Foreign Cinema

I know, I know. Foreign Cinema is not on the list! But, as I already told you, I think the list, while generally inspired, has some holes. And since this is my blog, I can write about whatever restaurants I want to on it.

We've eaten at Foreign Cinema twice in the past week and a half. First, we had a lovely brunch there with my parents over Labor Day weekend. Delicious Kumamoto oysters to start, followed by little toasts with house-cured sardines. I was the only one who went sweet for the main dish, ordering French toast with berries and cardamom butter and maple syrup (along with a side of bacon). I don't usually put butter on my French toast, figuring that enough fat gets into the bread from the pan-frying, but this was awesome. B and the 'rents got various egg-based dishes, of which we all shared tastes (except for the chanterelle omelet, since my dad is allergic). It's apparently much less crowded on Saturday than Sunday morning, and we had a nice table outdoors.

But it's only at night that you get the true Foreign Cinema ambience. The front entrance is lit with perfectly-spaced votives, inviting you further in.

The white wall in the courtyard had Casablanca projected when we were there on Sunday, but we were ushered into the side room because we were there not for a regular old dinner. Instead, we were at A&K's long-awaited wedding reception. Interestingly, we could only pick beef, chicken, fish, or veg on the RSVP; since the menu at the restaurant changes daily, even A&K didn't know exactly what we were going to be served until the day of (incidentally, it is this frequent changing of the menu that I think precludes the restaurant from being on the Top 100 list).

We started with a Dungeness crab toast (which was funny, since we went to PPQ Dungeness Island the night before for the rehearsal dinner and had tons of crab!). Then a lovely, fresh salad. For mains, B had halibut and I had filet mignon. Both = yummers! I was impressed that the restaurant was able to scale up to provide their same delicious food for a hundred people all at once. We rounded out the meal with a slice each of peanut butter-chocolate cake made by the bride's sister, a pastry chef. It was a night to remember. Congrats again to A&K!