I am Lauren, restaurant enthusiast

It all began at OpenTable.com

For those of you not familiar with OpenTable, while I pity you, I will glady explain how this incredible tool works, so that you might possibly share in my excitement. OpenTable is a free, instant, online restaurant reservation service servicing 8,500 noteworthy restaurants worldwide, and their 75 million+ restaurant goers. Diners receive points for every reservation made through the site and upon earning a substantial amount of points receive gift cards, which can be redeemed at any OpenTable-registered restaurant. Typically, diners receive 100 points for each reservation, but every now and then you'll come across a few restaurants offering 1000.

I'm never sure what to think of these 1000-pointers. I always kind of assumed that those were the restaurants that nobody went to. Like, instead of turning people away because they're so booked, they have to bribe people with dining points just to get them to come. Is that the kind of restaurant I really want to go to?

In quest of a quick and fabulous last-minute vacation dinner find, I found myself hesitatingly drawn to the 1000 point restaurants. Overwhelmed by the 700+ San Francisco restaurants on OpenTable, this was simply a measure taken to narrow down the never-ending list of mouth-watering options. I mean, 1000 points is pretty nice- just think, it would take 10 normal reservations to get that many points! But is it worth the risk? Well, if all the 1000 pointers are anything like Citizen Cake... yes, yes, YES, it is worth the risk, by all means!

For those of you who don't know me, I'll let you know that I tend to be quite the critic, especially when it comes to restaurants. Wrinkled table cloths, empty water glasses, thoughtless decor.... just a few things that automatically earn my disapproval. It's not that I look for the bad in everything, I actually try to make a point to do the very opposite, but I guess you could just say I have relatively high expectations. So, when a restaurant (or anything really, for that matter) exceeds my expectations, I am rendered beyond enthusiastic.

I was so enthusiastic about my experiences at Citizen Cake, my 1000-point risk restaurant of choice, SO enthusiastic that I reasoned it highly necessary to start a blog, a blog about such things that arouse me so. The entire meal, from the savory virgin vanilla mint mojito, to the clever tomato water shot, to the most sensational earl grey ice cream, was a true experience. There was nothing thoughtless or unintentional about this place.

Perhaps my most exciting moment of the evening, besides the exquisite cuisine, was my recognition of Executive Chef Elizabeth Faulkner. As I sat at the bar, sipping my mojito and awaiting the clearing of my OpenTable-reserved table, I glimpsed into the kitchen and got a sudden sensation that I was looking through the camera of some great cooking show, like a Top Chef or Iron Chef, you get the idea. I knew that lady with the short spikey blonde hair, I knew her from somewhere. Despite my enthusiasm for food and all that surrounds it, I'm not much for TV, and subsequently am not familiar with the characters/contestants of many FoodNetwork shows (now, Bravo, on the other hand, is a completely different story, but nevermind that). All I could think was I know that lady, I know that lady, I KNOW I know that lady, until finally it hit me.... the only FoodNetwork show I've ever seen, the FoodNetwork Cereal Challenge... Chef Faulkner was a contestant, my personal favorite (though not the winner), in a challenge to build a city skyline entirely out of cereal. THAT'S who that familiar lady in the kitchen was. Come to find out, she's also competed on Iron Chef several times. This lady is something special, and all it took was a 1000-point bribe for me to discover this.

In case you haven't gathered, I love love love coincidences like this (more on this topic, surely to come). What began with a frantic last-minute OpenTable restaurant search and 1000-point restaurant risk taken, ended with a delightfully filled appetite and recognition of an apparent food celebrity. And not to mention my rising accumulation of dining points... Oh the power and wonder of the free, instant, online restaurant reservation service, OpenTable.com.

http://www.opentable.com

http://www.citizencake.com

http://www.orsonsf.com (Chef Faulkner's new restaurant, which I visited the following evening- every bit as fantastic as Citizen Cake)