Dinner at n/naka

Hadn’t had a big splurge dinner in awhile, but with a Saturday night in LA, MK managed to secure us a spot at n/naka – if you haven’t watched Chef’s table yet, be sure to check out this episode:  Niki Nakayama is one of the only female Kaiseki chefs in the world.

We thought we would get a menu at the end of the meal so we didn’t take notes – and then we didn’t get a menu, so I don’t remember exactly what some of these were.  But a sample menu can be viewed here, and some are the same.  Otherwise, just enjoy the pics!

Saki Zuke :  (A PAIRING OF SOMETHING COMMON AND SOMETHING UNIQUE)

Zensai   (SEASONAL INGREDIENTS PRESENTED AS AN APPETIZER)

GRILLED SQUID STUFFED WITH SNOW CRAB SQUID INK SAUCE, FRIED RENKON LOTUS ROOT WITH LOBSTER

BLACK COD MARINATED MISO, TUNA AVOCADO

Modern Zukuri :  (MODERN INTERPRETATION OF SASHIMI)

Owan “Still Water” :  CLAM, SEAWEED, GINGER, CARROT, KAIWARE, DASHI

Otsukuri :  (TRADITIONAL SASHIMI)    O-TORO, KAMPACHI, KINMEDAI, SHIGOKU OYSTER, NAMA TAKO

Yakimono (GRILLED)

Mushimono/Agemono  (STEAMED/FRIED)      CHAWAN MUSHI WITH SNOW CRAB, SHITAKE, MITSUBA

Shiizakana   (NOT BOUND BY TRADITION, THE CHEF’S CHOICE DISH)

SPAGHETTINI WITH ABALONE, PICKLED COD ROE, BURGUNDY TRUFFLES

Niku   (MEAT COURSE)   JAPAN MATSUZAKA WAGYU BEEF A5      (Halibut for me & JJ!)

 

Sunomono

Shokuji   (RICE DISH- SUSHI)

Dessert

Dinner was delicious – so fresh, well-paced, great combinations, excellent wine & sake pairings. Highly recommended.

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Dinner at Backyard

Another recommendation from Mark, another small town restaurant, this one Backyard, in Forestville.  Not quite on the level of Glen Ellen Star yet, but will probably be a wait to get into within the year.

On Wednesdays they do a special fried chicken dinner so of course we indulged in that for our anniversary. but first we had to try the local cheese plate with a sangria:

Next came salad:

then the chicken, mashed taters and kale:

a bucket of biscuits!

and a plum panna cotta  to close things out:

I was so full at the end but it was so good!

 

Dinner at Glen Ellen Star

On the recommendation of Mark & JJ we spent our first evening in Sonoma driving about 25 miles down the road to the small town of Glen Ellen where we found a small wood fired spot of deliciousness, Glen Ellen Star.  So many charred fresh veggie options!

We started with the cast iron quick bread, zataar oil:

followed by romano beans,  brown sugar-bacon marmalade:

 

corn kernels, mayonnaise, cotija, chipotle, fresh lime:

and wood oven roasted zucchini, sheet music, shaved radish, tzatziki:

Then we shared the fresh fish, today was dorado from Cyprus:

and ended things with salted peanut butter ice cream:

All of the veggies were amazing – wood firing really perks them up!  The zucchini and tzatziki was especially good, and of course bacon always makes beans yummy.  Overall, a great diner!

Lunch at Wayfare Tavern

I’ve always had a little crush on Tyler Florence (don’t tell BK!) so I was excited to fnally try out Wayfare Tavern.  Lunch started with popovers – awesome!  And BK got an Iced Tea that came with a little scoop of lemon sorbet – genius!

Next, I got roasted corn soup with a lobster fritter while BK got their infamous Deviled eggs:

and then we shared their famous fried chicken and some pole beans – the chicken was really good, nice & herb, not too greasy, juicy:

Dinner at Incanto

Anniversary dinner #1 over in Noe Valley, jus down the street from Julie’s old apt.  Started with some yummy bread and then a heckuva a deal on a salumi platter  this small one was $14, I can’t imagine how big the large option was:

 

  

Next, I got a grilled sausage or polenta while BK got one of Chef Cosentino’s signature dishes, blood sausages, oysters, egg:

   

for entrees, I got an eggplant ravioli while BK got lamb:

  

and to cap things off, an olive oil cake with pistachio mousse & roasted strawberries:

Breakfast at the Dogwood Diner

Crossing over the border into California yesterday I started checking Yelp for a breakfast recommendation.  The one that caught my eye was the Dogwood Diner in Dunsmuir, and it turned out to be a great choice.  In a cute old historic building just off the main street by the train tracks, we arrived early and beat the rush.

The first thing we shared was the peanut butter roll:  their house-made cinnamon roll, split in half, smeared in the middle with peanut butter, then pan fried like a sandwich – so gooey and warm:

Next we shared the Breakfast Sandwich which we chose to have on their own house-made croissant, another winner:

and last, we topped it all off with an order of their pineapple French toast, which was like dessert – caramelized pineapple, custardy bread, brown butter caramel-ly sauce – so good!