Category: Around the Bay

Red Sauce Italian Legend South of SF: Original Joe’s Westlake

I’ve been dining at Joe’s sister, Original Joe’s Westlake, under prior owners for the last two decades. Bruno Scatena opened Joe’s of Westlake in 1956, which was eventually run by his daughter, ​Melinda Scatena, who worked there since she was 14 years old, selling it as she ran into health problems. My husband, Dan “The Renaissance Man,” and I adored it in those years and it was perpetually packed as if it were the hottest new restaurant. Read more →

A Stone’s Throw (Yet World’s Away) from SF Retreat with Two New Restaurants: Cavallo Point

One of the most enchanting lodging options literally a stone’s throw from San Francisco is Cavallo Point, tucked into Fort Baker cove at the base of the hills right off Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito, gazing out at SF, the Bay and the Bridge. Besides its breathtaking views, it could almost be a part of the city, it’s so close. Yet it’s worlds away. Read more →

Mendocino & Fort Bragg Magic: Soulful, Foodie Weekend Getaways

Thin places — where heaven and earth come closer or the veil between the here and the otherworld is especially thin — is beloved lore for thousands of years. On California’s breathtaking Mendocino Coast, easily some of the most beautiful and mystical coastline in the world, the couple thousand acres of private coast and redwood forest that is home to The Inn at Newport Ranch since owner Will Jackson bought the land in the 1980s is just such a thin place. Read more →

Healdsburg Adventures at SingleThread, Little Saint and Montage

When Michelin Guide and Rémy Martin Cognac host a weekend with Healdsburg (the popular town in northern Sonoma County) greats, you go. Especially when its with three Michelin, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ SingleThread and luxe hotel Montage Healdsburg… and in your “backyard” just over an hour from home… Following in these steps, a pampering weekend or overnight could involve either or both of these restaurants and a stay at the Montage with highlights and key points on each. Read more →

Orkney Meets the California Coast: Weekending with Highland Park in Pescadero

Glory days with Scotch, whisk(e)y and Highland Park specifically, are still flowing. This past weekend, a sunny, cool October weekend on the Pacific Ocean coast just roughly 50 miles south of San Francisco, I (along with a few other media, photographers and writers) spent an unforgettable couple days with our west coast HP team at Costanoa, an eco-camp and lodge in Pescadero where we “glamped” in nicely outfitted tent cottages. Read more →

Food with a View: New Life at Navio in The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay

This week I veer from reviewing a San Francisco restaurant South to the Ritz-Carlton’s signature restaurant Navio. With this summer’s promotion of Chilean-born chef Roberto Riveros from executive sous chef to executive chef over all the resort’s culinary operations (restaurants, banquets, in-room dining), alongside Navio chef de cuisine Francisco Simón, Riveros has run or cooked in kitchens from Santiago to Hong Kong, including six years at three Michelin-star Lasarte in Barcelona. Simón cooked Michelin-starred restaurants throughout Spain, including being head chef of Enoteca Paco Pérez in Barcelona, and Navio is his first cooking venture in the states. Together they are changing up the kitchen at Navio. Read more →

Where to Eat, Drink & Stay in Downtown Napa Now

I’ve spent twenty-one years day-tripping and overnighting in Napa and written a few hundred articles about this incredible food and drink County in my various editor roles the past 15 years (a few listed here). I have been most everywhere of note across this — and multiple — California Wine Countries. This means each return to this neighboring County to my SF home either leads me to new spots or revisiting longtimers with notable changes. After nights in downtown Napa, here are six standouts to eat, drink and/or stay at now. Read more →