Category Archives: Restaurants

A Toast to Cin-Cin Wine Bar in Los Gatos

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Wild mushroom empanadas at Cin Cin Wine Bar.

At this convivial wine bar, where even on Monday nights you might have to wait more than an hour for an empty table, you’re sure to hear a lot of clinking of glasses and gregarious toasts of “cin-cin.”

Cin Cin Wine Bar in Los Gatos may be named for the Italian toast that means “to your health,” but the food by Executive Chef Chris Schloss goes beyond that with an eclectic global mix — from Korean tacos stuffed with bulgogi-style shaved rib-eye to South Carolina pulled pork sliders to three-cheese arancini fritters to soba noodle wraps.

The restaurant has attracted crowds since it was opened three years ago by long-time South Bay restaurateur Don Durante and former Google marketing professional-turned-sommelier, Lisa Rhorer, whom I had the pleasure of first meeting years ago, when we were both students in a wine class at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena.

It’s no surprise that the wines here take the spotlight as much as the food. The selections also span the world — from France to Italy to Spain to Argentina to California. They are offered by the 3-ounce or 6-ounce pour or by the bottle. Or best yet — in imaginative flights, which is what my friend Donna and I enjoyed when we dined here recently. Although we paid our tab, the chef sent out some extra treats on the house that he wanted us to try.

For a fun experience, try a wine flight -- and discover how different one varietal can taste and look.

On a warm evening, you can’t go wrong with the rosé flight ($12), a trio of dry yet fruity summer wines that included Unti Rosé of Grenache/Mouvedre, Sonoma County 2010; Castella di Ama Rosato, Tuscany 2010; and Villa Creek Rosé  of Grenache/Mourvedre/Carignan, Paso Robles 2010.

The boisterous dining rooms are outfitted with rattan chairs and green-hued, grasscloth-covered walls, lending a casual, almost tropical hideaway vibe. The menu is divided into “nibbles” ($4 to $7); “small plates” ($9 to $14)  and “large plates” ($13 to $27), making them ideal for sharing.

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Olallieberry Time

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Olallieberry pie -- as only Duarte's makes it.

With a lyrical name that’s just too much fun to say, olallieberries are black knobby berries with a sweet-tart, wine-y flavor that grow along the Central coast for a fleeting six weeks in summer.

Now’s the time to enjoy them fresh, especially at u-pick farms such as Phipps Country Store & Farm in Pescadero.

Perhaps no place has made olallieberries more famous, though, than Duarte’s Tavern in Pescadero.

The family-run business that started in 1934 is justly known for its artichoke soup, cioppino and other fresh seafood dishes. But it’s the hand-made ollalieberry pie that everyone saves room for. Enjoy it at this landmark restaurant for$6.50 a slice or $25 for a whole pie. Because Duarte’s freezes a huge supply of the ollalieberries each season, the pie is available year-round.

For the past few years, Duarte’s also has been selling ($14) unbaked, frozen whole olallieberry pies at select Bay Area stores, including Zanotto’s in San Jose and the Milk Pail in Mountain View.  Later this year, the frozen pies also will begin being sold at all Whole Foods in Northern California.

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Flea St. Cafe Marks An Extraordinary 30 Years

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First of the season, wild Coho salmon at Flea St. Cafe.

The first things set before you in the dining room at Menlo Park’s Flea St. Cafe are telling.

The famous housemade, sesame-seed-topped biscuits, served since day one at this now 30-year-old establishment, which are based on a recipe by Chef-Proprietor Jesse Cool’s late-Dad and still stirred up in the same mixing bowl he once used.

The “Taste of the Season,” an amuse bouche that’s as spare and lovely as it gets — just a few simple veggies straight from a local farm, their fresh, bright flavors unadorned by anything else.

The former shows how comfort and family take precedence at this restaurant, where Cool’s two sons worked when they were growing up, and her Mom used to water the plants and arrange the dining room just so.

A meal isn't complete without the famous, housemade biscuits.

The amuse of carrots and potatoes in a "Taste of the Season.''

The latter points at the legacy of Cool, who for decades has championed local, sustainable and organic ingredients long before it became a standard of our cultural lexicon.

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Anzu Gets A Fresh Look, New Campbell Eateries, Half-Off Wines & More

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Anzu's new glam look. (Photo by Matthew Millman)

Restaurant Anzu Gets Glam

The Hotel Nikko’s Restaurant Anzu in San Francisco has debuted a chic new look with its bold citrine, black and white decor.

Jewel-like chandeliers, beaded pendant lighting, a black wall treatment, heavy, damask curtains and oversized white banquettes add an even more luxurious feeling.

You can still enjoy an array of sushi there, but the restaurant also has added a new emphasis on prime meat with  Kurobota double pork chop ($33), local rack of lamb ($34) and Wagyu beef that’s cooked tableside on a sizzling hot Japanese river stone ($34).

Campbell Welcomes Tasty, New Businesses

Downtown Campbell is hopping lately with new foodie places, including an intriguing Austrian-California restaurant, Naschmarkt (pronounced “nash-marked”), which just opened.

Long-time South Bay foodies may fondly remember the now-shuttered Cafe Marcella in Los Gatos. Those owners, Alain and Martine Staebler, have partnered with their son-in-law, Austrian chef, Matthias Froeschl, to open this restaurant that is named for Vienna’s largest open-air market.

Look for classic wiener schnitzel with lingonberry sauce, Hungarian beef goulash, steamed Scottish salmon with baby artichokes, and apple strude — but of course.

Soda pop buffs will get a kick out of Rocket Fizz, which also just opened downtown. Owners Chris Dunn and Lisa Pelgrim sell more than 500 varieties of soda, including more than 50 root beers. They’re all sold in glass bottles, which can be purchased individually, by the pack or by the case.

Don’t miss the candy selection, either, that boasts more than 2,000 kinds from around the world.

Finally, if that wasn’t enough sugar for you already, wander over to the new downtown Frost Cupcake Factory.

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Moroccan Magic At Aziza in San Francisco

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A spectacular uni-crusted halibut. You won't find that at many Moroccan resaurants. But you will find it at Aziza in San Francisco.

You may have enjoyed the warm, earthy flavors of  Moroccan cuisine before.

But you’ve never experienced the likes of it at the Michelin-starred https://azizasf.com/Aziza in San Francisco, a short drive from the Laurel Inn San Francisco.

The flavors of saffron, tomatoes, preserved lemons, sumac, and za’atar remain hauntingly familiar here, but have been put to use in daringly creative, boldly contemporary ways.

As chefs around the world have elevated Korean and Spanish cuisines to a whole new level, Executive Chef-Proprietor Mourad Lahlou has done the same with his native cuisine. Indeed, I don’t know if there’s another Moroccan chef out there who’s pushing the envelope quite like this Marrakech-native is.

Lahlou immigrated to San Francisco in 1986 and earned a master’s degree in economics from San Francisco State University. He was planning on getting a PhD next, when his brother asked him to lend a hand at his Moroccan restaurant in San Rafael.

Luckily for us, Lahlou grew so enamored of cooking that he never looked back.

In 2001, he opened Aziza to great acclaim. Back then, it was a very traditional restaurant, complete with belly dancers and classic, rustic tagines.

The distinctive curved archways, and the saffron and cobalt blue hues remain in the warren of dimly-lit dining rooms. But the food has undergone a true metamorphosis. There’s such sophistication and refinement now. The dishes never disappoint; they often dazzle and surprise.

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