Category: Food

Pasta Pomodoro and Il Fornaio may be reliable Italian standbys, but I was looking for something a little more chic but not too high end. Basically, something a little different.

Enter Stella Alpina Osteria in Burlingame. I’d heard about this place and driven by it several times, so when my husband’s sister requested Southern Italian food, it was the perfect choice.

It is definitely a cute little place. The atmosphere is definitely well-to-do, but the decor is very low-key. We walked in without reservations and they gave us the evil eye, despite their having a considerable amount of empty tables. Fortunately, they redeemed themselves with quick seating and a smile.

The menu is diverse and we started with a beet salad, beef carpaccio, and escargots (strange for an Italian menu) to share. The salad was the weakest appetizer with it’s honey mustard vinaigrette. The sweetness seemed too much for the already sweet, yet slightly undercooked, beets. Not a good combo. But the other two were tasty.

For entrees we ordered the osso bucco special, roasted rabbit, and orecchiette with mushrooms, speck (which I now know is a type of ham) and asparagus. My husband’s fave dish of the night was the pasta with its rich parmesan cheese sauce, but my fave was the Osso Bucco with it’s deep earthy gravy that tasted like something out of your Italian grandmother’s kitchen. And the accompanying marscapone polenta was divine, not only because of its luxuriously creamy texture, but because the Osso Bucco sat on top of it so all its gravy mixed in with it.  Yum-yum! (And I don’t even like polenta!)

The rabbit was tender and juicy, but it could’ve used a tad bit more salt. The meat itself was just a slight bit bland.

The food alone has now made Stella Alpina Osteria my fave Italian joint on the Peninsula. It was definitely up to snuff and I would come back for a special night out. But it’s not without its faults…

The prices are a little steeper than its quaint and cozy persona implies (entrees run $15 (pasta) to $28 (lamb chops)). Service is a bit slow too. And like I’d mentioned earlier, the pretentiousness at the front door is a definite turn off. It probably comes from the fact that the clientele looked like they’d all returned from an afternoon at the country club.

But I digress… 😉

I’ve had Teacake Bake Shop and Kara’s Cupcake. Both are very tasty and I’ve been impressed with both.

But today, I had a Sprinkles cupcake…and I am now a believer.

All the hype made me skeptical about this chain that started in L.A. Besides, people were totally wrong about Pinkberry. So how much validity could there be to Sprinkles’ cult following? Besides, the line spilling out the door of this place is an automatic turn off. That’s why I’ve waited so long to try one!

But there was no line today (random weekday, middle of the afternoon). And yes, the joint looks totally stylized (sooooo L.A.). But I’ll never know unless I try one, right?

So I did. And it was simply the most decadent and yummy cupcake I’ve had to date. Totally decadent.

With cupcakes I always complain that one element is usually out of sync. Either the frosting’s great and the cake wasn’t moist enough, or vice versa. But with the vanilla w/milk chocolate frosting cupcake I had, that just wasn’t the case. It all worked together perfectly.

The cake was super moist (score!). It was different than most cupcakes in that there was a distinct flavor and texture that gave it good depth. And the frosting was sooooo creamy! Perfect texture there as well. However, it was just a tad too sweet for me. A little less sugar would’ve actually let the real flavor of the chocolate come through. That’s my only complaint.

Besides the stark trendy design of the place and ingenious marketing, there’s another advantage this place has over others: they’ve got a ridiculously large list of flavors to choose from. It’s inevitable that you’ll wanna go back just to try another flavor. Not all flavors are available everyday, but there’s enough of a variety on any given day to make your head spin.

So yes, I have found my standard by which all other cupcakes shall now be judged. And once I stop feeling all this sugar pulsing through my veins, I will try the red velvet cupcake w/cream cheese frosting that is still waiting for me in the box :).

NOTE: Just had the red velvet and OH MY GAWD!  I haven’t had any cake that good since Sam Godfrey’s red velvet cake (of Perfect Endings in Napa) he made for me eight years ago!  Damn, that was even better than the vanilla one from yesterday.  Crazy good.

Sprinkles – Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto – www.sprinkles.com

Photo Courtesy of Pinkberry.com

I don’t get it.  I officially don’t get any of the hype that this chain of frozen yogurt shops has created.

Pinkberry gained notoriety in Los Angeles.  They’ve now got outlets in both California and New York, but most recently in San Jose’s Santana Row.

Let’s file Pinkberry under all the other fast food fads that are all style and no substance, shall we?  There’s Cold Stone, Starbucks, PF Changs…you get the picture.

It’s not quite the texture of a good soft serve ice cream.  It’s more like your typical everyday yogurt, tart and tangy, blended super smooth with ice to form a creamy texture.

That’s it!  I can’t believe there was so much hype around this stuff!  Has no one in LA ever had regular yogurt before???  Let’s just say I’m not going to be making any special trips down to SJ for this stuff.  Heck, I don’t even know if I’d visit it again if I were at Santana Row.  So not worth it.

Pinkberry – Santana Row – Stevens Creek Blvd, San Jose

Courtesy of HotaruRestaurant.com

There are plenty of places in the Bay Area to get a decent Japanese meal. You can find sushi or your typical tempura or teriyaki at so many places that they can be indistinguishable. But when you want a truly authentic homestyle Japanese meal, I always head to one spot.

Hotaru in San Mateo on 3rd Avenue at El Camino is known for their homestyle Japanese specialties, “tapas” style side dishes, as well as their sushi and rolls.

Some of their best sushi rolls include the Geisha and the Spicy Tuna Tempura Roll. The Geisha roll has cucumber, salmon, scallop, and is topped with spicy tuna. The flavors are at once clean yet exciting. And the Spicy Tuna Tempura Roll is lightly dipped in batter and fried tempura style. These rolls may seem simple enough, but the ingredients they use are so fresh and high in quality that they’re worth trying. Even their california roll is made with real crab and fresh creamy avocado. My only complaint is that the rice is always a bit warmer than I’d like. Chilled rice would make their sushi perfect.

But you should really visit Hotaru for their side dishes and entrees. Their selection of small plates is vast (I like to call them “tapas” because you can really make a meal out of them if you order a variety). Notable ones are the deep fried tofu with fish flakes in a sweet soy broth, deep fried soft shell crab, yakitori (skewered grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce), or grilled beef tongue. All are delicious and authentically prepared.

Courtesy of HotaruRestaurant.com

Then there are the entrees. There are so many places where you can find decent tonkatsu, but this place makes the best. Besides the moist pork chop, the panko breading is crisp, not too thick, and doesn’t pull away from the meat. It’s always perfect.

Other great items include their donburi, potato croquettes, and beef teriyaki, which is always cooked to order and made with some damn fine quality beef. It’s the best version of this dish I’ll ever have. And the shrimp soup that comes with some of their bento dinner combos is so delicious with it’s clear broth, bits of sweet shrimp and egg. A dash of red chili powder makes it perfect.

I’ve been here at least 10 times and I’ve never had a bad meal. Never. The service is hit or miss, but the quality of their food and authentic preparation more than make up for it.

Prices for many of their set dinners are between $11 and $14 and portions are huge, so they’re a great deal. They include the typical salad and miso or shrimp soup, but it’ll also include rice or noodles like udon or soba, a meat entree or tempura, and even some sashimi or california rolls. Many of these specials are listed on the wall, so make sure you look beyond the menu.

The worst thing is the long wait for a table during dinner service. But if you go before 6:30 or after 8:30, you won’t have to worry about it. They’re even open 365 days a year and close at 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays (it’s the burbs, so that’s considered late).

There’s no better place, at least on the Peninsula, for a wonderful Japanese meal. Hotaru is in a class by itself.

Hotaru – 33 E. 3rd Ave @ El Camino Real – San Mateo – 650.343.1152