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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
From an affordable Michelin-starred to top Korean, private dinner parties to fish and game perfection, these five restaurants exemplify why SF remains a wonderland of upscale innovation that is simultaneously soulfully delicious: Read more →
Published in the Summer 2025 print issue of Distiller Magazine:
—My interview with Dan Garrison of Garrison Brothers Distillery
—My interview with beverage director Robert Rodriguez of James Beard-nominated Cured Read more →