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I adore California. It’s my favorite state to visit as a traveler. I love the beaches, the palm trees, the laid-back attitude. and I love In & Out Burger. (I don’t love how you have to drive anywhere in a lot of places, but hey, no destination’s perfect.)
But my favorite thing about California is the constant sunshine — and with it, the bountiful fresh produce. Farmer’s markets are active year-round here. You don’t tend to appreciate this until you’ve tried to find an avocado available in London that wasn’t as hard as a rock. (Spoiler: I tried and failed.)
I checked out California on a campaign for visit California, focusing on the culinary culture of the Bay area and top Chef-owned restaurants. (For my international readers, the Bay area is the area surrounding San Francisco, including Oakland and Napa Valley, which I checked out on this trip.)
Maybe it’s all the sunshine, but all of the chefs and culinary professionals were so nice, friendly, and eager to chat about food near and far! like Yigit Pura from Tout sweet Patisserie, visualized above.
The food was nothing short of stupendous. I made a decision to break down my absolute favorite dishes of the trip, so when you make your next trip to San Francisco, you can eat as well as I did!
Brussels Sprouts Salad at Bottega in Yountville
If there’s any dish that I yearn for weeks later, it’s this — a shaved brussels sprouts salad with marcona almonds and pecorino and a Meyer lemon vinaigrette, topped with a sieved egg. I need TO learn how TO MAKE THIS and IT DOESN’T look absolutely impossible TO REPLICATE. It was an absolutely best balance of flavors and textures and that’s honestly all I can say about it.
Bottega was, hands down, the best restaurant where I ate on this trip. Every single dish was impressive — the short ribs (mentioned below), a basic spaghetti dish inspired by Sophia Loren’s hometown, a chocolate panna cotta, even the asparagus soup amuse-bouche and this fantastic dip for the bread! chef Michael Chiarello features dishes from all over the varied microclimates of Italy.
(Just know one thing — the outdoor seating was underneath a red tarp, which gave all our photos a odd neon red tint. That’s why the color is so odd on that photo — I removed all of the red, pink, and magenta so it would look somewhat normal! Cailin remarked that my original photos looked like that episode of Seinfeld when the chicken place with the gigantic neon sign moves next door to Kramer…she wasn’t wrong. bad CHICKEN!!)
Insalata di Cavolini di Bruxelles, $13.
Fried chicken Benedict at Picán in Oakland
Eggs Benedict. but remove the Canadian bacon and add a boneless fried chicken breast. and top it with mustardy hollandaise.
WHY have WE NOT BEEN DOING THIS FOR YEARS?!
Picán is a kickass southern restaurant in the heart of Oakland and they absolutely don’t scrimp on the decadence. other standouts included the shrimp and grits (mentioned below), fried green tomatoes with gravlax and a kickass horseradish mascarpone sauce, and Louisiana-style beignets. and the Bloody Marys? KILLER.
Signature chicken Benedict, $18. Brunch only.
The Maui at Tout sweet Patisserie in San Francisco
If you have a sweet tooth in the least — or even if you’re like me and choose salty a lot more often — stop in at Tout Sweet. chef Yigit Pura, the winner of top chef Desserts, has created a variety of creative and whimsical desserts. and surprisingly, I didn’t find any of them overly sweet!
The Maui is so basic — tapioca, coconut milk, mango. It reminded me of my favorite Thai dessert, sticky rice with mango, and it’s named after Yigit’s beloved dog.
Other standouts: a amazing pineapple cake, the WTF (“what the flavor”) cookie, a breakfast bar made by throwing lots of random stuff in a pan, and a raspberry pistachio macaron-like pastry.
Prices and selection vary.
Octopus and Chorizo at Shakewell in Oakland
Who knew that octopus and chorizo was such a divine pairing? It makes so much sense once you taste it. This is actually chef Jen Biesty’s favorite dish on the menu, and it was mine as well. Octopus can easily be cooked badly, but every piece was perfect, and the chorizo lit it on fire.
Shakewell is a rollicking Spanish restaurant in Oakland and their dishes are both classicnullnull