Lunch at Chez Maman West

Tea Time Adventures is lunching at an old favorite today. Chez Maman has two restaurants in the City, and Angela first ventured into the Potrero branch with a visiting friend years ago. They found a warm neighborhood spot which was tiny, bustling and featuring a delicious menu. Since the Hayes Valley branch is on our side of town, Tea Time decided to check out and make a comparison.

We arrived in time for a late lunch (fortunately they aren't a restaurant that closes between lunch and dinner) so there was no wait for a table. The sun was warm and there wasn't a wind so we opted to dine alfresco*. After a quick gander at the menu we decided to share an appetizer and panini with a side of mac n cheese.

Roasted Garlic with delicious baked camembert cheese, toast points and a taste of greens. Perfection!

Mac n Cheese at the next level- just add truffles

The smoked salmon panini with side salad.

Later when we walked back over to J.K.'s hood, we stopped in and got delicious dangerous housemade gelato for a delightful dessert. She had been talking about Lush Gelato since the construction signage went up because Angela loves gelato. The running joke is that if you need Angela to go somewhere simply leave a trail of gelato bowls and she'll crawl right into your kidnapper van asking for more. (Please be prepared to continue to give her gelato once she's inside the van as well, or there will be trouble. Fair warning.)

Tea Time really enjoyed their flavors-- Chocolate and banana for J.K. and Salted Caramel for Angela. Lush has some exotic combos too, so get your tastebuds ready, any sunny day weather could be perfect for an afternoon of eating and walking.

*J.K. has a blowing napkins fear

Bistro Michel - Oakland Grand Lake

Heya, Adventurers!  This is J.K.'s friend Beth, back in the States and home to the Bay.  I had just had a birthday, so later in the week my friend and neighbor Kathy took me out to dinner and a movie, as we do every year.

There is a new restaurant on Lakeshore in the Grand Lake over here in Oakland.  It's a French bistro and pastis bar called Bistro Michel, and it's become wildly popular for brunch.  We were doing dinner however, and barely got in without a reservation (Kathy wasn't sure when she'd get off work).

Apparently they have three different Pastis/Pernod liquors, and it was Pastis in my Sazerac.  Kathy had a kind of lemon drop:  vodka, vanilla, lemon and mint.  Both were tasty.

Kathy had a hanger steak that was a lovely and decent sized piece of meat.  She found it tasty, but a little less hot than she'd hoped.  That was because you can't cook a hanger steak to medium well, which she would have preferred.

I had an interesting dish:  rabbit cassoulet with house-made sausage.  In addition to its containing rabbit rather than a duck leg and confit, it was nontraditional in other ways.  There were some greens on top, and skinny carrots and parsnips sticking out of it.  It was much heavier on the meat than the beans.

That is indeed a burlap bag of bread; it arrived with a garlic butter-olive tapenade thingy.

The cassoulet ... to die for.  I can't describe the flavors and I don't know what the soft grain-type topping was, but it was as thoroughly delicious as a birthday entree should be.  The rabbit was tender enough to flake with a fork.  The sausage chunks were a little chewier, in a good way.

And apparently they don't want to scare anybody off by stating on the menu that they're horse meat, but the waitress mentioned that when I raved about the dish.  It's a Provencal thing, don't worry about understanding.

I'm going back for brunch, and will definitely have the cassoulet again.

It's possible to hang at the bar and have bar bites, too.

Bistro Michel is toward the Mandana end of Lakeshore, about three storefronts past the ever-reliable Spettro.  3343 Lakeshore, near Trestle Glen but across the street from that.  http://michelbistro.com//.

Sho 'nuff boss chow, y'all!