book club dinner at iThai in san francisco

Just had another great meal at iThai in San Francisco!  iThai is one of our Book Club destinations when we don't feel like cooking--but want delicious dishes with super fresh ingredients.  Some of our favorites are the panfried chive dumplings, the crispy calamari (pictured above), larb salad,  BBQ chicken with cashews in a Thai country style glaze and wok-fried filet mignon with basil and peppers, all served with jasmine rice. Make a visit to the Post Street restaurant for many more great dishes.

anniversary celebration in crescent city, ca.

Well we did it and it was great!  My brother, Rick, and his wife, Donna and myself were trying to figure out how to surprise our parents for their 55th wedding anniversary.  We brainstormed on different ideas, gifts, etc., but in the end the simplest idea worked the best;  I would arrive in Crescent City as a surprise and they could decide to do whatever they would like to do--and we would do it! 
                                                                            

The surprise arrival went off without a hitch--they never suspected a thing.  We turned it into a three night celebration.  Donna had the cake ready (carrot and cream cheese, of course) and on the 1st night we had a nice family dinner at the Thai House, which has some of the very best Thai food around, including my brother's favorite dish, scallops and red curry in a sizzling clay pot.  Cake and cocktails after.  The next night we went to the opening night of a photography exhibition at the Crescent Harbor Gallery that turned out to be like old home week--everybody was there, and on the third night, thanks to a gift from my cousin Keith, Dad barbecued a whole salmon, and I made a broccoli pilaf, a mustard tarragon buerre blanc sauce for the fish, bacon/caesar salad and a fresh apple bundt with king apples from the garden. Truly a very special meal and very special get together for two wonderful and amazing parents.

exceptional thai food at soi 4 in oakland

Had a great adventure in dining yesterday. Sometimes the unplanned has great end results.

That's the way it turned out when Deidre and I went to Jack London Square to try Eric Tucker's new collaboration at 202 Second, Encuentro. It opened on December 4, with lunch beginning Monday at 11:00am--no reservations taken.

Well, guess what, they were closed--a sign in the window said they would actually be open for lunch on Wednesday. Disappointed, but we will be back. The description on Yelp of the crispy kale chips and peppered portobello and caramelized fennel sandwich was mouth watering. Eric Tucker, executive chef of the great vegan restaurant, Millennium in San Francisco, surely has another hit on his hands.

Turns out Monday in Oakland is not a big restaurant day. Lots of calls to restaurants. Lots of closed restaurants. But a quick cruise up College thinking we might go to a favorite standby, Garabaldi's and we spotted Soi 4 Bangkok Eatery. It was a second visit for Deidre and a real find for me.

We ordered 4 dishes of what I can only say were absolute perfection with many others that sounded equally delicious. What made the dished so good? Slight variances in traditional ingredients, such as a salt and pepper calamari topped with delicate julienne of carrot and onion and a sauce that was more like a simmered Mexican red sauce rather than the usual sweet chili sauce. Tender and falling off the bone baby beef short ribs in a spicy kaffir panang curry, and Deidre's favorite, lightly battered prawns in spicy tamarind sauce with crispy shallots.  The wok sauteed wide noodles known as pad ke mao were hot and spicy with chicken, Thai chili and deep-fried basil leaves. Not one flavor competed or repeated itself.  I have been to Thailand and this is one of the best Thai meals I have ever tasted.