The food gods rarely give second chances. But to many pho devotees, their prayers have been answered with the re-opening of Pho Ha Noi in Little Saigon’s brand-new, upscale Vietnam Town plaza. Pho Ha Noi was a beloved pho shop on Capitol Expressway that inexplicably…
Articles by Kathy Manlapaz
A sandwich shop in the South Bay really needs something special to separate itself from the herd. Danny Orozco, owner of Genuine Heros, thinks he has that something in the signature recipes he’s been developing the past 15 years. In-house slow-roasted meats, house-made sauces and Italian…
Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, Palo Alto’s new French bistro, Les Bizous, is a strange bird. The restaurant was taken over by a relative of the owners of Crawfish Fusion, which recently closed. To go from serving finger-licking crawfish out of a plastic…
Brandon Poon is no stranger to the risks and rewards of opening a new restaurant. His family opened Chinese restaurant Express 7 in Mountain View just before 2000. Two years ago, Poon branched out to open Buffalo on Castro Street, which I’ve had the pleasure…
Growing up in a family of Middle Eastern descent, I used to place an embargo on any food that resembled home cooking. There was no way it could compare to Mom’s, right? Over the years, my opinion has changed. I’ve slowly come to realize that…
Oysters: an aphrodisiac so divine that people risk their lives eating them raw. Jim Stump knows the key to our hearts when it comes to these slippery bivalves. At his latest restaurant, Forthright Oyster Bar and Kitchen, the veteran chef and restaurateur, who also owns The…
Il Fornaio at the Westin Hotel, formerly the historic Hotel Sainte Claire, has been a fixture in downtown San Jose for decades. Its luxurious interior and authentic Italian menu can easily be seen as a one-of-a-kind premium establishment. In fact, there are actually 23 locations…
Los Gatos a new brewpub that aims to satiate the South Bay’s appetite for booze and bites. While there is no shortage of establishments offering craft beers and food, few are actual breweries. Loma Brewing Company is one of these few, with silos on-site at their…
“Fast casual gastropubs” will not yield much in the way of search results. Even Google hasn’t caught-up with the ingenious mind of Louis Silva, of Naglee Park Garage fame. Silva and his partner, Long Nguyen, envisioned their newest restaurant endeavor, Park Station Hashery, as “a…
The day was exceedingly pleasant in between fits of rain. Mr. Harada and I decided to mount our off-road unicycles and do some 1×1 riding. Tire pressure: check. Disc brakes: tuned nicely. Carbon disk wheels: straight. Performance analysis apps: touched to start. It took several…
