Category Archives: Restaurants

A Taste of Old and New at Madrona Manor in Healdsburg

Posted on by 7 comments

What a way to start the meal, but with an egg that tastes smoky and a leaf that tastes like an oyster.

You wouldn’t normally expect to find trendy, liquid nitrogen-molecular gastronomy cooking going on inside an 1881-era Victorian mansion.

But at Madrona Manor in Healdsburg, that’s just what you’ll enjoy at the acclaimed Michelin one-star restaurant on the premises of this 22-room historic inn nestled in the hills above the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County.

Recently, I was invited to be a guest of the inn, which is charmingly decorated with period antiques and art pieces, including hand-painted wooden dolls and a framed Victorian lace wedding gown. The rooms feature fireplaces and claw-foot tubs. Homemade chocolate chip cookies are left by the bedside to welcome you.

The historic Madrona Manor.

Executive Chef Jesse Mallgren has cooked alongside some of the biggest names in the industry, including Jeremiah Tower and Gary Danko.

He draws inspiration from local ingredients, including the 3/4-acre organic garden on the premises, where he harvests tomatoes, herbs, greens and fruit that show up in many dishes on the menu.

Read more

Introducing the Updated Version of Food Gal’s Bay Area Dining App & A Giveaway

Posted on by 18 comments

Introducing my new, improved app.

Drum roll, please.

Just as I am my own person, I’m also my own app now.

If you remember back to February, I proudly launched my “Food Gal’s Ultimate Guide to Bay Area Dining” for iPhones.

Back then, it was under the umbrella of the new venture, the “Know What” network of apps for favorite bars, food, hikes, museums and more. So, you had to buy the “Know What Essentials”  app first, before you could add on more specific modules, such as my own.

Now, with the blessing and help of the team behind Escape Apps, which created the “Know What” network, you can bypass that step and just buy my app alone for $1.99.

My app has been updated to  feature more than 75 restaurants, bakeries and wine bars to check out in the Bay Area — from the tony to the hole-in-the-wall.

Read more

Prime Time at LB Steak in Menlo Park

Posted on by 7 comments

Meat isn't the only thing to indulge in at LB Steak. How about this beautiful veggie terrine?

You’d think there was a run on meat the way throngs are packing their way into LB Steak in downtown Menlo Park.

On a recent Saturday night, every table was nearly taken by 6:30 p.m., filled by retirees, young couples and families celebrating an occasion.

In the space that once housed the white tablecloth, French-inspired Marche, LB Steak opened in June. It joins its sister restaurant, LB Steak in San Jose’s Santana Row.

Both restaurants feature USDA Prime beef, the highest grade possible. But the menus differ slightly, with the Menlo Park one a bit smaller.

Chef Ryan Ellison, formerly of Oliveto in Oakland and A.P. Stump’s in San Jose, oversees the glass-enclosed exhibition kitchen.

I had a chance to sample some dishes when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant.

Large windows flank two sides of the restaurant, allowing in a profusion of natural light on a summer evening.

The contemporary dining room, bathed in loads of natural light.

For your bread-dipping pleasure.

With bread comes a trifecta of spreads: butter, olive oil and a stonefruit chutney that’s sweet-tart like ketchup.

For a time, Ellison featured an Escoffier-like vegetable terrine on the menu ($10.50) that you rarely see these days outside of a cooking school restaurant. Featuring cucumbers, mushrooms and artichokes, it was beautiful to behold with its varied hues and layers. On a warm night, the chilled terrine was a wonderful way to get your veggie groove on.

Read more

A Gin-Tastic Time at Brasserie S&P

Posted on by 10 comments

A taste of "Indian Summer'' at Brasserie S&P, which specializes in gin cocktails

The last time I dined at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in San Francisco a few years ago, I shimmied into a chic cocktail dress and fancy black heels.

On a visit there just a few weeks ago, though, I donned merely dark jeans and a simple cardie.

How times have changed.

Like so many hotels in these still precarious economic times, the Mandarin Oriental has shed its spendy, special-occasion restaurant in favor of a more casual one that’s friendlier on the pocketbook.

Out went its glamorous Silks restaurant. In came the new Brasserie S&P this summer, named for the fact that it’s at the intersection of Sansome and Pine. It’s headed by Executive Chef Adam Mali, formerly of Nick’s Cove in Tomales Bay.

While Silks was perched on the second floor of the hotel, Brasserie S&P is on the main floor, just past the check-in desk and right across from a bank of elevators. While the former was a secluded, hushed space, the latter is smack in the middle of all the action.

I had a chance to check it out, when I was invited to dine as a guest of the restaurant.

The sedate dining room is all cream and blonde, with dark chocolate leather placemats on the tables. The decor may be somewhat too hotel utilitarian, but the snazzy bar and satisfying food more than make up for that.

The vase of flowers at each table keeps the theme going.

Mixologist Priscilla Young clearly is having a blast with the new cocktail menu, which spotlights gin, of all things. She even crafts her own tonics to go along with the extensive brands of gins available.

Read more

When Risotto Isn’t Made with Rice

Posted on by 12 comments

Barley risotto with shrimp -- hearty, chewy and wonderful.

Ever since dining at AQ Restaurant in San Francisco last year where I enjoyed it for the first time, I’ve been rather fixated on barley risotto.

Oh, don’t get me wrong; I still adore the traditional version made with tender yet toothsome short-grain Italian rice.

But when it’s made with barley, it takes on a whole different personality — heartier, chewier and with a more roasty-toasty flavor.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »