MAVEN, Lower Fillmore (598 Haight St. at Steiner, 415-829-7982) Enter through a corner door to a restaurant lined with high communal tables, upstairs seating area, and a redwood bar backed by a stone wall overflowing with plant life. Formerly RNM, Maven is a sleek, new cocktail haven in Lower Haight. I knew the cocktails would be good, but I was pleasantly… Read more →
GITANE, Financial District (6 Claude Lane between Bush & Sutter Streets, 415-788-6686) While I miss the sophisticated, out-of-the-box cocktails of former bar managers Carlo Splendorini and Alex Smith at Gitane (they both continue to craft excellent drinks, Splendorini at Michael Mina, Smith at Honor Bar), I am pleased to say Gitane, one of the sexiest spots in all of SF,… Read more →
After years of hunting, the day finally came when I could find proper cocktails in LA, even if it was years behind NY or SF. I’ve covered LA cocktail bars in recent years as the quality has rapidly grown, with my latest visit yielding the most consistent drinks yet.Their cocktail renaissance is coming into its own, even if a local… Read more →
“A person who likes to eat and drink can really pull the plug in San Francisco. It has everything from the world’s best hamburgers… to the world’s most esoteric and exotic foods… And, as San Francisco is a very small city, your choice for the evening is never more than minutes away.” – Russell Chatham, Dark Waters February rolls on…… Read more →
STATE BIRD PROVISIONS, Lower Fillmore/Japantown (1529 Fillmore St. between Geary & O’Farrell, 415-795-1273) 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 Yoshi’s SF, Boom Boom Room, Sheba Piano Lounge, Rasselas, and other blues/jazz venues, the subtly gritty streets echo with its soulful past.… Read more →
ICE CREAM BAR & SODA FOUNTAIN, Cole Valley (815 Cole St. at Carl; 415-742-4932) I was born of another time. As much as I wouldn’t trade the rights and access of today, I hunger for the romance, artistry, and intellectual pace of eras gone by. As a child, I grew up on classic films and white-bread shows like Father Knows… Read more →
Did you know there is an orange called the Curacao? It’s a variety of orange extremely bitter to taste, with weathered skin. Drying them in the sun releases fragrant oils. Homely as the orange may be, its intense flavor was valued in making curacao in ages past. American palates aren’t exactly prone to bitter. We’ve been so weaned on sugar,… Read more →
Edible Adventures in the city of BORDEAUX Photos & article by Virginia Miller A week loaded with fatty duck, foie gras, canneles, and, of course, wine… such was my time in Bordeaux (see last issue on Bordeaux winemakers). Try tasting numerous wines from morning till night in weather just shy of 90 degrees. Though I was craving a good cocktail… Read more →
“You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by… but some of them are golden only because we let them slip.” – J.M. Barrie It’s February… a month that will take me to Kentucky, Denver, and Monterey. Meanwhile, I am grateful to be right here at home in San Francisco, savoring its endless treasures. In Around the… Read more →
There are meals that live on in memory: a diorama of conversation, heartwarming food, and that misty glow from a fine bottle of wine. Then there are the game changers, meals that are an elaborate tapestry, weaving complex threads of creativity into an unexpected whole. True: experimentation is useless if it is not also delicious. But if the food is… Read more →