Category Archives: Chefs

The Simple Pleasures of Pork Simmered with Ginger

Posted on by Leave a comment
A fast and homey tasting pork dish full of ginger flavor.
A fast and homey tasting pork dish full of ginger flavor.

Spending two weeks in Japan last year gave me an even greater appreciation for the food there. Not just for the regal kaiseki experiences or the sublime omakase meals, but for the uncomplicated everyday food that’s so inexpensive and readily available.

Things like a creamy egg salad sandwich on squishy milk bread from Lawson’s convenience store, the freshly made sesame seed-studded onigiri from the 7-Eleven with rice that was never too cold or too hard, and the shattering crunch of a soy-brushed rice cracker that somehow tasted better than any others I’d ever had.

“A Day In Tokyo” (Smith Street Books, 2024), of which I received a review copy, let me relive those marvelous food memories through its pages.

Read more

Savoring Southern Flair at Prelude

Posted on by Leave a comment
The fabulous stuffed chicken wings at Prelude.
The fabulous stuffed chicken wings at Prelude.

There was a time in the planning stages that the flagship fine-dining restaurant on the ground floor of The Jay Hotel in San Francisco was to be a steak-centric establishment named Sage.

But when the Omakase Restaurant Group decided to put Executive Chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones (formerly chef de cuisine of its Niku Steakhouse in San Francisco) in charge of the new restaurant, it rightly let him lean into his Southern heritage.

The result is Prelude, a sultry, chic restaurant, which opened last year to serve elevated Southern cuisine with Northern California sensibilities. It joins the Omakase Group’s other more casual restaurant in the hotel, The Third Floor.

Executive Chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones in the open kitchen.
Executive Chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones in the open kitchen.

Hendrickson-Jones may have grown up in Sacramento, but his Southern roots come from his maternal grandmother who lived in Alabama. From a young age, he started cooking bountiful Sunday dinners with his mother that had Southern influence. His professional career began when he was a sushi apprentice at Morimoto Napa. He then worked at Michelin two-starred Commis in Oakland and Picco in Larkspur before taking on his first executive chef position at Prelude.

Read more

Chef Jeremy Fox’s Yellow Eye Soup with Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans

Posted on by Leave a comment
Yes, there's a lot of garlic in this veggie-bean soup, but you'll welcome it, I promise.
Yes, there’s a lot of garlic in this veggie-bean soup, but you’ll welcome it, I promise.

If I told you this soup takes more than two heads of garlic to make, would you balk?

Fear not, though, because that copious amount won’t result in a dish (or home-cook) that reeks. The garlic taste is prominent to be sure, but it’s not aggressively sharp or overwhelming pungent. Instead, it gives this vegan bean and veggie soup a deep, delicious flavor that you taste and feel all the way to your core. In other words, the kind of soup your body craves especially at this time of year.

“Jeremy Fox’s Yellow Eye Soup” is from the new “The Bean Book” (Ten Speed Press, 2014), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Steve Sando, the founder of Napa’s Rancho Gordo, a specialty food company known for growing and sourcing heirloom beans prized by discriminating chefs and home-cooks around the country; and Julia Newberry, general manager of Rancho Gordo.

Read more

Amara Debuts in Belmont

Posted on by Leave a comment
Octopus atop papas bravas at Amara.
Octopus atop papas bravas at Amara.

Husband and wife, Ajay Walia and Reena Miglani may have had successful careers in tech and finance. But ever since earning MBAs in Chicago, they always knew that some day they would open their own restaurant after growing disenchanted by the Indian food they found then in the Windy City.

In 2003, they made good on that, opening Saffron in San Carlos in 2003. That was followed by the fine-dining Indian restaurant, Rasa in Burlingame in 2016, which held a Michelin star for 10 years. Although Rasa morphed for two years into another outpost of Saffron, it returned in force in October 2024.

Now, the couple has broken from the mode of Indian cuisine to open their first non-Indian restaurant: Amara in Belmont, which serves Mediterranean fare.

The restaurant had a soft opening in late-December, when I was invited in as a guest during a “Friends & Family” night to try some of the menu offerings and to offer feedback. The restaurant, located in the Carlmont Village Shopping Center for easy parking, will have its grand opening on Jan. 21.

The bar.
The bar.
The dining room.
The dining room.

The dining room, done up in serene teal and white, evokes the seaside. Come late-spring, the restaurant will open its garden with seating overlooking a man-made stream with a footbridge. In total, Amara boasts 220 seats — more than Rasa and Saffron combined.

Read more
« Older Entries