San Francisco is... Hi Amy

November 28, 2005

What an outstanding menu. I would love to eat there and more than one time.

Thank you so much for this menu review. Donna

Amy <sandpiperhiker wrote:

a food lover's paradise, whether you are vegetarian or not! So many

choices, so much delicious food!

Millennium Restaurant feels amber-lit inside, warm lighting with funky

mesh chandeliers... sat at the bar while waiting for our table to be

ready... happened to see Eric Tucker (the master Chef!) in the

kitchen... DH got the bartender to ask him for his autograph, so I

have the menu for the day, with the chef's autograph on it.

THE MENU, entirely vegan of course

olives and roasted peppers at the bar, DH had wine & I had a

gingery-chamomile tea

Starter: Cornucopia Medley

roasted chestnuts, artichoke pepperonata, lentil-wild rice salad, a

chutney, spicy toasted almonds, bread

Actual roasted chestnuts - we had to crack them open to eat them *lol*

Soup:

roasted corn, butternut squash and anasazi bean chowder, with grilled

oyster mushroom relish

I loved the smokiness of the grilled mushrooms, but not being a

mushroom afficionado would have preferred them chopped smaller. But

the soup, even with the big 'shroom pieces, was delicious!!

Salad:

baby spinach and winter greens with thin sliced Fuji apples, shaved

fennel, red cabbage, a pomegranate-ginger vinaigrette, and toasted almonds

YUM! The ginger was very subtle, but this dressing was amazing with

the winter greens/veggies!

Entrees: Roasted Sweet Sumpling Squash or Wild Mushroom " Wellington "

I had the squash: roasted and filled with - chestnut cornbread

stuffing, smoked tempeh (OMG this was good), root vegetable and

shelling bean ragout, then topped with sherried parsnip cream

This was just standout! Everything was perfectly tender, and

complemented the sweet squash very well. The sherried parsnip cream -

no idea how that would be made - was just the finishing touch that

made this a restaurant/holiday dish... yummy! DH was envious.

He had the Wellington - marinated seitan, portobello & shiitake

mushrooms, topped with a custard of truffled Yukon Gold potato,

wrapped and baked in a crisp yuba skin (the stuff " yellow bird " is

madefrom - part of tofu making I believe), and topped with porcini

mushroom gravy. DH thought this was good, although his favorite part

was the fantastic gravy (proving once again that veggies treated as

veggies are often better than pretend meat, eh? Wellington is a

classic beef dish) and I agreed. Very good flavor, good texture,

though the yuba was sometimes a little chewy and difficult to cut...

The sides that came with both entrees:

maple pecan roasted yams - oh yum.... chunks of yam, roasted in maple

something or other, with bits of pecan too... perfectly tender, crunch

for the pecans, not at all syrupy - in fact the texture tended toward

dry, more like roasted potatoes than glazed potatoes I kind of

expected from the description. Very, very good!

roasted shallot brassica vegetable medley - roasted shallots, garlic,

cauliflowerets, and Brussels sprouts... earthy and tasty, very

appropriate!

cranberry-Satsuma mandarin relish - what can I say? YUM!!!

cranberries, mandarin oranges, walnuts....

Dessert:

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with pomegranate reduction - a vegan pumpkin

pie... gingersnap crust I think. The pom redux was just perfect with

it, not a pairing I would have thought of!

The other choice was a chocolate pecan torta, but they ran out before

DH got his piece... so the raided the fridge and brought him a pumpkin

creme brulee that was really, really good.

November 29, 2005

I am dying here with envy over this meal that you had. And it certainly sounds

like a meal to die for. Problem is I am having a difficult time trying to figure

out how you managed to get up out of your chair and actually walk out of the

place? LOL I would have been in total agony because I would have eaten every

bite and asked for more. Nothing greedy about me.

linda

" Whatever you do will be insignificant and it is very important that you do it. "

Mohandas Gandhi

linda's Growing Stitchery Projects: womyn47

Amy <sandpiperhiker wrote:

a food lover's paradise, whether you are vegetarian or not! So many

choices, so much delicious food!

Millennium Restaurant feels amber-lit inside, warm lighting with funky

mesh chandeliers... sat at the bar while waiting for our table to be

ready... happened to see Eric Tucker (the master Chef!) in the

kitchen... DH got the bartender to ask him for his autograph, so I

have the menu for the day, with the chef's autograph on it.

November 29, 2005

> What an outstanding menu. I would love to eat there and more than one

> time. Thank you so much for this menu review. Donna

I'd love to eat there often too... but even if I lived in SF the

budget wouldn't allow it! But the two cookbooks are wonderful!

November 29, 2005

> I am dying here with envy over this meal that you had. And it

> certainly sounds like a meal to die for. Problem is I am having a

> difficult time trying to figure out how you managed to get up out of

> your chair and actually walk out of the place? LOL I would have been

> in total agony because I would have eaten every bite and asked for

> more. Nothing greedy about me.

*lol* Well, for one... the portions are somewhat reasonable (ie, I

ate most of it, DH finished for me)... and two, I didn't eat much that

day so I'd have extra room!! :-)

*hugs*

Amy

November 29, 2005

Rude and impolite question I am about to ask. But just how much was it to eat

there for two people? Sometimes I think I am not getting all of the mail or at

least getting them out of order. Did I miss the names of the cookbooks for this

place?

linda

-

Amy

I'd love to eat there often too... but even if I lived in SF the

budget wouldn't allow it! But the two cookbooks are wonderful!

November 29, 2005

> Rude and impolite question I am about to ask. But just how much was

> it to eat there for two people? Sometimes I think I am not getting

> all of the mail or at least getting them out of order. Did I miss

> the names of the cookbooks for this place?

Hi, Linda! I don't know what it would be normally, but expensive I'm

sure. For Thanksgiving it was price fixe (don't ask me to pronounce

that, please ;-)) at $60 per person... we saved money staying in a

backpacker hostel instead of a hotel, so that we could go there - I

have had the cookbooks for so long, but hadn't been on this side of

the country before, much less San Francisco... (well, I did go there

once on a business trip, but only saw the inside of an office

building, Ghirardelli Square, and Lombard Street before flying back to

DC).

Regarding the cookbooks, this is from the message (#5606) I posted

back to Isis...

" Hi, Isis! Yes, they have two wonderful cookbooks, but none of those

dishes are in them, I think - they change menus with the seasons and

local availability of produce.

In any case, the dishes in the cookbooks are, as suggested by the

title of the first book, extraordinary! :-)

The Millennium Cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0898158990/104-8433939-7029568?v=glance & n=28315\

\

5 & s=books & v=glance

and

The Artful Vegan: Fresh Flavors from the Millennium Restaurant

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580082076/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/104-8433939-70295\

\

68?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Eric Tucker is the chef and main author of both. Definitely special

occasion food... enjoy! "

November 29, 2005

Oh, well, for a wonderful evening out and a fabulous meal that really isn't too

bad especially for a holiday. A lot of the restaurants I have seen advertise for

the holidays charge as much and are most assuredly not as good. And the

cookbooks did come through finally. I am going to see if one of our bookstores

has either or both of them and go look.