My favorite word with respect to wine and food is “artisanal.” It is what I seek and what I am passionate about. One of my favorite artisanal subjects is ice cream. Though I love broccoli, I wish it had the power to satisfy the way ice cream does – although on a guilt factor, broccoli is the clear winner. However, back to ice cream – there are some original houses (really, palaces) of ice cream in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Many of my favorite creameries are in San Francisco and, curiously, are within a dozen blocks of each other. You could do an ice cream crawl if you wanted to try some curious, compelling and simply amazing flavors – flavors that I have not seen elsewhere. If you want to do this on foot or by public transport you could take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), exit at 16th Street Station, go one block west to Valencia Street, take a left and go toward 17th Street (go to the west side of street) – you will see Bombay Ice Cream. Bombay Ice Cream is an homage to the Indian subcontinents and I take deep pleasure in unlocking many of its wondrous flavors. I love their Cardamom ice cream; it is fragrant. Equally, I love their Lychee and Kesar Pista (saffron and pistachio flavors, and their rose and a saffron rose are flavors you don’t see every day. Ask for a sample to discover your own favorite.

Next on your ice cream crawl, go to Bi-Rite Creamery & Bakeshop (go south on Valencia to 18th Street, turn right and go almost to Dolores Street). Bi-Rite gets its base from the Straus Family Creamery (a dairy well known for its organic products). Bi-Rite Creamer adjusts its flavors seasonally. Here are a few of my favorite flavors: Roasted Banana, Strawberry Balsamic, Crème Fraîche (which I keep asking when they will get in again), Honey Lavender, and my paramount favorite, Salted Caramel. Salted Caramel (two polar opposites) results in a flavor that is sweet and yet tempered; the salt brings the caramel to its highest and most appreciable level. The artistry of the ice cream is evident not just in the taste, but also in the presentation – for example, the mint chip seems like each chocolate morsel was individually hand-cut. Bi-Rite is small, but luckily Dolores Park is nearly diagonal – so there is plenty of room to enjoy your ice cream and an amazing view of the City. I go to this creamery often because it is quite proximate, and their Salted Caramel is such a compelling flavor. Get one scoop and ask for two flavors.

For the last stop on your ice cream tour, go to Mitchell’s Ice Cream (go back to Valencia Street – you can walk or take the #26 Valencia bus to Duncan Street. Once at Duncan Street, go west to Guerrero and Duncan). Mitchell’s Ice Cream is famous for its tropical fruit ice creams; they are unusual and pleasing. They have Avocado (yes, avocado!), Buko (baby coconut), Langka (jackfruit) and Macapuno (sweet coconut). Mitchell’s also has some non-fruit flavors that are equally interesting and delicious – I love the Caramel Praline, Mexican Chocolate and Caramel Bliss. You’ll simply have to sample these to discover your favorite.

For the extreme crawler, venture out of the city and over to a California classic: Fenton’s Creamery in Oakland. This creamery offers a yesteryear feel and has been operating since 1894; it’s my favorite spot on a hot East Bay night. The sundaes are decadent – if you like a hot fudge sundae, try their crowd-pleasing Fudgeanna. Their ice cream is a simple pleasure – I recommend you try Cream Caramel Almond Crunch and Cookies and Cream – rich, deep and fulfilling.

All of these creameries reflect individual passions of both the business owners and their customers – served one scoop at a time, and guilty pleasures without the guilt.


Fenton’s Creamery & Restaurant
4226 Piedmont Avenue
Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 658-7000

Bi-Rite Creamery
3692 18th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Bombay Ice Cream
552 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 861-3995

Mitchell’s Ice Cream
688 San Jose Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 648-2300

I think there is a connotation in ‘Living off the Land and Sea” that may suggest I am acquiring my food directly but it is this amazing place where it is not only my home; it is not only a place where I find sustenance but it is a land that nourishes my body and soul.

Northern Californians are passionate about food and wine; I am no exception.  I sometimes don’t realize how amazing the food and wine is until I travel.  That doesn’t mean that Northern California has a monopoly on great food and wine but there is a passion that manifests in so many ways.  I find that I expect a certain level of excellence in ingredients, food execution, ambiance and service.  I do take for granted and I quickly remind myself that excellence in cuisine still comes out in many of my culinary crawls that still surprise and delight me.  There are so many talented chefs; known and still-to-be discovered; have set San Francisco, the Bay Area, wine countries and Northern California as bonafide food and wine destinations.  I am romanced in reading restaurant menus and wine lists.  I take notice where the ingredients are from and the dynamics flavors that will make any skeptic take notice on the importance of fresh and seasonal ingredients.  I am amazed by the ingredients because some of what I find eating out are not available to me; and that is simply because, for example, a mushroom hunter may have only a very small supply that is not viable to sell in a grocery store but is much more likely to be utilized in a restaurant.  Knowing that some ingredients are difficult to find and seeing them on the menu is a thrill for me.  It is a stunning moment when a rare gift of the earth, from the land that I call my home, is available for me to enjoy.  I am not only delighted to see things like sea urchin or Abalone (which is extremely rare to find on any menu but does happen on occasion) but simple things like Beauregard sweet potatoes, Gravenstein apple juice, sweet limes, Heirloom tomatoes, Meyer lemons, California olive oil, and there is nothing like finding a white Rhone-varietal like a Roussanne from California’s Central Coast I enjoy equally.

I am often asked to describe a restaurant’s cuisine (those that have no specific and obvious ethnic identification) and those that in my opinion have a cuisine that is familiar and yet unique in presentation and the fusing of cultural and ethnic experience, freshness, innovation and newness together—without hesitation I say “California cuisine.”

One of my most celebrated moments in my life here is a simple Saturday dinner where I have collected some of the finest ingredients at farmers market; phenomenal wine, great music, surrounded by friends, fresh cut flowers, candle flicker and the back stage is an un-paralleled view of San Francisco—I know I am home and everything feels so right.

Come join me as I give you some highlights and take you on a journey in my California.

My California experience will give you weekly snapshots of many fine restaurants, food markets, cultural events and performing and visual arts in San Francisco, the Bay Area and environs.

I think often people think of San Francisco as a place where we all wear flowers in our hair and eat tofu.  Well, yes there are a few who do wear a flower in the hair and some do eat tofu but there is an amazing diverse group of people in San Francisco and the Bay Area.  Each bringing their traditions creating a rich cultural fabric.  I think being a resident of this very special part of California has made my life rich and I believe I have found a connection to many people who too have fallen in love with amazing food and wines.  Every time I travel—I am once again reminded how special the food and wine is in the San Francisco and its environs.  Simple things go a long way; great food markets with exotic, sustainable, and hard-to-find ingredients abound; restaurants from famous and often written restaurants to hidden treasures; wine is king not just in the many wine countries in California but go to many restaurants in the City by the Bay and you will find wine lists with well selected and thoughtful choices of fabulous wines. 

I am out every Saturday at San Francisco’s Farmer Market at the famed food and wine centric Ferry Building.  But it is a hunter gatherer mission, each Saturday, which often include two to three food and wine store visits but is a day of joy and discovery and self-satisfaction when I bring these ingredients together for a wondrous dinner.  San Franciscans take their food and wine seriously as they do their work.  Exploration is part of the fun.

Stay tuned for my adventures along the way of the magical land known as the San Francisco, the Bay Area and its environs.