Lola Snacks

#WELOVEURGUTS

Well, that's a slogan.  A memorable one.  And that of Lola Snacks, the maker of a line of plant based, gluten-free, probiotic energy bars.

Lola Snacks makes 5 types of bars, mostly almond based.  In their earlier forms, they had names after people, e.g. "The Nathan" and "The Enzo", but those names were dropped at some point for the more descriptive "Blueberry and Almond" or "Dark Chocolate Almond".

I tried a few and I was pleased with the texture, and thought they were almost great, but, the heavy hand inclusion of flax was too much for me.

The Nathan.

"Nathan's Lola Granola Bar is brimming with delectable blueberries and almonds."

This bar was confused.  It was way too sweet from honey to start, but then bitter on the finish from flax.  Only the middle moment of a bite was enjoyable.  

It had a nice texture, dense but crumbly if that makes sense.  Kinda nice for a breakfast bar.

I almost liked it, but the too strong honey and the too bitter flax ruined it for me.  Oh, the almonds and dried blueberries were second to everything else in it, so, those elements were pretty lost, and they were what I wanted to taste the most.

***.

The Enzo.

"Enzo's Lola Granola Bar is packed with hearty almonds and cashews."

The Enzo went much the same way as The Nathan.  It was almost great, but, for me, the flax ruined it.

I liked the texture and how it crumbled.  I liked the big chunks of almond.  I liked the sweet honey essence, it wasn't quite as overpowering in this one.

But ... it was all trumped by the bitter flax.  I didn't taste the cashew, nor find chunks of cashew in here either, so not quite sure where that element was hiding.

***.  This bar seems to have been discontinued.

The Inspired Cookie

“Cookies and Brownies with Intention”. 

That is the motto of The Inspired Cookie, a wholesale bakery that is not only all natural, but also gluten-free and vegan.  Healthy baked goods.  Yup.  They made several cookies all with names like "Tranquility" (Lemon Lavender), "Enlightenment" (Espresso Chocolate Chunk), and "Clarity" (Peppermint Chocolate Chunk), along with basic brownies.  All come individually wrapped and can be found at retailers around San Francisco (where they are based).

To keep items gluten-free, they use a flour mix of garbanzo bean, fava bean, sorghum, and sweet rice, and their vegan substitute for the butter and eggs is apple sauce.

I'll admit that I had a very hard time believing that baked goods not loaded with butter, and not freshly baked would be even remotely tasty.  I had the opportunity to try one of their brownies, and, well, let's just say I had very, very low expectations.  Not only were my expectations blown away, my entire mindset about gluten-free and vegan baking changed.  These things were delicious.

Brownie Bliss.

"This is the perfect brownie, and it's gluten-free and vegan. It's not too fudgey and not to cakey- just the perfect texture and a bold chocolate flavor. We guarantee that you will love it as much as we do. Pour a big glass of milk, almond milk, soy milk, or whatever floats your boat. Enjoy this best seller! "

Ok, this was a shockingly good brownie.  It was a ridiculously shockingly good especially for a packaged brownie.  And for a vegan AND gluten-free brownie?  Woah, what?  Yeah, this was great even if I thought it was fresh from a bakery and regular.

Honestly, I was blown away.  It was dense and moist inside, slightly crisp on the outside.  It was intensely chocolately.  It was loaded with chocolate chunks for some extra texture and chocolately goodness.

It was fantastic even at room temperature, on its own.  I expected to need to warm it up, top it with ice cream, whipped cream, and additional chocolate sauce.  It needed nothing.  It ate well just as is.

****+.

Update review:

I didn't believe my own review, really.  Thinking that perhaps I was just really hungry, or in a mood for brownies the first time I tried it, I had another a few days later.  The result?  Still mind blowing.  I don't understand.  These are amazing. ****+.

Dinner @ One Market Restaurant

Sigh.  Yes, another fantastic restaurant dined at (this time, when co-workers were in town visiting San Francisco, rather than me being on a business trip myself), but, yup, another dining experience in the midst of a very busy work week, a slew of social events, and thus, no time to write up my review after each dining adventure.  Of course though, I took great notes so I could write it up a few weeks later, but ... yup, another set of notes lost along the way.

So I present another mostly photos only "review" of a small group dinner at One Market, a Michelin starred restaurant in San Francisco that I had been to once before during SF Restaurant Week, always has a great menu, is located close to my office, AND had a pastry chef I knew.  It was a very easy choice for my dinner recommendation.

If you are familiar with it, it was at one point part of the Lark Creek Restaurant group (yes, like the Lark Creek Grill at SFO), although they had parted ways before this visit.

A Very Delicious Feast!

Our group of 3 opted to share everything, so I got to try 3 appetizers, 2 mains, and, uh, 5 desserts, and for the most part, they let me pick all the dishes.  I remember being blown away by literally every dish - flawless execution that lived up to the tempting sounding menu, fantastic sauces, and, yup, fabulous desserts.

I'll return in a heartbeat.

Setting

One Market is located at, um, One Market Street, right where Market Street meets the Embarcadero.  One whole side of the restaurant runs right down Embarcadero, with plentiful water and bridge views.

Dining Area.

One Market is a quite large restaurant, and it feels very spacious inside.  Seats along the window all have a waterfront view.

Rotisserie & Grill.

The concept is fairly open kitchen as well, with the grill and rotisserie right on display.

Place Settings.

Tables all came with candles.

Dinner

One Market is open for both lunch and dinner, every day, the former being the destination of many a power lunch, as it is regularly filled with suits, given the proximity to the Financial District, and its Michelin status.

Dinner Menu.

The menu at One Market is particularly large for a restaurant of its calibre, with a dozen starters, an equal number of mains, and additional sides.

A menu this large could be a bad sign, but, luckily, it was not.  Picking what to order however, was a challenge!

Bread & Butter.

 Bread and butter was served after our drinks, but I don't really recall much about it.

Starters

To start, we got 3 items to share.  It was remarkably hard to pick just 3 from the dozen options, as the menu was full of ingredients I love - chestnuts, crab in multiple dishes (local crab, it was in season, <3), accents like ponzu, quince, and even ... gingerbread, fascinating "pancetta vinaigrette", oh, and duck liver mousse of course ... so many great dishes to pick from.

Luckily, my dining companions trusted my judgement, and let me pick the 3 we would share, so I got my top 3 picks.

Roasted Autumn Squash Agnolotti. $16.

"Brown butter-balsamic reduction, gingerbread, hazelnuts."

I know, trendy foam aside, this was actually a fascinating and complex dish, housemade squash agnolotti, with insanely delicious brown butter-balsamic reduction, and, yup, gingerbread spicing, plus crunch from complimentary hazelnuts.

We were all impressed.

Hand-picked Dungeness Crab Salad. $18.

"Miso, citrus, seaweed."

Because I love local crab, and it was in season, of course we had to get it in some form, and I opted for the salad, to have a light dish, and really highlight the crab.  It featured a sauce I adored.

Grilled Octopus. $18.

"'Chorizo' purée, avocado chimichurri, parsley."

And finally, the one I was most excited for, the grilled octopus.  I really really love octopus, and it is fairly rare to find on menus, and, hard to get right.  As you can see, we had the avocado chimichurri on the side, as I'm allergic, but I still wanted my dining companions to get to experience the full dish.

It was beautifully grilled, smoky, and not chewy, everything I wanted it to be.

Main Courses

Since we had 3 starters, and had big dessert plans, we decided to just got two mains for our party of 3.  This too was a very hard decision, as the menu had a dozen main dishes too, and a slew of sides, and, much like the starters, there were highlights all around.  I had to look past the bacon wrapped tenderloin, the gnocchi, the swordfish, and even the halibut with sunchokes (zomg, such a Julie dish!).

Pan-Seared Red Snapper. $33.50.

"Kohlrabi kraut, apple purée, caramelized apple cider."

The group had a slight preference for the red snapper over the halibut, thus, I went with the group decision, and it did not lead us astray.  The crispy skin was beautiful, although, the wet kohlrabi kraut on top did somewhat defeat the purpose (Gordon Ramsey would NOT be pleased!).

Pan-seared Day Boat Scallops . $33.

"Persimmons, parsley root, asian pear."

You know how much I love scallops, and, persimmons, so this was a no brainer.  Perfectly seared, delicious and unique sauce.  Yes, yes, yes.

Dessert

I often say dessert is a highlight for me, but, in this case, I did actually pick One Market for the dessert, as I was familiar with the pastry chef, and couldn't wait to see his work in this setting.  Luckily, I had a group as execited about dessert as I was.

Dessert Menu.

The dessert menu is broken down into 4 sections, which I really appreciate.  First, the "Singular Sensations", with 5 options, sized smaller than traditional restaurant sized desserts, available as singles for $7.50 or a trio for $19.50.  I adore everything about this dessert size - perfect for when you just want a smaller treat to finish a big meal, or don't have anyone else at the table who wants to share desserts, or, when you do want plentiful dessert, but want to try a few.  Singular Sensations meet all those needs.

Then there are the "Signature Desserts", basically, large format normal restaurant desserts.  For one person, but, you know, larger size, often shared.  Next is the section devoted to "Frozen Treats", and then ... "Take me Home", yup, treats designed just to take home.  I think I love the fact that they include take home treats even more than the great portion size options!

Table of Desserts!

I was very happy that my dining companions were as willing as I was to indulge in desserts.  Two large, two smaller, for just 3 people was reasonable right?

Signature Dessert: Roasted Pear Galette. $11.

"Blackberry compote, vanilla bean ice cream."

First up, one of my picks, the seasonal fruit galette, served warm, with ice cream, and plenty of other goodies.  I remember loving the sauces and the brittle in particular.

Signature Desserts: Pumpkin Tart. $11.

"White chocolate-pumpkin mousse, bourbon caramel, pecan-praline cremeux."

Next, a super unique one, the "Pumpkin Tart", which, looked nothing like a classic tart.  If you expected just a small personal pumpkin pie or something, this was certainly not that.

It did actually have a tart base, and there was something sorta akin to a pumpkin pie layer inside, but, there was much, much more.

Pumpkin Tart: Inside.

Here you can see all the glory - the tart base, the pumpkin layer, but also it was all surrounded by the white chocolate pumpkin mousse (so fluffy!), there was a pecan-praline cremeux dome inside as well, plus the stunning glossy enrobing.  Throw in some bourbon caramel, snow, candied nuts ... and, yeah, swoon.

Clearly so much love (and likely R&D!) went into this. 

Singular Sensations: Mint Espresso Cheesecake. $7.50.

"Mint cream, chocolate sauce, chocolate streusel."

We moved on to the cheesecake, this one a "singular sensation", so as you can see, it is still a perfectly adequately size dessert, one that most folks would feel completed their meal well, and wouldn't consider it mini.

Singular Sensations: Bradley's Butterscotch Pudding. $7.50.

"Chantilly cream, pecan wedding cookie."

And last, this is the most famous dessert at One Market, it has been on the menu ~forever, a signature item from their head chef, that has followed him from restaurant to restaurant.  And since I adore pudding, you know this was a must-have for me anyway (and, I've had it before, at one of their sister restaurants).

It is a signature item for a reason, textbook consistency, not to sweet but plenty sweet, and the pecan wedding cookie on the side pairs remarkably well.

Caramels.

And yup, of course we got caramels to take home!  Soft, sweet, buttery, <3

Donuts from Ohlin's Bakery, Boston

One time, I visited a friend's family in the Boston area, and we decided to have a brunch at their house.  Now, for context, the family is Persian and they don't really eat sweets.  Let's just say that their brunch spread is VERY different from what I am used to.  For me, brunch needs to include a lot of sweet bready items - scones, muffins, bread pudding, french toast, waffles, pancakes ... at least some subset of that, right?  Basically, even more of an excuse to eat dessert for breakfast, because, brunch.  Right?

But not for them.

Persian Brunch: Pita, lavash, feta, walnuts, herbs, fruit.

This is a photo of their lovely brunch spread.  Toasted pita and lavash.  Feta cheese.  Soaked walnuts.  Tons of fresh herbs, including tarragon, mint, parsley, and basil.  

That isn't to say that there was no sweets.  The sweet offerings are blueberries and papaya (and other fruit that came out later).

Now, don't get me wrong, I think this is really different and fun, and obviously quite healthy.  As I learned, the way to eat it is to take a piece of the bread, crumble on some cheese, add tons of herbs, roll it up, and make a little wrap thing.  I have a lot of memories of this style breakfast at their house.  But "brunch", in my mind, it is not.

Of course, they are amazing hosts, and they know how I feel about food.  They know that Julie needs her sweets.  When I visit, they stock their fridge with an entire drawer of Persian sweets just for me.  And, for brunch, his sister volunteered to pick up donuts on her way over.  I told her this wasn't necessary, and even I said that just Dunkin' Donuts would be fine (not that I love Dunkin' Donuts for their donuts, but, nostalgia, and I didn't want her going out of her way for this.)

But she asked if it would be ok if she brought donuts from her favorite place instead, Ohlin's Bakery.  I quickly looked up Yelp reviews.  4 stars.  Um, yes?

Ohlin's is located in Belmont, the other direction from his sister's house than his parent's house, but she assured me these were the best donuts in the area and worth her journey in the wrong direction.  I didn't actually visit the bakery myself, but from my research, it sounds like a very old school bakery.  No seating.  You just come and pick up donuts or pies.  People love it.

I quickly put in my requests (er, polite asks): an apple fritter, since it is the king of all donuts.  A sugar jelly donut, since it is such a classic.  A maple glazed, not one I normally pick, but the one that gets great reviews there.  For my friend, of course, his favorite, Boston cream.  And, just to throw in one more, the other donut people seemed to really love from Ohlin's: blueberry cake.  I gave my suggestions as in order of preference, but stressed that I only wanted 1, maybe 2 donuts.  His sister showed up with a box of 18.  Correction: 2 boxes, 18 donuts.  Everything I asked for, and more.  And multiples of most of them.  I did mention that most of the family doesn't eat sweets right?  Not even when from the best donut shop in town?  Ooph.

She also came in raving, absolutely raving, about the plain cake donut.  This was a good sign to me, since if they can make a plain donut that is rave worthy, then, I was looking forward to my decadent ones. 

Long story short ... I ended up eating a lot of donuts.  Too many donuts.  I tried them all fresh so that I could give them a fair review, and nibbled throughout the rest of the day.  By evening, we still had 10 full donuts left.  No one was helping me, and they were clearly getting stale.  After dinner, I was able to revive a few by heating them up briefly in the toaster oven.  Not as good as fresh, but not bad.  No one else touched any.

The next morning, I made "donut chips" from a tip I read online, a la bagel chips.  Sliced up the donuts, coated them in cinnamon and sugar, and baked.  Kinda interesting, but not particularly good.  I also made bread pudding with an assortment of random donut chunks.  That worked better, always a great way to use up stale bread.

But back to the donuts, just the classic donuts.  Ohlin's makes a good donut, indeed.  I'd gladly get these again.  They were all far above average quality, and in particular, I appreciated how none had a greasy, old oil taste to them.  Sadly, I won't have the opportunity to try them again, as the bakery burnt down :(

Cake Donuts

Starting with the simplest option, the cake donuts.  To refresh your memory, a cake donut is one made without yeast.  The denser kind.  Ohlin's also calls these their Old Fashioned, but I always thought that Old Fashioned were the ones with irregular edges?

Ohlin's makes a variety of cake donuts besides just a basic plain one, including the much raved about blueberry, plus coconut and cinnamon topped.  They also make some with a chocolate cake base, either plain or with honey dip or chocolate glaze.  During the fall season, they also offer an apple cider cake donut and a pumpkin cake donut.

My friend's sister came baring plain, chocolate with honey dip, and the requested blueberry.  I tried all three.

Plain Cake.

As I said, his sister, who picked up the donuts came in raving about a basic plain cake donut.  A plain donut?  Please.  A plain donut is just about the last thing I'd ever pick .  Particularly a plain cake donut.

I'll admit that I just assumed this was her not really liking sweets or donuts, and didn't plan to try the basic cake donut.  But of course I did, when there were a plethora left over, and I'd tried all the others.

And, uh, she was so, so right.   You'd never think this would be amazing, but it was.  Sometimes classics can be done really, really well.  And this was.  Perfection really, in a cake donut.

Crusty outside, dense inside, great flavor to it ... plain, but, wow, a wonderful donut, and one that would pair nicely with coffee.

****+.

Blueberry Cake Donuts, Chocolate Cake with Honey Dip.

Next we had more cake donuts, these ones covered in glaze.  Most were blueberry, per my request.  I love blueberries, and blueberry donuts are not very common.  I was excited to try it.

Blueberry Cake Donut: Inside!

I was thrilled to break one in half, revealing bits of blueberry inside.

These were very good, great blueberry flavor, sweet from the well applied glaze, but, actually, I think I somewhat preferred the plain, although, it may be due to the fact that I consumed far too many sweet donuts in one sitting at this point ...

Still, a very good cake donut.  ****.

Raised / Yeasted Donuts

Next I moved on to a raised donut.  You may also know these as yeasted donuts, aka, donuts made with yeast.  They are the light, fluffy variety, a la Krispy Kreme.

Our assortment included just one raised donut, the one I requested: maple glazed. 

Ohlin's other raised selections are honey dipped (aka, glazed), chocolate frosted, strawberry frosted, buttercrunch, and sugar.

Maple Glazed Raised.

This is the donut everyone raved about on Yelp.  I like maple glazed, but I wouldn't have had it as a top choice if not for the accolades.

It was a fairly classic raised donut, nicely fluffy.  Not too greasy.  It had a great maple flavor from the glaze, but I didn't find it nearly as exciting as the rave reviews seemed to imply it would be.  I wonder if maple glaze is just a bit more rare to folks?

Ohlin's also make a maple frosted with chocolate drizzle on top too, or a chocolate base with maple and chocolate drizzle.

***+.

Filled Donuts

Now, getting more exciting, we move into the filled donuts.  Ohlin's has quite the assortment, including my requested jelly filled and my friend's Boston cream.

Ohlin's does take a different approach than most donut shops for most of their filled varieties.  Rather than injecting the filling inside, they cut them in half and stuff them, like a sandwich.  This gives a far better distribution of filling.  I wonder why more places don't do this?  Admittedly, it is quite messy this way, as filling does ooze out the sides.  The Boston cream took this form, but the jelly remained classically filled.

They also make lemon and blueberry filled like the Boston cream in that they are cut open and stuffed,  both topped with powdered sugar.  They also make a marshmallow filled one, same thing, split open and stuffed, and then topped with either white or chocolate icing.  I really would have loved to try one of those, but didn't know about them in advance to ask for one.  Next time!

The rest of the filled selection is rounded out with apple filled with cinnamon and raspberry filled with chocolate.

Sugar Jelly Donut.

The donut for the sugar jelly was a raised donut, again, light and fluffy, not greasy.  Mine was sugar coated, but they also make this with honey dip.

I loved the generous sugar coating, and it went really well with the overall donut.  This turned out to be a serious winner.

Sugar Jelly Donut: Inside!

Inside was plentiful jelly, a bit of a fake crazy color, but it was fruity and delicious, some of the best jelly donut filling I've ever encountered.  

Really, everything about this donut hit on all dimensions, and it was my favorite donut of the bunch, a perfect *****.  Really.  Nothing I would change about it.

Boston Cream.

My friend had the Boston Cream, which was the aforementioned cut-in-half style, thus oozing with cream filling.  He seemed to enjoy it, and didn't share (which, really, was fine, I had 17 other donuts ...).

They also make a fascinating sounding marshmallow filled version that I'd love to try.

Other

And then of course, I saved the best for last, my other requested donut: the king of donuts, the fritter.

Apple Fritter.

Fritters are often massive, and this one was no exception.  It was huge.  Comically large.  Covered in glaze, perfectly covered, the glaze was hard but not cracking and flaking off (I hate when it does that!).  Gobs of apple and goo inside.  

Another fantastically made donut, one of the better fritters I've ever had.

****.