Opaque ~ San Francisco

I love gimmick-y restaurants. Especially themed restaurants. I think I'm just a consumer that way. So what's the gimmick to this restaurant you ask? From the sign above you guys can probably postulate that you're probably eating in the dark. I know of several restaurants that advertise dining in the dark, probably most prominently O, Nuit in Toronto, Dark Table in Vancouver, and Dining in the Dark in Boston . However, my sister and I have been reading about Opaque for awhile and we probably won't be going to Toronto/Boston for a long time. That and my parents hate themed restaurants...so we probably won't have a very good chance of going in Vancouver either.

The dining experience is truly unique and I feel that I'll be talking to you more about the experience than the food. I'll take this opportunity to tell you now that it is kind of expensive...as in $100 per person expensive. Originally, the boyfriend and I mistakenly made a reservation, saw the price, tried to call and cancel, and then subsequently realized that it cost $50 dollars per person to cancel. Although we may not have fully intended on going....the experience was a good one and my sister, boyfriend, and I all had quite a bit of fun in the dark. No hanky panky between the boyfriend and I though! That shit is gross.

This is a long post, here's a photo of my dog looking disgruntled.

Before you go into the restaurant I suggest you wash your hands, I gave up using utensils during the appetizer dish and I feel that your hands will be accidentally dipped, dragged and inserted into your food. You'll also want to wear clothes that you don't mind staining....

I don't want to ruin the surprise of dining in the darkness for everyone, but I'll rate the service, discuss the food, and share my experiences. For the food I'll give my impression of it, but for the completeness of this post I'll return to the sister restaurant, Indigo, and order some dishes to further analyze them with sight. =) I think concentrating so hard on eating and actually getting the food into your mouth, took away some of the brain power one would usually use to "comment" on the cuisine. All of it was tasty and well executed, but I think, as I said before, dining at Opaque was about the experience.

Here he is hiding behind my mom.

As for the service, it was A+. They were polite, efficient, friendly and always there whether you needed them or not (which was helpful in the super dark environment you were in). As for the ambiance and decor....I couldn't tell you much. When they mean pitch black, they mean pitch black. It was really interesting to me the way that the servers "adjusted" to the darkness. Some people might tell you that the waitstaff there have "night vision" or "infrared goggles", but our waiter, who was very kind and friendly, said that Opaque only really hired people with existing vision problems. Our waiter bussed and carried food on a cart, refiled our waters to the perfect amount by listening to the ice cubes tinkle in our glasses, and in case we needed him he just popped up now and then to check on us. Genuinely, probably one of the best nights of service I've ever received in a restaurant...which was good, because we were completely helpless in the dark. I have to say though there were some issues with the rate our food was coming out of the kitchen, for once it was actually too fast, and one of the reasons we might have received impeccable service is because the restaurant wasn't particularly busy that Wednesday evening.

First walking into the restaurant you'll be guided into a lighted corridor, seen above, and you'll be able to pick three dishes: an appetizer, a main and a dessert, from a set menu. I chose the Ahi Tuna Tartare with the taro chips, the steak with mashed potatoes and green beans, and a warm chocolate cake with minted strawberries and vanilla ice cream. After ordering your entire meal, you'll be directed to wait until your server comes out to lead you to your table and reminded that cell phones, cameras, glow in the dark watches, and any glittery jewelry are strictly prohibited within the dining room. At Opaque there are two types of tables: booths and the open dining room. Luckily enough, my boyfriend, sister and I were able to sit at a booth so we could chat and embarrass ourselves privately. Given the chance to settle and take in our surroundings I drew a picture to give you guys an idea of what the main dining room looked like.

Naughty-cal

Tommy Hilfiger Chain Print Dress, Sofft Shoes, Uniqlo Basics Cardigan

Haha, get it? In reality, this sundress is probably one of the more conservative outfits I have in my "summer essentials" wardrobe. It's also one of my favorites and most worn outfits of the entire summer. The top half of the dress is a soft, stretchy cotton spandex blend, while the blue lower half is 100% cotton. Coming upon this dress was a meeting of pure chance. At the Tommy Hilfiger store I'd literally tried on most of the summer dresses offered for their Summer 2012 collection and none of them fit me...even in the extra small sizes. The saleswoman was bringing dress after dress out and I was feeling incredibly guilty about wasting her time. Then she brought out this one and it totally fit!

I've previously bought American Apparel color block dresses to achieve the same aesthetic I'm looking for here, but I've had terrible experiences with them. I found that the second that anything AA gets washed the colors bleed together almost immediately, completely ruining the dress!

I had the same qualms about this dress, but the store manager assured me that if the colors bled I could return the dress for a refund. The store manager in Vancouver was actually incredibly accommodating and I'm not sure if you'd get the same guarantee at other stores. The good news is, I'm sure you can see, that the colors didn't bleed! 

I loved the chain print on the bottom half of the dress. I thought it was very vintage and reminiscent of those vintage Chanel scarves that used to fill my mom's closet. Seeing the chain design still makes me smell my mom's perfume and reminisce about playing dress up in her closet. =) I don't like to wear too much jewelry and, for space purposes, I didn't bring too much of my jewelry collection down from Vancouver, but I did bring my favorite ring from Agnes. B and my most worn pair of earrings from Just Gold. 

Of course, how could I wear a sundress without accessorizing with a badass pair of sunglasses? <3 I didn't think I looked too repulsive in this last photo so I threw it in. I hope you guys are doing well!   

Purchase: Tommy Hilfiger Sundress

+Love

Morimoto~Waikiki

Recently I had the enormous pleasure of dining at Morimoto in Waikiki. The name Morimoto might sound familiar to you and it should! Masiharu Morimoto is the chef that has gained infamy across the globe from his stints on the original Iron Chef as the successor to Koumei Nakamura, and on Iron Chef America. He has three restaurants in the United States, located in Philadelphia, New York, and Florida--and has two in India, expanding his reach to both Mumbai and New Delhi! My family and I were super excited to try the famed Iron Chef's recipes and experience his aesthetic.

The overall decor of the restaurant is very fresh and clean; the aesthetic of the restaurant utilizes a palette of fresh celery greens, creams, off whites, and turquoises. I think the restaurant did a great job of embracing Morimoto's modern cooking style and fusing it with the "Aloha spirit." The restaurant was really beautiful and I could easily imagine it being in some swanky movie with a couple of high powered executives having a relaxed lunch, but in reality there were a lot of casual diners! In a sweeping panorama of the whole restaurant, there was many a Hawaiian shirt and chino pant to be seen. The restaurant itself is very, very large with ample indoor and outdoor patio seating. The space is clean, modern, fresh, and well designed (some of the beautiful vessels and plates that our food came served in was even custom ordered by Morimoto himself) and it seems like the restaurant itself is built for "high traffic."

The hostess was friendly and seated us at our table very quickly, while the waiter that served us the entire night was friendly, talkative and never forgot to refill our waters. There was a small incident that I completely blame our waiter for and I will shamefully tell you the story. My family and the waiter were having a friendly conversation and I told him how I have watched Iron Chef ever since I was a child and how I loved Morimoto. It turns out, in a freak coincidence, that Morimoto himself was visiting his restaurant and working at the sushi bar. Our waiter had told us that he doesn't mind taking photos with patrons and my father and I eagerly rushed over to the sushi bar to snap a photo. However, we learned after the fact that Morimoto doesn't like to be disturbed when working. He obliged us with a photo, however gruffly.  Even though the restaurant itself was pretty empty, it was clear that he did not want to be disturbed when working behind the sushi bar. I was pretty embarrassed and Morimoto looks pretty gruff, but here's the photo nonetheless.

Now onto the meal! My family had decided to order more of Morimoto's cooked and "innovative" dishes versus simply choosing the sushi "omikase." So you might not see as much sushi and sashimi as I usually post in a Japanese restaurant review. ;) I hope you still enjoy!