la folie in san francisco (russian hill) & a quick note on Check! Please Bay Area

It's been quite some time since I last wrote about a Bay Area gastronomic adventure. And Emmelle has certainly expressed her dismay at our recent epicurean futility. Well, I can certainly take a hint when I'm bludgeoned over the head with it, which led to a reservation at the highly regarded La Folie on Polk Street. We actually made the reservation after watching a re-run of Check, Please! Bay Area.

Quick side note, how awesome is Check, Please!? It rivals Top Chef as my favorite television food show. Like Yelp, you have to take individual reviews with a grain of salt - the shows producers do a great job of finding some serious weirdos to journey around the Bay Area's food scene. They can't be trusted. But it's fairly easy to get a sense of each place, and whether or not it's worthy of a visit. The most interesting part of the half hour show occurs when one of the guests complains about a dining experience (chosen by another guest), completely offending the other. Great TV when you put together real folks who don't understand how to conduct themselves on television (I guess that's the point of reality TV).

As for La Folie, it was an extremely pleasurable dining experience. Let's go backwards because it's easier to remember it that way, a few select highlights:

• Emmelle's bread pudding dessert was accompanied by a Maker's Mark ice cream (I think we have an ice cream maker on our wedding gift registry. I'll just be feeding a bottle of Maker's Mark into the machine the first time we make any kind of vanilla ice cream).
  
• Our main courses, duck and rack of lamb (exquisite), were topped with tongue pieces of each animal. I've never had duck tongue or lamb tongue, and both were pretty good. I'm too tired to try to explain it.
  
• Butter poached lobster on squash ravioli; lobster and mushroom risotto - wow.
  
• I had a foie gras dish that included (among other things), quince chutney, a peanut butter "graham cracker" (didn't really know what it was) and some brioche bread. You're basically compiling a PB&J sandwich with foie gras. Decadent. This appetizer pretty much knocked me out.
  
• Two amuse bouche (bouches?). Quantity isn't the most important aspect of a meal of this nature but the exquisite taste of each was not wasted on us.

I'm of the opinion that anytime you are dropping serious coin on a French or Japanese meal, you are sitting down to potentially a "best meal of all time" situation. La Folie was definitely one of the better meals I've had. The best? That's too hard to say because I just ate what could only be described as an inspiring bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.

Here's the Check, Please! Bay Area La Folie episode from Season 2, Episode 21. I have no pictures to share because I accidentally left the DSLR in the car before passing the car off to the valet service.



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yamazaki 12 years

About a week after I purchased Highland Park 12 years, I returned to the wine merchant near my office intent on bringing home a second bottle of scotch. I made it my objective to procure a smokier, peatier scotch as a worthy counterpart to Highland Park's honeyed qualities. Well, I guess I failed in some sense because The Yamazaki 12 year (not a scotch, not peaty) rests comfortably next to the HP12 (not Harry Potter) on top of my fridge at the moment. I knew nothing of this whisky before purchase other than Emmelle's proclamation that one of her co-workers had said it was a good one. Sold!

I did just a bit of research after my purchase - first single malt whisky distillery of its kind outside of Scotland, started sometime in the early 1920s. While only a Scottish borne whisky can truly be a scotch, the distillation process is very similar. A good whisky is a good whisky is a good whisky, and I definitely enjoy this one. It smells of toffee, and that initial experience on the nose remains when you touch it on your lips and tongue. One might mistake the Yamazaki for a bottle of maple syrup; it smells and tastes like it too. It's pretty pleasing and finishes with a relaxing smoke in your throat.

However, because of my relatively poor ability to identify flavors on their own, I relied on a direct comparison with the HP12. I would say that the Highland Park 12 year is a bit more viscous and definitely more complex. The Yamazaki 12 year, while good, was more of a one note experience for me. Ultimately, it may be slightly too sweet for my preference, but great to nip on after a meal.

If I were to rate it on a scale of 0 - 1 with 0 being undrinkable and 1 being drinkable, I would rate the Yamazaki 12 year with a resounding 1!

Togna came over to enjoy the tasting with me, and he made the connection between the parent distillery (Suntory) and the indie film favorite Lost in Translation (below). We also concluded that nothing is a collection until you have at least five of whatever it is you are trying to collecting. I love collecting thoughts about collecting things.



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phillips head screw cufflinks

I recently stumbled upon an interesting ecommerce site, Uncommongoods, which offers a variety of knick knacks, accessories and home decor items. Among some of the cooler pieces, I've found myself completely enamored with the phillips head screw cufflinks.

The $85 price tag on this set is pretty steep (for now), but from a purely aesthetic point of view, these would make a nice addition to any man's cufflink collection (I'm always drawn to shiny objects, aren't you?).

The weekend is here, meaning that outdoor activities should combat my ridiculous urge to purchase these cufflinks.

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engagement photo session with jason wu

I've made it a point not to use GreensandBrowns as a medium to share a bunch of photos, but just this once (at least until my wedding day, I have kids or a bunch of other events I'm not considering), I'm breaking that rule now.

Last week, we met our wedding photographer for our engagement photo session. His website can be found here. The session is really meant to accomplish two things. First, of course, we (Emmelle) needed some engagement photos to do some stuff with them. Secondly, and just as important, our photographer used this valuable time to acclimate us to his shooting and directorial style and get us comfortable with the camera. It goes without saying that I'm a natural in front of any type of lense; Emmelle had a little difficulty expressing affectionate with an onlooker, but did a great job as the day went on. She'll be ready on her special day.











If you're interested, a few more photos can be seen on my Flickr page. There you can see my sweet Batman cufflinks and pair of Tom kicks that I wore for this day. You know, because you care about these things. Big thanks to our photographer for a great day. He really did help us become more comfortable and the complementary nude session that followed went smoothly (Emmelle wasn't available for that one). We're really glad he's shooting our wedding.

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save the dates

I am supposed to be doing a better job of chronicling the engagement process. Here's the save the date video that we created that we sent out in early January (If embed isn't in HD, you need to clickthrough to vimeo.com):

While we're here, we might as well take a look at Colonel and General Mustard's electronic save the date as well. Please note, just because you can see this now, doesn't mean you are invited. In fact, if this is the first place you are seeing it, you are not invited. That sounds harsh.

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highland park 12 years

Emmelle recently asked me to blog about a variety of items that I'm interested in, so she can quickly navigate the latest posts to inform future gift-giving needs. She is a smart cookie, that one. I contend, however, that I already do that. If you scroll through the contents of these pages, I think it's fairly easy to identify what holds my interest. Moreover, it's easy to determine some of the cyclical phases I go through with my interests (obsessions).

The latest: single malt whiskies. I'm specifically avoiding the term "scotch" as my studies are showing that single malt varietals distilled outside of Scotland can please the palate much like their kilt-adorned brothers.

Now, I've always enjoyed whiskies on a night out. They've been a good ally on those nights when my stomach is too full for beer, and I can't make a decision on a cocktail. I'd most frequently sipped on a Jameson neat (not a single malt) in the past and have received a couple bottles of single malt scotch as gifts. I once attended a Johnny Walker tasting and finally had the opportunity to taste the ubiquitous Blue Label (I remember it tasting like vanilla). I drank (The) Macallan because my cousin told me to. Then I drank Oban because my cousin told me to. I accepted splashes of water in my dram as several enthusiasts told me that it would open up the flavors. I firmly believed that older aged whiskies are always smoother and taste better than younger ones. That's more or less my experience with whiskies; I'm fairly certain I had never purchased a bottle of single malt for myself until very recently. I've enjoyed them without knowing what I'm really tasting but television and print ads have beaten me over the head that as a man, I should know how to properly enjoy a finely crafted whisky.

Enough!

Let's hit the reset button.

A couple of weeks ago, after a particularly inspiring night out sipping single malt scotch at an upscale downtown hotel bar, I purchased my first bottle of single malt scoth - Highland Park 12 Year (less than $40). Leading up to this purchase, I had read that this was a great introduction into single malt, a nice blend of sweet and smoke for an underdeveloped whisky palate. One particular blogger that I stumbled upon feels that it's the best 12 year single malt in the world. That's a lot of hyperbole, but hey, I'm pretty impressionable, especially with all of the truths that I read about on the internets.

Highland Park 12 Year is certainly delicious. I was delighted by a wonderfully malty, butterscotch-esque scent on the nose. That sweetness remains on the tongue and finishes with just a little bit of smoke. Nice. There is a certain, unexplainable depth/complexity to this drink that I've noticed only when comparing to another label (details coming soon!) that I recently bought.

Anyway, in the coming years, I'll continue my education of all things single malt and share my tasting notes here. I'm curious to see how my palate develops and whether or not I'm able to improve in my articulation of tasting experiences.

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2010 - looking back and looking forward

I always feel a little devious when I wrote during work hours; but I can't help myself today as my inability to pen a PowerPoint deck has made it possible for a little catch up on GreensandBrowns. I meant to take a proper look back on the year that just passed, but the last six weeks have vanished like sand sliding between your fingers. That's what's happened to my memories from this past year as well; all that's left is a small pile of sand in my palm. It's time to cover it up, protect it from the elements, just some of the things I can recall at this moment, off the top of my head:

• New title: Senior Analyst to Manager
• I moved from a frat house in the Sunset to a (one bedroom-sized) studio in the Richmond
• I engaged myself with Emmelle
• Colonel Mustard and General Mustard engaged each other
• C-Monster completed her first year of undergrad
• Emmelle and I visited the motherland (Korea)
• I traveled to western Europe for the first time (Germany and UK)

Wow, that seems like a decent list. There is always more change in life than I think.

And now, one month into the new year, there are already new and pending changes that are sure to have a significant impact both personally and professionally. The obvious one is our wedding in May. New traditions, new habits, new sleeping pattern, new home, new everything. I am excited for it.

The other, which I only learned of this week, is a dear friend's departure from my company. Throughout my career, I have been both blessed and adept at identifying and aligning myself with strong mentors. At the end of the day, they are role models, and the best education for me has always been to try to emulate the work that they produce, mimic the way they interact with others and navigate difficult waters. It happens through osmosis, direct feedback and my own personal desire to be better. He's definitely helped me to become better. I will miss him.

Lastly, perhaps a poetic convergence emerges between these two changes. Without knowing exactly who, I assume there's at least one young person out there who recognizes elements of my life and/or behavior as a directional model. Maybe it's the lovely bride-to-be that I've chosen, or perhaps the smart career choices that I've made, or (most likely) my sophisticated fashion sense. Am I right? Could I be wrong?!

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I'm not sure what my favorite commercial used to be, but I know what it is now. Apparently, this fantastic VW commercial will be airing during this year's Super Bowl.

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