charlobo-a-go-go

I happen to live in one of the best food places in the world. I love going out with the little family, consuming impossibly good things, and then, huddled over our empty dishes, whispering over whether or not we can accomplish this dish at home (Husbandido does a good job replicating things. I do a good job eating them. That’s it.)

From time to time we’ll find a place that gives us pause. Like we’ll sit there after a first bite and look at each other like “Seriously? Is this real food?”. It is. And at night we pray and thank the powers that be that we live in San Francisco and hope that if we’re good, we can stay here for the rest of our lives.

I could go on and on about the food scene, of which I am a poor participant- there are others who are far better at blogging, reviewing, and sharing the wealth- but I wanted to check in about was about a meal I had recently at Nojo.

I drive by Nojo from time to time because of its proximity to work, to restaurants (natch), and having kept up like a good blogger, I’ve read all the reviews and tweets about who’s cooking where and what new cuisine is coming to town. I read and reread the website (http://www.nojosf.com) over and over to make sure that the cuisine would appeal to little family(it did) and to make sure we could afford it (we could…but remember we don’t drink, so alcohol isn’t an issue). So I was fully briefed on the spot before I presented the website to Husbandido, to which he responded hell yes. So off we went.

What happened was that we enjoyed ourselves. There was a little wait, and there was some confusion over reservations, but we got sat, and the experience began. I want to save it for you to experience because I was pleasantly surprised that it was much more than the meal I enjoyed. It was the place, the space, the servers/chefs, and the overall attitude of the people there. I can’t recall a better dining experience in recent memory (where I didn’t speak French…but you knew that already).

I appreciate the opportunity to eat fine food, and Nojo really did it for me, food wise. Carefully thought out and executed. I can dig it. But the service was truly amazing. Ive been in restos where the staff can’t shut the hell up over the menu, but you can tell its a memorized spiel. We had an actually engaging conversation, not with just JJ our server, but also with the others who brought food over and took plates away. It was like…dining with family.

As I sit in some dingy little cafe writing this, waiting for my car to get smogged, I can honestly say it was one of the best dining experiences I’ve had…and I can’t wait to go back!

Char

PS: bambina said, this soup is really good, mom. Seriously. She doesnt even say that about my cooking.