FAVORITE RESTAURANTS ACROSS THE U.S. AND THE WORLD

WHERE TO FIND THE BEST SOUFFLE RESTAURANT IN THE U.S.
WHERE TO FIND THE BEST SOUFFLE RESTAURANT IN THE U.S.
By BumbleBeeBoogie

If you are ever in San Francisco, and want to enjoy the best authentic French souffle in the U.S., make a reservation at Café Jacqueline, 1454 Grant Avenue (at Union Street) in North Beach at the edge of China Town. Café Jacqueline, with its classic French country in décor, is one of my favorite restaurants, at least when I still lived in the Bay Area.

The locally famous Café Jacqueline is a tiny store-front restaurant where entree and dessert souffles reign---the only items on the menu---accompanied by simple salads, the best French onion soup you will ever taste, and wine.

Allow sufficient time because this is not a fast-food restaurant. Each souffle is made to order. Sometimes you can chat with the chef (which I've done on a number of occasions) while her electric beaters create her lovely "runny in the middle" souffles. For example, entrée souffles may include black truffles, wild mushrooms, or just Gruyere. The dessert souffles are glorious.

Top off the evening with a concert or a play for a memorable San Francisco evening.
Make reservations by calling (415) 981-5565

RECENT RESTAURANT REVIEW:

Café Jacqueline: This spare, candlelit restaurant has the distinction of serving only soufflés as a main course, with a selection of non-souffle soups and salads to start. Dinner soufflés serve two, and choices include asparagus, spinach or lobster, each with a cheese base. Dessert soufflés must be ordered at the same time as dinner, and do order one, as you will wish you had once you see the heavenly sugar-dusted high-hat concoctions floating by. Peek into the tiny kitchen to see chef Jacqueline herself, puffed cap askew, melting chocolate in copper pans and reaching for an egg from an enormous wooden bowl full of them. 1454 Grant St., (415) 981-5565.

Mudd's Corn & Vegie Pancakes with Roasted Red Pepper Pur
When I still lived in the Bay Area, I often used to dine at Mudd's Restaurant in San Ramon, California, with its large garden and orchard where most of its fresh produce came from. I became friends with the Head Chef. He often prepared special dishes for me to taste-test before he added them to the menu.

Mudd's food is presented in the most beautifully constructed building, obviously built by master craftmen in a rural setting. Its worth the drive from San Francisco or East Bay, or from the Silicon Valley, which is mid-way.

http://www.muddsrestaurant.com/

BumbleBeeBoogie

MUDD'S CORN AND VEGETABLE PANCAKES WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER PUREE
Courtesy of the Chef at the famous Mudd's Restaurant
Courtesy of BumbleBeeBoogie


2 large red peppers
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and grated
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1/2 large onion, grated
1 large slender zucchini, grated
1 cup fresh yellow corn kernels
1 large egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole milk
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
A few grinds of freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Optional lemon juice or balsamic vinegar
Optional sour cream or crème fraiche**

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Barbecue or roast the peppers in the oven until the skins brown and bubble slightly. Do not over-brown or over-roast. Place the peppers in a plastic bag and let them steam and cool for an hour. Peel the skins off carefully and remove the seeds. Do not wash, since much of the flavor is in the remaining juices. Puree the peppers in a blender or food processor until they are sauce-like consistency. You may add a dash of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar to create an acid balance.

Combine the remaining ingredients (except the optional lemon juice or vinegar) in a bowl. Saute heaping tablespoon patties of the mixture on a nonstick griddle. Cook slowly until they are browned on both sides. (The pancakes may be cooked ahead and be reheated in the oven before serving.) Serve the pancakes with the red pepper puree and sour cream or crème fraiche. Makes approximately a dozen 3-inch pancakes.

**Crème Fraiche: 1 cup whipping cream 1/2 cup sour cream

Heat the whipping cream to the boiling point to kill any residual organisms. Place in a non-reactive container, such as plastic, glass or stainless steel. Cool to about 90 degrees F. and fold in the room temperature sour cream and cover with plastic wrap. Keep in a warm, but not hot place for 24 hours (a closed oven should do). The mixture should thicken to a batter-like consistency. Place covered container in the refrigerator to keep. Makes 1-1/2 cups.

My favourite restaurtant in the Balingen area - Gasthaus Adler in Ratshausen. Ratshausen is a tiny village, Gasthaus Adler looks like any of the old German eating places. But - it is run by a young chef who got his training in France. They have great down-to-earth Svabian food - potatoe salad, schnitzel, maultaschen, wurstsalat - which doesn't mean anything to you, but believe me - it's good.

And in addition they are offering great fish and meat. And the deserts are to die for.

Mapleleaf, if you ever make it to our area - we will go there!

I love Dave's Not Here in Santa Fe, NM. It's a little neighborhood place with two huge identical twins in the kitchen.

I found their homepage - unfortunately, it's only in German. But some nice pictures.

Gasthaus Adler Ratshausen

BumBeeBoog -

You ever go to the German Cook in SF? It was sort of near the Mitchell Bros. theater. Great stuff (but nothing close to what Urs gets, I'm sure).

Best sushi I've found -- and I'll plug this at every opportunity -- is at Mobo Sushi in Santa Cruz, California. Fantastic creative and traditional rolls, modest prices. The Corrupter, McRandy, and Tsunami are to die for, as they used to say. Really.

Quite possibly my favorite in the USA:

Tapawingo

4/18/03/4:05 pm

U.S.A.

CALIFORNIA

SAN FRANCISCO

CAFE JACQUELINE - The locally famous Café Jacqueline is a tiny store-front restaurant where entree and dessert souffles reign---the only items on the menu---accompanied by simple salads, the best French onion soup you will ever taste, and wine. Each souffle is made to order.

GERMAN COOK - Near the Mitchell Bros. Theatre.

MASA -

STARS -

SAN RAMON

MUDD'S RESTAURANT - Mudd's food is presented in the most beautifully constructed building, obviously built by master craftmen in a rural setting.

http://www.muddsrestaurant.com/

SANTA CRUZ

MOBO SUSHI - Fantastic creative and traditional rolls, modest prices. The Corrupter, McRandy, and Tsunami are to die for, as they used to say. Really.

GEORGIA

THOMASVILLE

HOMECOMING - Southern cooking at its best. The locals overflow the front poach and front yard while waiting for a seating. Fried catfish, slaw to die for, tasty fries I can't eat.....

MICHIGAN

ELLSWORTH

TAPAWINGO - "(the) cooking spoke eloquently for itself in course after course; the sort of intriguing American cooking that is in sync with local sources and is in almost equal parts nostalgia and restless innovation."
Andy Birsch, Gourmet Magazine

http://tapawingo.net/

NEW MEXICO

SANTA FE

DAVE'S NOT HERE - It's a little neighborhood place with two huge identical twins in the kitchen.

OTHER COUNTRIES


GERMANY

RATSHAUSEN (tiny village near Balingen)

GASTHAUS ADLER - It is run by a young chef who got his training in France. They have great down-to-earth Svabian food - potatoe salad, schnitzel, maultaschen, wurstsalat - which doesn't mean anything to you, but believe me - it's good.

http://www.adler-ratshausen.de/

Stars and Masa's in San Francisco are considered great restaurants. I don't remember the name, but a seafood restaurant at Darlene Harbor in Sydney is one of my favorites. Another fellow and I shared the seafood platter full of shrimp, lobster, crab, fish, and chips with two bottles of great Australian wine cost us only US$30 per person. c.i.

C.I., that sounds great! I'm getting hungry!

Urs, If you ever get to Cape Town, there's a restaurant at Victoria Wharf where one can get a rock lobster dinner and two bottles of wine/shared for less than $20 per person. The initials for the restaurant's name is QB, but I can't make out the full name. It might be Queen Basket. The waiters there are fantastic too! They're fun and attentive. c.i.l

I was hoping we would have more postings.

A list of top 50 resteraunts in the world was released a few days ago..

The Top 50 restaurants in the world

1. French Laundry, California
2. El Bulli, Spain
3. Le Louis XV, Monaco
4. Jean Georges, New York
5. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London
6. L'Arpège, Paris
7. Comme chez Soi, Brussels
8. Rockpool, Sydney
9. L'Ambroisie, Paris
10. Gramercy Tavern, New York
11. Michel Bras, Laguiole, France
12. Chez Panisse, California
13. Pierre Gagnaire, Paris
14. The Merchant House, Ludlow
15. Bocca, Tallin, Estonia
16. Jiro, Tokyo
17. Felix, Hong Kong
18. L'Auberge de L'ill, France
19. Gidleigh Park, Devon
20. Bukhara, New Delhi
21. Restaurant Bocuse, Collonges, France
22. De Karmeliet, Bruges
23. Al-Mahara, Dubai
24. Vincent Guerithault on Camelback, Arizona
25. Thornton's, Dublin
26. Nobu, London
27. Operakelleren, Stockholm
28. Eigensinn Farm, Ontario
29. Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Oxfordshire
30. Restaurant Guy Savoy, Paris
31. The Ivy, London
32. The Three Chimneys, Isle of Skye
33. Petrus, London
34. Daniel, New York
35. Dal Pescatore, Mantova, Italy
36. Bagatelle, Norway
37. Tetsuya's, Sydney
38. Quattro Passi Marina del Cantoni, Italy
39. Charlie Trotter's, Chicago
40. Restaurant Arzak, Spain
41. Flower Drum, Melbourne
42. The Cliff, Barbados
43. The Square, London
44. Enoteca Pinchiorri, Florence
45. 1884, Argentina
46. Checchino dal 1887, Rome
47. River Café, London
48. The New York Grill, Tokyo
49. St John, London
50. Carnivore, Nairobi


No. 20 is very close to my home back in India, and is somewhere I eat very often when I am back home !! Even Bill Clinton is a big fan !!!

Napa Valley's Hess Collection winery and restaurant
THE HESS COLLECTION - Art and wine: feasts for your eyes and for your palate in California's Napa Valley.

I want to introduce all of you to one of my favorite places to dine. The Hess Collection Gallery in the Napa Valley Wine Country in Northern California is not to be missed if you are ever within traveling distance.

The food and wine is wonderful, and you will remember the art collection for the rest of your life.

You can search for the restaurant's famous recipes via this site:
http://hesscollection.com/chef/

The art gallery and home page opens the door to the site:
http://hesscollection.com/arttour/

-----BumbleBeeBoogie

Stars was a great memory for me as well, young pup that I was at the time. Up here, Eigensinn Farm, Michael Stadtlander's place, where I apprenticed, I might add, offers a truly fascinating and delicious dining experience. Book well in advance. Oh, hey, just noticed it at number 28 on Gautam's list

Best restaurants I've been to (meals, athmosphere, service):

1. Frankuska, Prague
2. Set Portes, Barcelona
3. La Mere Catherine, Paris
4. Andrea, Aguascalientes
5. Boccaccio, Nice

Gotta get a plug in here for...

IN&OUT Burger!!!!

You just can't beat this place! Is it fancy? No. Is it fast? Not really. Can you sit down? Yes, carefully. Is it good? Absolutely!

cj, what city? I'm in the midst of mowing; I will add the others to the list at a later date.

Mapleleaf, that was kind of tongue in cheek. In&Out is a hamburger chain on the west coast. They have a cult following, a secret menu, and very, very tasty burgers.

In&Out Burger



Notice the clear blue skies of northern California!