Category Archives: Restaurants

A Visit to Chef Bruno Chemel’s Le Parc Bistrobar in Downtown San Francisco

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Tarte tatin a l'oignon at Le Parc Bistrobar.
Tarte tatin a l’oignon at Le Parc Bistrobar.

When Chef Bruno Chemel shuttered his Bistronomie by Baume in Palo Alto in August 2023 after less than a year, he thought about retiring.

Who could blame him? After all, before transforming that California Avenue space into a more casual establishment, he had spent the previous 13 years overseeing it in its original incarnation as the cutting-edge, fine-dining Baume restaurant known for its eye-popping molecular gastronomy.

It garnered him one Michelin star for three years before it was elevated to two stars, a distinction it held for a long nine years even in its later stage when it was only Chemel and his wife Christie running the entire restaurant alone.

If anyone deserved a rest after all of that, surely he did.

Chef Bruno Chemel.
Chef Bruno Chemel.

Of course, that lasted all of a heartbeat. Only a month later, he was scouring locations for a new restaurant.

Last summer, he opened Le Parc Bistrobar in the Galleria Park Hotel with his wife by his side, designing the cocktails and running the dining room. This time, though, they do have the help of other employees.

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“To Lahaina, With Love”

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A simple and delicious recipe from Chef Lee Anne Wong, who lost her restaurant in the devastating Lahaina fires.
A simple and delicious recipe from Chef Lee Anne Wong, who lost her restaurant in the devastating Lahaina fires.

In times of natural disasters or catastrophic world events, not only do firefighters and paramedics immediately mobilize to help, but so do chefs, cooks, and others in the hospitality industry.

After all, they know better than anyone the power of food to comfort, nourish, and heal.

As I watched the news accounts of the gut-wrenching destruction wrought by the Southern California wildfires, it reminded me eerily of the 2023 firestorm that obliterated the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui.

In each case, restaurateurs and their employees — including some whose establishment or homes had been ravaged by flames — turned up in droves to cook meals for anyone in need, despite their own dire circumstances.

Wildfires may be growing more severe nowadays due to climate change. But it’s heartening to witness the indefatigable resilience, resourcefulness, and compassion of a community rising to meet it.

“To Lahaina, With Love” exemplifies that. Proceeds from this cookbook, which debuted last month, benefit Fresh Help Maui, a non-profit that provides meals and locally-caught fresh fish to those impacted by the Maui fires.

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Savoring Southern Flair at Prelude

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The fabulous stuffed chicken wings at Prelude.
The fabulous stuffed chicken wings at Prelude.

There was a time in the planning stages that the flagship fine-dining restaurant on the ground floor of The Jay Hotel in San Francisco was to be a steak-centric establishment named Sage.

But when the Omakase Restaurant Group decided to put Executive Chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones (formerly chef de cuisine of its Niku Steakhouse in San Francisco) in charge of the new restaurant, it rightly let him lean into his Southern heritage.

The result is Prelude, a sultry, chic restaurant, which opened last year to serve elevated Southern cuisine with Northern California sensibilities. It joins the Omakase Group’s other more casual restaurant in the hotel, The Third Floor.

Executive Chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones in the open kitchen.
Executive Chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones in the open kitchen.

Hendrickson-Jones may have grown up in Sacramento, but his Southern roots come from his maternal grandmother who lived in Alabama. From a young age, he started cooking bountiful Sunday dinners with his mother that had Southern influence. His professional career began when he was a sushi apprentice at Morimoto Napa. He then worked at Michelin two-starred Commis in Oakland and Picco in Larkspur before taking on his first executive chef position at Prelude.

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Amara Debuts in Belmont

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Octopus atop papas bravas at Amara.
Octopus atop papas bravas at Amara.

Husband and wife, Ajay Walia and Reena Miglani may have had successful careers in tech and finance. But ever since earning MBAs in Chicago, they always knew that some day they would open their own restaurant after growing disenchanted by the Indian food they found then in the Windy City.

In 2003, they made good on that, opening Saffron in San Carlos in 2003. That was followed by the fine-dining Indian restaurant, Rasa in Burlingame in 2016, which held a Michelin star for 10 years. Although Rasa morphed for two years into another outpost of Saffron, it returned in force in October 2024.

Now, the couple has broken from the mode of Indian cuisine to open their first non-Indian restaurant: Amara in Belmont, which serves Mediterranean fare.

The restaurant had a soft opening in late-December, when I was invited in as a guest during a “Friends & Family” night to try some of the menu offerings and to offer feedback. The restaurant, located in the Carlmont Village Shopping Center for easy parking, will have its grand opening on Jan. 21.

The bar.
The bar.
The dining room.
The dining room.

The dining room, done up in serene teal and white, evokes the seaside. Come late-spring, the restaurant will open its garden with seating overlooking a man-made stream with a footbridge. In total, Amara boasts 220 seats — more than Rasa and Saffron combined.

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