Pinkberry, the Los Angeles-based chain that started the whole tart fro-yo craze, will open its first Northern California outpost in December in Santana Row in San Jose.
It will be located in a pavilion in Santana Row Park that now houses the concierge center that will relocate to the security center.
That is just what Tataki Sushi & Sake Bar in San Francisco is believed to be.
The tiny, seven-month-old restaurant serves only seafood that isn’t overfished, farmed without proper management, or contains high levels of mercury and other contaminants.
Find out more about why business partners, Chef Kin Lui, Chef Raymond Ho, and Casson Trenor (a sustainable fisheries expert) decided to open such a restaurant by reading my story today in the San Francisco Chronicle Food section.
Tataki, the site of a former Subway sandwich shop, grabs your attention right when you walk in. A Monterey Bay Aquarium “Seafood Watch” pocket guide, which lists best and worst sustainable seafood species, is front and center on every table. A copy is also tucked into every take-out menu.
Oct. 22, Tataki will be the site of the official launch of three new, ground-breaking sustainable sushi guides created in partnership with the aquarium, Blue Ocean Institute, and Environmental Defense Fund. Each will include information on as many as 60 different seafood species commonly found on sushi menus.
Want to do the right thing? Then, you’ll stop eating unagi, bluefin toro, hamachi, octopus (tako), monkfish liver (ankimo), farmed salmon (sake), imported King crab (kani), imported albacore tuna (shiro maguro), and sea urchin (uni) from Maine — all of which are unsustainable, according to the aquarium’s new guide.
I came armed with a hat, sunscreen, bottled water, and even a book.
But this is what you must do when you prepare to do battle with the Sprinkles Cupcakes line.
You may recall how last week I intended to run inside the new cupcake bakery at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, then dart across the road to the equally new Kara’s Cupcakes in the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto. My plan was to compare the two to see whose cupcake reigned supreme. But of course, a lack of time trounced those plans once I spied the huge, snaking line at Sprinkles.
I did make it to Kara’s that day, where there was no line. And you’ve already read how scrumptious I thought those cupcakes were. So I thought it only fair to drag my bee-hind into line yesterday at Sprinkles to finally pass judgment.
At 2:40 p.m. on Monday, there was a line, but not too frightening of a one. Yet again, almost everyone in line was female. Oh, there were three guys queued up, but two of them gave up and left when they were only steps from the promised land — the bakery’s front door. If there ever was confirmation of which sex has the most patience, a cupcake line is unrefutable proof.
The woman in front of me recounted how her kids were so bold as to come last Tuesday — opening day of the bakery. They waited in line for one hour. Thankfully, my experience wasn’t as painful. From the time I planted myself in line to the time I walked out with my cupcake loot, about 25 minutes had passed.
I carried home one banana cupcake with vanilla frosting, one mocha (Belgian dark chocolate cake with mocha frosting), and one chocolate marshmallow (Belgian dark chocolate cake topped with marshmallow cream-bittersweet chocolate ganache). They were $3.25 each, just like at Kara’s.
As a kid growing up in San Francisco, I happily remember elementary school field trips and teen-age outings to the magical Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.
I recall sitting back in pitch darkness and watching the stars overhead in the Morrison Planetarium, thinking this was the absolute coolest place on Earth. I remember staring at the antelope and cheetah on display in the natural history museum. I remember how I couldn’t take my eyes off the ancient manatee in the Steinhart Aquarium, even if he hardly moved much.
And I remember listlessly eating burgers and fries in the museum cafe that had been left under heat-lamps for god knows how long.
Well, Dorothy, we’re not in that Academy of Sciences any more. Welcome to the revamped, utterly dazzling new California Academy of Sciences that will finally open its doors on Saturday. I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview on Monday night.
The original 1953 museum was the first scientific institution in the West. After being damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, it was closed. After a $488 million renovation and expansion, the new institution is now the only one in the world to house an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and world-class research and education program under one roof.
It was redesigned by Pulitzer-Prize winner Renzo Piano, who also created the Pompidou Center in Paris. Like that fanciful French center, the academy boasts an extensive use of glass, giving it a modern, airy, and organic feel. Designed to be the greenest museum in the world, it is expected to earn a “platinum” rating (the highest possible) by the U.S. Green Building Council.
There is a “living roof” planted with native species, which is expected to reduce storm water runoff by up to 3.6 million gallons of water annually. A glass canopy with 60,000 photo voltaic cells will capture sunlight and is expected to produce up to 10 percent of the building’s needs. Additionally, building walls are insulated with old denim jeans.
The food also has gotten a much needed update, and how. San Francisco culinary legends, Charles Phan (chef-owner of the Slanted Door) and Loretta Keller (chef-owner of Coco500) have partnered to create the casual food-court-like Academy Cafe, and the full-service Moss Room. All the food served will be local, seasonal, and sustainable.
The cafe is arranged into stations such as “Slow Cooked,” “Steamed,” and “Sizzle.” Think soft tacos filled with juicy, slow-cooked pork; Vietnamese spring rolls; steamed chicken buns; tamales; fish & chips; green papaya salad; and vegetarian paninis.
I had the best intentions. Honest.
But an editor needing a freelance story from me earlier than expected, and an all-around shortage of time derailed those efforts.
You see, I had hoped to go to the new Sprinkles Cupcakes bakery in Palo Alto’s Stanford Shopping Center on Wednesday, the day after it officially opened. Then, I planned to zoom across the road to the 12-day-new Kara’s Cupcakes bakery in the Town & Country Village also in Palo Alto. My plan was to conduct my very own cupcake-war, taste-off to see which bakery had the most irresistible frosting-topped confections. After all, Cupcakes Take the Cake already included a Yelp review comparing the two.
As I rounded the Stanford Shopping Center, it wasn’t hard to spot where the new bakery was on the backside of the mall. The line was the telltale beacon. At 4 p.m. on Wednesday, there were more than 20 people queued up. All of them women. You’d have thought it was a Manolo Blahnik sale, for gosh sakes.
Not having the time or patience on that particular day, I headed to Kara’s instead. And I walked right in. No line. But plenty of cute cupcakes. I chose a banana cupcake with cream cheese frosting, a “Java” (chocolate cupcake with espresso buttercream), and a Fleur de Sel (chocolate cupcake filled with caramel, then topped with ganache frosting and a sprinkle of sea salt). My tab? Just under $10. Gulp.