Leena Eats, Gourmet Communication ... Food, Travel, Gastronomy

LeenaEats
LeenaEats

Leena Eats: Gracias Madre, Her first ever vegan Mexican food in SF!

Leena Eats: Gracias Madre, Her first ever vegan Mexican food in SF!
The Quesadillas de Calabaza- butternut squash and caramelized onion in tortillas with cashew nacho cheese and pumpkin seed salsa at Gracias Madre.

My first thoughts when my husband asked if I wanted to try a vegan Mexican restaurant were “hell no!” I mean, vegetarian Mexican is one thing, but why would you want to take out the cheese? The cheese is one of the reasons I love Mexican food so damn much.

Plus, it is really hard to find a decent vegan restaurant. You have so few ingredients to work with, it’s understandable, but vegan is not like pizza, where even crappy versions are not that bad. Crappy vegan is crappy, and what’s worse- you go home hungry. Was I ready to risk an entire delicious meal on trying a new cuisine?

Fuck yeah. But only after I located a proper, meat-filled taqueria near the restaurant. You know. Just in case I wanted dessert.

Food porn and my take on dinner after the click!

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: Flora, a revamped flower shop in Oakland

Leena Eats: Flora, a revamped flower shop in Oakland
The delicious and warm soup amuse bouche at Flora restaurant in Oakland. I want to say it was potato and leek, but don’t quote me on that. I just know it was unexpected and delicious.

Oakland Restaurant Week happened to fall over my birthday weekend this year, so I decided to check out Flora, a new restaurant in Oakland’s up and coming Uptown neighborhood. The restaurant is in the old Oakland Flower Depot, a beautifully restored Art Deco building decked out in dark blue tile with silver accents. Outside the building is a hood that is half revitalized, half dying. Inside the building, you are whisked away to the 1920s, with a gorgeous, elaborate bar and cheery yellow walls with old posters.

Check out the food and heaps of food porn after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: Nex in Oakland

Leena Eats: Nex in Oakland
Some of tastiest grilled prawns I have ever had the pleasure to eat at Nex Restaurant in Oakland.

You have to really be looking to spot Nex Restaurant in Oakland. It’s on the outskirts of the Uptown neighborhood, smashed in between a bunch of car dealers and it’s sister restaurant, Mua. The restaurant was fairly empty early on a Saturday night when I arrived, but quickly filled in with happy and talkative customers.

The first thing that really made me stand up and notice this New American restaurant? Their AMAZING grilled prawns. This dish is a study in simplicity and perfect cooking technique–it is simply prawns, grilled, with a garlicky, citrusy rub. That’s it. But they are grilled so perfectly, the shell has just started to brown, and meat remained moist and succulent. Food porn prawn of the HIGHEST order.

Leena Eats: Nex in Oakland
Nex Restaurant’s blink and you’ll miss it front entrance.

More food porn and restaurant review after the click.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: Brunch at Bellanico Restaurant and Wine Bar in Oakland

Leena Eats: Brunch at Bellanico Restaurant and Wine Bar in Oakland

I had serious plate envy over a fellow diner's choice: country French toast with whipped mascarpone, huckleberries, pomegranate and maple syrup.

I’ve realized quickly after becoming pregnant that all pregnant women are in a sisterhood of sorts, where people from all backgrounds can meet and agree about a few key facts: pregnancy is awesome and crappy all at once, and give me some food, now, please! That’s why I loved meeting up with my local expecting mamas group at Bellanico to share some pregnancy perks, pains, and of course, heaps of delicious food.

Like this French toast. Which? I did not get and sadly did not try, but drooled over greatly while a fellow mama dined on it. Bellanico is a cute little Italian restaurant (named after the owner’s kids, Bella and Nico) with a menu that changes weekly and affordable but delicious wine flights. Click on for more food porn from my Bellanico brunch!

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: Chop Bar in Oakland’s Jack London Square

Leena Eats: Chop Bar in Oaklands Jack London Square

A big old plate of charcuterie and homemade locally sourced pickles? Don't mind if I do!

There are a few select ways to get into my heart: 1. adopt an adorable kitten from a local shelter and let me help name it/play with it. 2. Wrap something–anything–in crispy bacon. and 3. Serve me salty cured meat with homemade veggie pickles. There is just something so irresistible about salty pork products paired with vinegar-y, garlicky pickles. It’s like my kryptonite. Set a plate of it in front of me, and I wouldn’t care if you gave a mohawk to my cat or tripped a homeless person–I just want my salty meat and pickles, damn it!

And I’d blame this on my pregnancy, but let’s be honest–I had these sort of weird food cravings since well before I started growing a baby in my stomach. Thankfully, Chop Bar in Oakland’s Jack London Square is happy to meet my needs (and knows not to take the plate away until I have eaten EVERYTHING on it). It’s a local gastropub that has been getting rave reviews about their burgers and brunches. While I had neither, I did have a ton of delicious food.

Click on for heaps of food porn from Chop Bar!

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: The Bay Area Food Guide

Leena Eats: The Bay Area Food Guide

The BBQ Scotch Egg at Wexler's in SF.

For the past 14 months, I’ve had the pleasure of living in the Bay area of Northern California. As the finale to the 4 year birthday of Leena Eats This Blog, I thought it would be fun to compile a Bay Area food guide of all the deliciousness I’ve consumed over the past year or so. If you live in the Bay Area, are visiting, or just like to look at some good old fashioned food porn, this is the guide for you.

Happy Eating!

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: The Guide to Chicago food

Leena Eats: The Guide to Chicago food

A gorgeous fillet mignon from David Burke's Primehouse in Chicago.

I had the pleasure of growing up in and around Chicago, so you better believe I’ve tasted my fair share of hot dogs and steaks. In honor of the 4th birthday of Leena Eats This Blog, I thought it would be fun to compile a list of links to all of my Chicago-related restaurant reviews. So if you like to eat and live in the Windy City (or plan on visiting it soon), this guide might just be for you.

Enjoy the guide to Chicago eating after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: Dopo – Italian for Pork in Oakland

Leena Eats: Dopo   Italian for Pork in Oakland

To start at Dopo: Freshly baked (and slightly burnt) bread with pork fat-laced butter. Yes. Pork butter.

This winter in the Bay area is a wet and rainy one, one where you either long to cook up a big pot of warming food, or you long for someone else to do it for you. Not as a bitterly cold as Chicago, mind you, but enough to warrant complaints and the occasional dinner out.

Enter Dopo– a lovely little Italian restaurant in my neighborhood that is always packed, even on a weeknight, and of course, does not accept reservations. Lucky for my husband and I, we slipped in just between the early night rush and the late night rush on a busy and wet Wednesday night. We were a bit bummed the bread was so burnt, but once we tried the pork butter, it was easy to forgive.

They made butter with pork, people. Dopo can do no wrong in my book.

More food porn and commentary on Dopo after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: Woodhouse Fish Company–Crabs you can be proud of!

Leena Eats: Woodhouse Fish Company  Crabs you can be proud of!

A whole lotta crab at Woodhouse Fish Company in SF.

Friends were in town and craving seafood, and it was late November–the start of the local crab season, so we headed to Woodhouse Fish Company in San Francisco to get our hands on some (affordable) delicious local crab. Heaps of crab porn after the click. Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: Vedas Indian restaurant in Milpitas, CA.

Leena Eats: Vedas Indian restaurant in Milpitas, CA.

Complimentary app: pappadums with two chutneys at Vedas.

I joined a friend to review an East Bay Indian restaurant, and this is the food porn from that event. Vedas restaurant tries to come off as more than just your average Indian restaurant with their modern Indian decor and slightly modern food plating. For me, most dishes were either hit or miss. Check out my opinion and food porn after the click.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: Tropisueno in San Francisco

Leena Eats: Tropisueno in San Francisco

A trio of salsas started the night off at Tropisueno--mild, hot, and burn your bum off hot flavors.

When a pregnancy craving calls, you don’t ignore–you drop everything else and make it YOUR GOAL to get that food. My mission: Mexican food in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood to catch up with friends. My results: Tropisueno.

Thoughts on the food, service and plenty of food porn after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Eats: More cupcakes from Love At First Bite!

Leena Eats: More cupcakes from Love At First Bite!

The toasted coconut cupcake from Love At First Bite. A vanilla cake with a marshmallow frosting topped with toasted coconut. Ridiculously rich and delicious.

I heart cupcake pron. What else do you need to know? Love At First Bite is in North Berkeley, around the corner from Chez Panisse.

More cupcake pron after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

About | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Contact | 2010 LeenaEats.com

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.