Blue Stem Brasserie

Blue Stem Brasserie

Blue Stem--a San Francisco urban restaurant is known for their distinct brasserie style dishes and its wide selection of wines sourced from Sonoma and Napa's finest producers. They strive to be very environmentally sustainable, using ingredients from local markets of San Francisco. Also, their beef comes from North American grass fed cattle, guaranteeing fresh and the highest quality of beef. 


The Atmosphere of the restaurant is very contemporary--definitely a place where young upcoming business professionals dine--There is a nice spacious bar with a few small tables in the side corner for more casual and intimate dining. The rest of the restaurant has about twenty tables with a mismatch of small and larger tables all around the bottom floor of the restaurant. Upstairs, six large tables are set up for larger parties which is a great idea for the ability to hold small private parties. 


The style of food was quite interesting because Blue Stem focuses on utilizing the whole animal--creating dishes that uses almost every part of the animal--

The dish that I enjoyed most was the pork chop dish. The perfectly seared pork chop came with an amazingly melt in your mouth pork sausage accompanied by smooth and creamy mashed potatoes, sliced pear and candied apple slices. This dish was incredible, for it had great texture and taste. 

They are well known for their Steak Tartare--a steak dish made from finely chopped or minced raw steak marinated in wine and seasoned with onions, capers, spices and topped with a raw egg yolk--creating an amazing dish. 

Desserts at Blue Stem were very fun and brought back fun childhood memories. Creatively, they served desserts in little dixie cups and wooden spoons to bring back that old school dessert.






--I highly recommend Blue Stem Brasserie for those that want to experience an upscale, contemporary and fun restaurant to dine with a younger crowd--

Off The Grid @ Fort Mason

Off The Grid @ Fort Mason --Food trucks

San Francisco is known for its innovative food culture that is rapidly growing. Matthew Cohen, owner and operator of Off The Grid-- mobile food catering--brought together local food trucks with the experiences that he's had with mobile vending. He felt as if it was important that he embraced local caterers by giving them a place to come together and show off their innovative skills in unique foods that each caterer offers.

Off The Grid has a very fun atmosphere--located in Fort Mason with food trucks parked in a circle to create space for foodies to get together and indulge amazing food--There is a hefty list of vendors that set up at Fort Mason every Friday night. Attached is the link that shows all of the vendors that participate in this event. http://offthegridsf.com/vendors.

Plenty of popular vendors not only go to Fort Mason, but also have their own thing going on with fans following them on Twitter. A popular vendor that I like to follow is the Creme Brulee Truck, constantly offering new and different flavors. They always seem to sell out of creme brulee at Off The Grid, so I follow them on Twitter in order to get my hands on the delicious creme brulees that they make.

The service at Off The Grid is solely based on the service that each individual cart likes to provide--with food cart owners being passionate about what they do, their service is always wonderful. I never once had any issues with the service provided, for everyone is always extremely pleasant. Who can be angry or crabby when you're surrounded by amazingly delicious foods!

The Melting Pot

The Melting Pot 

Looking for a unique dining experience with the art of fondue? The Melting Pot--a romantic and unique dining restaurant strive to show guests an unforgettable dining experience through the art of fondue--The way that the restaurant is set up is to give guests the feeling of having their own privacy to where they can feel as if they are alone at the restaurant. This unique dining experience requires the server to be very attentive in explaining how the dining experience works so that guests will feel comfortable in taking the initiative to dipping into the cheese fondue or cooking meats and seafood in flavored broth. Servers here were very attentive and precautious in making sure we did not hurt ourselves with the heat from the stove. The setting was very intimate and comfortable.

The style of service was very unique, giving the guest the option to choose 4 different types of cheese to dip vegetables, fruit and bread. The cheese fondue was prepared tableside, the server first put butter and wine into the heated pot, then added the cheese with seasonings until the mixture melted perfectly enough to dip. For the main entree, there were options with meats and seafoods like shrimp, salmon, ahi tuna, buffalo chicken, steak, lobster or pot stickers that you can chose from. To cook the food, there were different homemade flavored broths that you can pick--broths with cajun spices, wine based and vegetarian.

Fondue dessert is what everyone saves their tummies for! There are ten different options when it comes to dessert that can satisfy everyone's taste buds. Chocolate fondues like the flaming turtle--featured to the right--is melted chocolate with swirls of caramel and candied pecans. Every dessert comes with a plate of strawberries, rice krispies, graham cracker covered marshmellows and cheesecake.

The service at the Melting Pot was absolutely amazing! The server, Adam was very attentive and even though we were there past closing time, he was very patient and did not seem to care how late it was. He was more concerned with our experience rather them him having to stay after closing time. Overall, I loved this restaurant and would love to come back for a second visit.

5 Most Popular Food Shows on TV

5 Most Popular Food Shows on TV

1. Man vs. Food

http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/man-v-food

Adam Richman ate his way across the United States participating in food challenges in almost every state. A food expert taking on any challenge he can get his hands on. Food designed to be oversized and can feed a whole village is what interests him most. Restaurants participating in food challenges like to have Adam Richman as a guest in order to better promote their business. When I was in Oahu, I remember watching one of his shows when he attempted to eat an insanely large pancake that the locals called 'Da Big Pancake,' at a restaurant called Mac 24-7, so then I decided to get it and see how big it really was and how many people it took to finish one.

2. Bizarre Foods

http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/bizarre-foods

Andrew Zimmerman is always on a mission to find the most bizarre foods all around the world. He likes to eat very exotic foods that most people are afraid to eat. For instance, his favorite food is testicles. He will eat testicles anyway that they are preapared, his favorite being slowly cooked in curry. His preference in eating very interesting foods is what makes his show so interesting and bizarre, hence the name of the show!

3. Top Chef

                                                                   http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef

A reality food competition show--where chefs compete with each other in culinary challenges--Contestants live in a house together and have to deal with not only each other's different attitudes, but also challenges that they are put against. Each chef is challenged to create a dish with certain requirements and are usually given about an hour to complete the task. Here judges are able to judge who utilized the challenge best and who created the best dish. This is one of my favorite chef competition shows on TV right now. I enjoy watching the pressure that the chefs have in order to complete the challenges because most of the time I couldn't imagine handling that kind of stress.

4. Anthony Bourdain-No Reservations

http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/anthony-bourdain

Anthony Bourdain traveling the world to explore new cultures through food. I took notice of Anthony Bourdain when he went to Vietnam, for he ate anything and everythin they put in front of his face. I was very intrigued by his willingness to try any type of food that normal people would be afraid of trying. He had mentioned that Vietnam was his favorite country in the world and that was very interesting to me because he is such a well respected and known chef. I have never heard of such a well known chef to choose Vietnam as the favorite country, it being a third world country. His style is quite impressive, for he has great taste in food and is an incredible chef.

5. Hell's Kitchen

http://www.fox.com/hellskitchen/

An American reality cooking competition hosted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. This chef is known for being very intimidating and extremely cruel, but for those that understand him appreciate him very much. He is known for yelling and cursing at timid chefs that are running around the kitchen like chickens with their heads chopped off. His show has become quite popular, for people like to follow Chef Ramsay and see who can impress such a tough critic.

Bi-Rite Ice Cream

Bi-Rite Creamery, located in the Mission district of San Francisco, is well known for having very distinct and unique flavors of ice cream. Freshly prepared daily using local and organic ingredients like Bergamont olive oil, maldon sea salt and lavender. This ice cream parlor is well known in San Francisco and has all of the locals waiting in long lines on sunny days for their delicious ice creams!

Everyone here at Bi-Rite Creamery are extremely friendly. This ice cream establishment is located right next to Dolores Park, so once guests get their scoops of ice cream, most of them head over to enjoy it at the park. When it's hot out--which is very unlikely in San Francisco--this place has a line that curves the street. But Bi-Rite ice cream lovers will wait up to thirty minutes in order to get their hands on this deliciousness.

The flavors that they offer are very unique and you can't get anywhere else. My favorite ice cream that they serve is salted caramel, this ice cream taste like heaven everytime I bite into it. I always highly recommend this ice cream to those that have never been to Bi-Rite before.

Americanized Food Charges Double

Slanted Door--a well known upscale Vietnamese fusion restaurant in San Francisco--charges double for menu items compared to regular Vietnamese restaurants. This restaurant has created a concept of being Americanized to where it caters to the middle class. Vietnamese restaurants are known not to necessarily strive to impress guest through service, for they feel as if their food would be impressive enough. Growing up with a Vietnamese background, I am used to the fast and inconsistent service, but for those that go to Vietnamese restaurants are always really upset with the service they are given. However, if you are interested in eating delicious Vietnamese food followed by incredible service, Slanted Door is the place to go!

Mexico DF, located on Steuart Street by the Embarcadero, is an Americanized Mexican restaurant that serves gourmet Mexican food but charges almost double as opposed to regular Mexican food served in Taquerias. This restaurant is definitely charging for the atmosphere and the service, although the food was very tasty! A lot of times restaurants that strive to impress guests by the services given, charge quite a lot for what they have to offer.

Samovar Tea Lounge




http://samovarlife.com/

Samovar Tea Lounge --Specializing in the ritual of preparing teas--

This tea lounge has such an amazing atmosphere and a great concept--Advertising the importance in the ritual of preparing tea. The concept of this tea lounge is to dig deep inside yourself and to find the zen in not only yourself but also the world around you. 


Located on the top of Yerba Buena in downtown San Francisco--this place is surprisingly relaxing in such a busy place--


The atmosphere at Samovar Tea Lounge is very relaxing. They strive to create a calm and relaxing atmosphere for guest to feel at ease once they enter the establishment. As you walk in, the decor and the tables are set up to feel very comfortable with large windows from the floor to the ceiling. The staff and servers are very friendly greeting you right as you walk in and are very patient with you as you look at a large list full of different types of teas that they offer. It seemed a little intimidating for first timers because the teas that they offer are from all over the world. I couldn't identify half of the teas that were offered, but the servers were amazing and very patient with us.


The style of the food here at Samovar Tea Lounge is very simple but offering a lot to choose from. http://samovarlife.com/lounges/food-tea-menu/ Their desserts pair perfectly with certain teas that they offer. My favorite dessert was the scones that had jam and a custard to spread with and I paired it with an earl red tea that made the flavors pop. I had never had an earl red tea before so it was very interesting to find how wonderful it was.

The service here was absolutely amazing and was a memorable experience. The Samovar Life is what they try to promote focusing on energy, love, life and integrity. This type of restaurant showed a lot of passion that they have in the importance of meditating to promote the beauty within and to embrace life. I would highly recommend this restaurant to those that are interested in having a relaxing and calming life experience.