Category Archives: Restaurants

A Dang Good Burger

Posted on by 13 comments

Burger nirvana

If a shrine could be built for a burger, fans of Father’s Office gastropubs in Santa Monica and Culver City would erect one to be sure.

Sang Yoon, a South-Korean-born chef who has worked with the likes of French culinary genius Joel Robuchon, turned his back on fine-dining to create these two casual, fun, hip pubs that serve gourmet bar food and 36 craft beers on tap. Smoked eel with poached egg and horseradish creme fraiche, anyone?

It is his “Office burger,”  though, that has got tongues wagging and teeth chomping for seconds. A $12 burger made of dry-aged strip steak, bleu cheese, arugula, and onions caramelized with a splash of sweet-tangy balsamic. It trounced other chefs’ creations in a “Today Show” cook-off. Esquire and Chowhound fanatics have labeled it the best around. Indeed, foodies have deemed it a “masterpiece” of burger-dom.

But the real question, of course, is what my hubby, aka Meat Boy, would think of it. He had been looking forward to sinking his teeth into one ever since we planned our recent Los Angeles trip.

Read more

A Heart-Attack Meal

Posted on by 9 comments

Clam pizza

You’re lucky I’m still alive.

After all, the amount of fat I consumed in one meal recently in Los Angeles is probably enough to send most folks into cardiac arrest. But I am a seasoned professional — used to putting my body on the line when it comes to chowing down on the finer, fattier tasting things in life.

And it doesn’t get much finer than Pizzeria Mozza at N. Highland Avenue and Melrose Avenue. Everytime I make it to Los Angeles, this is a stop I have to make, a stop I dream about all vacation-long.

A restaurant by Nancy Silverton (of La Brea Bakery fame), Mario Batali (who needs no introduction), and Joseph Bastianich  (Lidia’s son), this is a true temple of carbo-load hedonism. It makes what is arguably the best pizza around. It’s the only pizza in which I eat every bit of crust. When it’s this good, why let any go to waste? It’s at once chewy in some parts, crispy in others, and with a deep, bready flavor like a fine artisan loaf.

Since it opened, the restaurant has been a hard ticket. But it does take reservations now. And if you don’t mind eating at the odd hour of 3 p.m.-ish, you usually can walk in on a weekday or weekend to find a free table or a free seat at the bar.

Bone marrow in all its glory, baby.

That’s what my hubby and I did, snagging a table on a Friday afternoon. We started with an appetizer of sinful bone marrow ($12). Roasted in the oven, three dinosaur-like bones come to the table, encasing a wealth of unctuous, rich marrow to be spread on grilled bread. Add a sprinkling of salt, some parsley leaves, and a confit garlic clove for a taste of heaven.

Read more

French Laundry Still the Only Three-Star-Michelin Bay Area Restaurant

Posted on by 4 comments

The new Bay Area guide book.

For the third straight year, the French Laundry in Yountville is again the only three-star Michelin restaurant in the Bay Area.

Thomas Keller’s temple of gastronomy was the only restaurant to receive Michelin’s top rating. The new “Michelin Guide: San Francisco, Bay Area, and Wine Country” ($16.95) goes on sale tomorrow with 383 restaurants rated in all.

One star means “a very good restaurant.” Two stars signify “excellent cooking, worth a detour.” And three stars is “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.”

Among the new rankings is Coi restaurant in San Francisco, which joins the ranks of two-star establishments; and Murray Circle in Sausalito, Plumed Horse in Saratoga, Trevese in Los Gatos, and the Village Pub in Woodside were awarded one star rankings for the first time.

Christopher Kostow, who garnered two Michelin stars when he was chef at Chez TJ in Mountain View, then jumped ship to become chef of the Restaurant at Meadowood, retained the two stars that had been bequeathed to the posh St. Helena establishment last year under its previous chef. Chez TJ earned a one-star rating.

The other two-star restaurants are: Aqua in San Francisco, Cyrus in Healdsburg, Manresa in Los Gatos, and Michael Mina in San Francisco.

Read more

A Primer on Palo Alto Eateries

Posted on by 2 comments

Meeting friends in Palo Alto for dinner, but don’t know where to go? Or behind on all the newest restaurants that have opened in that posh Peninsula city?

Dan Pitt of Palo Alto comes to the rescue. By day, he’s a consultant. But in all other hours, he’s a foodie obsessed with eating his way through his favorite city. Find his list and opinions of Palo Alto restaurants here.

Korean Tea, Part 2: The Traditional

Posted on by 7 comments

Ellen Kim performs a traditional Korean tea ceremony.

Driving past the profusion of strip malls that make up El Camino Real in Santa Clara, it’s easy to miss so much.

But look closely along that stretch, and you’ll spot what was until recently the only Korean tea house in the Bay Area.

It’s easy to overlook Chasaengwon tea house on the second floor of a non-descript office/retail building at bustling 3330 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, near a See’s Candy store. But if you do, you’ll be thoroughly missing out.

Jinsook Hong opened her charming tea house/cafe here because the city already was home to a sizable Korean-American community. Hong operated a tea house in her native Korea, until immigrating here 21 years ago.

Kabocha soup

A quiet matriarchal figure, Hong is here seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., carefully preparing all the tea and all the food, such as hearty kabocha or abalone soup, and the most popular item – a huge bowl of green tea shave ice with green tea ice cream, mochi and fresh fruit that’s big enough for four people to share. She will even prepare a special menu if given advance notice.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »