SF Cocktail Week has already been a whirlwind of fun and a showcase of the incredible talents and tastes of our cocktail city. And it isn’t over yet! See you at Jardinere’s closing party on Monday… Here’s my mini-tribute to the San Francisco regional and the US national United States Bartenders’ Guild competitions held all day on Tuesday, May 12,… Read more →
Top Tastes
Mission Beach Cafe 198 Guerrero Street (at 14th) San Francisco, CA 94103 415-861-0198 www.missionbeachcafesf.com I’ve long loved Mission Beach Cafe for Blue Bottle Coffee (perfect cappuccinos and espressos), some of SF’s best pastries and a rockin’ brunch. With Thomas Martinez back, now as Executive Chef (age 22 and already this good? Watch out!), the dinner menu is also a journey… Read more →
May 2009
“When it comes to food, sounds, too, can be aphrodisiac… the hissing sound of an onion browning in oil, the syncopated rhythm of a knife mincing vegetables, the burble of the boiling pot into which unfortunate shellfish will fall in an instant, the crrrack of of nuts being shelled, the patient song of the mortar grinding seeds; the liquid notes… Read more →
Top Tastes: Talking Cocktails, Chicharrones & She Crab Soup
Eating is highly subjective, and the man who accepts say-so in youth will wind up in bad and overtouted restaurants in middle age, ordering what the maitre d’hotel suggests.”– A.J. Liebling, “Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris”, 1962 I can barely keep up with all the amazing tastes this month. So, narrowing it down… BREAKFAST • Nothing like Chicken &… Read more →
Around the Bay: Reviewing Marzano in Oakland
MARZANO 4214 Park Boulevard (at Glenfield) Oakland, CA 94602 510-531-4500 www.marzanorestaurant.com Open since December, I finally made it to Oakland’s idyllic, tree-lined Glenview neighborhood for Marzano, opened by the team behind Garibaldi’s. While I sighed at yet another Rustic Italian menu, a tapped-out field in my book, expectations began to shift from first look at the medieval wood-beam ceiling and… Read more →
My Favorite Events of Spring 2009: Ministry of Rum & Meatpaper’s Pig Party
My favorite events this month… MEATPAPER’S PIG PARTY at Camino The setting couldn’t be more ideal for a pig party: wood floors, beams and chandeliers, long tables, and a roaring hearth fire with counter big enough to hold a massive pig and all array of homemade sausages, pig tails and terrines. It felt akin to a rustic, British home where… Read more →
Dining at 4 Italian and Sushi LA Classics
ANGELINI OSTERIA The best Italian I’ve eaten in Los Angeles… even LA Times calls Chef Gino Angelini: “hands down, the best Italian chef in LA.” Angelini Osteria is cramped: you’re literally sardine-packed in, but affably flirty Italian waiters and gustatory pleasures make you (almost) forget. You have to shout above the din, but even with a group of friends, I… Read more →
April 2009
“The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite. Without this, it is impossible to accumulate… enough experience of eating to have anything worth setting down. Each day brings only two opportunities for field work, and they are not to be wasted minimizing the intake of cholesterol.” – A.J. Liebling, “Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris” “Other… Read more →
Coffee & Toast, Italian Brunch, Bacon Lattes, Oaxacan Eats, Lunch Hour & Notable Cocktails
As always, a taste-rich month in my city. Visited old favorites like Tommy’s for champion margaritas, Little Delhi’s savory Indian in the Tenderloin (glad they now have chaat on the menu), brunch and cocktails at classy, retro Presidio Social Club, hit-the-spot cheeseburgers at Sam’s, and Pho Ga at Turtle Tower. Then there’s new spots that didn’t quite grab me upon… Read more →
Spanish Authenticity: Contigo in Noe Valley
Contigo 1320 Castro Street (at 24th)San Francisco, CA 94114415-285-0250 www.contigosf.com www.inpraiseofsardines.com My cozy ‘hood of Noe Valley hasn’t had a truly noteworthy restaurant opening in some time. Though we have one-of-a-kind places like Incanto and Firefly, we lack in top-notch ethnic food (which makes me sad) or a slew of above-average options the amount of which some ‘hoods have. But… Read more →