Olivia D’Angelo, Intense Wrestler, A Wonderful San Francisco Treat

Watching Olivia of San Jose wrestle live is a treat. That was a few years ago. Will we see her again?

It’s human nature to want to work over and over again with people you enjoy and get along with.

At San Francisco Grappling Stars we have been thrilled to work with Olivia D’Angelo. She is cooperative, professional and always gives an intense performance.

grapplingstars.com writer, femcompetitor.com photo

Another aspect of working with someone consistently is that you get to know their mannerisms. When it’s cold, we’ve observed Olivia wearing stylish scarfs.

So in our dinner, lunch and a female wrestling movie series in San Francisco, we can’t think of a better place we would love to take Olivia than a Scandinavian themed restaurant.

Why don’t you guys come along?

We would like to introduce you to Pläj.

grapplingstars.com writer, plajrestaurant-com photo credit

They are happy to welcome you as well. At http://plajrestaurant.com/ they smile, “Pläj is a phonetic spelling of the word “play”. When we say Pläj, we embrace life, happiness, right before, in the midst, or after a great meal. Pläj is a celebration of food, drink, and great company, and a place where cultures come together. Seasonal dishes with a traditional northern touch anchors the menu. Seasonal, Local and Fresh – is our philosophy. Choice cuts of fish and meats are served with a Scandinavian influence of flavors and Californian flair.”

Okay. We’re glad that we got that cleared up.

How about the food? We hear that it’s very good.

grapplingstars.com writer, plajrestaurant-com photo credit

As shared by sf.eater.com, “Big props to the Inn at the Opera for going bold with this year-old Scandinavian spot, the first to serve trendy Nordic cuisine in SF. It made Bauer's Top 100 in its first year, and it's well worth a look for those hoping to get a taste of the flavors that have been dominating the world of global cuisine of late, from dill-and-butter poached lobster to venison saddle with juniper berries.”

Now to seal the Swedish deal, why don’t we observe the feelings of a reviewer found at yelp.com. “This place is without a doubt the best bar with food I've ever been to. It's hidden in that you basically have to be going to Equinox to notice it, it's off to the side on the 4th floor of the Equinox building hidden even behind the also kind of hidden Earth Bar but man is it worth the search.

I've been here basically every day I've gone to the gym the past week, so 5 weekdays in a row, and every single time I've been newly surprised.

Surprise one, Baos with fried chicken, tuna poke and the best one, an off menu vegetarian. I'd never had these before but it's like a taco 2.0 just fluffy, tasty, perfect. On top of that special salads, great drinks....I could go on and on with the food praise but I'll cut it off before their pork belly tacos aren't all that glaze over.

Surprise two, the universally cool staff. From the owner on through the bar manager and servers you couldn't do better for company when the place is slow or intros to your fellow bar patrons when it's busy.

grapplingstars.com writer, plajrestaurant-com photo credit

Third this place has a great crowd. Almost every time I've come here I've met someone smart, sophisticated and worth exchanging info to get to know beyond the bar. It's just light years ahead of most bars in SF where saying the crowd is "hit or miss" is being generous.

If you're a Equinox member, try this after your next workout. Even if you're not, it's worth a trip across the city hands down and it's accessible to the public even if it's next to the Equinox (it's on the side before you check in). Not just highly recommended, highest recommendation I can give.”

Sounds wonderful.

Maybe we’ll see the great tennis star Stefan Edberg stride through there. Hope springs eternal.