Category Archives: General

The Personalized Touch at Ju-Ni

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The hand-roll filled with every fish you've had earlier that night at Ju-Ni.
The hand-roll filled with every fish you’ve had earlier that night at Ju-Ni.

The name of San Francisco’s Ju-Ni restaurant means “12” in Japanese. But nowadays, it might as well be called Ju-Roku or “16.”

When Executive Chef Geoffrey Lee and business partner Tan Truong opened it in 2016, Ju-Ni indeed featured three sushi chefs for 12 guests (or one chef per four guests). But with its popularity, the omakase restaurant, which held a Michelin star for four years, decided to add one more sushi chef to now accommodate a total of 16 guests.

If you dine in a foursome as I did recently, it’s ideal because it means you get your own sushi chef for the entirety of the meal, whom you can converse with easily.

At Ju-Ni, one sushi chef serves every four diners.
At Ju-Ni, one sushi chef serves every four diners.

The 14-course omakase is $198 per person, and it must be prepaid when you make your reservation online. When you arrive at the restaurant, you can add beverages and any additional items on offer.

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Holiday Goodies For You (Or Others), Part II

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The Perfect Pair gift pack from Ancient Olive Trees.
The Perfect Pair gift pack from Ancient Olive Trees.

Ancient Olive Trees Perfect Pair

Marin County’s Ancient Olive Trees company knows a thing or two about olive trees.

After all, it’s been tree farming full-time since 2007. Its lush olive trees have been planted on the grounds of the Frank Gehry-designed Tin House in Los Angeles, The Broad Museum in Los Angeles, and many wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties.

So, it only makes sense that in 2015, it started crafting its own extra virgin olive oil, as well as balsamic vinegar.

Any cook or enthusiastic eater is sure to appreciate its Perfect Pair ($69) snazzy gift set that features a 375ml bottle of each.

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Holiday Goodies For You (Or Others), Part I

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A peek inside the Ofner Le Cordon Bleu creme brulee panettone.
A peek inside the Ofner Le Cordon Bleu creme brulee panettone.

Ofner Le Cordon Bleu Creme Brulee Panettone

It’s guaranteed to be a sweet holiday with Ofner Le Cordon Bleu Creme Brulee Panettone.

It’s one of the new flavors this season by the Brazilian company, which also manufactures in the United States, that’s been turning out specialty sweets for 70 years.

I had a chance to try the new creme brulee version of the classic holiday Italian bread. Made with a naturally fermented dough, it’s moist, tender, and a little bready in texture.

There are gobs of cashew nut praline and creme brulee within it, and it’s topped with a coating of white chocolate, cashew nut praline, and bruleed sugar. It is quite sweet, so you do have to like your panettone on the sugary side.

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Warm Up At Flaming Ox

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Braised pork belly with rice at Flaming Ox.
Braised pork belly with rice at Flaming Ox.

In these challenging economic times when people fume at the price of a fast-food burger meal, they ought to consider that for not much more, they can sit down to a far more flavorful, nutritious, and soulfully satisfying dish at a place like Flaming Ox in San Jose.

For about $16 to $18, you can enjoy a Taiwanese specialty rice or noodle bowl in a sizeable portion that’s sure to warm you through and through, which is what I found when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant recently.

On the wall at the restaurant.
On the wall at the restaurant.

The casual cafe opened 10 months ago in the same strip mall as City Sports Club on East Brokaw Road. It is the brainchild of Eric Chung, a chef of Taiwanese heritage, who was a former lead chef cooking Asian food at Apple in Cupertino before launching his food trucks.

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Irresistible Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

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Plenty of chocolate, hazelnuts, and Nutella make these cookies unforgettable.
Plenty of chocolate, hazelnuts, and Nutella make these cookies unforgettable.

Get ready for a cookie that will flat-out seduce you.

Think chocolate chip cookie — but one made extra special with hazelnut flour in the dough, oodles of chopped chocolate, and streaks of creamy Nutella.

If you aren’t smacking your lips yet, you absolutely will when a tray comes out of your oven.

“Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies” is a recipe from the new cookbook, “Zoe Bakes Cookies” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Zoe Francois, the Minneapolis pastry chef, creator of the Zoe Bakes website, and star of her own series, “Zoe Bakes,” on the Magnolia Network.

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