Staying in Sunnyvale in the heart of Silicon Valley surrounded Google offices may not sound like the ideal weekend “getaway.” But when you tell me there is a Bay Area hotel with a Japanese-American chef cooking inspired Japanese-influenced food, a Suntory Toki highball machine in-house and Japanese whiskey focus, I’m intrigued. Read more →
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 →
Yes, it’s a vegan restaurant. And from the dynamic team behind three-Michelin-starred, The World’s 50 Best’s SingleThread, no less. Open on Earth Day, April 22, 2002, in Healdsburg’s former SHED, Little Saint’s massive 10,000-square-foot space houses an all-day cafe, bar, wine and gourmet foods shop, full-on restaurant and art gallery with live music… Read more →
I present to you (arguably) Petaluma’s top tasting menu. The cliche goes that good things come in small packages and this treat is downright tiny. Blink and you’ll miss the Petaluma Boulevard storefront housing intimate, cozy, 10-table Table Culture Provisions (TCP) opened in the former Chili Joe’s towards the end of 2021. Read more →
Six new restaurants/eateries, plus one pre-pandemic gem and two bar stops, all draw me to the East Bay. Digging in also meant some disappointments, including solid but not destination-worthy cocktails at charming Palmetto, or overwrought cocktails that sound exciting but don’t deliver at The Miranda. But each of these eight has one (or a few) winning aspects: Read more →
These six notable newcomers cover the gamut, from Mexican pizza and Jewish deli pop-ups inside established restaurants, to a food hall nailing cuisine from Africa to the Middle East. Alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews — Good Good Culture Club from Liholiho Yacht Club, Automat from Lazy Bear, Chuck’s Takeaway from Charles Phan, Fort Point Valencia and 6 newcomers cafe & food truck edition — these new restaurants are worth eating at now: Read more →
The old Russian River logging outpost of Guerneville has long been a redwoods escape, tucked away in West Sonoma County towards the ocean. It also has been a LGBTQ+ haven (and weekending or second home for San Franciscans) since the 1970s. It’s the kind of small town where over the years (a couple of my past articles here and here) I’ve stumbled upon Pride parades and fire station BBQs, American flags alongside rainbow flags, and where I restore with sacred walks in one of my favorite redwoods forests, Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, which reopened late fall 2021 — majestic and nurturing as ever — despite the charred scars it wears from the Walbridge fire.
Here’s your latest Guerneville checklist:
Over the past 20 years, I’ve spent countless hours in the popular Sonoma town of Healdsburg, whether overnights or stops when passing through (past recommends here and here). I have dear friends based in the town and numerous favorite spots in what is one of the best towns to eat and drink in expansive Sonoma County. I’m here to tell you about some notable newcomers, old faves and a lovely hotel — and with three Michelin-starred /The World’s 50 Best SingleThread’s new plant-based restaurant, cafe and wine shop, Little Saint, coming this Spring, there will be even more reasons to return. Here’s your latest Healdsburg checklist.
As COVID rages on, local trips and overnights beckon for easy, close-to-home getaways that don’t require flights. It was 2011 when I last wrote about Santa Cruz highlights, though I’ve stayed there and passed through numerous times in between, including visiting the chill town of Aptos, eight miles down the road. Here is my guide to a few highlights in the laid back, surfer city of Santa Cruz (SC), a brief 70 miles south of San Francisco.
Lake Tahoe has long held the enchantment for me it has for many: stunning beauty, expansive blue, snow-capped mountains on all sides, dense pine and fir forests. It’s the Switzerland of California, complete with wood cabins and cozy restaurants.
Granted, much of the food caters to tourists or the basics — city-worthy food, this is not, only slightly improving in the 20 years I’ve been week-ending in Tahoe. But there are gems and here’s a guide to a few, from dining to coffee to cocktails, in South Lake Tahoe.