GAUMENKITZEL, meaning ‘delight for the taste buds’, opens later this week (if all goes as planned) in an open, sunny space on San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley. Owner Anja Voth brings restaurant and patisserie experience from Hamburg and Berlin. Her husband Kai Flache constructed and designed the restaurant with his local firm. They operate as a gracious, complimentary team. A… Read more →
Fancy Food, the largest showcase of specialty foods in North America (held annually in NYC and SF) returned to the Moscone Center, January 16-18. Again I explored thousands of products from around the world, with the limits of my stomach to slow me after hours of sampling. Fancy Food showcases trends in food, which there’s been much talk of… Read more →
“I wanted to get lost and love the questions there Beauty and the truth I could breathe like air Then I finally found the signposts in a strange land.” – Sam Phillips’ song “Signposts” The new year is certainly in full swing already. My moments of solitude and reflection have been sweet but I’m already fighting to keep them in… Read more →
I’ve been a couple times to Michael Mina’s new Bourbon Steak in Union Square… admittedly a national chain, something I approach with caution, if at all. But, then, it’s Michael Mina. Hype, fame and all, I’ve consistently experienced great to superb meals at his flagship restaurant over the years. Bourbon Steak held some warm and fuzzy Mina moments. I almost… Read more →
Top Tastes, rather than a list of all-time favorites (another thing altogether), are among the best eats since my last newsletter, often from new openings. Many don’t make the cut, being a revisit previously written about or simply not as stand-out as dishes mentioned. A MEAL CHABAA THAI’S Pork Neck Larb, Inner Sunset – I am transported straight back to… Read more →
In a ridiculously rich year of new restaurant openings, the most prolific I’ve seen yet, it is harder than ever to name the top ones. There are many noteworthy places, from the “Mad Men”-esque vibe of Thermidor, to the stratospheric prices and fabulous snapping turtle veloute at Benu. Some of our best cafes (Ma’velous) and cocktail bars (Burritt Room) were… Read more →
In Top Tastes I list the top ten new restaurant openings of the year in San Francisco. Here I list an additional four best new Bay Area openings: one in the South Bay, two in the East Bay, one in Wine Country. In the midst of Oakland’s continued proliferation as a dining hotspot and the new downtown Napa reign of… Read more →
“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.” – John Boswell Happy New Year, friends! I’ve been out of town with family and recovering from sickness so this issue delivers a few stories from recent travels and meals prior to my Oklahoma trip. I wish you… Read more →
Easily the best new opening in Oakland in 2010, Daniel Patterson’s long-anticipated Plum delivers his impeccable technique in heartwarming food. After a handful of visits both for dinner and lunch (and a preview dinner back in September), I come away with a sense of being enveloped, not by the communal seating or uncomfortable bar stools, but by the warmth of… Read more →
Fortaleza is truly a special tequila. On my recent visit to Tequila, Mexico, this distillery enchanted with its agave covered hillsides and haunting caves. Fortaleza means fortitude, though in Mexico, you’ll find their bottles labeled Los Abuelos in memory of the grandfathers of Guillermo E. Sauza, the fifth generation producer who passionately runs Fortaleza by old world methods. He comes… Read more →