New Menus, New Concept, New Format, and New Private Dining Room

Posted on by 4 comments

Two new menus tempt at Left Bank brasseries. (Photo courtesy of Left Bank)

Enjoy new menus at the five Left Bank brasseries.

The “TGV Express Lunch,” named after the express train in France, includes soup or salad, plus a choice of a sandwich or a “le plat du chef” — all for $12.50.

For night-owls, the “$21/21h Menu” features a late-night, two-course Parisian-style dinner for $21. It’s available after 9 p.m.

New concept? That’s to be found when the venerable Lark Creek Inn reopens in late May as the Tavern at Lark Creek.

Once regarded as a special-occasion place, the new concept hopes to lure diners in more frequently with a relaxed atmosphere and main courses under $15. Look for new dishes such as Delta crawfish boil ($10.25), free-form duck lasagna with goat cheese and hazelnuts ($13.50), and “Mom’s classic pot roast with root vegetables” ($14.95).

The interior will get a new look, too, with refinished antique tables. And the exterior will get a new herb garden.

Look for a new format at the 15th annual Wine Auction Experience, May 2, hosted by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Foundation. The event benefits children’s charities such as Kaleidoscope After School Program, Easter Seals Bay Area and the Children’s Skin Disease Foundation.

Read more

Love the Restaurant and Yoga Studio? Then You’re Sure to Love the New Store

Posted on by 17 comments

Love Chef Jeremy Fox's cauliflower dish? Soon, you'll be able to buy the cute little pot. (Photo courtesy of Ubuntu)

Obviously, I can only be talking about Ubuntu in Napa, the vegetable-based restaurant (they don’t like to call it vegetarian) attached to a yoga studio that has become the darling of every critic around.

Chef Jeremy Fox’s creative, masterful way with veggies has left diners utterly swooning, even devoted carnivores.

In June, you can bring a little taste of Ubuntu home when Ubuntu Annex opens next door to the restaurant and studio in the historical Main Street Building.

Chef Jeremy Fox (Photo courtesy of Ubuntu)

Shop for the same Steelite and Le Creuset dishware used in the restaurant, as well as specialty items, including the darling cast-iron cocottes used for serving Fox’s famous “Cauliflower in Cast Iron Pot.”  Also for sale will be a selection of spices, garden seeds, Rancho Gordo beans, Ridgecut Gristmills grits, and Fox’s signature “Lavender Almonds.”

Read more


Thomas Keller to Wed

Posted on by 22 comments

Laura Cunningham and Thomas Keller. (Photo by NewYorkSocialDiary.com)

Yes, a knowledgeable source has confirmed that four-star Chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Yountville is indeed engaged to long-time girlfriend, Laura Cunningham.

Cunningham is the former general manager of the French Laundry and former director of operations for all of Keller’s restaurants. It was she who was largely responsible for shaping the flawless, unobtrusive, elegant service the French Laundry is known for. She left the fold in 2006 to start her own consulting business. Around the same time, she and Keller also split, after having been together as a couple for a decade.

They met when Keller bought the French Laundry building in 1994. Cunningham, who grew up in St. Helena and had worked for Chef Jeremiah Tower, came knocking with her resume. Keller said there were no jobs, but took the resume anyway, before he quickly shut the door.

A few days later, he came to his senses and called her back to give her a job.

Read more

Tantilizing Toffee

Posted on by 17 comments

Victoria's Toffee

The rewards of blogging are many, not the least of which is the kindness of Food Gal readers, many of whom know me only through cyberspace.

Take SteveK for instance. Steve and I have never met, though we both live in the Bay Area. His older brother happens to be a well-known broadcast journalist who belongs to a media organization of which I’m also a member. But no, I’ve never met his brother, either.

But SteveK, knowing I’m a fiend for chocolate, told me I ought to try this chocolate toffee made by a woman who used to help watch his young daughter at day-care. The woman, Victoria Stillian, used to make the toffee as gifts for friends and families. It was so addicting, they told her, that she ought to sell it. So, five years ago, Victoria and her husband, Ron Stillian, started doing just that.

Victoria’s Toffee of San Mateo is now sold at Draeger’s Markets, Piazza’s Fine Foods in San Mateo, Roberts Market, and GC’s Cafe in Menlo Park, as well as online. A 1-pound box is $24.95.

The chocolate almond toffee squares are strewn with crunchy chopped nuts. The toffee is sweet, but tempered by the slight earthiness of the chocolate. It has a nice texture — not so hard and sticky that it gets glued to your molars for life, but just right, as Goldilocks might say if she nibbled some. Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »