These newcomers or new menus cover the gamut, from Sebastopol (Sonoma County) treasures in Thai and pizza to SF gems in Creole/Cajun, Japanese and elevated bar food. Alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews of these exceptional spots, these seven are also worth visiting, with last month’s standouts here (as always, I’ve vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed): Read more →
These newcomers or new menus cover the gamut, from Greek mezé to dim sum. Alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews, these seven are also worth visiting, with last month’s standouts here (as always, I’ve vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed): Read more →
Call Pim the Queen of modern Thai food. Named on Esquire’s shortlist of Best New Restaurants in America after opening in 2019, Nari’s chef/owner Pim Techamuanvivit is recently one of five final nominees for Best Chef: California at this year’s upcoming James Beard Awards… Most notably, all five California chef finalists this year are AAPI… two are Thai women. Read more →
Six new restaurants/eateries, plus one pre-pandemic gem and two bar stops, all draw me to the East Bay. Digging in also meant some disappointments, including solid but not destination-worthy cocktails at charming Palmetto, or overwrought cocktails that sound exciting but don’t deliver at The Miranda. But each of these eight has one (or a few) winning aspects: Read more →
My dining column at print and online magazine, Bob Cut — column details and my philosophy here — covers both standout newcomers and longtimers we want to keep supporting.
During shelter-in-place pandemic times, the column is in takeout/delivery mode:
As with the past decade plus, here are my top 14 new Bay Area restaurant openings of 2019: Read more →
Nari’s miang appetizer My feature article on 10 San Francisco restaurants serving rare international cuisines, from Nigerian to Sri Lankan. Online here and print article below: — Thailand: Nari— Morocco: Mourad— Nigeria: Eko Kitchen— India: Indian Paradox— Iraq: Jannah— Scandinavia: Plaj— Singapore: Local Kitchen— Sri Lanka: 1601 Bar & Kitchen— Germany: Suppenkuche— China (Szechuan): Chile House Read more →
Published by Where Traveler (my other Where articles here) in September 2019, my article on 6 top new Bay Area restaurants, from modern Thai to retro supperclub: — Nari (Inspired Thai in Japantown)— Selby’s (Retro-Elegant Night Out in Atherton/Redwood City)— Square Pie Guys (Detroit Pizza & Decadent Goodness in SoMa)— Um.Ma (Hip Korean in Inner Sunset)— Bac Lieu (Neighborhood Vietnamese in Outer Mission)—… Read more →
This article was first published here at Table8 where I am national editor. As I cover the standout new openings every month, there are a number of new restaurants that are welcome neighborhood go-tos serving food needed in that ‘hood, often at reasonable prices. In Napa, Oakland and San Francisco, here are five such new restaurants worth visiting. A Sleek… Read more →