G.L. Alfieri Farms

If you have ever visited the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market in San Francisco on a Saturday, you know who "the almond brittle people" are.  They are the folks at the G.L. Alfieri Farms stand, offering up samples of chocolate covered almond brittle (in several forms) to everyone who passes by.  "Almond brittle!  Dark chocolate almond brittle!", the man working their booth will call out.  "Dark chocolate almond brittle with sea salt!"  He generously presses multiple pieces into the hands of anyone passing by.  I'm not sure what their conversion to sales rate is, but I suspect it is rather high, particularly for tourists.  Because that almond brittle is really, really good.  If I have a coffee in hand it completes it, perfectly.  I adore that almond brittle, it doesn't matter how many times I've had it.  It is just so good.

"GL Alfieri has supplied the San Francisco Bay Area with premium local nuts and fruits since the 1970's.'

G.L. Alfieri Farms is about more than just almond brittle of course, they do actually have seasonal fresh produce, but, the majority of their products are nuts (almonds are their primary crop), dried fruits, almond butter, and confections.  I've tried a ton of their products over the years, and I have loved many of them, both sweet and savory.  For many years, they also had a stand inside the Ferry Building, open every day, and yes, always with samples, but that closed during the pandemic, and they did not reopen.  I used to regularly buy little bags of assorted nuts and candies to fill the stockings of my family members at Christmas, and everyone always had their favorite (not *just* the brittle).  If I didn't show up with bags of G.L. Alfieri Farms products, I knew I was in trouble.

Brittle

But let's go back to that brittle.  The signature brittle comes in several forms: plain, cinnamon, milk chocolate covered, dark chocolate covered, dark chocolate covered cinnamon, and dark chocolate covered coffee, all with sea salt.  For the holidays, a peppermint white chocolate version makes an appearance.

Brittle.

• Almond brittle: The plain brittle is the most boring, but it allows the flavors of the quality almonds to come through.  Big chunks of almonds, lovely sweet brittle coating it, nice salt level.  Goes nicely alongside a coffee.  Never my top pick as I prefer others, but, for a plain brittle, it really is good.  ***+.
• Dark chocolate almond brittle:  This is their signature item.  The brittle is sweet and crunchy, great almond flavor, nice pop of salt, and the dark chocolate accents it really well, and gives a slightly creamy component.  Absolutely classic, and pretty much perfect.  Pair it with a nice cup of coffee and you'll be very pleased.  ****+.
• Dark chocolate almond brittle with coffee: This is the same as the previous, but, with a touch of coffee in the coating.  It adds a slight bitterness, and depth of flavor, but actually, I prefer the dark chocolate almond brittle.  ***+.
• Eggnog (seasonal): Eggnog flavor comes through, but this just isn’t very good.  Just sweet.  You miss out on all the goodness of the quality brittle. **+.
• Peppermint (seasonal): This was a minty white chocolate with red and green sprinkles, and almonds for crunch.  It was more of a white chocolate confection than a nut brittle, but I liked how minty it was.  ***+.
• Dark chocolate peanut brittle: Really good.  Sometimes I like it more than almond brittle. The combination of chocolate and peanuts is a classic for a reason.  ****. 
• Pecan brittle: I generally like this more than almond brittle as well, as for me, the pecans give a more interesting flavor than almonds.  That said, I grew up loving pecan pie, so some of this may be just that I really like pecans, and only like almonds. ****.
• Walnut brittle: Didn’t really pick up on walnut flavor.  Liked it better with dark chocolate than plain, but neither were exemplary. ***.

Given how much you may know I love popcorn, to say I was excited when I discovered that they made an almond brittle popcorn is an understatement.  They don't have it often, but when they do, you know I have to get it.   It is a decedent version, with tons of brittle/caramel coating, and slices of almonds.  Super crunchy, super sweet, and super tasty.  Pretty awesome. I wish they had it more regularly.  ****+.

Savory Nuts

G.L. Alfieri offers a large range of savory nuts, ranging from simple roasted and salted to seriously spicy, and many other unexpected seasonings.  I've tried many over the years, mostly almonds, but one of my friends was really into the pistachios, and so I've sampled quite a few of those too.

The winner though is the simple walnuts.  Just plain, simple walnuts.  Clearly a local crop, and, wow, I guess fresh quality nuts really are different.  Just really nice, flavorful walnuts, probably the best I've ever had.  ****.

Applewood Smoked Almonds.

The applewood smoked almonds are regular favorites for me.  They basically taste ... like bacon.  Lovely smokey flavor, nice salt level.  They pair great with cheeses, and I regularly toss them into salads.  My family members also enjoy these, and for years, I always brought a bag each for my mom and sister when I visited.

****.

Lemon Chili Almond.

The lemon chili spiced nuts are one of the more unique flavors, and not a combo I'd think of, but they really work.  They are definitely spicy, and have a lemon flavor too, which is a bit hard to wrap your head around at first.  Really nice kick from the spice, and the lemon is fascinating.  ****.

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Other Almonds

• Slivered green onion: nice salty, strong green onion flavor, awesome for salads.  ****.
• Hickory smoked: similar to the applewood smoked I get regularly, but more salty.  ***+.
• Jalapeño cheddar: Has some jalapeño kick to it, but overall not very interesting, and not as flavorful as I'd expect. ***.
• Wasabi: very subtle. Not enough wasabi for me. ***.
• Tamari: The nuts were kinda soft, subtle tamari flavor.  Not very interesting. **+.
• Cajun: not much flavor at first, builds up to spicy overkill though.  I wasn't really into these, as the spice was intense in the end, and so meh to start. **.
• Oil roasted with salt: decent salt, but oil roasted aren't my thing.  **.
• Dry roasted with salt: I liked these more than oil roasted, but, really, these are just almonds. **+ Decent salt level.

Wasabi Peanuts.

These had all the awesome wasabi kick of a more standard wasabi pea, but were peanuts in some sort of shell instead.  I love wasabi peas, so I expected to like these, but they don't work as well as peas.  The crunch from the shell on them was good, the wasabi flavor was great, but it just didn't mix as well with a peanut for me.  ***.

Lemon Chile Pistachios.

I have mixed feelings on all of the seasoned pistachios.  For the most part, I really like the seasonings.  The lemon chile pistachios were just as successful as the lemon chile almonds.  I really liked the garlic pistachios, such intense garlic flavor.  But ... they are a lot of work, and all the flavor is in the shells, that you ultimately need to discard.  They tend to leave your fingers messy, and a pile of wet shell rubble behind, so not very convenient for snacking on the go.  ***.

Dry Roasted Macadamias (salted).

These were just macadamia nuts obviously, so not particularly outstanding, but they had a kinda nice sweetness to them (even though plain).  Well roasted, good salt level.  Not a local crop though, so I think they must import these from somewhere?  ***.

Sweet Nuts

If you know me, you know I like my sweets, and G.L. Alieri has sweets in spades.  Soooo many kinds of sweet coated nuts.  Most are more coating dominant than nut forward, but I adore some of them.  Usually great with a cup of tea or coffee, or chopped and used on top of desserts.

Raspberry Honey Almonds.

If you like sugar, then, the raspberry honey almonds may be for you.  These are very sweet, but it is a lovely sweetness, and the raspberry flavor is reasonable too.  I'd still like the raspberry to be even stronger, but, the sugar level is great, and they don't taste fake.  Amazing alongside a cup of tea.  ****.

Lemon Honey Almonds: I've also tried their lemon counterpart several times.  They have a nice lemon flavor, and much like the raspberry ones are more candy than nut, with lots of sugar coating.  Definitely sweet.  They also go great with a cup of tea.  ***+.

Orange Honey Almonds: Again, same base, lots of candy shell, a nice sweetness though.  The orange flavor was less strong than others.  ***.

Sesame Glazed.

Way back when I first discovered G.L. Alfieri, I remember quite liking the glazed sesame coated almonds. But over the years I liked them less and less.  The glaze is good, and provides a light sweetness, but the sesame seeds are often quite bitter.  I like the crunch from the sesame seeds, and when I get a batch that isn't as bitter I really like the strong sesame flavor, but too often these just trend too bitter for me.  ***.

Maple.

These looked great, well glazed, but did not have very much maple flavor. **+.

Cinnamon Honey.

These were ok, but much like plain honey roasted, I didn't get the honey roasted aspect much at all, and it is a very subtle cinnamon flavor. ***.

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Other Almonds

• Butter Toffee: NOMS NOMS NOMS.  Always delicious, very sweet and perfect with coffee, although sometimes too much or too little toffee coating. Seems inconsistent.  Subsequent reviews: NOMS!!! Great sweet toffee layer.  Really sugary and sweet, tons of coating. [ Great, sweet, buttery, awesome! ] [ So much candied layer.  Very sweet.  Totally don’t know there are almonds in here! ] ****+.
• Jordan: Standard Jordan almonds, good crunch from candy shell.  Subsequent reviews: nice crunchy shell, sugary, noms! [ Nice crunch, candy, yum! ]  [ Great ratio of candy layer to almond.  Good crunch.  I really like these. ] ****+.
• Honey Roasted: Nice roasted flavor, some sugar coating, pretty good, but not much honey flavor. ***.
• Cappuccino: kinda chalky, not much cappuccino flavor. **+.

Caramelized Mixed Nuts.

The mixed nuts is a mix of pecans, almonds, and cashews.  The coating had a slight burnt flavor to it, but not in a bad way.  They were sweet.  There was something else going on in them too, but I couldn't quite pinpoint it.  I could never decide if I liked these or not.  They were fine, but I think I just like so many of their other flavored nuts more than these, so I'm not sure when I'd pick them.  I think they'd be great crumbled on top of assorted desserts, with ice cream, or even just with some fruit and whipped cream.  For just munching on, I prefer their other nuts.  ***+.

Burnt French Peanuts.

I hadn't ever had burnt french peanuts before these, but apparently they are a classic.  They looked too intriguing to pass up.  Basically just a candy coated peanuts, with strange little balls in the coating.  And the coating is red.  They reminded me of Boston Baked Beans (the candied peanuts, not real baked beans), but with bumps.  Crunchy, sweet, and I can see why someone would like them.  Interesting, but I don't think I'd get another batch. ***.

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Other Nuts

• Peanuts
• Boston Beans: Hmm.  The burnt french peanuts reminded me of what I'd call Boston Beans.  These were basically just peanut M&Ms.  Peanuts, thin chocolate candy shell.  I liked more than peanut M&Ms since I could taste the peanut more, but overall, not that interesting. ***.
• Butter Toffee: Meh, the butter toffee is actually lost on these, it comes out just sweet and peanuts aren’t very good either.  **+.
• Walnuts
• Sesame Glazed: Nice flavor combo, goes well with tea. ***.
• Maple walnut: Meh. Slight subtle maple flavor, goes well with walnut, but fairly bitter.  I like the plain walnuts considerably more. **+.

Chocolate Nuts & Other Confections

G.L. Alfieri does a lot of things well, but it turns out, chocolate confections aren't one of them.  I think their downfall stems from the fact that they just don't use particularly high quality chocolate, so even though some of the flavors are great, and the base nuts are high quality, the lower end chocolate just masks all of that.

I've tried many of the nuts, with coatings made from milk, dark, or white chocolate, and several other kinds of chocolate coated things, and for the most part, they let me down (although there were a few winners).

Mint Chocolate & Coconut Almonds.

Mint Chocolate Almonds: 

These are really tasty!  Basically like a Thin Mint wrapped around an almond.  Great flavor, creamy coating, and nice crunch from the almond.  ****+.

Coconut (white chocolate): 

Beautiful coconut flavor, creamy sweet coating. Lots of coconut flavor.  I like these. ****+.

Eggnog White Chocolate Almonds.
(Seasonal)

A seasonal offering only, eggnog, which uses white chocolate as the base.

Nice eggnog flavor, very spiced, but in a good way.  I like this one, nice flavors in here. ****+.

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Other Almonds

• Chocolate Covered:
• Aspenmint: Roasted almonds, coated in chocolate with mint flavoring, rolled in powdered sugar.  The mint flavor is nice  but chocolate is pretty low quality.  ***.
• Dark Chocolate Covered Orange Honey: These are their classic orange honey almonds, then coated in dark chocolate.  The orange and chocolate flavor actually go together pretty nicely, strong orange flavor, although lots of flavors going on here.  Crunch from the candy shell was a surprise under all the chocolate too.  Wouldn’t buy it, but it was good enough and I enjoyed my sample. ***.
• Dark Chocolate Covered Toffee: Pretty good, toffee gets a little lost though because there is so much (mediocre) dark chocolate.  The almond flavors are lost as well.  Would be better with less chocolate. **+.
• Mocha Truffle: Don’t really get mocha taste at all, just lower end chocolate and too much of it. **.
• White Chocolate Covered:
• Candy Cane (seasonal): almond covered with a layer of chocolate, then layer of mint white chocolate. Decent peppermint flavor, but the chocolate layers is lost, you mostly just taste sweet creamy white chocolate.  Nice crunchy almond but almond flavor lost too. ***.
• Lemon Creme: Coated in lemon flavored white chocolate. Very lemony, but just way too much lemon.  Very, very sweet.  Subsequent review: decent lemon flavor.  I enjoyed this this time. Very sweet, yummy. ***.
• Yogurt: not too sweet, good yogurt coating, pretty decent. ***.
• Orange Creme: White chocolate and orange flavored coating.  Sort of like a creamsicle, but very sweet.  Too much coating to almond ratio, you totally lose the nut. Subsequent review:  Not much almond flavor, very very sweet, kinda fake tasting, meh. **+.
• Pumpkin Pie (seasonal):  Sweet and nice at first, but then way too much nutmeg on the finish.  Didn't really like. **+. 

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Chocolate Covered Fruits.

• Chocolate Covered Cherry: Very flavorful. Layer of red cherry infused chocolate, layer of dark chocolate, then cherry.  Really intense cherry flavors, quite nice.  Subsequent review: Pretty good, lots of dark chocolate, flavor goes well with cherry. ****.
• Chocolate Covered Cranberry: Decent, but not memorable. ***.
• Dark Chocolate Covered Dried Apricot: Not very good dark chocolate and lots of it, but nice sweet apricot. Subsequent review: Nice snap from chocolate, good flavor combination, nice sweet moist apricot. ***.
• Chocolate Covered Blueberry: ratios way, way off.  Tiny little blueberry, tons of milk chocolate, then tons of blue white chocolate.  So much chocolate, so little blueberry.  Not good.  Same meh quality chocolate as others. **+.
• Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegranate: The dried fruit was totally lost, too much chocolate, and not very good dark chocolate at that. **.

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Other Chocolates

• Dark Chocolate Almond Nugget:  Dark chocolate covered marzipan filling.  Very sweet smooth filling, same mediocre dark chocolate.  Sorta nice. ***.
• Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Bean: chocolate same as all their other chocolate, espresso bean forgettable. **+.
• Rocky Road Fudge: Chocolate fudge with walnuts and marshmallows.  Pretty creamy.  Not that chocolately.  Low end marshmallow, whole mini marshmallows.  Would have preferred more like a marshmallow swirl layer or something. **+.
• 70% Dark Chocolate Almond Bark: meh!  The quality of the dark chocolate just isn’t there, no depth of flavor.  Almonds not particularly flavorful either.  **.
• Dark Chocolate Button: not good at all, just kinda waxy boring chocolate. **.

Candy

G.L. Alfieri always has a few sweet candy items packaged in their packaging, but I think they just repackage another brand.  I don't think they make any of these in-house, and they never offer samples of these.

Sour Gummy Bears.

 I'm pretty particular about my gummy bears, and I didn't like these.  They were too chewy, not as bad as Haribo brand which I really don't care for, but still too chewy for my taste.  They weren't really sour.  They didn't have much flavor at all.  And coated in way, way too much sugar. **.

Savory Snacks

They also offer up a selection of savory snacks, that I suspect are also just rebanded items.

Cajun Mix.

 The cajun mix contained salted peanuts, glazed sesame sticks, and chili rice snacks.  All were fairly standard - the sesame sticks were slightly sweet and a good contrast against the spicy mix.  The peanuts were a bit boring, but did have some of the cajun seasoning on them.  The chili rice sticks tasted a bit stale.  Overall, a decent enough mix, but I wouldn't get again. ***.

Vegetable Chips.

I really love veggie chips, so I enthusiastically bought two bags of these without even trying them.  Rookie mistake, particularly for a place that is so generous with their samples!  The mix contained sweet potato, purple sweet potato, green beans, squash, carrots, and taro.  

The chips were all really, really greasy.  I loved the veggie selection, and the flavor of the veggies was quite intense, but they were ruined with grease.  Would not get again.  Of the mix, my favorites were the purple sweet potato, they were fairly thickly sliced and really crispy.  The green beans were the most interesting, really, really flavorful.  The rest (sweet potato, squash, carrot, taro) were fairly standard, but like I said, too greasy. **+.

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Other Savories.

• Salted Corn Nuts: Huge chunks of corn, really nice and crispy, perfect salt level.  Some of the better ones of these I’ve ever had. ****.
• Habanero Corn Nuts: Decent kick to them, crispy, but small size kernels, not like the salted ones.  Would have liked bigger corn kernels. ***.

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Delivery from Pizzeria Delfina

Delfina.  Definitely a San Francisco institution.

When I first moved to San Francisco, I remember a friend telling me that the Delfina Restaurant was his favorite place for a nice, but casual, night out with his wife.  I remember going once or twice myself, and liking the pasta, but not having a particularly strong opinion otherwise.  My hipster group of peers of course frequented Pizzeria Delfina in the Mission, long waits on the cold sidewalk no hinderance.  I joined in from time to time, and enjoyed the pizza, but never quite understand the hype.  I was personally happy when a second Pizzeria opened in Pacific Heights, with substantially shorter lines, and, uh, more appealing sidewalk ambiance.  Since then, the restaurant group has seen great success and expansion, with more pizzeria locations in Palo Alto and Burlingame, and Locanda, a second restaurant in San Francisco, focused on pasta (which I have another friend who says is his favorite place in the city).

My strongest memory of Delfina however isn't of any of the restaurants, it is of attending a cooking demo at Macy's by the chef/owner, Craig Stoll, where he talked about the restaurant, told amazing stories, and cooked 3 of the most famous dishes.  I was so impressed, I wrote it up on my blog, and vowed to go to Delfina for dinner immediately (which, uh, I never did).  But the memory of those dishes, a seemingly simple salad, basic spaghetti, and panna cotta (seriously, probably still the best panna cotta I've ever had ... and I've had a lot) remained strong.

Fast forward several years.

Update Review, September & October 2022

Early in the pandemic I splurged once and had Delfina delivered, as you may have read about then (see below if not).  For some reason, nearly two years later, I had a sudden craving for their fantastic tricolore salad.  So I splurged again, when my random browsing of the current menu showed they also had a chicken liver special, and, swoon, I love liver.  The mood struck again a month later, when I also snagged the last of the season beautiful heirloom tomatoes (and burrata).

I was happy with my orders - the food really was good, although the prices really do seem high, even without the extra delivery charges.  It stays in the "splurge" category for me as a result, but one I'll likely return to in the future.

Ordering online was easy with Door Dash, although Delfina doesn't allow any notes or substitution preferences, like "leave out the goat cheese" or "dressing on the side", which makes it less compelling for me, as I guess I am picky and usually have some kind of note I'd like to make.

Insalata Tricolore. $15.40.

"Arugula, radicchio, endive, lemon vinaigrette, grana padano."

I adore this salad.  To its core.  It is so simple, but always, so perfect, as you've seen in my previous reviews (below).  Bitter radicchio, juicy endive, peppery arugula, sharpness from the cheese, and their addicting vinaigrette (and I don't even like vinaigrettes!).  Just add some fresh pepper and you've got a killer side salad.

I do like to add something for crunch, like walnuts or pepitas or candied pecans, and sometimes add on grilled/roasted brussels sprouts or squash if I want to make it more of an entree salad, but, it works well just as it is for a side salad.

****.

Update: I got it again the next month, but forgot to get a photo.  Again, I loved it for its simplicity and balance.  ****.

Fryer Creek Tomatoes. $19.

"Pane strappato, burrata, Delfino anchovies."

This salad sounded like such a winner, as, well, I really do like anchovies, and burrata can be pretty fantastic.  I wasn't exactly sure what form it would take overall, as it was listed as a salad, but I didn't think there would actually be salad greens involved.  And, it was mid-October, so the tomatoes were definitely going out of season ...

The answer was a bread salad, which I should have known given the first ingredient, besides the tomatoes, was pane strappato.  While it may be the end of tomato season, these were still delicious, ripe and juicy, assorted colors of local heirlooms from Fryer Creek farm.  They really were incredible.

The pane strappato was turn into jagged chunks of assorted sizes, and had soaked up plenty of tomato juices, and the generous slog of quality olive oil that had clearly been applied.  The bread was soft and flavorful, and a great component alongside the tomatoes and burrata.  I loved this too.

As for the burrata, it wasn't the star element (Delfina also serves an appetizer that is burrata focused, served just with arugula and crostini), but here it played a supporting role, with just three hunks.  The burrata was ripe and creamy, basically, quality burrata, as you'd expect.  It was good, complimented the rest of the dish well.

And then, the anchovies.  These were really excellent anchovies, so briny, and I loved the anchovy flavor infused throughout the dish.  Anchovies and tomatoes, anchovies and bread hunks, just great parings.  The only letdown?  My dish had exactly 3 fillets.  That was it.  Yes, these were high quality anchovies imported from Italy, but, just three small fillets?  I loved them, briny and funky as they should be, and I loved the flavor they added, but, I was shocked by the tiny portion.

Overall, this was a very tasty salad of sorts.  Every ingredient was high quality, everything went well together, and it was quite flavorful and satisfying.  I did find the $19 price a bit high though, given the small portion of both burrata and anchovies.  Still, it was far above average compared to most tomato/mozzarella inspired dishes.  ****.

Chicken Liver Crostini. $17.60.

I was really craving liver.  Super random, but when I saw it on the Delfina menu, I was pretty excited.  I didn't know what form it would take, a smooth liver mousse, a chunky pate, etc, I just knew it was going to be liver, and I was in the mood for liver.  I wanted to ask for the bread to be untoasted, so I could toast it fresh at home, but, Delfina does not allow any notes or modifications to takeout orders, so I wasn't able to request that.  I hoped the bread would at least be on the side, but, alas, it came all assembled.

The crostini was thick slices of what I think was likely good bread, but it was toasted hard, and was really, really, really crunchy.  The crust in particular seemed like it was going to cut my mouth when I bit in.  I feel bad complaining about it, but, wow, it was just too crispy, it actually felt, um, dangerous?  It was also highly oiled, on both the top and bottom, which didn't seem necessary with the rich liver.  So the bread element of this, not particularly good, and I found it really difficult to eat.

Also in my box was 3 chunks of radish, one of which was extremely dried out, 2 olives, and a few sprigs of arugula.  The garnish felt odd, hopefully it worked better when plated in the restaurant.  It was just kinda haphazard and not very good here.

But I was most interested in the liver of course.  It was ... fine.  Not a mousse or creamy pate as I had hoped, but not a super course style either, something in the middle.  Decent liver flavor.  A touch of herbs.  I'd say it was highly average, and left me wanting for a sweet compote to pair with it, as it felt just a bit plain like this.  I wanted something to give it some oomph.

So, fine liver, but, the dish felt unfinished, had uninspired garnish, and crostini that was just too crispy.  Not really a winner for me, and at $17.60 for 4 slices, really not a good price either. **+.

Update Review, March 2020

Ah, Delfina.  A San Francisco classic, one that I had fond memories of (the restaurant, and more commonly the pizzeria, in the Mission were both big parts of my initial introduction to San Francisco).  I've since had Delfina food more times than I can count, and one dish always continues to stand out to me.  And no, it isn't the pizza.  It is ... a salad.  Yup, a salad.  One of my favorite, ever.  I've reviewed it before.

During the recent Shelter in Place I had a night where I had part of a meal leftover at home, but I wanted something to pair with it, and, well, I was craving salad, and craving something I could rely on.  It was also cold and rainy, and even going a few blocks away to the grocery store or easy option like Sweetgreen wasn't exactly appealing.  Thus, yup, another delivery review.  I was thrilled to remember that Pizzeria Delfina was delivering via several services - happy to support them, and also happy to order something I knew would cheer up my dreary night.

It ... partially cheered me up.  My food was good.  Ok, it was great.  It was delicious.  Don't get me wrong.  But the portions were very, very small for the price, and, of course, with Door Dash fees and delivery, my side dish and salad were ... $35?!

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

I have no complaints about Door Dash, online ordering was simple, my food was delivered quickly, but, it felt very expensive, even for the joy of Delfina in my home.

Antipasti: Roasted Brussels Sprouts. $10.

"Fresh chilis, garum, almonds, torn herbs."

I started with a wildcard dish, something I added on at last minute to my order, totally randomly.  I'm honestly not sure why I did.  I was just planning to get the salad (and a side of their famous sauce for my partner, who had some meatballs to eat), but the brussels jumped out, from the antipasti section.

I have a very mixed review of this dish.

On one hand, it was pretty delicious.  On another, it made me grumpy.  Grumpy because I could tell that it would be *extraordinary* served fresh at the restaurant.  I didn't want to settle for just delicious!

The sprouts were perfectly cooked, a hard caramelized sear on the cut side, not too soft.  But they were lukewarm, and, sadly, the outer leaves, which I am certain would have been crispy when served fresh, had basically be steamed with the warmth in the container, and thus, I could only imagine how great they were.  I was able to roast them up a bit in my toaster oven to restore some of the goodness.

There was only one slice of chili that I found in my portion, but I loved the heat it added.  I would have loved to have more chilis.  The almond slivers added a nice additional crunch.  I never found any "torn herbs", perhaps there were a few small bits that were softened in the warm container and just kinda hid in the leaves?

They seemed to have been cooked with a fair amount of oil, which didn't translate that well for delivery, as the pool of oil in the base of the bowl was a bit off-putting, and since they weren't crispy when they arrived, it almost made the oil, that I know is necessary to get awesome-crispy, not quite worth it, health-wise.  There also was some balsamic I think, and a pretty addicting backsplash of the garum (fermented fish sauce!).  The complex flavor from the garum was really what set these apart for other very good versions of brussels sprouts.  I loved that touch.

The portion was shockingly small for the $10 price - I was picturing a portion that would be like a side dish or starter to share with another person at the restaurant, and what I got was a very shallow bowl with just a few sprouts ... more like a single side portion that was part of a composed entree.

So overall, I was left with mixed feelings.   I liked the dish, quite a bit.  When I re-roasted the sprouts, and got the bite with the chili, it was pretty amazing.  But, as delivered, and without the chili throughout, it was just good, and really felt overpriced for the serving size.  I wouldn't get it again, unless I was dining in. ***+.

Insalata Tricolore. $13.

"Arugula, radicchio & endive with lemon vinaigrette & Grana Padona." 

And then, the main attraction for me, the Insalata Triocolore.  It came with the dressing separately packaged, but inside the container.  Much like the brussels sprouts though I did feel the serving size was a bit small for the $13 price (the size was fine, just, the price seemed high for a simple, little prep on their end, salad), particularly compared to the slew of other salads I had in my couple weeks (at that point) of sheltering in place ...

That said, this salad is just ... well, fantastic.  I always adore it.

Fabulous Base.

The base is really simple.  3 colors: red radicchio, white-yellow endive, and green arugula.  All fresh, decently crisp, and quality ingredients.

The combination is magic though, with the peppery arugula playing against the bitter radicchio, all balanced out by the juicy endive.  The flavors and different textures just work in a way that is perfect.

The shaved grana padana was a generous portion, more than I wanted in my salad actually, but I just saved some to use the next day with something else.

But really, at this point, I'm just describing some greens and cheese.  Very basic.  Where is the *real* magic?

Lemon Vinaigrette.

Yeah, it is in the dressing.  This dressing is the magic. I'd say they should bottle it up and sell it, except, well, they do :) (protip: order a bottle).

Again, it sounds simple, lemon vinaigrette, but, they've nailed this recipe, and when combined with this exact set of salad greens, and the salty sharp cheese, it just ... is perfect.  I have no better way to describe it.

The final touch, always needed in this salad, is a very generous grating of fresh ground pepper (oh, and a nice glass of wine).  Seriously, one of the best, deceivingly simple, salads out there. ****.

Original Review, May 2017

One afternoon, the admin for our team sent me a message, saying she'd mistakenly ordered too much food from Pizzeria Delfina.  I'm not entirely sure how this happens, but, I was happy to receive the message, and pass it on to my colleagues.  And then I got pulled into a conversation, and wasn't able to go running for the food.  By the time I got to the food, a mere 15 minutes later, the large pile of pizza had been decimated.  There were tons of pizza boxes, all completely empty, on the table.  Doh.  Pizza in general doesn't last long around my office, but, pizza from somewhere like Pizzeria Delfina really doesn't last long.  I learned my lesson: get things for me first, then tell others!

Anyway, the masses all seemed to have gone for the pizza, leaving behind TONS of salad and appetizers (including meatballs and burrata), so I still got some Delfina food.  And I remembered that salad as shockingly good from the demo ...

Insalata Triocolore.

"Arugula, radicchio & endive salad w/ grana padano cheese & lemon vinaigrette."

Insalata Triocolore.  Such a classic Delfina (and many Italian restaurants) salad.  So deceptively simple, but oh so good.  The salad of three colors.

Yes, it is just a mix of three colors of leaf vegetables (green arugula, purple radicchio, and pale yellow endive), topped with grana padano, and served with lemon vinaigrette.  No other veggies.  Nothing for crunch.  Boring sounding dressing.

This salad shouldn't be great.  But it really is.

The arugula is my favorite element, so peppery.  I'm not sure where Delfina sources arugula from, but this is quality stuff.  Then there is the endive, chopped into slices, juicy and refreshing.  The radicchio, julienned, which provides a different sort of bitterness than the arugula.  Mix them together, and you have a blend that not only looks great, but also has perfectly complimentary tastes.  For a base of leafy vegetables, this is far more interesting than most.

The cheese I actually didn't love, as the shreds were huge, and the nutty flavor from the grana padano somewhat dominated the eating experience.

And then the dressing.  Simple lemon vinaigrette.  I'm definitely a creamy dressing type, and rarely like vinaigrettes.  This dressing looked like nothing more than olive oil, honestly.  And, it isn't much more than olive oil actually (olive oil, champagne vinegar, lemon, shallot, and black pepper), but wow, it was good.  And somehow, that dressing just went so amazingly well with the leafy vegetable mix.  I'm clearly not the only one who loves this basic dressing, as Delfina even sells it by the bottle now.

What this salad proves is that sometimes you don't need more than a few simple high quality ingredients, well chosen for their complimentary nature. ****.

I believe this was the large, family-style portion, designed to serve 10 people, for $85.

At the demo, I had an enhanced version, the Insalata di Campo, with the same base mix of greens and cheese shreds, but it also included pancetta and walnuts, which added crunch and an additional salty component.  I preferred that version, but, this basic salad was also fabulous.

Neapolitan Meatballs in Sugo.

"Pork, beef & veal meatballs w/ tomato sauce & crostini."

I have a memory of getting the meatballs once a long, long time ago.  I think I liked them.  But this was, literally, 10 years ago.  So I was happy to see the meatballs go unclaimed, as I'd get to try them again.

The meatballs are huge, and all had a nice crust on them, if you know what I mean.  I like a meatball with a bit of a sear on it like this.  Inside was quite moist, and the mix of proteins (pork, beef, and veal) created a fairly complex flavor.

The sauce was not my favorite.  It was rather sweet, in a way that I didn't want it to be, if that makes sense.

Overall, I didn't actually care for these, but they were well made. **+.

[ No Photo ]

Burrata.

I also was able to try the burrata appetizer, but failed to take a photo.  It was served over a bed of arugula, with crostini on that side, and a separate container of extra virgin olive oil to drizzle on top.

I appreciated everything about the dish.  I love having creamy burrata with bitter arugula, and always like to drizzle olive oil over my burrata.  This was exactly what I want in a simple burrata dish, although I didn't want the crostini, which I was happy to leave for the others, who don't find it appropriate to just eat cheese drizzled with oil by the spoonful.

As much as I acknowledged the goodness of this dish, I didn't love it.  The burrata itself just wasn't as ripe and creamy as it can be. ***.

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The Lounge, Boston Logan Airport, Terminal C

Update Review, Dec 2021 & July 2022 Visits

I didn't visit The Lounge for a few years due to Covid closure, but finally did in late 2021, and again the next summer.  Things had changed though, and when I tried to visit in December 2022, I wasn't able to get in, as the lounge was full, and they had a waitlist of an estimated 45 minutes.  I tried in vain to get permission to just use the bathroom, but also, nope.  Lounge crowding is a thing these days!

Small Plates Display.

During Covid the lounge moved to a packaged format, with nothing self-serve.  By July 2022 it was a hybrid - soup, stir fry and rice, pretzels, peanuts were self-serve, and then little plates with veggies, hummus, and cheese cups were pre-made, covered in plastic wrap, but you could help yourself to them from the fridges below.  They had a sample display so you could see what was in the different snack plates.

Veggie Plate (+ peanuts).

Since I don't care for hummus, the pita and hummus platter, and the veggie and hummus platter didn't appeal, nor did the kinda mediocre cheese offerings (particularly as I was planning to visit the Air France lounge too).  I did grab a veggie plate and some peanuts though.

The peanuts were, well, peanuts.  Just plain, salted peanuts.  Pretty boring.  The only other snack was pretzels, gone are the days of the candy jars.  ***.

The veggies were fine, pretty standard quality carrots and celery sticks, and mediocre tomatoes. ***.

Honey Roasted Peanuts.

During one visit, they had pretzels and gummy bears available from the snack jars (they serve them though), and the next, honey roasted peanuts and pretzels.  I missed the extensive candy jar lineup!

I didn't care for the gummy bears, they were the style that is chewer than I prefer.

It sounds silly, but I really appreciated the honey roasted peanuts.  Sweet and crunchy, very satisfying at the time, and slightly different from standard pretzels and plain nuts.  I may have gone back for seconds.  Just honey roasted peanuts, but very good ones.  ****.

Update Review, 2019 Visits

Another flight out of Logan airport, another quick stop into The Lounge pre-depature to grab some of my favorite club snacks.

The food lineup was as always (see prior reviews), a couple sandwich wraps, two varieties of soup (tomato, lentil ... sadly not the actually good clam chowder), cookies, brownies, and the salad bar and snack mix bar.  I went straight for the last two sections only.

Salad Bar.

The salad bar was as always a basic base for assembling your own salad (mixed greens, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, edamame, peppers, black olives, croutons), dressing, and one pre-mixed salad.

Dressing.

I tried the ranch dressing on some greens, as I have been in a ranch mood lately, but it wasn't particularly good ranch.

Decent Salad.

I tried the pre-made salad, which wasn't labelled, and it was actually pretty decent.  It had chopped pecans for crunch, and dried cranberries for sweetness, and wasn't over-dressed nor soggy.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Snacks!

And then for my favorite part: the snack jars!

10 jars this time, featuring: Chia mix, roast peanuts, wasabi peas, BLUE M&M, energy mix, neopolitan mix, gummy bears, banana chips, honey mustard pretzels, jolly ranchers.  Basically the same lineup as usual, but with the blue only M&Ms added, a rather amusing touch.

I went right for my favorites, which I've reviewed before, so I won't bore you with the details again, but, yes, honey mustard pretzels, Neapolitan mix, Chia ReCharged Stix Mix, and Dark Chocolate Energy Mix.  All were fabulous as always.  #stockup

Original Review, 2018 Visits

The Lounge is located in Terminal C, right near gate 19.  It accepts Priority Pass, and is accessible airside from Terminal E as well, although that terminal has several other larger lounge options (Air France and The Club).

I only cruised through quickly once when arriving in Boston, and once when outbound, but I was rather pleased with exactly two things: the clam chowder and the snack/candy bar!  Besides that though ... its a domestic lounge, and meets basic expectations.

Setting

The lounge isn't huge, but it was never that busy when I was there (3pm, 8pm).  I don't think they had showers.

Lounge Seating.

I never sat down, but the "comfortable" seating area was fairly sparse, and the chairs, although plush, didn't really look comfortable.

Dining Tables.

More space is dedicated to dining tables, all plastic and sterile feeling.

The flooring and some of the walls have a nice feel to them, but the furnishings really do not.

Bar.

Unlike many lounges, the bar is not self-serve, although it is also not really attended.  On both visits I needed to stand there for a while before someone came to assist.

Wine offerings are all lower end screw top bottles.

Coffee / Tea Station.

Coffee and tea are self serve, with brewed coffee, a robot machine, and T2 brand tea.

Buffet Area.

Food is self-serve, from a U shaped buffet area, with cold beverages below.

Cold non-alcoholic drinks are also self-serve, I was pleased that they had large bottles of sparkling water (Perrier).  They also have a shockingly large variety of canned fruit juices (like white grapefruit!)

Cuisine

All Day Menu.

A menu on the side lists the options, although it isn't exactly detailed, and sounds WAY better than it actually is.

Sections are "Farmer's Market Salads", "Harvest Bread Basket", "Bountiful Bowls", "Antipasto Bar", "Deli Delight", "Market Ripe", "The Pantry", "Sweet Street"

Details however are of the form: "Bountiful Bowls: a selection of seasonal and regional soups" ... which means, in reality, "clam chowder and creamy tomato soup".

"Market Ripe: seasonal berries and melons" were nowhere to be found.

Salad Bar ... er "Farmer's Market Salads" and "Antipasto Bar".

"Fresh select and regionally inspired salads and dressings."

"Pasta salads, marinated peppers, and a variety of Mediterranean, Spanish, and Kalamata olives."

Ok, lol.  These descriptions promised ... something more exciting than reality.  Reality was a pretty sad basic salad bar, with lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, and croutons, plus simple balsamic viniagrette and ranch dressing.

I tried one pasta salad, it was ok, not mushy, but the dressing was quite oily.

Soup ("Bountiful Bowls"): Clam Chowder, Creamy Tomato.

"A selection of seasonal and regional soups."

Ok, I'll give them that clam chowder is a pretty Boston soup, so, "regional" isn't entirely off here.

It was also shockingly good.  Really creamy, well seasoned.  The clams were chewy, but the chowder really was perfect comfort food, and turned out to be exactly what I wanted when I landed in Boston late in the evening.  My companion also enjoyed it, opting to go back for a second bowl.

Another time I visited, I made a beeline for the soup station (not something I *ever* do, but I was so excited for clam chowder!), and alas, it was replaced with ... mac and cheese?  It wasn't the worst, it was creamy, and the pasta wasn't mushy, but, not what I wanted, and the cheese flavor wasn't particularly strong.

"Deli Delight".

The sandwich section came with its own menu, with full details of the 3 sandwich selections on offer: Chicken salad BLT (on 12 grain bread), Fresh mozzarella Caprese (on dinner roll), and Cubanelle Tuna (wrap).

Sandwiches ("Deli Delight") and Brownies ("Sweet Street").

I didn't try these deli delights, nor the pita (?) bread next to them.

"A broad array of hand crafted cookies, brownies, and fruit bars."

So, uh, about that "broad array" of sweets.  They had the same little brownies both times I visited, which I did not try.

Snacks & Candy ("The Pantry").

"Fruit and granola bars, dried fruit and trail mix, mini cookies, fresh whole fruit."

In this section however, the lounge really delivered!  "Dried fruit and trail mix" turned out to be mean awesome snack mixes and jars full of candy!  

This was actually quite awesome.  The snacks all come from  trulygoodfoods.com, and I tried ... basically all of them, since I love snacks!

The lineup on my first visit was 9 jars, featuring: jelly beans, gummy bears, m&ms, roasted edamame, banana chips, mustard pretzels, neopolitan mix, energy mix, honey roasted peanuts.  When I visited a week later, the jelly beans and energy mix were absent.  I didn't care about the jelly beans (Jelly Belly brand), but, I really wanted that Energy Mix again!

Mustard Pretzels.

"A crunchy pretzel with a delicious, tangy mustard seasoning. A great anytime snack."

I loved the savory pretzels when I visited when I landed in Boston, perfect after a long flight.  Nice seasoning, good flavor, so salty, and apparently, what I was craving.  I didn't like them quite as much when I was leaving Boston, but, they were still flavorful and good.

Honey Roasted Peanuts

"Good luck trying to eat just one of these salty snacks covered in a sweet honey coating. It’s a crunchy treat that is always a crowd favorite."

The honey roasted peanuts were well coated, sweet, enjoyable, a nice sweet compliment to my salty pretzels.  Addicting.

Neapolitan Mix

"Like the classic ice cream flavor, you get the best of all worlds. Neapolitan Mix tastes like your favorite chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavors.  The snack mix consists of yogurt pretzels balls, strawberry yogurt raisins and chocolate brownie bites."

The Neapolitan mix was a pleasant surprise, as the white things were not yogurt covered raisins or peanuts, but rather ... pretzels!  I loved them, crunchy inside and creamy coating, although not particularly "vanilla" flavored.

The brown ones were *also* not just peanuts or raisins, but instead, chocolate covered brownie bites!  They were awesome combined with the pretzels.

The pink ones however were yogurt covered raisins, and they did not taste like strawberry as promised. Meh to those.  Overall though, a winner, and I found it way too easy to devour handfuls of the non-raisins.

Dark Chocolate Energy Boost ---> Chia ReCharged Stix Mix.

"Chia is one of the hottest superfoods right now and this mix is a tasty way to get the health benefits.  Chia ReCharged Stix Mix™ is part of our ReCharge® line of natural snack mixes that contain antioxidant benefits. It’s a savory and sweet mix with chia sticks, cranberries, roasted and salted almonds, dark chocolate chunks, yogurt raisins, low sugar, no sulfur pineapple and white cocoa chips."

This was actually pretty good (although mislabeled), the almonds nicely roasted and salted, the chia sticks crunchy and also quite salty, the pineapple sweet with a nice chew, and I loved that the little white chips were white chocolate, not yogurt!  Not a bad blend, really.

I was sad this was not there my second visit, but the next time, they had not one, but two jars of it.

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Panera - The Food

I likely do not need to introduce you to Panera, the chain of fast casual bakery cafes with 2000+ locations in the US.  They also have retail items available in most grocery stores, like their soups and mac and cheese.  I suspect you've encountered Panera, and thus, don't need much intro here. Plus,  I've reviewed different elements of Panera before, such as the bagels that I do actually enjoy, the ok pastries, the muffins I didn't care for, the hit or miss scones and hit or miss cookies, and the drinks.  

Those previous reviews reflect the majority of my visits to Panera - I generally visited to get a pastry/scone/muffin or bagel (and I say "visited", past tense, because the San Francisco location shuttered at the start of the pandemic, and did not re-open).   Anyway, I don't think my experiences are the common ones, I think most people go to Panera for the cafe side of things, for lunch and dinner.  On the actual food front, the only items I had reviewed before was the breakfast sandwich.  

The lunch and dinner menu at Panera revolves around sandwiches, salads, and soups, including their popular "You Pick Two" option of two half-portions.  In recent years, they've expanded into pizzas and "warm bowls" with rice and quinoa bases.  The sandwiches at Panera are mostly chicken or turkey based, with a token veggie sandwich, tuna salad, and single steak option too.  Back in the day, long before I wrote this blog, I did used to get the sandwiches as part of a You Pick Two option, but its easily been 20 years since I've had one.

Salads

For salads, Panera doesn't actually offer a simple garden side salad.  The most basic versions are the Caesar or Greek, both also available with chicken.  Other options all include chicken too - Asian sesame or citrus Asian crunch, BBQ chicken, or cobb.  These are all available as entree size, as part of a Pick Two, or in larger format for catering.

Fuji Apple Salad with Chicken. $54.99. (Catering, Serves 10).

"Chicken raised without antibiotics, arugula, romaine, kale and radicchio blend, vine-ripened tomatoes, red onions, toasted pecan pieces, Gorgonzola and apple chips tossed with sweet white balsamic vinaigrette."

This was a satisfying salad.  All the ingredients were in well distributed amounts, and were clearly designed to work together cohesively.

The base was mixed greens, romaine, kale, arugula, and radicchio, all fresh and crisp, a good blend of flavors and bitterness levels.

The tomato was fairly standard, not particularly ripe or flavorful, but, it was December after all.  It did seem a bit out of place in this salad though.

The red onion, gorgonzola crumbles, and pecan bits were also all fairly standard, but a really nice combination.  In particular, I liked the harshness of the red onion and the creamy gorgonzola and crunchy pecans for textural crunch.

The apple chips were my absolute favorite though!  Some were crisp and some were a bit soft, but, that actually worked well.  I thought these were a fun ingredient, and really liked the texture they added to the salad.

The dressing was White Balsamic With Apple Flavored Vinaigrette ... I didn't taste the apple, but it was a tangy vinaigrette.

I didn't try the chicken, since I don't like chicken.

Overall though, this was good.  I'd prefer without chicken, which I could obviously order at the restaurant, and the tomato didn't really fit in, and I'd suggest cranberries perhaps, but, overall, still a nice salad.  ***.

Soups & Mac

Soups are available in small cup size, larger bowl size, or even larger bread bowls.  They range from classics like tomato soup and chicken noodle, to hearty chili, and more adventurous chicken tikka masala ... soup.  On the mac front, there is classic mac & cheese, or a broccoli cheddar version, that I believe features the same base as their well regarded broccoli cheddar soup.  The menu has some staples available every day, along with a daily soup that changes each day, but is consistent week to week, e.g. always the same on Mon, on Tue, etc.  

Many of the soups and mac can be found in the refrigerated section at the grocery store too.

Mac and Cheese, Large. $9.09.

"Tender shell pasta in a blend of rich cheeses including our tangy aged white cheddar cheese sauce."

Panera's mac and cheese is actually fairly well known.  Sure, I think most people get salads and sandwiches, maybe some of the baked goods and bagels, and sometimes soups, but ... the mac and cheese definitely has a following.  Along with most of the soups, it is also available in their "Panera at Home" line in grocery stores, although that version is actually pretty different (according to the ingredients listing).

After years of almost getting the mac and cheese, I finally did, one chilly winter day, when I was going through a mac and cheese phase.  Literally, eating mac and cheese every couple days (my favorite fast food style is still from Krispy Krunchy Chicken, which I just adore!, and I'm pretty fond of Trader Joe's frozen mac and cheese for a quick and easy meal).  I went for the classic mac and cheese (white cheddar based), although Panera also offers a bright yellow Broccoli Cheddar mac as well.

The Panera mac and cheese did indeed look pretty good.  So much cheese, very very creamy, but not runny, a light white sauce, since white cheddar, not yellow.  The flavor was decent, a bit "grown up" with the white cheddar, decent depth of flavor.  The pasta choice, large shells with small ridges was a good one, sauce filled the shells and squirted out in a pleasing way when I bit in, and the ridges helped it cling to the pasta.  The pasta wasn't mushy, but it was softer than I prefer.

No bread crumb topping, no crispy broiled top, it was just a bowl of it all the same, fast food style.

So overall, it was about what I'd expect.  It wasn't like a restaurant version finished under a broiler, it didn't have any interesting spices or toppings, but, the pasta shape and cheese choice made it slightly unique, and I really did like how creamy it was.

***, I was glad to try, but I don't think I'd seek it out.  Also, it is somehow shockingly bad for you, even in the world of mac and cheese.  This container was ... 950 calories!  Wowzer.  (The small is 470 if you wanted it more as a side rather than a meal).

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