October Eats Checklist: 6 Standouts of the Month
These newcomers or new menus cover the gamut, from steakhouses (American and Argentinean) to Japanese tsukemen noodles....
Virginia MillerAuthor of 182 Articles
Virginia Miller was a food & beverage columnist for The Bold Italic, but as of January 2025, she is no longer working for us in any capacity.
There Is A Time for Modern French Fare: Visiting The New La Société
Classic French cuisine has gone out of vogue with some international restaurant traveler types I interact with on the regular around the globe....
Two-Year-Old Neighborhood Michelin Revamped on Precita Park: Marlena
For my first three years in San Francisco, I held a Precita Avenue address. When I moved here way back in early 2001, I was just a couple blocks from idyllic Precita Park....
House Pasta & Caviar to A5 Charcuterie Decadence: SoMa’s New AFICI
The lofty, industrial space that housed Alexander’s Steakhouse Group’s The Patio pop-up during pandemic, opened as AFICI on September 24, 2022, on a heavily-trafficked stretch of Folsom Street during rush hours in San Francisco’s South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood....
One Year In: Creative NorCal Japanese Shines at Nisei
From a Santa Barbera uni croquette dotted with smoked pepper relish to pumpkin chawanmushi under shaved truffles, I tasted the immediate promise dining at chef David Yoshimura’s Nisei not long after it opened in August 2021....
September Eats Checklist: 6 Standouts of the Month
Though I’ve eaten everywhere this month from Adriano Paganini/Back of the House group’s latest, Rad Radish, to the new Arepas Latin Cuisine and Fiddle Fig Cafe in North Beach, these six newcomers (or new menus) stood out in September, covering the gamut…...
Fort Point Valencia’s Playful Take on SF-Style Seafood & Historic SF Dishes
In February 2022, I visited and reviewed Fort Point Valencia as it reopened. Reborn from a long pandemic closure, it was a shining example of a local, SF-based brewery with a unique, fresh style and focus....
Purity On the Plate & In the Glass: The New Bar Agricole
Those of us who have been in dining, cocktails and spirits a long while know the importance of Bar Agricole since it opened in San Francisco’s SoMa district in 2011....
A Night in San Jose: 5 Standouts in Food & Cocktails
With a population of just over a million, San Jose is our largest NorCal city, anchoring Silicon Valley and part of the tri-city Bay Area (alongside San Francisco and Oakland)....
Weekend-ing: Japanese Food & Drink + Cultural Events at New Sunnyvale Hotel, Tetra
Staying in Sunnyvale in the heart of Silicon Valley surrounded Google offices may not sound like the ideal weekend “getaway.” But when you tell me there is a Bay Area hotel with a Japanese-American chef cooking inspired Japanese-influenced food…...
Hayes Valley’s Buzzy New Neighborhood Hang: Hazie’s
Hazie’s has taken over a Hayes Valley corner long associated with packed rooms and mediocre brunch. It is a considerable upgrade....
Vietnamese Food Haven (with Cocktails) at Bodega
San Francisco’s Tenderloin has long been a key neighborhood for Vietnamese food, its western blocks dubbed Little Saigon....