This article was first published here at Table8 where I am national editor. Neighborhood restaurants are the life blood of San Francisco, a city small in mileage but mighty in culinary influence and deep, international communities and cuisines. There are often those neighborhood gems that locals would rather everyone not know about. Places with a warm welcome, family-run, serving excellent… Read more →
This article was first published here at Table8 where I am national editor. The 6 key restaurant and bar openings of July are Corridor, Deccan Spice, Don Pisto’s Tequila Bar, Dabba, Scopo Divino and Black Cat. While there are strengths at each, here are my top three newcomers… and why they stand out. BLACK CAT, Tenderloin Opened the last week… Read more →
This article was first published here at Table8 where I am national editor. “… sashimi is velvet dust, verging on silk, or a bit of both, and the extraordinary alchemy of its gossamer essence allows it to preserve a milky density unknown even by clouds.”— The Gourmet/Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery Last fall, I wrote an article for Food Republic… Read more →
This article was first published here at Table8 where I am national editor. The 9 key restaurant and bar openings of June are Louie’s Gen-Gen Room, Tawla, Dum, In Situ, Two Birds/One Stone in St. Helena, P.C.H. (Pacific Cocktail Haven), Tratto, Duke’s Spirited Cocktails in Healdsburg and Agave Uptown in Oakland. Corridor, which opened at the end of the month,… Read more →
This article was first published here at Table8 where I am national editor. California pioneered the ethos of “come as you are”, though the trend has taken over the country in recent years. Especially in SF, LA and Napa, fine dining has leaned towards the casual for decades, even at its most refined. Whether movie stars or Silicon Valley moguls,… Read more →
This article was first published here at Table8 where I am national editor. The 10 key openings of May are Itani Ramen in Oakland, Mac Daddy, Fenix, Homage, Sushi Hashiri, Popsons, Orson’s Belly, Bellota, Sababa and Laszlo’s reopening. While there are strengths at each — all but one of which I’ve visited — here are my top three newcomers… and… Read more →
This article was first published here at Table8 where I am national editor. Daytime drinking — in the right setting with excellent food — transports me immediately to Europe, lingering over a Spritz and supplì streetside in Roma or a glass of wine with a long lunch in pretty much any European city. One of the many things I love… Read more →
My article was first published here on our national Table8 blog where I am national editor. Despite what seems like a limited category at first glance, there are many a Middle Eastern gem hidden around San Francisco, some of the best places having been around for years. There is the ever-fantastic Afghani dishes at one of our great food treasures,… Read more →
This is a preview of a regular column that will be part of the national Table8 blog we are about to launch this Spring — I will cover the Bay Area and am national editor over all cities/writers. With the constant flush of new openings in this queen of dining cities — and so many stellar newcomers — it becomes quite… Read more →
My article was first published here on our national Table8 blog where I am national editor. The key openings of April are: Mister Jiu’s, ‘aina, Wes Burger, Wildhawk, Horsefeather, The Lodge on Haight, Bar San Pancho, Barbary Coast Gastropub. The Lodge is great for affordable, order-at-the-counter eats in the Lower Haight and I’ll save ‘aina for May since it just… Read more →