Lazy Bear Oct '16

Regional Dining Discussions SF Bay Area, NorCal, Tahoe
1

Happy with my meal at lazy bear. I think we go there about twice a year these days.

I really like their “thing”, and that is part of the attraction. It does feel like a dinner party. I do meet interesting people. It does move along crisply, since the kitchen is all in sync.

This happened to be a “winemaker’s dinner” with the Donkey and Goat people. D&G wines ( outta berkeley ) aren’t the easiest wines to pair, and I did wish LB had gone more out of the way to think of dishes that paired with the wine in question, instead of the other way around.

It was also the night they got their second michelin star. If you look back on the internet, I mentioned that when I tried LB back in the underground location, I strongly felt LB was doing michelin-2-star work, and was criticized by other posters. While I might think Michelin is being a bit overly inclusive these days, I still like LB.

Luckily, HO is not CH, otherwise I couldn’t write this. I’m not “known” in any way at LB, but apparently I do know one of the restaurant’s lead investors, so I got to hang out with him and Jared from D&G. They were at my table, after all, just a few people up.

Let’s see, which bites were good. There was a version of oyster rockafeller which was excellent. The bread and butter is almost worth the price of dinner. The one savory meat at the end was A5 and better done than most A5 you get. There was an interesting squash and creme fresh thing ( using creme fresh from Bohemian, an excellent sonoma cheese maker ).

I understand that LB’s tickets are more widely available for weeknights, although that might change with the second star.

2

Was William Tsui working the bar? Did you get a drink from him?

3

Do they bake their own?

4

Of course they make their own bread. It is a take-off on the “parker house roll” that was a dinner table staple in the 80’s. Nostalgic, fluffy, hint of butter on top.

The butter is extra special. It is slightly fermented like a cheese, with a buttermilk / sourdough type culture. They have been keeping the culture alive since they first started LazyBear, and it fluctuates slightly with the season. The slight fermentation just give the butter this great tang, depth, and is simply different from the pure-sweet of most other butters. Worth a detour :slight_smile:

5

With all the wine, I didn’t have alcohol budget to get a drink !

6

What’s the ticket price for LB these days and is the reservation system a bit easier these days; same format as the old popup system?

I was an earlier advocate of David’s cooking and used to frequent Lazy Bear every few months going back 5-6 years but I haven’t been since they “established” themselves. I’ve had some great meals at LB in the past; some of my earliest and best in San Francisco, in fact.