Teleferic Barcelona

Posted in Restaurant Reviews by cherylSFood

I honestly can’t believe it took me this long to discover Teleferic Barcelona, a stylish restaurant with sassy dancers, friendly staff, and great bites. I was invited to check this place out and was so happy I did.

Teleferic Barcelona is located in the downtown area of Walnut Creek. Their menu consists of tapas, pintxos, and large plates including a couple out of this world paella.

The pintxos are brought around the dining room on a small cart. Make sure you pick a couple of these up. They’re small, but each bite brings you to flavor town. We chose their version of the deviled egg and a toast that had cheese and smoked salmon.

We ordered a number of tapas, but I think the croquettas were my fave. Shown here is the porcini mushroom and Valdéon cheese croquettas and Iberian ham and béchemal. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy creamy balls?!

Monday night’s aren’t always boring – Enjoy Flamenco night on Monday nights. I really enjoyed the dancing and their dancing attire were just beautiful to look at. Sit back, order some drinks and watch their feet go!

Some other highlights were the garlic prawns (gambas al ajillo) and Galician octopus (pulpo trufado). The prawns are served with a couple slices of toast that can me used to sop up all of the sauce. I was thinking of smuggling in an entire baguette the next time I visit.
Now let’s talk about the pulpo. This may have THE BEST pulpo I’ve ever had. It was grilled to perfection, meaty but so tender all at the same time. The perfect amount of salt was sprinkled on top (picture salt bae) and matched perfectly with the truffle potato puree underneath.

A visit to Teleferic Barcelona is worth it just for these churros alone. They’re freshly made to order and the chocolate sauce it comes with is heavenly. I wanted to drink the sauce, but didn’t want to embarrass my date. As he reached in to get another churro, I secretly shot lasers at his hands in my mind.

Teleferic Barcelona is truly one of my most memorable dining experiences with the friendliest staff, impeccable food, and the best entertainment.

Thank you for hosting us, Teleferic Barcelona!

TELEFERIC BARCELONA
1500 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Fl.2
Walnut Creek, 95696

17Apr2017

Zero Zero SF

Posted in Restaurant Reviews by cherylSFood

Can we just talk about cheat meals real quick? Whenever I get the chance, I like to end the work week replacing all my sorrows with carbs. Carbs in the form of pizza to be exact. If I really got to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, it’d be pizza. No joke. I mean, isn’t pizza a food group? OK, maybe just in my dreams. What are some of your cheat meal indulgences?

This time around, I got to eat my sorrows away at Zero Zero SF where they fed me some brussel sprouts (in fried form), hamachi poke, pastas, pizzas, and even some soft serve. Of course a couple salads appeared on the table, but those were cleared away quickly once the ‘heavier’ dishes came along. On a serious note though, Zero Zero’s caesar salad is something to remember.

Anyways, here are some highlights of the night.

Taleggio stuffed arancini with black garlic aioli – tasted like cheesy risotto balls fried to crisp perfection. I could have eaten two orders of these, but I had to share and didn’t want to be greedy…

We had a number of pastas to choose from including spaghetti amatriciana, which is your classic spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce and pancetta and also gnocchi cooked in a pork belly ragu. I’m not big on red sauce as it can sometimes be too heavy and I’ve always been team white sauce so naturally, my fave of the night was the fettuccini. Look at this bowl of beauty – carbs, dungeness crab, BUTTER, garlic, and lemon.

Then low and behold, the leaning tower of pizza appeared before my eyes. If you can only see the excitement on my face.

From top to bottom: Castro Pizza (Sopressata, housemate sausage, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and Basil), Seasonal Pizza (reserved lemon panda, roasted garlic, grilled asparagus, broccoli spigarello, mozzarella, and a bunch of other ingredients), Fillmore pizza (mushrooms, leeks, a variety of cheese, garlic, and thyme). The Seasonal Pizza was my fave. The vegetables themselves were perfectly seasoned and had a wonderful grill flavor.

THEN, as if there wasn’t already enough food, we had some DIY sundaes. Don’t you love it when you get to be hands-on and be creative with your food?

Chocolate and vanilla swirl soft serve with topping choices of warm ricotta doughnuts, flourless chocolate brownie, caramel, hot fudge, chile caramel, and citrus (satsuma mandarins and orange agrumato)
The ricotta doughnuts were amaaaaziinnnggg on their own. Now just imagine the warm sugary doughnuts with the cold soft serve. UGH.

Big thanks to Emily Martin and Zero Zero for hosting such a delicious event!

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Zero Zero
826 Folsom St.
San Francisco, CA 94107

15Mar2017

JANE the Bakery

Posted in Restaurant Reviews by cherylSFood

If you’re located in San Francisco and is a pastry junky/coffee connoissuer like I am who is constantly searching for the next bakery + cafe, I’ve got one for ya. If you don’t already know about Jane on Fillmore and Jane on Larkin,you’re missing out. A third location has opened, JANE the Bakery, located on Geary. You’ve really gotta visit. They’ve got coffee, pastries, sandwiches, loaves of bread, and toasts – Pretty much a one stop shop.

I had the privilege of meeting Amanda, the owner of JANE, who was just as sweet as the pastries. I always assumed “Jane” was the name of the owner, but turns out she named the stores after her daughter. Amanda allowed me to step into the kitchen where I got to see everyone in action and gave me a stronger appreciation for all the bakers around the world creating such beautiful edible art.

Compared to the other two locations, this location has a long display case of pastries followed by a shelf of deliciously baked bread. These are just a few of the bread options Jane offers.

I’m telling you, this is a carb lovers dream come true or maybe a new item to add onto the list of “1000 Ways to Die”: Death by carbs. Anyways, you’re probably more interested in the items Jane has to offer. Here are just a few things I sampled…