Popi’s Oysterette’s Fresno chile half crab. Photo by Virginia Miller. San Francisco’s history is interlaced deeply with seafood. Dungeness crab. Local halibut. Anchovies. Tomales Bay oysters. It’s in our blood and roots. SF’s style of seafood oyster bars are its own. Popi’s Oysterette, just opened in the Marina from chef/partner Melissa Perfit, a former “Top Chef” contestant who cooked at my… Read more →
THIS ISSUE:
— The New, Dark, Moody, Lush, Unique Aphotic Restaurant: Wildly sustainable seafood and house-distilled cocktails in one of the most exciting new openings of the year thus far.
— April Eats: 8 SF & Oakland spots winning with cocktails AND food.
— Eating & Drinking Around Raleigh-Durham: My 12-stop North Carolina restaurant and bar guide.
— Rare Isaan Thai Platters Hidden Off A FiDi Alley: The new Hed VeryThai reviewed.
— DISTILLER Bottle Column: This issue I review rum, shochu, gin, Scotch whisky, mezcal, RTDs (ready-to-drink canned/bottled drinks), port, bourbon whiskey. Read more →
Hed (Isaan for ‘to make’ in an authentic way) VeryThai just opened late January 2023 hidden in a downtown Financial District alley off Kearny Street, focused on Isaan Northeastern Thai cuisine. But unlike many in town serving dishes from that region, Hed VeryThai serves food in khao gaeng style. While that broadly translates to curry over rice, it’s a platter of mini-bowls of complementary dishes, playing off contrasting flavors and textures. Read more →
These new spots or new menus cover the gamut, from Filipino-Mexican to Peruvian. Alongside my full restaurant reviews this month, these eight (and a bonus 9th bar) are well worth visiting. Last month’s standouts are here (as always, I’ve personally vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed): Read more →
Spirits reviewed this issue:
— Burdekin Distillery Vintage Cane Spirit
— BENIIKKO Shochu
— Oak House Distillery Robert’s No. 1 Dry Gin
— Talisker 44 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky
— Deadmau5 and CoCo Vodka RTD
— Fósforo Tobalá Mezcal
— Consensual Old White 10 Years Porto
and more Read more →
The Umstead Hotel & Spa, Cary, NC. Photo by Virginia Miller. Though I have been to Charleston over four times the past 16 years, I hadn’t been back to North Carolina in 16 years, when I took my first (of multiple) two week road trip across the Deep South to study my barbecue styles. North Carolina is famed for BBQ and… Read more →
I won’t forget my first visit to Palette soon after opening in 2019 when chef Peter Hemsley grilled up rare, local coonstripe shrimp just caught that morning, buttery-fresh and revelatory; like eating our divine local spot prawns for the first time. Midwest-born Hemsley’s hand with seafood was evident from those early days. So maybe it’s little surprise that as Palette closed, Hemsley and team just opened Aphotic in the same space on March 21, 2023, as a sleek tribute to… you guessed it: seafood. Read more →
THIS ISSUE:
— Juniper & Starter Bakery: Two new bakeries already set to stand among the Bay’s best.
— Coho: In sleepy Mill Valley, a surprisingly quality land-to-sea newcomer.
— St. Louis Dining Guide: 13 Places to Eat & Drink Now.
— Staycation Palo Alto: A Spanish-themed hotel & two newer restaurants.
— DISTILLER Bottle Column: This issue I review rum, sherry, gin, non-alcoholic wines, Australian whiskies, soju, ciders, American single malt and vodka. Read more →
Opened October 2021 by Finn Stern and Stella Dennig, as Oakland’s Daytrip approaches one and a half years of age, it has become clear it’s one of the city’s best restaurants now. It was named one of Bon Appetit’s top 10 new restaurants in America in 2022 and is one of the tougher reservations in OAK. Read more →
From its iconic Gateway Arch, the tallest manmade monument in the Western hemisphere, to its rich blues music history, St. Louis can be easy nationally to miss.
There is plenty of mediocrity on the food front, to be sure… But over two visits in 2022, I visited over 40 STL restaurants, food stops and bars, with these 13 holding the strongest highlights: Read more →