34674 Mon Feb 28 00:34:15 -0800 2005 1 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 157050 The Charlotte Bellini, made of Roederer Champagne and pear nectar, is served in the correct Reidel glass. The $18 Sunday Brunch includes unlimited Bellini’s, Champagne or Mimosas (garnished with a wedge of blood orange). The frittata of the day, a round golden plate sized disc cut in four quarters, had chicken breast, chicken apple sausage, diced red and yellow pepper, scallions, tomatoes and three cheeses. ‘Those potatoes’ were crisp golden hash browns with a rich sour cream and herb center. Breakfast came with a choice of Maggiora Bakery whole grain wheat bread or sourdough, accompanied by butter and a small jar of Dickenson’s strawberry jam. There wasn’t anything special about the toast. Next time I think I will ask to substitute the incredible looking dinner rolls baked in Pear Street’s brick oven. The burger buns are house made as well. The “BISTRO BURGER” on the wonderful looking bun has California Kobe beef, applewood bacon, grilled onions, provolone, and mustard aioli. The waiter was quick to point out that the soup of the day, Jamaican black bean, was not vegetarian. There are prix fix lunch ($15) and dinner ($23) menus, as well as a tapas menu ($33), a bar menu and a take out menu. The dishes play with the pear theme and the next dish I will try is the signature thin crust brick oven pizza - Pear, gorgonzola, caramelized red onion, balsamic syrup. Other pear inspired dishes on the menu were: A salad of pear, chopped romaine, Gorgonzola, and candied walnuts with champagne vinaigrette A Belgian waffle made with fresh whipped cream and pear marmalade. A poached pear and cream cheese tart served with pear marmalade Pear Crème Brulee Pear Merlot sorbet (the dolce de leche sorbet sounded good) The website only has a short list of the fun cocktails. Classic martini purists will be annoyed to see that in addition to the Godiva Chocolate Martini listed on the website, there is a white chocolate martini and a Peartini. Perhaps they will be appeased by the Monday special where the classic martini is served for $3. There is a daily drink special for $3. On Sunday it is a Bloody Mary. A few of the other cocktails not on the website are mango mojitos, coconut mohitos, mango cosmos, Grey Goose orange cosmos, Key Lime Pie, and many more. There is a well thought out wine list. This month’s featured red wine is Marcelina cabernet sauvignon. The white wine featured is Logan Chardonnay. I was happy to see half bottles of Deutz Brut classic champagne, one of my favorites. It was probably chosen, as the menu says, for its pear notes. The $15 corkage will be waived if you purchase a wine at Swish Wine Bar across the street which is owned by the same group. Pear Street Bistro has a design even more smart and stylish than the wine shop The décor is cleverly done in pear colors … green, brown, golden … and they really do match the colors of pears … Anjou green, bosc brown, ripe Bartlett gold with a touch here and there of red Bartlett. At the entrance of the restaurant, a small pear tree was in bloom. When you enter, there is a lounge/bar area with an impressive walnut bar, a comfortable brown couch and tall beige ottoman’s to sit on. A black baby grand is in the corner. There is live music on the weekends and sometimes at the Sunday brunch. The bar is amazing and I asked where it came from as it was obviously an antique. I was told it was found in someone’s basement. This bar took up the entire wall and all I could think was that it probably was from William Randolph Hearst’s basement. The look is old style elegance brought into the new Millennium. The classic bar is accented with four high cocktail tables with stainless and black stools. The interior of the glass tables are lit with a twisty purple neon tube. Wispy, sheer celadon curtains drape the doorways. The dining room is elegant with walnut paneling and cut glass mirrors. Again, modern lights give a fresh look. There is a large center table with 12 high burnished steel bar stools. There is an open kitchen with the brick oven in the main dining room. There is another room for private events (there was a bridal shower today). An outdoor patio has heat lamps. The staff is dressed in trendy black shirts and pants. The wait staff have white aprons, the name ‘Pear Street Bistro” tastefully monogrammed in white over one pocket and a tiny pear is on the back of the shirt. I am way too old to notice this, but the young wait staff was really good looking. One guy bussing the tables had a young Patrick Swayze Dirty Dancing look … Baby … Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mrs. Robinson. I love the style of Pear Street Bistro. It is what I imagined the restaurants of the new millennium would look like. I do not like the starkness of many of today’s restaurants …. the bleak Slanted Door, the colorless Cliff House and the boring Michael Minna. I don’t care WHO designed those rooms and how much money was thrown at those projects. I didn’t live this long to dine in funeral homes. Given all of that …. I will be a regular at this restaurant because some of the dishes I saw passing by looked excellent like the Kobe burger on the house baked bun. Although the food was delicious, well prepared and excellent quality, on this first meal, I didn’t have a “wow” moment. In San Francisco, if it wasn’t in my immediate neighborhood I would pass it by like I have for restaurants like Piperade. For a restaurant in Pinole, I am judging it by San Francisco standards because that is what it seems to aspire to. I hope on future visits I find that the food matches the top notch ambiance. I am just dying to go to Hunan Villa now, the third establishment owned by the same group. Supposedly they have a rotating menu where you can sample different cuisines from different regions of China. Pictures of, as a brochure says, “the ultramodern décor” are spectacular. There is a hand painted floor. Gotta see that. Also, they have live jazz every Friday and Saturday … you KNOW that will be my subject line no matter what the food turns out to be … “Hunan Villa – Chinese food and live jazz”. Pear Street Bistro 2395 SAN PABLO AVENUE PINOLE, CALIFORNIA 94564 phone: 510.741.8875 fax: 510.724.9414 Hours 11AM - 9PM SUNDAY – THURSDAY 11AM – 10:30 PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY The dining room is closed between the hours of 3-5PM Monday - Friday Link: http://www.pearstreetbistro.com/ Mon Feb 28 00:34:15 -0800 2005 0 Krys 1 157364 If you live in the East Bay or are in the vicinity of Hilltop Mall or Appian Way, Pear Street Café is worth a visit. I am insanely in love with this restaurant. I had lunch with a friend this afternoon. She shared a piece the signature thin crust brick oven pizza - pear, gorgonzola, caramelized red onion, balsamic syrup. I think I sweet talked her into ordering it after saying something charming like “order it or else”. The pizza was a wonder of textures and flavors, crisp, chewy, creamy, salty, sweet, and smoky. The pears and red onions seemed to be marinated in the balsamic syrup. The lovely caramelized onions melted into the generous creamy gorgonzola. This is an individual thin crust pizza, but not too thin. There is enough of the yeasty crust to give it a little chewy texture. Edges are cracker crisp and slightly browned from the brick oven. You could still see the light brush of olive oil under the ingredients. My friend liked the Frog’s Leap 2003 Sauvignon Blanc suggested by the server. I had the Kobe Burger. Sandwiches come with a choice of the excellent looking pear/gorgonzola salad, soup of the day, pommes frites or house made chips. The cream of asparagus soup had a deep true essence of asparagus puréed in cream with a swirl of crème fraiche on top. There was butteriness to the soup. It was the best cream of asparagus soup I have ever had. It is in the same league with Gregoire’s soups. The Kobe burger was served on a house made bun that was toasted on the grill since there were grill marks when I removed the top of the bun. The smoky applewood bacon put this burger over the top. The grilled caramelized onions melted into the provolone and mustard aioli. It was a course grind of the beef and they cooked it perfectly medium. That might not have been the best for this type of beef, I think ordering it medium rare with some pink would have made the burger itself juicier. It still was wonderful. There was a leaf of Romaine with two grapefruit sized slices of tomato. The tomatoes were lightly salted to draw whatever flavor could be drawn out of out of season tomatoes. House baked rolls preceded the lunch. The server pours a beautiful clear, clean olive oil and astringent balsamic vinegar from cruets onto a little glass dish. The olive oil worked perfectly to tame the strong balsamic. We both finished the meal with a sorbet and gelato by The Latest Scoop (link below). The pear merlot sorbet was tinted a delicate pink from the merlot. It had the most intense pear flavor, almost as if it was frozen pear sauce. Wonderful texture. The tres leches gelato that my friend ‘let’ me sample tasted of butterscotch and was light and milk based. Served in a whimsical martini glass (pictured on the Pear Street website) both were a lovely finish to the meal. The wine flight I chose seems to be a great way to sample the interesting wine list put together by Swish Wine Shop which is owned by the same group as Pear Street. I’m not a wine person, but I really did taste the flavors described on the wine menu. Perhaps Reidel wine glasses really do work as well as people say. The three wines- one white and two reds were served in the correct Reidel glass. A little paper circle was attached on the bottom of the glass with the wine name … red circles for well… you know. My favorite was the Olivet Lane Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. Ok, I’m going to mainly borrow the menu description and coming from me this may sound silly. This wine really was lush, velvety and had the richest mouth feel (sheesh .. really). I could taste plum, hints of spice and … I kid you not … the golden cherries. That was really the main flavor for me. I also really liked the featured red wine this month - Marcelina cabernet sauvignon from Napa. I enjoyed the bing cherry and spice flavors in this wine. The white featured wine was Logan Chardonnay Monterey with tropical fruit notes that reminded me of pineapple and passion fruit. It went very well with the cream of asparagus soup. It must be the Reidel glasses. I actually ‘swished’ and looked for legs. I took a deep whiff. Did all the right wine stuff and didn’t feel stupid. With both the food and the wine, I found myself slowing down, taking small bites and sips so I could thoroughly savor the tastes. The lunch was so good, I am actually considering trying Bambi’s dad. I haven’t had venison before but it is currently on the menu with a cherry sauce. Pear Street’s address, phone and hours are at the end of the original post of this thread. If you go on a Wednesday night, Swish Wine Shop has some interesting wine classes and tastings. Link: http://www.thelatestscoop.com/index.html Wed Mar 02 01:18:25 -0800 2005 157050 0 Krys