Tag: california

review: table 3…

Some places are closer to paradise than others. Table 3 is one of them. Directly outside the window is the ocean, where fishing boats bob deep into the night.  Up the road is Chino Farms, whence arrives corn and melon, sweet as candy, and a rainbow of vegetables, crisp and perfect.  And in the kitchen […]

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review: table 3…

Some places are closer to paradise than others. Table 3 is one of them. Directly outside the window is the ocean, where fishing boats bob deep into the night.  Up the road is Chino Farms, whence arrives corn and melon, sweet as candy, and a rainbow of vegetables, crisp and perfect.  And in the kitchen […]

Continue

review: those buns…

I often worry about my esteemed colleague, the tentacled chuckeats. Between his enviable emails entitled “Manresa tonight” and “Gagnaire tomorrow,” he’s prone to long pauses, hours – sometimes days – of silence.  He goes on all-night project benders without notice, disappearing into his exciting world beyond the internets. He doesn’t call, he doesn’t write, only to […]

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review: those buns…

I often worry about my esteemed colleague, the tentacled chuckeats. Between his enviable emails entitled “Manresa tonight” and “Gagnaire tomorrow,” he’s prone to long pauses, hours – sometimes days – of silence.  He goes on all-night project benders without notice, disappearing into his exciting world beyond the internets. He doesn’t call, he doesn’t write, only to […]

Continue

review: the magical rotisserie…

I fell into this one totally unprepared. I had a standing date to meet a friend at the Ferry Marketplace in San Francisco on a Saturday morning. That happens to be when all the farmers arrive with their treasures and the place devolves into feeding mayhem. We were supposed to have coffee and some pastries […]

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review: the magical rotisserie…

I fell into this one totally unprepared. I had a standing date to meet a friend at the Ferry Marketplace in San Francisco on a Saturday morning. That happens to be when all the farmers arrive with their treasures and the place devolves into feeding mayhem. We were supposed to have coffee and some pastries […]

Continue

review: sanglant, mais pas bleu…

I’m fairly certain I was whining about the demise of the daringly bloody roast beef sandwich when chuckeats told me about the one at Il Cane Rosso, Daniel Patterson’s walk-up eatery in the Ferry Marketplace in San Francisco.  It could be a quick lunch option, he suggested. We made it happen.

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review: sanglant, mais pas bleu…

I’m fairly certain I was whining about the demise of the daringly bloody roast beef sandwich when chuckeats told me about the one at Il Cane Rosso, Daniel Patterson’s walk-up eatery in the Ferry Marketplace in San Francisco.  It could be a quick lunch option, he suggested. We made it happen.

Continue

review: timeless…

  Why doesn’t piperade get more playtime among the food cognoscenti? Surely, it’s not the shiniest new toy on the block – Gerald Hirigoyen, who was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs in 1994, opened this “California Basque” restaurant at the foot of Telegraph Hill with his wife in 2002. But eight […]

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review: timeless…

  Why doesn’t piperade get more playtime among the food cognoscenti? Surely, it’s not the shiniest new toy on the block – Gerald Hirigoyen, who was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs in 1994, opened this “California Basque” restaurant at the foot of Telegraph Hill with his wife in 2002. But eight […]

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review: syzygy…

It bears noting that, of the more than a half dozen times I’ve visited San Francisco, my last three trips to the Bay Area have shared the same primary purpose: Manresa. Sure, there were other noteworthy restaurants scheduled into those trips that might otherwise warrant a trip of their own: The French Laundry, ubuntu, Chez […]

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review: syzygy…

It bears noting that, of the more than a half dozen times I’ve visited San Francisco, my last three trips to the Bay Area have shared the same primary purpose: Manresa. Sure, there were other noteworthy restaurants scheduled into those trips that might otherwise warrant a trip of their own: The French Laundry, ubuntu, Chez […]

Continue

review: figs on a plate…

After David Chang’s “Fig Gate” incident, it’s hard to order a plate of figs with a straight face. But, I did – in San Francisco, naturally. And, like everything else I had at Zuni Café that day, they were fantastic.  So was the cluster of Zante grapes that accompanied them. Sweet as candy, the pea-sized […]

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review: figs on a plate…

After David Chang’s “Fig Gate” incident, it’s hard to order a plate of figs with a straight face. But, I did – in San Francisco, naturally. And, like everything else I had at Zuni Café that day, they were fantastic.  So was the cluster of Zante grapes that accompanied them. Sweet as candy, the pea-sized […]

Continue

review: the asian laundry…

“You’ll feel like you’ve left the city,” someone told me when describing their experience at benu. I didn’t understand what he meant by it then, but I understand it now. You’ll see benu’s kitchen through the big, picture-windows on a quiet stretch of Hawthorne Street in San Francisco’s SoMa district.  If you arrive after nightfall, […]

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review: the asian laundry…

“You’ll feel like you’ve left the city,” someone told me when describing their experience at benu. I didn’t understand what he meant by it then, but I understand it now. You’ll see benu’s kitchen through the big, picture-windows on a quiet stretch of Hawthorne Street in San Francisco’s SoMa district.  If you arrive after nightfall, […]

Continue

review: personality, with a side of perfection…

The bread fairy always calls thrice at The French Laundry. First, arrives a beautifully glazed brioche bun. It’s got Lana Turner’s curves with the coloring of Sophia Loren after a summer on the Riviera. Then, a basket of mini baguettes and whole-grain wonders, all of which I overlooked in favor of the pretzel roll with […]

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review: personality, with a side of perfection…

The bread fairy always calls thrice at The French Laundry. First, arrives a beautifully glazed brioche bun. It’s got Lana Turner’s curves with the coloring of Sophia Loren after a summer on the Riviera. Then, a basket of mini baguettes and whole-grain wonders, all of which I overlooked in favor of the pretzel roll with […]

Continue

travel: epic dinners and secret breakfasts…

I don’t know what this East Coast v. West Coast culinary pissing contest of late is about (a silly, media-driven phenom, for sure). Both coasts have talented chefs serving fantastic food. San Francisco, especially, is an ever-more exciting place to eat.  In the year since my last trip, many new restaurants have opened, including Joshua […]

Continue

travel: epic dinners and secret breakfasts…

I don’t know what this East Coast v. West Coast culinary pissing contest of late is about (a silly, media-driven phenom, for sure). Both coasts have talented chefs serving fantastic food. San Francisco, especially, is an ever-more exciting place to eat.  In the year since my last trip, many new restaurants have opened, including Joshua […]

Continue