It’s nutty, tangy, savory, and fruity with tomato and pomegranate — and you’ll want to dollop it on most everything.
Made with ground walnuts for a chunky-textured sauce, muhammara is vegan, too.
Now, Ronda’s Fine Foods of Petaluma has debuted a shelf-stable version that comes in glass jars.
The company was founded by Ronda Brittian of Petaluma, a former trauma nurse who developed a passion for cooking from her grandparents, one set of Mexican heritage and the other hailing from the South.
The newest restaurant by Vikram and Anu Bhambri, the husband-and-wife team behind a handful of contemporary Indian establishments in the Bay Area, is a major departure.
And it’s a doozy.
Alora opened in late-January on Pier 3 on San Francisco’s Embarcadero to serve up ambitious Mediterranean fare with aplomb, as I found when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant last week.
The couple, who have tech backgrounds, got their restaurateur start with Rooh in San Francisco, followed by a second Rooh in downtown Palo Alto. Then, came Pippal in Emeryville in November. Look for Fitoor, and Indian grill, to open March 19 at San Jose’s Santana Row.
For Alora, they tapped Ryan McIlwraith as executive chef, who formerly held that position at Bellota in San Francisco, and was chef de cuisine at Coqueta in San Francisco and director of culinary development for Bottega restaurants in San Francisco and Yountville.
It’s an interesting setup with the main dining room in one building and the kitchen in another one a couple yards away connected by a breezeway. McIlwraith may have jested that servers have to ensure that the dill doesn’t blow off a plate in transit, but noted it’s actually a smooth path unless there’s a major storm. In cases like that, they take extra care to put covers on all plates.
The food of my childhood has been stunningly reinvigorated at the new Four Kings in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
If you’re Chinese American and of Cantonese heritage like myself, one taste of the dishes here will take you back nostalgically to many a celebratory Chinese banquet meal of long ago, as well as just plain ol’ homey weeknight gatherings with family at Formica-topped tables at local hole-in-the-wall joints.
Four Kings, which officially opens to the public on March 14, is the brainchild of chefs Michael Long and Franky Ho, former sous chef and chef de cuisine, respectively, of Michelin-starred Mister Jiu’s a block away. The duo, along with Millie Boonkokua, general manager of Liholiho Yacht Club in San Francisco, and Long’s wife, Lucy Li, an accountant, pooled their money along with that from friends and family to open this brick-and-mortar, following a series of sold-out pop-ups last year.
Last week, I had a chance to snag an early pre-opening reservation at the u-shaped counter that surrounds the open-kitchen — the best seats in the house if you enjoy seeing all the action up close.
At age 38, Pastry Chef Jessica Entzel Nolan of Novato has already racked up an illustrious culinary career that would be the envy of many.
Not only has she worked in the pastry department at the celebrated restaurants of Wolfgang Puck (Minneapolis’ 20.21 in the Walker Art Center), Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Spice Market in New York City), Gordon Ramsay (Gordon Ramsay at the London in New York City), and Masaharu Morimoto (Morimoto Napa), but she also triumphed on Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen,” and fulfilled a dream of becoming an actual Michelin inspector.
Last summer, she launched the first company of her own, financing it, herself, with a small business loan. Playfully and aptly named, Doughpamine is her line of gourmet frozen cookie dough, now sold at 55 stores in the Bay Area, including Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco; Berkeley Bowl in Berkeley; Draeger’s stores on the Peninsula; and New Leaf markets in Santa Cruz and Aptos. The frozen cookie bags are also sold on the Doughpamine site for shipping nationwide.
The cookie dough comes in four flavors: the best-selling Miso Peanut Butter (salty-sweet-savory and buttery tasting); Salty Chocolate Chunk (comes with a tiny bag of Maldon to sprinkle on before baking); Rhapsody Road (super chocolatey with gooey marshmallows and crunchy almonds), and my personal favorite of Blueberry Corn (tastes like a quintessential corn muffin in cookie form).
Bake as many as you want, whenever you want, in a 375-degree oven (either convection or non-convection) for fresh, warm cookies that are crispy on the outside and gooey-soft within, or as Entzel Nolan describes “medium-rare” perfection.
Recently, I had a chance to chat with her about her childhood baking endeavors, what it was like working with world-renowned chefs, what it takes to be a Michelin inspector, and the meet-cute way she and her husband connected — and yes, it did involve food.