Food adventures: eating ridiculously well

I have to say, I've been eating incredibly well lately. I've been to a new "nice" restaurant every week or two, which is sort of ridiculous, but hey, you only live once, right? In case you're curious, here's a quick summary of some of the recent experiences.


Gary Danko:
Got the 4 course menu and everything was quite good, but I kinda feel like any decent restaurant can make fresh lobster, corn, tomatoes and potatoes taste pretty good. Nothing on the menu here really "wowed" me. Especially for the price. And don't even get me started on the wine prices. Cheapest bottles are near $100! I can get an awesome dinner at Delfina for half the price, or Beretta for even less.

Sorry for the lame iPhone photo - once again forgot my camera.

Range:
Went here for my bday since it's semi-fancy and in walking distance from my house. The food is always good here, but I just don't have any idea why this place gets a Michelin star every year. It's good, but not really memorable, and I'm not sure it's as good as some of the other Michelin star recipients. I had better food at Bar Jules which doesn't even have a star.

Looks swanky, though, huh?

The Bazaar by Jose Andres (in LA):
This was a really fun dinner. The food was whimsical and delicious. Everything was presented in a playful manner, and often deconstructed using techniques from "molecular gastronomy". I am a loser and forgot to take my camera, but here is a picture and description of the "liquid olives" that we had.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2009/04/09/liquid-olives-like-water-balloons-but-with-olive-juice/


Sebo:
This is regarded as one of the best sushi joints in SF, and the fish was of incredibly high quality, but I couldn't help but want some more interesting preparations. We had about 10 different plates of sushi, and almost all of them were nigiri style, with just a piece of fish on rice. Everything was good, but I think I am more partial to the fun and interesting preparations that some other places make. For example, I recently had a roll that included tuna, mango and macadamia nuts, and another that was lightly charred and had spice from a jalapeno slice, all of which really enhanced the fish, in my opinion.

Beautiful fish...

Ad Hoc (in Napa):
Just really simple, delicious food, served family style. We had a fresh garden salad with lots of veggies from the French Laundry garden. Then steak and carrots, then cheese and finally a peach crumble. Yum!

Summer on a plate! I could eat this all day. Bonus points for the fried squash blossoms.

As you can see, the adventures in Julieland have been fairly food-oriented lately. I sadly haven't done much in the outdoors lately. I'll try to get back on the bike soon, and maybe even get up to the mountains at some point. That is, if I can squeeze it in between restaurant reservations.