Manzanita Lake Tahoe is the new restaurant by Traci Des Jardins in the posh Ritz Carlton Highlands at Northstar Lake Tahoe. It opened in Decemeber 2009. Rooms here start at $350 a night. She is best known for Jardinière and Mijita Cocina Mexicana in San Francisco. Manzanita serves French inspired California cuisine with a focus on organic, sustainable, seasonal ingredients. Free valet parking for dinner guests. Our last visit was in early 2012 where we found prices had increased significantly.
Poggio is an Italian trattoria Restaurant situated in the Casa Madrona Hotel, right on the main touristy street of Sausalito. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They focus on Northern Italian cuisine using local ingredients, sustainable products, and property-grown organic herbs and vegetables. The founder Larry Mindel has a long history with restaurants including Ciao, Prego, and Il Fornaio. Peter McNee is the executive chef. Our last visit was at the beginning of 2012.
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Why did we dine here? – Parallel 37 is the new restaurant from Chef Ron Siegel in the Ritz Carlton San Francisco. This restaurant replaces the fine dining establishment known as the “Dining Room”. This new more casual eatery should attract a more mainstream audience.
We were fans of the chef and came for a visit shortly after they opened. Parallel 37 focuses on contemporary American cuisine utilizing the freshest, local ingredients available.
Parallel 37 is a hotel restaurant, so you’ll see families in addition to the regular fine-dining crowd.
Why did we dine here? – Six Peaks Grille is located at the Resort at Squaw Creek In Squaw Valley and focuses on sustainable, biodynamic produce and seafood. We were skiing nearby and decided to give this restaurant a try.
Plump Jack Café and this restaurant seemed to be the best bets around here. (Unless you want to drive to Moody’s in Truckee) The Squaw Valley Village was extremely crowded for the Fourth of July holiday, with most restaurants packed full.
Why did we dine here? – Bistro Jeanty was one of the last major restaurants in Yountville that we have not reviewed. Has any foodie knows, this town is an eaters paradise. As good a reason as any to give it a try! They lost their Michelin star a couple years back, so we did not have high expectations. Would this place make up for not going to Redd?
Why did we here? – This restaurant is located in the brand spanking new Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, making it a no-brainer for those seeking out beautiful new restaurants. They received a surprising 2 Michelin stars in 2013. Guess the food has improved since our visit in 2011.
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A taste of the fish market in Guangzhou, China. The market has hundreds of vendors similar to these. Not as beautiful as most food markets, but worth a trip for foodies like us. There are some restaurants located upstairs.
Morimoto Napa is a Japanese restaurant run by world famous television Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. This celebrity chef, who also worked at Nobu, is known for his whimsical twists on Japanese cuisine. The restaurant has gotten lukewarm reviews from the major San Francisco food critics, so we came expecting a lot of flash and little substance. He has outposts around the world including in India and Hawaii. We had lunch at Morimoto Napa.
Why did we dine here? – Fu Gow is a excellent restaurant located near the Shenzhen airport. Our local friend highly recommended this restaurant, which is frequented by many government officials and is way under the radar.
The Foodie bible Zagat San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants 2011 is available starting today at $10 from Amazon. $14.95 list. Data comes from people like ourselves, voting.
We recently finished up our latest culinary tour of China in the Summer of 2011. Cantonese Chinese cuisine originated from this area, making it a must visit for those serious about Chinese food.
Here are some quick mini reviews of places we ate at. We feel this will be useful as more people visit this up-and-coming area. We found few reviews on Trip Advisor and Dianping.
Solbar is a beautiful restaurant located in the Solage resort and Calistoga. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner and received one Michelin star in 2011.
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. Our last visit was in September 2012.
Fleur de lys is a long-standing French restaurant from Hubert Keller, who also owns Burger Bar and is featured on a PBS television show. They received one Michelin star in 2011. The last time we were here, perhaps 8 years ago, we were very impressed, so we had high expectations.
Best buffet in San Francisco? Palace Hotel Garden Court Sunday Brunch was next on our list of high-end buffets. We are suckers for lavish spreads of high-end food in addition to our mainstays of regular fine dining! Sadly we have found the best Sunday brunches outside of San Francisco, in far off places like the Wynn buffet in Las Vegas, and Conrad Sunday brunch in Hong Kong.
This Sunday brunch cost about $68 with unlimited, average quality Piper Sonoma champagne. Coffee, tea, orange juice were also complimentary. Special brunch menus are offered on holidays and throughout the month of December.
Madera Restaurant is located in the Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel, just across the way from venture capital central. This is a high-end hotel that opened up just a couple years ago. Chef Peter Rudolph used to work at Campton place in San Francisco. He uses a wood-burning grill and explores artfully-crafted, market-driven cuisine of bold flavors. Sustainably harvested and produced seafood and meats. Madera means wood in Spanish.
Hong Kong East Ocean Seafood Restaurant is located in Emeryville, right by the Bay. It has excellent views of San Francisco. The restaurant is popular for dim sum and for large banquets, especially on the weekends. Our last visit was in the middle of 2011.
Excellent food in Noe Valley. La Ciccia is an intimate restaurant located in San Francisco’s Noe Valley that focuses on food from Sardinia, especially seafood. The husband and wife team operate this popular and homey restaurant.
The restaurant was featured on Check please in 2008.
Shangri-La Li Cafe Buffet is located in the Shangri-La hotel in beautiful Guilin, China. Guilin is famous for its unique scenery featuring beautiful limestone rock formations and the Li river delta. This area is a mecca for Chinese tourists and needs to be on more Western travel destinations.
We recently finished up our latest culinary tour of China in the Spring of 2011. Sanya, a beautiful city on China’s Hainan Island, has become essentially China’s Hawaii with beautiful sandy beaches, palm trees, and warm weather. Many Chinese tourist flock here during Chinese New Year and other holidays, packing the beaches until there is no room left!
Here are some quick mini reviews of places we ate at. We feel this will be useful as more people visit this up-and-coming area. We found few reviews on Trip Advisor and Dianping.
Guilin is famous for its unique scenery featuring beautiful limestone rock formations and the Li river delta. This area is a mecca for Chinese tourists and needs to be on more Western travel destinations.
We recently finished up our latest culinary tour of China in the Spring of 2011. Guilin a beautiful city in China’s South, is one of the top destinations for Chinese tourists. A quick glimpse of the scenery with the karst formations tells you why. Yangshou is a couple hours from Guilin, just as beautiful, and far less touristy.
Here are some quick mini reviews of places we ate at in Guilin and Yangshou. We feel this will be useful as more people visit this up-and-coming area. We found few reviews on Trip Advisor and Dianping.
Legendary crispy chicken wows us.
We recently visited Hong Kong and dined on excellent Cantonese Chinese food and more. Hong Kong is a modern city like New York, that is progressive, packed with energy, and filled with top-notch restaurants.
Piacere means Pleasure, to please, a source delight or joy in Italian. This restaurant is located in San Carlos in the Laurel Street shopping area right across the street from restaurant Town and near Spasso. Piacere focuses on modern California-Italian cuisine using local and organic ingredients. One last visit was in May of 2011, where we sensed food quality slipping.
Din Tai Fung is a popular Hong Kong dumpling restaurant with locations in Bellevue, Los Angeles, Taipei, Japan, China, Singapore, and several other countries. We had previously dined at Din Tai Fung in Shanghai’s touristy Xintiandi. The Los Angeles location is in Arcadia with Yelp reviews unfortunately indicating it is a step down from the ones abroad.
We recently visited Hong Kong and dined on excellent Cantonese Chinese food and more. Hong Kong is a modern city like New York, that is progressive, packed with energy, and filled with top-notch restaurants.
Hog Island Oyster Co. is located in San Francisco’s Ferry Building. They have an oyster bar that serves sustainable seafood, chowder, and salads. Fresh oysters brought fresh from their Tomales Bay farm each morning. They served baked oysters and cooked seafood for those that do not want raw items. You could drive up to their farm and get oysters even fresher. Our last visit was in May 2011.
We recently visited Hong Kong and dined on excellent Cantonese Chinese food and more. Hong Kong is a modern city like New York, that is progressive, packed with energy, and filled with top-notch restaurants.
Buffets: Conrad Nicolini’s Sunday Brunch Buffet, Harbourside Buffet,, JW Marriott Hong Kong, Tiffen Buffet Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.
We recently visited Hong Kong and dined on excellent Cantonese Chinese food and more. Hong Kong is a modern city like New York, that is progressive, packed with energy, and filled with top-notch restaurants.
We recently visited Hong Kong and dined on excellent Cantonese Chinese food and much more. Hong Kong is a modern city like New York, that is progressive, packed with energy, and filled with top-notch restaurants.
The quest for the ultimate Sunday Brunch buffet continues. Foie gras check, Iberico ham, 2 kinds, unlimited champagne and wine, check, dinner, forget about it.
Why did we dine here? – Leopold’s is a hot new Austrian – German restaurant located on Russian Hill that has been getting a lot of positive press. Bauer liked it and Yelp fans are all over it. As the place opens at 530pm and the waiting starts around 6 PM. No reservations. A loud party every night! As they put it – “Casual, urban-rustic neighborhood gathering spot and bierhaus”. Are you ready for the 5 Liter beer?
Scratch is a new restaurant from Rob Fischer who runs Palo Alto Creamery, Reposado, and Gravity. This restaurant opened at the end of 2010. Fine Dining meets American Comfort Cuisine is their motto. We happen to be in the area and decided to give this place a try. The restaurant is modern, with clean lines, lots of wood, and large windows to the Street. Our last visit was at the end of 2011.
Taste In is a family owned Mediterranean deli and restaurant in Burlingame’s Broadway Street shopping district. They focus on Mediterranean cuisine including falafel’s, schawerma, kabobs and the like. This place opened in late 2009. Our last visit was in fall 2011.
The Ferry Building Marketplace is one of our most favorite destinations in San Francisco. Filled with restaurants, food stands, and gift shops, this place is on any foodies must visit list. Here are some of our favorite shops to visit and dine at.
We visited the Granville Public Market in Vancouver, BC and found it to be a must visit for foodies to visit, but not as spectacular as San Francisco’s ferry building, Beijing’s Dong Hua Men market or London’s Borough market. The network of small vendors and gift shops almost overshadowed the food area for us.
Bouchon Bakery in Yountville is a fabulous place we love to visit whenever we are passing through the wine country. This location is situated right next door to Bouchon in Yountville. They even bake for the legendary French Laundry. Here are some photos of their delectable products.
Rosamunde Sausage Grill is a small Sausage restaurant in the colorful lower Haight district of San Francisco with an additional larger location in the Mission district. This Place has a cult like following. Sort of like Vancouver’s Japadog. They serve grilled sausages on french rolls. You can select 2 free condiments from sauerkraut, grilled onions, peppers, or spicy beef chili. They also sell uncooked sausages, which we took advantage of one time.
Z&Y Bistro Peking Duck is the Peking Duck focused sister restaurant of Z&Y in San Francisco’s Chinatown. We can for dinner in the summer of 2025. Lots of tourists were there when we dined. 4.5 stars on Yelp. They have everything from Peking duck to Soup Dumplings on the menu. Stick to the Beijing dishes.
Service was better than expected. English was spoke.
Murracci’s is a casual Japanese restaurant that focuses on Curry dishes and grilled items. While they have 4 sushi items on the menu, stick to the Japanese-style curry. They have locations in both San Francisco and Los Altos. Last visit was in April 2012.
Jang Su Jang is a popular Korean restaurant in Santa Clara, located on El Camino Real, home to many Korean businesses. We decided to give it a try having seen many reviews on the restaurant, in addition to personal recommendations.
