Thanks to ChrisD reminding me about Incanto! I tried to get
reservations for 6 (30th and Church tonight). Fat chance getting
reservation at a reasonable hour - if you don't think ahead!

So, our destination was Frantoio - which is located in a *Holiday
Inn* (Mill Valley). Gaaaa!

However, it was an unexpected delight!
http://www.frantoio.com/menus/Ala_cart_menu.htm
My husband knows someone who lives in Mill Valley and they've met at
that restaurant for lunch several times, so he vouched for it.

We got together with two other couples from the City and trekked over
the Golden Gate Bridge to eat in a foreign land. LOL! I didn't want
to leave the City because we have more than a bazillion places here,
but we did. Oh, poor me. <sob>

OK, I got past crossing a bridge just to eat dinner and went in.... we
had reservations. The restaurant was full. They said they had
reservations for 150 tonight and expected to seat 250. We were on
time and the hostess seated us immediately. She took us through the
main dining room and past a space that was "utilitarian" so I thought
we'd be seated in one of those little rooms by the kitchen.

WRONG!

They were seated in a room with an olive press (and other machines).
They make oil from local olives - you can buy it online. Yes, we were
in an olive oil manufacturing room! My seat was right next to the
olive press. It was just as delightful as going to the North Beach
Restaurant and sitting in their basement dining room with prosciuttos
hanging overhead. I don't know how it happened.... because according
to them, they usually charge $500 - 1000 for that room and we got it
free.

What we liked the most was that we were in a separate room... we've
always been a noisy group, so this was a blessing for the other
diners. We also had a one way window to the dining room - however my
back was to it, so I didn't get "the view".

We had a wonderful waiter who sounded Italian, but when I asked where
he was from - he was honest and said "Brazil". Best of all, he gave
us dead on good advice for wine selection - Honig (the guy who was a
superintendent of schools in Marin county, and later state
superintendent of schools). The wine was an organic, fruit forward,
sauvignon blanc. DELICIOUS! We'd pre-ordered a red, but canceled it
and ordered two more bottles of the Honig.

At the end of the meal, we ordered desserts (which we split). Before
our desserts came, we were served a generous glass of port wine *on
the house*.

Who are we? We are people who have known each other since college or
before, but haven't been together since late spring or early summer -
so we had a lot of catching up to do! We were sooo glad to be in a
place where we could talk (loudly) and not disturb our "neighbors"!

Oh, maybe want to know what we ate for dinner since this group is all
about food. I had the butternut squash risotto, 3 people had the wood
oven roasted lamb, one had halibut and one had the ravioli.
Everything was delicious (the chocolate dessert was over the top - it
didn't need to be so fancy), and the experience was made even better
by the relaxed but attentive atmosphere.

Obviously, we're going back there again!



--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

<sf> ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> So, our destination was Frantoio - which is located in a *Holiday
> Inn* (Mill Valley). Gaaaa!
>
> However, it was an unexpected delight!

snip great review

The frantoii here are not charming and pretty, but high tech miracles
makers. All the pretty stuff is in museums now, but a restaurant that looks
like an old frantoio sounds great.

Luxury dining in spite of a motel location-- I am sort of used to finding
great food in ugly and unlikely settings now-- so I am stunned to see that
the pasta was an either/or! To us it sounds like each person ate one part
of a nice meal.

sf wrote:

> Thanks to ChrisD reminding me about Incanto! I tried to get
> reservations for 6 (30th and Church tonight). Fat chance getting
> reservation at a reasonable hour - if you don't think ahead!
>
> So, our destination was Frantoio - which is located in a *Holiday
> Inn* (Mill Valley). Gaaaa!

I've been to the Bay Area once -- a long weekend back in 1997. Solo trip.
I stayed a couple nights in Mill Valley, at some random motel off the
highway. (The other two were in Monterey, going up and coming back.)

As I recall, Tiburon is, ironically, not far away.


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
Need a new news feed? http://blinkynet.net/comp/newfeed.html

On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:20:26 -0700, sf wrote:

>Thanks to ChrisD reminding me about Incanto! I tried to get
>reservations for 6 (30th and Church tonight). Fat chance getting
>reservation at a reasonable hour - if you don't think ahead!
>
>So, our destination was Frantoio - which is located in a *Holiday
>Inn* (Mill Valley). Gaaaa!
>
>However, it was an unexpected delight!
>http://www.frantoio.com/menus/Ala_cart_menu.htm
>My husband knows someone who lives in Mill Valley and they've met at
>that restaurant for lunch several times, so he vouched for it.

snippage of a great time.

Thanks for sharing your evening with us. It sounds like you had a
great time with great company.

koko

There is no love more sincere than the love of food
George Bernard Shaw
www.kokoscorner.typepad.com
updated 10/4

On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:43:07 +0200, "Giusi" >
wrote:

>Luxury dining in spite of a motel location-- I am sort of used to finding
>great food in ugly and unlikely settings now-- so I am stunned to see that
>the pasta was an either/or! To us it sounds like each person ate one part
>of a nice meal.

For Americans, that's not a problem. FWIW, they also served us a
complimentary portion of the Pappardelle di Dulio Coniglio (delicious)
as a taster to share, but we had already opted not to order antipasti
or insalate before dinner. Oh, their focaccia and italian baguette
breads were to die for.


--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:20:26 -0700, sf wrote:


>We had a wonderful waiter who sounded Italian, but when I asked where
>he was from - he was honest and said "Brazil". Best of all, he gave
>us dead on good advice for wine selection - Honig (the guy who was a
>superintendent of schools in Marin county, and later state
>superintendent of schools). The wine was an organic, fruit forward,
>sauvignon blanc. DELICIOUS! We'd pre-ordered a red, but canceled it
>and ordered two more bottles of the Honig.

I had that when I ate at Sea Salt in Berkeley. I love that
wine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Among other things, it is unoaked.


Christine

On Oct 12, 2:43 am, "Giusi" > wrote:

> Luxury dining in spite of a motel location-- I am sort of used to finding
> great food in ugly and unlikely settings now-- so I am stunned to see that
> the pasta was an either/or! To us it sounds like each person ate one part
> of a nice meal.

In the US I've only had complete Italian dinners at friends' houses.
Even in Rome, "either/or" seems to be the rule these days.

sf wrote:
> On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:43:07 +0200, "Giusi" >
> wrote:
>
>> Luxury dining in spite of a motel location-- I am sort of used to finding
>> great food in ugly and unlikely settings now-- so I am stunned to see that
>> the pasta was an either/or! To us it sounds like each person ate one part
>> of a nice meal.
>
> For Americans, that's not a problem. FWIW, they also served us a
> complimentary portion of the Pappardelle di Dulio Coniglio (delicious)
> as a taster to share, but we had already opted not to order antipasti
> or insalate before dinner. Oh, their focaccia and italian baguette
> breads were to die for.
>
This American loves to order pasta to eat before the main dish and will
often share an entree portion of featured pasta dish to share with
tablemates just so we can all have a taste.
And please bring the salad *after* the main course. As it should be

"Goomba" > ha
> This American loves to order pasta to eat before the main dish and will
> often share an entree portion of featured pasta dish to share with
> tablemates just so we can all have a taste.
> And please bring the salad *after* the main course. As it should be

We could eat together.