In the nothing succeeds like excess category, two American cheese covered smash burgers and half a thinly sliced onion fried/steamed in the burger fat
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After three years living in the Bay area we tend to explore mainly restaurants and shops in San Francisco and east bay but living mid peninsula we are also starting to try out more places in the south bay.
One place we actually tried more than 10 years ago when visiting the San Jose area was The Table https://www.thetablesj.com/ in Willow Glen and liked it at that time. So we thought it would be a good time to revisit and see how we think about it today.
The Table is still an enjoyable New American restaurant with some interesting takes on some classics, like their steak tartare with charred avocado. Perhaps not a destination restaurant to drive for hours but definitely something for your regular rotation if you live in the area
Pork & veal meatballs, creamy polenta, tomato sauce, calabrian chili pecorino
Fried Gioiella burrata, prosciutto, arugula, durst farm tomatoes, basil, sogno di liguria dop evoo, aged leonardi balsamic vinegar
Steak tartare, charred avocado, quail egg yolk, crostini
Brown sugar fennel crusted rack of pork, braised greens, eggplant puree, candied pecans
Uni bucatini, miso butter, trout roe
The only burger that belongs on the table, cheddar, mayo, onion-tomato jam, lettuce pickles, fries
Sugar-dusted ricotta beignets, lemon curd
Bread pudding, chocolate 60% and golden raisins, caramel drizzle, creme anglaise, strawberry sorbet and vanilla ice cream
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…and potato chips. Excellent!
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Only because we had French fries last night 
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Panko-crusted rockfish tacos with sriracha mayo, chopped romaine, both fresh and pickled scallions. Storebought corn tortillas.
For dessert, there is German sour cherry cake.
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Take-out enchiladas (chicken mole with the brown sauce, seafood with the light sauce) and purchased Black Forest Cake from Spicer’s Bakery in Aylmer, ON.
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Yum
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Pizza Saturday . Made dough yesterday. Expecting to cook in the electric indoor oven .
Received a call this morning. " Your oven is here . " .
Maiden voyage tonight. Fired up .
I will post a picture of the pizza later . I have no idea what to expect. Gozney arc xl .
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We enjoyed another outstanding dinner at James on Main in Hackettstown, NJ, including rabbit cannelloni with taleggio, sweet potato velvet, dark chocolate & roasted poultry glace; diver scallops with lobster butter, wood fired corn cake, chestnut mushrooms; duck leg confit with green papaya salad, thai red chilis, crushed peanuts, lime; moules frites with maine mussels, saffron, white wine, garlic and dijon served with the most incredible wedge cut fries with a crackling crust and creamy center; wagyu hanger steak with stilton potato espuma, caramelized shallot demi glace, adirondack blue potato crisps; tilefish with white asparagus, petit red watercress, pommes puree, banyuls vinaigrette; flash fried Florida rock shrimp and calamari. It all went great with a couple of excellent cabernets.
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Same here!! Tonight’s dinner was Black Olive and Onion Pizza. This is Sunshine’s favorite and Neighbor #2 likes it, as well.
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YEAH!!
Looking forward to seeing your first pizza in the new oven.
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Looks GREAT!!
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Did the char add anything to the avocado? It doesn’t look very appealing, and I find the concept of hot or even warm avocado off-putting.
But I do loves me some good tartare.
You’re knocking it out of the park with your 'za these days! Looks absolutely perfect 
Cocktail hour Friday night was a blast, mostly due to our hostess’ absolutely adorable wiener, Oliver 
I made myself a couple of delicious Hendricks martinis – well……actually chilled gin & bitters (no vermouth inda house), and had some fun conversations. Some dude was showing off his brand-new BMW sports car and took a few of us on a ride around the hood. Going 55mph in a 25mph zone is likely not the smartest idea, so I see a lot of tickets in his future. But hey, at least he’s got a fast car
Scratch that – TWO fast cars, “one for each season.” When I said he’d need a couple more cars, then, he didn’t laugh. I pity his GF 
A table with assorted cheeses, prosciutto, pickled cukes and a massive plate of chicken katsu provided sustenance.
We got home at… no idea, but likely not very late (festivities started at 5:30pm), and I steamed a few har gow and pork & leek dumplings as a snack. No pics 
Hit the gay bar last night to bid farewell to the bar crew over a crisp Sly Fox pilsner (on tap) each, then switched to the seasonal G&T - Mahon Gin with Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic. I find most tonic waters far too sweet, but this was pleasantly dry.
As for food, we split a wonderfully punchy Caesar salad that didn’t skimp on anchovies, their salinity playing well against the crisp lettuce & tangy dressing. We also split the fish fry - this time a variety of fish (branzino & salmon), all pieces enveloped in the lightest, crispiest batter one could imagine, atop a bed of creamy white beans & lovely fresh asparagus in a tangy vinaigrette.
The chef there always, always knocks it out of the park with her salads, but that fish fry 
Finally, we split the cavatappi as my PIC loves them so, tossed with a fairly spicy tomato pesto and goat cheese. This was a little one-note for us (tho we appreciated the heat) and we thought it could’ve used a textural counterpoint to the ever-so-slightly overdone pasta.
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Those are great ovens, not really enough counter space in our apt to dedicate to something that big. One of my friends ordered one from Amazon and they accidentally sent him two, he called to let them know and they said “just give it an away”! So another friend, a great baker, is cranking out stupidly great pizza from the extra oven.
Enjoy!
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Gotta love it when those warehouse robots make an error in your favor. We have experienced several instances of multiple deliveries, but nothing as exciting as a pizza oven!
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Since tartare is relatively mild in flavor the char added some nice smokiness to the dish which tend to work nicely in general (we also had versions before were other parts of the tartare were smoked to have the same overall effect)
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