My fellow Aries gal @kammiek and I lunched at Olive & Ivy, and besides being so fun to hang around, she is my Fox Restaurants partner in crime. We've dined at True Food Kitchen, Culinary Dropout, and now Olive & Ivy. Perhaps, we'll just do the whole tour, which sounds really fun! If Sam Fox ever decides to open restaurants in the Bay Area, he will make a mint. Yeah, it's a formula but it's an excellent one.
But back to food and fabulousness. Above is the White Sangria, and it is really refreshing. There is a red version as well, but I like the while because it has lychee and blood orange in it, two of my favorite fruits.
Let me start and say that if you are one to skip the bread basket, make an exception here at Olive & Ivy and try a piece of their foccacia bread with the most amazing pesto dip. Really, this dip and bread is worth an extra mile on the treadmill.
The first appetizer we got was, the Bacon Wrapped Medjool Dates because I was so fascinated by the idea of bacon and dates. These puppies are tasty. The red sauce on the side is a bit ketchupy but I won't hold that against them.
The second appetizer was a bit of a mishmosh to make it vegetarian and Steph friendly. I aked them to take the Prosciutto di Parma Bruschetta appetizer, and eliminate the Prosciutto, and replace the Crescenza Cheese with goat cheese. On the bread was fig preserves and arugula. I really dug this Bruschetta!
For lunch, Kammie got the Wild Arugula salad which I passed on taking a picture of for some reason. I don't even know why as it was a beautiful salad. Then, we got the Sweet Potato Cannelloni with Brussels Sprouts, Tangerines & Pearl Onions and split it in two.
The pasta looks like any other pasta dish, but the second you take a bite into the Cannelloni and get a taste of the sweet potato middle...three letters...OMG! There was some dairy mixed in there with the sweet potato which I paid for later on, but it was worth it.
Since I was already on a dairy roll, we got the Angel Food Cake dessert, and what I thought was interesting was how they creme brulee charred the cake.
And lastly, the designer in me just had to point out their cool coffee cups. There is no handle, and it's clear so, it almost looks like your coffee is just floating above the table.
The decor in Olive & Ivy is very stylish as is all the Fox Restaurants, but Culinary Dropout still gets my 5 stars for design. I do like the open kitchen they have in there.
Oh and there is a market on the side, so you can pop in and get some quick eats and perhaps a scoop of yummy gelato! Do visit Olive & Ivy, it's a delicious time.
Note: all photos taken with an iPhone 3GS