• Michael Bauer got by Half Moon Bay’s Cetrella for a two-and-a-half-star meal. He seems to have enjoyed the food well enough, and the service was stronger than it has been in the past for him, but for some reason he still feels the restaurant is “still trying to find its center.” All the same, the international seafood menu and newly fancy cooking techniques left Bauer calling Cetrella “the place to go near the San Mateo County coast.” [SF Chronicle]
• Amanda Gold visited Woodhouse Fish Company where she awarded the food two and a half stars and the service two. In fact, she didn’t have much bad to say about the service (“helpful but discreet”), but it seems her friend got tricked by a $10 bill glued to the ground. She recommends the Hartford clam chowder: A bowl of creamy New England with a stripe of red Manhattan swirled in. [SF Chronicle]View image
• Paul Reidinger doesn’t seem quite as unabashedly worshipful of Flour + Water as Patricia Unterman or Michael Bauer (whose official review is due this weekend). But he still conjures a superlative (Enchanting!). Interestingly, the Reidinger’s most enthusiastic raves go to the sides and desserts, not the pizza, pasta, or indeed anything containing flour or water. [SFBG]
• Meredith Brody tries out some very expensive beef at 5A5, where she found the service to suffer from “gentle but constant upselling,” and the high-quality meat to suffer from incompetent cooking (“If you can’t cook it black-and-blue (aka charred rare), as ordered, don’t tell us you can”). She had nice things to say about the Kobe burger but declares, “San Francisco is still missing a great steakhouse.” [SF Weekly]
