Ice Cream Bar
I recommend having ice cream for dinner at this re-creation of an old fashioned soda fountain on a residential block in the Haight. Ice Cream Bar harkens back to the 1930s when booze was illegal and soda fountains served adult if non-alcoholic drinks made with extracts, tinctures and syrups. Additionally, Ice Cream Bar produces its [...]
Read More →Gioia Pizzeria
Does San Francisco need one more Delfina-like pizzeria that elevates the old fashioned parlor experience with sophisticated salads and antipasti, plus a few pasta and main courses? Apparently the answer is yes, especially on the Russian Hill stretch of Polk Street, because the new Gioia Pizzeria has been ecstatically embraced by the neighborhood. The place [...]
Read More →State Bird Provisions, Another Look
I reviewed State Bird Provisions for the Examiner shortly after it opened in February, 2012, jumping the gun because I was so excited about it. Chef/owner Stuart Brioza and his two partners were still tinkering with the concept, an unusual food delivery system of dim sum carts and trays that stopped at each table. Essentially [...]
Read More →Salumeria
Almost every neighborhood in San Francisco has its beloved corner grocery/deli, where the hungry can get thick, made to order subs, chips, a beer. For fourteen years I lived in North Beach a block away from Freddy’s, an old timer on the corner of Francisco and Grant. I still have fond memories of the prosciutto [...]
Read More →Mendocino “Burrata” of Goat and Sheep Milk
Pennyroyal Farmstead, an adjunct farm of Anderson Valley’s Navarro Vineyards. has put out their first cheese, a soft, creamy combo of goat milk and sheep milk with the texture of burrata, and a flavor that I have only tasted once before, when I camped out in the French Pyrenees with shepherds. They made a similar [...]
Read More →Bastille Day Feast
This announcement came to me through Georgeanne Brennan, a fellow member of Les Dames d’Escoffier. A Bastille Day Feast Saturday, July 14, 2012 Wolfskill Ranch 4334 Putah Creek Road, Winters, CA Gathering time: 11:30 a.m. Tour of historic Wilfskill ranch: 11:45 a.m. Aperitif: 12:30 p.m. Feast: 1 to 3 p.m. All participants bring their own [...]
Read More →Special dinner at Heirloom Cafe
We food fanatics are barraged by announcements of special events, but two came along today that grabbed my attention. On Sunday, July 1, Heirloom Cafe is offering a mouthwatering six course summer menu with wine pairing for $75 including tax and tip, an amazing price considering that sommelier/owner Matt Straus is a great curator, and [...]
Read More →Haven
Jack London Square, a scenic and historic piece of real estate along the Oakland estuary, has had its ups and downs over the years. Those of us who lived in Berkeley during the 70’s and 80’s remember JLS as a down market Fisherman’s Wharf of chain restaurants, bars and schlock shops. But over the last [...]
Read More →Cold Soba at Nojo
We’re feeling the summer in Hayes Valley. While not quite as warm as the Mission, the sun is hot and people walk around in shorts. The urge for cold soba, buckwheat noodles, a summertime favorite in Japan, propelled me into Nojo, Greg Dunmore’s farm inspired izakaya. His chilled soba salad ($8.50), like nothing I’ve ever [...]
Read More →Etxebarri: The Best Restaurant in Spain and Maybe the World
This simple asador in a restored farmhouse in Axpe, a tiny village tucked into a velvety green valley in the Cantabrian mountains near Bilbao, embodies everything I love about food. The menu is just a list of ingredients: most local, some rare, all sourced to be the most exquisite examples of their kind. All the [...]
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