Vancouver Guide: 12 Top Places to Dine Now

by  on  in Wandering Traveler

After multiple visits to Vancouver the past few years, the city’s majestic water and mountain views make it a Canadian favorite and West Coast sister, down to its rich B.C. wine regions and seasonal ingredient focus. From nearby Whistler to Okanagan Valley, greater Vancouver holds some kindredship to California’s ease of mountains, bay, ocean, vineyards and farmland, all within easy access of a large city, though certainly with much colder climes.

These 12 either remain favorites over multiple visits, are notable newcomers or hold standout tastes. The highs — and, when relevant — lows of 12 Vancouver restaurants: Read more →

Two-Year-Old Neighborhood Michelin Revamped on Precita Park: Marlena

by  on  in Top Tastes

Marlena bravely opened in September 2020 in the throes of pandemic (my initial review here), in the former Hillside Supper Club space, from husband-wife chef duo David Fisher and Serena Chow Fisher (who cooked at venerable Jean-Georges and Eleven Madison Park in NYC, as well as Sorrel in SF and Bird Dog in Palo Alto). I named it one of the top 6 openings of 2020, a bleak year for restaurants globally. They went on to gain a Michelin star in 2021, hailed for “deftly marrying simplicity with sophistication.” Indeed. Read more →

October 15, 2022

by  on  in Intro Letter

THIS ISSUE:
— House Pasta & Caviar to A5 Charcuterie Decadence: SoMa’s new AFICI.
— Honing Palate & How to Make a Tequila with Spirits Whisperer Virginia Miller: My interview at Edible LA Magazine.
— One Year In: Creative NorCal Japanese shines at restaurant Nisei.
— NYC Guide: 12 top places to dine now.
— September Eats Checklist: 6 standouts of the month, from Brittany-style French crêpes to NY slice pizza.
— Distiller Bottle Column: I review tequila, Scotch, gin, vodka, sake, mezcal, American whiskeys, RTDs. Read more →

House Pasta & Caviar to A5 Charcuterie Decadence: SoMa’s New AFICI

by  on  in The Latest

The lofty, industrial space that housed Alexander’s Steakhouse Group’s The Patio pop-up during pandemic, opened as AFICI on September 24, 2022, on a heavily-trafficked stretch of Folsom Street during rush hours in San Francisco’s South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood.
But AFICI is not a steakhouse, rather it’s a fine dining restaurant with a regularly changing, four-course prix fixe menu shaped by seasonality, full animal utilization, handmade pastas and unique house charcuterie program centered around A5 wagyu beef. Read more →

Honing Palate & How to Make a Tequila with Spirits Whisperer Virginia Miller

by  on  in Imbiber

Published October 5, 2022, at Edible LA Magazine, I thank Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Lisa Alexander for this interview: If there’s anyone who knows about palate, it’s Virginia Miller. For fifteen years she’s been a dining, cocktail, spirits and drink writer and editor, as well as a professional spirits awards judge for umpteen global awards (as well as a dining, bars and cocktail… Read more →

NYC Guide: 12 Top Places to Dine Now

by  on  in Wandering Traveler

Growing up just outside NYC in NJ during my high school years, my family’s subsequent years living there a good decade after I moved back to CA meant I was usually back twice a year, including holidays in NYC. So the City always held “second home” familiarities and my first awakening to being a city girl, even as Manhattan is typically a dining city of as many lows and overhyped spots as it highs over the past decades… the majority of restaurants I researched this trip were good to superb. Now we dig into 12 dining experiences from this year’s return to my teenage stomping grounds, including highlights and, when relevant, what to avoid: Read more →

One Year In: Creative NorCal Japanese Shines at Nisei

by  on  in Top Tastes

On a recent September return to Nisei just past its one year mark, I found a restaurant assuredly gaining its voice, as the team is also working seamlessly with humble ease and assuredness. They also now offer a wine or sake pairing, the wine pairing containing a couple sakes in the mix. Chef David Yoshimura calls their style “California Washoku” (essentially meaning ‘harmony of food,’ it’s Japanese home cooking style balancing color and flavor… Read more →

October 1, 2022

by  on  in Intro Letter

THIS ISSUE:
— Purity On the Plate & In the Glass: The new Bar Agricole.
— Food with a View: New life at Navio in The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay.
— Fort Point Valencia’s New Chef: Playful take on SF-style seafood & historic dishes.
— A Night in San Jose: 5 standouts in food & cocktails.
— Distiller Magazine St. Louis: Interviews with The Gin Room’s Natasha Bahrami & StilL 630 Distillery’s David Weglarz.

Read more →

September Eats Checklist: 6 Standouts of the Month

by  on  in The Latest, Top Tastes

Though I’ve eaten everywhere this month from Adriano Paganini/Back of the House group’s latest, Rad Radish, to the new Arepas Latin Cuisine and Fiddle Fig Cafe in North Beach, these six newcomers (or new menus) stood out in September, covering the gamut, from Brittany-style French crêpes to NY slice pizza. Alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews, I share what’s worth tasting at each, with last month’s standouts here (as always, I’ve vetted, visited and/or ordered from each place reviewed): Read more →