Cinco Estrellas

Cinco Estrellas is a Honduran restaurant on Milpas Street that is not easy to spot. In fact, it’s not visible from the street at all. Look for the laundromat and walk around to the back of the building. I was there for a weeknight dinner and there was 3-4 other tables in the small space [...]

Dynamo Donuts and Coffee – San Francisco

I don’t often eat donuts, but when I do, it should have bacon on it. I’m up in San Francisco for the week to celebrate a friend’s birthday, to hint at my own birthday in a week, to attend a Sacrelicious dinner party, and to catch up with friends. Andrew and Lexi don’t live far [...]

Ici Ice Cream – Berkeley

This… …is Berkeley. And it’s Ici’s scoop of Darjeeling with sour cherry ice cream. It is hard to believe that I had any more room in my stomach after eating such feast today, but I did. It’s delicious. Ici 2948 College Avenue Berkeley, CA 94705 www.ici-icecream.com

Brown Sugar Kitchen – Oakland

Step aside, we’re on a mission for chicken and waffles in West Oakland.

Anchor Woodfire Kitchen

I’ve had breakfast and lunch only – no dinner yet. If you are staying at the Indigo Hotel, aren’t you the lucky one to have this food brought to you in bed. It would be such an incredible luxury. But I simply walked in the door, sat the bar on two occasions and a small [...]

Nikka Fish Market and Grill

Solid. This is a very good business to bring to Goleta. I’m really glad it’s opened. It’s not fancy or fine dining. It’s in a strip mall, so is subject to the usual plastic aesthetic, although they’ve added some fishnets here and there and buoys to give the impression of an old salty diner. It’s [...]

Momofuku Ko – New York

Pure food. Understated. Immersive. A sense of Yang. That’s the story that the food and atmosphere told me. I came here with my friend Brad, and this was my “big dinner” of the week. Big, meaning the one meal that would require reservations and cost over $200/person. No regrets on this count, the meal was [...]

Crave: Art, Food, and Social Experience

The sensory experience has always been important to me. I used to create “moments” in my travel journals, putting a snapshot of that moment into words by describing what my five senses were taking in. It could have been a warm evening sitting on a porch in South Africa, or a foggy morning in Santa [...]

Handlebar Coffee Roasters

There are several local coffee roasters in town. Handlebar is the most recent to join the scene and have become a top pick for locally roasted and lovingly prepared artisan coffee. You know, the new age of cafes with hyper-perfected beverages and latte art. The roaster and cafe also has a serious cycling vibe. With [...]

Aldo’s Restaurant

Summer’s idyllic moments It’s hard to believe that it is already August. The typical May Gray and June Gloom days didn’t seem as prominent, and August has actually seen some scattered showers. Best of all, there have been no wildfires! Um, yet. Still, the days are long, the evening chorus has changed from frogs to [...]