A fledgling new restaurant is a work in progress, an evolution. Often visiting restaurants in opening week, I’ll return 3-4 weeks later, noticing a marked improvement in rhythm and flow, if not a dramatic change in food – often first food impressions prove to be consistent. Returning 2, 3, 4 months into a restaurant’s life, if things are heading the… Read more →
SANDWICH-ing in the MISSION Photos and article by Virginia Miller Two unusual, new Mission sandwich options: one of the city’s best restaurants launches lunch with Scandinavian influence (part of the Nordic culinary wave finally reaching the West Coast), and a low-key panini shop opens, refreshingly real with Middle Eastern touches. BAR TARTINE, Mission (561 Valencia St. between 16th & 17th… Read more →
PLÄJ, Civic Center (333 Fulton St. between Franklin & Gough, 415-294-8925) The world has become hooked on New Nordic cuisine in recent years, thanks to Copenhagen’s Noma, named World’s #1 Best Restaurant for three years straight, sparking a global interest in all things Scandinavian and a new generation of chefs. Before this renaissance, I dined at Aquavit in New York City,… Read more →
San Francisco is a pizza town. We’re obsessed with our pies, particularly the Neapolitan kind. Getting into favorites is a tricky subject as one has to dig through a sea of styles: Neapolitan, NY slice, Chicago deep dish, California creative, and so on, to begin to categorize “bests.” We won’t list all-time favorites now, but scouring joints new and old… Read more →
Media hype has been high for pastry chef/owner William Werner’s new Craftsman & Wolves, a unique Mission bakery/cafe/patisserie for creative baked goods and sweets, changing sandwiches and salads, Sightglass Coffee, Naivetea, crave-inducing Valrhona drinking chocolate and (you’re hearing right) dreamy, sippable caramel made with salted butter and mini-croissant crostini to dunk. At a media preview on 6/13 a few days… Read more →
Moving from Southern California to New Jersey at age 14, New York first revealed to me what a true city is. When in that NY state of mind (Billy Joel playing in the background helps), I miss its boundless energy, frank people, eclectic neighborhoods and brownstones, and, yes, East Coast-style Italian. Both in the city and Jersey suburbs where I… Read more →
NAMU GAJI, Mission (499 Dolores St. at 18th, 415-431-6268) Though Namu Gaji is brand new, the presence of Namu and the Lee brothers, Dennis, David and Daniel, has been felt in San Francisco for years. Since 2006, the Lee Brothers have been weaving Korean, Japanese and a mixture of Asian cuisines with California spirit in the original, now shuttered Richmond… Read more →
GOURMET CHEAP EATS: From Piroshkis to Pizza Photos & article by Virginia Miller Trekking around the Bay for what is not at all elusive – excellent food – is ever a pleasure. Finding it on the cheap? Options are endless. Sandwiches stand as one of the easiest ways to fill up for less, making the continued glut of sandwich openings… Read more →
The lunch hour advances around town with a slew of notable openings or new lunch menus. Here are some of the best lunches from new chefs or recently opened spots (most opened in the last one to six months). NOMBE, Mission (2491 Mission St. at 21st, 415-681-7150) Nombe faced a bit of a struggle recovering from uber-talented chef Nick Balla’s… Read more →
MAVEN, Lower Fillmore (598 Haight St. at Steiner, 415-829-7982) Enter through a corner door to a restaurant lined with high communal tables, upstairs seating area, and a redwood bar backed by a stone wall overflowing with plant life. Formerly RNM, Maven is a sleek, new cocktail haven in Lower Haight. I knew the cocktails would be good, but I was pleasantly… Read more →