November 15, 2018

by  on  in Intro Letter

This issue:
— 8 Historic SF Restaurants Where the Food Is Still Good: From souffle master to 1970s-era red sauce Italian, 8 of SF’s classics I hope live forever.
— The Top New Restaurants of the Month: Seafood and meat glories from a 3 Michelin-starred chef, check box menus of “new school Italian” food and burgers made by robots.
— 8 Top Scotch Cocktails Around the US: From Albuquerque to Portland, 8 crushable whisky cocktails on menus now.
— Top 5 Whiskies at WhiskyFest 2018: American and Irish whiskey… and plenty of Scotch.

Read more →

11 Top Cocktails Around the US — November 2018

by  on  in Imbiber

Covering the 11 hottest cocktails of the month around the US at Liquor.com, you’ll find my top national drinks on menus at these bars/restaurants: DiAnoia’s Eatery, Pittsburgh Mourad, San Francisco Daisies, Chicago Vault, Fayetteville, AR Campo at Los Poblanos Inn, Albuquerque, NM Ash Bar at Nomad.PDX, Portland, OR The Roosevelt Room, Austin Sababa, Washington D.C. Third Rail, San Francisco Vol. 39… Read more →

The Top New Openings of the Month: October 2018

by  on  in The Latest

In my latest Time Out column, my top openings of the month join other standout newcomers for a top 10 on where to eat now (article here): Angler — 5 stars 132 The Embarcadero, 415-872-9442. anglerrestaurants.com. Tuesday-Saturday 5-10pm. Expectations run high when chef Joshua Skenes of three-Michelin-starred Saison opens a more casual (but still upscale) sister restaurant. Angler does not disappoint.… Read more →

Top 5 Whiskies at Whiskyfest SF 2018

by  on  in Imbiber

My 10th year attending Whiskyfest San Francisco (also held in Chicago, D.C. and NYC annually). As with every year, I’ve tasted most of what is in the room over the years, so most whiskies are a revisit for me (here are the previous year’s standouts). With hundreds of whiskies to taste from Scotland, Japan, Ireland, Taiwan, Canada, Australia, India, the… Read more →

8 historic San Francisco restaurants where the food is still good

by  on  in Top Tastes

In my latest feature at Blackboard Eats, I cover 8 exceptional historic San Francisco restaurants where the food is good and the tourist crowds aren’t crazy, if they are there at all (article here): — Cafe Jacqueline, North Beach — Bix, Financial District— Tadich Grill, Financial District— Anchor Oyster Bar, Castro— Pacific Cafe, Outer Richmond— Ristorante Marcello, Outer Sunset/Parkside— House… Read more →

8 Top Scotch Cocktails Around the US

by  on  in Imbiber

After you drink yet another Blood & Sand, Whisky Highball or classic Scotch cocktail, you might be ready for a different kind of whisky imbibement. These 8 national bars and restaurants are serving inspired whisky cocktails worth drinking now, whether infusing grilled artichokes from the kitchen, rounding out other spirits with Scotch’s peaty smoke or going refreshing with Cuban coconut… Read more →

November 1, 2018

by  on  in Intro Letter

This issue:
— 10 Top Italian Restaurants in SF: There are dozens of superlative Italian restaurants in the Bay Area covering regional Italian, American-Italian and SF’s forward-thinking New School Italian. Here are just a few of the best.
— Inside Anthony Strong’s New Prairie: Check off your menu when ready to order, sip kitchen-collaborated cocktails (plus highballs from a straight-from-Japan Suntory highball machine) and look for an Elon Musk flamethrower in the kitchen.
— 10 Best Bakers in San Francisco: Some of the best in the baking capitol of the US.

Read more →

October 15, 2018

by  on  in Intro Letter

This issue:
— My cover story on Daniel Patterson and the international team of chefs he’s brought on plus new restaurant and bar reviews, chef and bar manager interviews and more in the latest print issue of Time Out.
— Top New Restaurant Openings of the Month: Talking about a gourmet comfort diner and bakery, nikkei (aka Peruvian Japanese food) and two new escapes to Italy.
— 11 Top National Cocktails On Menus Now: Exploring creative menus in Austin, NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, Louisville, Miami, Portland/PDX, DC and Houston.
— 7 Exceptional Neighborhood Markets in San Francisco & Oakland: Some of our best gourmet markets/grocers for thoughtful selections of everything from wine to ice cream.

Read more →