Category Archives: Chefs

Layers and Layers to Admire at Strata

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Rockfish crudo -- one of the courses on the $75 prix fixe at the new Strata.
Rockfish crudo — one of the courses on the $75 prix fixe at the new Strata.

In these economic times, bargain bliss is hard to come by.

But look to the new downtown San Jose restaurant Strata, set to open on Wednesday, and you will unexpectedly find it.

Relatively speaking.

After all, when’s the last time you enjoyed an upscale 5-course prix fixe dinner for $75? With a wine pairing for all of $40 for four different pours?

It’s not merely food plopped on a dish, either, but thoughtfully executed and plated with intention.

I had the opportunity to enjoy a sneak peek and taste over the weekend when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant.

The bar-lounge.
The bar-lounge.
The wine bottle display in the lounge.
The wine bottle display in the lounge.

Strata, pronounced “Stray-tuh,” is a geological term that refers to the layers of rock or sediment that form over time. It’s meant to evoke the layers of cuisine, hospitality, and experience that make up the restaurant, says co-owner Dan Phan.

It could also refer to the multi-faceted establishments that Phan, along with co-owners George Lahlou and Johnny Wang, have successfully launched in downtown San Jose over the past few years. Their MO Hospitality is the driving force behind bars Paper Plane, MINIBOSS, Still O.G. and Alter Ego, and the restaurant Eos & Nyx.

Like Eos & Nyx, Strata offers an upscale experience, but in this case, a bifurcated one.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies — But Make ‘Em with Miso-Glazed Walnuts

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Loads of dark chocolate plus miso-glazed walnuts make these cookies extra special.
Loads of dark chocolate plus miso-glazed walnuts make these cookies extra special.

Crisp or chewy. Brown sugar or granulated. Softened butter or browned. Chips or chopped chocolate. Baked immediately or from chilled dough.

Chocolate-chip cookies come in all sizes and manners, and we love each and every one.

Get ready to add another fabulous one to your repertoire — this one with miso.

As in miso-glazed walnuts.

“Miso Walnut Double-Thick Chocolate-Chip Cookies” is from “Sift: The Elements of Great Baking” (Clarkson Potter, 2024), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Nicola Lamb, a London-based recipe developer and pastry chef, who has trained with superstar chefs Dominique Ansel and Yotam Ottolenghi.

The first 100 or so pages are perfect for bakers who like to nerd out. They’re devoted to the science behind flour, sugar, eggs, and fat — and how they affect different types of dessert recipes.

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The Balm of Pistachio-Cardamom Cake

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A cake for cardamom lovers.
A cake for cardamom lovers.

“Ready for Dessert” has got to be the most rhetorical of questions.

Because when it comes to desserts, I don’t know about you, but I am ready and willing 24-7.

If you’re the same, then you’re sure to appreciate this aptly named cookbook (Ten Speed Press, 2025), of which I received a review copy.

It’s actually a newly revised edition of David Lebovitz’s best-seller that first published in 2010. A professional cook and baker, who worked at Berkeley’s Chez Panisse for 13 years, he’s now grown into a prolific cookbook author and baking authority who makes his home in Paris.

You’ll find nearly 175 recipes sure to tempt your sweet tooth, from “Cherry Gateau Basque,” “Banana Cake with Mocha Frosting and Salted Candied Peanuts,” and “Chocolate Ganache Custard Tart” to “Butterscotch-Pecan Ice Cream,” and “Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread.”

With its haunting and unmistakable sweet, minty, citrus-y, and pine-y fragrance, I can never resist anything with cardamom.

And Lebovitz’s “Pistachio-Cardamom Cake” delivers big-time in aroma, taste, and texture.

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Family Is First and Foremost at George + Kin

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Fried chicken sandwich on house-made Japanese milk bread at George + Kin.
Fried chicken sandwich on house-made Japanese milk bread at George + Kin.

It’s easy to fall for a place where love of family is paramount in all that it does.

Such is the case at George + Kin, a new Japanese American-inflected diner in Napa.

When I found myself in the Napa Valley a few days after it opened, I knew I had to stop in. At 11:30 a.m. on a Friday, it was already humming with patrons.

Owner Ben Koenig named his restaurant in honor of his great aunt and uncle, Kinuko and George Sato, Japanese American farmers from Pocatello, Idaho, who helped raise his mother, Wendy, after she lost her own mother at a young age.

You order at the counter.
You order at the counter.
The dining room.
The dining room.

Although he partnered with hospitality professional Charles Whittaker and consulting chef Itamar Abramovitch to open the restaurant in the Bel Aire Plaza, Koenig is no stranger to opening businesses. He is already well known in the Napa Valley for his MOTHERS, Heritage Eats (now closed), Best Food Truck Ever, and Napa Valley Lobster Co.

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A Tip of the Hat to La Toque

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A portobello mushroom steak with black garlic bernaise on the vegetable tasting menu at La Toque.
A portobello mushroom steak with black garlic bernaise on the vegetable tasting menu at La Toque.

Last week, when I dined at Napa’s fine-dining La Toque, I did something uncharacteristic.

I ordered the vegetarian tasting menu.

Apparently, I’m in good company, too. Because as Chef-Owner Ken Frank explained, the restaurant’s vegetarian menu is especially popular on Sundays, particularly among South Asians, many of whom drive up from Fremont just for it.

I can see why. Dining in an elegant dining room on six opulent vegetable courses amid the splendor of Wine Country is the perfect way to top off the weekend before the workweek intrudes once again.

When Frank originally opened La Toque, he was all of 23. He’s now 70. And has no plans to retire anytime soon because he says he’s still having way too much fun.

A painting of Chef Ken Frank early in his career.
A painting of Chef Ken Frank early in his career.
A more recent oversized photograph of him.
A more recent oversized photograph of him.
And Chef Ken in the kitchen on the evening I dined.
And Chef Ken in the kitchen on the evening I dined.

La Toque first opened in Los Angeles in 1979, before Frank moved to the Napa Valley to open it in Rutherford in 1998. Finally, in 2008, he moved it to its current home in Napa at the Westin Verasa.

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