When Jade’s comes into town, it usually means trouble. Trouble in the form of drinking too much, going out for extravagant meals, and not remembering where all your money went the next morning. She’s the ultimate enabler.
So… Jade’s in town. Mix that with Yoko and Washi right up the street, and I’ve got a Triple Threat on my hands. There’s no turning back.
We all went out on Saturday, and as expected, had an epic evening at my neighborhood pizza joint, Boot and Shoe Service. So epic that none of us really quite remember the details, or timeline. It’s all a drunken haze. But that’s the true sign of a GREAT NIGHT!
The main points I remember vividly from the meal are:
1.) Excellent service: Laura, our server, is a professional enabler.
2.) Impeccable, AWESOME food.
3.) Lots of laughing. Cackling. Were we being too loud? Yoko remembers “shrieking a few times.”
4.) We went through THREE bottles of wine. See #1. She’s good.
5.) We closed the place down after being there for over three hours. What could we possibly have to talk about for that long?
That said, I’m the most disciplined food blogger ever, and somehow remembered to take pics of all the food! Lucky for you, cause seriously, this meal was one of the best I’ve had since moving back to the Bay.
APPETIZERS
Shrimp and green tomatoes battered and fried. The tomatoes were still crispy. SO GOOD!
Melt in your mouth meatballs.
Wood oven-cooked egg with pancetta and frisee. We dipped toasties in this– very simple, clean.
Perhaps the belle of the ball, the Bufala mozzarella. @jesus shed His light upon us at this very moment. It was a blob of lavish dairy delight.
Let there be light.
With the first course, we had a bottle Albariño. Light and crisp and perfect for summer. (Although it’s fucking freezing here WTF).
It was around this point in the meal that we ordered bottle #2.
Thanks to Laura’s knowledgeable suggestions, we decided on the Tempranillo.
PIZZA!
Boot and Shoe is the sister restaurant of Pizzaiolo, a super popular pizzeria in Temescal– so we knew we were in good hands.
Marinara, housemade sausage, onions, lightly shaved parmesan (?). Again, simple and clean. Light, thin crust, not too chewy, speckled with char.
Our pizzagasm, Laura’s favorite on the menu– the rosemary potatoes with moliterno cheese, pancetta and parsley.
OMG. オーエムジー。FLAVOR EXPLOSION.
At a certain point during the pizzas, we ordered another bottle of wine. Washi and I gave each other this “let’s discreetly order another bottle” look. Neither Yoko or Jade noticed. Such trickery.
DESSERT
We ordered all the desserts on the menu. The chocolate tart sprinkled with sea salt had the butteriest crust– unreal.
FLASH! God, how embarrassing. Let me be honest and say that I don’t remember the canoli or that soft serve thing at the top. Neither does Yoko. WASTED!
Ok, now guess how much all this cost us per person? GUESS. Come on. $100? $120 right? At least?
$70 PER PERSON including drinks AND tip. Is that insanely reasonable for all this, or what? Four appetizers, two pizzas, THREE bottles of vino, and three desserts? Yoko and Washi are used to Tokyo prices and Jade and me from NYC, so this was just shocking. I will put Boot and Shoe on par with Franny’s in Brooklyn, in atmosphere, and menu– but SO MUCH CHEAPER. Plus they make some great classic cocktails.
Thanks Boot & Shoe for one of the more memorable meals/nights we’ve had in a very long time! Casual, unpretentious, awesome knowledgable service, well-prepared food using local ingredients. LOVE! We’ll be back soon (I know… you CAN’T WAIT)!
