Le Garage (Sausalito)

Today was the hottest day of 2009 in San Francisco. Coincidentally, we had planned a boat ride across the bay to Sausalito. We had breakfast at the Ferry building, had brunch in Sausalito, and then shared a prosecco at a waterfront cafe while we waited for the ferry back to SF. It was pretty much a perfect day.

Le Garage was our surprise brunch location. He's usually not very good at keeping secrets, but J decided that I wasn't allowed to know which hidden local gem we were going to today. He did a great job. This place is tucked off the beaten track next to a lovely little marina. We had a great view of the boats as we dined (click on the photo in the last post to see our view).

J had a really fun "assemble your own" type breakfast. There were two soft boiled eggs, Spanish ham, grilled asparagus with cheese, and a tower of brioche strips dipped in cheese and shaved black truffles. Okay, doofus alert. We were both really excited by the eggs because neither of us has ever eaten eggs out of egg cups before. It's fun! I felt like The Little Princess.

The Little Princess would never have done something so unladylike. But yum, brioche and egg yolks is a winning combination.

I had a duck breast, medium rare, in maple sauce with a side of rosemary potatoes. Very tasty and hearty, and not something you see on every brunch menu.

Our salad was less exciting. It was fine, but it was really just watermelon, tomatoes, cantaloupe, cucumbers, red onions, and goat cheese. Nice, but unexciting compared to everything else. Our total for three dishes and a glass of iced tea was $50. Not cheap, but you can't put a price on finding a secret brunch spot. Go J!

Bushi-Tei

Bushi-Tei continues to be one of our favorite restaurants in SF. We don't go for dinner because we can't afford it, but we have been twice for lunch/brunch and plan to go a lot more! It's pricey, but a great value for the overall experience.

First off, the space and service are both lovely. The restaurant is a combination of sleek modern furniture and rustic traditional wooden Japanese walls. The servers are all incredibly knowledgeable and very nice.

Brunch comes with an assortment of fresh baked goods from the house oven. From the left: something that tasted like a regelach, a berry pound cake, chocolate croissants, and little almond and marzipan tarts.

Here are my four treats along with my fresh grapefruit "mimosa." The drink was lovely, but not something I'd necessarily order again.

Soup of the day: Yukon potatoes and corn chowder. It's so creamy you won't believe there's no dairy in it! The flavors really pop, just like they do in almost every Bushi-Tei dish.

Arctic char salad. If you want something light and refreshing, this is your dish. Cold, sweet slices of fish and a lightly dressed mix of delicate greens.
Maison salad with bacon and a poached egg. This is more like a Cobb salad, but less heavy-handed.
The winning entree of the day: red crabcakes! I couldn't believe how big these patties were. They were probably the size of a small fast food burger, and had very little filling. The crab flavor was so intense my mouth started watering at first bite. The perfectly poached farm fresh eggs and Hollandaise only heightened the experience.

A second look at that egg: WOW! Deep orange, thick, creamy, delicious. And since there were two, this dish was really filling.

I had the fish of the day, which was seared amberjack. Beautifully done, slightly reminiscent of mackerel, but not on the same level as the crabcakes. What I did notice was that the vegetables were super sweet. The polenta on the side was just okay.

Scallops and spaghettini in a broth with mushrooms and chrysanthemum leaves. Yum! The dish looks run of the mill, but the homemade pasta and richly flavorful broth were not something that can be achieved at home. I firmly believe Bushi-Tei has earned it's Michelin star because its best dishes have the most mundane descriptions.

We barely had room for dessert, but we had to make an effort. This is the apple dumpling wrapped in pasry dough and topped with vanilla ice cream. The best part, in my opinion, is the pool of burnt caramel at the bottom.

Our favorite dessert is the black sesame blancmange. The texture is like that of panna cotta, but slightly more grainy because of the tiny bits of sesame still visible in the sesame powder used to make it. They top it with a thin layer of coconut reduction and a strawberry and pineapple "salsa" with tiny bits of jalepeno and a mint garnish. Not only is it beautiful, the strawberries today were intensely sweet.

In addition to being hands down one of the best tasting lunch spots in San Francisco, Bushi-Tei is quite reasonably priced compared to the other hard-hitters on the dining scene. Lunch entrees are about $!15, and brunch is $25 for your choice of soup/salad and entree. And if you're armed with a $50 restaurant.com coupon, choosing Bushi-Tei becomes a real no-brainer.