Sure, these places look like the types of fine dining establishments none of us could afford. Nevertheless we were delighted to read in this morning's New York Times ("Coast to Coast, Restaurants That Count") that San Francisco's Coi and Napa Valley's Ubuntu (a critically-acclaimed restaurant that also doubles as a yoga studio, oh my God) made Frank Bruni's top ten restaurants in the country. Yay us! Regarding Ubuntu, Bruni says: What kind of Kumbaya......

SFist Julie's got the 2,4 dithiapentane and she's not afraid to tell you about it! So, we ourselves are as naïve as anyone else on this topic, having not-too-long-ago extolled the virtues of dishes containing the latest faux-food villain at B Restaurant in Oakland... Guess what? Truffle oil does not contain truffles. At all. Not even a trace, not a soaking, nothing. Thank you New York Times and local chef-owner Daniel Patterson of Coi who......

To get us out of the house, we need more than the promise of comfort food. We have all the comfort we want at home, what with running water and in-house sanitation. We can cook up a comfort storm in our kitchen, should we want boeuf bourguignon or coq au vin or mac&fromage. We'll make exception to any rule, of course, but to get our little tushes in a seat in a restaurant, we require......

We have so far stayed out of the debate about the fancy, high-end restaurants in the city, except for the occasional snide remark. Snark is cheap: We just make cynical jokes when Michael Bauer decides which places are worthy of his attention or not, or when chef Daniel Patterson complains about the lack of culinary imagination of the leading restaurants. We sat on the sideline too long, and it's time to toss our hat in......