Shortbread cookies

 Source: thekitchenlink.com

Place: Tartine
Location: San Francisco
Website: http://www.tartinebakery.com/
Recommended by: Danae
Summary: I'm usually not such a fan of shortbread cookies, b/c frankly, I find them boring. I don't really have a problem with the flavor... but yes. It's just boring.

Enter Tartine's shortbread cookie. It's light (in texture, but probably not in calories), and unlike other shortbread cookies, it's on the thicker side. I like that it's a little crumbly, not quite crunchy. But the best part? The finely granulated sugar on top. Man, that stuff is good. It's just sugar... but somehow when it's ground that fine, it just makes it taste elegant and sophisticated.

Better yet, the recipe is super easy and doesn't use any exotic ingredients like Ad Hoc's vanilla paste. I made them yesterday, and the recipe is fantastic!

Tony's Pizza Napoletana

Place: Tony's Pizza Napoletana
Location: San Francisco,CA
Website: tonyspizzanapoletana.com
Recommended by: danae

Summary:

After my first heavenly experience with Grimaldi's in Brooklyn, I became a pizza snob. I no longer could handle greasy cheeses, flavorless dry crusts, or sub-par quality ingredients. Nope, an awesome pizza became all about awesome cheese, perfectly crispy yet chewy crusts, and top of the line ingredients. i tried many a pizzeria in the bay area, but none compared to Grimaldi's until Tony's came along.

I first heard about Tony's when ooj sent me a link about a new pizzeria opening in San Francisco. I immediately recognized Tony's name, having watched the food network pizza challenge episode twice (I know, I'm kind of a loser like that). And it lived up to everything i hoped for - their margherita pizza is AMAZING. first of all, the crust is awesome. i think I've read that their pizza oven for this particular pizza (Tony's has 3 different pizza ovens on locations, all to create different types of pizzas) heats up to 900 degrees, and they cook the pizza for 90 seconds. 90 seconds!!!! They have mastered the perfect balance of a smoky charred crust without it being *too* crispy. It's napoletana style, which i understand typically has a somewhat soggy middle... which I don't totally mind so much, though I would prefer it to be a little less soggy. The cheese and basil are perfect and amazing, but what really sets this pizza apart is the sauce. I am usually not a tomato sauce fan - I usually find it too acidic and a lot of times it overwhelms the other flavors. However, the pizza sauce on Tony's pizzas is absolute perfection. No hint of the typical sourness, and it's in fact slightly sweet. The sauce here makes the pizza, which is a testament to just how good it is.

Big thumbs up for the margherita. The fig pizza is ok... I find it a little too sweet and just a little *too* unconventional for my tastes, but j enjoys it. However, stay away from the new haven style clam pizza. It's just not good.

Salmon nigiri - Sushi on the Run

Place: Sushi on the Run
Location: Los Gatos, CA
Website: http://sushi-on-the-run.com/
Recommended by: danae
Summary: Everything is good here, but the salmon nigiri is outstanding. The cuts of salmon are HUGE! I've probably gotten cuts that are about 5-6" long (though, the rice ball is a normal size, so you get a few bites of just pure fish) and about 1 cm thick. I know sushi purists will probably say that this isn't authentic, but screw authenticity - it's tasty, and the thickness I think really emphasizes the perfect, firm texture and flavor. The temperature of the salmon is also really nice here - I'm not a fan of fish that's too close to room temperature, and therefore feels a little mushy. Everything about this salmon nigiri is perfect, and at $5 for two ginormous pieces, I'd say it's a steal too.

(Note: Photo is from Yelp. And those pieces of salmon are smaller than the pieces I got the last time I was there!)

Ice Cream - Kilauea Video Ice Cream and Candy

Place: Kilauea Video Ice Cream and Candy
Location: Kauai, Hawaii
Website: http://www.yelp.com/biz/kilauea-video-ice-cream-and-candy-kilauea
Recommended by: danae
Summary: This is my #1 ice cream place. EVER. And I've had a loooot of ice cream. So creamy, thick, and really interesting flavors! I think my favorite here is the Banana Cream Pie, but everything i'd had here has been great. The most interesting one I've had is definitely the peanut butter and guava jam flavor - which really tastes just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! The ice cream here is Tropical Dreams Ice Cream, and the only place to get it is here in Kauai, the Big Island, and randomly, Utah. However, we went to 3 places on the Big Island, and all of them had like, 8 flavors, whereas this Kauai location had about 25. Flavors rotate though, which is both a good and a bad thing, since there's tons of them, but your favorite might not always be available! We were told that the woman who makes this ice cream grows nearly all of her own ingredients on her farm on the Big Island, so she uses really fantastic ingredients, and she tries to make a lot of locally influenced flavors with ingredients such as macadamia nuts, coconut, and Kona coffee. Jason's favorite is the mint. It's unlike any other mint chip flavor we've ever had(and believe me, we've tried a LOT), since it uses real mint leaves... which you can sometimes see remnants of in the ice cream!

My best ice cream runner-up is Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco, CA. Similarly creamy, and with a fantastically thick texture. My only complaint is that I wish there were more fruit flavors to choose from. I almost always get honey lavender. From there, I will alternate my second flavor among roasted banana, coffee toffee, ricanelas, or salted caramel. Sometimes I long for the risky, interesting flavors of other Bay Area ice creameries such as Humphry Slocombe or Ici, but to me, their ice cream just doesn't have the same, luxurious texture as Bi-Rite. (Though Ici's cones are the best! That little nugget of chocolate at the bottom of the cone makes me happy every time.) Oh and Bi-Rite's ice cream cakes are awesome too... I highly recommend the meringue frosting! Not as sweet as regular frosting, and the lightly torched top is just so pretty.