“Paris, San Francisco, Tehran, all claim a part of me… I thought about how the kitchens where I was shaped belong to all these places, and yet none claim to be the center. I’ll always negotiate that in-between culture… I’ll always rely on the longing for these places, and I’ll always be learning to move between them without falling through… Read more →
Author: Virginia Miller
Bar Agricole Matures & Gourmet Tavern Fare Downtown
Top Tastes is not a list of all-time favorites, rather the best tastes of the last two weeks (since my last newsletter), often from new openings. Bar Agricole Matures Bar Agricole, SoMa (355 11th Street between Folsom and Harrison, 415-355-9400) Bar Agricole has won numerous awards for its unique, forward-thinking design, and a long list of accolades for food and… Read more →
Talking Tequila with Carlos Camarena
Carlos Camarena, master distiller of El Tesoro tequila (along with Charbay, Tapatio, Ocho, Excellia and more) is a powerhouse. Not only does he mastermind an insane number of tequilas, but he is passionate about traditional, small production, hands-on methods, pure ingredients, no shortcuts… yet he never sounds like a PR pitch. His sincerity authenticates his words: “In every bottle you will… Read more →
Denver Has Become A Foodie Town
My brother and sister-in-law recently moved to Denver which means I’ll be there more often. I hadn’t been back in 5 years and was pleasantly surprised at how the dining scene has unfolded compared to my last trip. I have a long list of recommends and suspect you, too, might find Denver an unexpectedly solid food town. Denver Food LINGER,… Read more →
Around the Bay: A Weekend in Calistoga
The Northern end of Napa has long been my favorite part of the Valley, namely for increasing oak trees towering over vines, and the way Highway 29 morphs from straight arrow into winding road (just like the beautiful and far less congested drive parallel along Silverado Trail). A recent weekend in Calistoga afforded one of the most relaxed I’ve had… Read more →
2011 SF Cocktail Week
Here just a few photo highlights from this year’s bigger-than-ever SF Cocktail Week… read about the event here. Read more →
September 15, 2011
“San Francisco is really divine… The streets are steep like Edinburgh and Chinatown right in the middle of everything. There’s a Rock just outside the town by the Golden Gate covered with seals! They’re so sweet.” – Noel Coward, 1926 letter to his mother I hope your fall is off to a sweet start… Adventures in Colorado with family (a… Read more →
Visiting New Midleton Distillery, Home of Jameson, Redbreast & Other Irish Whiskies — in County Cork, Ireland
Ireland is a green land of rolling hills, sheep and craggy coastline, to be sure. The people enchanted even more… a generous, welcoming, hilarious lot. One of my favorite people in recent Ireland travels was Liam O’Leary, distillery operations manager at New Midleton Distillery in County Cork, near the southern coast of Ireland. The name New Midleton may not mean … Read more →
Cheap Eats & Treats: Chicken Wings to Chocolate
HOT SAUCE & PANKO, Inner Richmond (1545 Clement St., between 16th & 17th Ave., 415-387-1908) Pretty much my favorite opening in recent weeks is Hot Sauce & Panko. Not only is the hot sauce collection about the best around (reaching from the deep South to Japan), but just glance through their blog to witness the owner’s quirky hilarity. As a… Read more →
St. George’s 3 New Gins
Consistently, St. George Spirits wears the crown for renegade inventiveness. As I wrote last year, Lance Winters, master distiller, and distillers Dave Smith and Chris Jordan, lead the way in out-of-the-box creativity. Never have I seen the like of their test tube apothecary of experimentation where they’ll try anything, from foie gras and beef jerky, to carrots and Dungeness crab,… Read more →