Casanova

There is something sweet and calming about the seaside town of Carmel.  It was the first little road trip that Boyfriend (now TM) and I took together when we were living in LA.  We made s’mores using the fireplace in our hotel room, checked out the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Carmel Beach and drove back home on PCH through Big Sur and took a gazillion pictures of the view.  There was something so lovely about that weekend getaway, Carmel has always been a place dear to my heart.  Since then, we’ve moved up to the Bay Area, gotten married and have had many trips to Carmel in between.

Randall invited us to Carmel this past weekend because his sister and BIL were in town visiting from SoCal.  It was supposed to be our “chore weekend” so I had to convince TM that we’re allowed to have a little fun on the weekends and that we could go.  We checked and the restaurants Randall had planned on going to were dog friendly so it worked out perfectly!

Randall chose Casanova for dinner which was labeled as French Italian on Yelp.  The front of the restaurant looked so quaint and cute and I wondered how we would be able to sit eight people and a dog together on their little front patio.  I was shocked when we were led around the corner to the back entrance.  Their restaurant extended all the way and was quite big!  They had a lovely back patio with plenty of heaters for all the tables.

We all ordered a large order of Gnocchi Casanova to share.  Our server had mentioned that it is one of their signature dishes and it sounded really good.  I had been eyeing it before our server even mentioned it.  Instead of being made with potatoes as traditional gnocchi are, these were made from spinach.  They were incredibly light and had a parmesan au gratin over it that we all dipped our bread in because it was oh-so-delicious.  We even joked about drinking the rest with the spoon because it was that good!  Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of it.

TM ordered the Filet Duo as his main.  It was a pan-seared filet, short rib crepinette with polenta.  It had a Provencal topping and beef jus.  I only tried the short rib but it was incredibly soft and flavorful.  TM said it was better than the filet.

Three of us at our table chose the seared jumbo scallops as our entree.  It came with mascarpone and black truffle risotto, spring pea & carrot ragu and a beef jus.  The scallops were cooked perfectly and honestly, almost anything with mascarpone and black truffle has got to taste amazing.  The risotto was no exception.

I loved the food and ambiance at Casanova.  We go to Carmel so often, I can definitely see us going to Casanova again.  It was a huge plus that they allow dogs on their patio and even bring out a water bowl for your pup!

between 5th Avenue and San Carlos Street  Carmel, CA

Island Eats: Fresh Catch

I know I’ve written about poke before but this was our first time to Fresh Catch.  I used to think all poke was good poke.  I wasn’t picky since I couldn’t eat it any time I wanted to.  Beggars can’t be choosers!  But I have now found a favorite place to get poke and I don’t know if I can ever love it as much as I do at Fresh Catch.

We had heard about Fresh Catch from friends so it was on our growing list of places to eat when we were back in Hawaii.  Luckily, there is a location in Kaneohe really close to where my in-laws live.  As we walked up to the door, we noticed signs pointing out that this restaurant was going to be featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri.

There were so many different kinds of poke to choose from, I was in heaven.

I ordered a small poke bowl which is your choice of poke with steamed rice.  I kept it nice and simple with spicy ahi poke.  The fish was so fresh and tasted so good, I was sad that I had ordered such a small bit of it!

Fresh Catch has an extensive menu with a ton of different plate lunches with lau lau, beef stew, fried rice and more.  I will keep going back for the poke though.

We went here for lunch on our second to last day in Hawaii.  We loved it so much that we actually went back a few hours later to eat more poke again as a snack!  We were headed to a friend’s wedding so we went back in our wedding attire before we went to the ceremony.

Poke Paradise indeed!

We left Hawaii the next day to come back to the mainland.  Before we left, we made a stop at Fresh Catch for our last meal.  We learned our lesson and this time we got a bigger poke bowl.  Mine is on the left.  I got spicy ahi and spicy salmon.  TM got shoyu salmon and smoked tako poke.  The owner, Reno Henriques, dives for his own octopus and the smoked tako poke is one of the most popular flavors.  I have decided this place is a “must go” any time we are back on the islands!

two locations, we went to: 45-1118 Kamehameha Hwy  Kaneohe, HI

Remembering Jill

I lost my dear friend Jill almost two weeks ago.  The past few days have been rough trying to process what happened and wishing I could have talked to her one last time to tell her how much she means to me.  We lived a few blocks away from each other when I lived in LA and we shared many meals, desserts, walks and shopping trips in those years.

We both loved to walk and eat so we’d often walk around Wilson Park or around our neighborhood for miles and when we got tired, we would stop somewhere to eat dinner.  Jill loved dessert so sometimes dessert would be before dinner, if we saw a place that had a good red velvet cupcake or if we passed by a 7-11.  She sure loved Slurpees too.

I know I’ve written about Liliha Bakery before but I wanted to write about it again because I know Jill liked this place.  It’s open 24 hours so it’s a great late night place to go and every time I’ve gone, it’s been packed.  No matter what time of day it is.  Jill used to like eating their grilled potatoes!   Just remember that it is closed on Mondays.  We had to learn the hard way on prior trips back to the islands.

I’ve actually only eaten real food here once.  They have a long counter and even at 4 in the morning, it’s hard to get a seat.

I always come here to get cocoa puffs.  It’s a cream puff with chocolate pudding inside and chantilly frosting on top.  I think the last time we came, we bought a couple dozen to take back to my in-laws since we were having people over.  They were gone amazingly fast.  TM and I only had one each that night so we went back another time to get more.

Jill, you will always be missed and never forgotten.

515 N. Kuakini St.   Honolulu, HI

Reflection

I’ve been MIA for a while and I was planning on updating last week.  Last Friday to be exact.  But in light of everything that happened in Newtown, CT, it doesn’t seem right to blog about what I just ate.  I’m still at a loss of words about the tragedy and am still so, so sad for the children whose lives are gone and their families who are suffering during this time of year.

I watched “The Year with Katie Couric” on TV the other night.  I love watching recaps of the entire year.  Some events seem like they happened yesterday and some seem like they couldn’t have possibly happened in 2012 because it feels that long ago.  Katie covered Superstorm Sandy, the Aurora massacre and the Sandy Hook tragedy as well as covering celebrity romances, the Presidential race, Royal Jubilee and even the crazy song / dance “Gangnam Style.”

Out of the tragedy Americans have suffered this year, there have been moments of heroism, courage and selflessness that has come out of it.  I hope people can be kind to one another and that Ann Curry’s “26 Acts of Kindness” is not short-lived.  I hope we can love one another and savor the moments we have been given.

I didn’t intend on this post being a sad one.  I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately and am looking forward to time off work.  11 glorious days without having to stress about commuting and work piling up!  I’ll be back in January with a lot of recaps to post.  We’ve eaten quite well the past month or so and there is a lot to update.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

San Francisco Giants, National League Champions!

The San Francisco Giants have beat the odds and have made it into the World Series!   They’ve had a crazy journey so far in the post season and I can’t wait to see how they do tonight in Game 1 of the WS!!

Even though AT&T Park lets you bring your own food and non-alcoholic drinks to the park, we usually end up buying food there.  I may be biased but the food is pretty spectacular at the park!  We discovered Club Level and ever since then, TM doesn’t like to sit anywhere else.  They also have food there that isn’t sold in other parts of the stadium.

One thing we always get is an order of Gilroy Garlic Fries.  You can smell them almost everywhere in the park and they are a fan favorite.  My most recent favorite thing to eat at the ballpark is the Crazy Crab sandwich.  It will cost you a pretty penny at $16, but it was well worth it in my opinion.  The sourdough bread was nicely buttered and grilled and the crab sandwich had beautiful sliced tomatoes on it.

We’ve gotten the caramel apple fries a couple of times.  I think it’s a cut-to-order Granny Smith apple sliced into “fries” covered with warm caramel sauce and crushed peanuts for $5.

Almost any seat at AT&T Park gives you a great view.  I love looking at the San Francisco Bay in the background in between innings.   It is one of my favorite places to be on a Sunday afternoon! (or any day for that matter!)

Did I mention we’re going to Game 2 tomorrow?  So exciting!  GOOOOO GIANTS!

24 Willie Mays Plaza   San Francisco, CA

Dining in the City: Beretta

Most MLB teams have a dog day at least once during the season where they allow you to bring your favorite canine to the game.  I can’t think of a better combination than being at a Giants game with TM and my pup!  Since we were in the city, we decided to find a restaurant with outdoor seating so we could all dine together after the game.  Enter Beretta.

Everything we ordered was pretty impressive but our starter was amazing.  Every element of this dish had something I love: burrata cheese, walnuts, mushrooms, truffles and honey.  Put it all together on some fresh bread and it’s heaven.  If we go again, I would definitely order the burrata bruschetta on walnut bread with mushroom truffle honey.  I would even consider ordering two!

We had heard the portions are on the smaller side so we also ordered gnocchi with porcini & smoked pancetta as another starter.  The gnocchi were light and airy and had great flavors from the mushrooms and pancetta.

I chose the saffron with osso buco risotto as my main dish.  The osso buco was tender and flavorful and the risotto was cooked to luscious, creamy perfection.

TM chose the hanger steak alla siciliana.  It come with onions and broccoli rabe on the side.  His meat was cooked nicely and was very peppery, which I liked.

I loved the ambiance of this restaurant – it looked very trendy inside.  The pizzas I saw other people order looked amazing so I would definitely want to go back and try one.

1199 Valencia St.  San Francisco, CA

Back in the 808: Alan Wong’s

We had heard so many wonderful things about the food at Alan Wong’s that we decided to check it out for ourselves.  The restaurant itself is located on the third floor of an office building with not much of a view.  Once inside, we were brought an iPad that had the drink and food menus on it.  Some of the dishes had pictures we could look at to get an idea of what we were ordering.

The restaurant is quite small and dark so my pictures do not do our meal any justice.  Everything we ate was amazing, from the warm bread with a dijon chili aioli to our cocktails to our entrees and dessert.  In fact, the complimentary bread was so good with the aoili that I ate too much of it and made myself sick.  Lesson learned.

 

I will leave you with one of our favorites of the night.  TM had ordered the prix fixe menu and while everything that came out as part of his meal was great, this whole tomato salad was surprisingly divine.  The tomato itself is skinned, sliced and placed back together onto the plate.  It was beautifully ripe and the li hing mui ume vinaigrette around it brought it up a notch.

We are headed back to Hawaii tomorrow for a wedding!  While Alan Wong’s isn’t on our itinerary this time around, we do have many other places we plan on trying!

1857 S King St.  Honolulu, HI 96826