Category: Dining out

  • Millennium – vegan with heightened awareness

    It’s Friday night, my twin daughters’ birthday, and I just lost my job running sales at undeniably the coolest software developer platform company on the planet. We’re out at Millennium, in Rockridge, one of the top vegan restaurants in the Bay Area. Of course I’d like a cocktail before dinner. As we sat down, we…

  • Shizen and grateful tuna

    Vegan sushi. So, ebi, ahi, and you, hamachi, you all can relax now. They don’t take reservations. I recommend getting in line around 4:30-4:45pm (they open at 5). When you’re at the front of the line, they’ll either seat you if space permits or put your name on the list and text you when your…

  • Piccino – low-key fancy, Dogpatch style

    You can go here if you want to be fancy–a great bottle of wine & great entrees–like if you’re on a date. Or you can go low-key, and just get pizza and a glass of red–like when you don’t feel like cooking. Hopefully you knew you wouldn’t feel like cooking several days ahead of time…

  • Udupi Palace – Great Indian take-out in The Mission

    Udupi is the perfect balance of inexpensive, but not greasy/oily delicious Indian cuisine with great options for vegans. The restaurant is low-key, but always packed. We like to get take out here, the only problem is that there is no complete menu on the web. Since I can’t hold on to stray slips of paper…

  • Gracias Madre – but don’t ask Siri to book it

    Excellent vegan mexican. You’ll likely sit at a community table, but because the guests here are a higher class of proletariat, you’re unlikely to get pulled into an inebriated conversation with total strangers when you’d really rather enjoy your meal with those you intentionally brought along. Speaking of inebriated conversation, sometimes I wonder where Siri…

  • Toca Madera

    Gracias Madre was closed for a private event the same day as the twins’ 21st birthday, so I scrambled for reservations at an equally cool spot. With Toca Madera, we overachieved. We almost missed because we had to get across half of LA, during Thursday night rush-hour traffic in about 40 minutes. Think of James…

  • List of Santa Cruz Restaurants

    Downtown Hoffman’sSmells a bit like the inside of an old vacuum cleaner. Seems threadbare. Hard to imagine this was a project on “Restaurant: Impossible” just a couple of years ago. It didn’t stick. Lillian’sGreat little local italian restaurant. Nice enough to be an “event” restaurant for one of our birthdays, but reasonable enough to go…

  • List of NYC Restaurants

    Chelsea French Roast 78 W 11th at 6thCasual, inexpensive. Great for breakfast, lunch or dinner.Chelsea Ristorante, 108 8th AvePepe Giallo, 10th Ave x 25thGrimaldi‚Äôs Pizza, 656 6th Ave, original in DUMBO The Village / East Village / Stuytown Qi, 31 W 14thGruppo, Ave B betw E 6th and E 7th, related to VezzoPosto, 2nd Av @…

  • Hoffman’s

    Smells a bit like the inside of an old vacuum cleaner. Seems threadbare. Hard to imagine this was a project on “Restaurant: Impossible” just a couple of years ago. It didn’t stick. Hoffman’s1102 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz

  • Cocktails in Paris – La fin de la sécheresse

    Order a Martini in France and God only knows what you’ll get. The only certainty is that it will not have 8 parts gin to 1 part dry vermouth. Over the years when traveling to France, I can content myself with excellent glasses of wine, champagne and even the beer is quite good. But sometimes…