Category Archives: Restaurants

Take A Seat At the Sensational Saison Wine Bar

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Caviar Parfait a la Mina at Saison Wine Bar.
Caviar Parfait a la Mina at Saison Wine Bar.

There are wine bars.

And then there is Saison Wine Bar.

Located in the South of Market neighborhood in San Francisco, it boasts not only exceptional wines by the glass, flight or bottle, but French fare that’s far more elegant and refined than you might expect.

But then again, it is from the same restaurant group that operates Michelin two-starred Saison and Michelin-starred Angler, both in San Francisco.

No wonder folks are willing to wait up to 3 hours to get in at times, according to its Wine Director Paul Carayas.

Saison co-founder Mark Bright obviously struck gold when he decided to open the wine bar in 2024, along with the Saison Wine Cellar, a members’-only space two doors down that provides private tastings and climate-controlled wine storage.

A helpful sign points the way.
A helpful sign points the way.
The entrance.
The entrance.

I had a chance to finally visit the wine bar last week with my husband. Even on a Tuesday, it was boisterous, with many patrons filling tables and bar seats for the Happy Hour wine and food specials, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

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Family Is First and Foremost at George + Kin

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Fried chicken sandwich on house-made Japanese milk bread at George + Kin.
Fried chicken sandwich on house-made Japanese milk bread at George + Kin.

It’s easy to fall for a place where love of family is paramount in all that it does.

Such is the case at George + Kin, a new Japanese American-inflected diner in Napa.

When I found myself in the Napa Valley a few days after it opened, I knew I had to stop in. At 11:30 a.m. on a Friday, it was already humming with patrons.

Owner Ben Koenig named his restaurant in honor of his great aunt and uncle, Kinuko and George Sato, Japanese American farmers from Pocatello, Idaho, who helped raise his mother, Wendy, after she lost her own mother at a young age.

You order at the counter.
You order at the counter.
The dining room.
The dining room.

Although he partnered with hospitality professional Charles Whittaker and consulting chef Itamar Abramovitch to open the restaurant in the Bel Aire Plaza, Koenig is no stranger to opening businesses. He is already well known in the Napa Valley for his MOTHERS, Heritage Eats (now closed), Best Food Truck Ever, and Napa Valley Lobster Co.

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A Tip of the Hat to La Toque

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A portobello mushroom steak with black garlic bernaise on the vegetable tasting menu at La Toque.
A portobello mushroom steak with black garlic bernaise on the vegetable tasting menu at La Toque.

Last week, when I dined at Napa’s fine-dining La Toque, I did something uncharacteristic.

I ordered the vegetarian tasting menu.

Apparently, I’m in good company, too. Because as Chef-Owner Ken Frank explained, the restaurant’s vegetarian menu is especially popular on Sundays, particularly among South Asians, many of whom drive up from Fremont just for it.

I can see why. Dining in an elegant dining room on six opulent vegetable courses amid the splendor of Wine Country is the perfect way to top off the weekend before the workweek intrudes once again.

When Frank originally opened La Toque, he was all of 23. He’s now 70. And has no plans to retire anytime soon because he says he’s still having way too much fun.

A painting of Chef Ken Frank early in his career.
A painting of Chef Ken Frank early in his career.
A more recent oversized photograph of him.
A more recent oversized photograph of him.
And Chef Ken in the kitchen on the evening I dined.
And Chef Ken in the kitchen on the evening I dined.

La Toque first opened in Los Angeles in 1979, before Frank moved to the Napa Valley to open it in Rutherford in 1998. Finally, in 2008, he moved it to its current home in Napa at the Westin Verasa.

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A Delicious Feast at Mazra

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Our table overloweth at Mazra in Redwood City.
Our table overloweth at Mazra in Redwood City.

When a restaurant is packed at 5:15 p.m. on a Tuesday, you know it has it going on.

And when the Michelin Guide bestows upon it a Bib Gourmand, then you know it’s definitely worth a special trip to try.

That’s definitely the case when it comes to Mazra, the family-owned Mediterranean restaurant with locations in San Bruno and Redwood City.

I visited the latter one last week, and came away marveling at the food, service, and price point.

The dining room. There's also a sweet outdoor dining area, too.
The dining room. There’s also a sweet outdoor dining area, too.
Artwork.
Artwork.

The restaurants were founded by brothers, Jordan and Saif Makableh, after they managed to talk their father into letting them transform his Green Valley Market in San Bruno into the first location of Mazra.

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Oui Oui to JouJou

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Black cod with caramelized pineapple at JouJou.
Black cod with caramelized pineapple at JouJou.

For a time, it seemed as if French restaurants were an endangered species in San Francisco.

But in the past few years, that classic cuisine has arisen from the brink. That’s no more evident than the arrival last month of JouJou by David Barzelay and Colleen Booth, the team behind Michelin two-starred Lazy Bear in San Francisco.

While the latter delivers an ambitious tasting menu along with the theatrics of an open kitchen, JouJou in contrast serves only an la carte menu in a sprawling 6,500-square-foot space, divided into a few different dining spaces, along with two bars.

The first bar.
The first bar.
And the second one.
And the second one.
The enclosed patio dining room that's like dining in a greenhouse.
The enclosed patio dining room that’s like dining in a greenhouse.

It’s fitting that the restaurant is located in the Design District, what with its shades of cream, milky green, and soft pink that create a sort of vintage vibe, not to mention the rather risque baroque wallpaper in the bathrooms. The decor definitely leans into the restaurant’s name, which is French for “plaything.”

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