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Beautifull

A new Emeryville food-service company aims to transcend the stereotype of fast food made with mass-market ingredients. Already supplying prepared meals to several Bay Area markets, in April Beautifull opened its first restaurant in San Francisco's Laurel...

The Fifth Floor

The Fifth Floor bar, on the Palomar Hotel's fifth floor, is a way to experience the restaurant's ambience and food without totally breaking the bank. The bar menu is from chef Jennie Lorenzo. Be sure to ask for both beverage lists: a 20-page spirits list and...

Kabul cuisine could conquer corner's curse

The southwest corner of Burlingame and California avenues has housed so many restaurants - Mijana, Fishalicious (which hung out a sign but never opened) and Avenue Bar and Grill - that I was skeptical when I saw it turning over again. But the newest...

Fog City Diner: Buy the gear, not the food

At Fog City Diner, the branded restaurant gear takes up more space on the menu than the desserts do. There are seven desserts and a dozen "must have" clothing items and accessories, ranging from T-shirts ($19.95) and aprons ($21.99) to a dog dish ($4.50). "Is...

Canteen, Slow Club, Bix: big taste, tiny space

For those who are urban dwellers, adjusting to tight living spaces is a way of life. That especially applies to the kitchen, since most are not exactly spacious. The same goes for many restaurant kitchens as well. Still, chefs at places like San Francisco's...

What's in the works? New Marina pizzeria-bar

A new pizzeria/bar, with the Mission District's Beretta as a model, is headed to the Marina. And, naturally, it's from the Beretta team. Come fall, Ruggero Gadaldi, Adriano Paganini and Deborah Blum will take over the Fuzio space (2175 Chestnut St.) for an as-...

Chill and grill fish for a fab Fourth of July

My mother's favorite dinner is grilled salmon. Or so she says. When I recently went home to Connecticut for a visit, she decided to make it for me "her way," taking care to procure the freshest fish she could find. I walked into the kitchen as she was...

Recipe makes him a mezcal fan

For a couple of years in the late 1990s, I was co-host, with spirits guru F. Paul Pacult, of "The Happy Hour," a talk radio show about all things bibulous. We didn't get our own show because we were particularly talented, mind you; we got air time by paying...

Bad times spark reminder not to waste food

When I was young, my mother and father scolded us, saying "Mottainai" when my brothers and I didn't eat all the food on our plates. The English translation meant wasteful, but my parents said it in such an ominous way, it suggested the boogeyman and "the...

Food celebration for all on Independence Day

Recently I was on a panel at New York University, part of the Critical Food Topics series organized by food consultant Clark Wolf. The topic was "Celebrating With Food," something I do three times a day, minimum. After the presentations, a member of the...

Fishing around on a weeknight

Watching all of the glistening, silky fillets of fish march in and out of our test kitchen for Amanda Gold's cover story today made me hungry for fish. Like her, I wanted to find ways to stretch this often expensive product. We tend to think of fish as a...

Pluots take a juicy bite out of summer

It's hard to believe that the pluot didn't show up in the marketplace until 1989. The sweet stone fruit is now a staple at farmers' markets and is among the most beloved fruits in the locavore's diet. Created by Floyd Zaiger, who trademarked the word pluot,...

How green is your picnic?

Picnics can bring out both ants and disposables. While compostable paper plates are more environmentally friendly than conventional plastic ones, you can only use them once. Mingle Easy is a new unbreakable, biodegradable plate concept that allows you to...

'Modern Spice' gets creative with Indian fare

If you're looking to spice up your home cooking, acclaimed food writer Monica Bhide's latest cook book, "Modern Spice," is a good place to begin. Translating the exotic into the accessible, Bhide channels the vibrant spirit of India into simple, yet...

Red, white and blue, French-style

Frenchmen (and women), unite! Bastille Day is coming up on July 14, and in the spirit of French independence, restaurants across the Bay Area are catering to your inner Francophile. Do you hear the people sing? Here's a selection of places to rendezvous. Call...

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Mi2Sweets online bakery

Attention day dreamers - you have officially been challenged. "If you can dream it - Mi2Sweets can make it," reads the promo for dessert maven Mimi Young's new online bakery. The Food & Wine staff tasted a sampling of her products, and were particularly...

Openings :

Donato Enoteca. Executive chef-owner Donato Scotti, most recently at La Strada in Palo Alto, has opened this new spot on a prominent corner in downtown Redwood City. The menu features house-made charcuterie and pastas like bigoli pasta with braised Niman...

Venga - S.F. empanadas

With Venga, Spanish-born restaurant chef Manuel Godino says he is out to revolutionize empanadas in the Bay Area. Having worked in and owned restaurants in Madrid, Buenos Aires and the Bay Area for 20 years, Godino changed gears last fall to focus on...

Eccolo

With restaurants like Cafe Rouge, Tacubaya and O Chamé, Berkeley's Fourth Street has quietly been drawing food lovers to West Berkeley for a while now. (The Crate & Barrel outlet doesn't hurt either.) But until Eccolo's wine director, Shannon Tucker, and bar...

Ramen House Ryowa

Nestled among the numerous ethnic restaurants in Berkeley is Ramen House Ryowa, a traditional Japanese noodle house with generous portions and wallet-friendly prices. The interior is somewhat sparse, but seating is plentiful, with a long bar and friendly...

A simpler, but soul-enriched Dream Farm

"What an irresistible menu," I overheard the diner at the table say as she looked over Dream Farm's pithy listing of comfort dishes: garlic roast chicken with mashed potatoes ($14.95), spaghetti and meatballs ($12.95), and a hefty hamburger with french fries (...

Freeman makes artistic desserts at SFMOMA

Caitlin Williams Freeman was stuck. As she wandered through the Robert Frank photography exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the baker had no idea how she would create a dessert to match Frank's groundbreaking series of 1950s black-and-white...

Barlata has charm, hospitality, some missteps

Trying to create an authentic tapas experience in the Bay Area is a challenge because lifestyles here are so different. Many of us are unmaking our beds as Spaniards are making reservations. Daniel Olivella, who grew up near Barcelona, tries his best to...

Fly Bar and Restaurant

An affordable, neighborhood hangout. This is what owners Matt Sturm, Chris Cronk and Leslie Shirah had in mind when they converted their Tenderloin restaurant, Brick, into the second outpost of their popular Fly Bar on Divisadero. They left most of the...

Sichuan Fortune House, Pleasant Hill

Tucked away on a Pleasant Hill side street is this unassuming jewel. Owner Allen Shi and co-owner/chef Shaobin Zhang have been at this location for more than a year and a half. Zhang is from Sichuan, where he was chef at one of Chengdu's most well-known...

Get to Outerlands before the food runs out

It was 8:45 on a Wednesday night when we ambled up to Outerlands, lured by the flickering candles and intimate-looking groups inside. But we were foiled at the front door by a "Closed" sign with the scribbled message, "We've run out of food." I couldn't...

Town Hall food, service still stand out

When Town Hall opened in 2003, the restaurant was a runaway success in part because of its comfortable, organic interior and the pedigree of the owners: maitre d' extraordinaire Doug Washington and chefs Steven and Mitchell Rosenthal. In the beginning,...

Rising star Michelle Mah alights at Midi

The idea of two concepts under one roof has seemed to replace small plates as the current rage in restaurants. If you want a quick nibble and a glass of wine, go to the lounge. For a full-blown dinner, head into the dining room. It's a proven concept, but...

Coffee adds surprising kick to rubs, marinades

Many years ago, when I was contemplating a culinary career, I took a series of cooking classes at a small French restaurant near my home. The instructor, Chef Gregoire, did not believe in throwing anything away; frugality, he said, was an important part of...

Also open

Pagan. The second outpost of this Burmese eatery recently opened in the Inner Richmond. 731 Clement Street (near Eighth Avenue), San Francisco; (415) 221-3888. Open lunch and dinner Tues.-Sun. Pho Clement 2. This Vietnamese noodle joint opened a second...

Opening: Wexler's, San Francisco

Barbecue-inspired joints have been popping up all over the Bay Area and the Financial District was hit Friday with the opening of Wexler's. Aidlin Darling Design and proprietor Matt Wexler have transformed the former Les Amis spot into a modern, yet rustic...

Prima is fine dining in Walnut Creek

When you consider longevity and quality, few restaurants can match Prima in Walnut Creek, where the kitchen has been boiling pasta and stirring risotto for more than 30 years. Prima also pioneered incorporating a wine shop into the mix, so the wine list has...

Marquez stays safe, finds success at Artisan

It used to be that if chefs weren't named Alice Waters or Thomas Keller, they needed to cook in San Francisco to make a splash. That's changing quickly, as Oakland personalities such as Charlie Hallowell (Pizzaiolo), Russell Moore (Camino) and Jon Smulewitz (...

Cultivating their fascination with fermentation

Philip Sweet crossed over to the other side while volunteering at the Pickle Pavilion at last year's Slow Food Nation in San Francisco. He became fascinated with fermentation and the variety of ways people pickle around the globe. "People are pickling...

Openings

The Tavern at Lark Creek. After closing in April, the Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur reopened Thursday as The Tavern at Lark Creek with a new concept, menu and look. Although the exterior of this historical Victorian Murphy House remains the same, interior...

Bijou: Citified style in Hayward

With its sleek design, lounge-plus-dining concept and French-California menu, Bijou brought big-city style to Hayward when it opened in September. The Dow hovered around 11,000, and the idea of spending $80 to $100 on dinner wasn't attracting the same kind of...

Openings

Bar Crudo. This seafood spot is now open in its new location. 655 Divisadero St. (near Grove), San Francisco; (415) 409-0679. Dinner Monday-...

54 Mint opens in San Francisco

Another piece of the Mint Plaza puzzle has fallen into place with the opening last week of 54 Mint wine bar and restaurant in the former El Balazo, across from Blue Bottle coffee in San Francisco. The onetime taqueria has been painted in white, with a white...

Kosher meat restaurant opens

The Kitchen Table. This kosher meat restaurant in Mountain View featuring house-brined pickles and house-smoked meats is now open. The menu, from Chaim Davids, includes grilled burgers, pan-roasted sea bass and tamarind-braised duck leg. The restaurant is...

Pairing wines with grilling favorites

Next weekend, Memorial Day kicks off the grilling season. It's time for dusty grills and barbecue skills to re-emerge with thoughts of fire and succulent fare. Finding something to grill is usually easy. Choosing a liquid refreshment to take on and enhance...

Opening: Flour + Water

Attention, Mission hipsters and wood-fired pizza lovers: Flour + Water is open for business, featuring chewy thin-crust Neapolitan pizzas and house-made pastas, complemented by Italian wines. The restaurant is Mission-centric, with the chef living above the...

Also open

Little Skillet. The folks behind Farmer Brown in San Francisco have opened this lunchtime walk-up window inside 330 Ritch nightclub in SOMA, serving Southern-style comfort food like fried chicken and waffles, po' boys, biscuits and gravy and pecan pie. 360...

Martins West in Redwood City

Downtown Redwood City's 110-year-old Alhambra Theater, once frequented by the likes of Wyatt Earp and his wife, Josie, who sang in the upstairs theater, reopened on Thursday as the upscale gastropub Martins West. The historic building has seen several...

Also open

Cetrella. After a winter hiatus, this popular spot in Half Moon Bay reopened with a new executive chef, Sylvain Montassier. Montassier will continue the restaurant's focus on Mediterranean fare with dishes such as wood oven-roasted whole fish and house-made...

Restaurant Openings

Mustards Grill. After a two-month hiatus, Cindy Pawlcyn reopened the doors to Mustards Grill Friday. The restaurant, which shut down for renovation after a fire, is updated with a remodeled kitchen and a fresh, spring menu. 7399 St. Helena Highway, Napa; (707)...

Opening: Michael Mina's RN74

Michael Mina's RN74 may just usher in the next phase of California cuisine. The dining room and wine bar opened Friday in San Francisco's Millennium Tower, but unlike Mina's eponymous four-star restaurant in the Westin St. Francis this one sheds the white-...

Rising Star Chefs 2009

Michael Mina, Loretta Keller and Charles Phan all have at least one thing in common: In the early stages of their careers they were singled out as Rising Star Chefs in The Chronicle. For the past 17 years, we've given annual recognition to a group of talented...

Good things in small packages

The Lunar New Year has begun, with revelers saying a very relieved goodbye to the Rat - believed by many to be symbolic of the past year's misfortune - and ushering in the Ox. At The Chronicle, this week marks a change for us as well, as today is our last...

Kitchen Essentials: 10 versatile pantry items

When shopping, many Bay Area cooks tend to focus on produce and other fresh foods. We make obsessive lists for milk and juice for the morning, meat for dinner, salad greens for workday lunches. In doing so, we often neglect the pantry. Yet great cooks are...

About our reviews

- Dining Out reviews appear in the Thursday Datebook and Sunday Food & Wine sections. These are the restaurant's first review, and are based on at least three visits to the restaurant. We wait until the restaurant has been open at least a month before...