Kokkari’s been around for over 25 years. It’s had its ups and downs.
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Sorella. This casual sister restaurant of Acquerello is very good. I wish we had it in LA.
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Flores. Bland, inoffensive Mexican. A too safe, too boring Michelin Guide selection.
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What did you have - I wouldn’t call Flores the most exciting Mexican restaurant in the Bay area but also not bland
The mole dishes are quite good at Flores
In Cow Hollow, outside of A16 and Crenn, good luck finding food that’s not safe and boring.
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Return to Epic Steak after 10? years (posted about my last meal there on Chowhound). Walked in on Friday around 7:45, could have waited ~30 minutes for a table in the main dining room but sat upstairs in the bar. Got a table with a bridge view. Only bad thing about the bar is that the seats have wraparound arms that are a little uncomfortable if you’re plus-sized.
Caesar. Didn’t taste.
Roasted Early Girl tomato soup. Excellent. Peeled grapes didn’t make any sense. Crouton was soggy. Still, great soup.
Nice recommendation from the somm: 139-year-old vines, own roots. Probably the oldest Cinsault vineyard in the world. Would be nice if they had some Bordeaux that isn’t over 13% ABV.
They have steaks from Flannery and Olivier’s. Got a tomahawk ribeye from Olivier’s. First-rate. Dry aged for 45 days but no funkiness, just concentrated beef flavor.
“Julia Child’s potatoes”: super-cheesey gratin sitting in a puddle of basically fondue. So rich we ate only a few bites. Planned to use the leftovers as a sauce for pasta and red cabbage a la pizzoccheri, but they didn’t pour all the sauce into the to-go box. Only glitch in the otherwise excellent and friendly service.
Would have preferred the Blue Lake beans to be less complicated. Good though. Whole head of roasted garlic I’ll do something with for dinner tomorrow.
Straus soft serve. Excellent as always.
Glad I know somewhere to get a first-rate steak without having to cook it myself.
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This place sounds like it might be good. Former Bellota space, same Absinthe restaurant group.
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Forge Pizza at OAK Terminal 2. Nice option if you have time to kill and are hungry.
There’s a Southie and a Talavera as well
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A Southie outpost opened in Alameda as well, in the same lot as a beer bar called Park Station
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Tried Lucy Blue in the old Duende space. Bar keeps late hours, though the kitchen closes earlier, maybe 10:30 on weeknights? Might depend on the crowd, whether they get a late rush after a Fox show. Friendly service.
Fried catfish bao were very good.
Oxtail arancini were my favorite. Carrot salad was a nice foil to cut the richness. Hush puppies were good but I liked the other dishes better.
Way too much food for one, any two of those would still have been too much.
The place has a very low-key dress code.
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/new-oakland-bar-enforcing-unusual-rule-21029553.php
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Georgian pop-up by Jeff Berlin, formerly of Piala. He’s looking for a space in the East Bay.
Get on Best Friends mailing list to hear about future pop-ups. There’s a Hungarian one Wednesday.
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… specializes in BBQ, Latkes, and Cheesecakes.
Here Before pop-up at the Oakland Punchdown
Tortilla: the creme fraiche and trout roe topping was good, but personally I’d be happy with it plain.
Good puntarelle. Bread crumbs added a nice contrasting crunch.
Buttery scallop.
Blood sausage was great. “Before” photo disappeared somehow: it looked like a salad.
I was stuffed so I got the cheesecake to go. Also good.
I followed these guys on Instagram so I’ll know when I can get their food again.
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Cafe Jacqueline finally closed. Some friends went recently and had a bad experience. If I remember right their meal took 3-1/2 hours.
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-french-restaurant-closes-21278194.php
Largest H Mart in the country is coming to Fremont.
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/largest-h-mart-bay-area-21305294.php
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… the collective is focused on bringing a much more spacious, streamlined and relaxed experience for both those hoping to quickly grab a scone and for those who’d like to take their time sampling multiple cheeses and chatting with the cheesemongers before making their purchase. Longtime Cheese Board customers will remember grabbing a playing card as their service ticket as they entered the bakery, a fun system that the collective plans to bring back with the expansion.
I guess they plan to go back to being a proper cheese shop where you can taste anything you like and buy the amount you want. Since reopening after Covid they’ve pre-cut and wrapped everything, like Whole Foods, so I’ve been going to Rockridge Market Hall.
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