Adrie Reinders

A pearl hidden in the rolling hills of Sonoma

Kenwood Inn And Spa

www.kenwoodinn.com
10400 Sonoma Hwy
Kenwood, CA 95452-8015
(707) 833-1293

Sonoma is an area of California I had not really visited before and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the landscape which reminded me a lot of Italy. Rolling hills, softly undulating vineyards, hospitable people – in short, a great escape from the city.

Kenwood Inn lies tucked in amidst gorgeous nature. The restaurant has a kitchen that is influenced heavily by Italy with Chef John being obsessed by the fresh, flavoursome ingredients from the local area. Everything he prepares is authentic and true, and beautifully prepared and presented. It’s a real highlight of your stay to experience food that is as good as this. Apart from that the Inn boasts a great winecellar.

Service was great, and the direct communication with Chef John meant that every dish became a personally prepared jewel.

Comfort was reasonable, a little too rustic for my taste although spacious and well presented.
The surrounding area is stunning.

Food: 9
Comfort; 7.5
Service: 8.5
Price/Quality: 8.5

Foreign Cinema, an amazing experience

2534 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110-2512
(415) 648-7600

The advantage of writing a blog about restaurants is that people start to tell you about unusual places and venues to go to, or invite you to sample a special meal in their city or region.

This week, two friends invited me for dinner in the Foreign Cinema, right in the heart of the colourful district Mission in San Francisco. Foreign Cinema is typically one of those spots you wouldn’t find if you didn’t know about it. The design is modern, with an outside area where you can eat and where at night films are projected on a big white wall whilst you eat. Very unusual.

Foreign Cinema is known for its californian/mediterranean food, starters are unique and are shared by the diners at the table. My main course was a Madras Chicken Curry, wonderfully flavours and taste.

Service was friendly, knowledgeable and professional and the decor very pleasing and comfortable.

If you are heading to, or staying in San Francisco, an absolute must.

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

Lebanese at Buckingham Palace

Noura Belgravia
16 Hobart Place
London, SW1
www.nouralounge.com

During my stay in London this past week, I had lunch at Noura, a small chain with several (4) restaurants in London. Whilst I can tell you that London is a different city as soon as the sun comes out, you get the sense that at Noura the sun always shines. They have a small outdoor area, but inside is the place to be – spacious, but done in such a way that you don’t feel like you are drowning, beautifully decorated with great eye for detail and very comfortable. The staff are all from Lebanese descent, and the food is based purely on Lebanese cuisine.

After some delicious warm pitta and olives and marinated radish, I opted to for a chicken skewer with salad and humus. As dessert I had a plate of lebanese pastries, inlcuding baklava served with a Lebanese coffee which had a lovely hint of cardamom.

The food was pure and fresh and simply great. A really strong recommendation. Good to know also is that Noura was awarded the “Best Vegetarian restaurant” award in 2005.

Food: 8.5
Comfort: 8
Service: 8
Price/Quality: 8.6

A Taste of Hawaii in San Francisco

Roy’s

575 Mission Street, San Francisco

The concierge of the E.Factor Travel Service and our Business Lounges, had recommended and reserved a table for us at Roy’s, a Hawaiian Fusion restaurant in the heart of San Fran.
Roy’s is beautifully decorated and has an unexpected menu with a mix of Hawaiian, European, Asian – quite a dramatic combination. As you’ll understand if you read my blogs regularly, I am not easily surprised when it comes to restaurants, but this definitely was the exception to the rule. I had the short ribs, and even this classic dish had a touch of Hawaii. My desert was another classic: creme brulée, which was delicious enough to want to lick the plate.

Service was professional, timely and friendly and seating very comfortable.

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

________________________________________

Dutch design in San Fran
Credo

www.credosf.com
360 Pine Street
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 693-0360
I had dinner last night in Credo, a new restaurant in the heart of San Francisco which was designed by Piet Hein Eek. Piet Hein Eek became world famous with his furniture made from drift wood, which forms a main part of the decor in Credo. It looks nice and clean – lots of space, white walls decorated with famous sayings all starting with “I believe….” the english translation for the latin “Credo”. Tastefully done.
Unfortunately, like so many modern restaurants these days, the noise levels were too high and made it hard to have a comfortable conversation. This effect is emphasised by the bar in the middle of the restaurant. I never like that so much, drinking people always seem to make more noise then those around them.

Service was very good, professional and well instructed. Decor, as said, beautiful and reasonably comfortable. The food was excellent, I have to admit. Great dishes, mainly derived from Italian classics. I fancied the Pizza which was great, nice thin curst and fresh ingredients. For dessert a very non-Italian dish – Crema Catalan… superb!!

Food: 8,5
Service: 8
Comfort: 7.5
Price/quality: 8

________________________________________

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

________

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

Le Lan, 749 N Clark, Chicago, IL 60610

During a network event called “Big Idea Forum” which I visited, I received a recommendation to have dinner at Le Lan’s – originally a French/Vietnamese restaurant which was now more French Asian fusion. Intrigued, I walked over to the restaurant later on.

The peaceful interior decor and earthy colours are noticeable the moment you walk in. The seating is comfortable and  tables are far enough apart so that you do not feel all squashed together. A number of gorgeous wall paintings complete the picture.

To start with I had the “pork belly & pink shrimp spring roll” which turned out to be an excellent choice, delicate in flavour and perfectly balanced in textures. As a main dish I chose the dish of the week “Braised Beef Short Rib with Apple Chile Pure”. The taste of the dish was excellent, but the meat a little too firm for my liking. I like my short ribs almost done to the point of it falling apart when you merely look at it. I followed with a final course of “Molten Chocolate cake with Orange Zest ice cream” which was just as delicious as it sounds.
The waiter, Chester, was friendly, professional and very knowledgeable about each dish he served, something you unfortunately encounter less and less these days.

All in all a super experience and definitely a restaurant I will return to.

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

The Grand Salon @ Soho Grand Hotel, New York, by Evelyn Lee
Had a late and super relaxing lunch on New Year Day at the Grand Salon, it is located in the main Atrium of the Soho Grand Hotel, next to the Grand Bar & Lounge. It offers casual Nouveau American comfort food. We started our lunch at 2:30pm this Thursday and sat on the big comfortable sofa chair. The décor is quite zen, with very high ceilings and big white loose curtains which made the pretty big space even more airy and quiet. Unlike sitting in the Grand Bar area, which was much smaller space with communal kind of seating.
I ordered the prosciutto, goat cheese, tomato, olive & Arugula Pizza. It was tasty especially while zipping green tea with honey. The best part was that it’s very laid back eating on low tables and the hour and 15 minutes just flies while eating and watching people walking in and out.  The interesting  part was that there are many beautiful cute dogs rooming & lying around. Usually, the centre of attention are the hip folks but interestingly not that day.

The vibe in the afternoon is so different than night time – which was a lot more intense & loud – buzzed by music and non-stop crowds. I can say this was the right choice for a bite to eat to start off the new year – full of leisure and relaxation.

A good start to the New Year was created by having lunch at the Dylan.

The Dylan is one of Amsterdam’s most stylish and intimate hotels – offerings its guests a sensational personal service. The Dylan ensures an environment of sheer escapism and luxury. It is located in a wonderful 17th century Landmark on the famous “Keizersgracht” – one of Amsterdam’s canals. Next to being a boutique-style hotel, it is also a great location for lunch and dinner or simply a nice place to hang out. The interior is largely black and very comfortable.

Ofcourse lunch was not a heavy affair so soon after the Holidays – as a main course I simply had Carpaccio of beef with Parmesan cheese. It was delicious and fresh and just the right size for lunch. Service is both professional and friendly.

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