Category Archives: Wine

End of Summer Sips

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Guinigi's Rose Prosecco is especially welcome in these still-warm days and nights.
Guinigi’s Prosecco Rosé is especially welcome in these still-warm days and nights.

2023 Guinigi Prosecco Rosé 

Pretty in pink — and make it Italian.

There are few more delightful ways to enjoy the last days of summer than sipping a glass of 2023 Guinigi Prosecc Rosé  ($17).

From Italy’s northeastern province of Treviso, this pale pink-salmon bubbly, of which I received a sample bottle, was made by winemaker Alex Beloz and proprietor August Sebastiani. Yes, you know the name well, as he’s the fourth-generation winemaker of one of California’s oldest and most storied wine families.

The Guinigi label, under the Gehricke winery umbrella, honors his family’s roots in Italy. It pays tribute to the Guinigi tower, a historical landmark in the town of Lucca, Tuscany, from which the Sebastiani family immigrated in 1895.

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A Visit to Thomas Keller’s Burgers & Half Bottles

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Lunch is served at Burgers & Half Bottles.
Lunch is served at Burgers & Half Bottles.

Two and a half weeks after opening, Thomas Keller’s Burgers & Half Bottles continues to draw lines of hungry and curious diners to his playful pop-up.

So much so that last Thursday, when my husband and I showed up at the opening time of noon to queue up behind about two dozen people, there were already plenty of diners eating burgers on the front patio. Turns out that the line that morning was already growing so rapidly, that the restaurant decided to open a little early, the manager told me.

Such is the allure when a legendary Michelin three-starred chef decides to build a concept around one of his favorite foods, the In-N-Out burger. When his Mexican restaurant Calenda closed in December 2024, it provided the perfect space for him to realize it, too.

Located in the building that was formerly home to Calenda.
Located in the building that was formerly home to Calenda.
The brew bus with beer taps.
The brew bus with beer taps.

On a torrid morning when it was already close to 90 degrees, a server passed out cups of ice water to those in line. This is a Keller restaurant, after all.

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Quattro at the Four Seasons Gets A Refreshed Look and A New Italian Menu

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Strawberry Bellini -- nope, not a cocktail, but an appetizer -- at Quattro.
Strawberry Bellini — nope, not a cocktail, but an appetizer — at Quattro.

With its soaring ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows, Quattro at the Four Seasons Silicon Valley in East Palo Alto has always been an elegant establishment, the type with tables spaced far enough apart that you can actually converse easily with dining companions.

After undergoing a recent refresh, its look is even more inviting with all that natural light complemented by an earth-tone decor with plenty of potted palms, caramel leather chairs, and slender brass lights on each marble table. The eye-catching artwork, “Walking on the Street,” that’s been a fixture since the restaurant opened remains there with its four figures that represent each season that appear to pivot as you do.

The bar.
The bar.
The dining room.
The dining room.

Along with a new look comes a new menu from Executive Chef Jacques Swart, who was appointed in January, and has refocused the Italian-Californian food to lean even more into the Italian side.

I had a chance to try the new dishes recently when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant.

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Michelin Three-Starred Benu Celebrates 15 Years

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The unforgettable mussel at Benu.
The unforgettable mussel at Benu.

Just before you’re escorted into the kitchen at Benu in San Francisco, you’ll spot a formidable column decorated with autographs from a who’s who in the culinary world: David Kinch, Michelin three-starred chef of now-shuttered Manresa in Los Gato; Chef Sang Yoon of Father’s Office and Helms Bakery, both in Los Angeles; Fuchsia Dunlop, James Beard Award-winning food writer and Chinese cuisine expert; the late-Charles Phan, founder of the Slanted Door restaurant in Napa and San Ramon; the late-Chuck Williams, founder of Williams Sonoma; and so many more.

Because since its opening in 2010, this fine-dining, tasting-menu restaurant has attracted everyone who’s anyone to its minimalist dining room for its elegant fare that blends East and West with incredible finesse.

It was the first San Francisco restaurant to receive three Michelin stars in 2014. It has maintained them ever since, too.

Opened by Chef Corey Lee, former chef de cuisine of Michelin three-starred The French Laundry in Yountville, Benu is also the first restaurant that Thomas Keller ever invested in that wasn’t his own.

The courtyard entrance.
The courtyard entrance.
A view into the kitchen.
A view into the kitchen.
Crocks of house-made soy sauce.
Crocks of house-made soy sauce.

While I’ve dined several times at Lee’s casual Korean restaurant, San Ho Won in San Francisco, which has a Michelin star, it’s been many years since I’d last been to Benu. And since my cousins, who are huge fans of San Ho Won, had never been to Benu, I figured it was high time we all went together.

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7 Adams Adds A New Seven

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Dungeness crab amuse-bouche kicks off the new 7-course tasting menu at 7 Adams.
Dungeness crab amuse-bouche kicks off the new 7-course tasting menu at 7 Adams.

“Tasting menu bargain” sure seems like a total oxymoron.

Especially these days when quite a few tasting menus bust the pocketbook at upwards of $500 per person.

So, when I come across one that hovers in the $125-plus range, especially one that delivers a filling and fulfilling time at a Michelin-starred establishment no less, I take notice.

San Anselmo’s Michelin-starred Madcap with its eight courses for $140 or 11 courses for $165 has long fit that bill for me. Of course my all-time bargain bliss is the four-course $52 menu at San Francisco’s Trestle, but that is more of a prix fixe with choices for each course rather than a bona fide tasting menu.

Just look for the "7.''
Just look for the “7.”

Happily, another modest-priced tasting menu, relatively speaking, has popped up on the scene now, this one at Michelin-starred 7 Adams in San Francisco.

Call it “7 at 7,” as it features 7 courses for $127. An optional wine pairing is $77 per person.

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