Category Archives: Chefs

Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant to Open in Mountain View, Recchiuti Giant Chocolate Egg Raffle & More

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House-made pretzels, pickles and corn nuts at Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant. (Photo by Michele Min)

House-made pretzels, pickles and corn nuts at Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant. (Photo by Michele Min)

Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant to Debut in Downtown Mountain View

March 28, the doors will open to a world of brewski at Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant at 895 Villa St. in downtown Mountain View.

The 300-seat restaurant, on the site of the former Golden Wok, will serve import and craft beers from around the world, including 30 on tap. Look for such unusual ones as Fruli Strawberry Beer from Brouwerij Huyghe brewery, Chocolate Porter from Hangar One brewery and Hitachino Nest White Ale from Kiuichi brewery.

Chef Colby M. Reade will oversee the menu, which includes house-made charcuterie, along with  breads, pretzels and other baked goods. He’ll be cooking up beer-friendly dishes such as pork belly poutine ($12), mini corn dogs with caraway beer mustard ($8), the Steins burger (house-ground blend of dry aged short rib, brisket and sirloin; $11), fried chicken and waffle sandwich ($12), grilled black sea bass with herbed lentils ($18), and caramel apple crisp with bourbon pecan ice cream ($7).

Roasted beet and watercress salad. (Photo by Michele Min)

Roasted beet and watercress salad. (Photo by Michele Min)

The restaurant features a main dining room, beer garden, two private rooms and another private beer garden for parties. The keg room is outfitted with reclaimed wood and tempered glass windows.

Steins will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and until 11:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

La Luna Cupcakes Opens This Week in San Francisco

Elvia Buendia started baking cupcakes through La Cocina’s incubator program, which provides affordable commercial kitchen space and technical assistance to low-income entrepreneurs in San Francisco.

She did so well that after three years in the program she’s graduated to opening her own brick-and-mortar store. La Luna Cupcakes opens its doors March 21 in San Francisco’s Crocker Galleria.

Banana cupcake. (Photo courtesy of La Luna Cupcakes)

Banana cupcake. (Photo courtesy of La Luna Cupcakes)

Buendia’s sweet and savory cupcakes will be available in flavors such as: Red Velvet; Carrot Cake; Tres Leches; bacon and eggs; and beef with cheese and salsa.

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The State of 31st Union

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Wine flights at 31st Union in San Mateo.

Wine flights at 31st Union in San Mateo.

 

David Hunsaker leads a busy life.

By day, he works in sales for a commercial printing business.

By night (and weekends), he oversees the farm-to-table restaurant he opened last summer in downtown San Mateo, 31st Union.

The name of the restaurant refers to the fact that California was the 31st state in the union. It also proclaims the restaurant’s commitment to sourcing ingredients from within the state.

The 50-seat establishment is compact, with wood tabletops affixed to sawhorse legs that are set close together. A large bank of windows lets in a lot of natural light, all the better to illuminate the funky, charming decor. Think rustic and reclaimed, with barn wood wall panels, a polished cement floor, and a California state flag hanging on one wall. The focal point is a chalkboard-like outline of California on a back wall, with feathered arrows pointing to the areas where the restaurant’s ingredients have come from. Even the hallway leading to the restroom gets an artsy treatment with a bank of clip boards, each holding a page from a vintage catalog.

The decor is all about funky, fun and reclaimed.

The decor is all about funky, fun and reclaimed.

The focal point of the restaurant.

The focal point of the restaurant.

It's a celebration of California.

It’s a celebration of California.

Recently, I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant to try Executive Chef Paul Burzlaff’s cooking. He was most recently sous chef at the Restaurant at Wente Vineyards in Livermore.

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Passover at Perbacco, St. Paddy’s Day Fun & More

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Chefs Staffan Terje and Joyce Goldstein team up for Passover. (Photo by Gamma Nine Photography)

Chefs Staffan Terje and Joyce Goldstein team up for Passover. (Photo by Gamma Nine Photography)

Sixth Annual Passover Dinner at Perbacco

Staffan Terje, chef-owner of Perbacco in San Francisco, will once again welcome guest Chef Joyce Goldstein, for a special Passover repast on March 27.

The two have teamed up for a half dozen years for this annual celebration.

The four-course dinner will feature recipes from Goldstein’s “Cucina Ebraica” cookbook. Dishes include “Crispy Fried Artichokes — Jewish-style’,” “Passover Soup with Chicken Dumplings and Eggs” and “Sea Bass with Rhubarb Sauce.”

Price is $49 per person. Space is limited. For reservations, call (415) 955-0663.

Comal Puts a Mexican Spin on the Seder

Berkeley’s Comal will celebrate Passover, March 25-26, with a Mexican twist on the Seder with two nights of special family-style dinners.

Dishes will include guacamole and chips (but of course), tequila-cured salmon and beef brisket adobo.

Tickets are $60 per person.

St. Patrick’s Day Fare

To get in the spirit of St. Paddy’s Day, Ame at the St. Regis in San Francisco will be offering beer donuts with chocolate stout  ice cream and chocolate fudge sauce ($12).

Beer donuts with chocolate stout ice cream. (Photo courtesy of Ame)

Beer donuts with chocolate stout ice cream. (Photo courtesy of Ame)

It’s enough to make you forget about corned beef and cabbage, right?

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Chef Matthew Accarrino’s Braised Chicken with Apples and Calvados

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A dish perfect for the home-cook from Chef Matthew Accarrino of SPQR restaurant.

A dish perfect for the home-cook from Chef Matthew Accarrino of SPQR restaurant.

 

Let me just say that one taste of this dish made me feel like I was sitting down to a repast at a charming country inn in the north-west of France.

OK, not that I’ve actually had the pleasure of visiting Brittany.

But it is known for its apples and its Calvados, a spectacular apple brandy.

So, you have to hand it to a dish that can transport you like that.

Leave it to Chef Matthew Accarrino to do so, too. If you’ve ever eaten at SPQR in San Francisco, you know he has a deft hand for creating lusty flavors in rustic-chic dishes.

Of course, most of us don’t have the patience or inclination to make a lot of chef dishes. That’s why we go out to restaurants instead, right?

But “Braised Chicken with Apples and Calvados” is one of those straight-forward, one-pot dishes that anyone can do.

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Donostia Debuts in Los Gatos

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A simple, yet sublime, mushroom brocheta at the new Donostia in Los Gatos.

A simple, yet sublime, mushroom brocheta at the new Donostia in Los Gatos.

 

If you had any doubt that Spanish food remains one of the hottest crazes around even years after El Bulli’s Ferran Adria introduced the world to foams, just take a look at what’s happening in the Bay Area.

In January, Chef Paul Canales, formerly of Oliveto, opened Restaurant Duende & Bodega in Oakland. This spring, look for celebrity chef, Michael Chiarello of Bottega in Yountville, to open the splashy Coqueta on San Francisco’s Embarcadero.

Thankfully, the South Bay has not been left behind in all of this. Donostia (the Basque name for San Sebastian) opened last month at 424 Santa Cruz Ave. in Los Gatos to serve up tapas alongside Spanish wines and beers.

The new restaurant is by the same duo behind Enoteca La Storia, just a couple doors away in the same retail-business center. Owners Joe Cannistraci and Michael Guerra, couldn’t resist when this long, narrow 1,000-square-foot space became available.

The two Italian guys traveled to San Sebastian to familiarize themselves with authentic tapas. That’s where they met Agustin Elbert, a native Argentinian who has spent the past dozen years cooking in Spain, including at a number of well-known tapas places. They lured him to Los Gatos to be their consulting chef.

The long, narrow space features a bar with seating, as well as bar-height tables.

The long, narrow space features a bar with seating, as well as bar-height tables.

Last week, I had a chance to visit Donostia as a guest of the restaurant. With a built-in clientele who often spill over from sister establishment, Enoteca La Storia, Donostia is already packing in regulars even if it’s only been open a couple of weeks.

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