Returning to my beloved New Orleans, a city I’ve explored extensively via a path laden with jazz, Dixieland, Zydeco, Ramos Gin Fizzes, Sazeracs, Cajun and Creole food, there were ever more finds, both new and classic. The sweltering humid heat of July during Tales of the Cocktail is not ideal weather to fill up on po boys and boudin, but… Read more →
““Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” – Rumi Weekending in Healdsburg, I’m reveling in harvest time in Sonoma County with Alice Waters and Carlo Petrini at a Slow Food Picnic. I return home to SF Cocktail Week, an ever memorable week… Read more →
Craft beers are in their heyday, alongside craft everything (coffee, spirits, food, etc…) From Anchor Brewing’s Fritz Maytag pioneering quality beer in the ’60’s, to the latest generation like Almanac Beer Co.‘s Jesse Friedman and Damian Fagan brewing farm-to-barrel seasonal ales and their new line of grocery store-ready (but still lively, fresh), bottled California table beers, San Francisco – and… Read more →
Judging a cocktail contest in Calistoga and sampling Wine Country cocktails early in 2011, I witnessed a rise in quality congruent with the cocktail renaissance exploding across the nation, beyond longtime torchbearers like SF and NY. This is especially notable in Wine Country where the god of wine dominates. Despite growth, making a dent in the all-consuming wine culture is… Read more →
From recommended bottles and fall events in Sonoma to urban wine classes, here’s a few wine tips to start the fall right. Watch Virginia Miller’s Appetite column for restaurants making some of Napa’s best cocktails and more Wine Country dining reviews. Urban Wine SF WINE CENTER, 757 Bryant St. between 5th & 6th Sts., 415-655-7300, www.sfwinecenter.com An in-house wine club,… Read more →
A fledgling new restaurant is a work in progress, an evolution. Often visiting restaurants in opening week, I’ll return 3-4 weeks later, noticing a marked improvement in rhythm and flow, if not a dramatic change in food – often first food impressions prove to be consistent. Returning 2, 3, 4 months into a restaurant’s life, if things are heading the… Read more →
UPCIDER, 1160 Polk St., 2nd Fl. at Sutter, 415-931-1797 Ever since savoring a fantastic New England cider pairing with each course of a fall dinner at NYC’s Gramercy Tavern years ago, I’ve wondered when we might witness the arrival of urban cider bars. SF’s new Upcider and Bushwhacker in Portland are it thus far. Two aspects of Upcider jump out… Read more →
“I love the sound of the bone against the plate and the fortress-like look of it lying before me in a moat of risotto, the meat soft as the leg of an angel who has lived a purely airborne existence. And best of all, the secret marrow, the invaded privacy of the animal prized out with a knife and swallowed… Read more →
SANDWICH-ing in the MISSION Photos and article by Virginia Miller Two unusual, new Mission sandwich options: one of the city’s best restaurants launches lunch with Scandinavian influence (part of the Nordic culinary wave finally reaching the West Coast), and a low-key panini shop opens, refreshingly real with Middle Eastern touches. BAR TARTINE, Mission (561 Valencia St. between 16th & 17th… Read more →
TRADITION, Tenderloin (441 Jones Street at O’Farrell; open Monday through Saturday at 6 pm-2am) Tradition is not neighboring Bourbon & Branch, part two. Though I continue to bring visitors and locals who’ve never been to the still magical B&B, Tradition is a more relaxed entrant in the Future Bars line-up, which includes Bourbon & Branch, Wilson & Wilson, Rickhouse, Swig, and Local Edition. Having been to Tradition… Read more →