So this is the tale of two tastings. Damn, alliteration again. Shit. Why a tale of two tastings, you ask? ‘Cuz we went here twice, Einstein. Once last weekend when we were ‘wowed’ and since we were so impressed with the sliders and scene, came again last Friday for the Full Monty. Mistake.

First, this place is definitely cool. Great space and design and lighting and bar and pretty people and..and…vibe. We were here pretty early on MLK day I think, around 6:30. Swaggered up to the bar and grabbed a couple drinks. STK is a great spot to have a bevvie or three! They have a cool bar and lounge area, and about 1,000 horns mounted above the bar. Watusi’s, I believe. And believe me, I know a Ankole-Watusi when I see one. ‘Nuff said.

Anyhoo, since we were there, We scanned the menu and saw Wagyu Sliders. Weird, sliders usually sound good (how can they not?) but we usually don’t order them. Dunno why. But we went for it, and I swear to All Things Holy they are The Best F’ing Sliders I’ve ever had.

Why are they they The Best F’ing Sliders Ever? 1) They’re Wagyu cows, the snobbiest and most pretentious bovine roaming the earth. Quite bitchy I’ve heard. Even bitchier than a Watusi b) They were perfectly cooked…say it with me…RARE 3) Served on a fresh yummy black sesame seed bun that is smaller than the patty and c) comes with a slice of black truffle that neither overpowers nor conflicts with the taste of the burger. Indeed, I say it does the perfect job of complementing the Wagyu. and 5) oozy good cheese and a special little sauce. OK, is that proof enough, hater? Good. 

We were so giddy we made resies for a full-on dinner extravaganza the next Friday @ 9. Bam. Wait. I mean Bum. As in Bummer, dude.

We arrived, looking quite dashing I may say, just in time for our 9PM resies. We were warmly greeted by a huge doorman. I think he thought I might be Kevin Bacon. Whatever. We got the star treatment, grabbed a cocktail and a seat in the lounge area and got ready for an hour wait. But no! Within 20 minutes our dude came and showed us our table.

Lemme tell ya, fella this place is a zoo. I mean that as a huge compliment. Or is it complement? Hmmm. I hate that. Kinda like ‘effect’or ‘affect’. Thank Larry & Sergei for Google.

We had a couple next to us gettin’ it on. Were they not leaving ’til 5 in the morn’? A table full of haters telling them to get a room, a couple coke heads next to us talking at about 200 decibels and about 200 MPH. Lotsa chicks wearing not much, great scene.

Our server came right over. Let’s jump ahead and call him a…what is a really dumb, yet friendly animal? I like dogs. So let’s go with that. A Labrador? I’m afraid I’ll offend Labs everywhere with this, but whatever. We ordered and ordered fast. We knew what we wanted. The Lab obeyed.

Here we go: Filet Medallions ($22), Hamachi Crudo ($16), an encore of the Lil’ Big Mac Sliders ($25), Mac & Cheese ($9), and Mixed Mushrooms ($9).

What ensued? Man oh Manischewitz the STK train jumped the tracks on this one. I rarely get pissed off. And I got PISSED OFF. We could have sent the entire meal back to those idiots.Let’s break it down for ya:

First, they didn’t course anything. Our table got bum rushed with everything at once! I got a little heated on that. It’s like, really? But for some reason we took it. Up the ol…you get it. So the Filet Medallion…was not medallions, but a chuck of Filet. We ordered Medallions! Bad dog. The meat was pretty good, could have been a little more rare, but, the wrong dish. Plus, we ordered two sauces, the Chimichurri and STK. Only one made an appearance.

Next, the Hamachi Crudo. The best dish of the night. Very fresh, a nice portion with fried plantains. Clean, nice. Me likee.

Next (well, you know, all at once, just ‘next’ because I can’t write all at once, like they served it. Mac & Cheese. Like I know Watusi’s, I know M&C. This was baked for a nice crunch on top, and it looked good. But somebody left the top off the salt shaker when they spiced this puppy. Ewe. NG. Overpowering salt, not great cheese.

And then, the encore of what I proclaimed as The Best F’ing Sliders Ever. The Lil’ Big Macs. Ordered…rare. Yes, I’m as tired typing that as you are reading it. Well, they showed up on our table more medium to medium well. Yes, still great Wagyu. Yes, the bun, the truffle the oozy cheese and special sauce. But overdone!!!

OK, the Mushrooms. WTF cares! I was so pissed off I almost slugged the coked out dude next to me.

OK, to end on a sweet note, we had the Strawberry Cotton Candy. How was it? WTF cares! I’m pissed off again!

Plus this idiot Labrador waiter rang us up for a $50 bottle of wine we never ordered! Arrgghh.

Bottom line VdV suggestion: Go for the bar, (maybe) order some sliders and the hamachi. Skip dinner. Just enjoy watching the circus!

Hours:
Mon-Sun 5:30p-2a

STK
26 Little West 12th
New York, NY 10014
(646) 624.2444

Yup, we’re on a beef kick, bitches! Morton’s the other day, a 10-day feast in Argentina and Rio b4 that, and last night, the (relatively) new 5A5 Steak & Lounge by Jackson Square. Moo! We rolled in here with our meat-loving friends Bob & Jane, and remembered one of the last times we dined with them was here, when it was Frisson.

So not that much has changed actually. Well, apart from it turning into a high-end Steak House. Or Beef Arbiter, if you will. Wait. When someone says anything with ‘if you will…’ at the end, don’t you take it to imply ‘…if you will take your head out of your ass’?. No? Hmmm. We do. So if you ever hear us saying that to anyone…

Back to the storyline. I mean, the space and design were barely touched, which is a good thing. Frisson prolly spent a ton of their doh-ray-mi on the Jetson’s like design, it’s cool, so I like that they didn’t think they had to do some type of tear-out and replace on its ass. They toned down the orange-ness is about all you’ll really notice, if you remember anything at all from that drunken rage you participated in when you last visited Frisson.The result? Yes, a hangover idiot, but we’re not concerned in the least about you. We’re discussing 5A5, and it’s a nice twist on a traditional steakhouse, with cool design, a happenin’ lounge area and way less stuffiness than most steak houses.

So does 5A5 fill the big shoes left by Frisson? Pretty much. This place is a solid steak house with a cool vibe to boot. Shit! Just let the cat (or is it, Calf) outta the bag, how will I get you to read on now?!

Well, for those that choose to, you’re in for an awesome review! First, the menu. This is a rangy bastard. In a good way, meaning there’s lots here and all pretty well thought out.

The menu is broken up into several sections: Shooters: (inexpensive little suckers) including Hamachi, Oysters, Caviar, A5 Wagyu, mostly $4-10. Then, Bites: things like Shisito Peppers, Cocktail Shrimp, Truffle Fries, Chicken Yakatori, mostly all in the $5-12 range. Next up! Starters: Stuff like Lobster Tempura, Lamb Chops, Day Boat Scallops, ranging from $10-20. Movin’ on up! Mains: now we’re in the meat of it. Filet Mignon, Buffalo Filet, Dry Aged T-Bone, Aussie ‘Kobe’, all in the $20-40 price.

Then they get all crack head crazy on your ass and do things like the A5 Wagyu at $18-20 per…OUNCE. Yes, kittens. Actually when you speak ounces you should be talking about feeding kittens or buying certain home-grown agricultural products IMO. Legalize it, people! And, no, they won’t let you order 1 ounce. Minimum is about 4 ounces. Sheeatt! And they have a World Wide Wagyu Sampler that gets ya 3 servings each of different Wagyu beef, for about…$175. So, if you have an abacus handy, that’s more than $175 per pound. And I am sure, worth every Yen. Yeah. But not after the 3 shots of tequila I already had! Oh yeah, there’s Sides too. Nope, not gonna yammer about them right now. All good. ‘Nuff said

So back to the name! Told you that you should read on! So A5 is the designation for what many think is the bestest of the best steak in the world, the A5 Wagyu, imported from Japan. Dunno what the ’5′ in from of the ‘A5′ means. Maybe we’ll figure that out next time.

OK, I’m exhausted. Let’s get into it, here’s what we had: Surprise! The Filet Mignon (6 oz, $21), dug it they had a petite size as well as a 10 oz. Yeah pigs, I hear you. 10 oz is ‘petite’ for most of my friends. Just remove all the mirrors from your house, you’ll be just fine. Anyhoo, the meat here is tight. Meaning damn good. The Filet was cooked perfectly, very tender, and they rightly so laid off the spices. No salt or pepper on this, and none needed. It was melt in your pie hole good. Next, the New York Strip (8 oz, $25) they also have a 4 oz for $16. I am really getting into good NY Strip Clubs. Shit! I mean, New York Strip STEAKS. Damn. It hasn’t replaced the Filet, but the flavor of this cut is fan-f’ing-tastic and has more character than the Filet in some ways. This is an excellent cut of cow, and very high quality. Rare, dumbass!

Wait, we forgot the sides! We had the Macaroni & Cheese ($8), with Gruyere, Mozzarella and Cheddar. That Mozzy kicks it up a notch! Very creamy and cheesy, nice elbow macaroni. Not as good as Morton’s only because I like the baked top that Morton’s and others do. That said, the addition of Mozzarella is awesome. We also had the Mushrooms ($12) I think they keep it generic so they can rotate fresh types in and out. We had Wood mushrooms, Creminis, Shittakes and a few I couldn’t quite pick out. But all good, lightly sauteéd, and very fresh. This is a nice, light appy. We also snarfed the Marble Potatoes ($9), these nice little spuds that are dense, yet well cooked all at the same time. So not ‘mushy’ but with a nice semi-crunch on the skin, firm yet tender on the innards. Plus, the Kobe Sliders ($7), two nice sized sliders, with your choice of cheese and just simple great beef on a (semi too big) bun.But a good bun, not that Ciabotta crap.

Wait, we also MUST discuss the vino. So in addition to being on a cow kick (OK, we’re also into a good cow tip) we’re also on an unplanned but fab Gundlach Bundschu kick! As in kick your taste buds up a notch you winos! We had not one, but two bottles of the Gun Bun 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon ($65). Seriously. Good. Wine. Bob and Jane can run circles around us with wine snobbery and we all loved this vino. So there. This is a very well made and structured wine, period. Not too OTT, with excellent aromas of blackberry and subtle vegetable on the shnoz-ola, with flavors of blackberry, plum jam (no kidding!) and Hershey kisses. Nice tannins and all in all a rocking good vino from Gun Bun that I had never had. Went really well with the bovine.

OK, no, we are not finished. We actually had dessert in dessert form! Doughnuts. Holy crap! Wow. I just shorted out my Mac by drooling into the keyboard. Awesome! These are just pure and simple kick ass. Sugar and Cinnamon nuggets that are so perfectly done it’s sick. Crisp, sweet and crunchy on the outside and perfectly doughy and tender inside. Yum. I’ll stop before it gets porno.

So the take away? We likee. We recommend. Go for the meat, gorge on the doughnuts and stay for the
lounge. Go!

Sorry there’s no pix, we spaced our camera!

VdV Rating: 3.5

Hours:
Dining:
Mon-Thu 5:30p-10p
Fri-Sun 5:30p-9p
Lounge:
Sun-Thu 5p-11p
Fri 3p-2a
Sat 5p-2a

5A5 Steak & Lounge
244 Jackson St (@ Battery)
San Francisco, CA 94111-1826
(415) 989-2539

But back to Morton’s. Several of us went here for an after work event din din a few days ago. Our friends Dave & Karen and a 5th wheel who will remain nameless. Just kidding, Jo! Anyhoo, we were at The Palace Hotel, throwing out names of places to dine, and when someone threw out Morton’s our friend Dave’s eyes lit up like a fat kid in a candy store. So off we went like a pack o’ carnivores determined to issue some punishment to the bovine.

Morton’s has a good steak house vibe. Rich colors, deep mahogany wood, crisp linens, big seats (for the fat ass you’ll have after eating all this stuff), pretty old school design but all kept in very good condition. For a change we ate upstairs. Damn they have a hurkin’ menu too. A dozen appys including Oysters On The Half Shell, Lump Crab Cakes, Lobster Bisque…Wait, is this a steak house or Long John Silvers!?. Movin’ on, several salads, about 100 ‘side dishes’ like Macaroni & Cheese, Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Spinach, all the usual suspects and then some. Then the entreés,: Filet Mignon, Porterhouse, New York Strip, Bone-in (hee hee, love that!) Rib Eye, Prime Ri..WAIT! No Prime Rib! Say what? I think Dave almost started to weep. It was kind of funny actually. Note: Prime Rib is available Fridays and Saturdays only. Mark it! You heard it here first. Of course they have chicken and seafood entreés as well, but if you’re not here for cow, WTF are you doing here?!

The service is great. And it needed to be with this party. Dave was spiraling into a serious funk due to the smack down he got on his hankering for Prime Rib. He went kinda rain man actually. So he needed some coddling. And then Jo needed actual ‘consulting’. Yes, our server had to go in deep with this woman. where to buy pharmatex contraceptive sponge online.  Some serious back and forth going on about WTF knows. But she was responsible for ordering the scrumptious mac & cheese dish.

So what’d we get? The Filet Mignon, bien sur. Rare, bitches! But before that, the sides. The Macaroni &   Cheese ($10), this stuff rocks it! Nice soft elbow mac, and what I believe was a blend of a couple cheddars and gruyere cheese with some parmesan thrown in. Then baked to a nice crust up top. Some of the best I’ve had. Next, the Creamed Spinach ($9.50), what’s a big hunk ‘o beef without some cream to go with it?! And all neatly disguised as a vegetable. Lip smackin’ good. ‘Nuff said. Then, the Beefsteak Tomato Salad ($? can’t remember!) huge ripe tomatoes with wicked sharp red onions and a blue cheese drizzle. Healthy!

Christ I think I just had angina just writing about it. And we haven’t  even gotten into the entreés yet! Here we go: So, back to the Filet Mignon ($32), this is a nice juicy seared piece of burnin’ bovine! And Morton knows r-a-r-e. I mean, we’ve just come from Argentina, the land of steaks and this steak stood up with the best. Very tender with the perfect grill on the outside, lightly salted. And that’s it. Let that Filet stand on its own! We likee! Then, since we were with additional guests, we did a little sampling. The Bone-in Rib Eye. We would have ordered it, say it with me, rare but this was ordered medium. Waaahhh! Anyhoo, even medium this bad boy had some serious flavor to it, very well marbled with an excellent texture. Yum.

Desserts? We took ‘em in liquid form, kittens. As usual. Morton has a pretty good wine list, I think better by the bottle than by the glass, And none of could agree so we all flew solo and had glasses. And lots of them. Do you care what? Of course not.

Bottom line: Morton’s does a rock-solid job on steak and sides, a good wine list in a traditional steak house setting. Nothing too crazy or anything going on here, just damn good meat and excellent service. Bam!

VdV Rating: 3.5

Hours:
Mon-Thu 5:30p-11p
Fri-Sat 5p-11p
Sun 5p-10p

Morton’s Steak House
400 Post Street (@ Powell, Union Square)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 986-5830

First. A moment of silence for the cows. Specifically the additional cows that will be slaughtered due to our travels the next week or so. That’s right kittens, Team VdV is traveling south of the border, well actually way south of the border to the Southern Hemisphere, to bring you the latest and greatest in enchanting South America. OK, not all of SA, but how does Buenos Aires and Rio De Janero sound?You are welcome.

And when you’re in Buenos Aires, it’s all about the meat. The BEEF, people. Hey we found it – here’s the beef! And, now perhaps our moment of respect for the galliant cow will make more sense. ‘Cuz VdV are carnivores, bitches. Sorry cows! And one of the top spots (some say the best spot in the world) to enjoy some cow? La Cabrera in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires. We’ll see.

And since we’re on the road, apologies in advance for the brevity of some of these reviews coming up. (OK, OK we heard your sighs of relief).  Here’s the breakdown:

1) You’re gonna wait. And yes, we went for din din when the locals do, around 10PM. Our wait was an hour. Not bad for a beautiful Saturday night.

2) They treat you right. Free Heineken or bubbly and snacks (meat!) while you wait outside for your table.

3) They have a menu of meat that would choke a horse. If horses ate meat. I mean you can get any part of the cow made just about any way you want. Use your imagination. We passed on the Grilled Gizzards.

So what’d we gorge our faces on?

First, Caprese Salad ($7). Had to see how they did our fave salad down here. Hey, it’s not Italy and they are not known for salads. It was so-so. The mozzy was kinda tough, and the tomatoes were not the most tasteful. But they went with the theme of the place we were about to experience: LOTS.

Next we ordered, on our very nice server Gustavo’s recommendation, the Rib Eye ($16). He talked us out of our  favorite cut, the Filet and we went for it.  The sheer amount of beef that shows up on the platter is insane! Picture episodes of the Flintstones.

Hey man, typically quantity & quality do not go hand in hand. There are a few exceptions. VinDivine reviews come to mind. Add La Cabrera’s dishes to the short list. The amount of meat is almost disgusting. Tastes great. More filling. And cooked perfectly rare as we ordered. No spice, just excellent meat cooked right. But you also get a virtual cornucopia of little side dishes – mashed spuds, applesauce and about every kind of  dipper you could dream up. (Sorry the picture’s a little dark).

So we polished that off like a couple world champion hot dog eaters, and were stuffed. But does that mean we were finished? Hells no! Well, we thought so, then merely mentioned the fact that we were still curious about the Filet, and next thing we know trusty ‘ol Gustavo brought us a small (no kidding!) sample. Holy crap. The Filet rules. Tender as hell, rare, perfectly seared and scrump-dili-icious. Word.

We rolled outta this place. I mean, almost vomitorium style. So the beef here is over the top. But was it the best steak in the world? Dunno, we’d need to stack up some of our faves for a head-head taste test to really know. Look for that in the 2010 VinDivine Best Steak In The World Competition. Details to follow.

VdV Rating: 4

Hours:
Mon 8p-1a
Tue-Sun 12:30p-4p; 8p-1a
No resies after 8:30, but if you’re eating that early you best have blue hair

La Cabrera
Cabrera 5099
Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Palermo
4831-7002

How do we roll on Cinco de Mayo? By strappin’ on the feedbag and digging into an age-old Mexican delicacy, Prime Rib, bitches. OK, OK stop the hating. We love Mexico and Mexicans and did indeed do a couple shots of Clasa Azul beforehand, so shut your pie-holes. We represented. Yee haw!

So if you’re gonna do Prime Rib in SF, ya gotta do it right and go to the In-N-Out Burger of Prime Rib, The House of Prime Rib itself.

I am a big fan of ‘do one thing and do it right’, and although I am waaayy too A.D.D. to follow that sage advice myself, I do appreciate it when I get it delivered. And by ‘get it delivered’ I mean snarfing like an f’ing pig and loving every bite.

So here’s the deal: like the genius I am, I said to myself “self, prime rib is great, but let’s take a little look-see at the menu; maybe there’s a filet mignon or something that might catch my eye”. Wrong. Dude it’s the House of PRIME RIB. This is not Morton’s. Or Harris’. Or Ruth Chris’.

So the question becomes: “How big of a big fat pig do I want to make out of myself tonight eating prime rib at House of Prime Rib?” Hmmm. That almost sounds like ‘How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Oh well, maybe it’s just me!

Anyhoo, back to the In-N-Out vibe. And here’s a little side-factoid for y’all: HOPR was established in 1949; INOB was established in 1948. So who actually copied whose (or whom’s) Mission Statement? We’ll let the attorneys sort that one out.

And by INOB vibe, I only mean focus, not ambiance. This place is full-on steak house. BIG huge space, big bar with lotsa alcohol (except no Hangar One Vodka:( and big booths with red pleather and those Queen Anne wing chairs. Kinda like Lazy Boys that don’t recline. I would swear there hasn’t been an update here since the original ’49 opening, but she’s still holding her own. Kinda like Sophia Loren…5 years ago before that botched plastic surgery. Follow me?

So what the hell do they serve?!? you ask: Here we go: Ya got 4 cuts to choose from:

• The City Cut, a ‘smaller cut’ at $34.45
• House of Prime Rib Cut, the house cut, at $36.85
• The English Cut, the house cut size, but in thinner slices, at $36.85. YUM
• King Henry VIII (that’s 8, for some of you), which I think speaks for itself, at $39.85
• The also have a Children’s dinner, but WTH cares about those sniveling little bastards anyway? Give ‘em a juice box and tell ‘em to pipe down..

Do you get the same twitch I do? Hmmm? About the pricing above? I mean I $5.50 delta between the lowest and highest price point? HOPR, add $5 to the top end and make some extra profits baby! Or (clutch your pearls) lower the City Cut a buck or three. You get my drift.

Then we have the sides:

• Tossed salad (watch out, they drown this stuff in dressing)
• Creamed spinach
• Creamed corn
• Taters – either baked or mashed
• Yorkshire pudding. I ate this and still have no idea WTF it is!

So I ordered the English Cut (rare), drowned salad and spinach. Our buds ordered random other things – the Henry, corn, blah blah. Whatever. So the cool thing is no matter what you order this dude rolls up with a  magical cart that Steve Wozniak may have invented and serves you table side. This cart has everything hot and ready to go – all the meat, veggies, sides, all-in-one. Dig it!

The verdict? The meat was dead-on rare to order, the spinach was awesome, the warm bread and butta were dangerous, and the Yorkshire pudding was strangely delish. And check this: they have 4 different horseradishes: light/creamy, regular, wasabi-hot (my fave) and root. This meal is solid, people. No doubt about. But us? Then we went in for Cremé Bruleé which showed up in a skillet. Rock on, HOPR. And if you want to add even more cellulite to your ass, you can get FREE seconds of the meat!

So if you’re hankerin’ for the rib, don’t shortchange your cheap ass. Buck up and hit the HOPR life is short! I give HOPR a solid 8.5 outta 10, if you are maniacally into prime rib. Mange!

VdV Rating: 3.5

Hours:
Monday – Thursday 5:30 – 10:00
Friday 5:00 – 10:00
Saturday 4:30 – 10:00
Sunday 4:00 – 10:00 (open early for the blue hairs!)

House of Prime Rib
1906 Van Ness Avenue (@ Washington)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 885-4605

OK for starters I’m on a flight outta Vegas to JFK tonight. Nobody in the middle seat, woo hoo! BUT, the woman next to me…well first, I am flying Virgin America, which rocks. Kinda like JetBlue was 10 years ago. Planes so new and clean you could eat off the seats. And you can order food whenever you want – yay! And they have Red, the cool touch screen
interactive media system on the back of every seat. And therein lies the rub.

The woman in the aisle seat is wide awake. Not reading. Not working on her computer. Not clipping her nails (as some  gross d-bag was doing during the last flight I took. Yuck. Wouldn’t eat off that seat). So  anyhoo, this woman has, for the past 3 hours, stared intently, wait maybe not intently…hmmm what is that word anyway. She is  staring at the start screen. The “Red an interactive the touchscreen is fire and she’s the first caveman. Or cavewoman. How is that possible? A total lack of curiousity. Wait! She did just pull out a zip lock baggie full of loose life savers? I think she may be a terrorist.

Anyhoo, I took a couple of my sales guys to dinner last night after they worked their butts off at he Word of Mouth Marketing show. Asked Pete to pick the place, and like an old pro the bastard picked the most expensive spot! Pick it he
did. We headed down to Mandalay, watched the Jets whup some Mass-holes and then headed on over to STRIPSTEAK, Michael Mina’s Vegas meat house.

First, Mr. Mina you have been officially pardoned. This place is So Much Cooler than your signature restaurant in SF. Michael Mina SF: My grandmas living room. Michael Mina Vegas: Giselle’s boudoir. Get the picture? Modern décor, great vibe, lots of glass and great lighting. Our waiter was cool, the hostess was hot. Perfect-o.

The menu has a killer selection of meat of course, from the $175 6-oz (is there cocaine in this steak?) A5 Kobe Ribeye to the 14-ounce bone-in Filet. Ya don’t see many bone-in Filets, lemme tell ya. And I can’t help giggling every time I type ‘bone-in’.

So let’s break it down. To start, I has the Chopped Salad, great traditional iceberg wedge with blue cheese, beefsteak tomatoes and baco-bits (OK, real bacon, I don’t want Mina suing me).  For appys, TJ & Pete ordered the Truffled Mac & Cheese, Bacon Creamed Spinach, and Jalapeno Creamed Corn (Glad we all had our own hotel rooms. Hope everything that happens in Vegas really does stay in Vegas!).Three of the best appys I have had for a looong time, my apostles. The spicy corn took the award though.

For entrees, Pete and TJ had the 14-oz Bone-in (lol, can’t help myself) Filet (thank you Pete for not ordering the 6-oz Koge Ribeye @ $175;). That bone adds some flavor, my kittens. I had  a bite, great taste, tender, just a little more done
than my carnivore taste buds prefer though. Not Mina’s bad, it’s the way it was ordered. They loved it. I ordered up the 10-oz Angus Filet. RARE dammit! Bam! They killed it, awesome flavor and everything and more a kick-ass Filet should be.

Swilled it down with a solid Zin I can’t remember the name of. Except for dollar-cost averaging I ordered it and it was the cheapest Zin on the list.

Although they rocked the show, I still don’t want to have to do a ‘dinner cost/# biz card leads’ math exercise on this one!

VdV Rating: 3.5

Hours:
Sun-Sat 5:30p-11p

STRIPSTEAK
Mandalay Bay Hotel
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV
702-632-7414

Hey happy people! OK, I won’t even pretend we haven’t treated you like that skeedgy tramp Britney treats those two spawn of hers the past few weeks. What can I say? Nothing malicious here – JP’s birthday bash, 1 week l8r our 12th Anny, 1 week after that my bday. Whew! It’s not like we didn’t eat. And drink. And drink. I just don’t think we were fit to blog!

So who cares, anyway? If we get a flashback, we’ll post it. Let’s move on. Not dwell on the past. So first off we’re sick of this sunny weather. No, we’re not goth. We just WANT A SEASON. Is that too much to ask?! Anyway, we had a relatively meeting-free day today, which almost never-ever happens. I mean, with me {COMMERCIAL BREAK HERE} launching my new technology company, Andiamo Systems, which provides real-time, actionable, intuitive, affordable word of mouth measurement and brand monitoring, with a 14-day FREE TRIAL go check it out!! {end of shameless self promotion, that is so tacky} and Janine’s company winning award upon award we got caught up in the moment. Yup, full full full of ourselves. LOL.

But we’re back, as your humble Sherpas of all things wining and dining. And a little travel to boot. So without further adeiu:

Lark Creek Steak in the Westfield mall or whatever it’s called, y’know that thing they worked on 4ever. Bloomingdales, Hugo Boss, all that. They have a Steak & Spinach Panzanella Salad that I would poke my best friend’s eyes out for. I mean this is custom-made, FILET salad. Not some acky sirloin crap. And rare, if you have been reading. Why’s it so lip-smackin’ good?

Well, after being in the trenches, walking into this semi-boring atmosphere place is still, kinda, civil. Second, they have a good wine list – get the Provenence Suavignon Blanc! Thirdly, and the reason we’ve come outta hiding, is that goddamn steak salad is epic.  Order the steak as you want, made to order; loaded with beets, feta cheese, persimmon (ok, I had to refer back to the menu for that tidbit) radishes, steak, and oh yeah, some salad-stuff. Spinach I think. This salad is TOPS in SF. Go get it, it’s even healthy! It does make for a $100 lunch if you go as a couple, embibe with 3 glasses o’ vino (not for each of us, suckas, shared) and a coupla espressos and tip like a human, but WTF, treat y’selves right!

Then go get your nooner shopping groove on!

VdV Rating: 3

Lark Creek Steak
845 Market Street
San Francisco, CA
(415) 593-4100

Now onto Quality Meats. When José first recommended it, we were like, “Is he taking us to some big ole’ Chicago syle, cigar smoky, fat guys sittin’ around a table undoing the top button of their pants typa place?” With a name like Quality Meats that’s why we thought. Boy were we wrong. It’s very industrial, jam packed with pretty people. Cool lighting, small place, very cozy. The Smith & Wollensky Group owns this and if you’ve ever been to one of those meateries, you know it’s gonna be the bomb.

But whoa, they only had a 12oz filet mignon (filet, shocker huh?) and we weren’t hungry enough for two of those. But we did have a chuckle at the 64 oz. Ribeye for two. Wow. They also serve 3 Filet medallions all cooked in their different ways. Sharing? You KNOW we love the share plates. So we ordered up one of those and it was a lip smacka. We also ordered up the Sashimi of Hamachi which I wouldn’t order again cuz…and to top off of protein bonanza we had the Sauteed Spinach, very good.

Funny? What’s up with NYC and all of the conversations that happen about climbing the corporate ladder? Guy next to us was on a date (she didn’t take her overcoat and scarf off the entire night, wassup widat?) He looked like George Peppard way before The A-Team, maybe in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Anyhoo, he’s chattin’ up his chillin’ lady (literally), talking about how he’s the star of his sales team. In fact, he was psyched his manager said he’s not “on the team” he’s “outside the team”. Was that a compliment? This guy sure thought so…LOL. Tool. And of course ALL THE DUDES are suits. Don’t blame QM for that.

Drinks? Wine by the glass this time. John the Roshambo Zin, love that wine. Janine: a Ferari Carano Blend. The wine list is pretty ridiculous. Finished it up with some porto, yummy, yummy.

VdV Rating: 3.5

Quality Meats
57 West 58th Street (6th)
New York, NY 10019
T: 212.371.7777
F: 212.317.9362

The Vibe? Old school, Gangster, which was pretty cool. And I mean ‘gangster’ not to be confused with ‘ganst-a’, which would be a place right from the heart of the LBC (an important distinction). I mean, with a name like Joe DiMaggios we were expecting something like a Bob’s Big Boy except with an old decrepit baseball player on the roof.

We stand corrected. Sorry, Joe, and the entire Dimaggio fam.  Apparently this place was done up by a company that represents the DiMaggio family and represents what Joe would have wanted in a place. Love it when a steak house feels, acts and smells like a real damn steak house! Kinda like a place your parents woulda taken you (or maybe just parked your ass with a babysitter and gone themselves) on a Friday night for a splurge after dad got paid. But no worries – it’s still way cool enough for the hip VdV
crowd.

Great old b&w photos on the wall, new shwank bar with tellies. Sideline: we love bars with tellies! Great in case you just want to ‘not talk’ for a second, your date is boring, or if you’re there solo as a kick-ass conversation starter. Like conversation kindling!) And, I must say I think they win the award for the biggest bouquet we’ve ever laid eyes on. Damn, this was like something plucked outta the Brazilian rain forest. Hope not. Anyhoo, surprise! We didn’t sit at the bar and instead got one of those big ol’ plush leather booths, the kind that you slide in and around?

First, BYOT (Bring Your Own Trough) and wear those elastic pants you’ve been hiding in the closet (along with a shirt or blouse so to hide the elastic, of course). And a stomach pump. Moo! OK, I think you get the picture. Big-ass menu, appys, salads, pizzettas, meats, fishes, and desserts.

What’d we have?  Arancini, deep-fried saffron risotto w/ provolone and prosciutto. Good, esp if you like a) risotto and b) deep fried starch. We thought it was ‘good’, not great. NEXT! for a little roughage, the Chopped Salad. Good, fresh salad, great blue cheese and tomatoes, Suggestion Joe? (or actually Allen Vitto, the great exec chef, ex-Frigale) – Red Onion on a chopped salad ROCKS. Then, a Margherita Pizza. Good crust and mozzarella – damn good pizza for a chop house! We’re not done yet – then we had the Breaded Piquo Peppers, (yes) deep-fried pepper and cheese yodel. Good! At that point our cholesterol is racking up about as fast as watching the price when you’re filling up your gas tank.

Then, for the main course? Off the to slaughter house – Filet Mignon all around of course, all rare. So they were 3/4, as I had to send mine back since it wasn’t still fidgeting around on the plate. But they were very gracious and accommodating and even brought me (gulp) a free appetizer of soup for the short wait. I mean, a) unwrap the beef b) wave it over the flame c) bring it to me. Excellent cut of meat, great taste and tender, baby. Very good, they do it up right.

Wow. Who orders that much food? You woulda sworn it was Kirstie Alley’s last meal before she started Weight Watchers, BTW, did she really lose 75lbs? From where, her right cankle? Sorry bad taste, You go girl!

Vino was excellent. They have a large, well-selected list of about 250 bottles it seemed like. Lots. We had a bottle of the 2001 Wing Canyon Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon. Yee Haw! Look for a post on that in the next day or two. An awesome Cab. Bummer for us, we had to share with Rob and KellyAnn so it didn’t go too far:) and it was their last bottle.

Oh, and great, friendly service to boot, not to mention SUPERB company!

So where does this all put them on the VdV-o-meter? We give it a solid 7.5 out of 10. And for you uber-carnivores, an 8!

Joe Dimaggio’s
601 Union St
San Francisco
415.421.5633

All super natural and fresh, the best ingredients around. For some reason the dishes that stick out in my mind are the Kobe Skirt Steak, Guinea Hen, Cod, and Roasted Hen of the Woods Mushrooms. But whatever – you cannot go wrong at Craft.

Good wine list too, surprisingly reasonable prices. ‘Cuz, brutha you will pay for the food.

As with most places in NYC, star sightings are pretty common. J&J actually would have seen Uma Thurman there if we would have dined the night before:)

Craft Restaurant
43 E 19th St
New York, NY 10003
212-780-0880