Category: Top Tastes

June Eat & Drink Checklist: 5 Standout Newcomers

by  on  in Top Tastes

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 →

Tributing Thai Cuisine, Women, Culture & Bold Deliciousness: NARI

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Call Pim the Queen of modern Thai food. Named on Esquire’s shortlist of Best New Restaurants in America after opening in 2019, Nari’s chef/owner Pim Techamuanvivit is recently one of five final nominees for Best Chef: California at this year’s upcoming James Beard Awards… Most notably, all five California chef finalists this year are AAPI… two are Thai women. Read more →

Modern Indian Food (Still) Inspires: ROOH SF

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Published April 8, 2022, in my The Bold Italic column: With the pandemic closure of local treasures like August 1 Five, SF’s modern Indian options are fewer. Thank God for ROOH. With a name meaning ”soul” or “spirit,” ROOH has been a SoMa “progressive Indian” dining destination since 2017. Open flame, tandoori-focused ROOH Palo Alto location is its totally different, worthwhile sister, having the misfortune to… Read more →

Merchant Roots’ Themed Tasting Menu Releases Your Inner Child

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In the back of the cozy Merchant Roots wine shop, chef Ryan Shelton launched his first themed tasting menu in January 2019. I’ve raved about these wildly changing, eight-seat dinners ever since. You could call each playful, whimsical, creative, even intellectual, always blessedly delicious.

Yet still too few of you know about it or have dined there. Certainly, it’s Michelin-worthy. But in a spirited, mischievous, smart way, unlike anywhere else. Read more →