Ozumo
Ramen for lunch at Ozumo, 161 Steuart Street. San Francisco 415 882-1333 When it comes to comfort food, nothing beats a bowl of ramen, thin, hopefully chewy noodles in an addictive salty broth with goodies. Ramen central continues to be San Mateo, with several excellent, dedicated ramen shops–Ramen Dojo and Santa. But the craze has [...]
Read More →Little Vietnamese Cafe
Little Vietnamese Cafe, 309 6th Avenue, SF 415 876-0283 After a food shopping trip on Lower Clement, I like to get a hot–or cold–Vietnamese coffee at Little Vietnamese Cafe whose infusion is less concentrated than traditional Vietnamese coffee. Though still full bodied, it requires less sweetened condensed milk for balance–kind of a Vietnamese coffee light [...]
Read More →Le Soleil
Le Soleil, 133 Clement, 668-4848 Le Soleil, the beloved inner Richmond Vietnamese restaurant, finally re-opened after a six month closure during which they remodeled. That’s code for having to build a wheelchair accessible bathroom after being targeted by a well known (at least among restauranteurs) lawyer-client duo who have dedicated their working lives to uncovering [...]
Read More →Wo Hing General Store
Wo Hing General Store, the latest jewel in the Charles Phan crown, has moved back into the original Slanted Door location. Even after an artistic make-over by architect Olle Lundberg, the narrow space still echoes the sensibility of Phan’s first restaurant which brought local ingredients and smart design to Vietnamese cooking. Wo Hing’s chef, Michelle [...]
Read More →All Season Restaurant
I had two spectacular meals at All Season Restaurant, an expansive, second floor dining hall with tall windows in a Diamond Heights shopping center with a sea of parking. A picky Shanghai friend of mine hosted a dinner there that I loved so much, I returned with a group for mid-week dim sum. I can’t [...]
Read More →Where to Eat in 2012
The best restaurants of 2011 may not be trend setters, but they give San Franciscans more of what they love–gentle innovation, skillful cooking, local ingredients and moderate prices. There was, however, geographic ground breaking with major openings in North Beach, San Mateo, and a cornucopia of eateries in Oakland, which more and more resembles a [...]
Read More →Claudine
Shopping can be so exhausting. A place like Claudine is just what a harried holiday soul needs for respite. If you haven’t been downtown recently, you’ll be amazed at all the action in Claude Alley, which intersects Bush Street a few yards west of Kearny. The classic, French, Cafe Claude now has a large outside [...]
Read More →Best Bites of 2011
Diversity peppers this year’s best bites. The range seems particularly wide, though as usual, I had a terrible time narrowing the list to just ten. Not included but should be: ramen at Izakaya Sozai; shrimp and grits at Criolla Kitchen; the moto pizza at Ragazza; kakiage–deep fried vegetable fritters–at Chotto; the sloppy bun at Bun [...]
Read More →Range
Phil West, the founder and chef of Range, dreamily pushes his cart around the farmers market. He doesn’t schmooze with all the other high powered chefs, or gossip with the farmers. He doesn’t race around, or look harried. He just meanders up and down the stalls, getting a little of this, a bit of that. [...]
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