BELLYBOUND

French toast

Bocanova, Oakland, CA

Bocanova is a waterfront restaurant in Oakland's Jack London Square, also known as our new neighborhood! Serving weekend brunch, lunch, and dinner with a latin american flair, Bocanova has something for everyone. 

Chicken & Waffle

The Pear Southern Bistro, Napa, CA

The Pear is a casual restaurant on the "riverfront" in downtown Napa. This version of chicken and waffles ($18) is a far cry from the buttery, homey version at Roscoe's. But hey, it looks pretty! 

Tsunami fries

Lolita’s Taco Shop, Bonita, CA

Whenever anyone asks me what they should eat in San Diego, I tell them that they MUST go to Lolita’s and order carne asada fries. I grew up eating this San Diego specialty, made of french fries topped with the best carne asada, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and hot sauce. 

Lolita’s recently kicked it up a notch by offering tsunami fries, which is carne asada fries topped with perfectly cooked shrimp. My life will never be the same.

Crispy feta with kabocha puree, brown butter chestnuts and crispy kale

Mason Pacific, San Francisco, CA

Silly us. We were debating over parmesan potato skins or this dish. You can't go wrong with roasted potatoes with cheese, but this dish was so delicate and flavorful that we licked the bowl clean. The little additions of pepita, balsamic and orange peel really rounded out the flavors. 

We have a reputation with our friends as non-leafy green eaters, so when Jeremy saw the one leaf of kale, he commented, "That is the perfect amount of kale for this dish." 

Tonkotsu ramen with chashu pork belly

Homemade!

Pani Puri

Vik's Chaat, Berkeley, CA

We didn't eat much Indian food in Southern California, so it's been exciting to try so many new-to-us dishes at this amazing Indian restaurant in Berkeley. I've called it the "ideal" restaurant. Good for groups, free parking, vegan/vegetarian-friendly, accepts credit cards, not pretentious, and tons of actual Indian people as customers. The fact that it's just a couple miles away is just icing on the cake.

This is pani puri, which are puffed pieces of dough that you stuff with potatoes, garbanzo beans, and tamarind chutney, then eaten with a spicy, minty sauce. So much texture and flavor in one little bite! 

Vik's Chaat

Salty beef and crispy pork noodle

Classic Guilin Rice Noodles, Oakland, CA

Oakland Chinatown isn't nearly as much of a tourist hub as San Francisco's, which is a good thing because the food caters to locals and isn't marked up. Classic Guilin Rice Noodles recently opened, and it's one of our favorite spots in the neighborhood. This outpost is one of a small chain, with other locations  in Guangxi, Shanghai, and Nanyang.

Guilin food hails from Guangxi province in China. The menu features a list of guilin mi fen (rice noodles), with your choice of proteins. Each bowl comes with a soy sauce egg, pickled green beans, peanuts, garlic and scallion. A small cup of beef broth is served on the side. Prices range from $5.50 to $7. 

Ricotta gnudi, garlic braised pork meatballs, sage

SPQR, San Francisco, CA

SPQR was finally awarded a Michelin star in 2013 and deservedly so. The food is outstanding. I loved the casual ambiance inside this restaurant on Fillmore Street, including the Motown music that played during the meal. Weekend lunch offers a three course meal for $34, which is a steal considering this course alone goes for $23 on the regular menu. 

SPQR

Open for dinner nightly, lunch on weekends.

Red velvet pancakes

Cinnamon's, Kailua, Hawaii

When it comes to brunch in Oahu, there are two very popular places in Kailua that are often recommended. We prefer Cinnamon's. These red velvet pancakes are ridiculous! They also offer fusion-y breakfast fare, like Kalua pork benedict and a Chinese omelet with char siu. I'm also partial to places that offer bottomless iced coffee. 

Cinnamon's Restaurant

Mussels and frites

Ice cream sundae

Fentons Creamery, Oakland, CA

Fentons is an institution here, famously immortalized in Pixar's movie, Up. 

Hush puppies with honey butter

Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen, Berkeley

Southern food is sort of a new thing for us, as there weren't many restaurants in San Diego that offer this type of fare. Although we eat at Brenda's in San Francisco fairly often, we stick with our favorites, the biscuits, shrimp and grits, and beignets. We obviously can't compare the dishes at Angeline's to the real deal, but we loved everything we ate at Angeline's, including these hush puppies with honey butter.

Reservations are available on OpenTable. Good for groups. Open for dinner every day and lunch every day but Monday.

Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen

2261 Shattuck Avenue

Berkeley, CA 94704

Albacore Tuna Tataki

ICHI Sushi, San Francisco

This delicate dish features seared albacore tuna, sudachi, shallot, shiso vinaigrette, micro greens, and fried shallot. ($12.95)

ICHI Sushi is a tiny restaurant in Bernal Heights serving the freshest sustainable sushi in traditional preparations. Although we usually stay clear of sushi restaurants that are not run by Japanese people, the food here was excellent.  The menu also boasts a selection of cold and hot plates, and the pork belly should not be missed.  

3369 Mission Street, San Francisco CA 94110

(415) 525-4750

Shrimp Scampi

Potato Chip Cookies

By Jenn

Okay, this is actually my mom's recipe, which she adapted from a couple she found in a cookie book and a magazine. They are my favorite cookies she's ever made, and my mom is the queen of cookies. I think butterscotch chips are underutilized and they pair so perfectly with the saltiness of the potato chips!

Ingredients:

  2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c. packed light brown sugar

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. coarse salt

4 cups crushed salted potato chips 

1 cup pecans (or walnuts), toasted and coarsely chopped

1.5 cups butterscotch chips

  1.  Preheat oven to 375  F. Beat together butter, sugars with a mixer on high speed, 2--3 minutes.  Add vanilla and eggs.

  2.  Add flour, baking soda and salt and beat on low speed until just combined.  Stir in 2 cups of potato chips, butterscotch chips  and the nuts.

  3.  Roll dough into 2 inch balls, then roll the balls in remaining potato chips to coat.  Then sprinkle cookies with just a little bit of coarse salt on top (optional). Don't add too much!