In the Summer 2023 print issue (Vol. 19, Issue 1) of Distiller Magazine: My Distiller Magazine features since 2013 (10 bars, distiller, bar manager interviews in each city/ region): Read more →
Author: Virginia Miller
August 1, 2023
THIS ISSUE:
— Noodle in a Haystack: Ramen-inspired tasting menu from self-taught chefs.
— Portugal’s Dining & Lodging Scene Now: And chef José Avillez’ new Casa Nossa retreat, in my VOICES magazine feature
— Che Fico is a Restaurant Reborn Post-Pandemic: They also still serve unique pastas & one of the ultimate, much-copied pineapple pizza
— New Orleans Bar Guide: My latest 10 top Nola bars guide in Gin Magazine
— Interview with Lost Spirits’ founders Bryan Davis & Joanne Haruta & distiller Mary Dempsey: My interviews with the Jammyland Bar Team in Las Vegas
Read more →
Noodle in a Haystack: Ramen-inspired tasting menu from self-taught chefs
When international fellow dining judge friends are asking me about tiny Noodle In A Haystack in my city of San Francisco, I pay attention. I was already curious but skeptical about the pricey ($185 extended menu, $130 weeknight menu) cult ramen pop-up, opened by husband-wife duo Yoko and Clint Tan in spring 2022 as their first brick-and-mortar. It’s looks abandoned: an unmarked corner space with covered-up windows and a 10-seat counter in the Inner Richmond… Read more →
Portugal’s Dining & Lodging Scene Now + Chef José Avillez’ New Casa Nossa Retreat
My interview with Portugal’s most celebrated chef, José Avillez; on Lisbon and Porto’s dining scene now; standout hotels in city and countryside across Portugal; and visiting Avillez’ and wife Sofia Ulrich’s truly unique, private new Casa Nossa retreat house in the region of Alentejo southeast of Lisbon. Read more →
Interview with Lost Spirits’ Founders Bryan Davis & Joanne Haruta + Distiller Mary Dempsey & the Jammyland Bar Team in Las Vegas
An amusement park and one-of-a-kind show-inspired distillery — that also houses an innovative fine dining restaurant… Lost Spirits shows us a new kind of distillery experience. Read more →
Che Fico is a restaurant reborn post-pandemic
Che Fico’s Ode to Judy Rodgers pizza. Photo Virginia Miller. Opening March 2018 and my #3 opening of the year in 2018, Che Fico has been a special pizza, pasta and house charcuterie haven in a city silly with the best in the nation in each of those categories. But despite our plethora of world-class pizza and pasta in San Francisco… Read more →
New Orleans Bar Guide at Gin Magazine
My latest feature in Gin Magazine, Summer 2023 (from the publishers of Whisky Magazine), is my Bar Guide to 10 top bars in New Orleans now (below in print layout): Bars featured: Revel Cafe & Bar, Loa, Dovetail, Jewel of the South, Cure, Four Seasons New Orleans: Miss River & Chemin a la Mer, The Elysian Bar, Palm & Pine, The Bower… Read more →
Packed from day one: the new Flour+Water Pizzeria hits North Beach
Truth be told, I’ve always been about chefs Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow’s Italy-worthy pastas at Flour + Water even more than the pizza at Flour + Water Pizzeria, which closed in the Mission last summer 2022. I still am most devoted to that original 2009 spot that started it all as a pasta-pizza combo restaurant, reborn early 2022, better-than-ever as a pasta haven deserving of a Michelin star. But Flour + Water Hospitality Group’s new Flour + Water Pizzeria just opened June 28, 2023, in North Beach in the former Rose Pistola space, an Italian favorite since I moved here in 2001, and of so many San Francisco longtimers. It’s heartwarming to see life in the 4,000 square foot space again after six years… Read more →
July 15, 2023
THIS ISSUE:
— Charleston Dining Guide: Where to eat and stay now in South Carolina’s Holy City.
— SF’s New Gambit Lounge: A wine bar with rare Central & Eastern European eats.
— Brand New Flour+Water Pizzeria Hits North Beach in the Old Rose Pistola Space: And it’s packed from day one!
— Is the $100 Pho Worth it at Inner Sunset’s New Gao Viet Kitchen? We’re not sure, but many other Vietnamese dishes here are worth going in for (and far more affordable).
— Distiller Bottle Column: This issue I review rum, aperitifs, gin, Scotch whisky, tequila, awamori, American whiskies, and more. Read more →
Charleston Dining Guide: Where to Eat & Stay Now
Chasing Sage‘s hummus olive oil tart. Photo by Virginia Miller. Charleston’s Colonial-era architecture with colorful Caribbean influence in soothing blues, pinks and yellows is one-of-a-kind. The small, walkable city has grown greatly in notable restaurants and bars the 16 years I’ve been visiting, far beyond its size in terms of the quality-to-size ratio. Its palmetto-lined streets are like stepping back in… Read more →