San Francisco’s Richmond district is a long BART and bus ride away from where I once lived in the East Bay, a distant land as far as college me was concerned. But in 2003 I made the trek for a noir film festival and thought, maybe I’d try Russian food. My Russian teacher had recommended [...]
This story is third in a series on Burmese food in San Francisco. When tourists come to San Francisco, they eat Chinese food in Chinatown. There’s nothing wrong with that. Chinatown is a cool place, and there’s good food there. However, it isn’t too bold to claim that the best Chinese food in the Bay [...]
There’s an entire world of restaurants within the borders of New York City. Frankly, I find it hard to give a shit about the newest opening, ambitious concept, or chef’s achievement when virtually the entire world also exists within the borders of New York City. It exists in the form of a bowl of Xi’an [...]
Long Island City’s M. Wells, the Quebec-American diner that stole the heartbeats of pretty much every food enthusiast in New York when it opened in 2010, did so by offering a playful, gourmet spin on diner fare that’s as accessible as it is intrepid. This is especially true for M. Wells’ brunch menu: dishes tend [...]
While Girlfriend and I weren’t out touring Boston at the end of April, we rested our heads in nearby Somerville. The neighborhoods of this town, bordering three major universities and cradling the last stretch of the Red Line out of Boston, have been through more than one wave of history – including the familiar story [...]
Food cravings are the silver linings of colds and flus. In perfect health I’m not one whose food mood is swayed by anything more than hunger, convenience and curiosity, but in sickness my wants become specific. I yen for hot and sour soup, extra spicy. I yearn for apple pie a la mode; I don’t [...]
It’s been a while since I’ve had to haggle over my lunch. Fortunately, the wait staff at Taste Good Malaysian were feeling diplomatic when I asked about their chili crab. The last time I had eaten at Taste Good, chili crab was a special, something I hesitated to order because it would require the restaurant [...]
Ramen Kuboya will probably be known as “that place right next to Minca” for quite a while. Owner Hiroshi Kubo may have opened his noodle-centric restaurant on 5th Ave. in homage to a French restaurant that used to inhabit the space, but by operating just steps from the veteran ramen-ya, his fledgling project has faced [...]
A good pho dining experience is a ritual. The waiter points at an empty table. You take a seat and order the #1. You grab your chopsticks, your soup spoon and your sauce dish. You prepare a cocktail of chili paste and hoisin, set your sauce and silverware in front of you with great care [...]
I have a hard time separating immigrants from their food. When my conversation teacher in St. Petersburg announced in September of 2006 that Russian officials were implementing the deportation of Georgians in Moscow, my thoughts turned to Mexico and the inane wall being debated by the U.S. Congress. The comparison wasn’t perfect, but it stuck [...]
