The Perfect Brunch at Zuni Cafe

Ah, Zuni Cafe, my quintessential weekend brunch spot in the city. This beautiful, sun drenched cafe along Market Street has come to represent the best qualities of the San Francisco dining scene - fresh organic produce from local farmers dedicated to sustainable harvesting, simple yet tasteful seasonal menus paired with the freshest selections of oysters and crustaceans from the bay area. Local chef Judy Rodgers has made this quaint little corner establishment one of the city's popular dining spots, and have also published a cookbook containing all the signature dishes that made Zuni Cafe such a hit.

My friend David and I drove up from San Jose Saturday morning and headed to Zuni Cafe without a reservation. Sometimes, you do get lucky, and today, we did not have to wait more than five minutes. We were shown to a table in my favorite corner of the restaurant facing the street. I've tried almost all the popular dishes on the menu, but not the grilled porkloin, so that was my choice. David picked the signature caesar salad and minestrone soup. The dishes were perfect, as always, and evoked subtle nuances of Alice Water's Chez Panisse cooking. It's all about simplicity in the preparation, so that the naturally fresh ingredients are allowed to shine.



Today we decided to skip the fruits de mer, and save our appetites for an afternoon snack at the Hog Island Oyster Co. bistro in the Ferry Building. And so began our perfect Saturday afternoon in the city. If you ever come to Zuni Cafe, try the signature oven roasted chicken.

Breakfast at 35,000 ft

I realized it's been some time since I logged an entry, and suffice to say, I'm feeling a certain degree of angst and guilt over this. And just a moment ago, I suddenly had an urge to write a food review, but alas, being stuck on a plane doesn't make my attempt any easier. So I've decided to contribute this short commentary on the breakfast served during my flight from Singapore to Shanghai. As luck would have it, I'm flying first class on Singapore Airlines this morning, otherwise, the economy class version of this review would have been only 2 sentences long. Anyway, here are my thoughts on an American breakfast served at 35,000 ft above ground.


I was presented with a choice of a chinese dim sum set, a tortilla and salmon wrap, continental or American breakfast. I selected the American, just to see how the fresh scrambled eggs turned out over fine bone china. I started the meal service with Krug champagne (the Dom 1999 didn't seem that great), warm toasted cashews, followed by a plate of fresh fruits consisting of several types of tropical fruits and berries. My croissant was nicely toasted, and the delicious strawberry yogurt was served in a fine bone china bowl. My main entree consisted of grilled tomato and assorted wild mushrooms ragout, a spicy hashbrown, gammon ham and freshly scrambled eggs. Maybe it was the bone china, or the food presentation and the white linens, but I felt like I was sitting in a cafe in San Francisco having a very scrumptious morning breakfast, and the eggs were perfectly scrambled. I ended my meal on a high note with a cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and a biscotti. Afterwards, Kris, my sexy flight attendant came over to inform me that they would be happy to serve me the dim sum set as well prior to arrival. That made me think about doing a double review, but for now, I'm feeling rather satiated and ready for some shut eye before arriving in Shanghai early in the morning.