Article & photos by Virginia Miller Here’s my April 10th photo slideshow and article on 10 best spring cocktails in San Francisco for Zagat: www.zagat.com/b/san-francisco/10-best-spring-cocktails-in-san-francisco#1. Read more →
Guam Island Breezes in the Mission at Prubechu
PRUBECHU, 2487 Mission St. between 24th & 25th, 415-952-3654 Merely open two and a half months, Prubechu – meaning “you’re welcome” – is easily the tasting menu steal in the city. For merely $40, it’s an imaginative five courses touched with fine dining flair in an uber-casual setting. As the city’s only Chamorro (Guamanian) restaurant, the island breezes of Guam… Read more →
7 Washington Craft Spirits You Should Know
Article and Photos (unless otherwise noted) by Virginia Miller Three Seattle visits in the past seven months centered around craft distillery and cocktail bar research means a few spirits have stood out among the dozens I’ve tasted from Washington state, most launched in recent years. Here are my top seven from the glut of craft distillers hitting the Washington market:… Read more →
April 1, 2014
“She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.” ― Annie Dillard, The Living This issue finds me in Seattle, moderating a panel on Women in Distilling at ADI’s Craft Spirits Conference, attended by over 1000 industry folk, with a gala dinner last night announcing craft spirits medal winners from the judging I was part of… Read more →
3 Reasons To Check Out the New Loló
LOLO, Mission (974 Valencia Street, between 20th & 21st, 415-643-5656) Loló, with its whimsical, colorful decor and unusual interpretations of Mexican food, has been one of my underrated dining favorites since it opened six years ago. In all honesty, I miss the two-roomed intimacy of its original 22nd Street location. But since they moved just a couple blocks to their… Read more →
Why You Need to Try Real Schnaps
Whatever association you have with the word Schnapps, or Schnaps, as it is known in Germanic countries (the word means “swallow”), it likely isn’t good. Sour apple, pucker, fruit flavors… you might think of cheap, sugary liqueurs in unnatural colors. But this, my friends, is not real schnaps. In Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and the French region of Alsace, schnaps, edelbrande or… Read more →
The Spain You’ve Never Met – Traveling Galicia
Windswept, green hills rolling to the ocean. Grey skies. Celtic statues and artwork. Vibrant seafood. Sounds more like Ireland than Spain, right? The northernmost Western reaches of Spain – with Ireland just across the sea – reminded me more of the Emerald Isle than it did of previous travels in Barcelona and down the coast to the south of Spain.… Read more →
WHITE SPRING: Alsace Varietals (and more) from Anderson Valley
“Wine is bottled poetry.” – Robert Louis Stevenson The further my palate develops, the more I adore white wines in all their wide range of complexities. Ignorantly, in my youthful days, I used to mostly drink reds, missing out on worlds of flavor. Thankfully, I’ve only fallen more in love with countless white varietals over years of incessant tasting. Among… Read more →
Carmel Weekend at a Michelin-starred Restaurant & Romantic Hotel
Aubergine at L’Auberge Carmel, a boutique hotel right in the walkable, intimate town of Carmel, is no stranger to awards. They are one of only 500 Relais & Châteaux privately owned hotel and restaurants in the world, awarded for being a standard setter in the combination of cuisine and charming hotel character. In 2013, Executive Chef Justin Cogley was named… Read more →
March 15, 2014
“A writer is someone who pays attention to the world – a writer is a professional observer.” – Susan Sontag I’m off to Oregon for a sake and izakaya press trip, but meanwhile have been savoring the continued radiant weather at home with walks in the park, front stoop drinks with neighbors, and gazing out at the ocean with The… Read more →