Category Archives: Chefs

Easy-Peasy, Spring-Fling Lamb Chops with Tangy Cilantro and Mint Yogurt Dressing

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Simple and delicious, these lamb loin chops get served with a fresh, creamy, and herby yogurt sauce.
Simple and delicious, these lamb loin chops get served with a fresh, creamy, and herby yogurt sauce.

The certified organic, 400-acre farm in the Capay Valley is one of Northern California’s most beloved.

Full Belly Farm draws crowds at its stands at Bay Area farmers markets, and its produce stars on a legion of restaurant menus.

Established in 1985, it grows more than 80 different crops, including all manner of veggies, fruits, nuts, herbs, and flowers. It also raises chickens, sheep, goats, and cows. It offers farm tours, school visits, and popular events that include farm dinners and pizza nights.

Now comes its newest offering: “Full Belly Farm & Kitchen” (Hardie Grant).

Its first cookbook, of which I received a review copy, was written by Amon and Jenna Muller, who are part of the farm’s second-generation owners. Amon Muller, who runs the farm kitchen, trained at legendary Bay Area restaurants, Chez Panisse, Quince, and Coi. Jenna Muller organizes the farm events.

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Firing on All Cylinders at Michelin Two-Starred Saison

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Dungeness crab and perilla tarts at Saison in San Francisco.
Dungeness crab and perilla tarts at Saison in San Francisco.

Like a rags to riches tale, San Francisco’s Saison restaurant began as modestly as it gets. In 2009, it began as a pop-up after hours in a Mission District cafe before its ensuing runaway success led to its relocation to a custom build-out brick building in SoMa, where it has held court with two coveted Michelin stars since 2019.

Its executive chef, Richard Lee, had even more humble beginnings in San Francisco. The youngest child of Chinese immigrant parents — a seamstress mother and security guard father — he grew up in a household where going to McDonald’s was a considered a treat, one that the family could rarely afford.

Since coming to Saison in 2019 as chef de cuisine, he and the restaurant have proved a synergistic fit. In 2023, Lee, who previously worked for six years at Michelin three-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York City, was elevated to executive chef of this ground-breaking restaurant credited with popularizing and evolving live-fire hearth cooking. Weeks ago, he was made a co-owner, too, a sign of just how much confidence and trust the rest of the ownership team has in him.

Executive Chef Richard Lee, a newly made co-owner of the restaurant.
Executive Chef Richard Lee, a newly made co-owner of the restaurant.
On the front of the building.
On the front of the building.

Dine at Saison, and it’s easy to understand why.

On a recent Friday night when I dined, every table in the lounge and dining room was filled. A few tables were celebrating birthdays, too.

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When the Name Doesn’t Do It Justice

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A one-pot chicken and rice supper with Chinese flavors.
A one-pot chicken and rice supper with Chinese flavors.

Yup, that’s right: “Roast Chicken and Rice Casserole” is the name of this dish. It sounds so basic. But it is so far from that.

The title might make you think of an old-school Americana dish. But it’s really one with a delicious Chinese flair to it with coconut milk enriching the rice, and lemongrass and ginger perfuming everything.

This easy one-pot dish is from “Down South + East” (Abrams), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Ron Hsu, the culinary director and partner in Michelin-starred Lazy Betty in Atlanta., with an assist from Hugh Amano, a writer and chef at the now-shuttered Fat Rice in Chicago.

A Chinese American who grew up in Atlanta, Hsu grew up helping his parents at their chain of seven Hunan Village restaurants on the outskirts of the city. His own restaurant is affectionately named for her.

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A Visit to the New Hestan Napa

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Australian Wagyu carpaccio served at Hestan Napa.
Australian Wagyu carpaccio served at Hestan Napa.

It’s a retail store, a wine bar, and a restaurant — all in one.

If you only gave Hestan Napa a quick glance, though, you might think it only a high-end kitchen appliance store, what with a gleaming demonstration kitchen filled with its cookware right beyond its doors, plus a Hestan grill loaded with all the bells and whistles that can be yours for $17,500.

But if you walked farther in, you’d see shelves of its shiny, pricey pots and pans for sale; and beyond that a sleek wine tasting bar with chairs; and even farther in, a well-appointed dining room plus a large outdoor dining patio for its restaurant.

Chef Mark Dommen.
Chef Mark Dommen.

At the helm of this new restaurant, which opened in November 2025? None other than Chef Mark Dommen, who held a Michelin star at the now-shuttered One Market in San Francisco for five years. It’s a signal that this restaurant isn’t just some nonchalant Wine Country way-stop but an establishment that aims to be taken seriously.

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Get To Know the Good Works of The Key Room

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Succulent leg of lamb served at a recent demo-dinner at The Key Room.
Succulent leg of lamb served at a recent demo-dinner at The Key Room.

In the Bay Area, there are many places to take top-notch culinary classes, both hands-on and demonstration ones.

But at The Key Room in Novato, while you learn how to make dashi, handmade pasta, or what goes into crafting Kansas City-style barbecue from acclaimed chef Darryl Bell of Napa’s Stateline Road Smokehouse, you’re also supporting a culinary job-training program that teaches skills to troubled youths, veterans, and the homeless.

Founded in 2008, the Key Room is an extension of Homeward Bound of Marin, which has been the primary provider for resources and shelters for homeless individuals and families in Marin County since 1974.

Setting up for dinner.
Setting up for dinner.

Since the culinary program was founded, more than 1,000 people have gone through it, says Paul Fordham, CEO of Homeward Bound of Marin. Five instructor chefs, two who hail from the Culinary Institute of America, teach 70 students each year in a free, 11-week training program. Half of those who graduate go on to get jobs in the hospitality industry, and the other half end up working at The Key Room in kitchen or front-of-house positions.

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