As you know, I love nuts of all kinds. My latest paramour? The native Sicilian almond called Pizzuta.

This rather flat-shaped almond is amazing. It has a rich, intense, almost creamy flavor. Think marzipan — but with a pleasant, toasty bitterness and none of the aching, cavity-inducing sweetness.

Read the rest of this entry »

When sweet, juicy strawberries finally arrive in spring, my husband will choose to eat a banana instead. When I can’t get my fill of peaches, plums, apricots, and candy-sweet pluots in the height of summer, my hubster still prefers a banana. In fact, hardly ever varying from habit, he eats a banana just about every morning. 

Go figure. 

It’s not that he doesn’t like other fruit. It’s not even that bananas are his favorite thing in the world to eat. It’s just that — how can I put this delicately — he’s lazy. Oh, believe me, he will be the first to admit that he is. Go ahead, ask him. Why go to the trouble of washing and slicing other fruit, he will tell you, when a banana requires none? Case closed. 

A banana does possess many merits. It’s the perfect grab-and-go food. It’s easily portable, what with its own built-in protective case. It’s full of good-for-you potassium. And it’s easy to digest — for everyone from kids to grandparents to those with upset tummies. 

I enjoy bananas, too — sliced atop Greek yogurt, with a sprinkling of crunchy granola. I also love them in banana bread, still warm right out of the oven. So when I spied this banana bread recipe from Oakland’s Bakesale Betty, I knew I had to try it. 

I’ve yet to have the pleasure of visiting the Oakland shop, where the fried chicken sandwiches and strawberry shortcakes are legendary. Because the place has such a following already, I had high hopes for this banana bread by owner-baker Alison Barakat, an Aussie transplant who used to work at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Trust me, it didn’t disappoint. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Pinkberry, the Los Angeles-based chain that started the whole tart fro-yo craze, will open its first Northern California outpost in December in Santana Row in San Jose.

It will be located in a pavilion in Santana Row Park that now houses the concierge center that will relocate to the security center.

Read the rest of this entry »

That is just what Tataki Sushi & Sake Bar in San Francisco is believed to be.

The tiny, seven-month-old restaurant serves only seafood that isn’t overfished, farmed without proper management, or contains high levels of mercury and other contaminants.

Find out more about why business partners, Chef Kin Lui, Chef Raymond Ho, and Casson Trenor (a sustainable fisheries expert) decided to open such a restaurant by reading my story today in the San Francisco Chronicle Food section.

Tataki, the site of a former Subway sandwich shop, grabs your attention right when you walk in. A Monterey Bay Aquarium “Seafood Watch” pocket guide, which lists best and worst sustainable seafood species, is front and center on every table. A copy is also tucked into every take-out menu.

Oct. 22, Tataki will be the site of the official launch of three new, ground-breaking sustainable sushi guides created in partnership with the aquarium, Blue Ocean Institute, and Environmental Defense Fund. Each will include information on as many as 60 different seafood species commonly found on sushi menus.

Want to do the right thing? Then, you’ll stop eating unagi, bluefin toro, hamachi, octopus (tako), monkfish liver (ankimo), farmed salmon (sake), imported King crab (kani), imported albacore tuna (shiro maguro), and sea urchin (uni) from Maine — all of which are unsustainable, according to the aquarium’s new guide.

Read the rest of this entry »

Guys, I didn’t want you to feel left out. I know the Food Gal logo is pretty darn cute, but it’s also a little too girly for you manly men out there.

So just for you, the new “Meat Boy” collection of T-shirts, sweatshirts, and aprons makes its debut with its very own distinct logo featuring a big, macho cleaver.

This collection, of course, is named after my hubby, whom you already know as the original Meat Boy for his insatiable appetite for all things meaty. Yes, he’s the guy who’d rather order a second entree of meat than save room for any frou-frou dessert (so unlike me). He’s the guy who gets more excited by prime rib going on sale at the grocery store than the Niners’ winning a Super Bowl — er, or any game these days actually.

This collection is for anyone who is a Meat Boy at heart (or stomach). Peruse the racks in our boutique by clicking on the “Food Gal Boutique” page at the top or just click here.