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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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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Cafe des Amis (Amis means Friends in French) is a 3 week old classic French Brasserie on Union Street in middle of the Marina – Cow Hollow area, located were Restaurant Prego used to be. It is run by the Bacchus Management Group who also runs Spruce, Mayfield Bakery, and Village Pub. Former Florio chef Ed Carew is executive chef. Read the rest of this entry »

South Sea Seafood Village took the place of Fook Yuen Seafood Restaurant in Millbrae in February 2010. Fook Yuen was a long standing Chinese restaurant in Millbrae that acquired a good reputation over the years. South Sea Seafood has a location in San Francisco’s Sunset district. Millbrae is home to many fine Cantonese Chinese restaurant including Asian Pearl Peninsula and Zen Peninsula. With such high powered competition we wondered how they would position themselves. We came for dinner about 2 weeks after they opened, and returned for dim sum Lunch in late April.

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Ristorante Capellini is a popular Italian restaurant in downtown San Mateo, near the Caltrain station. Since 1990, this beautiful Pat Kuleto designed restaurant has been packing them in. It looks pretty unassuming on the outside, but once you open the door.. Our last visit was in the middle of 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

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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Donato Enoteca is an Italian Restaurant in downtown Redwood City, located right next to City Hall. They serve modern Italian focusing on fresh, simple ingredients, and focusing on the chef’s Donata Scotti (formerly of La Strada) Northern Italian roots. Our last visit was in the middle of 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Prospect is a long-awaited new restaurant from the Boulevard restaurant team – Nancy Oakes, Pam Mazzola, and Kathy King – located in the posh residential Infinity Tower complex of San Francisco’s Financial district / SOMA district. They named it with anticipation, expectation, and looking forward. Prospect mirrors restaurant RN74 and its place under the nearby Millennium tower.

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