Category: yummy

fiesta fridays at puesto

has this week not been the absolute longest?! so many friends and coworkers told me by tuesday, they felt like it was friday and i felt that in the depths of my soul. you know what makes fridays exponentially better? great mexican food, greater service and the greatest company. welcome to puesto!

guacamole trio (puesto perfect with parmigiano reggiano, classic and nogada with mango, pomegranate and walnuts)

first things first – if you are going to puesto in santa clara, you have to request to sit in sergio’s section. he is the absolute best, has great attention to detail and is truly hilarious. we felt instantly connected to him and will be going back for another visit soon. next – be sure you are there with great company. nick and i met five years ago this month courtesy of a mutual friend (ryan – you are a gem). shortly after meeting, we felt more like family. i believe in celebrating milestones in all of my relationships so we decided we needed a five year anniversary dinner to honor being part of one another’s chosen family. puesto did not disappoint.

cucumber margarita (for me)
watermelon margarita (for nick)

the margaritas were fresh, flavorful, packed a punch and were not overly sweet. i knew from a previous visit that we had to have the lobster guacamole but could not say no when sergio brought us the guac trio above to enjoy with our cocktails until our lobster guac was ready. of the three, the nogada (with fresh pomegranate and mango) was my favorite. it tied us over perfectly until this beauty arrived.

lobster guacamole

the lobster guacamole was just as good as i remembered. at this point, i knew i wanted to enjoy another cocktail so i needed to keep dinner light (both because i had plenty of chips + guac AND because i do personal training mondays, tuesdays and thursdays with grit and gratitude – i do not work that hard to throw it all away). the kale caesar with a dollop of guac from our trip plate paired with the short rib quesabirria taco was a combo i will likely get again and again.

caesar salad
short rib quesabirria taco

if i could have had 10 of these tacos, i would have. nick built an assorted taco plate and loved them all.

tacos: short rib quesabirria, baja fish, mushroom + ribeye

it was clear we were going to be here for quite awhile – we were having too much fun with sergio, the food was great and the conversation was never-ending. i saw a guava margarita on the menu and figured why the hell not?

guava margarita

nick is the ultimate pusher so tequila shots were in order.

tequila shot with a tajin rim

for dessert, i had a couple of bites of the mango cake but my real dessert was the espresso martini. the cake paired with the chocolate bark was unexpected but so good.

mango cake
espresso martini

i left puesto with a full belly and a full heart. always say yes to good guac, captivating conversations, fabulous friends (love you, nick! ladies – he is single!) and partying at puesto.

xoxo,

k.tap

verde supper club – part two

you know those friends that just make your heart overflow because they see you, understand you and lift you up? that is exactly why my wednesday night happy hour turned dinner turned late night living room lounge session with dana made my entire week exponentially better. it only makes sense that someone who so effortlessly makes my heart full does the same with our tummies.

if you are new to my blog, do yourself a favor and take in all of the wonder that is verde supper club. the one i attended last summer was truly an experience but let me tell you – not just the cuisine but the venue (starr lake vineyards) of the second one i attended was TO DIE FOR.

view from our dinner table at starr lake vineyards

since my friend got sick shortly before my first supper club, i flew solo. luckily, dana surrounds herself with phenomenal people so the conversation at dinner was captivating. for this one, i was fortunate enough to have my friend melissa join me. with her being a fellow foodie and wine lover, i knew we would be in for an incredible evening from start to finish. as always, dana did not disappoint.

let’s dive into the menu!

verde supper club menu – as soon as we saw it, we knew we were in for a treat!
amuse bouche – melinda’s famous smoked salmon on an “everything but the bagel” focaccia crostini with whipped ricotta, fresh herbs and fried capers – served with bricoleur flying by the seat of our pants brut

as someone who eats smoked salmon a couple of days per week as part of my breakfast, this is something i knew i would love. the fried capers added great flavor and texture.

first course – shrimp aguachile with tomatillos, serrano chiles and kumquats – served with the beautiful beverage below

the la girl in me could not get over the shrimp aguachile. it tasted like summer, especially when paired with the vibrant aqua fresca. from start to finish, it was so fresh and flavor packed.

pineapple and mint agua fresca with vida mezcal

dana frequently has me venture outside of my comfort zone. while mezcal is not something i typically seek out, if this pineapple and mint agua fresca with vida mezcal was available by the gallon, i would be all over it.

second course – vichyssoise with seared scallops, smoked maitake mushrooms and truffle oil – served with ram’s gate sonoma coast chardonnay

my love for seafood truly felt catered to, especially with this being the third dish in a row with seafood. there was such variety in terms of the type of fish and more importantly, the preparation. many of us at the table were not people who would seek out a chardonnay and were pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed it, specifically when paired with the vichyssoise.

third course – “the untaco” homemade bacon fat tortilla, au poivre aioli, arugula, green apples, shaved fennel and sous vide pork roast – served with leo steen saini farms chenin blanc 2022

there is no circumstance where i would be saying no to a homemade tortilla, especially when it has bacon fat. this taco was so phenomenal that one of the guests (who ended up sending me a magnum bottle of pinot noir after losing a bet) walked into the kitchen to request another one. they were that good.

fourth course – homemade mediterranean spiced lamb sausage, sautéed peppers and onions and yogurt garlic sauce – served with bella lily hill estate zinfandel 2019

i am a sucker for lamb and this homemade sausage was not too gamey, even for the people at the table who do not typically consume lamb. it was smart of dana to not serve us carbs on this plate because we needed space for the next dish…

fifth course – rigatoni with braised short rib ragu – served with wilson snake patch petite sirah 2019

even after midnight in our hotel room, melissa said, “do you know what i would give for that braised short rib rigatoni? literally anything.” did i laugh? yes. was it to avoid crying because we did not have any? also, yes. the braised short rib was so tender. the rigatoni? just al dente enough to carry the weight of the short rib. the petite sirah? our side of the table couldn’t just have a single pour because it not only tasted wonderful with our pasta, it tasted wonderful all on its own.

dessert – lemon cheesecake ice cream with almond poppy seed crumble

if i was choosing a single dessert for the rest of my life, it would be ice cream. dana does me in every single time because she makes all of her ice cream from scratch. added bonus? it was not a dessert drowning in chocolate. i would gladly take fruit flavored ice cream (especially something like lemon) daily if possible. the almond poppy seed crumble is something i would have been happy to just eat by the handful.

i did not think it was possible but somehow, dana created an even more spectacular supper club menu than the one i had attended months before. who could say no to a traveling, intimate, multi-course dining experience with wine/beverage pairings? i will be back as many times as she will have me.

to find out when and where the next verde supper club is, follow them on instagram!

xoxo,

k.tap

friday fun at flora farms

maybe it’s because i am sitting at an airport as i type this or maybe it’s because i am desperately in need of a stiff yet smooth lavender martini like the one served there but i knew that today, each of you needed to discover the magic that is flora farms.

hillary really knocked it out of the park with restaurant recommendations/reservations while we were in mexico a couple of months ago. each one had something different yet amazing to offer. and each one was good enough to return to on our future visits. what made flora farms special is that it is an organic farm to table restaurant and everything you’d ever need for a restorative weekend getaway could be found somewhere across then 25 acres without ever leaving the premises. do you want a delicious meal? a spa treatment? to adopt a dog? to do some shopping for home decor? to take a cooking or painting class?

look no further.

lavender martini – the best i’ve ever had – perfectly balanced + fresh and floral
rosemary ham and egg – it was hard to decide which lie to go with but i couldn’t say no to this flavor profile
fennel sausage – hilly and sarah thoroughly enjoyed this pie

not pictured were the most seasoned and crisp potatoes with hollandaise and a sweet and gooey cinnamon roll we all shared. TO DIE FOR.

hilly and me 🤍
hilly, sarah (our beautiful bride to be) and me – the grounds were absolutely breathtaking

after spending more time at flora farms, we know that on our next trip, we’d like to spend at least two days/nights there. i think it would make the most sense to start off as we usually do – in party mode for friday and saturday in the city, then shift over to this oasis on sunday to recover completely before heading back to california early the following week.

have you ever been to flora farms? if not, does this seem up your alley?

xoxo,

k. tap

outpost – cabo urban farm to table

the nonstop rain over the last couple of weeks in the bay area has me craving the warmth of cabo, the beauty of these two girls and the dining experience we had at my new favorite restaurant – outpost.

hillary and sarah (our beautiful bride to be)

would it be a night in cabo without margaritas? of course, not.

chili margarita – it had the perfect amount of spice and was slightly smoky (just the way i like it)

the menu was extensive and because we wanted to try a little bit of everything, we decided to order a variety of small plates to share. there’s wasn’t a single thing we didn’t love!

homemade guacamole – it was creamy, flavorful and fresh
esquites – there was so much variety in texture and spices that it felt like my tastebuds were exploding
pastor shrimp tacos – the pastor marinade with the sweetness of the pineapple paired with the shrimp was to die for
asada steak tacos – with all of us being seafood lovers, we were floored that these were our favorite tacos of the night. the steak was so juicy, tender and perfectly prepared.
raw of the day (amazing cuts of hamachi were being served the day we went) – their seafood was next level and this melted in our mouths like butter
citrus ceviche – the mixture of fresh seafood and the bursts of grapefruit + tomato with the crunch of the onion? to die for.

not just the meal, but the service, was impeccable from start to finish. while all of us had been to cabo before, this was our first time at outpost. we all agreed that no future cabo trip would be complete without a dining experience at outpost.

yours truly

have you ever been to outpost? if so, what did you order? if you haven’t been yet, what is your go to restaurant in cabo?

xoxo,

k. tap

verde supper club

there is something so beautiful about seeing someone you love pursue something that sets their soul on fire. that is precisely how i felt when dana told me she was going to start a supper club. that is how verde supper club came to be.

when i first met dana, we were in undergrad at scu and she and i shared many mutual friends from her sorority. she was the baby of our group but a piece of her always felt like home. it might have had something to do with us both being la girls or maybe it was that we both shared a love for bringing people together around great food. whatever the case, we have been friends since that very first dinner party back in 2010. i still rave about her mashed potatoes and dana has always loved my mac and cheese. while we both work in our respective fields, we wouldn’t be us if we weren’t pursuing things we were passionate about outside of work. for me, it is this blog. for dana, it is her supper club.

verde supper club is an intimate multi course dining experience with wine pairings. even with me not knowing a single diner, i had the best time. each supper club is held at a different location but all in the bay area (at least for the time being). there was something about it that felt both cozy and airy.

now, let’s dive into the menu.

verde supper club menu

i have to be honest – i was too caught up in conversation to take a photo of the amuse bouche but that doesn’t believe that i did not thoroughly enjoy two piping hot spam musubi bites with sriracha mayo and furikake. for many of us, it was this nostalgic treat – for me, it instantly took me to hawaii; for one of the great people i met, it reminded him of his childhood (as his mom prepared this for him and his siblings). initially, i thought french 76 was a misprint but it was their delightful take on a french 75 with an added mystery ingredient. it did not disappoint!

for our first course, we had hamachi carpaccio. i am a seafood snob – trust me when i tell you this hamachi melted in my mouth like butter! it was served with one of the best white wines i have had in a long time – leo steen chenin blanc 2020. i will be ordering a case before my next dinner party.

first course

next, we had a crab and corn enchilada with this flavor packed green chile sauce and a crema drizzle. multiple people at our table commented on how they had never had a crab enchilada and loved how much crab was stuffed into the tortilla. growing up in southern california, i often seek out crab enchiladas at mexican restaurants. this one stood up as a solid competitor against any crab enchilada i’d previously had. at this point of the night, i wondered if the menu had been created especially for me. dinner could’ve been over and i would’ve been satisfied – lucky for me, it wasn’t. the daou chardonnay the enchilada was paired with complimented it perfectly.

second course

what i loved most about our third course is that it is not an item i would have ordered if i read it on a menu at a restaurant. after the very first bite, i knew i would have been gravely mistaken. the smoked maitake mushroom reuben with beet brined sauerkraut was NEXT LEVEL. the stunning presentation and the variety of textures alone were enough for me to want to have this for lunch daily. i certainly will be asking dana how she prepared this. with the heatwave we’ve been having, this would be the perfect meal on a hot day. and the marine layer pinot noir it was served with? *chef’s kiss*

third course

i wondered if it could get any better than our third course and was assured it could once i had the first bite of lamb with the creamy goat cheese polenta. the orin swift cabernet sauvignon was one i knew i needed to commit to memory because my brother lives for full bodied cab and this was just that.

fourth course

i thought i might not have room for dessert but once i realized it was a cherry cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream, i quickly changed my tune. cherries don’t tend to be a fruit i seek out in desserts – i favor berries, lemons and peaches. after this dinner, my mind has been changed.

dessert

at no point did i want to add a dash of salt, pepper or any condiment whatsoever. dana found a way to make every single bite perfect from start to finish. there was something particularly special about our dinner having so many locally sourced and in season ingredients. it was abundantly clear that every dish was made with love.

while at the beginning phases, there typically are not repeat customers, i am eager to convince dana to let me bring out of town guests to the next supper club. it is something i think every foodie should experience at some point in their lives.

with dana’s birthday being on september 5th, it seemed fitting to introduce you all to her baby, verde supper club. dana – you amaze me regularly. i am incredibly proud of you and my love for you is endless.

xoxo,

k. tap