Category Archives: Chefs

Dining At the New La Connessa

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Hen of the woods mushrooms cover this satisfying pizza at La Connessa.
Hen of the woods mushrooms cover this satisfying pizza at La Connessa.

To say that the Bay Area’s Bacchus Management Group has been on a tear lately would be an understatement. In addition to opening three new establishments in San Francisco this year alone, plans call for for another new restaurant to debut at San Jose’s Santana Row in 2024 and one to open at the historic post office building in Burlingame in 2025.

That’s in addition to its already sizeable stable of Spruce in San Francisco, Michelin-starred the Village Pub in Woodside, Michelin-starred Selby’s in Redwood City, the Village Bakery in Woodside, and Pizza Antica locations in Santana Row and Lafayette.

Last week, I had a chance to check out its new Italian restaurant, La Connessa, when I was invited in as a guest. It’s on the street level of a new building on Potrero Hill. Just steps away are Bacchus’ two other new eateries: the burger place, Louie’s Original; and the sourdough donut shop, Magic Donuts & Coffee (more on that in a moment).

The focal-point bar.
The focal-point bar.
Neon decoration on the wall.
Neon decoration on the wall.

Dimly lighted with sleek, wedding band-like chandeliers and a soaring, illuminated bar, it has that sophisticated, moody aura, and boy, was it bustling on a Saturday night. There’s even a view into the kitchen behind big glass windows.

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Experiencing the New Sushi by Scratch in Healdsburg

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Chef de Cuisine Willer Larreal Perez presides over the 10-seat Sushi by Scratch inside The Matheson.
Chef de Cuisine Willer Larreal Perez presides over the 10-seat Sushi by Scratch inside The Matheson.

Hidden behind a door in what was once a private dining room at The Matheson in downtown Healdsburg sits a restaurant within a restaurant.

It is all of 10 seats, situated around a u-shaped sushi bar, behind which three chefs slice, form, dollop, and blow-torch seafood into precious morsels of nigiri.

We’ve all had sushi that’s been decimated by cream cheese, mayonnaise, and gloppy sweet sauces. Sushi by Scratch is not that, even if the pristine fish does get finished with what at first may seem unlikely adornments. Instead, the effect here is far more finessed.

Opened in December, this is the first location of the reservation-only, omakase restaurant that started in Los Angeles in 2017 and has quickly spread to include outposts around the country, as well as in Montreal. Chef Philip Frankland Lee, who competed on “Top Chef” and his wife, Pastry Chef Margarita Kallas-Lee, founded the restaurant. A favorite of a bevy of celebrities, it held a Michelin star in 2021 and 2022.

I had a chance to try the experience last week, when I was invited in as a guest of Sushi by Scratch.

Bluefin tartare cannoli -- that you'll only receive if you show up 30 minutes before your reservation.
Bluefin tartare cannoli — that you’ll only receive if you show up 30 minutes before your reservation.

Dinner is 17 courses of nigiri at $185 per person. A word to the wise when booking: You will note that the reservation invites you to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled reservation for a complimentary welcome cocktail. You might be tempted to blow this off if you’re not interested in a cocktail or don’t want to be bothered with arriving early. This would be a major mistake.

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Refresh and Reset with Sicilian Orange Semolina Cake

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Your happy cake.
Your happy cake.

If you’ve ever been guilty of procrastibaking, raise your hand.

Uh, yes, that would be me, multiple times when I’ve pushed aside writing deadlines for a few hours because I just felt the urge to bake a batch of cookies.

And if you’ve ever stressed baked, raise your other hand,

Yes, me again, both arms up, as I’ve been guilty of sliding a Bundt cake or pan of brownies into the oven when everything else has seemed too overwhelming.

Jack Hazan knows those times all too well. After all, he’s an actual New York City psychotherapist and founder of Modern Therapy Group, who also happens to be the chief baking officer of JackBakes, a baked goods company whose breads are now carried in more than 5– online and brick-and-mortar stores.

He’s also the author of “Mind Over Batter” (Chronicle Books, 2022), of which I received a review copy. It’s a novel self-care cookbook that touts baking as therapy.

Let’s face it, as merry and fun as the holidays are, they can also raise the roof on anxiety as we all try to be everything to everyone and feel obligated to accept every invitation that comes our way.

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Troubadour Bread’s Exquisite Metamorphosis From Day to Night

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In the daytime, you might get Italian salumi sandwiches. But at night, this stunner is on the menu at Troubadour.
In the daytime, you might get Italian salumi sandwiches. But at night, this stunner is on the menu at Troubadour.

By day, Healdsburg’s Troubadour Bread & Bistro is a sandwich shop, albeit an extraordinary one. But come night, it morphs stunningly into a veritable Michelin-starred dining experience.

Yes, the popular downtown cafe, where you can pick up a pumpkin seed dukkah-dusted chicken salad on heavenly bread baked by sister bakery Quail & Condor, transforms into Le Diner, four nights a week. That’s when it serves a French-California prix fixe worthy of blinding the radar of those discriminating inspectors.

That’s because there’s major talent behind this endeavor in the form of the husband-and-wife team that opened Troubadour and Quail & Condor, Executive Chef Sean McGaughey and Executive Pastry Chef Melissa Yanc McGaughey. They both worked previously at nearby Michelin three-starred SingleThread Farms & Restaurant. He was its chef de cuisine, and she was its hotel baker.

Look for the sign for Troubadour in downtown Healdsburg.
Look for the sign for Troubadour in downtown Healdsburg.

The couple also heads up the kitchen team at Molti Amici, founded by Jonny Barr, a former general manager at SingleThread, whose wife Tiffany Spurgeon, another SingleThread alum, runs front-of-house at Troubadour’s Le Diner.

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The Lamb Dish You Crave On A Cold Night

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Lamb shoulder braised with tomatoes and garnished with bodacious burrata.
Lamb shoulder braised with tomatoes and garnished with bodacious burrata.

How can one possibly make low and slow-braised, fall-apart tender lamb any better?

Try topping it with a big ol’ ball of burrata, that’s how.

You’ve probably enjoyed many a meaty stew or ragu dolloped with creamy ricotta. But when you swap that out for voluptuous burrata whose luscious creamy center spills out to add dreamy, milky sweetness to anything it touches, you’ve just about attained nirvana.

“Braised Lamb with Burrata and Herb Oil” is that dish.

It’s from “Okanagan Eats” (Figure 1), of which I received a review copy. A collection of recipes from British Columbia’s Wine Country, it was written by Dawn Postnikoff, co-founder of Edible Vancouver Island; and Joanne Sasvari, a food writer and Canadian Wine Scholar.

Learn about this fertile region, which comprises three valleys, two river valleys, and the Okanagan Valley.

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