farmer browns

ale:

meal:

1. little gem salad, kind of an arugala in a light ceasar dressing with great parmesean (7.50)
2. Crispy Cornmeal Catfish w/southern greens and candied yams (16)

everything at this restuarant is organic and a lot of if slow food. pretty cool environment with neat art and a neat-o drink menu. as for the food everything was very tasty. the salad was surprisingly good despite being a bit plain, i have no problem with simplicity when traded for creativity. teh catfish was bountiful cooked well and came along side some savory corn and beans. candied yams added the sweet and there was definitely a party on my plate. go back here if you don't mind the surround porn shops.

verdict: yum+

gina:

I've been here three times now. Not necessarily by choice, but twice with work, and once for a birthday.

The drinks are pretty tasty. They used to have a grapefruit drink, but they no longer serve it - which is too bad because it was my favorite.

The first time I went I had the little gem salad (same as alejandro's). I also had the Fulton Valley Fried Chicken with macaroni and cheese and southern greens. The salad was very good and a good balance of flavors. The chicken was disappointing to say the least. It wasn't very well seasoned and the meat was dry. Also the macaroni was underwhelming - it tasted good - but nothing special. I was also drunk, so the food probably tasted better to me than it would have had I been sober.

The second time I went I had the creole poppers appetizer and the Pan Fried Meatloaf with sauteed collard greens and mashed potatoes. The poppers were ok. The Meatloaf was excellent. The mushroom gravy it came with was a great compliment and the loaf was not too bready. Flavorful, seared on the outside, DELICIOUS.

The third time I went I had the crisp wedge salad with blue cheese, tomatoes, radishes and bacon. It was good - but again, something that is hard to mess up. I gave the fried chicken another try - and found it to be much better this time. The meat was not as dry (the breast meat was still a little bit dry though) and it seemed to be a little more crispy and better seasoned. The macaroni was better than I remembered. However, I wouldn't really go out of my way for the fried chicken here. It still wasn't flavorful enough to warrant a trip to try just the fried chicken. Maybe I'm picky (I am, after all, a fried chicken fanatic), but it was "just good." I also had a bite of the dark chocolate cake - which wasn't fantastic.

the barbeque sauce, however, is out of this world.

verdict: yum

range

meal:
1. albacore confit with cucumber, avocado and friarelli peppers (11)
2. local king salmon with baby artichokes, marinated beets, braised fennel and horseradish sauce (21)

also had some very nice wine. the albacore confit was okay, not super tasty although putting everything on butter toasted crostini was nice. entree was good and cooked well, but given the description, the meal was good (just not great). range generally is a good restuarant. all of their dishes live up to 80% of what they are priced and described. you won't leave dissapointed but you will leave wondering when you'll come back and how excited you'll be.

verdict: yum (and 80% of a plus)

mission beach cafe

...ale...

came a bit late for dinner and did not partake in the wine nor appetizers, but my oh my what a bland pasta. morel mushrooms and brocolli, but overall everything was pretty tasteless. also had sample of not so good french fries.

given the dinner was $12, that is not so bad, but given the quality i'd be much happier with a burrito.

verdict: yuck

salt house

... gina & kris ...

appetizers: we had a few raw oysters from the oyster bar, poutine (fries with short rib gravy and vermont cheddar cheese... pretty fantastic) and the baked oysters. poutine was amazing, but then again, pretty hard to mess it up. the baked oysters were so-so.

mains: kris had the tai snapper (snapper with braised red wine calamari and fennel). very interesting flavors - delicious. gina had the petrale sole with english peas, carrots and bacon-brown butter jus. usually the sole is served with fava beans, but it was english peas :( regardless, shit was delicious.

dessert: poppyseed raspberry cake with mint/lime something or other sorbet sauce. kris liked it, but gina thought it was a little dry. we also had corn crust custard tart with blackberries - which was really interesting b/c of the cornmeal crust.

twinsies verdict: yum+ but close to YUM