Category Archives: Great Finds

Mic Drop For TCHO’s Limited-Edition Collab Chocolates

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TCHO chocolate bars (front to back): The Perfect Matcha, Grizzly Berry, Deep, Dark & Salty, and Hoppy Hour.
TCHO chocolate bars (front to back): The Perfect Matcha, Grizzly Berry, Deep, Dark & Salty, and Hoppy Hour.

Berkeley’s TCHO Chocolate has just debuted three brand-new, limited-edition bars in partnership with three local icons: Third Culture Bakery, the Oakland Zoo, and Berkeley’s Fieldwork Brewing Co.

Like a Supreme drop, these are small-batch productions that wait for no one, meaning once they sell out, you’re out of luck.

I had a chance to sample these creations that sell for $9.99 per bar on the TCHO web site. The respective bars are also sold at the three partnering businesses: Third Culture Bakery’s Bay Area locations, Oakland Zoo, and Fieldwork Brewing Co.

The new, limited-edition bars.
The new, limited-edition bars.

The Perfect Matcha was inspired by Third Culture Bakery’s popular strawberry, lychee and matcha latte.

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Feasting At Lily on Clement

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Turmeric fish with rice noodles at Lily on Clement.
Turmeric fish with rice noodles at Lily on Clement.

Spend any time with Chef Rob Lam and it won’t be long before you’re howling with so much laughter that your insides hurt.

He has an outrageous sense of humor, along with a mischievous air about him that my late-mom would have surely described as “looking like he’s up to no good.”

On the contrary, what he’s up to is actually all good at Lily on Clement in San Francisco, where he’s turning out boldly flavored, contemporary Vietnamese dishes.

A couple weeks ago, my husband and I took my aunt to lunch here. While I picked up the tab, Lam added a few dishes on the house that he wanted us to try. Good thing my Chinese American auntie has a hearty appetite!

Chef Rob Lam.
Chef Rob Lam.
Take your pick of bar or table seating inside or a few tables outside.
Take your pick of bar or table seating inside or a few tables outside.

Lam, who also owns Perle Wine Bar in Oakland, opened Lily on Clement during the pandemic, and thankfully, managed to survive. In addition to dinner six nights a week, the restaurant also offers brunch or lunch, Friday through Sunday, which encompasses a la carte options, as well as a $32 two-course prix fixe that includes a specialty beverage, too.

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Presenting BTS — Of A Different Sort

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BTS -- as in the sandwich.
BTS — as in the sandwich.

Get ready for BTS coming your way.

Nope, not the South Korean boy-band sensation. But the summer classic of bacon, lettuce and tomato elevated with the addition of shiso.

Yes, a “BTS” sandwich.

You know that Sawako Okochi and Aaron Israel, co-chefs and co-owners of Brooklyn’s Shalom Japan restaurant, coyly knew what they were doing when they coined this sensational sandwich, the “BTS,” even though, technically, it really out to be a “BLTS.”

Semantics aside, this carefully crafted sandwich is all about the details. A cinch to make, it includes a couple of steps that make all the difference between a mundane sandwich and a great sandwich.

This marvelous recipe is from the new cookbook, “Love Japan” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy. The couple wrote the book with the talented food writer, Gabriella Gershenson, an editor at Wirecutter.

The book includes more than 80 home-style Japanese American dishes that cull from Okochi’s Japanese roots and Israel’s Jewish heritage, a blend that has proved winning at their unique Brooklyn restaurant.

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The Summeriest Salad

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A jumble of colorful summer peppers and stone fruit star in this lively tasting salad.
A jumble of colorful summer peppers and stone fruit star in this lively tasting salad.

Besides ones from my own home state of California, the wines that I find myself probably sipping most come from our neighbor to the north — Oregon.

Especially because Pinot Noir happens to be one of my favorite varietals, and grows exceedingly well there.

So, I couldn’t have been more overjoyed to see a new cookbook that highlights not only Oregon’s more than 50-year-old wine industry, but its rich food traditions found at its storied wineries.

“Oregon Wine & Food” (Figure 1), of which I received a review copy, is by my friend and colleague Danielle Centoni, who wrote it with fellow food writer Kerry Newberry.

The book spotlights 40 of Oregon’s top wineries, with two signature recipes from each one that each come with a wine pairing.

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Beat the Heat at Break Even Beermakers

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A friendly goat at Banded Family Ranch, where hops are grown for Break Even Beermakers.
A friendly goat at Banded Family Ranch, where hops are grown for Break Even Beermakers.

Amador City, CA — Like so many Chico State students, Aaron Wittman drank his share of beer. But he started making his own then, too.

Today, that master’s of English graduate, is putting those other skills to work prominently as beermaker-partner of Break Even Beermakers, where he’s making exceptional brews now carried by the likes of Michelin-starred San Francisco restaurants State Bird Provisions and The Progress, as well as their sister establishment, The Anchovy Bar.

Break Even's Summer Bummer.
Break Even’s Summer Bummer.

“Tiny but mighty” is how he describes the brewery. It was founded nearly four years ago by Kevin Carter and Cassie Davis, who also own the Imperial Hotel a few yards away, as well as the nearby 90-acre Banded Family Ranch that plays an important role in the beer making.

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