AIWF NORCAL invites you to “Be The Reviewer,” an exciting new series of programs!
You love to go out to new restaurants and try the latest and greatest. You’re a true connoisseur, a foodie of the first order. And the San Francisco Bay area is your artist’s palette. Well have WE got a program for YOU! It’s your chance to be the very first diners in the Bay area’s hottest new restaurants. Here’s how it works.
We’ve lined up a series of wonderful hip, new restaurants and you’re going to be among the first diners past those velvet ropes. We’re talking about the trendy new restaurants just opening their doors for the first time. You’re invited to dine for two at a very special discounted price, in return for filling out a review and questionnaire at the end of the evening. This gives the restaurant critical feedback and allows them to adjust the menu and service for peak performance when they open the doors to the dining public.
This is a very special chance for you to dine in the top new establishments, and give them information essential to their future success.
Our very first restaurant event on August 5th is housed in the resplendent Crocker Galleria, and is called “Medicine.” A two million dollar retro fit has taken place and Medicine will soon be ready to swing open the doors with its Japanese- inspired healthful menu, truly a unique treasure.
The price is $25.00 per person, (includes tax and tip). Sake and other beverages are available at the restaurant’s menu prices. You must sign up by August 1. Because space is limited our seats will go fast. So reserve your spot immediately, be the first to enjoy this incredible new restaurant, and give them the benefit of your in depth food review.
In order to assist the restaurant, it would be helpful if at the time you make your reservation, you indicate your preference for one of the following menus per person attending. There will be extras of each menu at the event in the event that you change your mind!
Set 1-Soba Set
Buckwheat noodles in kombu-shiitake broth, garnished
with wakame seaweed, fiddlehead ferns, sour plum and
sesame
Fresh artisan tofu garnished with ginger, dried
seaweed and moromi-miso
Crunchy seasonal salad of carrot, burdock root, lotus
root, shimeji, yomogi-fu, french beans, chestnuts, and
ginkgo nuts
Healthy 9-grain rice mixture
Fresh seasonal vegetables in a mild pickle
Mildly sweet tofu of green tea and soy
Set 2-Sushi Set
Nigiri sushi of kaiwara sprout, shiitake mushroom,
eggplant, hakusai, elingi, asparagus, sweet corn and
snow-dried tofu
White miso soup with daikon, carrot, burdock root,
hakusai and soy beans.
Fresh artisan tofu garnished with ginger, dried
seaweed and moromi-miso
Crunchy seasonal salad of carrot, burdock root, lotus
root, shimeji, yomogi-fu, french beans, chestnuts and
ginkgo nuts
Fresh seasonal vegetables in a mild pickle
Mildly sweet tofu of green tea and soy
Set 3-Tempura Set
Tempura of renkon, sweet potato, asparagus, sweet
corn and banana spring roll
Fresh artisan tofu garnished with ginger, dried
seaweed, and moromi-miso
Soup of cucumber, sour plum and ginger in clear
shojin broth
Fresh seasonal vegetables in a mild pickle
Healthy 9-grain rice mixture
Kudzu noodles in mild molasses syrup
Set 4-Clarity Set
Simmered vegetable plate with tomato, white asparagus,
shiitake, pumpkin, Japanese yam and snow-dried tofu
Fresh artisan tofu garnished with ginger, dried
seaweed and moromi-miso
Soup of cucumber, sour plum and ginger in clear
shojin broth
Fresh seasonal vegetables in a mild pickle
Healthy 9-grain rice mixture
Kudzu noodles in mild molasses syrup
More about Medicine
San Francisco...Medicine, a new San Francisco restaurant offering a contemporary take on one of Japan's oldest cuisines - shojin cuisine -- opens in mid-August at 161 Sutter Street in the Crocker Galleria. Shojin cuisine today, is primarily still associated with Buddhist temple life in Japan and is virtually unknown in the West. Medicine's sleek and clean Japanese-inspired design pairs perfectly with a vibrant, restorative and primarily organic menu, creating a fresh, lively and uncomplicated dining experience that is nourishing to both body and mind.
Shojin cuisine is defined by: high-quality seasonal vegetarian ingredients, including a wide variety of soy products; avoidance of onions, garlic and other strong-smelling plants in the lily family; and a number of subtle guidelines such as the six tastes of bitter, sour, sweet, hot, salty and “delicate," and the three virtues of lightness and softness, cleanliness and freshness, and precision and care. Given the desire to bring happiness and the subtleties and skill necessary to achieve ultimate deliciousness with vegetarian foods, the most important ingredient in shojin cooking is chori nikometa aijo, “cooking with love.”
Design/Decor
The spacious, simple room designed by “green” Architect/Designer Janet Crane of Freebairn-Smith & Crane in San Francisco has floor-to-ceiling windows providing natural light and a view of the urban landscape. On one wall, four modular flat screens meld into one large screen 10-feet wide. It shows one fixed camera view of a seasonally changing landscape in western America. On a third wall a maitri, a calligraphic work in Sanskrit by master calligrapher Ryusuke Sato, proclaims "Loving Kindness"- the primary inspiration of Medicine. This maitri also appears on T-shirts worn by the servers. A few booths line the walls, yet guests are mostly seated at long communal tables of sustainably-raised mahogany.
