Category Archives: Enticing Events

Clear Skies with A Chance of Great Chicken at the New Fog City

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Chef Bruce Hill cutting up a chicken cooked with his patented method at Fog City.

Chef Bruce Hill cutting up a chicken cooked with his patented method at Fog City.

 

Fog City Diner has a most storied past in San Francisco.

Long ago, the establishment nourished sailors before they shipped out to do battle in World War II. Then in 1985, Chef Cindy Pawlycn opened the doors there to what was then called Fog City Diner, serving up burgeoning California cuisine in the shiny Airstream-like restaurant.

A month ago, after an extensive remodel by owners Bill Higgins and Bill Upson, it reopened with veteran Chef Bruce Hill at the helm. It jettisoned the “diner” to become just Fog City.

The whimsical artwork on one wall.

The whimsical artwork on one wall.

With Hill’s vast experience as co-owner also of Bix, Picco, Pizzeria Pico and Zero Zero, it’s no surprise that the restaurant charged out of the gate with an impressive showing, as evidenced by the media dinner I was invited to there the week it opened. All around me, booths were crowded and seats at the bar filled with patrons enjoying specialty cocktails such as the gingery “Inside Job” (James E. Pepper Rye, Nocino, Orgeat, ginger shrub and lemon; $11).

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Westfield Valley Fair Debuts New Dining Terrace, One Market Expands Weekly Beast Menu & More

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Artist's rendering of the new Dining Terrace at Valley Fair Shopping Center. (Photo courtesy of Westfiled)

Artist’s rendering of the new Dining Terrace at Valley Fair Shopping Center. (Photo courtesy of Westfiled)

Westfield Valley Fair Unveils New Dining Terrace

If you’ve worked up a hunger after fighting the crowds at the new Uniqlo store at Santa Clara’s Westfield Valley Fair Shopping Center, head to the mall’s spiffy new Dining Terrace.

The revamped 23,000-square-foot space opens to the public officially November 1.

In addition to comfy lounge seating and an alfresco outdoor patio with fire pits, the Dining Terrace will feature 18 fast-casual eateries.

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New Chocolate Shop at Valley Fair, Daniel Boulud at the JCC in San Francisco & More

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Valentino-Caprice truffle. (Photo courtesy of Cocoabella)

Valentino-Caprice truffle. (Photo courtesy of Cocoabella)

Cocoabella Chocolates Opens in the South Bay

Cocoabella Chocolates, which already has two stores in San Francisco, has just opened its first South Bay location at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara.

Located in the Luxury Wing on the first level of the mall, the store sources small-batch, artisan chocolates from around the world.

It’s also the only retailer in the United States authorized to carry Thomas Haas truffles from British Columbia and Pierre Marcolini bars from Belgium.

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Join the Food Gal and Farmer Extraordinaire David Winsberg at Macy’s Valley Fair

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Are you a fan of the fabled Spanish Pimiento de Padron peppers?

The Russian Roulette of peppers that are sweet for the most part, but now and then one turns prickly hot and you can’t tell until you bite into it?

Then, you have farmer David Winsberg to thank for the fact that they now star on so many Bay Area menus and can be purchased easily at local farmers markets.

Winsberg’s Happy Quail Farms in East Palo Alto was believed to be the first commercial grower of this special pepper in this country.

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Two Chefs and 12 Courses at Saison, San Francisco’s Most Expensive Restaurant

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Chef Josh Skenes' Sungold tomato stunner at Saison.

Chef Josh Skenes’ Sungold tomato stunner at Saison.

San Francisco’s Saison might just be the ultimate pop-up success story ever.

In 2009, it started humbly enough as a once-a-week pop-up in the rear part of the casual Stable Cafe in the Mission District. It featured the uncanny juxtaposition of Chef Josh Skenes’ high-concept food and Sommelier Mark Bright’s exceptional wines in proper Riedel stemware contrasted with jeans-clad servers attending to guests seated in slat-style garden-variety chairs at bare-bones wooden tables.

Fast forward to 2013, where it’s has not only been transported to a different part of town, but now holds the distinction of being the priciest restaurant in the city. Its tasting menu will set you back $248 per person. If you want wine pairings, that”ll be another $148 per person.

Perhaps you saw Bon Appetit magazine’s September edition, in which it named Saison as one of “America’s Best New Restaurants.” The insightful story broke out why the restaurant costs run so high: The custom build-out of the kitchen and dining room? $2.8 million. Food costs per week? $15,000. The four tanks that hold live seafood? Also $15,000. The meat aging room? $40,000. The wood-burning hearth? $50,000. That hand-made dinner plate you’re eating off of? $300. The Levi’s-designed cook’s uniforms? $500 each. And that cashmere throw provided if you get chilly? You guessed it — $500.

And the place seats only 32.

Sign

Skenes just before the start of service.

Skenes just before the start of service.

Chef Gabriel Kreuther of The Modern in New York City.

Chef Gabriel Kreuther of The Modern in New York City.

This week, Saison added even more luster — if that’s possible — by hosting five renowned chefs, each cooking alongside Skenes on a different night to create a 12-course tasting menu for a spendy $500 per person.

Tuesday, it was Chef Laurent Gras, formerly of L20 in Chicago and the Fifth Floor in San Francisco. Thursday, it was Chef Matthew Lightner of Atera in New York City. Tonight, it’ll be Chef Guenter Seeger, who owned Seeger’s in Atlanta. Saturday will wrap up with Chef John Shields, previously of Town House in Virgina.

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