After we arrived at Meyhouse in Sunnyvale, our waiter described it as “the best restaurant in Silicon Valley” and proceeded to point out us what he meant.
We barely scratched the floor of the intensive Turkish menu, sticking to largely vegetarian choices, as that tells you a large number concerning the talents of the chef. The sesame-topped bread, smooth and yeasty, was good to dip into the Kopoglu—oven roasted eggplant and tomato sauce atop tangy yogurt—and to smear with the electrical flavors of the Girit, sheep’s cheese from the Dardanelles with Aleppo peppers and roasted pistachios.
The Uc Borek, fried phyllo wrapped round leeks and mushrooms and zucchini, had been sizzling and juicy, as was the phyllo filled with pastirma, which seems to be water buffalo. The recent Katikli, with a skinny crust referred to as Antakya, was filled with a spicy mixture of spinach, Aleppo pepper, cumin, zahtar and cheese. It was actually good, however by then I used to be breaded out. Past the huge vegetarian choices, the Meyhouse menu additionally consists of copious meat, rooster and fish choices.
Our curiosity had bested our capability, however we in some way managed to eat a complete order of divine Şöbiyet, which is like baklava however made with pistachios as a substitute of walnuts, and crammed with semolina creme. It was so good, I introduced an order residence for my husband.
Meyhouse has a location in Palo Alto, the place they lately began providing jazz. The menu there may be barely completely different.
Talking of Palo Alto, the most recent darling spot at Stanford Mall is Sushi Roku, a part of the culinary overhaul that has ousted locations like Max’s. With a really unassuming exterior, fairly Zen and humble, this Japanese-centric restaurant eschews flash for taste. It’s within the neighborhood of California Pizza Kitchen, and never removed from the wallet-draining Tiffany’s and Shreve.
Gracious but unpretentious, the kitchen serves up loads of sushi and rolls, but additionally renders some surprisingly enjoyable takes on dishes frequent to different menus. Right here, they’re carried out uncommonly nicely.
The star of the present is the fried Brussels sprouts leaves, so crispy and addictive that my pal—who by no means eats the issues—was desirous to share them with me, having downed two orders along with her niece on a previous go to. Positively a success. We additionally tried the sesame-oil fried shishito peppers, served in oyster sauce.
The lunch menu gives specials together with sushi, rolls, bowls and churashi, in addition to sizzling dishes like donburi and pork stomach or wagyu fried rice, a tasty crimson pepper and scallion infused dish topped with an egg. We opted for the pork stomach model.With a lunch particular, you possibly can add on two of their signature Hanabi, that are crispy squares of fried rice topped along with your selection of tuna, yellowtail or avocado for $12 and handrolls for $7 every. The dinner menu, additionally obtainable at lunch, is huge, and may have you pondering decisions over your Zen Backyard, a reasonably drink made with muddled cucumber, mint, pineapple, lemon, lime and cucumber soda.
The Grove in Felton showcases the type of significantly artistic meals you’d count on to come back out of Santa Cruz County. Owned and operated by govt chef Jessica Yarr, The Grove emphasizes plant-forward substances and made- from-scratch baked items, yielding wonders from the oven within the type of pastries, breads and cookies.
My pal and I arrived a second too late for breakfast, for which service ends at 11:30 a.m., however the lunch menu has wonderful salads and sandwiches. We tried a smoked beet Reuben on house-made mountain rye with sunflower seeds, very similar to the old school German bread my grandmother used to make. The beets had been topped with sauerkraut, smoky Swiss and Thousand Island.
Our favourite was the Bigfoot sandwich, with avocado, scallion aioli, crispy candy potato strings and lemon-dressed pea shoots on house-made nation sourdough. Breakfast bowls embrace Turkish eggs—two poached eggs atop herbed yogurt with harissa butter and a aspect of sourdough toast—in addition to creamy polenta with roasted seasonal greens, herbed feta cheese, poached egg, basil pesto and arugula.
Being the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Mushroom Magic, that includes roasted shiitake and oyster mushrooms, balsamic discount, thyme, parsley, garlic confit, goat cheese and arugula on house-made sourdough porridge bread, sells out day-after-day.
