Sunday, November 25, 2007

Roman-tei ろまん亭

Thursday, November 22, 2007
Dinner with family

Great izakaya type place by Akabane station. We had a course package with different dishes and nabe. All you can drink for two hours for 1600 yen.

Hotpepper page for restaurant

東京都北区赤羽1-11-4アポー赤羽3F
Tokyo-to, Kita-ku, Akabane 1-11-4, Apo Akabane 3rd Floor
03-3598-2311

Onohan 小の半

Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Dinner

We went to Onohan for the kamo-nabe but they were out, so ended up with shabu-shabu. Very good, a little pricey. A bit hard to find.

〒106-0032 東京都港区六本木7-17-2
106-0032 Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Roppongi 7-17-2
03-3423-5288 

Kinagaya 器ながや

Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Lunch with Tokyo colleagues

器ながや was a good traditional Japanese lunch place in Roppongi. About $10 for "teishoku" of the day, fish, rice with natto, miso soup, and pickles.

107-0052 東京都港区赤坂9-1-7 赤坂レジデンシャルホテル1F
107-0052 Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Akasaka 9-1-7, Akasaka Residential Hotel 1st Floor
03-3408-8877

Friday, November 16, 2007

Fogo De Chao

Thursday, November 15, 2007
Dinner

Fogo de Chao is an amazing churrascaria in downtown Chicago. Definitely not cheap (f-23, $55 on Zagat), but fantastic Brazilian food and great wine list. We had one of our Brazilian sales guys from Miami with us, so we got the best of the authentic dishes--fried polenta, picanha, fraldinha, the rice and beans. Fantastic salad bar too, I could have just filled up on just that too.

661 N. La Salle Street, Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 932-9330

Kingston Mines

Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Blues bar with RA

Amazing blues bar

2548 N. Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 477-4646

Avec

Monday, November 12, 2007
Dinner with Anthony

Avec is an amazing Mediterranean restaurant in Chicago. Avec is basically the wine bar/more casual version of Blackbird, which is next door (Anthony said Blackbird is great too).

So Avec is small place, great simple architecture. There is one row of tables, and we squeezed in between a group of four and two on the end.

The menu has small plates, large plates and cheese. YUM. We started with three cheeses and "cheese accompaniments" -- quince paste, date cake. One of their signature dishes is a chorizo stuffed medjool dates with bacon. I mean really. Amazing. Then we had a light prosciutto dish with watercress and pears, really great. Last dish was another small plate, veal breast with potatoes. Finished off with a crispy chocolate (like Crunch bars).

The wine was fabulous. Menu has selections from Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, and we got a great one from Duoro, Portugal.

Avec doesn't take reservations, but if you can go with a small group, I didn't see many waiting. Totally worth it!

615 W. Randolph, Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 377-2002

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

California Cafe

Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Recruiting dinner

The Stanford Barn is a nice venue, but the food is mediocre and service a little spotty.

700 Welch Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94304
(650) 325-2233

Banana Leaf

Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Cisco MBA Lunch

YUM, super good and often spicy Malay and Thai cuisine. Had some Rothi bread to start, and they brought us all this spicy broth with celery. I had red curry with prawns with rice. All in $12 per person including tax & tip, good lunch specials. You can make a reservation online if you have more than six in the party, and they are pretty militant about it. Loong lines if you go for lunch otherwise.

182 Ranch Drive, Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 719-9811

Cheesecake Factory

Monday, November 5, 2007
Dinner with Mareza and Andrea

Nice chain with ridiculously huge portions and good cheesecake. Artichoke appetizer was remarkably healthy (or tasted light).

375 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 473-9622

S.N.O.B (Sonoma, Napa or Beyond)

Saturday, November 3, 2007
Libby & Kermit's Engagement Party

S.N.O.B is a cute wine bar with live music

1327 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 440-SNOB