Kika's Treats

I don't really recall the first place I encountered Kika's Treats.  It might have been at a local artisan's market.  It might have been at the La Cocina kiosk in the Ferry Building.  I'm really not sure, but I think I discovered Kika's Treats fairly on when they were getting started, and I've watched the product line grow and grow. Kika's Treats is a local SF company, started by a woman (nicknamed, as you might have guessed, Kika) from Brazil.  She...

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Waffling Leftovers: Zuni Cafe Inspired Bread Salad

San Francisco has many classic restaurants considered "institutions", one of which, no doubt, is Zuni Cafe.  Zuni opened in 1979 (!), and has quite the history (the original kitchen literally was just a toaster oven, espresso machine, and grill in a back alley!).  The menu has changed a lot of the years, including many years as mostly a Mexican restaurant, but in 1987 when chef Judy Rodgers took over, things evolved, and she introduced a wood-fired...

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Rise: Element Boston Seaport

Another day, another hotel breakfast buffet.  That is what it feels like to me sometimes these days.  I've been doing a lot of travel. My recent adventures took me back to the Boston area, which of course you have read about many times as my family lives in the northeast and I visit several times a year.  This time I was headed to New Hampshire, but not to see my family (well, not entirely).  I was headed to a recruiting event, and needed to get...

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Pizza from Buca Di Beppo

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Buca di Beppo. Large format, family style, chain restaurant, Americanized Italian, yadda, yadda, yadda, but, really, it isn't *that* bad. Signage. Ok, their signs are bad.  As is the cheesy "Italian" music blasting out onto the side.  And, granted, I've only been to Buca di Beppo a couple times. The first time was a rehearsal dinner for a wedding in Seattle, and the only thing I really remember is that Ojan loved the baked ziti....

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