Category Archives: Great Finds

Bowled Over by Hawker’s Fare in Oakland

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Pork belly, cooked low and slow for 24 hours, with rice and a fried egg.

You gotta love a chef who opens a restaurant in the exact same spot in Oakland that his mother once dished up Thai specialties when it was her own establishment.

And you have to smile at a chef who wants to uphold the tradition of his mother’s casual cooking, but update it with modern techniques and flair while keeping the prices wallet-friendly.

That’s just what Chef-Proprietor James Syhabout has done at Hawker Fare, which opened earlier this summer in the Uptown district.

Syhabout, who also owns the more refined, Michelin-starred Commis in Oakland, has put in charge here none other than Justin Yu, who knows a thing or two about elevating Asian street food from his days at Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York.

Recently, my husband and I enjoyed a weekday lunch here on our own dime.

Lines out the door to get inside are the norm here. But we lucked out on a Monday, timing it so that we got a table without a wait.

James Syhabout's Hawker Fare opened in May.

The loud, fun decor.

If Hawker Fare were an ensemble, it would be faded jeans with holes in the knees, paired with Vans skateboard shoes and a screaming, neon-green hoodie. It’s casual with street attitude. Just take a look at the wall emblazoned with in-your-face graffiti letters, as well as old posters of Bruce Lee and the Grateful Dead.

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A Visit to the New Ad Hoc Addendum

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Ad Hoc's fabulous fried chicken -- now available to-go three days a week.

If you’ve lamented never being able to make it to Ad Hoc in Yountville for one of its famous fried chicken nights, you’re now in luck.

The newest addition to Chef Thomas Keller’s gourmet empire is Ad Hoc Addendum, a take-out operation, where you can enjoy the fried chicken, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

You’ll find the Addendum kiosk by walking behind Ad Hoc restaurant, past a small parking lot to a pretty picnic area complete with tables and chairs, plus lush trees for plenty of shade, and a small vegetable garden that grows provisions for the restaurant.

The sign marks the spot.

Order here.

Enjoy your fried chicken at one of the picnic tables. Or take it home to enjoy.

Addendum, which opened opened two months ago, offers a choice of the superb buttermilk fried chicken or a barbecue entree, such as tender, spicy baby back ribs with pulled pork when I was there last Friday. Of course, I had to buy one of each.

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My Favorite East Bay Haunt — the Cheese Board

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My VERY favorite sourdough cheese rolls. Heaven! ($2 each)

If I am ever in the vicinity of the East Bay, there is one place I always have to stop — the Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley.

It doesn’t matter if I happen to be headed to Oakland or Emeryville. I gladly make the detour, put up with finding parking in Berkeley’s congested Gourmet Ghetto, and happily wait in line at this bakery.

Because the baked goods are just that good.

I’m talking sourdough cheese rolls so incredible that I almost always inhale one right when I get back into my car; the freshest English muffins with a plethora of lovely nooks and crannies; sweet, crumbly corn cherry scones the color of sunshine; and moist, deep, dark, wonderful chocolate cake loaves with a hint of coffee.

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A Fine Wine Time at Enoteca La Storia and a Food Gal Giveaway

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Petite carrot cakes made by the mom of one of the owners at Enoteca La Storia.

I always loved the camaraderie and goofball spirit of the ol’ “Cheers” bar on TV.

But Entoteca La Storia in Los Gatos is the kind of bar I really want to spend time in.

And I’m glad I finally got a chance to experience it when I was invited to be a guest there recently.

The wine bar and wine shop opened in a strip mall on N. Santa Cruz Avenue in 2010. Not unlike Sam Malone in “Cheers,” Enoteca La Storia was founded by two guys who have a knack for welcoming folks to their establishment with warmth and humor.

Co-Owner Joe Cannistraci, a New York native who moved to Aptos more than 20 years ago, has a background in construction and contracting. But a childhood friend who grew up to become an accomplished New York chef and restaurateur got him so interested in wine that Cannistraci ended up taking a part-time job at the Wine Club in Santa Clara. Cannistraci, of Sicilian heritage, worked his way up to assistant manager and the store’s Italian wine buyer before leaving to help found the Vintage Wine Merchants in San Jose’s Santana Row.

He later met his fellow Co-Proprietor Michael Guerra, a third-generation San Jose native of Calabrese heritage, who for years was a mental health clinician, before deciding to pursue a passion for wine. Guerra worked at the Wine Club in Santa Clara, too, before also joining the team at Vintage Wine Merchants.

A glass of prosecco, emblazoned with a corkscrew insignia.

Cannistraci’s construction skills came in handy when he opened Enoteca La Storia. He designed the industrial-meets-vintage interior, which has an inviting, long, wrap-around bar in the main room along with high tables for more intimate seating near railings old pipes, their worn patina adding a lived-in look.

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Glam Dining For A Little Less: Lunch at Michael Mina in San Francisco

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Pasta of my dreams -- for lunch at Michael Mina.

I’ve always fantasized about what it must be like to be one of those ladies who lunch.

I’d be decked out in my smart little Chanel suit, carrying a Gump’s shopping bag in one arm and an obscenely expensive handbag in the other. I’d meet my dear friend, Bitsy, for a most civilized lunch on a weekday. It would last for hours and include many elegant courses at a serene table set with proper silverware and crystal glasses. The waitstaff would be attentive to every need yet unobtrusive. And the food would be thoroughly graceful and refined.

Minus the high-end wardrobe and the socialite-friend, I actually had such an experience recently. At Michael Mina in San Francisco. For lunch.

Dinner at this glam, high-end establishment may get all the buzz. But you’ll fork over $115 per person for the tasting menu in the evening.

At lunch, though, you can indulge in three courses for $49 or four courses for $59 in the dining room. Or for even more of a bargain and a quicker nosh, enjoy the a la carte menu at the bar.

Lunch at Michael Mina has gone through a few incarnations since it started up earlier this summer. It started out only served in the bar area. But then, expanded into part of the dining room. Now, 15 tables are devoted to lunch service. It’s purposely limited in scope so that the waitstaff can still maintain a high level of service even at an hour when most folks are accustomed to grabbing food on the go. Because only a portion of the dining room is used, it also makes for a quieter environment, where you can actually converse in measured tones with your dining companions, whether it be for business or for pleasure.

When I was invited to be a guest of the restaurant to try out the new lunch service, I chose the four-course option with each course having at least two different dishes to choose from.

A quite generous portion of oysters on the half shell for my first course.

Two housemade, non-alcoholic beverages also are available, including a fun and zingy “Pacquiao Punch” ($5), named for the world-champion Filipino boxer and made with pineapple and Filipino calamansi lime.

For my starter, I had oysters on the half shell. Six oysters of three different varieties, all bracing and sweet of the sea, arrived on ice with traditional horseradish-cocktail and classic mignonette sauces. I was amazed at the portion size, having expected maybe half that many. But lunch here is not dainty that way. The courses are all substantial.

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