San Francisco, CA; Tartine Bakery - Why take the bus on a beautify day from downtown when I can walk there. It's only a few blocks right? My mistake, city blocks, yeah, after walking, what felt like 4.5 miles, I took the bus the remaining way. Well, now I worked up an appetite. Just as many yelpers described, there was a line to the door, but it moves quickly. I had enough time to drool all over their showcase.

I decided on two croissants, the almond (it's a must) and the chocolate (also a must). The almond one was huge, flaky, covered in powdered sugar, and sliced toasted almonds on top with almost paste in the middle. I will admit that it looked better than tasted. It taste was good, just not great. The component that was disappointing was that there was too much powdered sugar. It masks the flavor the beautiful almond paste in side, the main attraction.

The chocolate croissant was also a base-hit, but not a home-run. It also had the same characteristics, large, golden brown, flaky, but when it came to the chocolate, there just wasn't enough.

All in all, the inside is very neat and I could see myself eating, reading a paper or book, eating again, sipping some coffee, etc... I would certainly be willing to try it again, but this time I would take the bus the whole way, it wasn't worth walking. Enjoy!

San Francisco, CA - Miette's Patisserie; You cannot walk by Miette's showcase and not stop, little alone walk by without looking. Then of course since everything looks so good, you cannot purchase just one, I have to try at least two.

I tried the gingerbread cake with cheesecake buttercream and the second one was chocolate cake with coffee buttercream. They both were absolutely delicious with the gingerbread cake being my favorite. The chocolate cupcake was nice and moist, soft, and the frosting had a nice hint of coffee flavor. However, I think the buttercream could have had a stronger coffee experience. With that said, the cupcake could have also had a more chocolate flavor, the cupcake all around needed a more bolder flavor. I still enjoyed it though. The gingerbread cake was a totally different story and experience. It secured the fourth star in the rating. It had all the right qualities of a good cupcake: flavor, moisture, softness, texture, sweetness, spices, complimentary flavors, etc... The frosting was a wonderful match-up with the gingerbread spice. It had balance of flavor and boldness that it needed to wow you.

Enjoy!

San Francisco, CA; Acme Bread Company - Meandering around the Ferry Building, owner of Boccalone, suggested I try Acme Bread Company to put together the sandwiches I was attempting to assemble. I was very glad that he did suggest Acme. They had a selection right on the counter for you to see, smell, and compare to other baguettes and loaves.

I settled on the sourdough baguette that went perfectly with the fromage blanc from the creamery next door and sliced pork from Boccalone. It was wonderfully crispy on the outside giving it that nice sensation and sound of the crunch, while soft on the inside. A perfect baguette. I almost didn't even need to put anything on it, I just wanted the bread it was so delicious.

Enjoy!

Ferndale, MI - Treat Dreams; Finally a local creamery that specializes in unique flavors. You can head to TCBY or Dairy Queen for vanilla or chocolate, but when you want something good, something unique while delicious and flavors you probably never had before, you have to try Treat Dreams.

If you happen to be there on Fat Tuesday, they experimented with blueberry and raspberry paczki. They mentioned they made the filling, then made the batter mixed with the cream and then froze it. Surprising enough, it did taste like paczkis. It had just a small undertone flavor of it, not overwhelming.

You can try as many flavors as they have, but I had to stop before I couldn't eat my scoop. I tried the blueberry paczki, a pint went home with me, breakfast with coffee, salted caramel, and chicken and waffles. The breakfast with coffee was good, but I couldn't really pick out specific flavors on it. Salted caramel was fantastic. It did have a little trouble finishing my whole scoop because the salt can get a little over whelming. It's not a hint of salt, it's definitely there and you get the salty and sweet deliciousness together. Lastly, I didn't know what to expect for the Chicken and Waffles. It is prepared chicken broth, giving it a slight salty flavor in what seemed to be vanilla ice cream. The other nice addition is the soggy waffle pieces giving it texture and a nice addition to the ice cream.

I also tried their bumpy cupcake. It was smaller, but better than I expected. At first I was disappointed that the cupcake wasn't as large as other places, but the flavor made up for the missed expectations. The cake was very moist and the icy wasn't too sweet, letting you feel happy with the choice.

Enjoy!

West Bloomfield, MI - Hong Hua; There are not many places where I can find traditional congee and after seeing it on the menu, I had to try the traditional dish. I have to remind you that have to get the menu off their website because I still haven't seen it in the restaurant.

Congee is a rice porridge, commonly eaten for breakfast. It taste just like a rice soup, not filled with tons of flavor, but it's very distinct and you can choose what type of meat in it. Since this was my first time having it, at the recommendation of the server, I had beef congee. It also contained some sliced scallions and very small vermicelli noodles, not much of it, just a little. I also tried scallop congee, which had a different, but similar flavor. The scallops were cooked in the congee so it was extremely soft and almost melted in your mouth. They're similar because the base flavor is practically the same, however the meat just gives it a little undertone flavor of what it is. So, mine had a slight beef flavor, while the other had a slight seafood taste.

Although my friend didn't like it, I enjoyed both. It definitely has a breakfast feel to it and could easily have it in the morning. I see why it's a breakfast meal.

Enjoy

San Francisco, CA; Cowgirl Creamery - Going through the ferry building, I attempted to put together my own sandwiches with ingredients from different shops. The owner of Baccolone suggested a few places and the creamery was one of them.

I had the fromage blanc, which was recommended by an individual behind the counter. It was creamy, sour cream flavor, a delicate cheese spread and it went perfectly with freshly baked bread and veggies from the market.

They had so many different kinds of cheeses, I wanted to try them all. The only downside was that I couldn't purchase a few slices of different cheeses, I had to purchase by the block. It made the variety of purchasing limited, leading me to the fromage blanc. Since it was delicious, I'm not worried, but I wish I could have had more choices. Enjoy!

Royal Oak, MI - Al's Famous Deli; Al's comes across as a pretty standard Jewish deli. They have all the right items on the menu and in the showcase. Lets see: corned beef, check; Pastrami, check; chicken noodle soup, check; ah, matzo ball soup, check (now we're talking); beef tongue, check (you have my attention), lox, check (smoked salmon for those who don't know what lox is), and new dill pickles (not noodle pickles, if the person behind the counter says "noodle pickles?" you know you're not in a Jewish deli.

So, Al's has all that going for it. It also has Kreplach soup, but when I asked about it, it turns out they don't make it anymore. :( So, how does it stack up to a Jewish deli. I tried their corned beef on rye with coleslaw and russian dressing. Any staple for the deli. I asked for it to be grilled and they said no problem. That's a big plus certainly getting you close to four stars for it. However, the corned beef was more fatty that I usually like it. It had several pieces that were gelatinous, not so pleasant in the sandwich. Even though they did have new dill pickles, they were getting a little old and mushy for my taste.

With this, I would have given it three stars, but there is one thing they do that is near and dear to my heart, bumping it up, almost everything is bought and made locally. Starting from the corned beef, to the pickles (topors), to the chips, and then to the breads and cakes. I love supporting local business and it means even more when those business are supporting our local community. You get a star for that Al! Enjoy!

Ferndale, MI - Chazzano Coffee; Do you consider yourself a coffee expert? How about going to a coffee place that is owned by one? This is a coffee shop, probably borderline coffee snob.

Ask the owner/barista about what's bold, bitter, smooth, strong, dark, light, imported, or what ever you wish your coffee to be and he'll make that cup for you. If your going staight for a cup, it'll be french press.

How about where was the last coffee house you where in where they roasted their own beans? Want to ask about the process, he'll even show and explain it to you.

I would give it four stars, but the downside for me is, its only coffee. I mean only coffee, no scones or muffins or cookies or pastries or anything to mask or alter the flavor and experience of your cup of coffee. I would like something that compliments the flavor and I look to the barista for that guidance and vision. However, if you want to know about Bolivian or Ethiopian or any other coffee, stop in and start learning. Enjoy!

San Francisco, CA - Sears Fine Food; In the heart of San Fran, as a tourist, you'll want to get out of your hotel and try different breakfast places. Take a quick walk over to Sears and although it'll be better than your hotel and CHEAPER, it's a basic dining place. Although, the decor is drastically different from the upstairs to downstairs, not what I expected. Upstairs was also packed and downstairs, basically deserted.

We were in a carb mood, so lets try out their French Toast and what they're famous for, their Swedish Pancakes. The French Toast, was good, but nothing really memorable about it. Again, just as good and cheaper than the hotels. As for the Swedish Pancakes, they're little, delicate, thin, sweet, and very quick to eat. The regular order comes with about 18 pancakes, it sounds like a lot, so I got the half order. Yeah, I was still very hungry afterward. Therefore, get the full order and you'll probably be carbed out while satisfying your sweet tooth. Just by themselves, they are good, just thin little pancakes. You can also request a side lingon berries that really helped give it some more flavor. I would recommend including this on them.

Enjoy!

San Francisco, CA - Samovar Tea Garden; Part of a good meal is the atmosphere and the surrounding environment. The tea house definitely has that going for it. Right there in the middle of the city is a beautiful park, garden, waterfall, decent food, and surprising enough, almost silence, at least the closest you can come to it in the middle of the city.

We started with the Ryokucha Tea, nice and warm on a cool day, sitting outside, and the flavor, not what I was expecting. It actually had a sweet potato flavor, that was from left field. I could only drink so much of it before I was tired of the flavor, but it was good in the beginning though.

It was saved by their sandwich, which was Grilled Agor Cheese, Sun Dried Tomato, Pesto. Now we're talking. I enjoyed every bite. The bread is freshly made, nice and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The pesto complimented the cheese and sun dried tomatoes very well. It all worked well together. It came with a small salad on the side with a balsamic vinegar dressing, which was pretty good, but by the end it could have been slightly over powering.

The tea is overly expensive, but I would expect that since you can grab some tea and sit there for hours. They have to make money some how, right? Enjoy!

Detroit, MI - Lafayette Coney Island; I had to try Lafayette and American Coney Island's coney's side by side and I came to the conclusion that American won out. I still enjoyed Lafayette's, but I thought it didn't have just as much flavor as American did. It lacked something compared to the other, some spice that I can't put my finger on.

Also, I thought the fries were not as crispy as American. Maybe it was bad timing and the batch wasn't fresh, certainly possible.

Next time, I'm going to literally get one from each, take one bite from one and then a bit from the other place and really do a side-by-side comparison.

We'll see how that experiment goes, at least I'll have a full and happy belly!

Detroit, MI - Pupusería y Restaurante Salvadoreño; Truly a gem, what can I say. The food was delicious, unique, handmade, surprising flavors, locally owned, and where else can you find food in Detroit from El Salvidor.

When you go on a day that's about 10 degrees outside, I'm can't wait to get inside in a nice warm place, well, that's not this place. I think the only thing heating this place the kitchen, it was so cold, but I'm willing to look past that no matter what. Why? I go for the food, I can warm up when I'm back in my car.

There was so much I wanted to try here, but my stomach could only hold so much, so I had to stick with a squash and cheese pupusa, pork and cheese pupusa, rice and beans, curtido (cabbage slaw), and their fried plantains. By the way, this was just for me, yeah, I pigged out.

This was my first experience with pupusa's and they now set the bar very high. The pupusas are corn handmade stuffed tortilla, but thick tortilla, not as thin as a whimpy burrito. What's so unique and wonderful of the pupusa is truly the handmade mesa (corn tortilla). You can immediately taste the corn starchiness to it, giving it it's unique flavor and texture. I thought the squash pupusa sounded unique and interesting to try and I was glad I choose it. I did like the pork better, but you have to adventure out of your comfort zone and dive head first into any dish that you've never had and sounds interesting. The squash is a bright green giving it a contrast to the cheese and mesa. The pork pupusa had a little more flavor, but I enjoyed both. It's served with a side of curtido, a cabbage slaw that from the looks of it, was standard cabbage, but it had some unexpected heat. You'll see the vinegar dressing at the bottom and unexpectedly, there's jalapenos mixed in, to give it a nice surprise kick. It almost raw cabbage wasn't for me, so I continued on to the other good stuff.

I did not expect the rice and beans to be so unique. I was expecting the standard "Mexican" rice, but turned out to be a unique blend of rice, lima beans, peas, and corn. It also taste as though it was cooked in a chicken broth or something other than straight water. It had a bit of hardiness to it, complimenting the beans very well.

Lastly, how can I not order the plantains when they're on the menu. It's a must, and after having it, it's definitely a must. A keeper, a staple to any dish! They are deliciously sweet and soft. It's served with beans and crema, a Salvadoran cream. When you mix all three together, you get a wonderful blend of sweet and savory. However, the plantains by themselves is also fantastic.

I forgot to try their licuado, so I'll save that for next time.

***CASH ONLY

San Francisco, CA - Banana House; Walking back from China town, we happen to stumble upon this inconspicuous Thai restaurant. You're not going to ever stop me from going into a Thai place. It was decent inside, standard decor, but I'm ready for the fare.

We started with their spring rolls, which were very different from any other place. The texture was similar to an a Filipino Lumpia, very crepe like. It was surprising, to get that instead of the traditional fried or fresh rice noodle wrap. I had a bite of the pad thai, which was good, rich in flavor and having it's own unique touch from this place.

However, I concentrated on the dish Traffic Jam. It's a dish that has all three curry styles; regular, red, and green. What's wonderful about this dish is that you can literally go from one curry flavor to another and each time refresh your pallet with an amazing new flavor. It's genius! One minute, I thought green was my favorite, then it was red. Amazingly confusing to have them side by side like that. For several bites, I was loving the green, it's a little sweeter and tart compared to the other two, but when I switched back to red, I'm sold, throw in the towel, I'm a red curry kind of guy. This was so much fun to eat. The regular curry flavor was my least favorite, that's not to say it wasn't good, just not my favorite compared to red. I would certainly get this if you want to have fun eating and playing around with flavors.

San Francisco, CA: Stinking Rose - One of the most aromatic and delicious spices/herbs is the garlic, technically part of the onion family though. The more the better is my philosophy.

We heard about this restaurant who is known for using an enormous amount of garlic in their food. That's all I needed to hear for me to be convinced. I shouldn't have created such high expectations for garlic. The food was okay, but not really the caliber that I thought it was going to be. Apparently I like the taste of garlic more than others because it just wasn't enough.

We started with the Garlic Soaking in the Hot Tub, which is roasted cloves in olive oil. Looking at it, I wanted to dive in immediately and spread it all over the toast that accompanied it. Oh, looks are deceiving. it was rather disappointing. The garlic was stripped of all its flavor.

Moving onto the entree, I had the Neon Ravioli. It's ravioli filled with potato & cheese garlic basil in alfredo sauce. It was prepared well, soft and the pasta made well. The sauce had a fairly plateau flavor, meaning it was flat, not complex, or layered. it was just okay. Not surprised to say, it needed more garlic.

During the meal, I tried their garlic wine. Now we're talking. You can smell it and it has a nice garlic after taste. This is the type of garlic impact I was expecting. If you're there, you should definitely try it.

We finished with the garlic ice cream. At least the meal finishes with expectations met. First the wine, now the ice cream. It's garlic ice cream with a caramel mole sauce. It was very good. It had a wonderful garlic flavor and the caramel sauce complimented it well.

When you go, just go and get the wine and ice cream. Skip the rest, unless you ask for extra garlic.

Enjoy!

Farmington Hills, MI - Hong Hua: Finally a second Chinese restaurant in the Detroit area where I can get real Chinese food. Not the American food, sweet and sour chicken, almond chicken, General Tso's Chicken, etc... Well, actually you can get all these things, but why? There's a Chinese menu waiting for you, if you ask, and "Demand" it. That is, if you look like you shouldn't be ordering off that menu.

I heard from some colleagues that I could order "real" Chinese food here. After checking out their site, particularly the "Special Lunch Menu", I was convinced I would be able to find some "off the beaten path" dishes. Next time, I'm trying some Congee, but this time, I set my sights on braised shredded BBQ duck, salted fish, vermicelli, and bean thread.

However, it took some convincing to get it. Here's how it played out. After sitting down, I asked the server for the traditional Chinese menu, the "Special Lunch Menu". She said, oh, it's all on page 1. Looking through the list, it did have a few things on there, but not the real stuff. It didn't have Congee or any of the other traditional dishes I wanted to try. I was already discouraged. Thank goodness for smartphones. I pulled up their menu on my phone and pointed to this dish and said, this is what I want. She looked at me and said, are you sure? Oh yes, was my reply. She looked at my phone again and said, "are you sure you like salted fish?" Oh yes, was my reply. The real answer is, I'm not sure, I've never had it, but you can't talk me out of this now. I'm hoping to get a real dish in front of me and I don't care how much you try to discourage me, now I'm getting it.

I'm so glad I was forceful. It was very good and I can't wait to try something else now. The noodles where cooked very well, but what I liked mostly about it was the BBQ duck. Normally, I don't prefer duck since it has a greasy flavor, but it was prepared very well and didn't even have a hint of that greasy oily-ness to it. So, you take one bite, mmmm, I have noodles, duck, but no fish. In fact, I don't even see any fish. Interesting. Next bite, boom-pow I had a bite of the salted fish. It's hidden in there and it packed a salty punch. mmmmm, I said again. Now we're talking, a hidden treasure.

The portion was enormous and I took lots of it home. If it wasn't for the hidden dishes, I would probably have given it 2 - 3 stars, because I don't like the American-Chinese fare, don't really care for the idea of a hidden menu, and it's a little too upscale for me. There is a sign that says, proper attire required. I like the mom and pops' dives that you can where you pajamas if you want and get really good traditional food. However, their rating is saved by the dish itself and I'm looking forward to trying some more traditional dishes.

San Franciso, CA - Zero Zero: Reviewing the menu, there are several dishes that come across and peak your interest. So, why not try a few pizzas and some dessert. Well, one was a hit, and one not so much.

Starting with the pizzas, Townsend and the Margherita. Well, strike one on the Margherita. It was standard pizza, it taste like pizza. No surprises. It didn't have enough basil, so it lacked the herb flavor. The townsend on the other hand, hit. It was much better, had flavor and I was looking forward to another piece. The Townsend comprises of garlic, potato, prosciutto, mozzarella, and rosemary olive oil. This pizza had flavor and I enjoyed the garlic and potatoes.

I was intrigued by their desserts because you get to make up your own. You get to put what items you want on it and so we tried two different ones. Both of them, ah, it was ok. The first one we tried was the chocolate peppermint patty brownie. With lots of chocolate, you can't go wrong, unless it's store bought ice cream and peppermint patties. I'm not sure if the brownies were made fresh or bought, but you can easily put this one together at home and taste the same or better. Now for the dessert I really wanted to try. The vanilla, toffee, olive oil and sea salt. The ice cream was just that, probably store bought, toffee was tasty. I'm such a toffee lover that I wouldn't care if it were store bought or not, I'll get it if it's available. What I really wanted to try was the olive oil and salt. We saw this option on multiple menus throughout SF and is apparently very common. Well, anytime you have sweet and salty, it's a great match. The salt did give it a nice contrast to the sweetness and the tiny bit of texture with the coarse salt. Olive oil? Intriguing? Ah-huh...Satisfied with the flavor...nope. I'm not sure if they don't use a high quality enough olive oil or it really doesn't add any flavor to the dessert. If I took a larger spoonful of oil with a tiny bit of dessert, I could taste it and it gave a smoothness to it, but it's just oil. Naw, I'm set, I don't need that again. I'll do without.

Enjoy!

Detroit, MI - The infamous Detroit debate, American or Lafayette Coney Island? The verdict - American, only slightly. The best way to do a test is to walk into one place, have a coney and fries, walk outside and about five feet to your right or left and have another coney and fries to do a comparison.

Next time I go, the new test will be to buy one from each and once I have them both in hand, do a bite by bite test. Then I'll see which I prefer.

In this test, American is the winner, only by a slight margin. I thought the chili was slightly more spicy, giving it more flavor. The fries were also slightly better with a better crunch and didn't find any soggy fries.

If you're not familiar with coneys, allow me to introduce two places to you. First either place is legendary in Detroit. The coney has a slightly toasted bun, grilled and not boiled all beef hot dog. Boiled dogs don't have the charbroiled flavor nor the snap when you bite into them. They are also not as firm since they absorb water. Getting back to the coney, its grilled and has an excellent snap when you bite into it, fresh diced onions, homemade chili and the flavor is unique here in Detroit, and lastly the homemade blend of mustard.

Either place, you won't be disappointed. I'll see how my next comparison test goes.

San Francisco, CA - I'm hooked, I'm sold, my heart now seeks out almond croissants from french bakeries. If I see it in their display case, I can't stop from ordering it now. After having an amazing almond croissant at one place, I was so surprised on how delicious they are, I now have to try it anywhere I go.

La Boulange de Market is no exception. However, it really wasn't as good as other places. Since they have multiple locations, I wonder if they don't make them in-house, making it not a unique personal recipe. The croissants I love are ones that have beautifully toasted almonds on top and the almond cream in the middle should have only a slight flavor of almonds and should not overpower the croissant. In La Boulange's case, it was too strong. It was still good and for picking up a quick bite to eat while walking past, I would get it again. I just would not seek it out and drive across the city to try it.

It is a cute little shop inside, not much room though. The patio outside is very nice for grabbing a croissant, sit out there, read a book or people watch. Enjoy!

Farmington, MI - There are lots of middle eastern restaurants in the Detroit area, but not many Chaldean places. Growing up, I ate at all my friends' homes who were Chaldean and always looked for those dishes at restaurants, but could never find them. I had to start wondering why?

New Saharas and the one in oak park both have Chaldean dishes that are not on the menu. In this case, what I came for, kari, which looks like tomato soup in the picture. As a kid, my friend's mom would make rice and kari in the morning and it sat on the stove all day for whenever you wanted it. Kari is a stew of tomato sauce, curry, and potatoes. I'm sure so much more, but that's the basics. Well, this version didn't disappoint. I was prepared to lick the bowl.

The falaffal was good too, not the best I've ever had, but not bad. The other highlight you'll want to make sure you try is their ranch dressing. I know, you're saying, ranch so what. They make it in house and it has some tangyness not typical for ranch. Its very good and I almost finished the little dixie cup when I typically never finish any dressing. Its also tasty dipping your bread in too.

Lastly, if your in the mood for a delicious heart attack, try the cream chop. Wow is it good. Its pounded and flattened steak or chicken then deep fried. Its delicious.

Service is good and the bread is prepared in the stone oven on the premises.

San Francisco, CA - Hotel restaurants, most of the time, you hate them. They are convenient, but really, it's hotel food, not fine dining. However, sometimes it's really easy to decide to try it when you just arrive and you really don't know the city yet. Ducca's is just this situation.

Alright, lets try it. Well, for the rest of the week, you can guess that I was finding all kinds of other breakfast places. I tried their "Breakfast Buffet", looks average to decent. Lets see if they'll knock my socks off because it better for the price the buffet, it better be fantastic. From the star rating I gave it, you can guess that it did not do that.

Lets start with the positive feedback. Service was very good, very attentive, welcoming, and warm. Food, well, it was food. That's really it. The only component that I thought was delicious, was their french toast. That was the best part, not worth the cost of the buffet, but still it was very good. They were very large slices of cinnamon raisin bread with a soft egg flavor, but not overpowering. I would certainly order that again. The only other item that was helping to add worth to the buffet was having lox. I'll load up on that with any opportunity.

The biggest negative feedback is that the rest of the items are just average. The meats, eggs, etc... could have been ones that you found on the buffet at Big Boys for a third the cost.

Just get the french toast, that would be worth going. Enjoy!