Delfina

Delfina is a gem of a place in the Mission district in San Francisco.  I made a visit for dinner last week to catch up with a local friend.  Here is a pic of the place from their website.

It's a bit of funny story actually...

It starts with my love of Tartine Bakery.  I try to get a chocolate eclair every time I visit.  It's a must because it's sooo good.  Back in October, I had the same plan...stop by Tartine before my departure flight.  I had stayed over the weekend after a business trip. My sis and my bestie came in as well, and we made a trip to Sonoma.  Anyways, we all went eagerly to Tartine and bought a butt load of goodies for the plane ride.  We were super hungry and wanted to grab a lunch too.  Tartine is packed and no where to sit, so we go to the next door pizza place that looked great.  We got a table outside and proceeded to order our pizzas and salads.  While waiting for our food, I decided I want to take a bite out of my chocolate eclair.  So, I take it out of the bag and ready to take a bite...but wait...who comes to our table but a snooty, pseudo intelligent, tall stick figure of a woman.  I get scolded like a child that I can't bring in outside food to their restaurant.  I'm like what?  I'm just taking a bite!  We already ordered our food I tell her but she said no. I say...we are already outside because that is where we are sitting!  Still no.  I put the eclair back in the box.  We sit just waiting for our pizza order but I am fuming!  How dare she?  There is no way, I will not enjoy that pizza or lunch there.  I tell my sis and bestie that I need leave.  They can eat if they want but I'm not!  They agree...so we get up.  I tell her to *%$@#!&. No I didn't.  :)  I just said we will take our business elsewhere.  I left a $2 tip because we had water.  My sis and bestie said why but it was a point...and it wasn't our waitress' fault.   We ended up back Tartine, waited for a table, got croque monsieurs, cookies, and ate the damn good eclair.

Back to the story, my friend said she tried this great new restaurant over the weekend and wanted to eat there again, it was  a place called Delfina.  Got great reviews, 2010 best restaurant. I was game!  I thought the name it sounded familiar but knew I hadn't been there before.  We left her place, plugged address into the GPS and it takes us to Mission district, looks familiar, I see Tartine. I point it out to Heather because she's not been there and I've been raving.  We park finally and walk to the address.  We get there...well...it's next door to Tartine Bakery.   :)  It was the same pizza place but the restaurant part of the place.  I looked around, no snooty tall stick figure of a woman. Actually they were really nice, I loved the vibe of the place, hustling and bustling.  Great place. Food was amazing!

Blood Orange Avocado Fennel Salad

Budino with Salted Caramel Ice Cream

This is one of the best budino's I've had.  Not quite in a pudding form but almost like a souffle.

We also each had their basic spaghetti.  It was great...no Scarpetta but good!

http://delfinasf.com/restaurant/

Molly Moon

Ginger Ice Cream, Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet, Vegan Coffee Coconut Milk

Rocky Road Ice Cream

I was ordering Romio's pizza the other day and they offered a free pint of Haagen Daz ice cream. Now, you all that know me...I am not no saying no to free ice cream, especially decadent Haagen Daz. I asked what flavor were available the person on the other line mentioned a bunch of flavors but when they said one of the choices was Rocky Road, the world stop and I was taken back to the 80's, the last time I had Rocky Road ice cream.

All of a sudden...I had memories of smooth chocolate, pillowy marshmallows, nutty "walnuts". I'm pretty sure the Rocky Road I had came from a rectangle box carton, the kind you undo the paper enclosure tab. The kind that probably cost .99 cents from Safeway. I said I'll take Rocky Road before he could tell me other flavors.

The Haagen Daz Rocky Road was good but it wasn't the Rocky Road I remembered. It was almost too "fancy" from the one that I remembered. There was no pillowy marshmallows, but marshmallow cream and it was a bit too sweet and too gelatinous. The chocolate ice cream was great though, it had that nice rich chocolate and high butter fat creamy ice cream. However, no walnuts, it was toasted almonds. I couldn't recall almonds from the past, it was walnut, that not too dense, kinda soft nut. It didn't hit the spot like I remembered...

Well, I was at the grocery store today and checked out a bunch of Rocky Road flavor ice cream. :) I started at one end with the fancy ice creams from Ben and Jerry's who didn't have it, to Breyers, Dreyers, Tillmooks, to all the rectangle box brands and you know what? They all have almonds. No walnuts! Where did I imagine the walnuts? I swear I had walnuts! I started to think...could almonds been an expensive ingredient in the 80's that they replaced with walnuts? I don't know???

I did buy the Safeway premium cup size Rocky Road ice cream and topped it with walnuts. It was so much better the than Haagen Daz. The real miniature marshmallows give it that chewy texture compared to the gelatinous cream stuff. The almond was there, but my addition of the walnut, that light nutty flavor balanced well with the chocolate ice cream. So good!

Why am I talking about Rocky Road? I don't know...it was on my mind and I literally looked at all the Rocky Road ice creams at Safeway and was baffled that all of them had almonds instead of walnuts. I'll have to make my mine own.