200 DINING HOT SPOTS
104 South Bay Accent
Loma Brewing Company, Los Gatos, 408/560-
9626. This buzz-worthy new brewpub brings
together delicious craft beers and high-quality
casual comfort food in a lively atmosphere. $
Original Gravity Public House, 66 S. First St.,
San Jose. 408/915-2337. Award-winning sausages,
gourmet grilled cheese and duck fat fries complement
an array of craft beers. $$
Rosie McCann’s, 355 Santana Row, #1060, San
Jose, 408/247-1706. Exemplifying the warmth of
Irish hospitality, this Santana Row gem is known
for its camaraderie and welcoming atmosphere.
Guests can enjoy a drink at the full bar
(including Guinness on tap) before
dining on traditional pub fare or
sampling decadent menu items
such as the stuffed bacon-wrapped
prawns, Jameson Portobello
mushroom with blue cheese, candied
walnuts and green onion, or
a juicy Kobe burger. The varied
menu consists of local farm-fresh
organic ingredients and grass-fed
beef as well as vegan, gluten-free,
vegetarian and Paleo options. Share
plates are also popular as is the hearty
weekend brunch accompanied by bottomless
mimosas and frosé. $–$$
Steins Beer Garden, 895 Villa St., Mountain
View. 650/963-9568. The hearty home-style cooking
here is complemented by a variety of the choicest
craft beers from around the world. $$
BURMESE
Rangoon Ruby, 445 Emerson Street, Palo Alto.
650/323-6543. Two talented chefs from Burma
Superstar restaurants create a Burmese menu influenced
by Indian, Thai and Chinese cooking. $
Sweet Mango, 1040 Willow Street, San Jose. 408/
293-2268. Innovative menu blurs the line between
Burmese and Chinese cuisine, and has become a
local favorite in Willow Glen. $
CALIFORNIA
Braise, 1185 Lincoln Ave., San Jose. 408/294-
2919. Anthony Jimenez and Josh Hanoka combine
classic California cuisine with contemporary international
flair in their seasonal small-plates menu in
Willow Glen. $-$$
Calafia Café, 855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto.
650/322-9200. Executive Chef Charlie Ayers offers
diverse, organic dishes from pizzas and curries to
Duck Adobo and Tofu Lentil Loaf. $$
Cascade Bar & Grill (Costanoa Resort), 2001
Rossi Road at Highway 1, Pescadero. 650/879-
1100. The California coastal menu features sustainable,
local seafood and organic produce. $$
Cetrella, 845 Main St., Half Moon Bay. 650/726-
4090. 400 Main St., Los Altos. 650/948-0400.
Upscale Mediterranean dining and California
coastal cuisine with a variety of venue options. $$$
The Crow’s Nest Restaurant, 2218 E. Cliff
Dr. Santa Cruz. 831/476-4560. Since 1969, this
popular spot has featured award-winning cuisine,
spirits and live entertainment from one of the most
spectacular views of Santa Cruz Harbor, lighthouse
and wharf. Surf-themed décor adds ambiance to
the downstairs dining room, where guests enjoy
seafood as fresh as the catch brought in that morning.
The beef dishes are just as delectable, earning
the restaurant accolades for serving the best steak in
town. Upstairs, the Breakwater Grill offers a variety
TASTE TRIPS
Eater.com’s San Francisco website (sf.eater.com) recently released
its latest Eater 38, a highly elite list of the 38 “essential” restaurants every
foodie should visit. Here are some of the new restaurants that made the cut and
joined other prized restaurants.
El Buen Comer (3435 Mission St.) invites diners into the warmth of a Mexican
home kitchen, with authentic dishes made from scratch created by
chef-owner Isabel Caudillo and her staff. Caudillo, born in Mexico
City, focuses on guidados, slow- cooked meat or vegetable stews
popular in that region among home cooks, served in beautiful
imported stoneware. There are familiar dishes like tacos and
enchiladas—made with homemade tortillas—but the menu also
features dishes like the albondigas de carne de res, meat balls in
a rich tomato sauce.
Another eatery featuring homemade dishes—this time from Italy—is a
Mano (450 Hayes St.), which translates to “by hand.” The focus by Executive
Chef Freedom Rains is squarely on house-made pastas made fresh every day,
blending Italian specialties with California cuisine. One recent menu included fusilli
verdi, a dish with pea tendrils, English peas, snap peas, torpedo onions and lemon.
The bucatini all’amatriciana was made with tomato, pancetta and pecorino, and
the rigatoni came with rich sauce made with pork. The eatery also features delicious
pizzas, and puts as much thought into its craft cocktails and wine list as it
does its pastas.
Opened in 2012 in the City’s Outer Richmond district, Cassava (3519 Balboa St.),
set out to be a neighborhood restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The
neighbors have welcomed Cassava with open arms, and word of the tasty modern
California cuisine with Japanese influences has spread far beyond. For example,
breakfast with a soft boiled egg can go sweet with the continental breakfast, which
comes with house-made yogurt served with granola and honey, fruit and croissant.
Contrast with the Japanese breakfast of koshihikari rice, miso soup, and seaweed
nori with corn and sea beans. Or come for dinner for the four-course tasting menu,
which changes monthly.
The Progress (1525 Fillmore St.) started out as a theater more than 100
years ago, and today it serves as the stage for innovative banquetstyle
meals. James Beard Award-winning chef-owners Stuart
Brioza and Nicole Krasinski bill their restaurant as “the
greatest dinner party ever.” Dinners are served a la cart
and family style; the menu is ever changing depending
on the season and boasts regional ingredients.
Recently the menu featured ricotta, leek and spring
onion ravioli, Alaskan halibut with fava beans and
spring onion ravigote, and Monterey Bay abalone
with potatoes and yuzu-seaweed butter. The hearty
meat dish was a braised pork with red and yellow
salsas, yellow eye beans and pluots. —P.M.
Asa
Dio Deka
