Category Archives: Restaurants

Chocolates, Cakes & Pizza — Who Needs More?

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Brazilian brigadeiros to indulge in.

Brazilian brigadeiros to indulge in. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

Brazilian Chocolates

Watching World Cup may have gotten you riled up with all the action on the field. Me? It just got me hungry, thinking about all the specialty foods associated with each of the countries competing.

So when a sample box of brigadeiros arrived last week in my mailbox, it was perfect timing. San Francisco’s Tiny B specializes in these traditional Brazilian sweets, bite-sized chocolates made with condensed milk and flavorings. They’re like little balls of fudge rolled around nuts or sprinkles. And they are plenty addictive.

My sample contained some of Tiny B’s classic flavors. I have to say I am partial to dark chocolate, so the dark chocolate sprinkles one was probably my favorite because it let the intensity of the dark chocolate shine through.

A box of four is $12. You can customize it by choosing your exact flavors, too.

Bluestem Brasserie Lets You Have Your Cake

If you’ve ever had the legendary Honolulu Hangover cake at Bluestem Brasserie in San Francisco, you know how incredible it is. If you’ve never had it, well, now here’s your chance.

 

The unforgettable Honolulu Hangover. (photo by Carolyn Jung)

The unforgettable Honolulu Hangover. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

The restaurant has brought it back and will offer it through Labor Day as part of its special “Cake Only” dessert menu.

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In Praise of Braise

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Braised pork cheek mole at -- where else -- Braise.

Braised pork cheek mole at — where else — Braise.

 

If you’ve been a fan of The Table in San Jose’s Willow Glen, then you’re already familiar with Chef Anthony “A.J.” Jimenez’s New American fare that’s playful and sometimes quite unexpected.

He’s brought that same style to the first restaurant he’s owned, Braise, which opened late last year in San Jose’s Willow Glen, in fact, just a stone’s throw away from The Table. He opened it with high school friend Josh Hanoka of Bray Butcher Block in San Jose’s San Pedro Square Market.

The small, laid-back restaurant done up in vivid blue features a small bar and bare wood tables. It’s the perfect place to drop by to unwind after work or to enjoy a girls’ night out, which is what I did with two girlfriends recently. They paid the tab (a sweet belated birthday dinner for yours truly), but Jimenez sent out a couple items on the house.

The dining room.

The dining room.

Everything is made to be shared, both small and large plates. A couple of his fun dishes from The Table have made their way here, including his house-made kimchi and his savory take on zucchini bread.

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Anchor Steam In Cans, San Jose Restaurant Week & More

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Anchor Steam's flagship beer is now available in cans.

Anchor Steam’s flagship beer is now available in cans.

Anchor Steam Now In Cans

No doubt you know Anchor Steam for its bottles, barrels and kegs. Now, for the first time in its 122-year history, its flagship beer comes in cans.

Not just any cans. But big 19.2-ounce ones.

The new cans are enough for two moderate drinkers to share or one thirsty person to enjoy more than a beer and a half.

It’s the same copper colored brew with malty, hoppy, deep caramel flavors that’s been made since Fritz Maytag acquired and revived the brand in 1965, making it the first hand-crafted beer to be brought back in the United States after Prohibition, launching today’s craft beer movement.

The tall distinctive gold cans with a big blue logo anchor retail for $2.49 each. Just in time for summer barbecues, picnics and camp-outs, the iconic beer is now easier to tote.

Hungry for A “Little Taste of San Francisco”?

If you are, then you’ll want to pick up a copy of the adorable and compact “A Little Taste of San Francisco” (Bluestreak Books) by Bay Area food writer Stephanie Rosenbaum Klassen.

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The 72-page book, of which I received a review copy, serves up more than 30 of the city’s quintessential recipes — from “Clam Chowder in A Sourdough Bread Bowl” and “Irish Coffee” to “Tofu Banh Mi” and “Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches.”

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The Oasis of Ambience

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Ostrich mousse with black truffle at Ambience.

Ostrich mousse with black truffle at Ambience.

 

The elegant Ambience in downtown Los Altos may have opened more than four years ago, yet it still flies relatively under the radar.

But thankfully, more people are finding out about this fine-dining gem on the Peninsula, as evidenced a few weeks ago when I was invited in for a repeat visit as a guest of the restaurant. The first time I dined there in 2015 on a weeknight, I have to admit I wondered how it managed to stay in business. I think my party of two was only one of three tables filled that night in what albeit is a small restaurant. But on the return visit, I was happy to see that about two-thirds of the restaurant was filled on a weeknight.

Cobalt water glasses.

Cobalt water glasses.

A sip of warm almond tea to get in the mood.

A sip of warm almond tea to get in the mood.

A tasting menu-only restaurant can be a gamble, especially in too-impatient-to-wait-for-anything Silicon Valley. It’s one thing to devote 2 hours or more to a meal on a weekend or special occasion. But on a Wednesday night after work? For a lot of people, that’s a big ask.

Chef-Owner Morgan Song makes it worth your while, though. Song, who cooked for years in Sacramento and San Francisco, most notably at Kiss restaurant, and his wife, who manages the front of house and greets guests warmly when they arrive, have created a subdued restaurant, cloistered from the stresses and vagaries of the day with a candlelit dining room with smoky glass windows that seems to make the outside world disappear.

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Puesto Mexican Artisan Kitchen & Bar Opens First Bay Area Locale — In A Big Way

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Soft shell crab, Baja fish, and seared ahi tacos (front to back) at the new Puesto.

Soft shell crab, Baja fish, and seared ahi tacos (front to back) at the new Puesto.

 

When I first read that a new Mexican restaurant in the Santa Clara Square Marketplace cost $8 million to build, I thought surely that must be a typo.

Oh, but it’s not.

One visit to Puesto Mexican Artisan Kitchen & Bar confirms its over-the-top design.

This is the Southern California restaurant group’s fifth outpost, and the first that’s in Northern California. A second one, in Concord, is in the works.

I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant a couple of weeks ago. It is a cavernous 9,000 square feet covered in a riot of colors, thanks largely to the dramatic artwork by Bay Area graffiti artist Chor Boogie.

A custom mural.

A custom mural.

And another.

And another.

The restaurant, done up in concrete tiles, copper touches and wood tabletops, can seat more than 300. There’s also an expansive patio.

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