Beretta

On my last day in San Francisco, I had the chance to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen in ages.  After some googling, we decided to check out Beretta in the Mission District.  The restaurant had a nice ambiance - it was clearly popular, but not pretentious.  The drink menu was pretty nice and the pizza menu was irresistible.

Catching up over a great meal was the perfect way to end my trip.

Burma Superstar

A foodie friend suggested Burma Superstar when he found out I was headed to San Francisco.  A bustling hole-in-the-wall, the restaurant was packed even at lunch.  The service was friendly and efficient.  The food was out of this world.

My parents and I decided to start out with the Chicken Burmese Samosas.

Burmese raviolis hand wrapped and filled with curry spices, potatoes, deep fried, and served with the house special sauce

I read that people line up out on the street for Burma Superstar's Tea Leaf Salad, not to mention it was featured on the Food Network, so of course I had to try it.  (I wasn't disappointed.)

My dad tried the Vegetarian Samusa Soup (also featured on the Food Network and also delicious).

While my mom tried the bean curry.

In all, Burma Superstar was a great recommendation and well worth checking out if you are in the Bay Area!

Napa: wine, cake, bread, and prosciutto wrapped figs

I love cake, bread, and wine so what could be better than a winery that seems to combine them all?  With this in mind, I booked reservations at Cakebread Cellars.  Sadly, the Cakebread namesake comes from a family name and are no cake or bread samples at the wine tasting.  Fortunately, the wine more than made up for it.

Next my family and I went to William Harrison vineyards.  It's a smaller winery and very laid back.  The tasting was quite good, the stand out was their chardonnay.  I'm skeptical of chardonnays and was surprised to find myself buying a bottle.

Our last stop was Mondavi.  

They have an excellent wine 101 tour that explains the vineyards, how wine is made, and how to taste wine.  Plus they gave us a prosciutto wrapped fig!

I loved Napa, but if I were to do it again, I would reverse the order of wineries visited.  Mondavi is a great way to start the trip, William Harrison is the ideal middle ground, and Cakebread is the perfect way to finish the tour. 

Meatless Monday Deal

After I returned from San Francisco, I got sick. It was bad. I barely left my house, I didn't blog, I didn't even want to eat. The only thing I wanted was a smoothie. I got a smoothie every day I was sick. It was the only thing that could get me out of bed. 

Smoothies got me through that difficult time. That alone is a compelling reason to feature smoothies on Meatless Mondays.  But here's another reason, Smoothie King is featured on Groupon today!  For $8 you can get two medium smoothies. 

Flu season is coming.

Cupcakes San Fran Style at Kara's Cupcakes

Ghirardeli Square is best known for the famous chocolate shop and its ice cream sundays.  But now it also hosts another dessert attraction: Kara's Cupcakes.

Even if I could be tired of the cupcake trend, I would have had to check it out just based on the window displays alone.

I would have liked school a lot more if these had been around when I was there.

My sister and I got chocolate peanut butter and chocolate coconut  cupcakes.  Both had rich cakes and light, balanced frosting (not an easy feat with peanut butter icing). 

Both were gone quickly.

San Francisco: Finding a Local Favorite

Over Labor Day weekend, my parents, sister, and I met up in San Francisco for a wedding. By the time all of our flights got in, we were starving. My sister and I were eager to try out Ike's Place, so we all headed to the Castro for sandwiches. Unfortunately, we were not prepared for the two hour line.   

Anytime four hungry people encounter a roadblock to food, things can get ugly. Especially when they are related. On full stomachs, we could handle this situation, but the lack of food killed our decision making abilities. We deliriously wondered the streets of San Francisco until finally my dad had the best idea in the world: we should ask a local where to eat.

This may seem like common sense, but at this point, food deprivation had left us with the mental capacity of Snooki. We asked a campaign worker for a recommendation and he told us that we had to check out Cafe Flore down the street.  

We were not disappointed.

The patio was very nice, but also quite popular, so we grabbed a seat inside. Next to the revolving dessert case. I ordered a delicious bacon burger and slowly started to feel human again.  

Once I regained the powers of observation, I started to look around and liked what I saw. The atmosphere was friendly and laid back. There were signs for some impressive happy hour specials that put some of the best deals in DC to shame. If I ever move to San Francisco, I know where to start my weekend.

Meatless Monday: San Francisco Style

To kick up my write up of San Francisco this week, I'm sharing my favorite meatless finds from the Bay Area's Boudin Bakery.



Addictive

Sourdough turtles are the best!



How do I survive a four hour road trip? Alpine Pantry

Some people love road trips.  I am not one of them.  The only upside is that sometimes when driving, you stumble upon a local deli, bakery, or restaurant that almost makes traveling by car worth it.  

While the weather is nice, I try to visit my Grandma in West Virginia as much as I can.  On my way to her house this time, I stumbled upon Alpine Pantry, a Mennonite establishment specializing in deli meats, cheese, bread, baked goods, jams, and spices.  Everything is fresh and delicious, and after hours in the car by myself had no will power...which explains why I walked away with a bear claw (gone before I could grab my camera) and...

Herb and Cheese Bread

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

The bread and the pie were a hit at Grandma's house.  I'll definitely be back on my next trip.

If you want to check it out on your way to Wisp, Coopers Rock State Forest, or other local attractions, here are the deets:

Alpine Pantry

301-478-3696

I-68 Exit 56

21505 Flintstone Drive

Flintstone, MD 21530

Mon-Fri 7:30 - 5:00

Saturday 7:30 - 3:00

Closed Sunday

Meatless Monday: My Favorite Things

After a Meatless Monday hiatus while in San Francisco last week, I'm back and ready to share some of my recent meatless obsessions...

Scallions and parsley hommus from Balducci's with Trader Joe's Multigrain Pita Chips are my favorite snack right now.

Someone brought this delicious Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar salad dressing to a brunch party and I've been addicted ever since.

I love to make Italian food.  Though I have to admit, mine is about as authentic as the Olive Garden.  Recently I've been sauteing fresh summer squash and zucchini with garlic, onion, and Italian spices.  Adding the veggies to marinara sauce is delicious.

Inspiration for a Meatless Monday Holiday

If you're trying to get into the groove of Meatless Mondays and are at a loss for how to be festive and meat-free this Labor Day, David Hagedorn has some inspiration.

I'm on Twitter!

Always the commitment phobe, I wanted to be sure I could really handle the pressure of a Twitter commitment before getting seriously involved.  I've been testing it out for the past month or so, and it's definitely more than a fling.  Check me out at http://twitter.com/dcfoodjunkie

And for my fellow-skeptics/commitment phobes, you can scope Twitter out without actually joining, so no pressure to get seriously involved. 

I'm working on a blog re-vamp and the new look will include a link to my Twitter just to make things easier for you when you finally decide that this Twitter thing might actually work for you (I promise, it's not as scary as it seems).