Tartine Bakery - Pastries to Die For

Even though we spent a full week eating in Singapore and were also pretty jet lagged, we had to make a pilgrimage to Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. We went the morning before flying back home to Seattle. We were almost late for our flight because of this meal, but it was definitely worth it.

The line starts early on Sunday mornings and the SF hipsters didn't even mind the rain, that's how good these pastries were.

Look at all those glistening pastries, they probably go through a ton of butter every weekend. The story is that Oprah loves Tartine and whatever Oprah touches turns to gold. I have to admit that woman has good taste in food because I love this place.

What makes any pastry better, a solid mocha, I'm a black coffee type of guy, but Emi likes to sweeten her caffeine.

Double pain au chocolat and the world famous Morning Bun! The pain au chocolat, flaked and melted the chocolaty goodness into my mouth. Messy, buttery, and delicious, soo good, but nothing compared to the morning bun. The morning bun is caramelized with orange cinnamon sugar and is my definition of the perfect pastry. Not too rich, a perfect crust of chewy sugar, with the perfect blend of the orange and cinnamon in the sugar, and it was literally one of the best things ever. You just have to try it. We also brought back an eclair for my parents and a lemon cream tart. Both were amazing as well and held up on the flight back to Seattle.

We were pretty full, but also splurged on the Croque Monsieur, open face sandwich with bechamel gruyere, thyme and pepper. Topped with smoked Niman Ranch ham and I remember sun dried tomatoes as well. On their homemade bread, it was another amazing treat to add to the meal.

If you find yourself in SF and even if you have to plan a quick flight down there just to check out Tartine please do. Word of caution, it gets packed, so expect to wait in line, but you'll get through it, just don't expect somewhere to sit.

- Kyle

Trattoria Pinocchio

Having just landed in San Francisco after our gluttonous trip through Singapore, what was the first thing we decided to do? Well eat of course and if you didn't guess that, you are probably visiting this blog for the first time.

Since it was around 9pm we weren't sure where to go, but ultimately decided on Little Italy. The first place we found we went into and the food was great. Not uncommon in San Francisco, I wouldn't recommend the same strategy in Seattle though. The place we decided on was Trattoria Pinocchio and it was a first for Emi and myself.

Emi ordered the Raviolli di Vitello - house made veal ravioli with sweet cream, butter and fresh sage leaves. Honestly you can't go wrong with house made pasta. Usually the simpler the sauce the better and in this case definitely true.

My friend ordered the Portobello alla Griglia - fresh grilled portobello mushrooms with sun dried sauteed tomatoes on a bed of arugula with shaved parmigiano and pine nuts.

I went with the traditional Spaghetti alla Bolognese - veal and beef ragu sauce. Not sure why, but recently I have been magnetically drawn to bolognese. I can't get enough of it and after dishes like this one, I just want more.

It was fun to be welcomed back to the States with an amazing meal in San Francisco. We have been eating a lot more Italian food as of late since we're prepping for our Mediterranean cruise this summer.

Where are some of your favorite Italian restaurants?

- Kyle