Category Archives: Dining Outside

Dining Outside at Edge Restaurant

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A stunning halibut crudo with aguachile at Edge in Sonoma.
A stunning halibut crudo with aguachile at Edge in Sonoma.

Sometimes the best things hide in plain sight.

And if you’re very lucky, you stumble upon them before the rest of the world finds out.

Such is the case with Edge Restaurant in downtown Sonoma.

Steps from Sonoma Plaza square, this fine-dining restaurant operates inside a renovated Victorian home that you might easily pass by if you weren’t paying attention.

Fortunately, its management team reached out to invite me in as a guest of this sensational restaurant that’s operated by Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma.

The restaurant is owned by Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards and Winery, just a few miles away.
The restaurant is owned by Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards and Winery, just a few miles away.
The front of the restaurant.
The front of the restaurant.

The winery is owned by Leslie McQuown and her husband Mac McQuown, a serial entrepreneur who also co-founded the Chalone Wine Group and Carmenet Winery.

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Where I’ve Been Getting Takeout of Late: Tacos Buenrostro

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The birria taco from Tacos Buenrostro.
The birria taco from Tacos Buenrostro.

Ever since watching the Netflix series, “Taco Chronicles,” I’ve been a little obsessed with birria tacos.

The Jalisco specialty is typically lamb or goat stewed slowly until tender, then folded into a tortilla that you dunk into an accompanying bowl of the resulting broth.

Yes, think of it as the taco version of a French dip sandwich.

I have friends Nate and Annie to thank for turning me on to Tacos Buenrostro, a taco truck regularly parked at a gas station at 3295 Sierra Road in San Jose. After seeing the Facebook photos of the two of them happily devouring the tacos, I knew I had to pay a visit, too.

While the truck has an extensive menu, we honed in on the beef birria — and only the birria.

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A Visit to Wild Onion in Palo Alto

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Fried chicken at Wild Onion in the Hotel Citrine in Palo Alto.
Fried chicken at Wild Onion in the Hotel Citrine in Palo Alto.

In Silicon Valley, corporate tech campuses proliferate.

But now, there’s also an unusual hotel version of that.

Last year, Palo Alto welcomed the Hotel Citrine and the AC Hotel, both T2 Hospitality properties under the Marriott umbrella, and both located on the same San Antonio Road property.

In fact, the side-by-side hotels share a common driveway and valet parking service.

A communal bar table at Wild Onion.
A communal bar table at Wild Onion.

Though it may seem like a head-scratcher at first, it was designed to offer two different experiences on the same footprint. The AC Hotel is done up in a moody, sophisticated neutral palette, while the Hotel Citrine is all bold colors with a carefree California vibe.

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Dining Outside at Howie’s Artisan Pizza

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House-made pastas like this fettuccine bolgonese star at Howie's Artisan Pizza.
House-made pastas like this fettuccine bolgonese star at Howie’s Artisan Pizza.

One of Town & Country Village’s most enduring restaurants is Howie’s Artisan Pizza. But now this popular 13-year-old Palo Alto pizzeria has added handmade pastas to its lineup, too.

Chef-Owner Howard Bulka had plans pre-pandemic to expand the compact kitchen ever so much to accommodate a pasta-making station. Of course, those plans got pushed back with the advent of Covid. But now, his plans have come to fruition.

Not only can you enjoy the new pastas served in the dining room, but also on the pergola-covered outdoor dining area just in front of the restaurant. What’s more, you can even buy fresh pasta ($9), sauces ($9.50 per pint), and even frozen baked ziti ($22), manicotti ($13.95), and lasagna bolognese ($23) to take home.

A meatball, mushroom and broccoli pizza.
A meatball, mushroom and broccoli pizza.

My husband and I chose to enjoy our meal outside on a breezy evening, starting with the chopped salad ($15.25), a crunchy mix of romaine tossed with cubes of salami, Swiss cheese, cucumber, chopped egg, and green onion. With the ranch dressing on the side, you can add as little or as much as you want, controlling just how super-leaded you want your chopped salad to be.

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Dining Outside at Pomet

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Smoked Half Moon Bay black cod at Pomet.
Smoked Half Moon Bay black cod at Pomet.

Second-generation farmer Aomboon Deasy admits she never harbored fantasies about owning a restaurant.

After all, being a part of a family-run farm, K&J Orchards in Winters and Yuba City, was work enough. But when the owners of Homestead restaurant in Oakland — longtime buyers of the farm’s produce — approached her about taking over the space, she thought it over for a few weeks, then decided to dive in whole-heartedly.

“It was another challenge, another chapter,” she told me.

And one she obviously couldn’t resist.

The result is Pomet on Piedmont Avenue, which I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant to try last weekend. The cozy establishment takes its name from the Romanian word for “orchard,” a fitting choice for the farm, founded by her parents, whose pristine fruit can be found at farmers markets around the Bay Area, as well as incorporated into dishes at some of the region’s most respected restaurants.

Chef Alan Hsu and Proprietor Aomboon Deasy.
Chef Alan Hsu and Proprietor Aomboon Deasy.

Pomet represents farm-to-table cooking — beyond.

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