Category: Top Tastes

Fort Point Valencia’s Playful Take on SF-Style Seafood & Historic SF Dishes

by  on  in Top Tastes

In February 2022, I visited and reviewed Fort Point Valencia as it reopened. Reborn from a long pandemic closure, it was a shining example of a local, SF-based brewery with a unique, fresh style and focus… But with the recent departure of chef Eric Ehler and the arrival of new culinary director Cecile Macasero (former chef de cuisine at SF’s Michelin-starred Thai great, Kin Khao, which, thankfully, is about to reopen, and of Renee Erickson’s award-winning Sea Creatures group in Seattle), the food has totally changed to a refreshing — and playful — take on SF-style seafood. Read more →

Upscale Chinese with a View in SF Chinatown: Empress by Boon

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San Francisco’s Chinatown is the oldest in North America, a dense, rich Chinese community since the 1850s. In these charming, narrow streets, legendary Empress of China began restoration in 2019 and after a long wait and pandemic delays, opened June 2021 as Empress by Boon, a gorgeous Atelier LLYS-designed, 7,500-square-foot space with killer views over Chinatown, North Beach, Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill and the Bay… Read more →

From Louisiana to Jordan, Turntable at Lord Stanley Showcases Global Chefs in SF

by  on  in On the Town, Top Tastes

In September 2021, I wrote here about the pandemic evolution of Michelin-starred Lord Stanley into Turntable at Lord Stanley, an exciting residency for chefs from around the globe and the U.S. to showcase their beloved menus, concepts they’re working on or other collaborations with the tight and consummate Lord Stanley team. Returning this August 2022, I experienced chef Melissa M. Martin’s cooking from New Orleans’ lauded Mosquito Supper Club: Read more →

An Ode to Japanese Wagyu… Sans the Steak: Gozu

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Imagine: soba noodles teeming in wagyu foam. Brown butter chawanmushi (savory Japanese custard) layered in fat-washed wagyu dashi. Or wagyu fat-laced salted chocolate chip cookies hot out of the oven.I’m in and am guessing you are, too (unless you don’t eat beef — and if you do minimally, this is the place to do so thanks to the quality and the minimalism). These are just a few of the glories I’ve eaten at Gozu in SoMa from chef Marc Zimmerman and entrepreneur Benjamin Jorgensen since it opened November 2019. Read more →

Our #1 New Restaurant of 2021, Over 1 Year In: Ernest

by  on  in Best Of, Top Tastes

Ernest opened March 2021 in the lofty, two-tiered, industrial space that formerly housed Coffee Bar. One year into the pandemic — which means they were in planning mode well before — was one of the worst times to open a restaurant, especially an ambitious one. Next door to legendary Heath Ceramics, and in a neighborhood lined with nationally lauded restaurants and bars, Ernest entered seamlessly into that tier.

Now, a few visits later and over one year in, my review on Ernest today: Read more →

June Eat & Drink Checklist: 5 Standout Newcomers

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These five newcomers (or new menus) cover the gamut, from Korean hot pot to Roman-style pizza. Here is what is standing out at each, alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews. And for the kids (and kid in you), hit up brand new Ghirardelli Chocolate Experience Store, tributing Ghirardelli’s 170th anniversary with much more seating options (read: no lines for locals) and chocolate-making viewing, in-house sundaes, ice cream and chocolate drinks (as always, I’ve vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed): Read more →

Michelin-Starred SF Great, State Bird Provisions, 10 Years In

by  on  in Best Of, Top Tastes

When Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions opened in December 2012, I reviewed it at the SF Bay Guardian, saying, “Jazz is the soundtrack of the streets of Lower Fillmore. From its storied days as the ‘Harlem of the West,’ to the current seat of… blues/jazz venues, the subtly gritty streets echo with its soulful past. I would venture to say Fillmore newcomer State Bird Provisions is an ideal jazz companion. There’s no musical connection. But the spirit of jazz is present in their playful, dim sum-style presentation… and in the way… Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, evolve the menu almost daily… Plates flow out on carts or trays like an experimental jazz riff, but never feel rootless.”

10 years (and a few months) later, jazz fanatic that I am, still feeling those improvisational chops, even as the team has evolved. Review here: Read more →