GREEK COMFORT in West Portal Article & Photos by Virginia Miller OREXI, West Portal (243 W. Portal Ave. at 14th Ave., 415-664-6739) West Portal has long warmed my heart. Maybe it’s the removed setting, tucked away over the hill from Twin Peaks where the MUNI K and T lines end. Or it’s a sense of stepping back in time to… Read more →
TURKISH GEM in the FiDi Photos and article by Virginia Miller With the Guardian’s recent move to the Financial District, I’ve frequented downtown haunts, returning to old favorites, discovering new gems. Humble, tiny spaces like La Fusion, delight with Peruvian-influenced Nuevo Latino dishes, including rotisserie chicken and warm bread salad, vivid ceviches, cinnamon-clove inflected sangria, and fried empanadas dipped in… Read more →
SANDWICH-ing in the MISSION Photos and article by Virginia Miller Two unusual, new Mission sandwich options: one of the city’s best restaurants launches lunch with Scandinavian influence (part of the Nordic culinary wave finally reaching the West Coast), and a low-key panini shop opens, refreshingly real with Middle Eastern touches. BAR TARTINE, Mission (561 Valencia St. between 16th & 17th… Read more →
GITANE, Financial District (6 Claude Lane between Bush & Sutter Streets, 415-788-6686) While I miss the sophisticated, out-of-the-box cocktails of former bar managers Carlo Splendorini and Alex Smith at Gitane (they both continue to craft excellent drinks, Splendorini at Michael Mina, Smith at Honor Bar), I am pleased to say Gitane, one of the sexiest spots in all of SF,… Read more →
Here are four recent stand-out dishes or meals, from affordable hole-in-the-walls (Grill House and Prime Dip Sandwiches) to upscale creativity (Haven and Aziza): HAVEN Preview Dinner at PLUM, Oakland (Haven will be in Jack London Square; preview dinners are at 2214 Broadway; 510-444-7586) Anticipating the opening of Daniel Patterson’s restaurant (currently slated by year’s end), Haven in Jack London Square,… Read more →
Here are two of the best new lunch spots in town. SoMa residents/workers are lucky to have both, but they are worth a trek from anywhere in the city. ZARE’S GRILL & GRAIN – SoMa, 606 Folsom Street (at 2nd St.), 415-243-0580, lunch is weekdays only, 11am-2pm There’s no chef quite like Hoss Zare. All heart, skill and love, Hoss’… 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 →
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. EXPENSIVE RESTAURANTS THERMIDOR, SoMa – The Mad Men craze is a natural for me as that… Read more →
It is a joy when our city’s food/drink greats team up to form something unique. Such was Zare at Fly Trap’s three nights of Persian Pub Grub, running June 3-5, as envisioned by Zare’s chef/owner, Hoss Zare, and Monk’s Kettle’s Sayre Piotrkowski and Ryan Corbett. The exuberant, hospitable Hoss created a menu lovingly melding traditional elements of his home country… Read more →
OAKLAND Encuentro – One of three owners behind this new-ish Oakland vegetarian is Millennium exec chef, Eric Tucker, long a standard-maker in vegetarian cuisine. The food here is inventive, even if portions are tiny. Just a few blocks off Jack London Square, the high-ceilinged space is modern and airy, though a little stiff (as is service, in some ways), but… Read more →