Bauer says a lot of generous things about Scott Howard’s latest venture in Corte Madera, Brick & Bottle, like “there’s something for everyone” and “the food has a broad appeal,” but this is definitely one of those cases of a review where the text doesn’t quite mesh with the scores. Two and a half stars should mean “almost excellent,” and is basically the best that could be hoped for by a casual eatery with sandwiches on the dinner menu. He says the pimento cheese burger isn’t his “ideal” but it’s still “addictive,” the egg salad is “perfect bar food,” and the cocktails are “mostly well crafted,” but he also says the chicken tasted steamed, the pork was dry, and the crab cakes “wouldn’t win any competition.” So yes, hardly a rave. [Chron]
Patricia Unterman makes her way to Hog & Rocks, filing the first newspaper review of the ham and oyster bar. She loves the “piggy and truffly” flavors of the Caw Caw Creek ham from South Carolina, and she especially adores the dips in jars, writing, “Though his brother, Kevin, may be a baseball hero in Boston, our Youkilis bats a thousand with his clam dip,” and of the pimento cheese dip: “[It] made me sad about what I’d refused to eat all these years — once I tasted his.” She comments, though, on the “terrible din during a packed house” but mentions that Youkilis promises some sound-proofing soon. [Examiner]
