In the Fall 2025 print issue of Distiller Magazine:
—My interview with Forthave Spirits’ Aaron Sing Fox and Daniel de la Nuez, Brooklyn’s James Beard–nominated distillery
—My interview with Iain Griffiths of Bar Snack, NYC Read more →
DISTILLER Bottle Column: October 2025
Reviewed this issue:
— Montara California Sparkling Verjus
— Liquoreria Friulana Vermut Opificium
— Second Sip Gin
— Westland American Single Malt Garryana Edition 10
— Sausalito Liquor Co. Unsinkable Chocolate Liqueur
— Buchanan’s Green Seal Blended Scotch Whisky
… and more Read more →
Where to Eat Now: SF Peninsula Rising, Pt. 1
Eos & Nyx mezze/dips. Photo by Virginia Miller. For 24 years, I’ve been exploring and writing about the Bay Area’s Peninsula — including but not minimized to the moniker Silicon Valley. San Mateo County can suffer from suburban malaise and mediocrity when it comes to restaurant standards, especially compared to the dense, world-class glories of nearby San Francisco. But this… Read more →
SF is Dominating on the Modern Chinese Front: Enter The Happy Crane
Happy Crane firecracker shrimp, my favorite dish. Photo by Virginia Miller. Dining at The Happy Crane just one month after it opened on August 8, 2025, it was packed on a weeknight, already booked weeks-ahead. The intimate restaurant glowed, though minimalist, centered by the bar, with glass walls framing a colorful Hayes Valley alley mural outside. What is clear immediately… Read more →
DISTILLER Bottle Column: September 2025
Reviewed this issue:
— St. George American Single Malt Whiskey Lot 25
— Charbay Blood Orange Mandarin Vodka
— Silencio Mezcal
— OISHII Sake Spritz
— Bomberger’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon & Shenk’s Kentucky Sour Mash Whiskey
… and more Read more →
Copenhagen’s Gifts to the World
Nyhavn. Photo by Virginia Miller. Though my largest percentage heritage is Sicilian (specifically Aeolian Islands), my second biggest before my third German, is Scandinavian: split between Danish and Swedish, with one grandparent each having roots in those countries. So it’s no surprise that the earthy, sensual, visionary, free spirited Sicilian-island side of me is tempered with my eldest child, orderly,… Read more →
SF’s Best New Seafood Eatery is a Counter-Service Market: Nopa Fish
Nopa Fish’s killer seafood chowder. Photo by Virginia Miller. Chef Laurence Jossel and Holly Rhodes’ Nopa is an SF institution since 2006, still packed nightly, a tough seat to snag. It has remained quality, from food to wine and cocktails, for almost 20 years. So there was no question Nopa Fish, which opened June 17, 2025, would be a priority… Read more →
Where to Eat Now: 7 Heartwarming Restaurants
Five are new-er, two are celebrating two or twenty years, from killer Laotian food or Italian comfort to Tatarstan Russian food. These seven are worth visiting. Last month’s standouts here. As always, I’ve personally vetted and visited each: Mattina canederli. Photo by Virginia Miller. Cal-Italian, All-Day Neighborhood Joys: Mattina, Pacific HeightsSince 2007, SPQR is one of the nation’s great pasta… Read more →
DISTILLER Bottle Column: August 2025
Reviewed this issue:
— Veso Tomato Vermouth
—Vetus Distillery Plum Brandy
—Koloa Single Batch Rum Aged 5 Years
—Starlight Distillery 10-Year Bourbon, Bourbon Honey Reserve & Indiana Uplands American Single Malt Whiskies
… and more
Read more →
Napa’s Gifts to the World: Overnight in the Valley
Four Seasons Napa Valley view from lobby deck. Photo by Virginia Miller. North Block scallops. Photo by Virginia Miller. Napa’s gifts to the world are many, not the least of which is changing wine forever by being the first to put New World wine on the map in the Judgement of Paris in 1976. Writing about idyllic Napa nearly two… Read more →