Photos by Travis LoDolce. The history of chocolate-making in the Bay Area runs deep. Ghiradelli, Scharffen Berger, and Guittard are some of the big names in chocolate that started here, and the community of smaller, more artisinal chocolatiers continues to grow. Clearly, San Francisco...
I had the pleasure of lunching at Google in NYC (above Chelsea Market) last week as the guest of a friend who works there. Google's executive chef emails out the huge menu daily!...
Carnaval is just complete madness. People running around, eating, dancing, shaking it, getting it on, peeing on church walls, and swapping spit. It’s hot. The music is loud, samba is blaring, and you are pretty much forced to like it. It's like sex. This is...
A bar is a playground for grown-ups. A place where you can meet new playmates, taste the sweet nectar of intoxicating juices, take time off to enjoy life with your closest of pals, and on occasion enjoy the chance of entangling your reproduction organs in...
"Where the hell are we? Did we miss it?" I ask as we drive further and further away from the city center. Geary Boulevard is still bustling, but we're way past Japantown now, and the storefront signs are getting harder to read. Besides, why would...
My friend Tessa Liebman, the executive chef at the Housing Works, is hosting a very special dinner on Saturday, March 12th at the Housing Works bookshop in SoHo. She has spent months working with artist Balint Zsako to create a unique,...
It's been a while people, and I hope you've all been having a blast (as I'm sure you have). I, on the other hand, have had a slightly manic time especially since the worst thing that can happen to a food blogger has occurred. I...
Located in Studio City or Toluca Lake (depending on who you're talking to) since 1961, Henry's Tacos has served ground beef tacos served in a hard corn shell. They've marginally expanded their menu since then, now offering soft tacos, burritos and the quasi-famous taco burger,...
Bali was our first destination on our honeymoon tour. It is where I was promised we could recover, read and sloth out! After the crazy stress of moving continents (from Japan to Brazil), learning a new language, surviving the first year in my...
Let's end February with a heavily hungover BANG! and guzzle down as much as we can, while we can, of San Francisco's Strong Beer Month. Please join the Bay Area Umamimart crew (Yoko, CJ + myself) on Sunday...
I woke up thinking about breakfast. During my time in Italy ten years ago, I picked up the habit of not eating in the mornings at all--Italians tend to just have a cappuccino and cornetto (a little croissant-like pastry) for breakfast, opting to save space...
Diners provide a gastronomic touchstone for family weekend breakfasts, drunken all-nighters, road trip pit stops and business meetings. Du-par’s is no exception. This family owned diner chain has had a presence in Southern California for the past 73 years, and has always held a...
As you might expect after seeing my last post on Strong Beer Month, I went on quite a bender last week and tried out all six strong beers at Magnolia and five out of six at 21st Amendment. Last night, I had...
The kawaii (= cute) world of Japan is a very positive dimension of happiness, beauty, bunnies, rainbows and ribbons. And not just something that contains characters, but also an aesthetic approach that appeals to your heart, with a rather feminine touch and usually a soft...
PREFACE Lost in Luang Prabang Our honeymoon was broken up into three different parts split between three countries, and two climates. Northern Vietnam was meant to be the adventurous leg of it. Hanoi is loud. Damn loud. Instead of using turn...
All photos by Yoko Kumano unless otherwise specified. On a warm, sunny day in San Francisco, 23 guests and I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Sutton Cellars Winery for an afternoon Vermouth Class, where we learned about its history, evolution, production methods, and...
February is upon us, and for those of us in the Bay Area it brings Strong Beer! If you have not heard, February is Strong Beer Month in San Francisco, a time when two of the local microbreweries Magnolia and 21st Amendment...
My neighbourhood is changing rapidly these days-- for the better. The whole block used to be really sad, shopping-wise. A nasty old bakery with day-old bread, Christian-sects' offices, and three different Thai "massage" parlours (last year a war broke out between them, and the hookers...
Sylvan Mishima Brackett is the mastermind behind Peko Peko, a Japanese catering service in the Bay Area. After working as Alice Waters' assistant for SIX YEARS (dude must have the patience of a Zen master. Just kidding, love you Alice!), he apprenticed in...
It's a blah blah world here in Skankynavia. Bad economy, rising unemployment, snow storms, ice rain, foggy days without sunrise or sunset. It's even more depressing than watching Depression Cooking With Clara. As previously written, studies have shown that over...
