Author Archives: Darin

Lazy Bear (San Francisco, CA)

Posted on by December 10, 2017

Lazy Bear
3416 19th St
San Francisco, CA 94110
Dining date: 11/24/17

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Lazy Bear is one of San Francisco’s most unique dining experiences. The restaurant began as an underground supper club in chef David Barzelay’s home; it was wildly successful and became one of the toughest seats in town. The success led to this brick-and-mortar location in 2014. Two Michelin stars later, the restaurant is still going strong.

The evening begins with cocktail hour on the second floor mezzanine. Guests are invited to mingle, sip on a cocktail, and enjoy a few small bites. After cocktail hour, dinner shifts downstairs where there are two large 40-seat communal tables. An open kitchen anchors one end of the tables, providing a close look at the food as it’s being prepared.

We managed to get tickets here for the day after Thanksgiving.

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Thanksgiving 2017

Posted on by December 10, 2017

Dining date: 11/23/17

Another Thanksgiving, another feast. Last week, my family celebrated another Thanksgiving in our tradition – two gatherings and two meals, one for each side of the family. It’s certainly a lot of food for one day of eating, but it makes for some great leftovers.

Lunch:
Chow Mein

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Chinese Sticky Rice

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Lasarte (Barcelona, Spain)

Posted on by October 29, 2017

Lasarte
Carrer de Mallorca, 259
08008 Barcelona, Spain
Dining date: 9/29/17

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Lasarte is currently the only restaurant in Barcelona to hold three Michelin stars; it was upgraded from two to three in the 2017 version of the guide. This is the second three-star restaurant for Martin Berasategui after his eponymous restaurant outside of San Sebastián. Berasategui holds 8 total Michelin stars, the most of any Spanish chef, for his takes on modern Spanish cuisine. I didn’t get a chance to try his restaurant while in San Sebastian but had an opportunity to dine here for a lunch.

The restaurant offers two tasting menu options (185€ and 210€) but we went with a la carte for this meal.

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Ibai (San Sebastián, Spain)

Posted on by October 15, 2017

Ibai
Calle de Getaria kalea, 15
20005 Donostia/San Sebastián, Spain
Dining date: 9/27/17

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Ibai wasn’t initially on my radar while researching potential restaurants in San Sebastián. It’s not in the Michelin guide and isn’t highly ranked on either Yelp or TripAdvisor. However, I stumbled across it on a few food blogs that gave rave reviews of the restaurants’ simple, homey cooking with warnings of how difficult a reservation is to attain.

The restaurant is small, fitting only 5-6 tables, and is only open weekdays for one lunch seating. That is it; the restaurant is not open for dinner, nor on weekends. To complicate matters, the restaurant would not accept reservations from abroad so we had to make the reservation once we were in town. On our first day in San Sebastián, we walked in that afternoon to seek out a reservation. To our surprise, there was a table available the next day, so we were all set.

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Arzak (San Sebastián, Spain)

Posted on by October 1, 2017

Arzak
Alcalde José Elosegui Hiribidea, 273
20015 Donostia/San Sebastián, Spain
Dining date: 9/27/17

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Arzak was the first reservation I made in Spain on this trip. This restaurant has reached a legendary status in San Sebastián and has been on the forefront of modern Basque cooking for decades. The restaurant has garnered three Michelin stars since 1989 and has made the top 50 best restaurants in the world list every year it’s been published (since 2003). It currently sits at #30. Chef Juan Mari Arzak has been the driving force behind the restaurant’s success, and he now shares the kitchen management with daughter Elena Arzak.

I had a very hard time deciding between this restaurant and fellow three-star establishments Akelarre and Martin Berasategui. While the restaurant has plenty of accolades, I read a number of reviews with mixed feelings about the place. I ended up sticking with Arzak and am glad I did.

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An a la carte menu is available, as well as a 210€ tasting menu. We went with the latter for this dinner.

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Quintonil (Mexico City, MX)

Posted on by September 17, 2017

Quintonil
Newton 55
11550 Mexico, D.F.
Dining date: 8/12/17

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Quintonil opened in 2012 and quickly established itself on the world stage. The restaurant is currently ranked 22nd in the world, two spots behind fellow Mexico City restaurant Pujol. Chef Jorge Vallejo worked for three years at Pujol under chef Enrique Olvera before opening this restaurant. He also spent a short period of time working at Noma in what has been a relatively brief, but spectacular, career for the 35-year-old chef.

Our party of two was able to squeeze in for a weekend lunch reservation. An 11-course tasting menu is available for both lunch and dinner ($1950 MXN). Given it was lunchtime and we had a large dinner at Pujol the previous night, we opted for building our own a la carte meal.

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