4 Chicks & A Restaurant

If I can now recall correctly, Jackson Square Italian restaurant, Cotogna, had some really tasty dishes. Since I'm posting this too late, I don't remember any of them. Anyway, I'm sure we had a good time. This was in December 2010, just before the holidays. It was Steph's pick and we were all there!

Marlowe - Nov. 5, 2010. Dionne's Pick. Marlowe - not only one of my favorite girl names, but now one of my favorite Cal Cuisine restaurants. We've actual been at this locale before - when it was South. The space has a similar feel, with white-washed brick and reclaimed wood tables, but the food was far superior to South' s. The menu was pretty short, but the options were really good. The hamburger was perfection - with bacon, cheddar and apparently, had a bit of lamb mixed in. I'm going back for that, because I had the tender, juicy, lovely pork chops. My favorite item is pictured to the right - brussel sprout chips! OMG. To die for. So so so so good. I had to order a second batch. Dessert was kind of boozy, but delicious - a whoopie pumpkin creamy mix in a Mason jar, and a heavy-on-the-espresso vanilla panna cotta. Delish!!!

Gail's Pick: On the outskirts of Union Square is new-ish restaurant Fish & Farm - voted best burger by 7 x 7 Magazine. It's inside the Mark Twain restaurant - a little bit random, but a very cute restaurant with a tight menu with some great choices. Big portions were the theme, with American traditional food like burgers, fried chicken, steak, fish. The waiter was a friendly sommelier who was in love with the wine that Julia brought (Mt Veeder Winery) and spent a good deal of time perfectly airing it. After a much too long hiatus, Restaurant Club was back in action! We stuffed ourselves, though, on this heavy American fare. Every entree was delicious, though.

In the heart of Japantown sits Bushi-Tei. Surrounded by Japanese anime shops, hotels, sushi and karaoke bars, and the Japanese mini-mall, this restaurant is elegant and pretty, featuring Japanese-French cuisine. The meal started off with appetizers of lobster-crab salad, tuna tartare, and langustino frito (fried little balls of yum). Gail and I each had seared tuna on a bed of risotto with rock shrimp and curry sauce, and found it scrumptious. Dionn e liked her Duck, and Stephanie gave a semi- thumbs down to her scallops :( The service was ...eh. But we enjoyed a nice bottle of Mondavi Reserve Cab (thanks, Jarrod!). Oh, and the desserts were a huge hit. Julia's pick: April 23, 2010

Hello 2010! To ring in the new year, and to celebrate Dionne and Stephanie turning the big Four-O, we went back to the (physical) location that R. Club started at. Now the loungy Jackson Square location has been converted to 5A5 Steak Lounge (a culinary improvement over Frisson). 5A5 features steaks from around the world, and we got our Carnivore on just so - with the "world wide wagyu" which consisted of 12 ounces of australian, japanese and american "kobe" beef. This meat could flip a vegetarian. We loved the meat, and the wonderful appetizers, and tasty cocktails. Once Stephanie finds her gift certificate, we may be back! (Steph's choice). 3/12/10

This was my first visit to Bar Crudo, and was the first time for everyone elese at it's new location on Divis (x Grove). After getting warmed up with drinks at NOPA (former R. Club pick), we headed over to little Bar Crudo. It's a little restaurant with a big bust of flavor for raw fish. We mostly dined on raw fish (I'm reluctant to call it "sushi" because there's nothing Japanese about this restaurant, and rice is nowhere on the menu), but also got a taste of some of the hot dishes like monkfish. Our favorite raw bites were: butterfish, spicy tuna, and arctic char. The lobster salad and oysters were a big hit as well. It was perfect - not overly filling but divine on flavor. Excellent pick by Dionne. Only downside: their menu forced us to break our cardinal rule of desserts being mandatory - they offer no desserts. Alas, we were left full but not gorged to the gills (no pun intended). 11/20/09.

Noe Valley hotspot. Delicious tapas and cava. We favored the rose cava. We met for an early dinner since Contigo didn't take reservations. Despite the few stuffed shirts and babies (along with baby strollers, trikes), we managed to have yet another fabulous Restaurant Club. Favorites included patatas bravas, 2 kinds of flatbreads, mushroom stuffed calamari, gorgeous tomato salad, chorizo burger, scrumptious goat cheese and cured jambon, and for dessert: churros in chocolate sauce and Blue Bottle Coffee Icecream! Mmmm..... (oh, this was Gail's pick). Everyone present.9/18/09