BERKELEY • Gather – Yes, it’s local, sustainable, organic (even the spirits, wine and beer). Though that’s happily typical in the Bay Area, I venture to say that Gather, open only since December, already operates like a hardly “typical”, fully-realized restaurant. In a large, rounded corner room, the bustling, open space is in full view of the kitchen, a muted… Read more →
As far as I’m concerned, there’s room for it all. I crave artistic, mind-blowing experimentation as much as I hunger for pure, simple comfort food. We excel in the latter in San Francisco but I don’t see enough of the former. There’s Coi and Daniel Patterson bringing us fine dining in ways we won’t see it done anywhere else. But… Read more →
SPIRITS • Classic & Vintage Roadshow rolled into SF the first week of March with an industry tasting lunch at Nopa on March 3. This was an ideal tasting event as there were a handful of small batch vendors of highest quality. No wading through a sea of mediocrity to find a gem or two. This was a a selection… Read more →
The annual SF Chocolate Salon (held this year on March 20) is a spread-out sea of chocolate purveyors, plus a small few choco spirits, wines, and cheese thrown in for good measure, in massive Fort Mason. There were few new discoveries for me, and some were just plain awful, plus the disorganized will call check-in made for a frustrating start.… Read more →
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain It seems there’s never enough time and space to share all the daily joys of taste. In Top Tastes, I share some. Then, two Napa meals in Around the Bay: Redd and brand new Farmstead. Wandering Traveler continues through LA’s cocktail scene, from The Varnish to The Association. Imbiber… Read more →
Top Tastes, rather than a list of all-time favorites (another thing altogether), are among the best eats since my last newsletter, often from new openings. Many don’t make the cut, being a revisit previously written about or simply not as stand-out as dishes mentioned. MID-RANGE RESTAURANTS • Marlowe took over now defunct Aussie restaurant, South, a couple weeks ago and… Read more →
FARMSTEAD, St. Helena St. Helena’s new kid on the block, Farmstead, is part of delightful Long Meadow Ranch, a welcome package of winery (tasty $42 2005 Cab), poultry farm (eggs for sale!), herb garden, grass-fed beef ranch, and olive press (LOVE their grassy, gorgeous select extra virgin olive oil, $20 – I prefer it to their $49 Prato Lungo oil).… Read more →
Last issue, I wrote about recent eats in Los Angeles… this week it’s cocktails. The cocktail renaissance of the past decade plus has taken a long time to hit LA. For a major city, they’ve been behind the NY and SF curve. I’ve been eagerly waiting for that sort of standard to become more prevalent in LA. It’s getting there,… Read more →
• Viader is among the finer wines in Napa… and the place to go if you can’t stand California wines and remain married to old world, French sensibilities. Tucked up in the hills of Deer Park (between St. Helena and Calistoga), it’s a wonderland of mossy oaks and stunning vistas. Last month, founder, Delia Viader’s, daughter took my small group… Read more →
“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement .” – poet, Mary Oliver Back from Los Angeles and enjoying the alternating balmy, sunny days and rainy storms of February. Top Tastes in food include some spectacular cheeses, cheap eats in Middle Eastern food and a new chef at Urban Tavern, while… Read more →