We don't do our own reviews per se here at Eater, but we hear there are plenty of local bloggers that do. Know a blog that should be on our radar? Do share.
James Newman, 12/14/07
Leading off, we have Lost in San Francisco at 1300 on Fillmore, and like most, he's immediately struck by 1300's setting. There's also confirmation that 1300's live entertainment permit has arrived: "The lighting is appropriately dim and a rotating parade of black and white pictures of the glory days of the neighborhood flash silently over the bar. Off the main entrance is a petite lounge and a three piece jazz trio was set up there in the corner, swinging the night away. The crowd was a colorful melange...older black couples out for a night on the town, post work Financial District types, and jazz heads getting a bite before hitting a show next door." [Lost in SF]
Santa Bauer takes Pizza Fridays to Berkeley's Gioia, where he unveils two very important facts: "I received scores of nominations for the best pizza places around the Bay Area, but most frequently mentioned was Gioia, a hole in the wall in Berkeley near the famed Monterey Market ... Many aficionados contend it's the closest thing to authentic New York-style pizza in the Bay Area. It's certainly the best I've had of this style so far, but my search is still in its infancy." Fact #1: Gioia has the best NY-style pizza. Fact #2: the Pizza Friday extravaganza is just getting started; be very afraid. [Between Meals]
Gastronomie takes to the bloglands to share a horror story from the otherwise-stellar Alembic, where the servers seem have a hard time differentiating various types of Scotch: "I don't necessarily expect a server at a small neighborhood eatery to remember the distinctions between and Islay and a Lowland Scotch, let alone which ones come from where ... But when you're waiting tables at Alembic? ... Then I do have an expectation that you will at the very least ASK A BARTENDER when you are out of the Scotch I want, and not just order the next thing you recognize that's the same price in the computer." Zing. [Gastronomie]
Taking part in some adventures in metaphors, A Few Reservations really enjoys the panna cotta at Delfina (we think): "... but, oh, the Panna Cotta. So smooth. Like, let's say Delfina's Panna Cotta enters a smooth competition against Barry White, a pile of silk, and a newborn baby's ass, Panna Cotta wins, hands down." [AFR]
ELSEWHERE: Chef Ben does his thing and is pleasantly surprised with Blue Barn Gourmet in the Marina. Leah at Slow Food Taste Life is at Hayes Valley wine bar Hotel Biron, Bay Area Critic loves the prices at J's Pots of Soul, Foggy Food is a bit ambivalent about A16 and NTF declares Tu Lan the "best deal on the whole block."
