my petit sweets: Foreign Cinema: San Francisco

Trips to San Francisco are cold and wonderful. On our most recent trip, last week, we found relief from the hustle and bustle of the city in a serene day trip to Napa Valley.

The vineyards, redolent of ripe grapes and rose petals, provided the most magnificent walkways to stroll down. While my parents tasted a few different wines, they let me and my sister steal a few sips. The red wine was very good, in my opinion.

After touring a couple of vineyards, we were ready to get back to the faster-paced energy of San Francisco, and after purchasing a bottle of wine, olive oil, and salt spoons, we headed back to Fog City.

Our next destination, courtesy of me (and opentable.com,)was the wonderful, little restaurant, Foreign Cinema. I found this gem last year while blog-surfing, and insisted that we must go on our trip to California last summer. Since then, it has become an esencial on every trip we make to the bay area.

The ambiance is truly what makes the restaurant so compelling. Strings of lights billow across the high ceiling, as a weekly-changing foreign film is projected onto the brick wall throughout the duration of your dining experience. The reason why we keep coming back time after time, however, is for the restaurant's exceptional food.

We started with Lavender Baked Goat Cheese (the name alone makes me hungry,) Beet and Spinnach House Salad, Fried Chicken with White Snap Peas, and a couple of really amazing desserts: the Blueberry Crisp, and Chocolate Pot de Creme. Everything was phenomenal. I wish the Lavender Goat Cheese never have ended, the Chicken was cooked to absolute perfection - fully cooked, while still succulent, with an outer crisp that didn't seem heavy at all. I liked the blueberry crisp, but I LOVED the Chocolate Pot de Creme. It was rich, silky, and topped with unsweetened whipped cream for balance. Pure chocolate heaven.