Mikey Boom Boom is in full effect this week, and he follows up his Sunday two-starring of La Mar with a reality check at Wolfgang Puck's Postrio. He drops the middle-aged restaurant from its three-star perch all the way down to 1.5 stars. To get an idea of the carnage, we'll just share some of Bauer's more poignant moments:
The Parmesan cheese souffle appetizer ($18) came with black pepper ice cream and onion jus. I had no idea that the ice cream would be sweeter than Haagen-Dazs without a hint of black pepper heat. It was melting into the souffle as the waiter poured the purplish jus over the top ... I couldn't finish it.More boom:
I've never had the combination of eggplant, red peppers and carrot cake on one plate, and I don't want it again.And, for good measure, one more:
It feels like Postrio is in the doldrums. At nearly 20 years old, it's too new to be deemed a classic and too old to be trendy. It's in that no-man's-land, and it certainly didn't appeal to this man.The room, of course, still looks the same, but as is pointed, it just doesn't have that same chic appeal to "that man" when it's mostly empty. There was one winning dish, be advised, and that was the pan-roasted chicken. In any event, it's a 1.5 for Postrio. [Chron]
East Bay correspondent Nicholas Boer finds Danville's new Chow to be a respectable offshoot of Tony Gulisano's growing Bay Area chain: "At Chow one can count on a range of comfort foods like spaghetti and meatballs, fish tacos, French onion soup and cobb salad. But there is plenty of room for more serious diners to stretch out ... Chow has distilled the best of Bay Area dining, without a hint of pretense." Upshot: 2.5 stars. [Chron]
Meredith Brody discusses eating contests and rock and roll at the Richmond's tiny gem of yakitori house, Halu. She deems the skewers "incontestably delicious" and proclaims the following words of wisdom: "If you're scared of chicken innards, here is the place to get over your fear" [SFW]
Paul Reidinger muses on the prime location of Andalu (16th/Guerrero) and how the restaurant transcends Spain to go global: "Unlike nearby Ramblas, which does hew to a certain Spanish authenticity, Andalu's kitchen turns out versions of items as diverse as miso-glazed sea bass and spare ribs braised in Coke ... Since I am perpetually curious about macaroni and cheese ($7.50), I was interested to see what freshening could be given to this most American of dishes. Typical restaurant fancifications involve the use of chic cheese — Gruyère is a frequent choice — but Andalu's menu card described the mac and cheese as 'crispy.'" [SFBG]
THE ELSEWHERE: The EBX gets nostalgic at Celia's in Berkeley, the MIJ is at Tekila's Taqueria in San Rafael, the CoCo Times does fish tacos at Half Moon Bay's Flying Fish Grill, and the Sunday Chron review doled out a pair of stars to "runaway hit" La Mar.
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