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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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 »

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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Bottega The Book by Michael Chiarello

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Auberge du Soleil (Inn of the Sun) is a posh resort in the Napa Valley with a Michelin starred restaurant that opened in 1981. Executive Chef Robert Curry, formerly of Domain Chandon and Greystone, serves up Wine country cuisine. Read the rest of this entry »

The Slanted Door is a famous modern Vietnamese restaurant located in San Francisco’s Ferry Building. Legendary chef Charles Phan’s empire includes several Out the Door restaurants, Moss Room in Golden gate Park, as well as Heaven’s Dog. They use a lot of local, organic, sustainable ingredients and focus on essentially California cuisine with the Vietnamese influence.

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Koi Palace is a popular Cantonese Chinese restaurant in Daly City. The Peninsula is ground zero for some of the best Chinese food in the SF Bay area. It has been around since 1997 and specializes in wide selection of Dim Sum for lunch and special dishes for dinner. They also have locations in Dublin and at Thunder Valley Casino. We came for dinner and have previously reviewed Koi Palace dim sum lunch. Our return trips were in late 2009 and several times in 2010. Yelp reviews emphasize lunch and don’t factor in where this place falls in the Chinese restaurant pecking order.

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Since 1993, The House has been cooking up top notch Asian fusion cuisine in San Francisco’s North Beach. Using local ingredients and blending American foods with Asian accents is their strong suit. Their mastery of sauces is evident in many dishes. The House flies under many foodie radars. Our last visit was in early July 2010.

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Frances is run by Melissa Perello, formerly of Charles Nob Hill and Fifth Floor, was winner of several accolades including San Francisco Chronicle’s rising star chef in 2002. Her California Cuisine Castro district restaurant, named after her grandmother, is one presently of the hardest reservations in town. We didn’t have a reservation and went early for bar counter seating before the restaurant opened. (some seats here are pretty tiny) Frances never answered the phone when we called, but they did return our message. They use local, sustainable and organic products when possible. Read the rest of this entry »

Ame Restaurant in San Francisco’s St. Regis Hotel serves up seasonal New American cuisine, blending of flavors from southern France, northern Italy and especially Japan. No sushi here though. Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani are also chefs and co-owners of Terra Restaurant in St. Helena. They received One Michelin Star in 2010 and have been open since 2006. Read the rest of this entry »

Kirin Mandarin is a well-respected Chinese restaurant in downtown Vancouver, which is named after a mythical dragon like monster. They have five locations in the greater Vancouver area. This particular location focuses on Northern Chinese cuisine and opened in 1987. Sherman recommended we visit this restaurant. We came for dinner in a previous review. Read the rest of this entry »

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant non descript Chinese restaurant in Richmond, BC, a suburb of Vancouver. It took a 20 minute Canada line subway ride to get here from downtown Vancouver. This place was highly recommended by food God Sherman. This restaurant has two locations in Southern California. Read the rest of this entry »