Leland Tea Company

Leland Tea Company is a tea shop in Nob Hill that also offers high tea. AW, my previous high tea buddy, accompanied me to another cute tea experience! We made a last minute booking at Leland (like literally... the day before).

We got the Tea for Two set, which at only $25 was quite frankly a steal. Leland had an fairly large tea selection up front, and they allowed us to poke around, sniff the samples, and ask dumb questions until we settled on a black tea of choice.

Leland had a small tea room with mostly standard cafe seating, but towards the back there were kitschy cute booths and tables, one of which we settled into and took pictures in because - girls (or just me). High tea. Vintage looking furniture and cute tablecloths. It must happen.

The food arrived in a three tier set.

Bottom: We had our choice of two kinds of sandwiches so we chose cucumber cream cheese and the turkey and swiss. I thought the bread was a bit dry on both, but with the turkey it wasn't so apparent - turned out to be just a standard turkey sandwich. The cucumber sandwich unfortunately didn't fare well from the dry bread and didn't have much flavor.

Middle: Salad. Not bad, tangy vinaigrette, but nothing special.

Top: The sweets tier. I believe we had a normal scone, chocolate chip scone, Madeline cookies, two mini cupcakes, and shortbread cookies. The shortbread cookies were adorable... 

But I found the scones cold and kind of stale. The cupcakes and Madelines were good though.

Leland Tea Company has a good tea selection, a cute tea room and friendly staff, but the food is not that great. It's an option if you're trying to book a last minute tea meetup or is looking for a more intimate and quite locale, but I would stick to just chatting over tea and skipping the food if I'm here again.

Leland Tea Company

Leland Tea Company Yelp

San Francisco, CA

Chapeau!

Chapeau! is a French bistro located in the Inner Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco. FT and I went here for a special occasion under the recommendation of a friend. It is located on a fairly nondescript location - street parking by meter only nearby, so come a little early.

The placed was packed within an hour of opening - so definitely make a reservation!

They have a sort of prix-fixe menu where you choose three courses from their normal menu for a reduced price. Well, since it WAS a special occasion... if you insist...

They had a fairly extensive wine list as well, alas only for those who don't run into the drove-can't-drink-but-want-to dilemma of the ages like we did.

Amuse-bouche of smoked trout and fingerling potato. Love smoked fish in general, so no complaints!

My appetizer was the goat cheese napoleon, which I absolutely LOVED. Zucchini, tomatoes, and goat cheese on top of a polenta cake, flavored with pesto. Fresh and light tasting but with enough bite from the tangy goat cheese.

FT got veal sweetbreads as his appetizer - a delicious and heavy dish with a great sauce.

For my main course, I went classic and got the filet mignon with a side order of bone marrow added on. No complaints on the steak: gorgeously medium rare and a deliciously rich sauce.

The bone marrow wasn't as exciting... granted, I had only had bone marrow once before, but this seemed really bland? Not sure if it was an unseasoned bone marrow or if I am not appreciating it correctly by smearing chunks of it on bread... if anyone has suggestions, please let me know!

FT went all ~special~ and opted for the rabbit. I quite enjoyed the flavor of the rabbit, though the sauce wasn't as flavorful as that of the filet mignon's. (Though our palettes could have just been ruined as we both soaked bites of steak in sauce...)

Dessert number one was the tarte du jour, a classic lemon tart with raspberry cream. This tart was TART! I love sour things so this works great for me, but I can understand if some may want a more sweet dessert.

And lastly, a basil napoleon - possibly my favorite of the night. Fruit and crispy wafers in a napoleon, topped with a basil sauce. Super refreshing and light, and a great end after a heavy meal.

And they live up to their namesake by giving the check in a hat (for those of us not francophiles, chapeau means hat)!

All the food was amazing and the portions almost too large - the table next to us got the same prix-fixe plan and ordered some heartier dishes, and actually had to stop halfway through the main course to pack them up because they were so large! The place is loud and fairly casual, but the service remains top notch. For someone who is intimidated by hip or upscale dining, I did enjoy being able to relax while enjoying good food.The chef is super friendly and came over twice in our short meal to ask how we liked our food - and we couldn't grin any wider to show him how much we loved it.

Chapeau! had delicious French bistro food, and a friendly and comfortable place that I will likely start visiting even when it's not a special occasion. 

Chapeau!

Chapeau! Yelp

San Francisco, CA