Cheese, Please — And Make It Pimento-Style

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Birdie's Smoked Gouda & Red Pepper Pimento Cheese spread makes a ham sandwich something special.
Birdie’s Smoked Gouda & Red Pepper Pimento Cheese spread makes a ham sandwich something special.

I love all things cheese, but I confess that pimento cheese was not something I grew up with.

You might not have, either, unless you hail from the South, where it’s a staple.

Thanks to Robin Allen and her husband Glenn, aka Bubba, you can enjoy delectable pimento cheese in classic and creative flavor combinations with their Birdie’s Pimento Cheese company in Virginia that ships nationwide.

After 25 years of owning their own printing business, Robin got the notion to start selling her homemade pimento cheese at a local farmers market — at the age of 50. That first day, she sold out of all 30 tubs, sparking the couple to sell the printing business and go into pimento cheese-making full-time.

Now, you’ll find it sold at a range of specialty food stores, including the Epicurean Trader in San Francisco and Deuces Market in Napa.

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Milkboy’s New White Chocolate with Bourbon Vanilla and Raspberry Plus Seasonal Bars

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Swiss-made Milkboy's new white chocolate bar with bourbon vanilla and raspberries.
Swiss-made Milkboy’s new white chocolate bar with bourbon vanilla and raspberries.

Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of white chocolate, as so many are way too sweet and too waxy.

But from the get-go, Milkboy’s new White Chocolate with Bourbon Vanilla and Raspberry bar had me sold with its taste like that of a vanilla milkshake with tangy pieces of berries hitting your straw here and there.

The slight tang of the berries balances the sweetness of the very creamy white chocolate. Chop up the bar and add the pieces to a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe for a fun new twist.

Milkboy’s award-winning chocolates are made in Switzerland from milk sourced from the Swiss Alpine region. They are gluten-free, soy-free, and certified kosher. Moreover, Milkboy uses only Rainforest Alliance-certified cocoa in its chocolate products and Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper for its packaging. 

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A Visit to Pasta Supply Co.

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Veal triangoli with tomato sauce from Pasta Supply Co. to enjoy at home.
Veal triangoli with tomato sauce from Pasta Supply Co. to enjoy at home.

The second you step inside the Pasta Supply Co. on Clement Street in San Francisco, your eyes are drawn to the expansive refrigerator case displaying all manner of pasta sauces and fresh pastas in every shape imaginable.

Now, this is where I would normally show you a photo or two of that mouthwatering display. However, when your husband neglects to feed the meter with enough coins and parks four blocks from the shop while a meter maid is seen circling about, you simply don’t have time for that. So, j ust take my word: Anyone who loves pasta will feel like they’re in Wonderland here.

The Pasta Supply Co. is the brainchild of Anthony Strong, who’s been a chef at the forefront. When the pandemic hit, he was one of the first to convert his then-Prairie restaurant into a veritable grocery store to supply shelter-in-place folks with gourmet products to enjoy at home, and even toilet paper when that basic was in short supply.

The pasta cooks up at home in just a few minutes.
The pasta cooks up at home in just a few minutes.

With restaurants still facing challenges because of higher prices for ingredients, plus the difficulties in hiring staff, Strong made the genius move to open a place that’s half dine-in restaurant and half retail shop. While the dine-in portion is open only for dinner, the retail shop is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, providing for sales opportunities for far more hours.

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San Francisco’s Landmark InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel Nears Its Centennial

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The Margherita naan flatbread at the Nob Hill Club at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel.
The Margherita naan flatbread at the Nob Hill Club at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel.

As someone born and bred in San Francisco, I am mortified to admit that until last month, I’d never taken the elevator all the way up to the Top of the Mark, the iconic 19th floor bar in the grand dame InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel.

With such a celebrated landmark in your own backyard, it’s easy to get jaded, thinking it’ll always be there, so you keep promising yourself to get to it one day.

Well, one day finally came this month, when I was invited to stay overnight, and enjoy dinner and cocktails at this venerable hotel that will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026.

Everywhere you turn, there is a sense of history in this gilded property. As the saying goes, “They don’t make places like this anymore,” and they sure don’t.

The grand entrance atop Nob Hill.
The grand entrance atop Nob Hill.
The lobby.
The lobby.

Mark Hopkins was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railway, and a bit tightfisted with his wallet, jested Connie Perez-Wong, the hotel’s creative director, as she gave me a tour of the property. It was his wife, Mary, who convinced him to build her dream home here on top of Nob Hill — all 39 rooms of it. Unfortunately, he didn’t live long enough to ever move into it. Instead, in what some might call a cougar-like move, Mary ended up marrying the home’s interior designer, who was considerably younger than her, and moving into the hilltop home with him.

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Epic Tarragon Roast Chicken That Lives Up To Its Name

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What makes this dish epic? A juicy roast chicken plus an addictive creamy sauce -- all made together in one pan.
What makes this dish epic? A juicy roast chicken plus an addictive creamy sauce — all made together in one pan.

Few dishes satisfy like a great roast chicken.

And this particular one is truly sensational.

It may not have the most shatteringly crisp skin, but I’ll forgive that because what it does possess is even better — a fabulous creamy sauce flavored with white wine and loads of tarragon that cooks up conveniently in the same roasting pan.

In short, “Epic Tarragon Roast Chicken” is indeed epic.

This straightforward recipe is from “The Farm Table” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy. It was written by Julius Roberts, a farmer and former chef of the acclaimed Noble Rot restaurant in London.

After growing disillusioned and burnt out from the stresses of cooking professionally, Roberts decided to leave the big city to return to the land. A first-time farmer, he writes evocatively about his journey to create a small, self-sufficient farm where he learned animal husbandry, foraging, and what it really means to live, breathe, and eat by the seasons.

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