Category Archives: Great Finds

Belcampo Makes A Big Splash in Jack London Square

Feast your eyes on an entire beef short rib -- Korean-style -- at Belcampo in Oakland.

Feast your eyes on an entire beef short rib — Korean-style — at Belcampo in Oakland.

 

Belcampo’s flagship restaurant in Oakland’s Jack London Square may have only opened last month, but the soaring, 7,000-square-foot spot is already packing in the crowds, hankering for its menu focused on the company’s own sustainable meats.

Other restaurants may source sustainable products. But Belcampo takes that much further. It owns its own 25,000-acre ranch at the foot of Mt. Shasta, where it raises all its own organic, grass-fed beef, lamb, pigs, chickens, turkeys and other animals. It also owns its own USDA-certified slaughterhouse, as well as its own restaurants and butcher shops. That means there is never any middle man involved nor breaks in the supply chain. It’s as farm to table as you can get.

The Jack London Square locale is an ideal one with lovely waterfront views, and mere steps from Belcampo’s corporate offices.

On a recent Sunday evening, I dined as a guest of the restaurant.

Right on Jack London Square.

Right on Jack London Square.

The soaring, light-filled space.

The soaring, light-filled space.

The large, comfortable bar.

The large, comfortable bar.

It’s a lively venue with a large bar with plentiful seats and a lounge area. The main dining room is framed by huge windows that let in a lot of light on a summer day.

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Feed Your People Traci Des Jardins’ Chile Verde

Comfort food at its finest -- brothy, tangy chile verde.

Comfort food at its finest — brothy, tangy chile verde.

 

In this day and age when so much in life seems to be driving people apart rather than closer together, we should never underestimate the power of food to bring people to the table with open minds and hearts.

That’s the spirit behind the wonderful new cookbook, “Feed Your People: Big-Batch, Big-Hearted Cooking and Recipes to Gather Around” (PowerHouse Books) by Leslie Jonath with 18 Reasons.

Jonath, a former editor at Chronicle Books in San Francisco, has teamed with 18 Reasons, a San Francisco non-profit that not only strives to teach people the importance of good food, but offers a free six-week nutrition education program in low-income communities on how to make healthy and affordable meals.

Feed Your People Book

The cookbook features recipes by some of the most well-known names in the food industry, including Bay Area cookbook author Andrea Nguyen’s “Chinese Dumplings,” Chez Panisse founder Alice Waters’ “Minestrone,” Tartine co-founder Elizabeth Prueitt’s Whole-Loaf Garlic Cheese Bread,” and pastry doyenne Alice Medrich’s “Ultimate Butter Cake.”

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Why You’ll Want To Go Back To Octavia Again and Again

That egg, that glorious egg at Octavia.

That egg, that glorious egg at Octavia.

 

There are restaurants that serve comfort food.

And then there are restaurants that are pure comfort.

Octavia in San Francisco is such a place.

Like her first restaurant, Frances in San Francisco, Chef-Owner Melissa Perello has a knack for creating places that are cozy, warm, and understated. They make you feel right at home from the get-go, as if you just settled into the corner of a favorite couch at your best friend’s abode for what you know will be a lovely, relaxed evening.

Well, if only your best bud could cook as beautifully and effortlessly as Perello and Chef de Cuisine Robert Hernandez, of course.

The laid-back dining room.

The laid-back dining room.

To be packed on a Monday night is saying something.

To be packed on a Monday night is saying something.

Even on a recent Monday night, the Michelin-starred restaurant was packed, as I found out when I met a dear old friend for dinner, with each of us paying our tab at the end. What an ideal place for a gals’ night out to catch up with each other’s busy lives.

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Taking Hawaiian Food To Another Level at Aina

So tender, the meat literally does fall right off these divine ribs at Aina.

So tender, the meat literally does fall right off these divine ribs at Aina.

 

When dear friends recently visited from the Midwest, I knew I wanted to take them somewhere to dine in San Francisco that would give them a taste of something new, fresh, modern, and fun.

The choice, of course, was Aina, because the odds were that they hadn’t experienced much Hawaiian cuisine in Wisconsin, and certainly none on this level.

This small gem in the Dogpatch neighborhood is always packed. In fact, at brunch, there is almost always a line out the door.

Owned by Chef Jordan Keao and his wife Cheryl Liew, and assisted by Chef de Cuisine Chris Yang, Aina’s flavors will be familiar to anyone who’s ever visited Hawaii. But the form that they take has been refined considerably, as our party found on a recent Saturday night when we dined and paid our own tab.

A taste of Hawaii in San Francisco.

A taste of Hawaii in San Francisco.

The chef's counter offers a tasting menu.

The chef’s counter offers a tasting menu.

While the counter seats are reserved for Aina’s tasting menu, the regular dining room orders off the a la carte menu.

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Happiness Is A Lazy Sunday Afternoon In Berkeley When…

Boiled gyoza afloat in a spicy miso-pork broth at Ippudo.

Boiled gyoza afloat in a spicy miso-pork broth at Ippudo.

 

When the traffic gods cooperate so that Interstate 880 isn’t a nightmare…

When you find parking off bustling University Avenue easily…

And when there is no line at Ippudo, so you can stroll right in for a seat immediately.

Because, I mean really, is there any better way to spend a rare relaxing Sunday afternoon than slurping up a big bowl of ramen?

Surely not.

A column in the center of the dining room.

A column in the center of the dining room.

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to enjoy all of that when my husband and I waltzed into one of the Bay Area’s hottest new ramen joints just before 5 p.m. to enjoy an early dinner, which we paid our tab for at the end. Normally, there would be a line out the door. But we managed to beat the crowd. And this place can fill up fast because it’s not very big. A nice touch are the black boxes underneath the table to stow a purse or backpack so you don’t have to just drop them on the bare floor.

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