1.28.2010

michael bauer's top 100 restaurant

every year i always review michael bauer's top 100 restaurant as a guide for restaurants to try. with so many great restaurants, we rarely go to the same restaurant twice...we always like to try a new place! having a toddler is difficult enough to dine out but going out for a couple of hours to enjoy a nice meal is even more difficult. however, we are very lucky that my parents are very close by and love watching aj so if we do need a break, we have great baby sitters. his new list should be coming out in a couple of months but it's still nice to look through the list and see what i've been to (31 and counting)! one of my favorite restaurant not on this list is andalu and after watching top chef masters, i really want to try hubert keller's fleur de lys

American
Ad Hoc (Yountville) really want to try this one!!
thomas keller, need i say more?
Bix was there years ago w/
colleagues for dine about town
Buckeye Roadhouse (Mill Valley) north bay…too far hahaa
Cafe La Haye
Canteen
Chow (S.F., Lafayette, Danville) great casual restaurant;
not sure why it's a top 100 though
Firefly
House of Prime Rib love…love their prime rib
and of course, the salad
One Market 10 yrs ago…
1st month at gap, boss took us here!
Range great interior…over priced
Town Hall down the street from my work - it's good
Wood Tavern (Oakland)


Asian
Betelnut overpriced asian food


Barbecue
Barbers Q (Napa)


Basque
Piperade


California
Coi really want to try this one
Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant (Forestville)
Flora (Oakland)
Jack Falstaff closed…victim of the recession
Manresa (Los Gatos)
Martini House had a beautiful lunch in their
outdoor patio
Murray Circle (Sausalito)
Redd (Yountville)
Restaurant at Meadowood (St. Helena)
Terra love love this rstaurant…
so romantic


California-French
Bistro Aix
Jardiniere when I 1st really
appreciated french food
Masa's enjoyed it…but way too loud!!


California-Italian
Picco/Pizzeria Picco (Larkspur)


California-Japanese
O Chame (Berkeley)


California-Mediterranean
Bar Jules
Bay Wolf (Oakland)
Camino (Oakland)
Chez Panisse (Berkeley) so delicious and awesome service
Coco500 yummy but again not sure
if it's really worthy of top 100
Cortez closed…victim of the recession
Foreign Cinema really enjoy this restaurant
The Moss Room
Nopa 1st meal after aj was
born w/ my girlfriends!
Rivoli (Berkeley)
Zuni Cafe


Chinese
Koi Palace duh, I am chinese
Ton Kiang duh, I am chinese
Yank Sing duh, I am chinese


Contemporary American
Ame love this place!
Boulevard traumatized - found a piece
of hair in my crème brulee
Cyrus (Healdsburg)
French Laundry (Yountville) a gal can always dream?
Gary Danko FAVORITE restaurant…we
used to go every year for my bday!
Madrona Manor (Healdsburg)
Michael Mina
Spruce overrated


French
Bouchon (Yountville) LOVED IT…came here
the day after our wedding
Chez Papa Resto
The Dining Room going there in 5 weeks!!
at the Ritz-Carlton
La Folie


French-Seafood
Aqua it's been years…but
really had a nice time


Greek
Kokkari Estiatorio awesome awesome restaurant


Indian umm…sorry, not a fan of indian food
Amber India won't be trying any of these
Dosa
Vik's Chaat Corner (Berkeley)


International
Va de Vi (Walnut Creek)
Willi's Wine Bar (Santa Rosa)


Italian (including pizzerias)
A16 way too loud
Acquerello
Bar Bambino
Beretta
Bistro Don Giovanni (Napa) awesome desserts!
came here a lot when s and
I were wedding planning
Bottega Napa Valley (Yountville) went there last month w/ s…
saw michael chiarello =)
Corso Trattoria (Berkeley)
Delfina heard great things…
tough parking area
Dopo (Oakland)
Gialina
Incanto
Marzano (Oakland)
Perbacco 1st meal out w/ friends after I found out I was pregnant…
my friend totally busted me bc I didn't order a glass of wine
Pesce
Pizzaiolo (Oakland)
Poggio (Sausalito)
Quince
Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar (Santa Rosa)
SPQR


Japanese
Kaygetsu (Menlo Park)
Sushi Ran (Sausalito)
Yoshi's San Francisco high on my list as well…


Latin American
Fonda (Albany)


Mexican
Nopalito


Moroccan
Aziza


Seafood
Hog Island Oyster Co. realized that I
actually loved oysters!
Nettie's Crab Shack
Nick's Cove (Marshall)
Sea Salt (Berkeley)
Swan Oyster Depot always so crowded…


Spanish
Bocadillos
Zarzuela


Spanish-French
Gitane


Swiss
The Matterhorn
Swiss Restaurant


Vegetarian
Greens
Ubuntu


Vietnamese
Slanted Door my vote for best
asian fusion flavors…

4 comments:

alice said...

love all of your comments!! So many we haven't tried yet.

Love Zuni Cafe's roasted chicken w/ bread salad. LOVE!

Our favorite pizza place is Gialina now. Mostly b/c it's fairly close, great pizzas and we usually go early so there is parking and open tables.

We're going to fleur de lys in March! Looking forward to it.

alice said...

Do you have any recommendations for a place to stay in Napa area for the weekend?

joyce said...

i don't remember yoshi's being all that special, other than being overpriced.

we went to firefly YEARS ago, and i remember really liking it and wanting to go back but never did.

glad to see the dining room on this list! :)

i miss all the great eateries in the bay area...we have lots out here too, but not nearly the variety. :(

sue lam said...

alice - i'll send you a separate email about napa. let me know how you like fleur de lys...so jealous. maybe we'll take aaron w/ us to gialina. steve loves pizza!

joyce - steve doesn't look forward to the dining room because it's jacket preferred. hahaa.