Category Archives: Restaurants

Press Club is One Hot Ticket in Town

Posted on by 11 comments

Shaved asparagus salad with a raw cow's milk cheese at Press Club.

Forgive me if I tell you that my first thought upon walking down the illuminated steps to the lounge-y Press Club wine bar was:

“If I were hip, young and single, man, oh man, would this be the place to hang out.”

Ahem, well, I may be none of those things. But Press Club in downtown San Francisco sure made me feel that I possessed each and every one of those attributes, if only for a night.

You’ll feel that way, too, in this dimly lit, expansive space that’s cozily divided into separate areas to linger in low-slung couches, at tall communal bar tables with chrome and leather stools or at a smattering of seats at the bars.

Take your pick, but don’t dally, as all those seats will surely be snapped up as the night wears on, as folks gather for after-work drinks, a girls-night-out soiree or just to take a load off after an afternoon of shopping on Union Square.

A communal bar table -- empty, but not for long.

As the night wears on, it will get packed at this popular gathering place.

While Press Club has always served food, it used to be more a place you’d stop in for a glass of wine and a quick nibble before heading elsewhere for dinner.

But that changed this spring when Chef Chris Borges of San Francisco’s Taste Catering came on board.

Under his direction, Press Club has transformed into a place where you would be remiss not to stay for the full shebang.

Read more

Half-Price Cheesecake, Steve Raichlen Visits SF & More

Posted on by 8 comments

The new Oreo Dream Extreme Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant

Cheesecake Sale at the Cheesecake Factory

It just wouldn’t be right, would it, if National Cheesecake Day came and went without some scrumptious offering from the Cheesecake Factory?

The company will be offering “Any Slice, Half Price” on all its cheesecakes for dine-in guests on July 30.

Just for the occasion, the Cheesecake Factory also will be debuting its newest specialty: Oreo Dream Extreme Cheesecake. Oh yes, it’s a layer of vanilla cheesecake loaded with Oreo cookies, then layers of fudge cake, along with Oreo cookie mousse. The whole shebang is frosted in milk chocolate icing, then garnished with a large Oreo cookie wafer.

Lark Creek Blue Coming to Santana Row in August

You may have noticed that Yankee Pier at Santana Row in San Jose is no more.

But don’t worry, the space won’t be vacant for long. The Lark Creek Restaurant Group is completely remodeling the spot for its new Lark Creek Blue, which will open in August.

Read more

The Newest in Urban Farming at Ecopia in Campbell

Posted on by 7 comments

A bounty of lettuces from Ecopia Farms.

Look closely at that bowl of beautiful, baby salad greens.

If only you could reach out and grab a few leaves to taste, you’d be amazed at their sweetness, pepperiness and all-around intensity of flavor.

What makes these lettuces different is that all were grown indoors under LED lights, using a fraction of the water a conventional outdoor farm would.

Ecopia Farms in Campbell is unlike any other agricultural endeavor — housed indoors in a non-descript, out-of-the-way warehouse in Campbell.

Utilizing the latest technology and know-how, it was founded by a couple of tech giants: a former CEO of Solectron, and a former president of Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space.

With water and land increasingly precious commodities, their goal is to create a way of farming that is not only more efficient and sustainable, but replicable in high-density urban areas.

Read more

A Toast to Absinthe

Posted on by 13 comments

A popular starter of hamachi sashimi at Absinthe Brasserie and Bar in San Francisco.

No matter how long you’ve lived in the Bay Area, it’s impossible to get to every restaurant you’d like to try.

There are just too many of them. With more opening each and every week, too.

Such is the reason why it took me this long to finally visit the 15-year-old Absinthe Brasserie & Bar in San Francisco.

When an invitation to dine as a guest at the restaurant presented itself a couple of weeks ago, it was the needed nudge that finally got me in the doors.

And boy, have I been missing out.

The lively restaurant in Hayes Valley is almost always packed, especially before nearby theater performances with folks grabbing a most civilized meal before racing off to the ballet or symphony.

Executive Chef Adam Keogh, who has cooked at Chez TJ in Mountain View and at a couple of Michael Mina Group restaurants, infuses classic French brasserie sensibilities with California flair to come up with menu items such as Atkins Ranch lamb sugo over papardelle ($22); spicy fried chickpeas ($4); and beef tartare ($16) with violet mustard, green apple and red onion.

A cocktail is a must here.

The plush dining room.

The restaurant is made up of several plush rooms, done up with burgundy walls sporting gold trim. There’s a large mural in one, depicting the inside of a dining room restaurant complete with servers and tables of diners.  At the entrance to the kitchen, there’s even a small toque painted above, appropriately enough.

When a restaurant is named for a once illegal spirit, you’ve just got to order a cocktail, don’t you? Absinthe has long been famed for its well-executed cocktails.

Read more

A Very Rewarding Redd Wood

Posted on by 11 comments

A magnificent lardo-draped pizza at Redd Wood.

Redd Wood is one of those restaurants that could easily qualify as your favorite neighborhood joint.

With a cosmopolitan, masculine-chic vibe, plus affordable pizzas and pastas done superbly, it’s the kind of place you can comfortably return to again and again.

Now, if only I could afford to live in Yountville — well, then I’d be all set.

Barring that, at least I was fortunate enough to be invited recently to dine as a guest for lunch at Chef Richard Reddington’s newest restaurant. His first, of course, is the Michelin-starred Redd, a much tonier establishment just a stroll away in downtown Yountville.

The entrance.

So many Napa Valley restaurants sport a Mediterranean look. Redd Wood has none of that. Instead, it looks like a trendy New York restaurant, with its black leather tufted booths, train station clock, marble general’s desk turned service station, and striking ship’s buoy that’s been dipped in bronze and refashioned as a light fixture.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »