Category Archives: Restaurants

New Steak Place, New Breakfast Place & More

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Steak with sherry mushrooms at Medallion Steakhouse. (Photo courtesy of Rick Camargo)

Carnivores are flocking to Burlingame with the recent opening of Medallion Steakhouse.

Chef Thomas Sazo, also of Medjool restaurant in San Francisco, features sustainably sourced beef and local products in such dishes as prime rib spring rolls ($10) with roasted onions, peppers, provolone and cayenne ketchup; fennel and sausage pizza ($11); American Kobe sliders (two for $14); and Maine lobster risotto ($26).

There are nine different steak offerings, from a 10-ounce corn-fed skirt steak ($25) to a 12-ounce corn-fed Chateaubriand ($46).

Spring rolls stuffed with prime rib. Really. (Photo courtesy of Drew Altizer)

On the other side of the Bay, the Sunny Side Cafe has opened in downtown Berkeley, serving breakfast and lunch daily.

It’s the sister restaurant to the original locale in Albany.

Chef Aaron French, who has a master’s degree in ecology from San Francisco State University, primarily uses locally-sourced, sustainable, certified-humane ingredients. Specialties include seasonal pancakes, Croque Monsieur, “Not-Your-Ordinary Sesame Chicken Salad Sandwich,” and a weekend tasting menu.

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A Taste of Tuscany

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Tender lobster with fluffy gnocchi.

Truth be told, it was more than a taste.

It was more like the ultimate Italian gorge fest.

That’s what happens when Donatella Zampoli, executive chef of the wine estates of Marchesi de` Frescobaldi in Tuscany, whizzes into town for 48 hours to cook with Dominique Crenn, chef de cuisine of Luce at the InterContinental Hotel in San Francisco.

I was invited to the multi-course dinner last Wednesday, which was a benefit for CUESA, the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture.

Each dish was paired with a different wine from Frescobaldi, which has been making wines for more than 700 years. The two chefs took turns preparing each course, volleying back and forth, for a most memorable and filling repast.

An unusual buckwheat amuse.

The evening began with two amuses: First, Crenn’s unusual combination of organic buckwheat, trumpet mushrooms and lobster puree. It came to the table looking like a loose-formed granola bar of sorts. And the crispy grain puffs almost made the amuse akin to a new-wave, savory Rice Krispie treat.

Creamy, rustic duck liver.

Zampoli’s rusticly wonderful duck liver mousse followed, topped with crispy sage leaves.

Next came Zampoli’s organic eggplant timbale tower filled with diced carrots and squash, and Scarmorza cheese. You don’t even have to be a devout vegetarian to love this comforting, satisfying dish.

Eggplant timbale.

Crenn followed up with what was probably my favorite dish of the night: an updated rendition of her mother’s potato gnocchi with lobster and a sphere of bone marrow custard. Lobster, which so often suffers from over-cooking, was perfectly moist and tender here. The gnocchi were incredibly fluffy and buttery. I’m not sure the dish even needed the tiny round of bone marrow custard. Still, it was an intriguing addition.

Zampoli presented parmesan risotto that hid a well of intense duck jus in its center. Thinly sliced smoked duck breast was fanned over the top, and fried leeks finished this elegant dish.

Risotto with smoked duck and fried leeks.

It was time for an intermezzo, and Crenn provided a doozy — a bubble of apple cider balanced on a silver spoon.

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Take Five With Masaharu Morimoto, On His New Svelte Figure and New Napa Restaurant

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A trim Chef Masaharu Morimoto. (Photo courtesy of the Food Network)

Masaharu Morimoto, the star of the original Japanese “Iron Chef” and the newer Food Network version, “Iron Chef America,” may be sporting a trimmer physique these days. But the celebrated chef, who was born in Hiroshima, Japan, is still one commanding presence.

Morimoto visited the Napa Valley last weekend for the 12th annual “Worlds of Flavor” conference at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, the theme of which this year was “World Street Food, World Comfort Food.” The chef, who was there to do cooking demonstrations, drew crowds wherever he went, especially at the marketplace, where his crew cooked up okonomiyaki (a Japanese savory pancake layered with noodles, pork and a fried egg) and takoyaki (a Japanese octopus donut hole).

During a break, I had a chance to talk with the 54-year-old chef about his sixth restaurant that will open next summer in the Wine Country — Morimoto Napa.

Q: What made you choose Napa as opposed to San Francisco for your restaurant?

A: Two years ago, I came here for the “Worlds of Flavor” conference. It was my first time in Napa. I liked it. It is a special place. It’s a culinary place.

Q: What will Morimoto Napa be like?

A: Thomas Schoos, who did Tao in Las Vegas, is the designer. There will be three components — a fine-dining room with a sushi bar and omakase, a late-night lounge, and a retail store. People will be able to buy fish and Wagyu beef from Japan to take home to cook. We may sell bento box lunches and do catering for parties, too.

Q: Will the restaurant look like a piece of Japan? Or a piece of Napa?

A: It will look like a piece of Morimoto.

Morimoto supervises his crew at the "Worlds of Flavor'' conference.

Cooking up a Japanese savory pancake.

Tender octopus donuts get flipped so they're golden all around.

Q: With so many restaurants already, how often will people expect to see you actually in the Napa restaurant?

A: I will be there as much as I can.

Q: Will we be buying a place to live here? Perhaps a house with its own vineyard to make Morimoto wine?

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Events to Toast

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The "Golden Gate Mary'' cocktail at the St. Regis in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of Chef Hiro Sone)

Did you know the iconic cocktail, the Bloody Mary, is 75 years old this year?

Drink a toast to that milestone at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco to commemorate the drink’s invention 75 years ago at the St. Regis New York.

In 1934, bartender Fernand Petiot introduced the cocktail at the King Cole Bar in The St. Regis New York. It was created when Serge Obolensky, a well known man about town whose penchant for vodka was in keeping with his aristocratic Russian background, asked Petiot to make the vodka cocktail he had in Paris. The formula was spiced up with salt, pepper, lemon and Worcestershire sauce. But since “Bloody Mary” was deemed too vulgar for the hotel’s elegant King Cole Bar, it was rechristened the “Red Snapper.” While the name may not have caught on in that era, the spicy drink most certainly did.

The San Francisco hotel is now serving a new contemporary version, dubbed the “Golden Gate Mary.” It’s made with tequila and pepper-infused tomato water, and garnished with a dried heirloom tomato chip. The $14 cocktail is available at the lobby bar through the end of the year. For another fun option, a flight of the new Bloody Mary and the traditional Bloody Mary is offered for the same price.

Don't you just want to take a sip right now? (Photo courtesy of Chef Hiro Sone)

Like the photos of the drink? I have Hiro Sone to thank for them. Yes, the excecutive chef of the esteemed Ame restaurant inside the St. Regis San Francisco snapped these pics. He’s a multi-talented chef if there ever was one.

Restaurants are gearing up for next week’s release of Beaujolais Nouveau. Just after midnight on the third Thursday of every November, villages and towns in France race to be the first to serve this new wine of the current harvest.

Campbell’s Twist Bistro gets in on the act Nov. 19 with a three-course prix-fixe for $32. A glass of the Beaujolais Nouveau is $8; a bottle is $30.

Left Bank restaurants will do the same with a la carte specials at its locations in Menlo Park. San Jose’s Santana Row, and Larkspur.

Depending upon the location, look for dishes such as house-made pork sausages with red wine-braised lentils, and pear poached in Beaujolais.

For a different twist, Arlequin Wine Merchant in San Francisco will host “No More Nouveau” on 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 19.

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A Porky Time at San Francisco’s Ferry Building

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Lard caramels. Oh, yes!

Last week, I ended up on a most porky mission.

Yes, foraging for all things pleasingly porcine at San Francisco’s Ferry Building Marketplace.

And what a very piggish day it turned out to be for moi.

After all, as I ducked into Boccalone Salumeria, I was happy to discover that the charcuterie store had just received its first batch of the new Humphry Slocombe lard caramels. Yes, you read that correctly:

Lard. In. Caramels.

Humphry Slocombe, the crazy good San Francisco ice cream store, has started making caramel candies using Boccalone’s lard.

These babies are outrageous. The second you unwrap the wax paper wrapper, you’ll notice the sheen of grease on it. These have got to be the richest caramels ever. Sweet, sticky, and with an almost bacony, fatty lushness to them, these candies just coat your entire mouth like biting into a juicy piece of pork belly would.

A package of four is $3.20.

Lard shortbread cookies.

Of course, I also had to buy a package of the Humphy Slocombe shortbread cookies, made with Boccalone lard, as well as butter. Trust me, don’t think about the consequences. Just eat them.

They come four to a package.

The cookies (a package of four for $3.20) are very crisp, with a crumbly texture, and the subtle taste of sea salt. Again, there’s a long finish to them because of all the F-A-T. But again, don’t dwell on that. Just chew.

Boccalone now also sells jars of pork ragu, made with ground pork, bits of its Boccalone salumi, red wine, and fennel.

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