Butter Up, Part I: Something Fishy — And Delicious

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Good-for-you roasted branzino gets a little indulgent when finished with a delicious green anchovy butter.
Good-for-you roasted branzino gets a little indulgent when finished with a delicious green anchovy butter.

Olive oil is a hallmark of Mediterranean cooking.

But creamy, decadent butter has its place, too, adding a disarming voluptuousness to anything it touches.

I’m sure Julia Child would agree.

I know that Daen Lia surely does. Her cookbook may be titled, “Garlic, Olive Oil + Everything Mediterranean” (Simon Element, 2025), but butter definitely plays a role. There’s even an entire chapter devoted to recipes that use butter, including one to make “Homemade Butter.”

That includes her “Whole Roasted Snapper with Green Anchovy Butter,” in which whole fish get roasted in the oven, then finished with a dazzlingly green and herbaceous compound butter.

Lia is an Australian home-cook and creator of the digital brand, Daen’s Kitchen, who counts more than 8 million followers across her social media platforms.

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Easy-Peasy, Spring-Fling Lamb Chops with Tangy Cilantro and Mint Yogurt Dressing

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Simple and delicious, these lamb loin chops get served with a fresh, creamy, and herby yogurt sauce.
Simple and delicious, these lamb loin chops get served with a fresh, creamy, and herby yogurt sauce.

The certified organic, 400-acre farm in the Capay Valley is one of Northern California’s most beloved.

Full Belly Farm draws crowds at its stands at Bay Area farmers markets, and its produce stars on a legion of restaurant menus.

Established in 1985, it grows more than 80 different crops, including all manner of veggies, fruits, nuts, herbs, and flowers. It also raises chickens, sheep, goats, and cows. It offers farm tours, school visits, and popular events that include farm dinners and pizza nights.

Now comes its newest offering: “Full Belly Farm & Kitchen” (Hardie Grant).

Its first cookbook, of which I received a review copy, was written by Amon and Jenna Muller, who are part of the farm’s second-generation owners. Amon Muller, who runs the farm kitchen, trained at legendary Bay Area restaurants, Chez Panisse, Quince, and Coi. Jenna Muller organizes the farm events.

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Sunny Days Were Made For Spring-y Snap Peas with Ricotta, Lemon, and Mint

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A springtime dish that's so easy, and so full of flavors and textures.
A springtime dish that’s so easy, and so full of flavors and textures.

Snap to it.

That’s exactly what you’ll want to do with spring sugar snap peas now out in full force at farmers markets.

Gorgeously green, naturally sweet, and crazy crisp, they are best when minimally cooked or eaten raw, as in this delightful dish of “Spring-y Snap Peas with Ricotta, Lemon, and Mint.”

This starter or salad is ideal at any time or in any type of weather because it is a no-cook dish that comes together in no time flat.

The recipe is from “Big Bites Time to Eat!” (Rodale), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by Kat Ashmore, Connecticut-based creator of YouTube’s Kat Can Cook and former recipe developer for the “Martha Stewart Show.”

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Firing on All Cylinders at Michelin Two-Starred Saison

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Dungeness crab and perilla tarts at Saison in San Francisco.
Dungeness crab and perilla tarts at Saison in San Francisco.

Like a rags to riches tale, San Francisco’s Saison restaurant began as modestly as it gets. In 2009, it began as a pop-up after hours in a Mission District cafe before its ensuing runaway success led to its relocation to a custom build-out brick building in SoMa, where it has held court with two coveted Michelin stars since 2019.

Its executive chef, Richard Lee, had even more humble beginnings in San Francisco. The youngest child of Chinese immigrant parents — a seamstress mother and security guard father — he grew up in a household where going to McDonald’s was a considered a treat, one that the family could rarely afford.

Since coming to Saison in 2019 as chef de cuisine, he and the restaurant have proved a synergistic fit. In 2023, Lee, who previously worked for six years at Michelin three-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York City, was elevated to executive chef of this ground-breaking restaurant credited with popularizing and evolving live-fire hearth cooking. Weeks ago, he was made a co-owner, too, a sign of just how much confidence and trust the rest of the ownership team has in him.

Executive Chef Richard Lee, a newly made co-owner of the restaurant.
Executive Chef Richard Lee, a newly made co-owner of the restaurant.
On the front of the building.
On the front of the building.

Dine at Saison, and it’s easy to understand why.

On a recent Friday night when I dined, every table in the lounge and dining room was filled. A few tables were celebrating birthdays, too.

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When the Name Doesn’t Do It Justice

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A one-pot chicken and rice supper with Chinese flavors.
A one-pot chicken and rice supper with Chinese flavors.

Yup, that’s right: “Roast Chicken and Rice Casserole” is the name of this dish. It sounds so basic. But it is so far from that.

The title might make you think of an old-school Americana dish. But it’s really one with a delicious Chinese flair to it with coconut milk enriching the rice, and lemongrass and ginger perfuming everything.

This easy one-pot dish is from “Down South + East” (Abrams), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Ron Hsu, the culinary director and partner in Michelin-starred Lazy Betty in Atlanta., with an assist from Hugh Amano, a writer and chef at the now-shuttered Fat Rice in Chicago.

A Chinese American who grew up in Atlanta, Hsu grew up helping his parents at their chain of seven Hunan Village restaurants on the outskirts of the city. His own restaurant is affectionately named for her.

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