Category Archives: Restaurants

#50 Best Talks Plus A Sneak Peak at the New Angler Restaurant

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A sea urchin dish at Angler in San Francisco.

A sea urchin dish at Angler in San Francisco.

 

A who’s who of the chef world convened at Dogpatch Studios in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon for “#50 Best Talks,” organized by — what else — “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.”

If you follow Michelin rankings and are an avid watcher of Netflix’s “Chef’s Table,” you will easily recognize the names on this panel that was all about “Voices for Change”:

  • Gaggan Anand of Gaggan in Bangkok, four-time #1 in “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.”
  • Virgilio Martinez of Central in Lima, voted “Best Restaurant in South America” four times in a row in “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.”
  • Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, voted “The World’s Best Female Chef 2016” by “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.’
  • Enrique Olvera of Pujol in Mexico City, currently #13 on “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants” list.
  • Daniela Soto-Innes of Cosme in New York City, currently #15 on “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants” and winner of the James Beard Rising Star Award.
  • Lara Gilmore of Osteria Francescana, currently #1 on “The World’s Best 50 Restaurants” list.

50 Best Logo

(Left to Right): William Drew, Gaggan Anand, Dominique Crenn, Lara Gilmore, Daniela Soto-Innes, Enrique Olvera, and Virgilio Martinez.

(Left to Right): William Drew, Gaggan Anand, Dominique Crenn, Lara Gilmore, Daniela Soto-Innes, Enrique Olvera, and Virgilio Martinez.

Afterwards, chefs and attendees headed over to Angler, set to open Sept. 25 on The Embarcadero in San Francisco.

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Cento Osteria — Italian Fare on the Embarcadero

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Mushrooms, ricotta, tomato and cotto on a puffy, blistered crust at Cento Osteria.

Mushrooms, ricotta, tomato and cotto on a puffy, blistered crust at Cento Osteria.

 

Chef Donato Scotti is on his way to building a Bay Area restaurant empire with the addition of his fourth establishment — and first one — in San Francisco.

Cento Osteria on the city’s Embarcadero joins the others in his Donato Restaurant Group: Donato Enoteca in Redwood City, Cru wine bar in Redwood City, and Donato & Co. in Berkeley.

His newest opened in May. My friend Ben of the blog, FocusSnapEat, and I were invited in as guests to check it out recently.

The dark wood interior gives the dining room warmth while its walls of windows give it airiness.

The open kitchen.

The open kitchen.

The dining room.

The dining room.

Chef Chris D’Andrea, formerly of Saison and Eight Tables, both in San Francisco, heads the kitchen.

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Two Treats In One: Blackberry Torta Della Nonna

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Perfect little mounds grace this intriguing tart.

Perfect little mounds grace this intriguing tart.

 

How magical and intriguing is this tart?

What could possibly create all those perfect little mounds that give this Italian dessert its distinctive look?

When James Beard Award-winning Chef Alon Shaya first laid eyes on this treat in Italy while working at a salumeria-restaurant, he thought it surely must be extremely difficult to make, a laborious affair that demanded the highest precision.

He soon learned how wrong he was.

Eddy, a matronly and motherly cook who took him under her wings, learned how to make this from her mother, who learned it from her mother before her. And she gladly taught it to Shaya.

The secret to its perfect little mounds?

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Korean Comfort Food At Berkeley Social Club

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G.I. Fried Rice -- with Spam -- at Berkeley Social Club.

G.I. Fried Rice — with Spam — at Berkeley Social Club.

 

Steven Choi may have 11 restaurants in the Bay Area now, including Surisan in San Francisco and Fred’s Place in Sausalito. But Berkeley Social Club, which opened in 2016, was the first one to really take inspiration from his Korean heritage.

Located in the heart of Berkeley’s bustling University Avenue corridor, it features an eclectic mix of brunch classics and contemporary Korean fare. It’s pure comfort food with global panache, as I discovered on a recent early Sunday evening, when I visited for dinner with my husband, paying our tab at the end.

Take a seat at the bar.

Take a seat at the bar.

The soaring space is done up with Edison chandeliers, a cement bar, and exposed pipes on the ceiling to give it a trendy industrial vibe.

Choi has made his name with Millionaire’s Bacon, which is served at almost every one of his restaurants. He didn’t necessarily invent this sweet, spicy, smoky porcine treat (he’ll be the first to acknowledge it was inspired by a dish he tried elsewhere years ago), but he surely has perfected it.

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Grilled Sesame Shrimp For The Win

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Tahini helps marinade the shrimp and creates the foundation for the dipping sauce.

Tahini helps marinade the shrimp and creates the foundation for the dipping sauce.

 

Tahini is having a moment.

And it’s about time.

If you love peanut butter, almond butter or any other nut butter, you will easily fall for its cousin, tahini, which is essentially a form of sesame butter. Raw or toasted sesame seeds are ground, releasing their oil, and creating a creamy, thick, velvety, and spoonable sauce redolent of pure sweet nuttiness.

It’s what gives hummus its unmistakable lushness. It’s what fortifies so many great Middle Eastern dressings and spreads. And it’s what perks up palates with interest anew after tiredness sets in from same ol’, same ol’ peanut butter.

Levant Book

Restaurateur Rawia Bishara calls it one of her favorite pantry items. She says she could devote an entire book to it. She hasn’t gone that far, but she does include quite a few recipes using the sesame paste in her new cookbook, “Levant: New Middle Eastern Cooking From Tanoreen” (Kyle), of which I received a review copy.

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