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

Bayside

Saturday, September 15, 2007
Cal game

Awesome sports bar on Union and Octavia. Cheap pitchers and awesome wings.

1787 Union St, San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 673-1565

Landmarc

Friday, July 27, 2007
Dinner with Joyce, Eddie and friends

Landmarc in the Time Warner building is the second of its kind, following the successful Tribeca location. It is NY trendy with a great view of Columbus Circle, curvy bar, and cool "pods" which are cozy and quiet booths that look like cocoons from the outside.

We had wine and small dinner. The rock shrimp risotto with lobster butter was very creamy, filling and yummy. Joyce's trio of sides were also good, she had sauteed mushrooms, leeks and ratatouille (vegetable stew basically). $15 to $30+ entrees.

Time Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10019
(212) 823-6123

Dizzy's Club

Friday, July 27, 2007
Drinks and show with Joyce, Eddie and friends

Dizzy's Club is one of the homes to Jazz at Lincoln Center. On the 3rd floor of the Time Warner building on 60th and Broadway, the swanky club has curvy wood paneling and a great window wall looking out on the city. The show is set up in front of the beautiful night view. The performance on Friday was Flora Purim & Airto, a bossa nova group from Brazil. The group was great, and better off before Flora started singing. The best though was when they pulled up two percussionists who were at Dizzy's as guests, one was Meia-noite and I can't remember the other. Amazing.

There is a $35 cover for the show on weekends and $30 during the week. We didn't eat, but they had a decent menu with a Southern twist. We had a bottle of wine and a crawfish-crab dip with corn chips. You can get reservations on OpenTable.

Time Warner Center, Frederick P. Rose Hall, 10 Columbus Circle, 5th floor, New York, NY 10019
(212) 258-9595

Ottimista Enoteca-Cafe

Sunday, April 29, 2007
Late afternoon drinks with Carolyn and Lowell

Ottimista is a wonderful wine bar on Union Street in Cow Hollow (SF). There are covered seats with heaters on the patio outside in addition to their homey tables and wine bar inside. Their staff is super nice and helpful -- Carolyn and I could not decide between the prosecco and bubbly moscato, and the waitress let us taste both before bringing us a very healthy pour of our final selection (I love moscato, like dessert in a glass). Think our glasses were $8 and $9 each.

While we just had wine, it looked like they also had a nice selection of small and large plates. Also looked like they have a pretty good wine club with quarterly shipments and pick-up parties.

I like the concept behind their name. Per their site, "Ottimista Enoteca-Café gets its name from the Italian translation of the word 'optimist', chosen by owner and eternal optimist Melissa Gisler, who believes that at the wine bar, as in life, the glass should always be half full."

1838 Union Street, San Francisco, California 94123
(415) 674.8400