Category Archives: Restaurants

Albatross Soars in Danville

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Glorious avocado-hummus at Albatross.

Glorious avocado-hummus at Albatross.

 

My husband likes to joke that up until last year, I’d never ever eaten in Danville. Now, I’ve made the trek to this East Bay suburb three times in short order. This is what happens when you work on a cookbook, “East Bay Cooks” (Figure 1), all about East Bay restaurants, which will publish in September. And it’s what happens when a long-time restaurateur whom you’ve known for years invites you in as a guest a couple weeks ago to try a new restaurant he is consulting on.

Hoss Zare, late of the beloved Zare at Fly Trap in San Francisco, has known Proprietor Mehrasa Bagheri, a luxury residential and commercial developer, for years, as the East Bay resident used to cross the bridge regularly to frequent his restaurant.

“He’s like my big brother,” Bagheri says.

“I’m her big brother, her bodyguard, you name it,” Zare replies back with a laugh.

Consultant Hoss Zare and Owner Mehrasa Bagheri.

Consultant Hoss Zare and Owner Mehrasa Bagheri.

So when she decided to open her gem of a restaurant Albatross in December in a new building in downtown Danville, she knew she wanted Zare’s expertise as a consultant chef. Indeed, she has assembled quite an impressive team that includes Executive Chef Brian Bowen, who cooked with Chef Joseph Humphrey at both the Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena and Cavallo Point in Sausalito; and Pastry Chef Andrea Morgan, former head pastry chef for Chicago’s Mindy Segal and a member of the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group.

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Camper Stakes Its Claim In Menlo Park

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Beautiful yellowtail crudo at Camper in downtown Menlo Park.

Beautiful yellowtail crudo at Camper in downtown Menlo Park.

 

On a rainy, dreary Friday afternoon in Menlo Park, Camper was full of — yes — happy campers.

The restaurant, which pitched its home in the former LB Steak locale last year, was buzzing and completely full at lunch time, as I found when I met a friend and colleague there, with both of us paying the tab at the end.

Roland Passot, owner of La Folie in San Francisco and former owner of LB Steak, partnered with Chef Greg Kuzia-Carmel, who cooked at New York’s Per Se and San Francisco’s Cotogna, and Logan Levant, who owned Buttercake Bakery in Los Angeles, to open this smart spot built around hand-made pastas and elevated classics with global influences such as Crispy Fried Chicken “Milanese” ($14) and Overnight Yucatan-Style Braised Pork ($18).

The bar.

The bar.

The airy dining room.

The airy dining room.

It’s a handsome restaurant done up with light wood, plenty of windows, a long back-lighted bar, and a dough room just off the entrance, where you can watch the pasta being made.

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NIDO Is Pretty Neato

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You can't miss finding this place.

You can’t miss finding this place.

 

Its name means “nest” in Spanish, and NIDO is very much a comforting place in every sense.

This Mexican restaurant was opened in Oakland in 2012 by husband and wife, Cory and Silvia McCollow.

It’s colorful and energetic, with a homespun air, as if a bunch of friends got together in a modern-day barn-raising to build a restaurant. Candles in mismatched glass containers give off a warm glow inside, along with a mini disco ball at the front that creates a party-like verve. The bar is built from repurposed wood pallets, giving it a “Gilligan’s Island” can-do look.

On Sunday nights, the restaurant offers a more truncated menu, dubbed “Sunday Night Tacos & Margaritas.” It’s super popular, too, as I found out, when I went a week ago, paying my own tab at the end. Even before the doors opened at 5 p.m., there were already more than half a dozen people lined up to get in.

Chips, salsa and guacamole.

Chips, salsa and guacamole.

A cocktail made with black vermouth.

A cocktail made with black vermouth.

The short and sweet menu encompasses two starters, two large plates, two taco choices, and chips with salsa and guacamole.

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Rich Table’s Spaghetti with Peas, Goat Cheese — And A Most Unexpected Ingredient

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A pasta dish that will thrill with surprise.

A pasta dish that will thrill with surprise.

 

As I set this brimming bowl of pasta in front of my husband, he twirled in his fork, then took a bite.

“This is so weird,” he exclaimed with growing glee. “But it’s really good!”

That might just be your reaction, as well, to this eyebrow-raising spaghetti tossed with peas, lime, goat cheese — and are you ready for it — duck fat.

Yes, “Spaghetti with Peas, Lime, Goat Cheese, and Duck Fat” is from the cookbook, “Rich Table” (Chronicle Books, 2018), of which I received a review copy. It’s by husband-and-wife chef-owners Evan and Sarah Rich with assist from Eater Cities Director Carolyn Alburger.

Rich Table cookbook

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of dining at San Francisco’s Rich Table — where scoring a table is never an easy feat — you know that this type of dish is part and parcel for this Michelin-starred restaurant that has a knack for creating winning dishes with rather unexpected, and often mind-boggling combinations of ingredients.

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Wagyu Everything at Gozu Pop-up at Avery

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Wrap our heads around this: yellowfin bone marrow. At the Gozu pop-up at Avery restaurant.

Wrap our heads around this: yellowfin bone marrow. At the Gozu pop-up at Avery restaurant.

 

Gozu, the Wagyu beef-centered restaurant, isn’t expected to open its doors in the South of Market area of San Francisco until May. But it’s already opened my eyes to the possibilities of this prized, specialty Japanese beef.

Last week, I had the pleasure of dining as a guest at one of the three nights that Gozu hosted a pop-up at Avery in San Francisco.

The $95 per person tasting menu featured four dishes from the Avery’s Chef Rodney Wages, an alum of The French Laundry in Yountville, and Benu, Atelier Crenn, and Saison, all in San Francisco; as well as four dishes from Gozu’s Chef Marc Zimmerman, who cooked at Nobu, Restaurant Guy Savoy, and Alexander’s Steakhouse in San Francisco. Two supplemental dishes also were available for an extra charge.

Like its predecessor in this Fillmore Street locale, the elegant Korean-influenced Mosu, Avery continues the tradition of having no sign out front. The windows are opaque, too. So, just look carefully for the numerical address, and you’ll find it just fine.

The two-story restaurant is quite compact, and done up with grays and black to give it a chic air.

The upstairs dining room.

The upstairs dining room.

Chef Marc Zimmerman of the forthcoming Gozu (left) and Chef Rodney Wages of Avery (right).

Chef Marc Zimmerman of the forthcoming Gozu (left) and Chef Rodney Wages of Avery (right).

For the first half of the meal, before the restaurant got too full, the two chefs both brought out their dishes, hand-delivering to the table. Zimmerman says he got the idea for a Wagyu-focused restaurant after traveling through Japan. There, casual robata-style eateries specialize in Wagyu and make use of every bit of the pampered, outrageously marbled cows.

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