My Top Food Recommends, New Openings & More: June 1-15 From my 15 articles/posts a week as Zagat Editor, I summarize and link to just some of this coverage here – you can sign up for Zagat’s weekly newsletter for the Bay Area here and follow along on Twitter @ZagatSF, where I post daily. As I have been for over… Read more →
Breakfast through dessert, here are five of the best dishes at new eateries and restaurants around San Francisco: WAFFLES at LINEA CAFFE, Mission (3417 18th St. at San Carlos) Look for the tiny, wood-walled shop behind Duc Loi, a bustling Asian grocery in the Mission, with sidewalk table seating only. You’ll find micro-batch roasted coffee from Andrew Barnett, founder of… Read more →
Bagels and doughnuts in their many iterations (beignets, malasadas, bomboloni, etc…) are two of the more comforting breakfast – or any time – foods. It’s tougher than it should be to find proper bagels, but alongside notable SF sources, the East Bay welcomes a few new arrivals. I stop first for fuel at Berkeley’s just-opened coffee and wine bar Bartavelle for… Read more →
There are restaurants weaving together the whole package, a melange of atmosphere, service and most importantly, memorable food. Sometimes there’s the overarching solidity of a menu… other times, one walks away dreaming about that one specific item. Here are four such dishes from four locations, worth going out of your way for. MARCELLA’S, Dogpatch (1099 Tennessee St. between 20th &… Read more →
FIVE PLAYFUL SUMMER DISHES Here’s five dishes that made a recent impression, from meaty, current-day classics in Oakland, at a bar brunch, and along Market Street, to fresh new joys in Palo Alto and SF – each bringing a little sunshine to the table. 15 ROMOLO – Fried Chicken Bacon Breakfast Biscuit Sandwich Brunch at one of the city’s best… Read more →
I’m constantly asked what my favorite restaurant is. It’s an impossible question. Inquire about my favorite taqueria, German, tea house, French bistro, and I’m ready to talk. There’s a favorite for every style and mood in a metropolitan, dense city such as ours. My current home is on the cusp of Haight-Ashbury and Cole Valley, which, like every neighborhood in… Read more →
Oxtail three ways, a hammy biscuit, gourmet meatloaf… comfort comes in each of these forms at new spots (or in the case of Presidio Social Club, with a new chef) in meat dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. BREAKFAST: HAM HEAVEN AMERICAN EATERY, Embarcadero (1 Ferry Building at Market St., 415-391-0420) Prather Ranch is to be commended for raising sustainable,… Read more →
San Francisco has long been a brunch town. Weekends are packed with brunch attendees staving off Monday. But what about weekday breakfasts? Breakfasting on recent weekdays has yielded three newer options (also open weekends), and one Sunday-only brunch so good I just had to include it. Sunday Brunch Decadence: BAKER & BANKER, 1701 Octavia St. (at Bush), 415-351-2500 Husband/wife duo,… Read more →
After countless weekends in Napa over the years (and at least five excursions lately), I could easily recommend worthy restaurants and hotels. Napa isn’t always the most affordable town, but recent visits north have revealed a number of delightfully reasonable options within the bounds of Napa and Yountville, both new and established. They’ve also uncovered a few unexpected dishes… or… Read more →
Top Tastes, rather than a list of all-time favorites (another thing altogether), are among the best eats since my last newsletter, often from new openings. Many don’t make the cut, being a revisit previously written about or simply not as stand-out as dishes mentioned. A MEAL CHABAA THAI’S Pork Neck Larb, Inner Sunset – I am transported straight back to… Read more →