Category Archives: Dining Outside

Dining At Street Social

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Fabulous fried soft shell crab with XO sauce at Street Social.
Fabulous fried soft shell crab with XO sauce at Street Social.

Petaluma’s Street Social is one idiosyncratic restaurant.

Unlike almost any other restaurant you can name, it’s not regularly open for dinner on Saturday nights. Instead, it operates from Tuesday through Friday, and is occasionally open on a rare Saturday evening. Go figure.

The dining room is teeny-tiny, probably smaller than some folks’ walk-in-closets, with space for all of six tables inside.

The restaurant has no street presence, but is tucked inside — way inside — the historic, century-old Lan Mart Building. In fact, its “outdoor” dining area comprises a couple compact tables in the brick walkway inside the building, near a warren of small boutiques.

In short, Street Social is a place you could easily pass right by without knowing it even existed.

But know about it you should.

The diminutive dining room.
The diminutive dining room.
The restaurant has only six tables inside, and one is up on the mezzanine.
The restaurant has only six tables inside, and one is up on the mezzanine.

That’s because it comes armed with has serious cred. Husband-and-wife, Chef Jevon Martin and mixologist Marjorie Pier met while working at Chef Jeremy Fox’s Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica. That was followed by stints in Los Angeles at Ford’s Filling Station by Chef Ben Ford (Harrison’s son), and Lucques by Chef Suzanne Goin, before the couple relocated to Sonoma County, where Martin was executive sous chef at Ari Weisswasser’s Glen Ellen Star.

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Dining at the New Sushi Roku

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A5 Japanese Wagyu on a hot stone comes sizzling to your table at Sushi Roku.
A5 Japanese Wagyu on a hot stone comes sizzling to your table at Sushi Roku.

Sushi Roku, the contemporary upscale sushi restaurant that’s been a sensation in Southern California since its founding in 1997, finally opened its first Northern California outpost late last month in Palo Alto’s Stanford Shopping Center.

Not far from California Pizza Kitchen on the Sand Hill Road side of the mall, the new restaurant comes complete with a nicely appointed outdoor dining patio. Sushi Roku is part of the Innovative Dining Group, which now boasts five different restaurant concepts in 13 locales.

By all indications, even in a well-heeled city such as Palo Alto, which has no shortage of premium sushi places including Nobu downtown, Peninsula patrons are eager to get in the door.

Two weeks ago, when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant even before its official grand opening, people were walking up to the host stand, clamoring to snag a seat at the sushi bar, despite it being full and the wait lengthy.

Outdoor seating at Sushi Roku at the Stanford Shopping Center.
Outdoor seating at Sushi Roku at the Stanford Shopping Center.
The sushi bar.
The sushi bar.

Despite the name, Sushi Roku offers up a whole lot more than just sushi, too. And everything is easily shareable.

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Dining At Redwood City’s New Swank Hurrica

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Whole-roasted dorade at the new Hurrica that's large enough for at least three to share.
Whole-roasted dorade at the new Hurrica that’s large enough for at least three to share.

A new restaurant has put down anchor at Redwood City’s Westpoint Harbor Marina — and done so with a big splash.

Hurrica is the newest restaurant by MeeSun Boice and Chef Parke Ulrich, co-founders of Treasure Island’s Mersea restaurant. Ulrich is also the executive chef-partner at Waterbar and Epic Steakhouse, both in San Francisco.

Admittedly, I’d never even been to this side of Redwood City until I joined friends a few weeks ago to dine at this new venture that opened in January. Finding the entrance can be a little confusing, as we witnessed a few people trying to enter through side patio doors. After parking, walk around to the back of the building that faces the marina with boats moored in the harbor. Look for the glass doors with the seahorse handles to find the front entrance.

The entrance to the restaurant is waterside.
The entrance to the restaurant is waterside.
The bar.
The bar.

The restaurant is named for the Hurrica V, a 100-year-old yacht that was famously featured in the flick, “The Great Gatsby” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

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Mendocino Coast, Part I: Brewery Gulch Inn & Spa

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The wine hour at Brewery Gulch includes not only wine but the makings for a complete meal.
The wine hour at Brewery Gulch includes not only wine but the makings for a complete meal.

Mendocino Coast, CA — Many hotels have complimentary wine hours. But few — if any — have one on the scale of that at Brewery Gulch Inn & Spa.

Along with four local wines to sip, there is plenty of food to enjoy, too. Forget bento boxes; these are proudly nicknamed “Mendo boxes.”

They hold what’s described as “appetizers” but is in actuality enough to quality as a moderate-sized supper. That means, there’s no need to get in your car to find dinner afterward, if all you want to do is chill on the premises. At least that’s what I found when I was invited to stay as a guest recently.

The great room.
The great room.

Local woodworker John Meyers crafted heavy-weight covered trays made of the same eco-salvaged redwood used in the construction of the 10-room inn, a rustic, tranquil retreat that borders 48,000 acres of meadows and redwoods of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest.

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Dining At Table Culture Provisions

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"From the Turf'' at Table Culture Provisions
“From the Turf” at Table Culture Provisions.

Feel how you may about Elon Musk, but there’s no denying that Tesla stock has proved a boon for many.

That was certainly true for chefs Stéphane Saint Louis and Steven Vargas. During the height of Covid, the two made the daring decision to invest their Small Business Loans pandemic stimulus checks in Tesla stock, which turned out to be a brilliant move. It took all of five months for their $2,400 investment to balloon into a $17,000 windfall.

That provided the seed money not only to kick-start a successful fried chicken pop-up during the pandemic, but allowed them to generate enough funds to open their first restaurant, Table Culture Provisions in Petaluma in November 2020.

The restaurant, which has garnered glowing reviews, sports a teeny dining room and an equally tiny outdoor dining patio.

So, it comes as no surprise that Table Culture Provisions would soon find itself needing more space. As such, it will be moving to a much larger location around the corner later this summer that will feature prix fixe and a la carte menus. Its current location will remain open, as a laboratory of sorts for more forward-pushing tasting menus.

That’s what I gleaned when I dined recently at the spare and elegant little space done up with denim-colored walls.

A view of the chefs from the dining room.
A view of the chefs from the dining room.

The chefs in the kitchen are visible behind a row of windows that look onto the dining room. Given the space limitations, it’s rather remarkable the elegant, elevated food that comes out to the table.

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