Category Archives: Travel Adventures

Japan Eats, Part II: Michelin-Starred Koke

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Playful squid-ink crackers filled with chorizo at Michelin-starred Koke in Kyoto.
Playful squid-ink crackers filled with chorizo at Michelin-starred Koke in Kyoto.

Kyoto, JAPAN — One can eat exceedingly well for little in Japan, and goodness knows that my husband and I did. However, we decided to splurge for one dinner during our recent two-week trip to Japan, and that was to Michelin-starred Koke in Kyoto.

Japan is a dichotomy, where both the ancient and the futuristic are revered. So, when it came to picking a kaiseki restaurant, I chose one that breaks from tradition, one that blends Japanese and Spanish sensibilities in surprising ways.

It serves a 13-course tasting menu with a few of the courses composed of several small bites. You can opt for a regular wine pairing (a total of 700ml) or a small-sized pairing (350ml). The latter is what my husband and I chose.

For all food and drink for the two of us, we paid a grand total of $515 U.S., which is not too bad when you consider that in the Bay Area, many fine-dining tasting menus are easily more than $300 per person for the food alone without gratuity.

The unobtrusive sign to the restaurant.
The unobtrusive sign to the restaurant.
The courtyard that you enter before going inside the restaurant.
The courtyard that you enter before going inside the restaurant.

The restaurant hides behind a wall. On the other side, you’ll find a serene Japanese-style courtyard with a floor-to-ceiling window at one end that has a view into the restaurant’s dining room and kitchen. Koke is the Japanese word for “moss” and you’ll spot patches of it in the courtyard. It’s also a symbol of renewal, resilience, and interconnectedness.

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Japan Eats, Part I: Savoy Pizza

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Seared sushi-grade tuna atop one fantastic pizza at Savoy in Tokyo.
Seared sushi-grade tuna atop one fantastic pizza at Savoy in Tokyo.

Tokyo, JAPAN — I just spent two weeks in Japan, my first time there, in what can only be described as an eating adventure of a lifetime.

Scan my Instagram or Facebook pages, and you’ll get a taste through photos and words of all the fine tempura, sushi, tonkatsu, ramen, pastries, and other specialties I thoroughly enjoyed at a pittance, given the very favorable exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to the Japanese yen. Today and Friday, I’ll spotlight two very different restaurants worthy of particular mention.

Though I did online research, and solicited recommendations from friends and chefs who travel to Japan regularly, I don’t think it’s possible to go wrong eating pretty much anywhere in Japan, even if all you do is wing it when you’re there.

Head here when you want to try pizza in Japan.
Head here when you want to try pizza in Japan.

Even eating tiramisu or flan or crustless egg salad sandwiches from a convenience store there is a revelation. Each of those items is less than $2 U.S. at a 7-Eleven or other Japanese convenience store — and the quality just phenomenal.

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Experiencing The Inn At Newport Ranch

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A picnic-like dinner delivered to my room at the Inn at Newport Ranch.
A picnic-like dinner delivered to my room at the Inn at Newport Ranch.

Fort Bragg, CA — Will Jackson, a retired Wall Street investment manager on the East Coast, had never set foot on this rugged and picturesque Mendocino coast before. Even so, when he spied a for-sale ad in the Wall Street Journal in 1985 for an 850-acre cattle ranch here with more than a mile of oceanfront land, he grew intrigued.

So much so that he called a friend who lived in the area and asked him to go investigate. The friend’s verdict? That Jackson ought to high-tail it out this way to snap it up.

He did just that, falling in love at first sight. In 1986, Jackson took over the property, which back then had only a small B&B.

In 2016, he officially opened The Inn at Newport Ranch, an intimate luxury inn that boasts 10 distinct accommodations, plus a gourmet restaurant that’s open only to guests.

Over the years, he’s expanded the property to more than 2,200 sweeping acres. I had a chance to explore this secluded property recently when I was invited to stay as a guest of the inn.

The inn.
The inn.
A sitting area inside the main building.
A sitting area inside the main building.
The more formal private dining room.
The more formal private dining room.

About a 3 1/2-hour drive north of San Francisco, the last mile or so on Highway 1 will take you on winding turns surrounded by breathtaking, old-growth redwoods. The oft-present foggy mist will eventually reveal the California ranch-style inn built next to a majestic cypress tree that’s more than 130 years old.

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Michelin-Acclaimed Vancouver Eats, Part II: Pidgin

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The incredible foie gras rice bowl at Pidgin.
The incredible foie gras rice bowl at Pidgin.

Vancouver, CANADA — Should I admit that I ended up booking a reservation at Pidgin solely because of one dish that I spotted on the menu?

That dish is pictured above in all its majesty: foie gras rice bowl with unagi glaze.

And I’m here to report that it was epic.

You see, my husband and I, unfortunately live in a state in the United States that has for years has banned restaurants from serving and selling foie gras. So, when we were planning a trip to the Great White North, the first thing my husband uttered was “I’m eating some foie gras!” And did he ever. Not just here, but at our hotel restaurant, the Alouette Bistro, where he chowed down on a bountiful burger with a small lobe of seared fatty duck liver on the side.

The bar at Pidgin.
The bar at Pidgin.
Michelin fun.
Michelin fun.

Foie gras is not the only thing to celebrate about Pidgin, which, after all, is Michelin Guide-recommended.

There’s so much more to relish at Chef Wesley Young’s restaurant, where the food is bold and at times irreverent.

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Michelin-Acclaimed Vancouver Eats, Part I: Published on Main

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Fragrant, Thai-style squid at Published on Main.
Fragrant, Thai-style squid at Published on Main.

Vancouver, CANADA — The Michelin Guide is a newcomer to this city, having debuted its first dining guide only in 2022. Among the first eight restaurants to garner a Michelin star for the first time in is Published on Main, which has continued to maintain that achievement.

Serving elegant, contemporary Canadian cuisine with global influences and an emphasis on sustainability, it was opened in December 2019 by Executive Chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandon, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in Germany and spent a summer working at restaurant Noma in Copenhagen.

It’s located in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood that’s plenty pleasant, indeed, with an abundance of parks, gastropubs, bakeries, and restaurants.

The restaurant, done up in white, gray, and black, sports bar-height chairs throughout the dining room that are quite comfortable, too, with built-in bars to rest your feet.

The real Michelin star plaque hangs on a different wall, but this whimsical one can be found on a shelf above the bar.
The real Michelin star plaque hangs on a different wall, but this whimsical one can be found on a shelf above the bar.
The dining room.
The dining room.

Choose either a tasting menu or a la carte dishes that are easily shareable. The latter is what my husband and I chose. With a favorable exchange rate, we ate like kings, too (and queens).

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