Category Archives: Meat

Nutty Braised Beef Short Ribs

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Short ribs get gilded with plenty of orange peel, sticky dates, and crunchy pistachios
Short ribs get gilded with plenty of orange peel, sticky dates, and crunchy pistachios

Yes, these succulent, fall-off-the-bone short ribs sure are nutty — thanks to a final flourish of rich and crunchy pistachios.

“Braised Beef Short Ribs with Orange Peel, Dates, and Pistachios” is from “Pistachios Sweet and Savory Recipes Inspired by World Cuisines” (Cameron & Company, 2023), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by veteran cookbook authors Barbara Bryant of St. Louis and Palm Beach; and James Beard Award-winning writer Georgeanne Brennan of Winters, CA, who is also a co-founder of the wonderful aperitif company, L’Apero les Trois.

Pistachios may be native to to Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria, but their appeal now reaches far and wide. The United States is the leading producer of pistachios, with California having bragging rights in producing 99 percent of them.

They are good for you, too. A handful of pistachios (about 50 kernels) has as much protein as an egg and more fiber than an orange, according to the book. Pistachios also have high levels of unsaturated fatty acids and potassium.

And don’t toss those pistachios shells. Mix them with wood chips, bark or leaves to make a handy mulch that will slowly break down over time to release nutrients into the soil. Just be sure to use unsalted shells; or rinse salted shells and allow them to dry beforehand.

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Dining At the Newly Revamped Izzy’s On the Peninsula

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The whole trout with Meyer lemon butter sauce at Izzy's on the Peninsula.
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 restaurant’s namesake Izzy Gomez.
The entrance.
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.

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Dining At Michelin-Starred San Ho Won

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Summer squash bibimbap at San Ho Won.
Summer squash bibimbap at San Ho Won.

It garnered a Michelin star only a year after opening its doors in 2021. That same year, it was also named one of the “Best New Restaurants in America” by the Robb Report; one of the “50 Favorite Restaurants” by the New York Times; a “Best New Restaurants in America” by Esquire; and highlighted in Eater’s “Best New Restaurants.”

When it comes to the Korean charcoal barbecue restaurant, San Ho Won in San Francisco, the hype is not only real, but richly deserved, as I found out when I dined last month.

Then again, one would hardly expect anything less from Chef-Owner Corey Lee, who also operates Monsieur Benjamin and whose flagship San Francisco restaurant, Benu, has glittered with three Michelin stars for years. San How Won is a collaboration between him and Chef Jeong-In Hwang, who moved from Korea to San Francisco in 2016 to first work at Benu.

Sure, you’ve probably had your fill of Korean barbecue over the years. But none like this, with an unmistakable clarity and purity of flavor. Nothing tastes muddled, nothing gets lost. Instead, every bite is exuberant.

Indeed, pretty much everything is made in-house, down to the binchotan that fuels the fiery grills. Take a seat at the bar encircling the kitchen for a view of the action. Or if you gather with a group and plan ahead to book the private room, you’ll really get a show when one of the cooks expertly sears your meat on a separate grill in the corner.

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Wellington Wednesdays At Porterhouse

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Craving beef Wellington? Head to Porterhouse on Wednesdays.
Craving beef Wellington? Head to Porterhouse on Wednesdays.

My appetite for red meat comes nowhere close to that of my husband, aka Meat Boy.

But admittedly, I have a weak spot for beef Wellington.

Maybe it’s the retro vibe, the stately tradition, or celebratory nature that ropes me in.

So, I couldn’t pass up a chance of partaking recently when I was invited in as a guest of downtown San Mateo’s Porterhouse, where fittingly, Wellington Wednesdays are de rigueur each week.

Dry-aged beef is a specialty here, as you can tell from the moment you walk through the doors and spy the dry-aging refrigerators loaded with hefty cuts of mid-West beef.

The restaurant does all its own dry-aging of beef.
The restaurant does all its own dry-aging of beef.

Hamdi “Bruno” Ugur has owned this classic, old-school steakhouse since 1987, and you’ll see him greeting guests at tables nightly. Hospitality runs in the family, as his son, Steve Ugur, is not only the director of butchering at Porterhouse, but co-owns Pausa in San Mateo, and the just-opened Sekoya Lounge & Kitchen in Palo Alto.

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Taking a Stab at Stickbar at Gozu

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Canapes of Wagyu tartare topped with Wagyu "caviar'' at Gozu.
Canapes of Wagyu tartare topped with Wagyu “caviar” at Gozu.

Nowadays, there are many restaurants where you can enjoy a Wagyu steak. But at Gozu in San Francisco, you can sink your teeth into smoky skewers that spotlight both familiar and unusual specific cuts of the prized Japanese beef.

When Chef-Owner Marc Zimmerman opened his hearth-centered restaurant in 2019, it was thought to be the only restaurant in the United States to directly import from Japan full cuts of top-grade A5 Wagyu. That amounts to a whopping 750 pounds in one shot.

That gives him the ability to use nearly every part of the outrageously marbled beef, often in audacious ways, including burning the bones as charcoal and fermenting lean cuts to make shoyu.

Japanese A5 Wagyu being aged at Gozu.
Japanese A5 Wagyu being aged at Gozu.

You can experience it for yourself with a $125 four-course menu or a $225 tasting menu. Or opt for the a la carte Stickbar menu that allows you to try individual skewers, priced from $14 to $55, depending on the cut.

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