Restaurants

As we gear up for Summer, London’s restaurant scene shows no sign of slowing down – read on for Bon Vivant’s guide of the best new London restaurants to keep on your radar for the next few months. Hutong at The Shard On the 33rd floor of The Shard, Hutong will showcase the cuisine of Northern China from the team behind Hong Kong’s Aqua Group. The 130 cover restaurant will be based on the restaurant of the same name in Hong Kong, with a menu inspired by the culinary styles of Peking, Shandong and Sichuan provinces. Hutong’s signature dishes in London will include Crispy deboned Lamb; Red Lantern crispy soft shell crab with Sichuan dried peppers; ‘Kung Po’ wok fried prawns with cashew nuts and chilli; Chilli spiced bamboo clams steeped in Chinese rose wine and chilli sauce and Imperial Peking. Hutong will be open for lunch and dinner as well as late night drinks with a three-storey high atrium bar, serving cocktails with an emphasis on gin and tea. Hutong will open in July. Tartufo, Chelsea From a chef who has worked at Gauthier Soho as sous chef and management who have worked at Galvin at Windows, Le Gavroche and Roussillon, Tartufo is a new Modern European restaurant on Cadogan Gardens in Chelsea. Situated on the lower ground floor of a red-brick Victorian mansion-block, Tartufo offers a fine dining experience with reasonable set menus (two courses £25, three courses £30, four courses £40). Casa Negra, Shoreditch Following last year’s successful Soho hit La Bodega Negra, Ricker Restaurants will launch Casa Negra in Shoreditch on 6 June 2013, adding to the group’s portfolio that also includes E&O, XO, Cicada and Eight Over Eight. Casa Negra will offer a menu of Mexican style street food, including ceviches, coctèls, aguachiles and tostadas, along with a number of different tacos. Casa Negra’s signature dish will be the Carnitas de lechon – a suckling pig ‘served at the table with fresh salsas and traditional garnishes’. Casa Negra’s dining room will seat 82, with space for 30+ at the bar, which will be open until 2am. The Grain Store, King’s Cross Following the success of Bistrot Bruno Loubet at The Zetter Townhouse (one of our favourite boutique hotels in London), chef Bruno Loubet will open Grain Store on 10 June in the redeveloped Granary Square area behind King’s Cross station, next to Caravan King’s Cross. The menu is said to be eclectic – ‘a culmination of Bruno’s extensive travels and the years dedicated to his beloved vegetable patch’. The bar will be headed up by Tony Conigliaro, the man behind some of our favourite London cocktail bars, including 69 Colebrooke Row and The Zetter Townhouse bar. aqua shard Aqua Restaurant Group will also launch ‘aqua shard’ on level 31 of The Shard offering contemporary British cuisine from chef Anthony Garlando, who previously worked with Pierre Gagnaire for several years. The 220-cover aqua shard will be split into two areas, with the Gin Wing focusing on gin and tea that will link up to Hutong on level 33 of The Shard. aqua shard will be open all day, serving breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. Christopher’s Christopher’s reopened in the middle of May following a 4 month closure for a full refurbishment. Christopher’s offers a menu of modern American cuisine in a gorgeous dining room. A grand, sweeping staircase with gentle candle light takes you to a dining room with stunning detailing on the ceiling. The ground floor martini bar feels glamorous and elegant. Menu highlights include Maryland crabcakes and the lobster bisque with lobster dumplings, along with classic main dishes of USDA Prime steaks and surf ‘n’ turf. The Five Fields, Chelsea The Five Fields launched in Chelsea on 21 May 2013 as 40-seat restaurant with a modern, seasonal menu with a focus on rare herbs and vegetables, grown at the restaurant’s own East Sussex gardens. The Five Field

The TCHO factory on the Embarcadero. [Photo: bluehillranch/Flickr] THE EMBARCADERO—The Young Professionals group of the local chapter of the Michael J. Fox Parkinson's Foundation is throwing a special fundraiser next Friday, May 31, at TCHO. Attendees will be able to sample unlimited wine and chocolate pairings, take a tour of the TCHO facility, and nosh on cheese paired with unlimited beer. Tickets are $75, and all proceeds will benefit efforts for Parkinson's research; a scientist studying the disease will talk about the latest findings as well. [EaterWire] THE MISSION—Hot on the heels of Chris Cosentino's foray into fashion design comes Mission standby Bender's Bar, which has teamed up with local boutique Self Edge to sell a special Bender's T-shirt. It comes in two versions: regular Gildan cotton for the plebes for $25, or The Flat Head loopwheeled heavyweight cotton for $125. (We're sure it says absolutely nothing about the current state of SF that you can drop $125 on a dive bar-themed T-shirt.) They're throwing a launch party tonight from 7-11 pm for those who want to snag one; drink specials will be available as well. [EaterWire] OAKLAND—Upstart Oakland food company Chunky Pig, which makes bacon chocolate-chip cookies and bacon caramel corn, is currently in the midst of a Kickstarter to raise funds for a commercial production facility, and to help pad their coffers, they're also throwing an "Oaktown Pig Out" at Kitchener next Tuesday, with a whole pig roast, bacon mac and cheese, and their aforementioned treats, plus $3 beers. Pledge $35 to get in. More info here. [EaterWire] RUSSIAN HILL—In addition to their aforementioned Spaghetti Sundays, Capo's is offering two more special deals, one for pizza and one for drinks. The pizza deal is Thin Thursdays, on which diners who order any cracker-thin crust pizza get a free house salad to go with it. It's supposed to be a diet/lighter eating thing for summer, but can easily be torpedoed with the other deal: a Build Your Own Old Fashioned bar, available from 5-6 pm each Wednesday-Monday through August 1. For $6, drinkers can choose either Angels Envy or John E. Fitzgerald Larceny bourbon, and modify it with their preferred sweetener and garnish. Bartenders and brand reps will be on hand to discuss the whiskey and offer pairing suggestions. [EaterWire]

I know there aren’t many of you looking for non-alcoholic drinks to sip on when your friends go out for cocktails but this is a great NA drink featured at the Paradox Hotel (Solaire Poolside Bar) in Santa Cruz.  I am not exactly sure of the name of this drink but twice now I’ve just asked the bartender to make me a good NA drink and the photograph above shows off what they make! For your drinking friends, they do offer some local beers on draft (Santa Cruz Ale Works i.p.a. and amber ale) and wine too of course.  At the moment they only have Soju cocktails but they are inline for a liquor license beyond beer and wine.  We like munch on their Marcona almonds. You can order drinks and sit outside by their pool and sip away! Cocktail Bar Menu The Solaire does have a happy hour too: Solaire Happy Hour $5 Apps & Drinks Sunday – Thursday 4:00PM – 7:00PM Restaurant Hours- Open Daily Breakfast 7:00AM-11:30AM Lunch 11:30AM-5:00PM Dinner 5:00PM -10:00PM Happy Hour- 4:00PM- 7:00PM, SUN-THURS For reservations, please call (831) 600-4545. Linked Photos of the Pool

Food GPS - Food. Drinks. People. Gabe Gordon has been at the leading edge of the Los Angeles craft beer movement since his days at Royal Clayton’s, when the downtown Arts District was still in its infancy. The Santa Rosa native and longtime chef relocated to Seal Beach and created what’s become a craft beer beacon, Beachwood BBQ. In 2011, he and wife Lena Perelman opened Beachwood BBQ & Brewing with brewmaster and business partner Julian Shrago, expanding on the exacting Beachwood vision. On May 12, I interviewed Gordon over lunch in Long Beach, and he shared insights into why he’s become an industry leader. Is it possible to have a friend who’s not into food? No. I have not a single acquaintance that is not super into food, beer, wine, spirits, something. I eat my meals, and while I’m eating, I think about where to eat next. That’s how my family always was. When we’d go on vacation, we would think long and hard about going to a place that doesn’t have cuisine. Did you get into food or beer first? Food first. I really decided I wanted to be a chef at 16. Beer came slowly from 16 on. You can only get so much from 16 to 18. Where did you first start working in restaurants? My very first professional kitchen job was at Santa Barbara Brewing Company when I was 18, in college. Foreshadowing. Yeah. Kind of weird, ironic, right? The beer was terrible when I worked there. Is it still around? Yeah. And actually, the brewmaster there now, I believe is the only grand master BJCP judges on the West Coast. Or he holds some title that almost no one has. He’s a really, really knowledgeable, great brewer, who is brewing in the heart of college party central, and I think doesn’t necessarily get enough love because people our age don’t necessarily want to go drink with 18-year-olds. It makes it really hard to get the recognition when the bulk of people coming through your doors are tourists and college students. That’s not the easiest thing to do. If I’m going out for the night and want to drink great beer, I don’t know that I want to go where they’re blaring whatever the latest music is, so I think he’s got his work cut out for him as far as recognition. I don’t think he necessarily cares though. He makes really good beer. How important are titles to you, like beer judge, Cicerone, things like that? I’m really glad if you have them, and I think it’s amazing that you were able to sit and focus and study. My hat’s off to you. It’s great, but I don’t find it to be a necessity where we’re at I don’t feel like I need to go through that. It’s great if you have it. We’ll support any way we can. The offer stands. Any Cicerone, any sommelier, any of those programs that you want to do, you pay for them, you pass them, I’ll reimburse you. I completely support it. I love beer and I love wine and drink, but ultimately my focus falls on, I like learning hands on and not sitting, reading a book. It’s really cool. I just don’t have the focus to do it. My mind’s in too many places. School was never my strong point. I was a Philosophy major. I would have been really hard pressed to be an Engineering major, where things are expected of you at certain times. Other people structure for me. I have a hard time with it. That first level Cicerone thing, the server one. We require everyone to take it here, mostly as a way to kind of let people know who are new hires that we are serious about it. Their interpretation of it is that it’s a very serious thing. Secondly, it determines whether a day-to-day employee will want to continue their education. Thirdly, I want to support the Cicerone program. What better way to do it than continue to give it money? It’s good for the industry, and it’s the only thing we have, that’s standardized… To gauge that knowledge or commitment? Totally. Especially on that second level. If you’re a second level Cicerone, you studied. You worked hard for that. That means that you give a shit enough about this industry to want t

There a few weeks each year around mid-April to mid-May that I like to call the Great Fruit Drought. Citrus has peaked for the most part and we are awaiting the first stone fruit and cherries to come out of California. Thankfully I have made it through another drought and am starting to enjoy stone [...]The post What are Red Velvet Apricots? appeared first on Eat Like No One Else.

Image of Penner-Ash courtesy mrJasonWeaver via Flickr The calendar says that summer's coming soon, though the Portland skies — promising showers for the next two weeks straight, seriously just kill us now — might suggest otherwise. So obviously the solution is to drink your way into delusion, and thankfully, that same calendar also comes packed with the season's usual lineup of beer fests, wine tastings, and other assorted alcohol-fueled celebrations. Between summer's two big party weekends — Memorial Day and the Fourth of July — no fewer than nine boozy bashes will take place in the Portland metro area, hopefully allowing for a few outdoor occasions to soak up Vitamin-D (while your liver soaks up everything else). Whether you're celebrating a long weekend, need an accompaniment to an outdoor picnic, or just want to pour one out for Zoo Brew, join your fellow drinks at one of these early-summer events. Memorial Weekend in the Wine Country When: May 25 to 27 Where: Willamette Valley How Much: event prices vary More than 150 wineries throughout the Willamette Valley will throw open tasting room doors for the 23rd-annual "Weekend in the Wine Country" celebration, considered the official kick-off to tasting season and the valley's liveliest weekend of the year. Expect wineries from the Dundee Hills to Chehalem Mountain, the Eola-Amity Hills to McMinnville to compete for your tasting palate by offering special releases, vintage celebrations, and events featuring paired snacks and other booze-soaking edibles (think cheese. Lots of it). Plan a tasting route to discover events like wine-and-popcorn pairing (at Forest Grove's Montinore Estate), vineyard barbecues (at Salem's Redhawk Vineyard and Sherwood's Hawks View Cellars, among others), and tons of live music. Makers & Shakers When: June 6 Where: Ecotrust, 721 NW 9th Ave. How Much: $20 Toast warm weather the way urbanites in other cities do — by drinking on a rooftop — at Ecotrust's summer kick-off event Makers & Shakers, which takes over the building's rooftop terrace at twilight on Thursday, June 6. Five local distilleries (Clear Creek, New Deal, Big Bottom Whiskey, Stone Barn Brandyworks, and Vinn) will offer cocktail samples specifically paired with bites from five Portland catering companies. Wash it all down against a musical backdrop provided by the Brazillionaires, and know that your buzz helps benefit Ecotrust's ongoing community development programs. Portland Beer Week 2013 When: June 6 to 16 Where: various locations How Much: event prices vary Because this is Portland, designating a period of time "Beer Week" obviously results in a calendar that stretches a luxurious 11 days. This year's third-annual installment of Portland Beer Week features everything from pairing dinners to tap takeovers to events like the "Beer Games," which will see buzzed revelers competing against each other in a series of "bar games" that probably put trivia night to shame. The week gets underway with a June 6 kick-off party at NW's Lucky Lab and includes events like a beer-fueled StripCrawl, a beer-and-sandwich festival at Breakside Brewing, and a barrel-aged beer seminar. Start girding that liver now. Rye Beer Fest When: June 7 Where: EastBurn, 1800 E. Burnside How Much: tasting fees vary Bread and whiskey are pretty much pantry staples as far as we're concerned, but we'll admit that rye does magical things in other foodstuffs, as well. As part of Portland Beer Week, Taplister.com throws a fete dedicated solely to rye beer, or beers that substitute barley with rye in the malt. The second-annual festival dedicates its entire food and beverage menu to rye, featuring more than 19 rye beers (available by the pint and half-pint), rye cocktails, and bites that highlight the grain. Expect pours from Breakside, Boring Brewing, Base Camp, and Stone Brewing, among others. Portland Fruit Beer Festival When: June 8 and 9 Where: Burnside Brewing, NE Burnside a

[Krieger] SOHO — Paul Denamiel's French bistro Little Prince is now open for lunch, and brunch kicks off this Saturday. Check out the brunch menu below. [EaterWire] THE HAMPTONS — This year's Dan's Taste of Two Forks event will feature a culinary competition called GrillHampton, where New York chefs will battle Hamptons chefs. Geoffrey Zakarian is hosting. [Eater Hamptons] FOOD MEDIA — Gilt Taste is closing down after two years. An email went out to members today explaining that the products that were offered on Gilt Taste will now be offered on Gilt Home. The site stopped producing editorial content last fall. [Eater Hamptons] LP Brunch 05.23.13 by Eater NY

• Saturdays Surf NYC is partnering with La Colombe for a signature blend of iced coffee. The fusion of ingredients from Brazil, Ethiopia, and El Salvador will be available in the shops and online. [Grub Street] • After two years, Gilt Taste is closing. All products will now be sold through Gilt Home. [Eater] • SAVOR's American Craft Beer & Food Experience event is on June 14 and 15 in the Altman Building on West 18th Street, with food from San Francisco's the Monk's Kettle. Purchase tickets here. [Grub Street] • Murray's Cheese Bar is now serving lunch on Thursdays and Fridays. A flight of cheese is a fantastic mid-afternoon pick-me-up. [Grub Street] • Rosemary’s is debuting juices during breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch. The fresh-pressed beverages include carrot, apple and ginger, and green juice. [Grub Street] • It wouldn't be Memorial Day weekend without Rippers. The Rockaway Beach hot spot will open this Saturday. Hooray! [Grub Street] • Recently opened Soho spot Little Prince is adding lunch and brunch menus, with items like brioche pain perdu soaked in vanilla crème with berry compote and ricotta, and an exclusive "Nutella-esque" spread, created with Jacques Torres. [Grub Street] Filed Under: leftovers, food news, gilt taste, little prince, murray's cheese bar, new york, restaurants, rippers, rosemary's, saturdays surf nyc

Troya has a new chef at its Fillmore location: Kevin Davidson, who was previously a chef de cuisine at Foreign Cinema and more recently spent some time traveling. Previous chef Philip Busacco left amicably; he's taking time off to pursue an interest in photography. The Clement location's chef remains the same. [Tablehopper]

Welcome to Curbed Cuts, where Curbed SF editor Sally Kuchar shares the most important real estate stories of the week. Mark di Suvero's "Old Buddy (For Rosko)" at its new home on Crissy Field. [Photo via SFMOMA] CRISSY FIELD— This week, an outdoor exhibition of eight large sculptures by artist Mark di Suvero officially began its year-long residency on Crissy Field. The giant orange, steels structures span up to 50 feet high and 40 feet wide. As with all change (even temporary), there's a small group of neighbors that think the sculptures are a monstrosity, and have asked that the "eye-sores" be taken down. TENDERLOIN— The Lofts at Seven in the Tenderloin are ready for their close-up. What used to be home to KGO-TV Channel 7's West Coast broadcasting facilities is now gearing up to be 88 loft and studio rentals. BAY BRIDGE— Here's your first look at the almost completed east span of the Bay Bridge. Photos galore! INNER RICMHOND— Looking to buy in the very lovely Inner Richmond? We've rounded up the five least expensive properties currently for sale in the neighborhood. MISSION DOLORES— The corner of 15th and Dolores streets is now home to newly built condos. There's 13 total "boutique residences," and will likely be in the $1,000 per square foot price range. SOMA— Located under and adjacent to parts of the Central Freeway near Otis, Stevenson, and Valencia streets, a new 17,000 sq. ft. skate park and a 28,000 sq. ft. dog park and parking area have been approved. SAN FRANCISCO— The top three residential properties sales for the past seven days include a $2.995M penthouse in Russian Hill, a $3.2M 5-bedroom single-family home in Lower Pac Heights, and a $3.8M 5-bed single-family home in Presidio Heights. NOB HILL— The Marlow is the latest development to come to Nob Hill. It's located at 1800 Van Ness, and is a 98-unit mixed-use building with 4,900 square feet of commercial space. We've got renderings of the exterior and interior. The units are pricey, but that didn't stop the 18 pre-released units selling out completely in just eight days.