Category Archives: Dining Outside

RT Bistro Completes A Trifecta

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Porcini doughnuts with caviar at RT Bistro.
Porcini doughnuts with caviar at RT Bistro.

When it comes to their brand of cooking, husband and wife chefs Evan and Sarah Rich have a knack for throwing you for a loop — in the best of ways.

Think you’re getting potato chips at their flagship, 14-year-old Rich Table in San Francisco? You are — but ones uncannily threaded with whole sardines.

Expecting a whole roasted cauliflower at their two RT Rotisserie locations in San Francisco? You might want to don sunglasses when it arrives blanketed in technicolor fuchsia from a dazzling red beet tahini sauce.

Hankering for shrimp Louie at their newest restaurant, RT Bistro, which just opened in January? The chilled shrimp in a creamy sauce will arrive not on a mound of lettuce, but on disks of fried eggplant that are crisp on the outside and creamy within.

The Riches call their food “New American.” In truth, it’s what Sarah and Evan most like to eat — familiar sounding dishes with deepened flavors that get playfully and imaginatively tweaked without losing any focus.

It’s proved to be a winning formula for them and General Manager-Partner Jonny Gilbert.

RT Bistro's entrance is around the corner from Rich Table's.
RT Bistro’s entrance is around the corner from Rich Table’s.

Last week, I finally had a chance to check out RT Bistro, which is actually located in the same building that houses Rich Table, with its entrance just around the corner from it.

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A Visit to N/Soto in Los Angeles

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Chicken thigh and chicken meatball skewers at N/Soto -- some of the juiciest chicken I've had in a while.
Chicken thigh and chicken meatball skewers at N/Soto — some of the juiciest chicken I’ve had in a while.

Think of Michelin-starred N/Naka as the older sister in a little black dress and diamonds with a chic persona, while N/Soto is the younger, more carefree sister in t-shirt and jeans — albeit perfectly tailor-made ones.

Both celebrated Los Angeles restaurants are owned and operated by married chefs, Niki Nakayama and Carole Iida-Nakayama. This spring, they celebrated both the 15th anniversary of N/Naka, their high-end, Japanese-meets-Californian kaiseki, and the 4th anniversary of N/Soto, their izakaya.

While “naka” in Japanese means “inside” and is a play on Nakayama’s surname, “soto” means “outside” and references the pandemic when for a time restaurants were forced to shutter, closed off from the outside world.

In fact, N/Soto originated during the pandemic as a pop-up offering to-go bentos. It proved so successful that Nakayama and Iida-Nakayama decided to go all in on a second, more casual restaurant.

Dinner at N/Naka is a 3-hour+ affair that will set you back $395 per person — that is if you can snag one of the hard-to-get reservations. In contrast, while N/Soto does offer a weekday $95 tasting menu, its main menu is strictly a la carte, meaning you can spend as little or as much as your appetite desires.

I’ve had the pleasure of dining at N/Naka twice, including earlier this month, and it remains an exquisite experience. On this particular trip to Los Angeles, I was fortunate enough to be invited in as a guest of N/Soto to try it in comparison.

The entrance to the restaurant.
The entrance to the restaurant.

The front of the restaurant is blanketed in a wall of ivy, with its noren or Japanese fabric divider providing the clue to where the entrance is located.

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Carbo-Loading at Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley

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A fantastic mushroom pizza at Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley.
A fantastic mushroom pizza at Rose Pizzeria in Berkeley.

After enjoying a splendid musical production of “The Lunchbox” at the Berkeley Rep, based on one of my favorite films of the same name, I did the only logical thing afterward:

I stuffed myself silly with pizza.

After all, it was only a short stroll away from the theater to Rose Pizzeria, which the New York Times named in 2024 as one of “The Best Pizzas in America.”

Owners, married couple Gerad Gobel and Alexis Rorabaugh, also opened a second location this spring, this one in San Francisco.

The entrance.
The entrance.

The original Berkeley location is tiny, so it pays to make a reservation in advance if you can. Otherwise, you’re in for a wait.

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Staycation Time At West Marin’s Olema House

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The weeknight Blue Plate Special at Due West at the Olema House is a deal. This is Tuesday's special of fried chicken.
The weeknight Blue Plate Special at Due West at the Olema House is a deal. This is Tuesday’s special of fried chicken.

Sometimes you long to jet off to faraway lands.

Other times, you crave a less taxing getaway that’s more easily reachable by car.

For times like that, look no further than the Olema House, a perfect spot to act as home base as you explore the beauty of nearby Point Reyes National Seashore.

That’s exactly what my husband and I did last week when I was invited to be a guest of the inn for two nights.

The boutique inn, located just off Highway 1 in the town of Olema, has a recommendation from the Michelin Guide. It is part of the Mosaic Hotel Collection, which operates half a dozen hotels, including North Block in Yountville and The Madrona in Healdsburg.

The Olema House entrance.
The Olema House entrance.
The Olema House lobby.
The Olema House lobby.
Sitting area in the lobby.
Sitting area in the lobby.

It was originally built 150 years ago as a hotel and saloon on the old stagecoach route. Today, it retains that rustic charm yet with all the modern accoutrements one would desire with a total of 24 rooms and cottages set on four acres beside a creek.

It boasts a market, where one can pick up snacks, breakfast baked goods, and coffee, as well as its own restaurant, Due West. A lot of hotel restaurants in semi-remote areas may fall back on being just good enough. But the food at Due West surprised by exceeding expectations. So much so, that we ate there both nights rather than venturing elsewhere on the second one.

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San Francisco’s Causwells Expands South to Menlo Park

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The Deconstructed Pimm's Cup at Causwells.
The Deconstructed Pimm’s Cup at Causwells.

After a dozen years operating in San Francisco’s Marina District, Causwells has planted a flag on the Peninsula, opening a sister restaurant in Menlo Park’s Springline development of restaurants and residences earlier this spring.

Opened by Chef Adam Rosenblum and Beverage Director Elmer Mejicanos, it’s a handsome restaurant with showy chandeliers and a huge wall of windows to let a lot of natural light in.

It does have its quirks, though: It’s across the street from the Menlo Park Caltrain station, which means the blaring of commuter train horns regularly, especially if you’re dining at prime-time on a weeknight. You will also occasionally see non-diners wandering into the restaurant to get to a staircase or elevator to access their apartments in the complex.

The entrance.
The entrance.
The bar cart at a table in the dining room.
The bar cart at a table in the dining room.

However, if you fancy a cocktail, this is the place to be. There’s even a bar cart that will roll to your table for cocktails made tableside if you are a large enough party.

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