I dined at Alioto's on Fisherman's Wharf, a restaurant I hadn't been to in at least a year. (Photo: The Chronicle 2010)
I returned to Wayfare Tavern for a revisit and I’m glad I did. I took my seat at the chef’s table where you can see everything. This time I started with the deviled eggs. I watched them prepare the plate, which consisted of six halves. They were superb but Sonya Molodetskaya and I couldn’t eat them all because there was so much more food to come.
I ordered the rib plate and on the plate they had corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad and cole slaw. At that stage of the game I think they though they were feeding the Marlboro man or some cowpoke. Then the chef, Tyler Florence, came out to say that we had to try the peach pie with a scoop of unidentifiable ice cream. It looked like vanilla but it didn’t taste like it. I ate it all, which meant I couldn’t eat for two days.
After going to this new restaurant, I had an “old-timer’s” week. I went to Anchor and Hope where they have a pork loin dish that came off their beer party menu. It was absolutely great; a pork loin that’s still pink over a bed of mashed sweet potatoes and it had cabbage on the side. I also did Town Hall; this time I sat at the counter and I had one of my favorite salad in this town: butter lettuce with apple, walnuts and a blue cheese dressing. I followed that very closely with those corn sticks and Faith’s warm ham and cheese toasts with poached egg and jalapeno cream.
Then I went to North Beach Restaurant because I was eager for veal Milanese that’s been pounded, breaded and fried. They do it as well if not better than anyone but Nello’s in New York.
I also dined at the House of Prime Rib because I had two friends who had been to Japan for 10 days and as soon as they landed they called for dinner so I thought I would reintroduce them to American food. And they were not disappointed. The spinning salad, the corn sticks, the prime rib. The restaurant is the king of the baked potato with all the fattening stuff that goes on it- the butter, the bacon, the sour cream and the chives. They always come with at English piece of dough that’s been deep fried; at least that’s the way I describe the Yorkshire Pudding. When it comes to the meat, I prefer the English cut, which are thin slices. The four of us each had a different cut and we shared sides of creamed corn and creamed spinach.
Since I was in the area for an event I stopped by Alioto’s; I hadn’t been there for more than a year. I immediately was pissed off because this goddamn city decided to repair the sidewalk and roadway right in the middle of the tourist season. Do that in January. I walked along the Wharf and talked to the people in the crab stands and they were upset so I raised a little hell on behalf of the merchants down there.
I literally ODed on appetizers but I had eight people with me so we ordered a lot. I’d say to stay with the appetizers including calamari, both marinated and fried. They had me try something that looked like calamari, but it was chicken because they want to cater to children. The little thin chicken strips make for a great dish you can eat with your fingers like you do the calamari. Then we had the raw oysters, but I don’t eat those and deep fried oysters, which I ate with the cocktail sauce.
Later in the week I dropped by Des Amis on Union Street, but I’m at least a month from eating there. I’ll let the kitchen settle down first. I also tried to go to the place I mentioned last week, Spire Bistro, but they were only open for lunch when I visited, so I’ll try it before next time. Stay tuned.