Category Archives: Restaurants

Cookbook Party Feast at Town Hall in San Francisco

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Jars of pickled veggies decorate the table at the cookbook party at Town Hall.

It’s easy to see why Chef Mitchell Rosenthal would want to throw a party to celebrate his upcoming new cookbook.

After all, the 272-page book took him two years of hard work to put together — all the while running three very successful restaurants in San Francisco.

Last week, he hosted a summer feast to end all summer feasts for a small group of food writers, including yours truly, at his Town Hall establishment. It was a huge spread with all the dishes featured from his new cookbook, “Cooking My Way Back Home: Recipes From San Francisco’s Town Hall, Anchor & Hope, and Salt House” (Ten Speed Press). The cookbook, which he wrote with Jon Pult, will debut this fall.

Chef-Proprietor Mitchell Rosenthal chats with guests.

The entrance to the lively Town Hall.

The cookbook even features a rare forward by celeb Chef Wolfgang Puck, whom Rosenthal worked on and off with for 18 years at Postrio in San Francisco, Granita in Malibu and Coco Pazza in New York. The recipes in the book reflect the arc of his career: New Orleans specialties from his time cooking with Chef Paul Prudhomme, whom he called every Friday for six months straight until he snagged an internship at K. Paul’s; a deft array of global cuisines from cooking at the Four Seasons in New York; and classical techniques from Le Cirque in New York.

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Donato Enoteca is Delizioso

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Grilled branzino served whole or in fillet at Donato Enoteca. Do ask for it whole, though.

I’d already eaten lunch twice on my own dime, when I recently got invited to dine as a guest at Donato Enoteca in Redwood City.

So, you know I already think highly of the food created there by Executive Chef Donato Scotti.

For further proof, just consider that on the evening I was there, a Peninsula chef whom I’ve written about before, dropped by my table to say hello. He’s such a fan of the food there that he’s a regular with his family.

Scotti hails from the small town of Bergamo in Italy, where as a kid, he used to deliver fresh bread by bicycle to his neighbors. He’s worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy, as well as Valentino restaurant in Santa Monica, under the direction of owner Piero Selvaggio. Peninsula folks also may remember Scotti for his charming La Strada restaurant in Palo Alto.

He opened Donato Enoteca two years ago. On a warm summer day, a seat at a table on the front patio is a must. Inside, the lovely restaurant is divided into three rooms: First, a bright, airy dining room; then a room with an expansive length of bar that also accommodates diners; and finally, the rear one lined with wine bottles, dark burgundy drapes and masculine wood walls, where we sat.

ender, paper-thin slices of octopus carpaccio.

We started with octopus carpaccio ($8), which arrived at the table in paper-thin cross-sections looking like some sort of artsy mosaic. It was crowned with peppery watercress dressed with olive oil and bright lemon juice.

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New Sourdough Specialities, McEvoy Ranch Garden Walk, Wine Crawl & More

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Sourdough gnocchi with lovely lobster. (Photo courtesy of Boudin Bistro)

San Francisco’s Bistro Boudin Offers New Sourdough Dishes

Bistro Boudin at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf has upped the sourdough factor on its summer menu.

A variety of new dishes highlight the tangy, wonderful bread made by the cafe’s Gold Rush-era bakery.

Look for Bistro Shrimp Salad ($14.95) with grilled avocado, tangerines, chopped romaine and cilantro vinaigrette piled into a crispy sourdough cup; Grilled Salmon Al Tagine ($25.95) with clams, spinach, cherry tomatoes, Moroccan olives and capers served with sourdough crostini; and Sourdough Gnocchi ($23.95) with decadent chunks of lobster in a creamy pesto sauce.

Grilled salmon tagine with sourdough crostini. (Photo courtesy of Bistro Boudin)

San Francisco Wine Crawl

Sure, you’ve heard of food truck crawls, where those culinary four-wheelers gather in one spot to ply their delicious wares. Now, get ready for a wine version of that.

SF Wine Crawl, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. July 24, affords you the chance to taste wines from 10 of San Francisco’s urban wineries.

Treasure Island is the location for this unique event — only appropriate since several wineries already make their home there. Sip wine, meet the winemakers and enjoy a breathtaking view of the Bay.

The event is accessible by car and #108 Muni bus.

Tickets are $40 per person; $60 VIP tickets include a VIP shuttle to ferry you around to each winery.

Enjoy a visit to McEvoy Ranch -- complete with lunch. (Photo courtesy of the ranch)

Garden Tour and Lunch at McEvoy Ranch in Marin County

McEvoy Ranch — producers of spectacular estate-grown, certified organic extra virgin olive oils — is opening up its 550-acre property in the hills west of Petaluma for a garden walk plus lunch, 10 a.m. to noon July 22.

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Bodacious Biscuits

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Best. Biscuits. Ever!

When flipping through a new cookbook, you spy a recipe called “Ginormous Biscuits.” You’re going to stop in your tracks completely breathless, aren’t you?

I mean, who wouldn’t with that temptress of a name?

The folks behind the new cookbook, “Tupelo Honey Cafe” (Andrews McMeel), sure knew what they were doing when they coined that name for these bountiful butter behemoths.

The book, of which I recently received a review copy, was written by Southern writer, Elizabeth Sims, and Brian Sonoskus, executive chef of the Tupelo Honey Cafe, which opened in downtown Asheville, NC in 2000 and now has a second location on the south side of the city.

I actually had the pleasure of dining at that adorable downtown cafe years ago, while touring the South after attending a journalism conference. Asheville is a thoroughly charming city. Like so many college towns,  (it’s home to the University of North Carolina at Asheville), it is imbued with youthful energy, culture and artistic spirit. It’s also got one of the best self-guided walking tours around with iconic sculptures marking each significant landmark. One of the most famous ones is the restored boarding house that was run by the mother of American literary giant, Thomas Wolfe, where you can sidle up to his bronzed size 13 shoes at the entrance.

After working up an appetite from all that walking, head to the popular Tupelo Honey Cafe for down-home Southern fare made with seasonal ingredients from Sonoskus’ farm, Sunshot Farm.

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