You have to taste these TCHO chocolates to believe them.
Imagine chocolates that taste exactly like Doritos dipped in queso.
Is your mind reeling yet?
Mine certainly was when I popped a sample of the new limited-edition TCHO Natchos into my mouth.
Yes, just in time for the Super Bowl, the zany minds at Berkeley’s bean-to-bar maker have outdone themselves with this latest creation.
Chief Chocolate Maker Brad Kintzer is a Philadelphia Eagles fan (don’t hold that against him), who started playing around with crafting a nacho-flavored chocolate bar in 2018 when his beloved team competed in (and won) the Super Bowl.
Pazazz apples go savory in this delightful wintry side dish.
When I say, “apple,” you say…”pie”?
Chances are you automatically do.
Any way you slice it, there’s nothing wrong with sweet apple pie, especially fresh-baked and still warm. But let’s not forget that apples are also sensational starring in savory fare.
Case in point: “Cider Braised Apples with Coconut ‘Bacon,’ and Garlic,” a fabulous accompaniment to roast chicken, Cornish game hens, turkey, pork loin, sausages, duck or even grilled firm tofu planks.
February is the perfect time to tuck into it, too, since it’s National Cancer Prevention Month. I’m proud to partner with the American Institute for Cancer Research and Pazazz Apples to help spread the word about how apples are high in fiber and antioxidants that can help reduce the risks of some cancers. To learn more about how nutritious apples are and to assess how your own lifestyle choices affect your risk of cancer, go to the informative health check here.
What’s more, those antioxidants also fuel neurotransmitters in the brain that trigger the release of dopamine that boosts mood. That makes apples a veritable “happy” fruit.
Yours truly shopping for Pazazz apples at Safeway.
And who wouldn’t want more bliss in their lives, right? All it takes is heading to Albertsons, Safeway, or Vons like I did to pick up some Pazazz apples (about $2.99 per pound), now at peak flavor through June.
A riff on takoyaki, capped with uni and truffles, at Nightbird.
It’s elegant yet whimsical, with a name inspired by the chef-owner’s fondness for owls.
Kim Alter’s Nightbird celebrates eight years this year in San Francisco with an exciting development. Alter took over a space next door in late November, allowing the restaurant to expand its footprint. The new space will be used for private dinners, as well as occasional pop-ups by Nightbird’s pastry chef, vintage boutiques, and potentially even members of La Cocina’s food incubator.
It joins the restaurant’s other adjoining business, the Linden Room, a swank cocktail bar perfect for a pre- or post-dinner libation.
Last Saturday, my husband and I enjoyed the $195 tasting menu and $130 optional wine pairing. Alter added a few extra morsels on the house. The restaurant does include an automatic service charge, which is an increasingly common practice at many fine-dining restaurants. What’s out of the norm, though, is that it’s only 16 percent.
General Manager Ron Boyd and Chef Kim Alter.
The minimalist, graceful dining room is compact and intimate. There’s a good number of staff, overseen by General Manager and Director of Hospitality Ron Boyd, that delivers an attentive yet unobtrusive service experience.
The whole trout with Meyer lemon butter sauce at Izzy’s on the Peninsula.
After a 7-month renovation, the venerable, 20-year-old Izzy’s on the Peninsula has reopened this month with an clubby, sophisticated look befitting a beloved steakhouse, plus a more expansive menu to satisfy wide-ranging appetites, and a new outdoor dining patio (set to open sometime in February).
When I was invited to dine as a guest of the restaurant last week, it had been open less than two weeks, and was already packed with diners — on a Tuesday night no less.
The family-owned, 7,500-square-foot restaurant, not far from the San Carlos Airport, is an institution that was opened by restaurateur Sam Duvall after he opened the original Izzy’s Steakhouse in San Francisco in 1987. That flagship is also undergoing renovations, including the addition of a new parklet, and is expected to reopen this summer.
The restaurant’s namesake Izzy Gomez.The entrance.
Daughter Samantha Duvall Bechtel became the CEO of the restaurant group after her father passed away in 2020. He had named the restaurant for the bootlegger Isadore “Izzy” Gomez, a Portuguese immigrant, chef, and San Francisco North Beach restaurateur who infamously was jailed for 30 days after violating Prohibition, but was later pardoned.
Impeccable seared octopus at Che Fico Parco Menlo.
For those of us who live on the Peninsula and South Bay, we couldn’t be happier that it’s been a boom time of late for new restaurants opening in this region, including outposts by celebrated San Francisco chefs.
Among the latest is Chef David Nayfeld of San Francisco’s wildly popular Che Fico who opened a sister-restaurant, Che Fico Parco Menlo, in November in Menlo Park.
It debuted at Springline, the splashy new residential-restaurant mixed-use development off El Camino Real.
Last Thursday night, when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant, the place was buzzing. Nearly every table was filled in the well-appointed, covered and heated outdoor patio that sports tufted banquettes and cozy pillows.
Gingham napkins.
Same with the main dining room, where it was standing-room-only at the bar as patrons waited for tables to open up. A retro soundtrack of Earth, Wind & Fire, Al Green, and the Clash played in the background.
