A couple Spring excursions up to Napa this month meant more “Top Tastes” for me from new and not-so new restaurants. But first… an event that brought me up for a day was a rare afternoon of Japanese food at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). With a cadre of visitors, including the Consul General of Japan, and speciality food… Read more →
Back to incomparable New Orleans… I continue to share of my long list of finds after recently renting an apartment on the edge of the Quarter, exploring every neighborhood I could (here’s my last installment, more to come). The French Quarter, touristy though it may be, is everything it’s reputed to be and more (next time I’ll share fave jazz… Read more →
“Three hundred small pleasures make people happier than one magnificent one.” – Daniel Gilbert, Harvard Professor I have to let you know of some important changes this month… ones I’m excited to share with you. First, I just started writing a weekly online food/drink column for the San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper – subscribe to it by RSS feed or bookmark the… Read more →
“We… became aware that we have higher quality conversations at restaurants than at home. It’s as though we rise to the occasion by selecting worthwhile, less mundane subjects to discuss when eating out…” – Mimi Sheraton, “Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life” SAVORY – VEGETARIAN Since Inner Richmond’s classic Clementine was taken over last year by chef of the… Read more →
BROKEN RECORD 1166 Geneva Avenue (between Edinburgh and Naples Streets) San Francisco, CA 94112 415-963-1713 http://brokenrecordsf.com If you can’t hang with dive bars or aren’t willing to venture into the far reaches of the Excelsior, Broken Record may stay off your radar. But you’d be the one missing out. Parking is easy, so why not? Go, and you may, like… Read more →
RETRO BARS, Part Two It’s no secret I’m sold on all things retro. Besides calling me Renaissance Woman, some friends say I was born in the wrong time. I shoulda been a 1940’s/1950’s siren… at least in my dreams. I’ll take the freedom and independence of today, though in an ideal world (and I do try!), I’d fuse the modern… Read more →
Having lived in Orange County/LA area a good portion of my life (with family still there), I head down South regularly, exploring LA haunts as much as I can, struggling much more in OC to find high-caliber food and drink but always on the hunt. My recent visit provided yet more experiences worth sharing… DRINK Seven Grand – This is… Read more →
The year is off to delectable start with gratifying new openings (check out my Top Tastes section), two articles I wrote published in the SF Bay Guardian’s “Hard Times Handbook” cover story, and the Fancy Food Show at the Moscone Center (held in SF and NYC). On Fancy Food: Imagine, if you will, over 80,000 food and beverage artisans from around the world,… Read more →
BREAKFAST Since the Meetinghouse closed years ago, I’ve been a sad girl – not only because it was a supreme SF brunch spot, but because Joanna Karlinsky’s biscuits are about the best I’ve ever put in my mouth (and that includes my visits to the South!) Thank you, Joanna, for bringing your buttery biscuits to us at one more location besides the… Read more →
“Fussy and particular, the yuppie… simply would not, could not, bring anything but an imported beer to his lips, or the rarest of single-malt Scotches. In cocktails as in food, he insisted on authenticity, integrity of ingredients, and top quality all the way around. For this let us give thanks, even if snobbery and status seeking often lay behind the… Read more →