The annual SF Chocolate Salon (held this year on March 20) is a spread-out sea of chocolate purveyors, plus a small few choco spirits, wines, and cheese thrown in for good measure, in massive Fort Mason. There were few new discoveries for me, and some were just plain awful, plus the disorganized will call check-in made for a frustrating start.… Read more →
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain It seems there’s never enough time and space to share all the daily joys of taste. In Top Tastes, I share some. Then, two Napa meals in Around the Bay: Redd and brand new Farmstead. Wandering Traveler continues through LA’s cocktail scene, from The Varnish to The Association. Imbiber… 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. MID-RANGE RESTAURANTS • Marlowe took over now defunct Aussie restaurant, South, a couple weeks ago and… Read more →
FARMSTEAD, St. Helena St. Helena’s new kid on the block, Farmstead, is part of delightful Long Meadow Ranch, a welcome package of winery (tasty $42 2005 Cab), poultry farm (eggs for sale!), herb garden, grass-fed beef ranch, and olive press (LOVE their grassy, gorgeous select extra virgin olive oil, $20 – I prefer it to their $49 Prato Lungo oil).… Read more →
Last issue, I wrote about recent eats in Los Angeles… this week it’s cocktails. The cocktail renaissance of the past decade plus has taken a long time to hit LA. For a major city, they’ve been behind the NY and SF curve. I’ve been eagerly waiting for that sort of standard to become more prevalent in LA. It’s getting there,… Read more →
• Viader is among the finer wines in Napa… and the place to go if you can’t stand California wines and remain married to old world, French sensibilities. Tucked up in the hills of Deer Park (between St. Helena and Calistoga), it’s a wonderland of mossy oaks and stunning vistas. Last month, founder, Delia Viader’s, daughter took my small group… Read more →
“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement .” – poet, Mary Oliver Back from Los Angeles and enjoying the alternating balmy, sunny days and rainy storms of February. Top Tastes in food include some spectacular cheeses, cheap eats in Middle Eastern food and a new chef at Urban Tavern, while… Read more →
Five decades of Highland Park with cheese, Mexican coconut buns, two new Middle Eastern restaurants, Hobbs bacon “tato tots”, buttermilk Vidalia onion rings Top Tastes, rather than a list of all-time favorites (another thing altogether), is highlights of the best things I’ve been eating since my last newsletter, often from new openings. Many don’t make the cut, being a revisit… Read more →
SPIRITS • For someone who’s every day is a taste adventure, I will say a private Russell’s Room tasting at Bourbon & Branch of Highland Park scotches was one of the most memorable I’ve ever been privileged to be a part of. There are only two such tastings going on in the country: here and in New York. I felt… Read more →
February 23rd was a night of island breezes and mai tais despite the pouring rain outside in Burlingame’s striking Sub-Zero & Wolf Showroom. Three of Hawaii’s biggest chefs, Roy Yamaguchi (yes, that Roy of Roy’s restaurants), Alan Wong and D.K. Kodama, plus a mixologist, wine-maker, products (like sweet and spicy Kilauea hot sauce), all came over from the islands,… Read more →