The simplest of root veggie dishes to reset the palate for a new year.
After indulgent holiday prime rib, potatoes au gratin, and countless buttery pies, rich puddings, and lofty cakes, time to start the new year off on a lighter note, don’t you think?
If so, then “Fried and Braised Lotus Root and Carrot” fits the bill.
It is the simplest of Japanese side dishes with a whole lot of crunch and sweet caramelization.
The books is by Emiko Davies, an Australian-Japanese food writer and photographer who now lives in Italy. This is her sixth cookbook, and the first one centered on Japanese cuisine.
This was the year I returned to mostly indoor dining. That in itself was a triumph after doing nothing but takeout through fraught 2020 and opting for outdoor dining primarily in skittish 2021 and 2022. How wonderful to lean ever closer to “normalcy” again.
This is my annual list of the most memorable bites or dishes I enjoyed in 2023. It pained me to leave off a few places that have since closed (San Francisco’s Afici that will forever spoil me for its clever use of Chinese scallion pancakes instead of the usual blini for caviar service) or tragically were destroyed in the devastating Maui wildfires (Pacifico On the Beach for its imaginative mahi mahi Wellington, and Papa’aina’s dazzling and so intentional tropical fruit plate).
It’s an important reminder to really savor and appreciate the restaurants, bakeries, and other establishments that enrich our lives so much. Without further adieu, here is my Top 10, in no particular order:
Hen of the woods mushrooms cover this satisfying pizza at La Connessa.
To say that the Bay Area’s Bacchus Management Group has been on a tear lately would be an understatement. In addition to opening three new establishments in San Francisco this year alone, plans call for for another new restaurant to debut at San Jose’s Santana Row in 2024 and one to open at the historic post office building in Burlingame in 2025.
That’s in addition to its already sizeable stable of Spruce in San Francisco, Michelin-starred the Village Pub in Woodside, Michelin-starred Selby’s in Redwood City, the Village Bakery in Woodside, and Pizza Antica locations in Santana Row and Lafayette.
Last week, I had a chance to check out its new Italian restaurant, La Connessa, when I was invited in as a guest. It’s on the street level of a new building on Potrero Hill. Just steps away are Bacchus’ two other new eateries: the burger place, Louie’s Original; and the sourdough donut shop, Magic Donuts & Coffee (more on that in a moment).
The focal-point bar.Neon decoration on the wall.
Dimly lighted with sleek, wedding band-like chandeliers and a soaring, illuminated bar, it has that sophisticated, moody aura, and boy, was it bustling on a Saturday night. There’s even a view into the kitchen behind big glass windows.
What more festive way to celebrate the holidays and usher in the new year than with a great cocktail.
A vibrant green one at that with a deeply peppery taste.
“Arugula Gimlet” is a recipe in the new book, “Every Cocktail Has A Twist” (Countryman Press), of which I received a review copy.
It’s by the Sonoma-based couple, Carey Jones, a food and spirits writer who was the managing editor of Serious Eats, and John McCarthy, a mixologist and sports writer.
What makes this book especially fun is that it includes recipes for 25 classic drinks, but then goes further to provide 200 variations on them.
Chef de Cuisine Willer Larreal Perez presides over the 10-seat Sushi by Scratch inside The Matheson.
Hidden behind a door in what was once a private dining room at The Matheson in downtown Healdsburg sits a restaurant within a restaurant.
It is all of 10 seats, situated around a u-shaped sushi bar, behind which three chefs slice, form, dollop, and blow-torch seafood into precious morsels of nigiri.
We’ve all had sushi that’s been decimated by cream cheese, mayonnaise, and gloppy sweet sauces. Sushi by Scratch is not that, even if the pristine fish does get finished with what at first may seem unlikely adornments. Instead, the effect here is far more finessed.
Opened in December, this is the first location of the reservation-only, omakase restaurant that started in Los Angeles in 2017 and has quickly spread to include outposts around the country, as well as in Montreal. Chef Philip Frankland Lee, who competed on “Top Chef” and his wife, Pastry Chef Margarita Kallas-Lee, founded the restaurant. A favorite of a bevy of celebrities, it held a Michelin star in 2021 and 2022.
I had a chance to try the experience last week, when I was invited in as a guest of Sushi by Scratch.
Bluefin tartare cannoli — that you’ll only receive if you show up 30 minutes before your reservation.
Dinner is 17 courses of nigiri at $185 per person. A word to the wise when booking: You will note that the reservation invites you to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled reservation for a complimentary welcome cocktail. You might be tempted to blow this off if you’re not interested in a cocktail or don’t want to be bothered with arriving early. This would be a major mistake.
