eat at gott's

A friend and I went to Napa one weekend to go wine touring/tasting (we actually just wanted to get out of the city).  We were aiming to get to Beringer's by 11am to go on one of their VIP tours, but we didn't make it to Napa by 11, so we had to postpone the tour to 4:30pm.  Which meant that we got to feed our rumbling tummies.

KW chose to go eat at Taylor's Automatic Refresher, which is now known as Gott's Roadside.  He said that he saw Taylors Automatic Refresher on the Travel Network* once, went to try it out and really liked it.  I have to agree with KW that the food was pretty awesome, even if the name has changed.

The "EAT" stands for "Eat at Taylor's". Different name, same food and atmosphere.

Our food: Two burgers, onion rings and garlic fries.

I forgot what kind of burger KW ordered, but I ordered the Texas Burger, which had jack cheese, salsa, mayo and pickled jalapenos. YUMMY!

Did I mention we had garlic fries? Yep, those green specked covered fries are the garlic fries. I was wondering how garlic can be green. KW told me that it's "green garlic," as in when the garlic bulbs start sprouting, that's the green garlic. Um, I just looked at the menu, and it says the garlic fries are covered in "garlic butter and parsley."  Me thinks the green is parsley, KW.  But to give KW credit, he is actually correct about the fact that there is such a thing as green garlic, as you can see by clicking here.

And, this is the only diner I know that has a whole wine list on their menu. Only in wine country, California.  They also have a location at the Ferry Building in SF.  Guess who's going there for lunch or dinner soon???

*I just did a search and I think the diner was featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" in Episode DV0109 entitled Retro.  I cannot stand watching Guy Fieri's show, so not really sure what he said about it.  And there's no link to a description of his episodes.

take me out to the ballgame

so I can eat ballgame food!!!!

Can't go without a ballpark dog and nachos.

Of course, I shared the nachoes with my two friends who were at the game with me.  The polish sausage dog, however, all went into my tummy. =)

This little girl wasn't so happy to be at the game though.

It was an awesome game that Friday night (7/30.  Giants v. Dodgers (hence the Beat LA towel above).  And of course, Giants beat LA.  It was a close game though, all the way down to the very last inning.  Final score: 6-5.

weenie dog

Here's a literal translation of a "weenie dog".*

Sooo cute!  And the puppy even looks worried that it might be eaten.  Aww!

*photo was taken from a friend's facebook profile page.

north carolina bbq

I went to Asheville, North Carolina last weekend to attend a dear friend's wedding. I've never been to North Carolina before, and my dear friend was getting married in the middle of the woods somewhere, so I wasn't expecting to do much. Plus, I kinda figured Asheville was not the typical big city I am accustomed to.

Before I left, The Boy asked what I was going to do while I was in Asheville. I told him that: 1) I was only going to be there for about two days, one of which was the day of the wedding; and 2) what the hell do I know about what to do in Asheville, I've never been there.  He suggested that I should probably go try out a BBQ joint since that's what the south is known for.

So, I suggested to L and S that we should have some BBQ before they headed for the airport and I headed for Asheville for the day. We ended up at this place below, which was highly recommended by our innkeeper (ha, can't believe I used the word innkeeper) over the other place (Pat's BBQ or Fred's BBQ or some other first name that I can't recall at the moment):

We were there right when it opened at 11:00am on a Sunday.

We went to Phil's BBQ Pit and Phil did not disappoint. All flavors of hot sauces were available at each table for your own creation in blending flavors (my favorites were the mustard and hot sauces combined).

I ordered the half rack combo, which came with hushpuppies, baked beans, and vinegar based cole slaw.  The ribs were finger-licking-oh-so-good-meat-just-falls-off-the-bone deliciousness.

People, I hate mayonnaise and therefore I usually will not eat cole slaw. But I am in LOVE with vinegar based cole slaw because it is not loaded with creamy, white stuff (obviously), and it has a more pickled flavor - the taste is like a much lighter version of kimchi but without the spice. Can we get some of that out West?

The decor at Phil's was an awesome sight too. Notice the piece of twisted metal from a NASCAR racecar hanging on the wall here?

The boar's head was nicely decorated with it's own accessories.

I had noticed there were hats hanging all over the ceiling, but couldn't really figure out why they had hats in addition to license plates from different parts of the country. Then I saw the sign and it all made sense:

Too bad we didn't have time to play a round of mini-golf.

Now I wish I could go to Phil's BBQ this weekend and have some more ribs or maybe the pulled pork sandwich.  Why can't someone bring a real BBQ joint to San Francisco?

sunday brunch

We spent a weekend at The Boy's mom's place in Vacaville and he took us all out to Sunday Brunch at Merchant & Main Grill and Bar. It was a nice, little place with a lot of great selections for a prix fixe brunch of $17.99 per person. And that included unlimited mimosas!

Selection of muffins and fruits as appetizers

Louie Salad

Eggs & Meat breakfast (meat consisted of ham, sausage and bacon)

Grilled Halibut & Asparagus with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Union Street Eggs (eggs benedict with shrimp and crabmeat)

cute little lemonade salesman

I was at a garage sale and saw this sign:

Then I looked up and saw this little cutie:

How can anyone say no to that smile?

He was so funny too.  His sister was sitting next to him, and so G asked her if she was selling something too.  This little boy responded for his sister: "She doesn't do anything but play with her dolls.  I do all the work around here."  I nearly fell over from laughing so hard.

nature's bounty

G & L moved to a new house in a part of town dubbed "retirement home" (called Leisuretown), and along with the home association fees, they were able to get a garden plot to plant their own goodies. They took us out to show us their garden, but considering that G just planted some small jalapeno plants last week, there wasn't much to see. But, I got to take pictures of all the other folks' gardens and their nature's bounty:

Grapes on a vine.

A head of cabbage.  I didn't realize cabbages grew so big!

Raspberries turned blackberries, or blackberries that have yet to ripen?

Strawberry blooms and fruits.

funny license plate holder

So, I saw this license plate while stuck in traffic one day:

Being Asian and all, I understand where"Japanese Engineered" might have come from (Toyota and Honda being from Japan and all), but what brought about the "Filipino Drive" and "Chinese Owned"?  I don't get it.  Would someone like to clue me in?  I promise I won't get offended.

cheesecake factory goodness

Lunch on a Saturday at the Cheesecake Factory:

Taquitos

Santa Fe Chicken Salad

Not pictured: mini-corn dogs and crab cakes bites.

Yes, we ordered too much food. No, we didn't eat it all. The Boy and I always end up ordering too much food because we both like variety, and both have cravings and basically want to eat everything on the menu. Oh yeah, I also had a slice of the seasonal Mango Key-Lime cheesecake. Let's just say we had a lot of left-overs for dinner that night.

my alter ego

I started temping as a legal secretary for a small insurance law firm about a month ago. A couple of weeks ago, one of the firm's vendors stopped by to drop off cookies for the other secretaries/paralegal at the office. He gave me four cookies that were individually wrapped and had a white label that included the vendor's info and the name of each secretary/paralegal he wanted to give the cookies to. There was one for every secretary/paralegal at the firm, except there was none for me.

He then apologized for not having a cookie for me. I said it was okay since I was a temp and he didn't know I was working there. But he said that he was going to come back with a cookie just for me.

And he came back and gave me this:

I laughed. How did he know that the Cookie Monster is my alter ego? I have never talked to the guy before and yet he came back with a Cookie Monster sticker on the cookie, and even had the words "OMONOMONOMOMOM" on it. What an funny coincidence. Too bad the cookie he gave me (Cinnamon Sugar Cookie) didn't taste too good (how can cookies taste bad, right?).

new background!

I was going to do some food posts, but I just spent the last hour playing with the new design template and finally decided to take the plunge and confirm the changes.

So, what do you think of the new background and overall blog design?  I think the forks and knives are fitting.

I will do some real posts tomorrow!

eye food candy

Enjoy!

license plate sightings

I had the use of The Boy's car while he was galavanting around Europe.  During the week, the car was parked at his dad's place because I couldn't move it around to avoid street cleaning parking tickets.  But as soon as the clock struck 5pm on Friday, I'd race over there to get the car and make the drive up to see The Boy's mom and her husband.  These were just some funny license plate signs I saw as I was sitting in traffic.  It was just a coincidence that my camera happened to be in my purse at the time.



I am not quite sure what a Gogo Hub is....



I agree, that Hummer was quite yeller.



I'd be AAGHHing too if I was stuck in traffic.

chocolate infused goodness

Yes, yes, I know, it's been forever since I posted. I've been kinda busy, you know with packing and graduating and moving and all. And then trying to find a job and trying to find space in The Boy's closet for my clothes to stay temporarily.

Anyways, today's post is about Co. Co. Sala, a restaurant that specializes in adding chocolate to almost everything on their entire menu (cocktails and hot chocolate are to die for!). L first introduced me to brunch at Co. Co. Sala. And then L and I went again for dinner to introduce the place to L's man friend. And then I had to take my friend there for dinner. And then of course The Boy came out for my graduation so I had to take him there for brunch.  Yep, I ate there four times in the last nine months!  But alas, no more Co. Co. Sala for me because it's only in Washington, DC.  They should totally open up a restaurant in SF.

We started off with drinks - The Boy had an mimosa while I had the mocha french press coffee because the place was freezing inside and I needed the caffeine.



Coffee was yum.



We each ordered from the prix fixe menu, which comes with an appetizer, entree and dessert. This was our appetizer - I don't remember the name of it, but it tasted like warm chocolate cake. Chocolate cake as an appetizer? Bring it on!



It looks ginormous in these pictures, but it was really just the size of a truffle.



The Boy's selection from the prix fixe menu was the Bacon, Ham & Egg Flatbread:



This was probably the only thing that didn't have chocolate in it, but it was really tasty nonetheless. This savory dish went well with my chocolate pick. Plus, I think this dish has a lot less calories than my dish.



I chose the Banana Smores French Toast.



Need I say more? This was soooooo sweet and delicious. And it wasn't just a food coma in the making. It was a chocolate induced food coma.



And then came dessert. I thought we each were allowed one choice of dessert per person. But the waiter came out with a selection of four different kinds of dessert and said we each could have two. So I asked for all four. =)



Chocolate Ganache Cake - my favorite!



Strawberry Creme Brulee



Fruit Tart



Chocolate Mousse -- it was good, but won't eat it again.



And that is all for now, my friends. I must go get my beauty rest. Good night!