Category Archives: Chefs

Qochon — A Hidden Gem

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Even carnivores will be won over by this spectacular vegan pho at Qochon.

Even carnivores will be won over by this spectacular vegan pho at Qochon.

 

Hidden away in a business park in a commercial area of Fremont, Qochon is emblematic of this fierce new age of female empowerment that’s been long overdue.

Owners Quinn Tram and Lauren Pham took the gutsy step of opening this very personal, contemporary Vietnamese restaurant three years ago — despite neither having ever worked in a restaurant before.

Pham poured her life savings into the venture, and teamed with Tram, to follow a dream of serving Vietnamese food that had an emphasis on organics and healthfulness.

The two women met at J.P. Morgan, where they worked as commercial lenders for years. They bonded over their love of food, and soon began developing their idea for a restaurant whose name would be a playful take on the French word “cochon” for “pig.”

Owners Quinn Tram (left) and Lauren Pham (right).

Owners Quinn Tram (left) and Lauren Pham (right).

“I always believe change makes you better. So, I took a leap of faith,” says Pham, the restaurant’s head chef, who grew up cooking with her mom.

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Superiority Burger’s Blackberry Sorbet

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As smooth as it gets -- home-made blackberry sorbet.

As smooth as it gets — home-made blackberry sorbet.

 

She made a blackberry sorbet.

The kind you find in a great ice cream store.

Blackberry sorbet.

And it was so good, she couldn’t brag much more.

Blackberry sorbet.

I think I love her.

With apologies to the late-great Prince, I couldn’t help but have that refrain pop into my head even though blackberry — rather than raspberry — was on my mind recently.

Dig a spoon in, and you’ll be singing the praises of this super easy “Blackberry Sorbet” recipe, too.

It’s from the new “Superiority Burger Cookbook” (W.W. Norton & Co.), of which I received a review copy. The book is by Brooks Headley, a punk rock drummer and James Beard Award-winning chef.

In 2015, he left the lauded Del Posto restaurant in New York, where he was executive pastry chef, to open a 300-square-foot basement-level vegetarian burger bar in the East Village, Superiority Burger.

SuperiorityCookbook

He hasn’t looked back since. Unlike some of the more newfangled veggie burgers try their hardest to mimic ground meat, Superiority doesn’t take that tack. It’s clearly a vegetable-based burger in texture, but wow, does it ever pack an umami punch. It’s so assertively savory tasting that you don’t miss the meat. Even my husband, aka Meat Boy, didn’t, if you can believe it, when we tried it last year.

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Maison Alyzee — The Newest Hot-Spot Patisserie on the Peninsula

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Presenting the Passiano (and the chocolate tart in the back) at the new Maison Alyzee.

Presenting the Passiano (and the chocolate tart in the back) at the new Maison Alyzee.

 

Owner Laurent Pellet makes no bones about what sets his Maison Alyzee in downtown Mountain View apart from other Bay Area bakeries.

Its heritage is unequivocally French — from the Lyon-born Pellet to the three French pastry chefs who moved to the United States just for this endeavor.

Oui, oui.

Since opening two weeks ago, the place has been inundated. So much so, that it had to up its baking to double the number of croissants, kouign-amanns and other viennoierie after just the second day.

And that’s saying something because it’s directly across the street from competitor, Alexander’s Patisserie.

Head Pastry Chef Jean-Victor Bellaye who had never been to California before taking this job.

Head Pastry Chef Jean-Victor Bellaye who had never been to California before taking this job.

Pellet, who was a chief financial officer for Sony for many years, longed for an authentic French patisserie when he moved to the Bay Area. So, he decided to start one, himself, and named it after his youngest daughter.

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Chef Jose Andres At the Commonwealth Club & More

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Chef Jose Andres. (photo courtesy of the Think Food Group)

Chef Jose Andres. (photo courtesy of the ThinkFood Group)

The Commonwealth Club Hosts Chef Jose Andres

Jose Andres is so much more than one of the world’s most talented chefs. He’s also a committed humanitarian, as evidenced by his Herculean efforts to feed people in Puerto Rico last year, following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria.

Andres, who was named “Humanitarian of the Year” by the James Beard Foundation, led a force of volunteers and chefs, who cooked nearly 3 million hot meals for the island’s residents.

You can learn more about his experiences, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17, at “Feeding Puerto Rico with Chef Jose Andres,” a Commonwealth Club program that will be held at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre in San Francisco.

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Belcampo Makes A Big Splash in Jack London Square

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Feast your eyes on an entire beef short rib -- Korean-style -- at Belcampo in Oakland.

Feast your eyes on an entire beef short rib — Korean-style — at Belcampo in Oakland.

 

Belcampo’s flagship restaurant in Oakland’s Jack London Square may have only opened last month, but the soaring, 7,000-square-foot spot is already packing in the crowds, hankering for its menu focused on the company’s own sustainable meats.

Other restaurants may source sustainable products. But Belcampo takes that much further. It owns its own 25,000-acre ranch at the foot of Mt. Shasta, where it raises all its own organic, grass-fed beef, lamb, pigs, chickens, turkeys and other animals. It also owns its own USDA-certified slaughterhouse, as well as its own restaurants and butcher shops. That means there is never any middle man involved nor breaks in the supply chain. It’s as farm to table as you can get.

The Jack London Square locale is an ideal one with lovely waterfront views, and mere steps from Belcampo’s corporate offices.

On a recent Sunday evening, I dined as a guest of the restaurant.

Right on Jack London Square.

Right on Jack London Square.

The soaring, light-filled space.

The soaring, light-filled space.

The large, comfortable bar.

The large, comfortable bar.

It’s a lively venue with a large bar with plentiful seats and a lounge area. The main dining room is framed by huge windows that let in a lot of light on a summer day.

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