the sea.

we celebrated my sisters birthday with a family dinner at the sea by alexanders steakhouse in norcal.

i have to say, excellent service. upon arrival, we were greeted warmly, our coats were taken and we were seated by the bar to wait for the rest of our party. when everyone arrived we proceeded to the table, immediately offered water and choices of bread- LOVE their bread selections. i appreciate that they had inquired if there was a special occasion we were celebrating upon booking, and had prepared in advance. there was a happy birthday notecard from the restaurant for my sister at the table, hosted a champagne toast after we ordered, and a happy birthday dessert brought out before our other desserts were served. great attention to detail in service.

now onto the food. we ordered so much, with a party of 8.. the portions were heartier than we remembered.

amuse bouche.

hamachi shooters. my fave!

kumamoto oysters.

the sea’s fried clam chowder. not thick, but still creamy. deceptively filling. the picture below is half of a serving. i said we would be sharing a few orders of soup, and they went ahead and split the bowls for us so that everyone at the table had their own.

mini crab cakes.

the entree special, seared scallops with spaghetti squash.

sides, wild mushrooms and seasonal veggies. totally unnecessary orders for us, since we were so full. we barely touched the sides at dinner, but it was good the next day!

b’s entree of wagyu flat iron steak, with tempura kabocha. yuM.

chai latte with dessert.

dessert, “pumpkin patch”

candles for the birthday girl!

i was originally worried about coming here with a large party, especially with parents that don’t like to sit through super long meals, but in the end i didn’t have to worry because the course timing was excellent, and they kept offering my dad more bread, which made him happy. overall it was a great dining experience.

xx

http://www.theseausa.com/

providence.

lunch at providence.

this was our first time dining here, and we were not disappointed. we opted to order a la carte, and of course, ordered too much. especially since bread and 3 amuse bouche courses were brought out first.

a little bite of some gelee..

shiso and rice “taco” light in flavor, great texture, crunchy wheat puffs.

ikura atop cracker with a bit of soup. sO good.

this was our first order, josephine’s clam fritters. they were huGe. much bigger than expected.. more like puffs/beignets than the fried clams we were expecting. served with yuzu mayo. we packed half of it to go, to save room for our main courses.

then onto wild fluke. ponzu was delicate, nice presentation.

there was a seasonal white truffle offered that day, which i couldn’t resist. we opted for a pasta course, and ordered the truffle on tagliatelle.

he came back and shaved more truffles after we started digging in. (:

my main course, the hokkaido scallops. i was pretty full by the time this course came out, but still enjoyed. seared, soft scallops, with coconut and curry flavors.

b’s entree of striped bass.

dessert, this was pear something.. i forget the name but it came with pureed pear atop a cake, with gelato.

when we dine out, i don’t usually choose seafood restaurants, but was glad we tried providence. the flavors were light and balanced, with a nod to asian seasoning, and execution was delicate. we thoroughly enjoyed, and will be back for dinner soon.

xx

http://providencela.com/