Bernard’s Danville Real Estate Blog

Blackhawk Plaza has no shortage of restaurants and Laurus is the latest addition to the Blackhawk dining scene. The competition includes the excellent Blackhawk Grille. It will have to offer a pretty good dining experience if it is to be successful. Will it survive? Read on to get my take on it.
 Laurus is the brain-child of restaurateurs Matthew Silverman and Thomas Bensel and is their third venture in Blackhawk, joining their wine bar, Stomp, and their Mexican restaurant, Coa, all recently opened.
 All three locations are in keeping with Blackhawk Plaza but Laurus is undoubtedly the flag-ship. It opened for business in early December and Sylvia and I dined there for the first time with Michelle (her birthday dinner) for the first time shortly afterwards.
 This is a very stylish restaurant with somewhat minimalist décor and designer colors on the walls. The floor is polished concrete. There is an open display kitchen, an elegant, curved bar with plenty of seating and also an outdoor terrace seating surrounded by the Blackhawk water features with Koi carp and ducks etc.
 The service is impeccable and the food here is excellent. The three of us shared a generous portion of fried Calamari as an appetizer and none of us could fault it. This was  lightly breaded, served with haricots verts and accompanied by a light curry mayonnaise.
 For an entree, I had sea scallops that were served (very artistically I should add) on a bed of butternut squash risotto. The scallops were succulent and the risotto cooked to perfection, although the portion size (just three scallops) seemed a little on the meager side. Even so, I do appreciate the concept of quality rather than quantity and given the choice, quality wins every time.
 Sylvia had the Bistro Steak (a flat-iron steak served with sweet potato fries, an interesting twist on the usual steak frites) and pronounced it to be excellent, with a really good flavor and tender to the bite. Michelle’s choice was the Seafood Bouillabaise and it looked to be crammed full of quite a variety of fish and shellfish. She said it was yummy!
 Neither Sylvia nor Michelle appeared to appreciate my suggestions with regard to a pudding so we settled for finishing off our second bottle of Frogs Leap chardonnay by way of a final course. The wine list is quite extensive incidentally, and the wine was served at perfect temperature, but it would be nice to see some lower-priced wines on offer.
 Overall, we came away with a high opinion of Laurus. I won’t say we will be frequent visitors as it is a little above our normal dining budget but it would be great for a special occasion and should certainly be popular with many affluent locals. 

Regular readers will know that this is not the first time I have reviewed Faz but times change and my policy is to occasionally revisit restaurants I have previously reviewed, hopefully to confirm that they are maintaining their standards.

Quite apart from all this, I freely admit that Faz has always been one of my favorite restaurants. From my first visit, back in the 1980s when I was here on vacation, I was completely hooked. It wasn’t so much the food that impressed me then, although it was good, but the unique ambience of the place. And amazingly, it is not the tree growing up through the roof of the restaurant that is the most striking feature, but the dining patio - a large, sheltered wood deck at the rear of the restaurant with tall redwood trees growing through it and reaching towards the sky. As owner Faz Poursohi has been quoted as saying, “Anybody who fails to make a success of a restaurant with such surroundings does not deserve to be in the restaurant business”.And so it was that Sylvia and I found ourselves once more, seated outside on the deck on a warm Friday evening towards the end of March.Diners at Faz are presented with a basket of home-made foccacia bread and a middle eastern flat bread together with a small plate of olive oil with parmesan cheese and herbs mixed in. This tastes so good that appetizers seem quite unnecessary, so instead, we ordered a bottle of Frei Brothers Chardonnay to enjoy while we snacked on the breads and waited for our entrees. Frei Brothers really do produce a good Chardonnay.One thing that is perhaps worth mentioning here (and a point that while being a big plus to us, may be frustrating to some) is that service is relaxed at Faz. We like to take our time over a meal and the wait-staff are certainly pleasant and attentive, but don’t come here if you want to be out in an hour. It just isn’t that kind of a restaurant.The menu at Faz is another secret to it’s success. You can dine here very reasonably, on a simple and tasty pizza or pasta, and yet they also offer a good selection of more expensive dishes and there are always daily specials.On this occasion, Sylvia dined from the specials menu, while I ordered from the regular menu, although we both had lamb.Sylvia chose the lamb sirloin (having first ascertained from our waiter that it was a New Zealand Lamb - Sylvia finds American lamb is a little too “gamey” for her taste). This was a generous sized sirloin served with roasted potatoes and a selection of fresh vegetables and the taste and texture was excellent.For my entrée, I had rack of lamb with mint sauce on the side, a dish that has featured on their menu as long as I can remember. This is a dish that I generally avoid in restaurants as although it is generally tasty enough, and the presentation is frequently quite impressive, so often, there is little actual meat there. I do feel somewhat cheated if most of my main course turns out to be a few bones.Not so at Faz. This was not only one of the most generous portions of rack of lamb I have ever been served (really large enough to share), but the flavor was outstanding. This was served with similar accompaniments to Sylvia’s dish.Neither of us were inclined to have a dessert but we were completely satisfied by our meal and happy to know that Faz is maintaining its reputation for good food and good service at reasonable prices. You can find there menus and more on their web site at www.fazrestaurants.com.  

Can Danville support yet another new restaurant? Chow owner Tony Gulisano thinks so and to back up his confidence he has invested a ton of money in converting the old Blockbuster premises on Railroad Avenue into an extremely individual space.

This is the fourth restaurant in the Chow empire, two being located in San Francisco and the third in Lafayette. I know the Lafayette restaurant well and although there is a similarity in menus, the ambience seems very different.For a start, there is much more outside seating in Danville, with lots of outside gas heaters and some firepits. Inside, too there are many differences. Both have fireplaces but Chow Danville seems much bigger and lighter with a rather quirky style of décor. Tony Gulisano says it is in the style of an Amish barn. I think that is a bit of a stretch but it is certainly very appealing.Chow Danville opened a few weeks ago and it seems to have been pretty full from the get-go. Danvillians have embraced this style of smart-casual dining and Chow delivers in spades, being open from breakfast through dinner. There is also a full bar which seems to be just as popular as the rest of the restaurant.Sylvia and I visited on a Thursday evening around 6.30 for an early dinner and the restaurant was almost full both inside and out. We opted to eat inside with a table in the center of the dining area and we immediately noticed what a “buzz” there was. Like many people these days, we much prefer a lively atmosphere to a staid one and that is what you get at Chow. This is probably not the ideal place for a romantic dinner for two.Chow’s philosophy is based on the concept of providing good wholesome food at reasonable prices. They use organic produce and local suppliers where they can.Neither of us wanted an appetizer and the menu has a surprisingly good (and perhaps a little eclectic) selection of fish, pasta, meat and game for main courses. Sylvia chose the steak frites, one of her favorites, and as I am a game enthusiast I went for the squab, not a dish commonly seen on menus in these parts.The steak with the frites was hanger steak and having tasted it, I agreed with Sylvia’s comment that it was full of flavor and cooked to perfection. My squab was equally delicious - pan-roasted to a dark pink color and served with an imaginative selection of sides - braised cabbage, a mélange of diced vegetables, a slice of sweet potato and bruschetta. This was one of the best meals I have had in ages.Having declined an appetizer, we felt justified in sharing a dessert, and although the selection was fairly small it was definitely tantalizing. We decided on a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a bitter chocolate sauce. Although neither of us are great desert eaters, we had to agree that this, again, was superb. The chocolate cake was like a very light chocolate brownie and the chocolate sauce was phenomenal.I predict that Chow will soon become the most popular restaurant in Danville. The service, overseen by manager Tonino Drovandi (who, despite the name, is Scottish, believe it or not) was impeccable - attentive and unobtrusive, and it is really difficult to find anything to fault. We will be back. You can see more about Chow on their web site at www.chowfoodbar.com. 

It may seem strange to review a coffee house under the title “Restaurant Review” but Sideboard is really not so easy to categorize.
 
A relative newcomer to the Danville restaurant scene, Sideboard occupies the space in the old Danville Hotel that was vacated by Lisa B’s restaurant. This has one of the most appealing ambiences of any restaurant in the area and it is hard to understand why any restaurant serving average to good food should not be able to make a success here. Sadly, Lisa B’s failed. Sideboard, on the other hand, already has a loyal following.

In England, we have a peculiarly English phenomenon that is known as a wine bar. Somewhere you can enjoy a glass or a bottle of wine or beer, optionally have a bite to eat - anything from a snack to a full-blown meal - and just hang out with friends and enjoy the surroundings
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Sideboard is an English wine bar!

Not content to just move in to the already attractive space, owners Erin and Ford Andrews have made major improvements including removing a wall to incorporate the conservatory are into the main area, making worthwhile changes to the bar and introducing attractive shabby chic furniture with comfortable seating. It all works well!

Sylvia and I visited on Tuesday after Labor Day for a light evening meal. We were immediately welcomed by the friendly staff who explained the system to us. At sideboard, you order and pay at the counter then find a table and your food and drinks are delivered to your table (just like an English wine bar).

The menu is mostly made up of salads, sandwiches and some pasta dishes. Sylvia ordered the Beef burger with fries (this is so out of character!) but opted for walnut bread on the side rather than the normal Acme bun. I had Papardelle Carbonara.

Both of these dishes were absolutely outstanding and portion sizes were good. Sideboard use organic and natural food wherever possible and it shows. I think even the peas in my Carbonara were fresh rather than frozen and Sylvia’s Beef burger tasted like grass fed steak. Pasta Carbonara is a favorite of mine and I can tell a good one. Papardelle is not a common variant but it really worked here. I will find it difficult to order anything else at Sideboard, it was that good.

The wine list here is fairly short and seems a little light on less expensive wines. We accompanied our meal with a bottle of Artesa Chardonnay ($38). This is a little more than I expected to spend on wine although this really is an excellent  Chardonnay.

But I think the secret of Sideboard’s continuing success will be that it can be whatever you like. They open all day from breakfast to dinner. It can be your local coffee shop (serving Bluebottle coffee) where you can also have a pastry if you like. And they look delicious. Or just call in for a glass or bottle of wine or beer. Sylvia and I dined inside to experience the ambience but you can hang out on the patio at the front of the Danville Hotel if you like and just watch the world go by.
 
Sideboard may be a newcomer to Danville but I guarantee that they are here to stay. This is one of the best additions to the Danville restaurant scene in years. You can expect to see me there. Often!

I know that many of my readers are familiar with Café Esin in San Ramon and it has been no secret that they have been planning to move to new, more spacious accommodations in Danville’s new Rose Garden Center close to the Sycamore Valley Road 680 off ramp.

Well at last they are there. Sylvia and I were present on the opening night and although this was intended to be a “soft launch” for the new venture, with no publicity announcing the opening date, it was interesting to see that around a quarter of the inside tables in this quite large restaurant were occupied. And this was on a quiet Tuesday evening.

Esin has an immediate feeling of quality. Even before entering, the exterior is evocative of a quite up-market restaurant and at the front and side is an array of tables for outdoor dining with numerous overhead heaters. You can see that this will become very popular.

Inside, there is a very pleasant and spacious bar area to the right and I predict that this will become a regular meeting place for the after-work crowd, providing some relief from the often overcrowded Forbes Mill and Piatti bars.

The dining room is to the left. Here you will see high ceilings, cream walls, much wood paneling, very attractive lighting and lots of space.
So as you can see, at least as far as the premises were concerned, Esin impressed us considerably. But what about the food? Can they maintain the high standards that we have become accustomed to at Café Esin in San Ramon?

I am glad to report that the answer is a resounding “Yes They Can!”. I am always prepared to give a new restaurant some leeway as it often takes time to get the wrinkles out. No such allowances are needed at Esin. Service was as impressive as ever - prompt and attentive without being intrusive. They appeared a little over-staffed on this first night but I suspect that this was to make sure everybody quickly gained familiarity with the new systems as well as to avoid any possibility of slow service.

Esin’s menu will be familiar to their past patrons although I did note a number of new additions. We both passed on the appetizers on this occasion, although I personally was tempted by the oysters (roasted and stuffed with spinach, bacon and cheese) and the zucchini fritters. But at Esin, you have to save room for dessert!

For an entrée, Sylvia chose an old Café Esin favorite, Filo Wrapped Chicken Breast filled with 3 cheeses. This is normally served with couscous but they happily substituted roast fingerling potatoes. I had the Dry Rubbed Ribeye Steak which was served with mashed potatoes and caramelized onion jam. This came exactly as ordered (medium rare). Both dishes were first class.

Esin is famous for its desserts, and rightly so. On this occasion we shared the bread pudding of the day (made with apples). Neither of us normally eat desserts but one almost feels it is heresy not to indulge at Esin. It came right up to our high expectations.

We accompanied our meal with a really outstanding bottle of Viognier, having found little Chardonnay to interest us. If it wasn’t for the amazingly good taste of this wine, at a quite reasonable price, then I was anticipating criticizing the wine list. They probably do need more Chardonnays if they are going to keep the locals happy though.

So in summing up I have to say that I consider Esin to be one of the most appealing quality restaurants in Danville. I have no doubt that even though it has a large number of tables both inside and out, if you want to dine here at the weekend, reservations will be essential. Check out their web site at www.esinrestaurant.com.

Situated across from the KFC and just inside the San Ramon border, Incontro Ristorante is a relative newcomer to the San Ramon restaurant scene and located as it is, in premises that has seen a multitude of restaurants fail, it seemed that opening yet another Italian restaurant was a brave move.

But owners Gianni Bartoletti and Luigi Troccoli obviously knew what they were doing. Incontro was an immediate hit with San Ramon foodies and if you want to eat here at the weekend, you better call a couple of days ahead for a reservation. This place is popular.

Incontro has an ambience that equals the best in the area, very reminiscent of a quality restaurant in Europe. This, combined with authentic, well prepared Italian food and attentive but unobtrusive service is the secret of its success.

Sylvia and I recently visited Incontro on a Tuesday evening in June. On entering, we immediately got a feeling that this was a cut above the average San Ramon restaurant. The combination of attractive surrounding with wood paneling and subtle pale yellow walls and a quiet buzz, even though only a few tables were occupied, was very encouraging.

For an appetizer, we shared the house salad - baby spinach with bell pepper, goats cheese, toasted almonds and a balsamic vinaigrette. This was the perfect appetizer and one portion was just about right to share.

Moving on to our main courses, Sylvia had  a flatiron steak with a port wine sauce which came with sweet and sour onions. The texture was firm, rather than chewy and the flavor of everything was superb. I went for the pan seared duck breast which was served with an Italian grape must reduction. Possibly served a little too pink for some people, this is exactly how duck breast should be in my opinion and this is one of the best I have ever tasted. It was absolutely outstanding. We accompanied this with an excellent bottle of Verdicchio from their predominately Italian wine list.

Now as regular readers know, we don’t often do dessert but we made an exception in this case having spotted a Panna Cotta on the dessert menu. Italians seem to understand desserts better than most. For those who don’t know, Panna Cotta is an eggless Italian vanilla custard and in this instance it was served with a wild cherry preserve. This is not an overly sweet dessert but the flavors are just phenomenal. The perfect end to an excellent meal.

Try it and you’ll like it! We will be back. Find out more at their web site at www.IncontroSanRamon.com.

Caffé Delle Stelle used to be one of our regular haunts some years ago, when Sylvia and I lived in Pleasant Hill. Since moving to San Ramon, however, our dining experiences rarely take us to Walnut Creek. It was therefore with a little trepidation that we dined there recently. So many of the restaurants we used to know well have either gone downhill fast or just gone out of business due to increased competition. This is not an easy business in which to make a living. I am therefore very pleased to be able to say that Caffé Delle Stelle is just the same as we remembered it. They even have the same manager (!)

I should perhaps point out, for the benefit of regular readers, that this is a far cry from most of the restaurants I have reviewed. This is not a competitor for the likes of Forbes Mill or Postino, both of which should clearly be categorized as fine dining establishments. Caffé Delle Stelle is somewhat further down the scale than that, but frugality appears to be seen as an approach that many are embracing at the moment, so a more affordable dining experience appears well justified to me. That is not to say that this is in any way “down-market”. In fact it has the feel of a casual neighborhood café, an authentic Italian Trattoria. I find its survival a little surprising being situated, as it is, in what has to be a high rent area in Walnut Creek’s “restaurant row”. But perhaps that is the secret to its success. All around are restaurants with much higher prices while Delle Stelle clearly offers good value.

The ambience, in fact, is very appealing. The space was a restaurant well before Delle Stelle took it over and it is apparent that the budget was spent on the kitchen rather than the dining area. Closely packed tables with plain white tablecloths surround a simple central servery and the whole area has a painted concrete floor. Décor comprises, Italian wine bottles, boxes of dried pasta, giant cans of tomatoes, six-packs of Italian beer and similar items, all arranged in tasteful stacks. It sound strange but it works. There are usually plenty of customers and the restaurant has a definite Buzz, although I believe it is rarely full.

As far as the food goes, it is pretty authentic. There is a wide choice of appetizers including smoked salmon and carpaccio, neither of which would be typical menu items in a mid-price restaurant. There are also quite a few salads.

On being seated, a plate of bread with a bowl of a kind of tapenade, is brought to your table, together with a jug of slightly sparkling water with ice and a slice of orange. This is a nice touch and as is so often the case, I think it s the small things that make the difference.
On this occasion, keeping our fore-mentioned frugality in mind, Sylvia and I headed straight to the entrees, although we did select a bottle of Chardonnay as both an aperitif and to accompany our meal. You have to draw the line somewhere!

I ordered the grilled sole, which was always one of my favorite dishes here in the past. The quality was as good as ever. A generous filet of sole, cooked under the broiler with melted butter, dotted with capers and with a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Wonderful! This was accompanied by mixed squash and soft polenta. A very good well-rounded dish in the Italian tradition.

Sylvia chose another Italian dish, Chicken Saltimbocca. This was also very tasty, and a generous portion. The chicken breasts were smothered with the Saltimbocca sauce and this was accompanied by baby well-roasted potatoes. Neither of us had a dessert, and I don’t recall that their desserts were particularly exciting from when we were regular patrons but we were both well-pleased with our meal.
I should warn wine drinkers that the wine list is both short and predominately Italian. Not a problem if you know your Italian wines but I don’t. The chardonnay we had was Californian though (Salmon Creek, which is the house wine) and it was fine.  Service was a little slow, but we were not in a hurry and we will certainly return.

Regular readers will recall that it is not long since I reviewed this relative newcomer to the upscale dining scene in Danville, and that my review at that time was somewhat mixed. For some time now I was looking for an excuse to return to Forbes Mill. Every restaurant can have an off day and most of the reviews I have read of Forbes Mill, both in Danville and Los Gatos, have been extremely complimentary and so Sylvia and I found ourselves here last Friday evening with hopes of having an exemplary dining experience.I am glad to report that we were not disappointed. Prior to moving in to the dining room, we opted for a drink at the bar before dinner. Forbes Mill has quite a generously sized bar and as I know from previous visits, it is well supported by the after work crowd as well as those like us, enjoying a pre-dinner drink.My initial observation was that the bar appeared rather less crowded than on previous occasions (a sign of the economic times perhaps), and we actually got a couple of seats at the bar fairly quickly but it filled up quickly so perhaps I am over-analyzing.On our previous visit, our major criticism was with the steak that Sylvia had, a prime rib cut. Since the restaurant bases its reputation on steaks, this is a obviously significant. On this occasion, Sylvia ordered the Mixed Grill and I had the New York Strip Steak. We both had fries and I also had a side of creamed spinach.Sylvia’s Mixed Grill comprised Prime Filet Mignon, Australian Lamb Chop and Quail. Sylvia pronounced everything to be cooked to perfection. Forbes Mills’ New York Strip Steaks are center-cut Prime Certified Angus beef. This was very possibly the best New York steak I have ever tasted. I like my steaks medium and this came exactly as anticipated with a pink center and nicely browned on the outside. It was as tender as many filet mignons I have had elsewhere and the flavor was phenomenal.It may be worth noting that you won’t see fries on the dinner menu at Forbes Mill but they were very happy to comply with our request and even their fries are far superior to those found in many restaurants.The dining room was pretty full and with a very lively atmosphere. Booking is definitely recommended. This is probably not the place to come to for a romantic dinner for two, at least not at the weekend.The service, as before, was exemplary and I am pleased to say that I now consider Forbes Mill one of the very best restaurants in the area. See more at their web site: www.ForbesMillRestaurant.com