“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 →
The Bird Has Landed: State Bird Provisions
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 →
1930’s Revived in a Cole Valley Soda Fountain + An Interview with Menu Creator Russell Davis
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 →
CLASSIC CURACAO: Restoring a 19th Century Recipe
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
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 →
February 1, 2012
“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 →
Molecular Experimentation Is Alive & Well at BAUME, Palo Alto
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 →
Fighting Irish: The Launch of Concannon Irish Whiskey
An Irish whiskey with a Bay Area connection… Livermore, to be exact? It’s true. January saw the release of a brand new whiskey, not a common occurrence in Ireland. What better way to initiate this new release than with a Bon Vivants’ party? My recent travails through Ireland, particularly exploring whiskey production in County Cork (from pot still beauties like Redbreast,… Read more →
Science of Cocktails 2012 at the Exploratorium
Though Science of Cocktails may be on hiatus next year due to the Exploratorium‘s big move to the Embarcadero, this year’s party is worth highlighting. Attending since the inaugural event three years ago (my review here), Science of Cocktails gets better each year. I’m not sure if the new VIP area added much other than a bird’s-eye view from above… Read more →
The Face of Bordeaux’s Wines: Meeting Winemakers Around the Region
The Face of Bordeaux Photos & article by Virginia Miller Watch out: Bordeaux will surprise you. Many wine industry friends and sommeliers I talk to think of Bordeaux wines as pricey, out of reach, inaccessible…. or as some of the best in the world. Visiting numerous winemakers throughout the region during their recent harvest, I was surprised by the number… Read more →