Published in the Fall 2025 print issue of Distiller Magazine: New York City’s Top 10 Bars Read more →
DISTILLER Bottle Column: December 2025
Reviewed this issue:
— Veso Aperitifs Anchovy Vermouth
— Stranahan’s Snowflake American Single Malt Whiskey
— Sonrisa Puerto Rican Rum Oro Especial
— James Gin American Mustard Gin
— Two Stacks Double Irish Cream Liqueur
— SPYRT Worldwide Ukrainian Vodkas
— Smokehead 15 Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
— Fuji Japanese Whisky
… and more Read more →
Bay Area Dining Is Fun Again: 4 Playful Restaurants Having A Good Time
Shuggie’s front dining room. Photo by Virginia Miller. Truthfully, San Francisco never stopped being fun, but these four restaurants are next-level. Two are brand new, one is recently remodeled and reborn, the other opened January 2025. All are whimsical, even funky, sometimes brazenly colorful and daringly flavorful. Chicken Fried Palace. Photo by Virginia Miller. If Waffle House Were Gourmet: Chicken… Read more →
Bogota’s Gifts to the World
Bogota view. Photo by Virginia Miller. In 2018 was my first visit to Bogota, Columbia, an exciting melange of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, a deep dive into then up-and-coming restaurants like the great Leo and then brand-new El Chato (see my current review below). I wrote about Bogota’s burgeoning cocktail bar scene for Gin Magazine. I wrote dining/food… Read more →
Distiller Magazine Interviews with Forthave Spirits & Iain Griffiths of Bar Snack, NYC
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 →