Secret Restaurant Menus

Apparently, In-n-Out isn't the only place that offers special items if you know the secret codes. Check out this SJ Mercury article about restaurants all over the Bay Area that have outside-the-menu options for those in the know.

Which now includes you.

Vallco ... Er, I mean Cupertino Square

If you spend much time in Cupertino, you probably know that Vallco Shopping Center is undergoing a massive overhaul — which even includes a new name: Cupertino Square. I've only been to two restaurants there, Alexander's Steakhouse and Benihana,* but there are a couple that I'll probably be frequenting for lunch when their doors finally open.

CPK ASAP has had a coming soon banner out for months now. So today, I decided to look into the situation, because I'm tired of being teased about their opening. It turns out, the ground has been dug up, but they're still waiting for PG&E to come in and lay down some pipes. Only then can construction of the actual interior commence. So it's going to be at least a few months before I can get some BBQ chicken salad for lunch.

In addition to the yet-to-open CPK ASAP, Cupertino Square will also be home to an Islands burger joint. This has one of my coworkers very excited, because in Northern California you can only currently enjoy Islands in the Sacramento area.

* Speaking of Benihana, did I ever tell you that we went there for Jon's birthday a couple of months ago? We did, because we had some gift cards for the place. So when I called to get a reservation at the Burlingame location, I discovered that it's closed for a big renovation. Like a year-long renovation. I can't wait to see what it looks like afterwards! It'd better be really cool if they shut down for this long.

Chronicle's Top 100

Of the 17 new restaurants that Michael Bauer et al added to this year's Top 100, three are located in the Peninsula: Junnoon and Mantra in Palo Alto (both upscale Indian) and Kaygetsu in Menlo Park.

Actually, the only other Peninsula/South Bay eateries that made the annual list are Koi Palace in Daly City, Amber India in Mountain View and Manresa in Los Gatos. Hmmm ... I think the 650 and 408 are a bit underrpresented. What about Navio in Half Moon Bay? Or Evvia and Tamarine in PA? I'd gladly dine at either of those restaurants before I return to Junnoon or Amber India. (When we dined at the two Indian restaurants, the service was a little lacking — e.g., the wrong dish brought to the table, a nearly one hour wait for a table despite having a reservation.)

Update: Beard Papa

Judith sent me an email this morning with the scoop on the Redwood City Beard Papa:

Grand Opening!
November 10, 2006

835 Middlefield Road, RWC
Hours: Sun-Thurs = 9am-10pm; Fri-Sat = 10am-11pm

Vanilla Cream Puffs: 1 = $1.75; 6 = $10; 12 = $20

Special flavors will be rotated weekly, but may include: chocolate, caramel, gree tea, pumpkin, milk tea and strawberry. (Prices are slightly higher for these non-vanilla flavors.)

FREE! The first 50 customers for the first 5 days to order 12 or more cream puffs will receive a Beard Papa Coffee Thermos.

Waiting for Beard Papa

Okay, for months now, I've heard that Beard Papa is "opening soon" in Redwood City. I heard June, then August, and September ... And now, people, it is OCTOBER. So where are the cream puffs?! (4-5 months does not equal soon!)*

Of course, I Googled. Nothing concrete came up. The Beard Papa corporate web site just gives an address (835 Middlefield Road), but no opening date.

Then I got smart and searched the Craigslist job postings. Sure enough, there was one for "Supervisor, Barista and Baker Positions" for the RWC location. The jobs were posted on Sunday for an October 20th hire date; but it also says the doors will open this month. Fingers are officially crossed now!

This is my favorite part of the job description:

Our location will be in the new entertainment hub of Downtown Redwood City next to the new 20-screen Century Theatres (just opened in July) and the Fox Live-venue Theatre (with recent concerts from Hootie and the Blowfish to Dave Brubeck).

Hootie? And the Blowfish? What kind of potential employees will be lured by this?

* While I didn't think the Beard Papa cream puffs were to-die-for (as some people do), I thought they were good -- and I'm interested in trying some of the non-vanilla flavors. Also, to me, they aren't worth a trip up to San Francisco. But sure I'd go across town to grab one.

Food Bloggers/Photographers

Today's Chronicle has a good article on camera-totin' food bloggers. This is something that I'm often torn about ... I don't offer up too many photos on this site because:

• I'm not a great photographer, so more often than not, I don't think I can do the food justice.
• I don't want to become one of those people (as the story touches on) that lets getting the perfect shot overshadow enjoying the food itself.
• My husband isn't really a fan of me bringing out the camera with every course, although he's gotten better about it.

Yet I realize that:

• In addition to smell, taste and texture, food is also a visual thing. There's a reason why people say, "Wow. Just looking at that [insert tantalizing treat here] is making me hungry!"
• Some presentations are so beautiful, that it doesn't seem sufficient to describe them. Again, there's a reason why people say, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Some culinary creations really do need to be seen.

Anyway. The Chron piece is good, solid reporting. And it includes one of my favorite restaurants -- Chicago's Alinea. The chef mentions that they get at least one food blogger/photographer a night. During my dinner visit, in addition to myself, there were two other tables in our (small) dining room that were snapping pictures. (Most of my photos didn't really convey how gorgeous the dishes really were.)

Coming Soon to Los Altos: Whole Foods

Yep, that's right. Whole Foods' domination continues, with a new store slated to open soon in Los Altos (4800 El Camino Real). The single-story, 55,000-square foot market will offer two levels of underground parking, which is enough for about 360 cars. It sounds like the set-up will be similar to the San Francisco (California Street) and San Mateo locations -- which have conveyer belts that deliver the grocery bags down to the parking area.

The Los Altos location has been posting job opportunities on various sites, so I'm guessing that the doors will be open around August/September.

Update: The Counter Burger

I got an email this weekend from the folks at The Counter Burger, which I blogged about waaay back in March. Although they were hoping to be up and running this month, it's looking more like a late July opening.

Since The Counter Burger did make GQ's list of top 20 burgers in the country, I think it'll be worth the wait!

The Counter Burger
369 California Avenue
Palo Alto, CA
(650) 654-8900

Coming Soon to Los Altos: Carvel

Apparently, Carvel is ready to take the Bay Area by storm -- opening up THREE ice cream shops. Los Altos' Foothill Crossing shopping center will be home to the only one in the Peninsula though. (Berkeley is also getting a Carvel franchise soon, and the Brentwood location recently opened.)

I've only had Carvel once (in Long Island, I think?), and can't remember much about the experience. So I'm looking forward to checking it out this summer.

Carvel
Foothill Crossing
2310 Homestead Road, #H
Los Altos, CA

Junnoon's Grand Opening Ceremony (?)

Even though it’s been open for over three months now, downtown Palo Alto’s Junnoon just announced its grand opening ceremony plans. Scheduled to take place next week, the event is detailed in an email with the eye-catching subject, “Come Smash A Coconut on June 13.” (The lack of periods, the asterisks and the centered text are all straight from the email.)

This is not your garden-variety ribbon-cutting ceremony

Junnoon is the latest addition to Palo Alto’s dining scene, with modern Indian cuisine showcasing the finest local ingredients in healthy, bold, flavor-intensive dishes
*
Help Junnoon celebrate its grand opening by smashing a coconut on the patio for good luck (that’s how it’s done in India — 1.1 billion people can’t be wrong)
*
Come throw a coconut, and while you're at it, throw back a few specialty coconut cocktails
*
Enjoy hors d’oeuvres from Junnoon’s culinary team, who honed their skills at these world-class restaurants: Tabla and Tamarind in NYC; Cinnamon Club in London; Bombay Club in Washington, D.C.
*
Floyd Cardoz, of the critically acclaimed Tabla and Bread Bar in NYC, is Junnoon’s consulting chef
*
Complimentary cocktails and hors d'oeuvres from 5:30-7 p.m.
*
Palo Alto Mayor Judy Kleinberg will smash the first fruit at 6 p.m.
*
150 University Ave. (at High St.)
*

New Restaurant in Palo Alto

Madison & Fifth just opened its doors this week in downtown Palo Alto. It’s described as “a New York style restaurant.” I'm not exactly sure what that means though, so I’ll have to do a walk-by and check out the menu soon.

Madison & Fifth
367 University Avenue
Palo Alto, CA

Coming Soon to Los Gatos: Cocoa Bon

A while back, I wrote a little something on Cocoa Bon -- a local company that makes wonderful chocolate products. And just last week, one of the owners wrote to let me know that the store is moving from Valley Fair to downtown Los Gatos. (The family-run business is actually based in LG.)

Set to open in mid-July, the new store will offer an expanded selection of goodies -- including ice creams, truffles and drinking chocolates. AND there will even be a little lounge area. I can't wait!

P.S. Whenever I polish off a tin of Cocoa Bon treats -- which is fairly often -- I hang on to the containers because they're both cute and functional. I keep a tall tin in my car full of quarters (for feeding meters), a small round tin in my office for pushpins, etc.

New-ish Restaurant in San Carlos

When downtown San Carlos' A Tavola suffered a small kitchen fire and relocated to Redwood City in June 2005, the move was expected to be a temporary one. But that status was soon changed to permanent. Then in March 2006, Town opened up in the old A Tavola space. (Both are operated by the same team, and they are sister restaurants to Milagros in RWC and Nola in Palo Alto.)

According to Town's Open Table profile, the restaurant "features hand cut steaks and chops, the freshest seafood, local organic produce, hand-crafted cocktails, and a wine list with a focus on California, Washington and Oregon wines."

Town
716 Laurel Street
San Carlos, CA
(650) 595-3003

Donde esta El Grullense?

Okay, remember when I said that the newest El Grullense would be opening last Friday? I lied. But that's only because the staff at the El Camino/RWC location had given me bad information. Apparently, despite crews working late into the night, they couldn't get the new restaurant open on time.

I drove by this past weekend and the "coming soon" signs were still taped to the window. It looks like the furniture is in place though. So any day now...

It's probably best to give a call before you head over to the soon-to-open Woodside Road location. (650) 368-3325

Reminder: New El Grullense

Good timing, since today is Cinco de Mayo. The newest El Grullense opens today.

El Grullense
768 Woodside Road
Redwood City, CA
(650) 368-3325

New Restaurant in Cupertino

We just got a flier in the mail about this new place, Wahoo's Fish Taco, located next to the Elephant Bar. It's a chain, with locations in California, Nevada and Colorado; but this is only the second Bay Area outpost (the other is in San Jose). Here's the description on the flier:

"Wahoo's Fish Taco serves a unique menu featuring Mexican dishes with a Brazilian twist in a beach-casual atmosphere. Known for charbroiled fish tacos and Banzai burritos, we also serve chicken, steak, pork, shrimp and veggie dishes. All ingredients are prepared fresh daily."

Personally, I don't have high hopes for this place, although I haven't ruled out giving it a try one of these days. Since "fish taco" is in their name, maybe they at least do that well.

Wahoo's
19626 Stevens Creek Boulevard
Cupertino, CA
(408) 466-4771

Michael Bauer, Blogger

Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer has officially entered the blogosphere! His blog is called Between Meals, and here's an article detailing what he hopes to accomplish with it.

Coming Soon to Palo Alto: Satura Cakes

Walking along University Avenue the other day, I noticed a storefront that will soon be the home of Satura's second Peninsula location. I haven't been to the Los Altos outpost, but I am all for more bakery options around here.

The Metroactive had this to say when the Los Altos Satura opened in January:

The high-concept bakery creates pastries as artfully presented as sushi made with premium ingredients. Masahito Motohashi, one of the top 5 pastry chefs in Japan, designed the menu. Typical of Japanese confections, these desserts are less sweet than their American counterparts, and ingredients, local and organic when possible, are paired down to bare minimums so the flavors shine through. Satura Cakes does not use any hydrogenated shortenings and bakes its cakes, cookies and pastries daily. The store will also sell premium espressos and coffees.

I'm especially looking forward to trying the strawberry shortcake, green tea pound cake, vanilla cream puffs, carmelized banana tart and macaroons. The menu also includes unique offerings such as strawberry or pistachio tiramisu, green tea chestnut roll and sesame blancmange.

Satura Cakes
200 Main Street
Los Altos, CA
(650) 948-3300

The Palo Alto location is scheduled to open in May.

Downtown Deadwood City

It's been a while since I've written any kind of update on the subject (previous posts are here and here). So this is the latest: Apparently all of the crappy weather has negatively impacted the revitalization efforts in downtown Redwood City. Not that the rain is totally at fault -- since this project was supposed to be completed in Summer 2005 -- and now it looks like they're shooting for a Summer 2006 launch.

The 20-screen movie theater will not be open until after July. BUT, anchor tenant Cost Plus World Markets says it's sticking to its May opening. (So you can stock up on wicker just in time for summer! I'm kidding -- I know Cost Plus has other cool stuff.)

Other occupants of the On Broadway complex are hoping to open their doors in June -- including Chipotle, Escape from NY Pizza, Fatburger, Marble Slab, Tacone, Tandoori's Oven and Beard Papa. (Cream puffs! I want some Beard Papa cream puffs already!)

The city has set up several webcams so you can check out the progress. I'm actually a bit skeptical about this summer opening for the theater, but I hope I'm wrong...

Bay Area Michelin Guide

Hot off the newswire:

Michelin announced today the Michelin Guide San Francisco and the Bay Area 2007, arriving in stores in October 2006.

Michelin will expand its exclusive hotel and restaurant guide series in North America to include SanFrancisco and the Bay Area. The Michelin Guide San Francisco and the Bay Area 2007, the first-ever Michelin Guide for a West Coast city, is scheduled to arrive in stores October 2006. The Guide will cover hotels and restaurants in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Berkeley, as well as the Wine Country including Napa and Sonoma. The announcement was made todayby Jean-Luc Naret, worldwide director of the Michelin Guide.

The Michelin Guide, whose rating system is internationally recognized as the height of culinary success, is already published in 12 editions covering 20 European countries, and additionally includes a Guide to New York City, which was introduced in November 2005. For its debut in the San Francisco area, the Guide will provide a selection and rating, in all categories of comfort and prices, of San Francisco and Bay Area restaurants and hotels, in a reader-friendly layout made especially for the American market and the region's distinctive culinary and hotel landscape.

"The diversity, breadth and depth of San Francisco's restaurant and hotel scene, coupled with its rich gastronomic history clearly mark the city and surrounding areas as the logical choice for the next North American title in the Michelin Guide series," commented Naret. "As with our recently published Guide to New York City, we are making every effort to produce a comprehensive selection that does full justice to the region's exciting restaurant and hotel culture and also meets our readers' expectations."

During the announcement, Naret described San Francisco as unique among American cities, citing its reputation as a world-class tourism destination and stressing the importance of its treasured culinary traditions, including the genesis of organic cooking, the foundation of California cuisine and the 'Slow Food' movement, as well as the production of renowned wines nearby.

"The Bay Area's food-conscious residents value innovative cuisine and are passionate about using fresh ingredients, including some of the country's highest quality organic ingredients that are produced here," said Naret. "We are eagerly anticipating the Michelin Guide's entry into this wonderful city known for its cuisine, culture, beauty and innovative spirit."

As part of its meticulous and highly confidential evaluation process, Michelin inspectors -- both European and American -- are currently conducting anonymous inspections in Bay Area restaurants and hotels. As with all Michelin Guide inspections, the process involves test meals or overnight stays at each establishment by Michelin inspectors, in order to assess the level and the consistency of the establishment. As with all of the Guides for all countries, inspectors pay all of their bills at restaurants and hotels.

"The Michelin inspectors are the eyes and ears of the customers, and thus the anonymity of our inspectors is key to ensure they are treated the same as any guest would be treated," commented Naret.

The Michelin Guide offers a broad selection of hotels and restaurants in each price and comfort category, taking into account each country's local environment. This rating is unique and consistent across all countries covered by the Michelin Guide. It is expressed in two ways:

• A comfort rating: levels of comfort are rated using one to five forks and spoons for restaurants and one to five pavilions for hotels. Those symbols only judge the comfort of the establishment. They are: the furnishings of the establishment, the service, the cleanliness and upkeep of the surroundings.
• Special distinctions for certain establishments: these include stars for the very best restaurants. Red forks and spoons or red pavilions are for especially pleasant establishments. The stars judge only "what's on the plate," meaning the quality of products, the mastering of flavors, the mastering of cooking, the "personality" of the cuisine, the value for money and the consistency of what it offers to its customers both throughout the menu and the year.

While every restaurant in the Guide is a recommendation from Michelin, certain restaurants deserve to be brought to the reader's attention for the particularity fine quality of their cooking. These establishments are identified by Michelin stars, which are awarded for the standard of meals served.

A general listing in the Guide indicates "a quality restaurant that stands out from others" in the same category of comfort, definitely worth trying. The star ratings are as follows:

• One star indicates "a very good restaurant in its category," a place offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard.
• Two stars denote "excellent cooking, worth a detour," skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality.
• Three stars reward "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey." One always eats extremely well here, often superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients.

The decision to award a star is a collective one, based on the consensus of all inspectors who have visited a particular establishment. A written description of each establishment and a variety of other symbols will give readers further insight into an establishment's ambiance, type of cuisine and specialties, and wine list, customized to American tastes and needs.

The two founders, Andre and Edouard Michelin, first impacted the transportation world, and consequently the travel world, when their innovative ideas led to the first pneumatic automobile tires. Since this breakthrough in travel technology, the Michelin Group has been dedicated to providing unbiased, accurate, clear and easy-to-understand information for the traveling customer. The Michelin Guide, first published in 1900, was created to provide motorists with practical information about where they could service and repair their cars and find quality accommodations or a good meal. The Guide was provided free of charge until 1920, and the "star system" for outstanding restaurants was introduced in 1926, with the two-and three-star categories introduced in the early 1930s, clearly positioning Michelin as the most respected arbiter of fine dining. With their unparalleled commitment to quality, Michelin publishes close to 20 million maps, atlases, travel guides and hotel and restaurant guides in more than 70 countries worldwide every year.

The Michelin Guide San Francisco and the Bay Area 2007 will complement the existing catalog of Michelin maps and guides to the North American market, including the recently launched Guide to New York City. The Guide will be available in October 2006 at bookstores, boutiques and other participating retailers, including online retailers.

Hmmm... While the Peninsula area is not specifically mentioned, I'm guessing it will be covered as well.