coco500... again

i think i've written about coco500 on more than one occasion, and it has officially become my favorite place to eat in san francisco - loretta keller (no relation to thomas) is my new hero. we ate there again last night (our first official dinner without the little one) and had another great meal. the food is simple, fresh, and excellent. it also helps that it is 1/2 a block from our house, which makes ducking out pretty easy.

food of note was the truffle oil and mushroom flat bread, the house mustard that comes with the duck pate plate, the white anchovies in the salad, the roasted marrow bone appetizer, the peanut butter cups, and a floral and fiery grappa. the place was a mad house, since the fancy food show was wrapping up yesterday (i had a pass, but didn't attend - fodder for another post) and there were a bunch of foodies in town. i was sad to see the duck pot pie off the menu, but hope it returns.

we've decided this will be our place to grab a drink and quick dinner at the bar when the mood strikes, and I couldn't be happier.

Touch - South Beach, Miami, FL

Like everything in South Beach, Touch exudes sex. From their name to their furry swing when you walk through the doors to the belly dancers, this place is awash in good looking hipsters out for a bite looking to see and be seen. How did I get in? Work event.

Despite their very annoying Flash based website, the food is excellent. The ambiance is amazing and the entertainment is entertaining to say the least. Wear black.

South Beach, I learned is on Europe time. Dinner starts early if it is 9:00 and the restaurants that we visited typically didn't start to get full until 10 or 11. The service in the town, including at Touch, was painfully inept and slow. Despite these short comings, I loved it. It is a chance to enjoy your meal and a show. Something that is lacking in many other cities that have adopted the dine and dash culture.

Like many, my meal started with a Grey Goose martini, made very dry; the way that I love it. I was soon served the 910 House Salad. 910 is Touch's street number in the Lincoln Mall. The salad was wonderful. A perfect mix of baby greens, dressing, nuts, and bleu cheese.

Once that was digested, I switched over to wine. Unfortunately, living in the Bay Area, you get spoiled on really excellent wines. Touch has a great wine list, but it is also insanely expensive. Wines that are $40 a bottle here are $90 there. I guess there is a shipping and handling charge or something to get them across the Mississippi. The wine, a Cab, was very second rate. I don't recall the bottle, but it was something from Carmel Valley that I hadn't heard of.

For my entree, I had the Peppercorn Filet done medium rare. This filet isn't on the menu, unfortunately, but it is fairly close the Angus beef on that is. It was a little more on the medium side of the fence, but still, very good. I would have licked the plate. It was done over a bed of some killer potato. Not quite mashed, not quite french fries. Almost like a latka. It was damn good.

For dessert, I shared the sampler platter. It had some tiramissau (which I generally don't like), some German Chocolate cake, cheese cake, apple pie, banana something and bread pudding. The German chocolate cake was nuts.

After dinner, we continued to watch the belly dancing show, did shots and smoked cigars in their lounge out in the mall. It was a great night and Touch will always be part of my trips to Miami.

Photo above by Furcafe.