Levain Bakery

The cookies at Levain Bakery are unbelievable - massive gobs of chocolate or chocolate chip deliciousness, just barely cooked on the inside and still soft on the outside. Amazing!

Vai Spuntino Bar

Vai Spuntino Bar is a great new wine bar and Italian restaurant in Soho. To start, there's bread with roasted garlic, a creamy eggplant puree and a bean and olive salad and a lovely create-your-own wine flight.

The tuna duo, with hamachi and yellowtail, was served with avocado and was a great light start to dinner.

The first tomato and watermelon salad I've had this year was served with goat cheese.

The beet salad was incredible, with arugula and a hefty portion of shaved cheese.

A pappardelle and ramp dish was surprisingly light given the richness of the sauce.

The short ribs in a meaty sauce melted; the bed of potatoes was buttery.

The flatbread with prosciutto, gorgonzola and figs was sweet and a good stand in for dessert.

Vive la crepe

Sometimes, I crave a pb&j...in a crepe! Vive le crepe does it perfectly - a thin, soft crepe filled with peanut butter and marmalade. Fantastic.

Asiadog

Today is a great day: Asiadog opened a shop right around the corner from my apartment! Now it's possible to get one of their amazing dogs (beef, chicken or veggie) topped with sweet Japanese curry and spicy kimchi apples day or night. These are hot dogs at their best!

French Laundry

A few friends and I are having dinner at French Laundry (yay!) on May 2nd and have 2 extra spots in our reservation. If you're in the SF area and would like to join us, email me!

Torrisi Italian Specialties

Dinner at Torrisi Italian Specialties is a fantastic experience, beginning with their incredible house-made mozzarella served in a bowl of Davero olive oil with milk thistle and a crunchy piece of bruschetta with cheese.

The next course of the nightly dinner menu was cucumbers New Yorkese - thinly sliced cucumbers with garlic at 3 stages of pickling.

Next up was a grilled squid salad with corona beans, celery and a pepperoni vinaigrette.

The tripe cacciatore was a play on a traditional preparation - battered and fried.

The goat ricotta gnocchi with cauliflower and pine nuts was unbelievably creamy and delicate. I could have eaten an entire bowl.

The amazing devil's chicken had a great spice tempered by a yogurt sauce, topped with frisee.

The light and flaky striped bass fillet was topped with olives on a bed of pickled green tomatoes.

Adorable cups of lemon ice arrived as a palette cleanser before the assorted Italian cookie plate for dessert.