Category Archives: Restaurants

Troubadour Bread’s Exquisite Metamorphosis From Day to Night

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In the daytime, you might get Italian salumi sandwiches. But at night, this stunner is on the menu at Troubadour.
In the daytime, you might get Italian salumi sandwiches. But at night, this stunner is on the menu at Troubadour.

By day, Healdsburg’s Troubadour Bread & Bistro is a sandwich shop, albeit an extraordinary one. But come night, it morphs stunningly into a veritable Michelin-starred dining experience.

Yes, the popular downtown cafe, where you can pick up a pumpkin seed dukkah-dusted chicken salad on heavenly bread baked by sister bakery Quail & Condor, transforms into Le Diner, four nights a week. That’s when it serves a French-California prix fixe worthy of blinding the radar of those discriminating inspectors.

That’s because there’s major talent behind this endeavor in the form of the husband-and-wife team that opened Troubadour and Quail & Condor, Executive Chef Sean McGaughey and Executive Pastry Chef Melissa Yanc McGaughey. They both worked previously at nearby Michelin three-starred SingleThread Farms & Restaurant. He was its chef de cuisine, and she was its hotel baker.

Look for the sign for Troubadour in downtown Healdsburg.
Look for the sign for Troubadour in downtown Healdsburg.

The couple also heads up the kitchen team at Molti Amici, founded by Jonny Barr, a former general manager at SingleThread, whose wife Tiffany Spurgeon, another SingleThread alum, runs front-of-house at Troubadour’s Le Diner.

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Dining At The Newly Crowned Michelin-Starred Chez Noir

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Autumn honeynut squash raviolo at Chez Noir.
Autumn honeynut squash raviolo at Chez Noir.

Carmel-by-the-Sea may be all of 1 square mile, but this tiny seaside town now boasts two Michelin one-starred restaurants.

In fact in July, when Chez Noir became the second restaurant to receive that coveted honor less than a year after opening, the entire crew from long-time star-holder Aubergine walked over, toting a hefty Jerobaum to offer hearty congratulations.

This family-owned, fine-dining jewel of a spot may seat only 36 in a dining room not much larger than some folks’ living rooms, but it’s long been held in high esteem. In fact, when a friend dined there months ago, she spotted none other than Eric Ripert, chef-owner of New York City’s Michelin three-starred Le Bernardin, ensconced in a corner banquet with his family, savoring the fabulous Monterey coastal cuisine.

The accolades are not surprising when you consider that Chez Noir is helmed by Executive Chef-Owner Jonny Black, whose impressive credentials include cooking at Michelin powerhouses Per Se in New York; Quince in San Francisco; and Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, where as Dominique Crenn’s first executive chef, he oversaw all her restaurants. Most recently, he was the executive chef of Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur. His wife, Monique Black, worked in the front of house at Quince, and at Coi in San Francisco.

Chez Noir opened in a Craftsman house.
Chez Noir opened in a Craftsman house.
The compact bar in the tiny restaurant.
The compact bar in the tiny restaurant.

The cozy, romantic, French bistro-styled restaurant is in a former Craftsman house, where the couple and their kids live upstairs. Out front is a 22-seat brick patio, but it is not covered, meaning if it rains, you’re out of luck as outdoor reservations are cancelled and refunded.

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Dining at the New Rollati

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The divine eggplant rollatini at Rollati.
The divine eggplant rollatini at Rollati.

Roll into Rollati in downtown San Jose, the newest restaurant from Chef Roland Passot’s Vine Hospitality.

That’s just what I did a couple weeks ago, when I was invited in as a guest to this handsome, bright, and spacious restaurant on the ground floor of the Miro luxury apartment building.

The first Italian-American restaurant from Passot and Vine CEO Obadiah Ostergard, it features both indoor and outdoor dining, plus a small marketplace to buy pantry staples and prepared foods to-go.

If you’re lucky, you might just hit it on a night where there’s a trio of musicians playing in the bar-lounge, too.

The bar.
The bar.
Live music in the lounge.
Live music in the lounge.

Ostergard’s nephew, Chef Sam Gimlewicz, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who went on to work at the acclaimed Nina June restaurant in Maine, designed the menu that’s overseen by Chef de Cuisine Christian Luxton, formerly of Berkeley’s Hotel Shattuck Plaza.

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Dining At The West Coast’s First Chotto Matte

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Chicken karage with gochujang at Chotto Matte.
Chicken kaarage with gochujang at Chotto Matte.

If you’ve been wanting to experience a mesmerizing infinity room, you don’t have to trek to a museum. Just head to dinner at San Francisco’s new hot spot restaurant Chotto Matte that opened in October.

Step inside the first floor entrance of what used to be Macy’s Men’s Store and be greeted by floor-to-ceiling glossy walls that reflect colorful pendants hanging from the ceiling, making them appear as if they go on forever.

The entrance, where you'll find the elevator to take you to the rooftop restaurant.
The entrance, where you’ll find the elevator to take you to the rooftop restaurant.
The host stand at the restaurant.
The host stand at the restaurant.

Just exercise caution after taking the elevator up to the restaurant, though, as the same black polished walls are used in the unisex bathrooms, creating such an entrancing effect that my husband, as well as the person walking in behind him, nearly walked into a wall.

Chotto Matte is definitely flash and panache, a fun-house dining experience.

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A Sri Lankan Tasting Menu to Savor at 1601 Bar & Kitchen

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Avocado stuffed with caviar and atop a cloud of coconut at 1601 Bar & Kitchen.
Avocado stuffed with caviar and atop a cloud of coconut at 1601 Bar & Kitchen.

One of the few Sri Lankan fine-dining restaurants around, 1601 Bar & Kitchen celebrated a decade in San Francisco this year.

As with many establishments, the last few have certainly been challenging for it, what with the pandemic and increasing grittiness of the city.

But owners, Chef Brian Fernando and his wife, Yuliya Pavlova, who runs front of house, persevered mightily. And in February, they reopened their doors fully to the public, offering a $150 per person tasting menu Thursday through Saturday now.

They have a loyal clientele, many of whom have supported the restaurant by booking group events regularly.

The bar area.
The bar area.
Artwork on the walls.
Artwork on the walls.

A couple weeks ago, I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant to enjoy the current tasting menu.

If you don’t know Sri Lankan food, this is a perfect place to experience it, as you will feel warmly cared for by the couple from the moment you step through the doors. A little reminiscent of Indian food, the food of this Indian Ocean island is centered on rice, curries, chilies, and spices. Coconut is used copiously.

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