Category Archives: Restaurants

Dining At the Newly Revamped Izzy’s On the Peninsula

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The whole trout with Meyer lemon butter sauce at Izzy's on the Peninsula.
The whole trout with Meyer lemon butter sauce at Izzy’s on the Peninsula.

After a 7-month renovation, the venerable, 20-year-old Izzy’s on the Peninsula has reopened this month with an clubby, sophisticated look befitting a beloved steakhouse, plus a more expansive menu to satisfy wide-ranging appetites, and a new outdoor dining patio (set to open sometime in February).

When I was invited to dine as a guest of the restaurant last week, it had been open less than two weeks, and was already packed with diners — on a Tuesday night no less.

The family-owned, 7,500-square-foot restaurant, not far from the San Carlos Airport, is an institution that was opened by restaurateur Sam Duvall after he opened the original Izzy’s Steakhouse in San Francisco in 1987. That flagship is also undergoing renovations, including the addition of a new parklet, and is expected to reopen this summer.

The restaurant's namesake Izzy Gomez.
The restaurant’s namesake Izzy Gomez.
The entrance.
The entrance.

Daughter Samantha Duvall Bechtel became the CEO of the restaurant group after her father passed away in 2020. He had named the restaurant for the bootlegger Isadore “Izzy” Gomez, a Portuguese immigrant, chef, and San Francisco North Beach restaurateur who infamously was jailed for 30 days after violating Prohibition, but was later pardoned.

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Dining At the New Che Fico Parco Menlo

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Impeccable seared octopus at Che Fico Parco Menlo.
Impeccable seared octopus at Che Fico Parco Menlo.

For those of us who live on the Peninsula and South Bay, we couldn’t be happier that it’s been a boom time of late for new restaurants opening in this region, including outposts by celebrated San Francisco chefs.

Among the latest is Chef David Nayfeld of San Francisco’s wildly popular Che Fico who opened a sister-restaurant, Che Fico Parco Menlo, in November in Menlo Park.

It debuted at Springline, the splashy new residential-restaurant mixed-use development off El Camino Real.

Last Thursday night, when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant, the place was buzzing. Nearly every table was filled in the well-appointed, covered and heated outdoor patio that sports tufted banquettes and cozy pillows.

Gingham napkins.
Gingham napkins.

Same with the main dining room, where it was standing-room-only at the bar as patrons waited for tables to open up. A retro soundtrack of Earth, Wind & Fire, Al Green, and the Clash played in the background.

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Warming Up with Korean Braised Tofu

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Slices of firm tofu get cooked in a sweet soy sauce with onions and mushrooms for comfort in a bowl.
Slices of firm tofu get cooked in a sweet soy sauce with onions and mushrooms for comfort in a bowl.

Over the holidays, with my husband and I both slogging through our first bouts of Covid ever (we escaped it for nearly four years, so I guess it was only a matter of time), and then with him experiencing a rebound case right after, I half-joked that I needed a hazmat team to come to my house to rid the premises once and for all of every germ in sight.

Or maybe we just needed some spicy tofu.

Homey, comforting, and with enough Korean chili pepper and fresh slices of jalapeno to rev and warm the immune system and every other part of the body, it sure hit the spot.

But you don’t have to be ailing to thoroughly enjoy “Braised Tofu (Dooboo Jorim).” Because this easy dish will leave you contented no matter what.

It’s from “Sohn-Mat” (Hardie Grant, 2023) of which I received a review copy.

This collection of Korean home-cooking recipes is by Monica Lee, owner of Beverly Soon Tofu, and co-author Tien Nguyen, who has written several cookbooks, including the “The Red Boat Fish Sauce Cookbook.”

When Beverly Soon Tofu opened in 1986, Lee says it was the only one of its kind in Los Angeles serving soon tofu stew in Koreatown. So, this is a woman who definitely knows her tofu dishes.

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Dining At the New 7 Adams

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An elegant pork collar at 7 Adams.
An elegant pork collar at 7 Adams.

Illuminated in neon, the lucky number “7” can’t be missed, indicating that you’ve not only found your destination but are fortunate to be in for a real dining treat.

That marks the spot of 7 Adams, the new restaurant by a former Michelin-starred power couple, that’s actually located at 1963 Sutter St. in San Francisco. Chef-Owner David Fisher, who opened it in November with his wife, Pastry Chef Serena Chow Fisher, named the restaurant for the street that he grew up on in upstate New York. Peninsula diners may also recognize the duo from their stints at Bird Dog in Palo Alto.

The couple previously operated Marlena in San Francisco, which earned a Michelin star in 2021 just a year after opening. But they decided to leave that restaurant last summer when a dispute with the owner came to a head.

The sign from the sidewalk.
The sign from the sidewalk.

It’s nice to see them rebound by teaming up with the Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group, which operates such successful establishments as Trestle and The Vault, both in San Francisco.

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My Top 10 Eats of 2023

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(Wallpaper by @mydarlin_bk)
(Wallpaper by @mydarlin_bk)

This was the year I returned to mostly indoor dining. That in itself was a triumph after doing nothing but takeout through fraught 2020 and opting for outdoor dining primarily in skittish 2021 and 2022. How wonderful to lean ever closer to “normalcy” again.

This is my annual list of the most memorable bites or dishes I enjoyed in 2023. It pained me to leave off a few places that have since closed (San Francisco’s Afici that will forever spoil me for its clever use of Chinese scallion pancakes instead of the usual blini for caviar service) or tragically were destroyed in the devastating Maui wildfires (Pacifico On the Beach for its imaginative mahi mahi Wellington, and Papa’aina’s dazzling and so intentional tropical fruit plate).

It’s an important reminder to really savor and appreciate the restaurants, bakeries, and other establishments that enrich our lives so much. Without further adieu, here is my Top 10, in no particular order:

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