-1234
https://www.yelp.com/biz/quail-and-crane-san-francisco

American Social

Posted on December 15, 2019 by steve

*** (3 stars)

This is a nice remodel of the Bar Louie space, and it’s sure more popular! The vibe is excellent, and the servers are really good. Food is just okay, and at tourist area prices.

We went for brunch, but the menu had many non-breakfast items, which was nice. The Nashville hot chicken was good, with a nice crispy crust (that could have been spicier). It was served as sliders on biscuits, but couldn’t possibly have been eaten that way.

Buffalo chicken wings were large, but otherwise not noteworthy.

The Crispy Potatoes in sourcream onion dip were a disaster, with many ladlefuls too much of the white glop burying the otherwise nicely roasted potatoes.

There’s an extensive cocktail list, and some interesting beers on tap, too.

American Social
7335 W Sand Lake RdSte 101
Orlando, FL
32819
(407) 454-9992
https://www.yelp.com/biz/american-social-orlando

Ford’s Garage- Orlando

Posted on December 13, 2019 by steve

**** (4 stars)

This nicely themed restaurant is near the Lake Buena Vista outlet stores. It offers both indoor and outdoor seating. The menu emphasizes burgers, with some other sports bar type food.

I tried the house specialty burger, and it was excellent. The included potato wedges are just okay, so I upgraded to onion rings. The rings were better, but not as good as the fried pickle appetizer, which is battered rather than breaded.

There’s a nice selection of beers including a lot of dark beers, which are my favorites.

Ford’s Garage- Orlando
8201 Vineland AveSte 1801
Orlando, FL
32821
(407) 602-3673
https://www.yelp.com/biz/fords-garage-orlando-orlando

KFC

Posted on December 1, 2019 by steve

* (1 stars)

KFC food is tasty and usually good for a solid three stars, as it was here. But this place wins the award for most inefficient KFC in the world. The staff were sleep walking, and obviously would rather have been anywhere else.

Here’s how they set the record:

People in line: 10
Minutes to order: 30
Minutes to fill order: 30

Someone contact Guinness!

KFC
Mile Marker 184Fort Drum Service Plaza
Okeechobee, FL
34972
(863) 216-5743
https://www.yelp.com/biz/kfc-okeechobee-2

La Bamba Mexican and Spanish Restaurant

Posted on November 24, 2019 by steve

***** (5 stars)

This place was a delightful surprise. The interior decor is colorful and festive, and the food is top notch.

We started with cheese nachos, a simple preparation with lots of jalapenos that was just what we were looking for.

I had the La Bamba combination, which included a beef taco, chicken enchilada, and chile relleno, plus rice and beans. The standout was the taco, which was deep fried with the beef in, then stuffed with cheese and lettuce. This is a fairly rare style, and is my favorite. The rice was also quite good.

The perfect margarita was, indeed perfect, with plenty of lime to offset the sweetness.

Service was attentive and friendly.

La Bamba Mexican and Spanish Restaurant
730 US Hwy 1
North Palm Beach, FL
33408
(561) 882-1718
https://www.yelp.com/biz/la-bamba-mexican-and-spanish-restaurant-north-palm-beach-3

La Mar by Gaston Acurio

Posted on November 24, 2019 by steve

*** (3 stars)

What a beautiful setting, with a lovely outdoor patio overlooking the Miami skyline across the water.

The best dishes were the ones that were the most traditional, including some of the ceviches, and elements of the causa. The scallops were also very good. A combination of cold noodles, seaweed, a Korean style beef and vinegary kimchi didn’t really work.

I’ve found that when celebrity chefs take a classic cuisine and try to “celebrityfy” it, it’s rarely an improvement, and that’s the case here. I love Peruvian cuisines, and all the favorites are represented here, but few if any have been improved by unconventional treatment.

This extended to the Pisco Sour, which had so much egg foam the drink was unrecognizable.

To really know Peruvian food I suggest starting with a family run Peruvian restaurant in a strip mall!

Service was top notch.

La Mar by Gaston Acurio
500 Brickell Key Dr
Miami, FL
33131
(305) 913-8358
https://www.yelp.com/biz/la-mar-by-gaston-acurio-miami-5