My guide to some of best of the Big Island in food, drink and hotels (my Honolulu dining and hotel guide here; Honolulu bar guide here; Honolulu coffee, bites and bakeries here): Read more →
DISTILLER Bottle Column: June 2022
Published July 1, 2022, at Distiller Magazine, my bottle column covers trends and reviews international spirits and RTDs, with taste ratings:
Mommenpop Aperitif Wines, Faraday West Indies Rum,The GlenDronach Cask Strength Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Las Californias Gins, and more Read more →
SF’s Uccello Lounge Pairs Live Music With Legendary Eats
Uccello Lounge’s truffle flatbread (Photo: Courtesy of Virginia Miller) COME SEE OUR NEW HOME — The Bold Italic has a new home online, and this story has moved! Read it here: https://www.thebolditalic.com/sfs-uccello-lounge-pairs-live-music-with-legendary-eats Chef Loretta Keller is a San Francisco treasure since she opened Bizou in 1993, which became the long-beloved COCO500 in 2005. A chef alum of Jeremiah Tower’s revolutionary Stars… Read more →
July 1, 2022
THIS ISSUE:
— Michelin-Starred SF Great: State Bird Provisions, 10 years in.
— June Eat & Drink Checklist: These five newcomers (or new menus) cover the gamut, from Korean hot pot to Roman-style pizza.
— Brand New For the Record & Members Only Reviewed: Two female bartenders with a perspective you can taste in the glass.
— Honolulu Guide 2022, Part 2: 10 Top Restaurants Now + Where to Stay.
— 12 Summer Wines & Somm-Curated Wine Clubs.
June Eat & Drink Checklist: 5 Standout Newcomers
These five newcomers (or new menus) cover the gamut, from Korean hot pot to Roman-style pizza. Here is what is standing out at each, alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews. And for the kids (and kid in you), hit up brand new Ghirardelli Chocolate Experience Store, tributing Ghirardelli’s 170th anniversary with much more seating options (read: no lines for locals) and chocolate-making viewing, in-house sundaes, ice cream and chocolate drinks (as always, I’ve vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed): Read more →
These Two SF Female Bartenders Serve Cocktails With Perspective You Can Taste
For the Record’s California Soul cocktail (Photo: Courtesy of Virginia Miller) COME SEE OUR NEW HOME — The Bold Italic has a new home online, and this story has moved! Read it here: https://www.thebolditalic.com/these-two-sf-female-bartenders-serve-cocktails-with-perspective-you-can-taste A few elements must align to come into one’s own voice and it’s never a one-time deal but an ongoing evolution. Maturity, experience and time are the… Read more →
Gin Magazine: Honolulu Bar Guide
This issue of Gin Magazine, my Bar Guide to 10 top bars in Hawaii’s biggest city, Honolulu, on the island of Oahu.
12 (Vetted and Tasted) Summer Wines to Sip This Bay Area Summer
12 (Vetted and Tasted)Wines to Sip This Bay Area Summer (Photo: Courtesy of Stompy Wines) COME SEE OUR NEW HOME — The Bold Italic has a new home online, and this story has moved! Read it here: https://www.thebolditalic.com/12-summer-wines-somm-curated-wine-clubs From sparkling summer crushers (whether easy drinking refreshing or funky, interesting natural wines) to thoughtful, sommelier-curated wine clubs for the savvy wine drinker, I’ve… Read more →
Now Over 10 Years Old, San Francisco’s State Bird Provisions Is Still Going Strong
State Bird Provisions smoked trout chips ‘n dip (Photo: Courtesy of Virginia Miller) COME SEE OUR NEW HOME — The Bold Italic has a new home online, and this story has moved! Read it here: https://www.thebolditalic.com/almost-10-years-old-san-franciscos-state-bird-provisions-is-still-going-strong When Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions opened in December 2011, I reviewed it in my weekly reviews at the SF Bay Guardian early 2012, saying, “Jazz… Read more →
Honolulu Guide 2022, Part Two: 10 Top Restaurants + Where to Stay
From modern Hawaiian to traditional Japanese, here are 10 of Honolulu’s best restaurants now: Read more →