4505 Meats is run by chef and artisan butcher Ryan Farr. Ryan formerly was executive chef at Fifth Floor. He teaches butcher classes and serves up food at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. We saw them at the Eat Real festival in Oakland. They create homemade relishes, multi-national ’Zilla sauce, and even bacon-dressed chocolate desserts.

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Chairman Bao is a San Francisco food truck that serves Chinese steamed and baked buns with a variety of fillings. Their truck can be found all over the San Francisco area (SF, Emeryville, Brisbane) with locations broadcast over Twitter. We tried their buns at Oakland’s Eat Real Festival. Chairman Bao is backed by corporate food truck company Mobi Munch. Incidentally, The Chairman is the name of a well respected Hong Kong restaurant.

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Gialina Pizzeria is a small pizzeria named after the chef-owner’s grandmother. It is opened in January 2007 and is located in San Francisco’s Glen Park neighborhood right near BART. Chef Sharon Ardiana has help positions at well respected places including Lime, Dine, Garibaldis, Slow Club, and Boulevard. Her next restaurant, Ragazza in the Metro Kathmandu space on Divisadero, will be opening soon.

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Tony’s Coal-Fired Pizza and Slice House is a new San Francisco North Beach takeout place from Tony Gemignani, 9 time Champion Pizza Tosser, certified pizziaolo. He also runs Tony’s Pizza Napoletana next door. This location serves a wide range of food; New York-style pizza, Roman-style pizza, Chicago-style Italian Beef Sandwiches, and New York deli sandwiches. Read the rest of this entry »

benu is the long awaited new restaurant in SF from French Laundry Alum and James Beard Award-winning chef Corey Lee. His old boss Thomas Keller is a partner in this new venture and has a wine locker by the front door. benu is housed where Hawthorne Lane used to be. We dined early on, during their 3rd week of operation. benu is a small product driven restaurant focused on contemporary American cuisine. benu is an Egyptian word and that stands for the phoenix, a symbol of something constantly renewing.

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Yan Toh Heen – 欣圖軒 is located on the water at the InterContinental Hong Kong. The name means ‘breathtaking view elegant dining establishment’. They received One Michelin Star in the 2010 Michelin Guide.

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Fu1039 is a classic Shanghai restaurant that is mentioned in many tour books, making us cautious. It is located in the Hongqiao area of Shanghai not far from the subway. The restaurant is located down an alley from the 1039 address marker. Read the rest of this entry »

We recently revisited Hong Kong and ate more of the best Cantonese Chinese Food around…

Upscale IFC Shopping Center – Fancier than any US Mall

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Jia Jia Tang Bao (佳家汤包) is a small but popular Shanghai steamed dumpling or Xiaolongbao shop in Shanghai. There was a short line when we went there. The cheapest dumplings are also some of the most delicious but small pork dumplings. (RMB$9)

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Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao is an casual dining sitdown Chinese restaurant located near the arrivals area at the Hong Kong International Airport. Established in 1991, they have several styles of restaurants and many locations throughout China, Singapore, and other Asian countries. 9 of these informal restaurants in Hong Kong alone. We decided to stop there and have a quick dessert after having dinner at marginal Chao Inn. Crystal Jade was touting their Michelin Bib Gourmand rating and dumplings.

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Lei Garden is a well respected restaurant group with locations in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Macau. They opened location18 in Shanghai in 2010. We visited their location in the upscale IFC mall in Hong Kong for dinner in late 2008. This location earned one star in the 2009 Michelin guide but lost it in 2010.

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South Beauty is a very beautiful restaurant located in the Super Brand Mall in Shanghai’s Pudong district. The view of the Bund was awesome from this location making us worry about the quality of the food. You have to spend at least ¥200 per person to sit by the window. Dining on the outdoor deck is unparalleled. South Beauty, founded in 2000 by Zhang Lan, has over 40 high end restaurants throughout China including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chengdu, Suzhou, QingDao, Shenyang. They also run Steam, LAN Club, and SUBU. We had eaten at this location about two years ago and had mixed results. South Beauty Was picked this time because the other restaurants in the Super Brand Mall had already closed. They serve a combination of Sichuan and Cantonese Chinese food in stylish environments.

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