After a year of perfecting recipes, father-daughter duo Janelle Loiselle and Greg Bernson’s Jewish café and deli finally opened in San Anselmo’s Red Hill Shopping Center. Mazal tov!
The house made pastrami makes its way onto a brioche breakfast sandwich and the cheese blintzes are said to be as good as my Aunt Adrienne’s. Whoever your “bubbie” is, traditional Jewish foods for breakfast, lunch and nosh include bagel with chopped liver or whitefish, challah French toast, matzo ball soup, and braised brisket with latkes. Holiday menus are available, too!
Owner and Kentfield resident Brian Bowen opened his hand made gelato pop-up in the food court at Northgate Mall in October. A full-time, work-from-home software engineer, Bowen spent years in food service and sought a way to connect with his community. With help from pastry chef Kristi Gauslow, artisan gelato and vegan sorbets emerge from Carpigiani machines in a rotating assortment of seasonal flavors like Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake, Brown Butterscotch Pecan, Pomegranate Sorbet, and Malted Milk Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs.
The run-away best seller so far? “Vanilla,” laughed Bowen. That could be because Bowen’s recipe includes fragrant vanilla beans and house made vanilla extract and, like all flavors, it is housed in a Pozzetti case until its sold. “We’re 100% about texture and these cases maintain the perfect texture,” Bowen says. Need I mention that waffle cones are house made and this month’s featured Thickshake flavor is Apple Pie? Tastes on cute little spoons are definitely encouraged.
After years of living in San Francisco, "Top Chef" star Ryan Scott settled in San Anselmo in 2019. During Covid, Scott started feeding firemen which led to a mobile kitchen project. “The trailer sat in storage for two years because my catering business was taking off,” Scott says. The chef, who says he will not do a restaurant again, finds happiness in the confines of the tiny trailer. “I love morning. I love lunch. It’s such an opportunity to show a mighty impact with a tiny space,” Scott says.
The menu features breakfast and lunch dishes pulled from Scott’s American culinary repertoire. Blueberry souffle pancakes and chicken and biscuit with Old Bay aioli are available alongside a corn and quinoa salad, sourdough beet burger with vegan cheese, or chef’s signatures: cornflake-crusted fried chicken sando and mac & cheese, this time inside spring rolls. The drinks menu includes drip coffee, cappuccino, and pineapple skin iced tea. Chef wouldn’t have it any other way. “It is riveting. I haven’t been this happy about food in 20 years,” he says.
While we eagerly await the return of the Boat Shack in 2025, let’s welcome new Executive Chef Matt Alfus to the West Marin favorite.
After honing his chops at Chicago’s first sustainable butcher (The Butcher & Larder), and immersing himself in avant-garde cuisine at Alinea Group’s one-Michelin restaurant Next, Alfus dove deep into an appreciation of West Coast oysters at Hog Island Oyster Co. Like chef Cosentino before him, Alfus plans to honor the restaurant’s character and focus on simplicity and seasonality. Don’t worry, Nick’s BBQ oysters and Nick’s Cove cioppino are eternal.
FYI, Nick’s Cove placed number one last year on Travel & Leisure’s 10 Best New Resorts in the US for its “delightful seafaring-inspired wallpaper, vintage clawfoot tubs, cozy wood-burning stoves, and plush beds.” Even if you don’t stay the night, you can enjoy the views over Tomales Bay from one of the waterfront patios or inside by the fire.
Already known for their fried fish sandwich and shrimp tacos, the food at Dillon Beach Resort’s Coastal Kitchen restaurant is about to get a bivalve bump.
New Executive Chef Zachary Agas, who comes to Dillon Beach Resort from Petaluma’s bivalve house, The Shuckery, will still source greens from the farmers market. New dishes, like mussels and clams in a garlic and white wine broth, cioppino with crab, mussels, clams, and local rock cod; Creole style gumbo, and – yes – Hog Island oysters.
Look for Kumamotos zhuzhed up with paprika, lemon zest, and Dijon, olive oil and oregano, whole crabs in season and, on the side of land proteins, take-and-bake meals of ham and turkey for Thanksgiving.
