Butterfly, San Francisco
Friday, January 26th, 2007
This is one of the funkiest restaurants I’ve been to (funky – is that a daggy word? Is daggy a daggy word?). Located right on The Embarcadero, San Francisco, its uber-cool status is reflected in its clientele who look like they could have just walked off a photo shoot for a spread in Marie Claire. It’s “pan asian” which I’m assuming is what the Americans call mod Asian/fusion. Whatever it was, it worked. We had some entrees to share – Sesame Coated Endamame (US$3) was a large bowl with a great flavour added by the sesame oil. Four duck confit spring rolls (US$9) were crispy on the outside, moist and delicious on the inside, served with chinese hot mustard and honey dipping sauce. (more…)
About half an hour’s drive out of San Francisco, across the famous Golden Gate Bridge, is a quaint little seaside village called Tiberon. It is a sleepy and relaxed collection of cafes, boutiques and low key restaurants nestled amongst some very expensive real estate. We tried this gorgeous little French patisseries/boulangerie that had a constant trickle of bike riders stopping for a takeaway shake or coffee. It was a gorgeous day, and our seats near the huge windows allowed the cool ocean breeze to come in. 
I had high expectations of going on holidays and coming back a few pounds heavier, and had looked several guidebooks paying careful attention to the recommended restaurants and foodie places to hang out. One place that was mentioned in almost all the guidebooks was Balthazar in Soho, New York. It was even mentioned in last month’s Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine! A quick conference call with my New York colleague confirmed that it was indeed a popular place and that we needed to book three weeks in advance (and even then – not be guaranteed a table when you arrive – don’t even think about turning up without a reservation we hear!).