Adrie Reinders

A shining star under the Golden Gate Bridge

Murray Circle
Cavallo Point - the Lodge at the Golden Gate
601 Murray Circle, Fort Baker, Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 339-4750

This week I was invited to have dinner at the restaurant at Cavallo Point called Murray Circle, a one star Michelin restaurant.
The already famous Chef Joseph Humphry is doing an excellent job here - coming from other locations where he won up to two Michelin stars that may not come as a surprise but still takes dedication to achieve.

As my starter I had Sunchoke Bisque, a very refined starter setting me up for a great meal. The main course was a dish with wood-grilled prawns, fennel and cucumber - again superb flavours all coming into their own. To finish I could not resist the Black Tea Creme Brulee - soft, creamy, delicate - one bite only inviting another. This all in all was probably one of the best dinners I have had on the West Coast.

The decor was a little too dark for my taste, it almost gave me the sense that I was in a living room instead of a restaurant, which was not entirely comfortable. Service was as you should expect in a top quality restaurant, friendly, knowledgeable, professional without being overbearing. All in all an excellent experience.

Food: 9.5
Service: 8.5
Comfort: 8
Price/Quality: 8.5

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A Different Place

Out The Door, Westfield Shopping Mall, 845 Market, San Francisco CA

The founder of Slanted Door, Charles Phan, really understands the restaurant business and proves so once again with “Out the Door” the restaurant he opened in the basement food court at Westfield San Francisco Center. Out the Door is a “Vietnamese” restaurant, in a big open space, and extremely popular. The decoration is modern and a bit minimalistic, but comfortable, noise level on the high side. It seats
130 people and you can definitely tell from the chatter around you.

The food is very fresh and the service is good, with servers with a sound knowledge of the food. For lunch I had fresh spring rolls ($7.50) plumped with curls of shrimp, slices of pork, mint and rice noodles and as a main-course a green papaya salad ($7.50) with tofu, pickled carrots and roasted peanuts. As I mentioned, all of it was fresh and light. When shopping in the Westfield, this is defnite place to go for a snack or a full meal.

Food: 8.5
Comfort: 7.5
Service: 8
Price/Quality: 8

De past 18 months I have written about restaurants and hotels all over the world - and have told you besides about the journeys and airports I have visited (unfortunately). I like sharing my experiences and will definitely continue, but to prevent everyone thinking I am merely sitting around in hotels and restaurants - I would love to offer the opportunity for a small number of guest writers to add their contribution.

Are you interested in joining? Write me at adrie@efactor.com and add your first post.
Suggestions are always welcome

A classic from Calabri

Restaurant Poggio, 777 Bridgeway, Sausalito CA

Restaurant Poggio is a real Italian classic, traditonal interior design - lots of wood and a typical Italian feel to it
Every day they have a special menu with dishes based on produce in season.

My menu consisted of a carpaccio. Whilst good, it was a little too cold and felt like it had been plated and kept refridgerated waiting for my order. As a main course, I had chargrilled Tuna with mashed potatoes - which was excellent. For desert I had a fresh Tangerine sorbet which was in one word delicious - and in a generous sizing.

Service was friendly and efficient but without a lot of the pleasant dramatics that I like so much about a real Italian place.

As I mentioned, the decor was heavy and classical but comfortable nevertheless.

Food: 8.5
Service: 7.5
Comfort: 7.5
Price/Quality: 7.5

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A shining star in Düsseldorf

Victorian Königstraße 3a 40212 Düsseldorf Tel. +49 211 - 86550

On the infamous Königs Allee in Düsseldorf you can find one the best restaurants in town. The “Kö” as it is commonly known is the heart of a world-famous shopping area which can easily be compared to Madison Avenue in New York, Michigan Avenue in Chicago or Monte Napoleone in Milan in terms of quality and style.

The restaurant is rather austere in terms of decor - typical of the boutiques and shops you find in this area, lots of chrome, white and mirrors. The host, who is a regular at the restaurant, ordered the chef’s nine-course special menu - all nouvelle cuisine-like, small, beautifully presented dishes. The taste was phenomenal although the main course (a meat dish) was not as tender as I had expected. But other then that I cannot fault it at all. Though the dishes were all light, nine course later you are still full!

Personell was as can be expected in a restaurant of this standard, very smooth and knowledgeable. As mentioned, the decor was rather cold and not to my personal taste. One thing that seemed odd to me is that the tables had been set in such a way that the waiter had to hand me my dish over someone else’s setting. One minor point in an otherwise perfect evening.

Definitely worth visiting should you happen to visit Düsseldorf

Food: 9
Service: 8.5
Comfort: 8
Price/Quality: As I was treated this time, I don’t know the price part, but I assume in line with a Michelin star ranked restaurant.

Lunch with a spectacular View

Ristorante Portofino, 105 Rockaway Beach Ave, Pacifica, CA,

Today I had a business lunch and had to find a convenient place, so I Googled several options and finally found Portofino in Pacifica.
It could not have turned out to be a better place on a sunny day given its spectacular views over the Pacific Ocean, unbelievable.
As the name indicates, it is an Italian restaurant, nicely decorated, albeit it a little old fashioned, but very comfortable. Service is okay, not overly professional,
but satisfactory. As a main course i had Veal Parmigiana, which was served with spinach and pasta, not bad at all. Unfortunately the cappucino was not as Italian
as the rest of the restaurant but overall it was fine.

The combination of view and food make this an almost perfect place to go

Food:7.5
Service: 7
Comfort: 8
View: unbeatable - 9
Price/Quality: 8

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Not just Sushi

Blue Ribbon Sushi, 119 Sullivan Street (between Prince and Spring streets)
New York, NY 10012
212.343.0404

Recently I visited my favorite sushi place in the world again -  Blue Ribbon Sushi, in Soho, Manhattan. For years I was a regular visitor - eating here once or twice a week - since the Sushi is the best you’ll find. Personnel is first class and the decor of the restaurant simple, a bit dark, not overly comfortable but always making you feel like you are coming home.
My starter consisted of a shrimp tempura - just like it should be, deliciously light batter and non-greasy. As a main course I had the California roll with blue crab en Tuna with flakes - easily superior to anywhere else. Dessert consisted of a green tea creme brulee, gorgeousl

If you like Sushi and you are in New York - you absolutely have to make a stop here. Be early - I am not the only one who thinks this place is great!

Food: 9
Comfort: 7
Service: 8.5
Price/Quality: 8

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Not just Nnnnn

Great place to know for lunch

Mocha
175 Maiden Lane
San Francisco

In a little alley just off Union Square, the heart of San Francisco’s shopping area, you will find a great place for lunch - Mocca 175 - a little Italian style restaurant. They make excellent sandwiches and salads, which you can take out to a large outdoor seating area right in the alley to eat. The quality of the dishes is superb, and sitting there eating outside on the streets of San Francisco gives it a special atmosphere. Definitely recommended for a good, simple lunch.

Food: 8.5
Service: 7.5
Price/Quality: 8
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With a touch of difference every time

XYZ, 181 3rd street, San Francisco, 415 777 5300

This week, I had dinner in XYZ, an integral part of the W in San Francisco. It is interesting to see the variety of restaurant concepts the W hotels manage to bring to the market. All with the same sense of style and fun. XYZ kitchen is what I would like to call “French/American cuisine” if there is such a thing. Little puff pastries were served as a miniature starter courtesy of the chef, followed for me by 6 oysters as a starter - fresh and nicely tasting but with too many shell pieces to feel very comfortable eating them. Careless.

As a main course, I had the Duck, served medium - which was well prepared and moist enough. One of my co-diners however had the Black Cod wrapped in pancetta, which sounded tempting but was so undercooked that the fish was left on the plate. Again, not enough attention to detail in the kitchen it seems. Finally, as a dessert I opted for the Pannacota with caramel sauce, which was faultless and a real treat.

Overall the service was professional and friendly, comfort was good, decoration typical W, cool and funky.

Food: 7.5
Service: 7.6
Comfort: 7.5
Price/Quality: 7.5

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Feast your eyes

Minamoto Kitchoan
648 Market Street, San Francisco

Yesterday I was walking from one appointment to another in San Franciso when I walked past Minamoto Kitchoan - www.kitchoan.com, a shop selling confectioneries for a Japanese High Tea.
It absolutely was a gorgeous experience just to look - an artful display of delicacies. I could not resist the temptation to also taste these pastries and it most definitely met my initial expectations - a delicate blend of flavours and textures, so light that the taste is barely there but still overwhelming. Definitely makes me very greedy for more - and it won’t be the last visit I make there. Thank goodness they also have stores in London, NY and Singapore…