San Francisco food trip

I just returned from a two-week trip to San Francisco and a much-longer hiatus from this blog so once again I want to say hello to GMANews.tv readers. I won’t make any excuses about my being gone longer than is acceptable but I’d like to inform that I had just completed a book project that is due for release next year. I’ll let you know more about it when it’s out.

In the meantime, let’s get on to my favorite topic of all – food. My best friend Badette is based in the Bay area and runs a business in the city so when I made the largely unplanned trip to SanFo she immediately planned the list of restaurants for me to try. 1. Shalimar When my plane landed, Badette drove me straight away to Shalimar, an Indian Pakistani restaurant at the Tenderloin district. We arrived at a place that had nothing to speak of in terms of décor or atmosphere. A United Nations of diners was seated, and more arrived after we had placed our order at the counter. I was still full from spending my entire time on the plane eating but I couldn’t resist the naan. Truth be known, I could live by bread alone, especially this kind of bread. It was the size of a full plate, with a lightly crisp bottom, soft bubbles on top, and perfectly chewy insides. The chicken tikka masala went perfectly with it. I only wished I had built up my appetite during the flight so that I could have eaten more. 2. Zibibbo On a nippy night when the Warriors were losing another playoffs game, my friends and I huddled closely as we strode along University Avenue in Palo Alto to get to this pan-Mediterranean restaurant, which was voted one of the 20 best American restaurants by readers of Gourmet magazine. The warmth of the renovated Victorian house where it was at engulfed my near-frozen body as I stepped in. Although most tables were occupied, we were seated right away. The antipasti of pita, hummus, mushrooms, and beets had potential so I held my expectations high. I ended up liking everything that was served on the table, although none particularly stood out. The flavors lacked the robustness that my palate craved. Just the same we devoured everything that was served before us. The pizza took long to arrive and when it did, there was hardly enough space for dessert. A meal is never complete without a sweet ending so we took the pizza home and headed to The Cheesecake Factory for a velvety Godiva chocolate cheesecake. 3. Aziza Ah-ziza! Weeks ahead of my trip, Badette had already booked a table at this restaurant. She considers it the best Moroccan restaurant in San Francisco, and several news clippings prove her right. Imagine the anticipation. We went on a Friday night when all of SanFo dined out so the place was packed. It had a cozy, dimly lit ambience. The shadows cast by massive candles on tangerine and saffron walls gave it a sexy, exotic vibe. Badette warned that we will be served a prix fixe tasting menu, which would give a us a fuller Aziza experience. The meal started on a high note with an array of appetizers that included flatbreads with smoky eggplant, pomegranate-almond, yogurt-cucumber-dill dip, which I loved. I also singled out the baked giant lima beans. When the four entrees were served, Badette sang praises to the basteeya (phyllo pie with a filling of saffron braised chicken & almonds, powdered sugar & cinnamon) but it was the prawn tagine and lamb shank that caught my attention. I rarely order lamb because I can’t stand its all too common aftertaste but theirs had none of that. Just a tender, tasty cut of perfect meat. But don’t think that that was the highlight of the meal. We had four kinds of desserts, of which the chocolate custard was simply over the top.