Category Archives: Chefs

A Taste of Old and New at Madrona Manor in Healdsburg

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What a way to start the meal, but with an egg that tastes smoky and a leaf that tastes like an oyster.

You wouldn’t normally expect to find trendy, liquid nitrogen-molecular gastronomy cooking going on inside an 1881-era Victorian mansion.

But at Madrona Manor in Healdsburg, that’s just what you’ll enjoy at the acclaimed Michelin one-star restaurant on the premises of this 22-room historic inn nestled in the hills above the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County.

Recently, I was invited to be a guest of the inn, which is charmingly decorated with period antiques and art pieces, including hand-painted wooden dolls and a framed Victorian lace wedding gown. The rooms feature fireplaces and claw-foot tubs. Homemade chocolate chip cookies are left by the bedside to welcome you.

The historic Madrona Manor.

Executive Chef Jesse Mallgren has cooked alongside some of the biggest names in the industry, including Jeremiah Tower and Gary Danko.

He draws inspiration from local ingredients, including the 3/4-acre organic garden on the premises, where he harvests tomatoes, herbs, greens and fruit that show up in many dishes on the menu.

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Prime Time at LB Steak in Menlo Park

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Meat isn't the only thing to indulge in at LB Steak. How about this beautiful veggie terrine?

You’d think there was a run on meat the way throngs are packing their way into LB Steak in downtown Menlo Park.

On a recent Saturday night, every table was nearly taken by 6:30 p.m., filled by retirees, young couples and families celebrating an occasion.

In the space that once housed the white tablecloth, French-inspired Marche, LB Steak opened in June. It joins its sister restaurant, LB Steak in San Jose’s Santana Row.

Both restaurants feature USDA Prime beef, the highest grade possible. But the menus differ slightly, with the Menlo Park one a bit smaller.

Chef Ryan Ellison, formerly of Oliveto in Oakland and A.P. Stump’s in San Jose, oversees the glass-enclosed exhibition kitchen.

I had a chance to sample some dishes when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant.

Large windows flank two sides of the restaurant, allowing in a profusion of natural light on a summer evening.

The contemporary dining room, bathed in loads of natural light.

For your bread-dipping pleasure.

With bread comes a trifecta of spreads: butter, olive oil and a stonefruit chutney that’s sweet-tart like ketchup.

For a time, Ellison featured an Escoffier-like vegetable terrine on the menu ($10.50) that you rarely see these days outside of a cooking school restaurant. Featuring cucumbers, mushrooms and artichokes, it was beautiful to behold with its varied hues and layers. On a warm night, the chilled terrine was a wonderful way to get your veggie groove on.

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Angelo Sosa’s Cured Watermelon Crudo

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It resembles tuna sashimi, but it's really watermelon in disguise.

Bing. Bam. Boom.

Done.

That’s how easy and fast this recipe comes together, making it a dream dish for hassle-free summer entertaining.

“Cured Watermelon Crudo with Thyme” is from the new cookbook, “Flavor Exposed” (Kyle Books) by “Top Chef” alum, Chef Angelo Sosa.

Sosa may be best known for his tight, skinny jeans that prompted endless razzing from his fellow contestants. But the man can cook, having worked with heavy-weights, Alain Ducasse and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. He’s now executive chef of Social Eatz in New York.

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A Gin-Tastic Time at Brasserie S&P

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A taste of "Indian Summer'' at Brasserie S&P, which specializes in gin cocktails

The last time I dined at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in San Francisco a few years ago, I shimmied into a chic cocktail dress and fancy black heels.

On a visit there just a few weeks ago, though, I donned merely dark jeans and a simple cardie.

How times have changed.

Like so many hotels in these still precarious economic times, the Mandarin Oriental has shed its spendy, special-occasion restaurant in favor of a more casual one that’s friendlier on the pocketbook.

Out went its glamorous Silks restaurant. In came the new Brasserie S&P this summer, named for the fact that it’s at the intersection of Sansome and Pine. It’s headed by Executive Chef Adam Mali, formerly of Nick’s Cove in Tomales Bay.

While Silks was perched on the second floor of the hotel, Brasserie S&P is on the main floor, just past the check-in desk and right across from a bank of elevators. While the former was a secluded, hushed space, the latter is smack in the middle of all the action.

I had a chance to check it out, when I was invited to dine as a guest of the restaurant.

The sedate dining room is all cream and blonde, with dark chocolate leather placemats on the tables. The decor may be somewhat too hotel utilitarian, but the snazzy bar and satisfying food more than make up for that.

The vase of flowers at each table keeps the theme going.

Mixologist Priscilla Young clearly is having a blast with the new cocktail menu, which spotlights gin, of all things. She even crafts her own tonics to go along with the extensive brands of gins available.

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SMIP Ranch Produce Boxes, Giant See’s Lollypop and Julia Child 100th Birthday Dinners

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Carrots from SMIP Ranch. (Photo by Ed Anderson)

Produce Boxes with A Chef Pedigree

Have you lusted after the pristine fruits and veggies on your plate when you’ve dined at the Village Pub in Woodside, Spruce in San Francisco, Mayfield Bakery & Cafe in Palo Alto and Cafe des Amis in San Francisco?

Now, you can purchase the same just-picked produce that those Bacchus Management Group restaurants, which also includes Pizza Antica, use daily. It all comes from SMIP Ranch in the hills above Woodside.

SMIP, an acronym for “sic manebimus in pace, Latin for “thus we will remain in peace,” began its relationship with the restaurants in 2001. The five-acre farm adheres to sustainable practices. In fact, the oil used at the restaurants is recycled and converted into biodiesel that powers the farm equipment and delivery van.

Its bounty has grown so abundant that it can now offer produce boxes to the public each week for $28 each.

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