Oaxaca is more an experience of the senses than merely a place. It’s magic. Officially my favorite place in all of Mexico, it’s a small, ancient city rich with atmosphere, the smell of spices permeating the air, baskets everywhere piled high with mole blends or chapulines (fried grasshoppers). Hundreds of years old churches, live bands and street carts enliven cobblestone… Read more →
Two Spanish meals in SF, both wildly different, both transporting… one a chic restaurant from Esquire Magazine’s just named chef of the year, one an ideal neighborhood outpost. CANELA, Castro (2272 Market St. at Noe, 415-552.3000) Canela is an ideal neighborhood Spanish restaurant, a welcoming haven for Spanish wine or olive oil flights, platters of jamon Iberico and manchego cheese.… Read more →
Exploring mezcal distilleries with bartenders and staff from the fantastic Los Siete Misterios Mezcal, was one of the most unforgettable trips of my life. Besides amazing days in Mexico City (read more here) and the enchanting town of Oaxaca (more here), I had unreal experiences at distilleries where Los Siete Misterios’ different mezcal varietals are produced – there are six… Read more →
No doubt about it: gin has had a year. Small batch producers are sprouting up in greater numbers than ever – in the US but also the UK. Though Bay Area local, Old World Spirits, made waves with their barrel aged gin, Rusty Blade, years ago, the aged gin trend has taken off, with even legendary Beefeater (who I had… Read more →
It gets easier and easier to find an elevated cocktail in Wine Country, besides the superb cocktails at Healdsburg’s Spoonbar and Campo Fina or gratifying refreshers at The Thomas (Fagiani’s) in downtown Napa. Here are a few recent cocktail highlights and one top-notch bitters shop: Bitters Heaven NAPA VALLEY DISTILLERY’s Bitters Shop, Napa Tiny Napa Valley Distillery (the first licensed… Read more →
“The days are coming now… when harvest will follow directly after plowing, the treading of grapes soon after sowing, when the mountains will run with new wine and the hills all flow with it.” – Amos 9:13-14 As mid-October hits, I am returning to favorite countries – Italy, Austria and Switzerland – exploring new regions with my husband and parents.… Read more →
LA URBANA, Western Addition (661 Divisadero Street at Grove, 415-440-4500) After a preview a few months back and a visit to Mexico City exploring some of the city’s stellar restaurants (read about it here), I was excited to see La Urbana open in Western Addition this September. Having already dined there three times in the roughly five weeks it has… Read more →
Mexico City’s (MX) dining scene is HOT. Gorgeous diners smoke cigarettes while dining on sashimi platters accented by Mexican flavors from chiles to avocado. Experimentation – the likes of which is far advanced even from what one finds in Mexico’s second largest city, Guadalajara – reinvents classic Mexican flavors through an international, cosmopolitan lens (in San Francisco, the recent arrival… Read more →
Meeting lovely Véronique Van Acker-Beittel here in San Francisco in September, I learned fascinating things about genever (pronounced “jeh-NAY-ver”) that I was not aware of even after years of drinking and exploring the Dutch/Belgian spirit that is the predecessor to gin. As a Belgian native (from East Flanders, specifically) who moved to the US in 2002 and married an American, Van… Read more →
Late summer and harvest season have brought me to Sonoma and Napa for numerous excursions. Fall is my favorite season and time of year in Wine Country as vineyard leaves transform from green to blazing reds, yellows and oranges. Here are a few fall ideas – unusual tours and quality Mexican food (plus mezcal and tequila, when you need a… Read more →