Category: Around the Bay

Enclos: a new era for Sonoma dining

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Healdsburg has long been the favored Sonoma town square, packed with charm, shops and great food. Over the 24 years I’ve been visiting, it has grown into a destination for world travelers and foodies since SingleThread opened in 2016. Earning one, then two, and eventually three Michelin stars, Healdsburg has attracted upscale resorts, hotel remodels, pricey condos and a chic reputation.

Alternately, Sonoma’s larger town square has remained steady, even old-school, the past 24 years I’ve visited. With Enclos opening December 5, 2024, in a cozy Victorian cottage a half block off the square, the town is set to change: Read more →

Bay Area Overnights: Sausalito

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In my series of Bay Area/NorCal overnights (like these recent visits to Sonoma, Napa, Yountville), it’s a joy to hit somewhere so spectacular less than 20 minutes from home. Enter The Inn Above Tide in Sausalito. This enchanting seaside community village…

The Inn Above Tide is one of our most special local getaways (or destinations if you’re coming from afar) for Bay views and an intimate respite in the City’s backyard that feels worlds away in a Mediterranean-esque village. Here are three places to eat nearby: Read more →

SF Staycation — Luxury Hotels with New Menus: Luce at Intercontinental SF & MKT at Four Seasons San Francisco

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One of many things I adore about living in my beloved San Francisco for 23 years, far above my bi-coastal upbringing in the suburbs of LA and NYC and midwest Oklahoma and Kansas City roots, is the endless layers and beauty of tiny SF. Thus I am ever experiencing my City anew and rarely get “staycations.” I travel so much for dining and drink research, judging and consulting, it’s a gift when I am home, relishing the world class and unique joys abundant all around me.

However, it’s a privilege when I get a media invite to stay overnight to check out a hotel minutes from home after checking out a new menu or chef at said hotel. I recently visited two notable SF hotels offering feasts creative (Luce) or comforting (MKT). What worked (and didn’t) at each: Read more →

Bay Area Overnights: Magical Places to Eat & Stay in Sonoma County Now

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Published June 25, 2024, in my Medium column: This month, I review five notable restaurants and three luxurious-yet-relaxed resorts across Sonoma County, all resorts with remodels and two of them with notable restaurants. The restaurants range from high to low, sushi omakase tasting menu to order-at-the-counter Lebanese food. Here, eight places worth visiting now for a day trip or overnights in ever-magical… Read more →

YOUNTVILLE OVERNIGHT: Where to Eat, Stay & Drink in Napa Valley’s Most Foodie Town

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Published March 8, 2024, in my Medium column: A day trip or overnight in stunning Napa Valley is joy, and a regular part of the lives of many San Franciscans. In this guide, I’ve squeezed in a “cheap eats” spot, a 40-year restaurant classic and a notable new cocktail bar in the nearby town of Napa, but stay centered in Yountville. As… Read more →

Top Chef Master Chris Cosentino Quietly Ups the Seafood Game on Tomales Bay at Nick’s Cove

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I’d eat wherever San Francisco chef Chris Cosentino is cooking. I’m still missing his ahead-of-its-time Incanto (2002–2014), and his bold Cockscomb (2014–2020). He’s known for his TV runs, from The Next Iron Chef, to winning season four of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, and he spent recent years in Napa running Acacia House. But he’s long lived in SF and I await the day he’ll open a new restaurant in the City. Unexpectedly, since this fall, he’s commuting north to bucolic Tomales Bay in Marin County to run the kitchen at 1931 institution, Nick’s Cove. Read more →

Molti Amici: A new Healdsburg pizza-pasta-crudo destination that defines Sonoma Wine Country now

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Healdsburg is already known as a foodie haven, despite being small town Sonoma. Yes, it’s home to global restaurant destination, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ SingleThread, but also casual cocktail-food greats like Lo & Behold. I’d posit newcomer Molti Amici, debuting June 30 2023, from owner Jonny Barr, is already one of Healdsburg’s very best. Epitomizing Sonoma Wine Country now, it’s a wood-fired pizza, housemade pasta, seafood crudo and cocktail hang with bocce hidden in an inviting back patio. Read more →

“Real Deal” Turkish Food at Palo Alto’s New Meyhouse

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When I first dined at Meyhouse in Sunnyvale in 2019 not long after it opened, it was the best Turkish restaurant I’d been to in the West. So when I heard they were opening their second, more elegant Palo Alto location, I was “in,” despite the 45-ish minute drive there and back from San Francisco. As often happens, the opening was delayed, but Meyhouse finally debuted August 9, 2023, in a massive space with open air windows overlooking walkable downtown Palo Alto. Read more →