Heidi D.'s Profile

Suzanne has created several portraits of me over the last few years, and each one of them is amazing.  I have a background in classics and mythology, as well as art history, and each time we discussed at length the influences and references that should be in the painting.  The results still give me chills.  Suzanne has a rich visual background that she pulls from, both in pop culture and high art, and it all comes together in her paintings in the most wonderful way.  Whether you're looking for straight representation, pure fantasy, or something in between, Suzanne's work will blow you away.

Simple, hearty, and delicious Salvadorean food.  I'm a huge fan of the pupusas, which literally ooze yumminess, but they also have excellent combination plates.  This morning I had the plantain breakfast combo, and my pile of golden fried sweet plantains came accompanied by sour cream, a wedge of queso fresco, casamiento (an addictive refried bean/rice mixture) and two piping-hot tortillas.  Add to this the fact that I could watch the Newcastle-Bolton match on any of the many TVs set up around the restaurant devoted to football, and I was officially in heaven.

I was craving comfort food on this cold and drizzly night, and boy did Flora deliver.

Just steps away from the Uptown nightclub, the restaurant was bustling on a Saturday evening.  I took a seat at the bar and was instantly made to feel at home thanks to the friendly and snazzily-dressed bartenders.  Starting with the vegetarian minestrone soup, I took a moment to just breathe in its aroma before digging in.  The pesto drizzled on top was a gorgeous touch.  My main course was the Pasta Norma, a generous helping of fat bucatini with eggplant, a rich marinara, salty olives, ricotta salata, and olive oil.  It literally made one of my neighbors at the bar jealous, and he rued the fact he'd already eaten.  My version was veggie, but I also saw it come out with ginormous meatballs on top.  Everything on the dessert menu looked absolutely divine, but I finally settled on the affogato: house-made eggnog ice cream drizzled with Blue Bottle espresso and accompanied by a chocolate-dipped biscotti.  As I type this my coffee-loving cat is trying to lick my fingers, which got bathed in Blue Bottle when I used my cookie to soak up the liquid in the bottom of my glass.

I didn't get a chance to try one of Flora's fabulous-looking cocktails, nor the bottle of absinthe they had sitting on the bar.  Their Saturday brunch also sounds highly tempting.  Guess I'll just have to go back.

I am physically incapable of not ordering the roti pratha as a starter every time I go here, even if the dough expands in my stomach and makes it hard to finish my main course.  The bread is flaky and savory and the curry sauce that it comes with for dipping is so yummy I have to ration it to make it last.  I just had some with my lunch today and I'm already craving it again eight hours later.

For mains I alternate between the glass noodles stir-fried with spinach, mushrooms and shrimp that comes with a wedge of lime to add tang, or the spicier tofu and shiitake mushrooms in basil sauce, guaranteed to clear out my sinuses if I feel a hint of winter cold coming on.  Each is unbelievably only $5, and you meat-eaters won't pay much more for your dishes.

Though this stretch of the inner Sunset is not exactly hurting for restaurant choices,  I make a beeline for Lime Tree when I'm in the area.  Between their color scheme and the delicious food, they put the spring back in my step.

I fully admit that when I make the short walk from my house to the corner of Dwight and Sacramento for dinner it's usually a direct result of the gravitational pull of Breads of India.  But when I heard that the proprietors of the famous local culinary speakeasy Digs Bistro had taken over the cozy spot on Dwight formerly occupied by Olivia, I roped in my friend Carrie and made plans for a dinner there as soon as possible.

Well, I just walked home from said dinner through the crisp winter air and was floating on a cloud of contentment every step of the way.  Even though the whole front room (where a small fireplace flickered invitingly) was rented out for a holiday party Carrie and I were shown to a table in the back room where we were very graciously attended to.  The menu is not lengthy, but everything looked tempting.  As a vegetarian who eats fish I had quite a number of dishes to select from and did not feel limited by my choices.  I was also happy to see they promised the use of local and organic ingredients wherever possible.

Carrie started with the Sambuca prawns, glazed with a delectable anise-tinged sauce and accompanied by a watercress salad, and I with a warming white bean and kale soup in a clear broth.  Every few spoonfuls I would get a nice bite of salty olive, a clever way to jazz up the winter vegetables.  For a main course Carrie had another starter, salt cod ravioli dressed with both pepper sauce and an herb vinaigrette that she described as a riot of flavors, while I went for the gemelli with goat cheese, greens, walnut cream, and sun-dried tomatoes.  The sauce was scrumptiously creamy without being overly rich, and the goat cheese added a piquant kick.  For dessert we split the "black and tan" sundae, and agreed that the praline bits scattered on top were our new favorite things in the world.

There's an adjective in Dutch that I heard a lot growing up, gezellig, that translates variously as snug, friendly, inviting, and/or convivial.  Digs Bistro perfectly embodies gezelligheid, and I'm looking forward to walking over there again quite soon, taking a seat at the counter, and savoring whatever they put in front of me.

I had been bouncing around Aveda salons in the Bay Area for a while, never quite finding one that felt just right, in attitude and atmosphere.  And then I found Artbeat and the marvelous Tito!  Others here on yelp have already sung his praises, so let me just reiterate them.  He has taken very good care of me for several years now, and last summer he convinced me to cut a good six inches off the wild naturally-curly mane I'd been nurturing somewhat stubbornly for far too long.  He gave me a hip layered bob, totally modern but also reminiscent of Paris chic circa 1920, that I just stick some Be Curly in and let air dry and it looks great.  Because Tito also fully understands that when it comes to my hair I'm a pretty low-maintenance type of gal.  We're starting to talk about updating my look with some color, and frankly I will just do whatever he tells me to do.  I trust him implicitly.

The salon itself is a great space, all light and air and well-curated art on the walls.  I love the vibe, the Aveda tea, and the head and neck massage that you get before a cut.  And mere steps away from Cactus Taqueria!  Add in the fact that Aveda products are cruelty-free, and you get a positive experience for both hair and soul.

I have a vague familiarity with West African cuisine thanks to the grand total of two weeks I spent in Senegal and Cape Verde last fall visiting my brother in the Peace Corps, and I still think fondly about the meals I had while abroad.  So I've been dying to check out Lagosia ever since I read that it opened so close to my house, and tonight my best friend Aimee and I were able to go for dinner.  And man did we have an awesome meal.

The space is gorgeous, clean lines and lovely African decorative touches.  As mentioned in other reviews, the waitstaff is extremely friendly and willing to answer any and all questions about the menu.  Everything we ordered was beautifully plated and presented.

After nibbling on the sweet-and-spiced crackers on our table, Aimee and I dug into our appetizer of akara, bean fritters.  They were similar in appearance to an Indian pakora, crispy and light on the outside and packed with savory yummy on the inside, and they were served with a refreshing house-made salsa and sour cream.  

For the main course I had the groundnut stew (vegetarian style) with eba (cassava) on the side, and Aimee chose the fresh fish stew with iyan (pounded yam) as her starch.  My stew had a delicious peanutty flavor and was packed with zucchini, summer squash, and mushrooms.  I took a spoonful of cassava and dipped it in my bowl before lifting it to my mouth, and there it was: the strong earthy, rooty taste I remembered so well from my trip.  Aimee's yam, though less aggressive in flavor, had an awesome consistency that made it literally fun to eat.  Paired with her tomatoey fishy shrimpy stew it was downright delightful.

Every culture seems to have their own iteration of a fried dough treat (I'm thinking fondly of you, Dutch oliebollen), so for dessert we ordered the puff-puff, the West African version.  Our plate came piled high with four beignets, pleasingly dense and yeasty and rolled in sugar.  We made it through two of them before we had to admit surrender; our tummies were simply too full.  

That entire meal, plus an iced tea (with mint syrup!) and coffee, plus tip, came out to an incredibly reasonable $50.  I can't wait to take my brother here when he gets home!

Yup, yet another person here urging you to go for the graham cracker french toast.  I ordered mine with fresh berries, and the thick slices came piled with blackberries and strawberries and then sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Add a little syrup and you've got a brunch I'm still fantasizing about two weeks later.  Is there other food on the menu?  I wouldn't even know.

I can't even count on two hands how many amazing meals I've had at Gregoire.  Let's see, just for starters there was the egg salad sandwich draped with anchovies, the gorgeous quiches, the wonton-wrapped prawns, the mustard and mushroom pork stew over gemelli pasta, the fish pies in puff pastry...and of course order after order of potato puffs.  I took my friend Rico there for lunch last weekend because he was having a very specific craving for a sandwich with tapenade on it, and Gregoire delivered with Oregon fresh bay shrimp with roasted bell pepper and olive tapenade in foccacia.  Myself, I went for the shirred organic eggs with Parmesan cheese and creamy spinach on pantofolina.  Lunch is the best bargain, with the changing monthly menu of seasonal sandwiches for under $10 each, and while dinner is more expensive with its meat and fish dishes the portions are still very generous.  I live within biking distance so I like to call my order in ahead of time, and by the time I get there it's ready to go.  On a nice afternoon I'll try to grab one of the two tables outside, or perch on a stool by the kitchen to watch the chefs do their thing.  If you don't take your food away Gregoire has recycling for its unique cardboard containers set up right in front of the restaurant, next to a water bowl they keep filled for doggy passersby.  Smart pups also know they keep a jar of treats inside the front window just for their furry friends.

Back when I lived in the outer outer Richmond, my boyfriend and I had dinner at Le Soleil with almost alarming regularity.  Parking was a bitch, but it was worth it just to stumble in past their giant fish tank at the entrance to breathe in the scent of their vegetarian hot and sour soup on a cold foggy night.  Then I moved to Berkeley, broke up with the boyfriend, and haven't had an excuse to go back in about six years.

Until Saturday night!  My friend Rico was in town from LA and looking for a quintessential SF dining experience, so in a burst of inspiration I suggested Le Soleil.  The decor has improved considerably in the intervening years (no more fish tank!), but the food hasn't changed a bit and is just as fantastic as it ever was.  We started with the aforementioned veggie hot and sour soup, and it came brimming with tomatoes, pineapple, and tofu in a richly aromatic broth.  Next up were vegetarian spring rolls and the Vietnamese vegetarian crepe, the latter delightfully light and crispy and stuffed full of mushrooms and bean sprouts.  That was actually plenty of food for me right there, but Rico and his friend Jim also ordered main courses of the pan fried rice noodles with prawns and the lemon grass beef, with rice on the side.  And then for dessert I insisted on splitting a fried banana drizzled with honey and accompanied by coconut ice cream. There were absolutely no complaints.  

I'm so happy that despite its face-lift the restaurant is the same old Le Soleil I loved back in the day.  I do miss that fish tank though.