Category Archives: Chefs

Instead of Fighting the Crowds at Big-Box Stores Over the Next Few Days…

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Meet brothers Michael and Byran Voltaggio at Williams-Sonoma. (Photo courtesy of Williiams-Sonoma)

Meet Chefs Michael and Bryan Voltaggio

Michael and Bryan Voltaggio — sibling chefs who strutted their culinary prowess on “Top Chef” before younger bro, Michael, walked away with the title — will be making appearances at two local Williams-Sonoma stores next week.

First up, they will be at the Stanford Shopping Center store at 5 p.m. Nov. 28. The next day, 5 p.m. Nov. 29, they’ll be at the San Francisco Union Square store.

At both events, they will be signing copies of their new cookbook, “Volt ink.” (Weldon Owen). The books must be purchased at Williams-Sonoma in order to be signed.

Give the Gift of A Restaurant Gift Certificate

San Francisco’s Treatful makes gift-giving for the foodies on your list a whole lot easier.

Founded by two Stanford Business School grads, the online site allows you to purchase gift certificates to more than 250 restaurants in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. Among them are Aziza in San Francisco, Jar in Los Angeles, Rye in Brooklyn, and the Girl & the Goat in Chicago.

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Nutty Brussels Sprouts

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For your Thanksgiving pleasure: Brussels sprouts with roasted chestnuts.

When the holiday table is groaning under the weight of heavy cream, loads of cheese, bountiful bacon, enormous hunks of meat and other heavy fare, a veggie side dish that’s simple — and simply adorned — always offers a welcome relief.

Such is the case with “Buttered Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts” from the new cookbook, “Holiday Dinners with Bradley Ogden” (Running Press), of which I recently received a review copy.

Ogden, co-founder of San Francisco’s Lark Creek Restaurant Group, offers up 150 recipes perfect for the big winter holidays.

This dish is beautiful to behold all on its own, what with the plump, whole chestnuts peeking through a bowl of green. Brussels sprouts are blanched, then put into an ice water bath to ensure their hue stays vivid, too. Then, they are tossed in a hot saute pan with chestnuts that have been roasted and shelled, as well as a knob of butter, and salt and pepper. That’s it.

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Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Inventive Take on Butternut Squash

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A drizzle of balsamic vinegar makes magic in this butternut squash dish.

Cutting up a hard winter squash like butternut can be a rather cumbersome chore.

But leave it to esteemed New York Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten to devise a dish that does away with that unwieldy step.

Vongerichten’s “Butternut Squash with Balsamic and Chile Panko Crumbs” is made by cooking a whole butternut squash in a big pot of boiling water until tender, about 45 minutes.

In this recipe from his newest cookbook, “Home Cooking with Jean-Georges” (Clarkson Potter), of which I recently received a review copy, he jokes that he came up with this surefire method one night when he was cooking at home, but wanted to watch a movie with his kids uninterrupted.

After all, Vongerichten’s flagship Jean Georges restaurant may be only one of six in the country to garner three Michelin stars, but this is also a chef who likes to cook and entertain at home. The book includes 100 recipes of family favorites that he likes to make at his country home in Waccabuc, New York. Think everything from “Portobello Parmesan Sandwiches with Rosemary Mayonnaise” to “Pork Chops with Cherry Mustard” to “Apricot Frangipane Tart.”

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Amber Dhara Makes Its Mark In Palo Alto

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Shrimp Assamese flavored with galangal, tamarind and lime leaves -- a a dish from North-East India.

A budding new Indian restaurateur recently remarked to me that the establishment he most hopes to compete with is Amber India.

It’s easy to understand why.

The Indian restaurant group, which started more than 13 years ago with its first Amber India restaurant in Mountain View, practically pioneered the art of modern Indian cuisine in the Bay Area.

Weeks ago, it opened its fifth restaurant, Amber Dhara in downtown Palo Alto, in the former location of Junnoon, another modern Indian eatery. If that weren’t enough, you can look for a second Amber Dhara to open in San Francisco’s Mission District in January.

The look of the Palo Alto place hasn’t changed much. Heavy silk drapes and peach banquettes cocooned in dark wood still lend a glam, exotic ambience.

Last weekend, I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant to try some of the new dishes. Amber Dhara, explains Corporate Executive Chef Vittal Shetty, emphasizes small plates and little-seen regional Indian specialties. Think roti ($3.75) — but made with nine grains to give it a deeper, heartier flavor; and “Duck Two Ways” ($20) with a spice confit duck leg plus a seared breast in orange curry. There’s also a range of specialty cocktails, including the “Ginger Sutra” with fresh ginger, vodka and jaggery, which I couldn’t resist.

A tangle of mung lentils, pomegrante seeds and sweet pear slices.

We started with the moong lentil salad ($7) — a vibrant mix of full-throttle crunch from pomegranate seeds and crushed peanuts, as well as sweet Anjou pear slices. A zingy key lime vinaigrette tied it all together.

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Patxi’s to Open in Campbell, Unique Chefs of Compassion Event & More

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Time for deep dish. (Photo courtesy of Patxi's)

Patxi’s Opens This Afternoon in Campbell

Get ready for some deep deep dish.

Patxi’s Pizza, which specializes in Chicago-style deep dish pies, is opening its seventh Bay Area location at 4 p.m. today, 1875 S. Bascom Ave. in Campbell in the Pruneyard Shopping Center.

What’s more, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 21, the Campbell locale will hold a grand opening with complimentary samples.

The first Patxi’s (pronounced pah’-cheese) opened in Palo Alto in 2004 by William Freeman and Francisco “Patxi” Azpiroz, who previously worked at the legendary Zachary’s Pizza in Berkeley. The restaurant features four types of pizza (stuffed, pan, thin, and extra-thin), as well as three types of dough (regular, whole-wheat, and a new gluten-free one).

The new Campbell location has special meaning for Freeman, too. “I have deep roots in the Campbell area –my family has farmed land here for a century, and my dad grew up on a walnut and apricot farm on Lawrence Road,” he said in a statement. “So this is a real homecoming for me.”

Exec. Pastry Chef Carlos Sanchez of Parcel 104 picks his ingredients from the food pantry. (Photo courtesy of West Valley Community Services)

Chefs of Compassion

So many chefs are used to cooking with every gourmet product at their disposal.

But what happens when four Bay Area chefs are charged with making a showstopping dish from ingredients found only in the West Valley Community Services food pantry?

You’ll find out if you attend the “Chefs of Compassion Cooking for a Cause” fund-raising event, 5 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Addison-Penzak JCC of Silicon Valley, 14855 Oka Road in Los Gatos.

Executive Chef Chris Schloss of Cin-Cin Wine Bar in Los Gatos; Executive Pastry Chef Carlos Sanchez of Parcel 104 in Santa Clara; Executive Chef Jay Essadki of Morocco’s Restaurant in San Jose and Mountain View; and Executive Chef Nanci Wokas of Cooking with Class will each be preparing one of four courses at this dinner, which will help fund West Valley Community Services hunger and homeless programs.

"Breakfast for Dinner'' by Carlos Sanchez of Parcel 104. (Photo courtesy of West Valley Community Services)

Yours truly will be one of the judges, charged with picking the winning dish, along with Tracy Lee, founder of Dishcrawl; Sheila Himmel, former Mercury News restaurant critic; Linda Zavoral, Mercury News travel editor; and Abby Schwartz, South Bay manager of Yelp.

Tickets are $100 per person.

Chef Daniel Humm Returns to Campton Place for One Night

Chef Daniel Humm of New York’s Eleven Madison Park is returning for one evening to the establishment where he got his start — Campton Place in San Francisco.

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