Category Archives: Restaurants

Oregon Travels, Part II: The Painted Lady Restaurant

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Pan-roasted ling cod at The Painted Lady Restaurant.
Pan-roasted ling cod at The Painted Lady Restaurant.

Newberg, OR — The stately Queen Anne-style Victorian on South College St. at East Second Street has endured a long while.

But it took husband and wife, Chef Allen Routt and General Manager Jessica Bagley-Routt to inject new life and spirit into this house that was built in 1895.

Last week, the couple celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Painted Lady Restaurant, the charming, fine-dining establishment they opened here after renovating this 130-year-old gem in Oregon Wine Country.

These days with so many increasing challenges, it gets harder and harder to maintain a business. That the Routts have managed to do so at such a high level is a true testament to their dedication to quality and standards.

Routt, who began cooking at age 16, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, and interned with Chef Bradley Ogden at San Francisco’s One Market. That led to cooking stints at such iconic establishments as the Inn at Chef Patrick O’Connell’s The Inn at Little Washington, Chef Jean-Louis Palladin’s Pesce, and Chef Mark Militello’s Mark’s South Beach (where he would meet his future wife), then becoming executive chef at Brannan’s Grill in Calistoga.

The Victorian turned fine-dining restaurant.
The Victorian turned fine-dining restaurant.

His wife, who was raised in Southern Oregon, graduated with top honors from the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, where she interned at acclaimed Higgins restaurant, before helping open Mark’s South Beach. She eventually took a job at Chef Hiro Sone’s Terra restaurant in St. Helena before becoming a sous chef at Brix restaurant in Napa.

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Late-Night Fried Chicken at Michelin-Starred Ssal

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Behold the glorious, late-night fried chicken at Ssal.
Behold the glorious, late-night fried chicken at Ssal.

There are times when fried chicken means a napkin tucked into your collar and Wet Ones at the ready as you dig your hand into a cardboard bucket of the stuff.

But there are other times when fried chicken is savored in a chic minimalist dining room with mood lighting, a glass of French Champagne, and a tin of osetra caviar with a mother-of-pearl spoon to complete the picture.

If an elevated fried chicken dinner, one with Korean flourishes, is what you crave, Michelin-starred Ssal in San Francisco has now got you covered.

Chef-Owner Junsoo Bae.
Chef-Owner Junsoo Bae.

Your appetite just has to hold out until after its usual tasting menu service concludes and its yasik or Korean late-night eating culture menu takes over afterwards on weeknights. Although in South Korea that usually means midnight, you won’t have to wait quite that long here, but just until about 9 p.m. or 9:30 p.m.

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Augustine Adds A Touch of Glitz to Santana Row

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The Augustine Burger.
The Augustine Burger.

One of the first restaurants to open in San Jose’s Santana Row in 2003, Pizza Antica is still drawing crowds and going strong.

On the heels of that impressive streak, it’s now been joined by its new sister restaurant Augustine with adjacent Augustine Bakery/Cafe, both of which opened in March.

All are owned by the Bacchus Management Group, which has a host of restaurants in the Bay Area, including Michelin-starred Selby’s in Redwood City and the Village Pub in Woodside.

The expansive, former Sino restaurant spot has been completely made over in tones of deep cobalt with custom light fixtures as luminous as contemporary jewelry, and a glittering marble u-shaped bar that commands attention steps from the entrance. A covered patio offers ample outdoor dining, too. The look is elegant and well-heeled.

The eye-catching bar.
The eye-catching bar.

And is the place ever attracting a crowd.

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The Transportive Experience of Nagai Edomae Sushi

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The signature kohada nigiri at Nagai Edomae Sushi.
The signature kohada nigiri at Nagai Edomae Sushi.

As you approach Nagai Edomae Sushi on Broadway Street in Redwood City, the front door and windows are obscured by shoji screens, offering no glimpse inside.

Although the street teems with other restaurants, you can’t just walk in like any other establishment. Indeed, a small sign by the door indicates: “Private omakase by reservation only.”

Opened last fall, this restaurant with all of 10 seats around a Japanese cypress counter provides a very intimate experience that somehow transports you away from the congestion outside its front door to a state of quietude.

Behind the counter stands Chef-Owner Tomonori Nagai, who grew up in a family of fishermen in the small coastal town of Iwaki, before finding his calling as a sushi chef, in which he worked at Morimoto in Honolulu and Michelin-starred Shinji by Kanesaka in Singapore.

Chef Tomonori Nagai in his element.
Chef Tomonori Nagai in his element.

In 2019, he opened Sushi Nagai on Union Square in San Francisco, which unfortunately ended up closing during the pandemic. That was where I first experienced his food. After being invited two weeks ago as a guest of Nagai Edomae Sushi, I think I prefer his new location more, just because its smaller size makes for an experience that feels more personal and special.

Chef Nagai opened his restaurant with business partner Sunny Noah, who also owns the omakase restaurants, Tancho in Castro Valley, Iki in Palo Alto, and the soon-to-open Ren in Menlo Park.

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Stephanie Izard Debuts Valley Goat

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A mound of "disco fries'' at the new Valley Goat.
A mound of “disco fries” at the new Valley Goat.

It’s always an occasion when a “Top Chef” champion opens a new restaurant. Even more so when it’s Stephanie Izard, arguably one of the most successful winners to emerge from the Bravo TV show’s 22 seasons (and the first woman to win). And especially when she chooses to do so in Silicon Valley.

At the end of March, the James Beard Award-winning chef opened Valley Goat at the new Treehouse Hotel Silicon Valley in Sunnyvale.

After opening her original Girl & The Goat in Chicago in 2010, Izard was named Food & Wine “Best Chef” in 2011. When she opened Girl & The Goat in Los Angeles in 2021, she gave up the Windy City for Tinsel Town, moving there with her family. Valley Goat is her first Northern California restaurant, and what she told me is the first of several planned restaurants she will open with Treehouse Hotels.

Chef Stephanie Izard, who has spent the past six weeks in Sunnyvale, to oversee her Valley Goat restaurant.
Chef Stephanie Izard, who has spent the past six weeks in Sunnyvale, to oversee her Valley Goat restaurant.

Quirky and playful, the hotel is like a glamping playground gone wild for Gen Z. There’s a beer garden with picnic tables set with Jenga towers, rubber duckie floats in the pool, and a fence cleverly painted with tree trunks to blend in and create the look of a lush forest with real trees.

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