http://www.creperevolution.com/

When you walk in there’s a bar to the left and one to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle. We decided to go to the smaller right side and eat at the bar. The bartender was very helpful and went over the menu in sections, giving us his favorite dishes and/or the most popular ones. I ordered a nice glass of Easton Zinfadel and Keoni ordered rum and coke. We decided to order something from each section and share. We started with a tuna tartare on flatbread with Thai miso pesto and avocado. It was delicious and a huge portion! Next we had a mixed green salad which had blueberries, chevre (the best I’ve ever tasted, so creamy!) and a honey lavender dressing. We also had the hangar steak with ginger aujus cooked medium, which was perfection. I told Keoni I only wanted a couple of bites and he said I ate more than he did! We also had spaetzle ( a type of egg noodle found in German cuisine) with petite mushrooms, roasted shallots and grenobloise (sauce of browned butter, capers, parsley and bits of lemon). Next time I would like to try the white bean hummus and the pizza with carmelized onions, olive tapenade and parmesean.

This is definitely a place we would go back to. We loved the intimate feel of the place along with the fresh ingredients and good, simple food!

Last night all the wine was from Spain and we tasted 8 wines, 2 white and the rest red. These are blind tastings and we score them and find out later what they are and price points. This helps Neel, the owner, choose wines to put on the menu. The tasting is $20.00 per person and you have to reserve a spot early because it’s limited to 20 people. This includes some light appetizers. The bartender is Katie and she is so much fun, you will have a blast! The next one is Feb. 3rd, 2010 and it’s sparking wines. Make a reservation by calling Neel at 770-485-7440 or go to the website www.creperevolution.com

They’re are lots of Vietnamese restaurants in this area but I totally recommend this one!

We had proscuitto di parma with a crusty french bread and garlic sauteed shrimp and lots of delicious red wine!

This is a great walking city with lots of restaurants, bars, movie theaters and a couple of musuems.  I chose the art musuem instead of the technolgy one.  They had a special exhibit of an artist named Todd Schorr whose style is considered American surreal.  It was very interesting, although not my personal taste in art.

I wanted to try a local restaurant and signs led me to Don Pedros Authentic Mexican Restaurant at 43 Post Street.  It seemed to be pretty much a “hole in the wall” place.  Very old looking, almost like an old diner but there were already a good amount of customers at 11:15 so I thought, why not?  I was pleasantly surprised.   I got a lunch taco carnitas with beans and rice.  It was full of deliciously seasoned pork carnitas, pico di gallo and cilantro.  The beans were good and the rice was average but the salsa was nice and hot!

Later on in the day, I met up with some of the crew members at a favorite, McCormick and Schmicks for the wonderful happy hour.  They have a special bar menu that ranges from $1.95 to $4.95 and everything I’ve had has been good.  The drink prices are not cheap but they do have a nice wine selection and the service has always been good at any of the locations.

If I have this layover again, I would be tempted to rent a car and go to some wineries or Santa Cruz (a beach town).  I read that J Lohr has a winery and tasting room minutes from downtown San Jose.  If not, I could still find lots of adventure on foot.

There are three independent type movie theaters in that area.  I went to see “Easy Virtue” with Jessica Biel and Colin Firth.  It was a comedy based on a Noel Coward play that takes place in the 1920’s in England.  Jessica was the “ugly” American who stole the heart of a wealthy British family.  The mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) and sisters don’t like her but Dad(Colin) does!  It was really cute.

I strolled around looking for a good restaurant to try.  I found FARMiCiA at 15 South 3rd Street.  Their menu had a lot of fresh and healthy items.  The decor was colorful with a Granny Smith apple as a centerpiece on the tables.

They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I went early because my pick up from the hotel was 0400 in the morning!  I chose an appetizer of three spreads consisting of tapenade, white bean hummus and artichoke pesto.  All this came with a huge amount of delicious french bread.  I couldn’t eat it all so I packed it to go because I wanted to try the French Lentil Salad.  This was topped with baked goat cheese and served with mixed greens and a sherry dressing.  Fabulous!

There were many other things I wanted to try like chicken enchiladas with chipotle crema and mild salsa verde and the Grilled Tuna with greens, tomatoes and tapenade. 

The best part is the Happy Hour from 5-7 pm Tues-Fri.  They have half-priced drinks including beer, cocktails and wine!  They are closed on Mondays.

Keoni and I love to go there and sit at the bar.  We each get a spicy chicken soup (it has to be made with love!!), then we share Chicken Bryan.  It is a grilled then topped with a good hunk of goat cheese and a sun-dried tomato sauce.  Oh, I digress, I’m supposed to be talking about wine!

We usually order Coppolo’s Claret which is really good but we decided to order something different.  We tried a delicious Malbec, Pascual Toso Reserve.  It’s a 2007 from Mendoza-Argentina.  It was so jammy!  I went to two wine stores looking for it.  I haven’t found it yet but will keep looking!

I really like that they have a wine list that has glasses of wine for $3 to $5 and bottles from $10 to $18. This is a deal and the wine I got from Argentena was wonderful.

I decided to get the Vegetarian Plate so I could get a variety and the price was reasonable. You choose 4 dishes from a list. I chose grape leaves, mjaradara, baba ghanoush, and spanokopita. Everything was good but the grape leaves were my least favorite of these dishes and ya’ll know I love grape leaves. Their pita bread is also very good and I heard it’s baked on the premises. Keoni got the sharwama chicken wrap and it was huge! It was like two sandwiches for him and we both brought food home.

Overall, I liked the atmosphere and food. The GM, Richard, was so welcoming and we really appreciated that appetizer! I hope to go back soon.