We came to Daniel Boulud’s sole Las Vegas restaurant on what would be its last night of service. The Daniel Boulud name just did not attract enough people to the restaurant – evidenced by the restaurant being only half full on its final night during July 4th weekend.
Aziza is a Moroccan restaurant – the only one I know of that has a Michelin star. As a result, I thought this would be a pretty interesting place to try as I don’t eat Moroccan food too often. It’s located in a residential neighborhood in the Richmond District of San Francisco, an unassuming area where you would not expect to find such a highly-regarded restaurant.
Continuing my tour of the food in the Napa Valley, a stop at The Restaurant at Meadowood was in order. Both The Restaurant at Meadowood and Cyrus are constantly compared to The French Laundry, as they are both two-starred establishments that have earned numerous accolades in their own right.
This restaurant is part of a large hotel and resort, the Meadowood. A lot of its produce is sourced from the gardens on the hotel grounds, and chef Christopher Kostow was recently named a “Best New Chef” by Food & Wine magazine in 2009.
For my first meal after The French Laundry, we went to Quince to celebrate my grandmother and aunt’s birthdays on Christmas Eve. The restaurant recently re-opened after relocating to a larger space in the Financial District of San Francisco. The space is very elegant and modern, and uniquely, one of the first things you see is the kitchen from the exterior.
The French Laundry is a food temple – a trek that any gourmand in America must make at least once in their lifetime. I first went in July of 2004, and it was easily the most anticipated meal of my life. I remember not being able to sleep much the night before. The restaurant had just gone through a renovation and had not announced an official re-opening date. I was playing around on OpenTable one night and stumbled upon an availability. I remembered having to wake my dad to tell him this news, and use his credit card in order to confirm this reservation.