1) Two of our local bests — Ernest & The Morris participated in JFOODO's Sake Harmony Weeks in SF, LA & NYC.
As sake fanatic a good 25 yrs, I'm always about sake pairings with every food. Thankfully, you'll find plenty of this in SF but I'd love to see Sake Harmony annually & in more cities.
Newer Carlotta's in Hotel Julian wins with Hitchcock theme (Vertigo was filmed here!), sweet staff, soothing lobby lounge, old movies & courtyard. Cocktails are generally straightforward. Made You Look was the best of my visit... in my latest dining guide: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/where-to-e...
On the enchanting, humble island of Burano in the Venetian Lagoon... just down the way yet worlds away from Venice, Burano's quiet, fishing village with simple wood bridges along its canals & brightly colored houses lit up my rainy October stay.
Dungeness crab-shaoxing wine crab butter take on cheung fun, bao buns in rosé wine chicken liver mousse & coppa... England-born, Hong Kong-raised chef James Yeun Leong Parry brings 2+3 Michelin star experience to new modern Chinese SF standout, Happy Crane virginiamiller.substack.com/p/sf-is-domi...
1) Like Christmas bar pop-ups, before 10/31, I checked out national Halloween Black Lagoon from industry vets Erin Hayes & Kelsey Ramage, in its 5th year. In 38 cities, locally was at Alicia Walton's special Dogpatch neighborhood bar, The Sea Star #SF, decked out for Halloween: blacklagoonpopup.com
Chicken heads to daisy sphere cocktails... the unparalleled, 6-hour experience of Alchemist in Copenhagen goes well beyond restaurant. Here, with innovative chef Rasmus Munk:
From creative salads to crudo, the menu reads somewhat straightforward at Sekoya, but chef Jason Johnson is quietly doing some of the more consistent food in Palo Alto at this elevated comfort food & cocktail lounge.
San Francisco & New Orleans are the two best cities for Halloween: look/feel, decor on old homes+creative costumes (shout out to David S. Pumpkins dude flinging candy from his stoop). Trick-or-treating w/ fam in "newer" (1920s-50s) homes of SF's Sunset (not shown: magic 1800s homes of my own 'hood).
I'm CRAZY about Danish smørrebrød. I love Palaegade & smorrebrod like red pickled herring with berries, creme fraiche, onion. Don’t skip the aquavit, like house dill & pepper distilled by Radius or Nordic Ethanol dill, flowers, white currant. My CPH guide: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/copenhagen...
DJs/band members from Massive Attack, Portishead and Thievery Corporation?! This was the nightly experience & level at chefs/fine dining/drink Ein Prosit festival in Udine, Italy, a couple weeks ago — a peek into & description of the week: youtu.be/Jt4NJCvb0ig.
2) Expect culinary ingredients like red bean or mustard. My favorite initial cocktail? Rosy Dawn, delicately but intentionally weaving Sipsmith Gin, coconut-fig leaf-rhubarb cordial, jasmine, cherry liqueur, all subtly carbonated.
At new modern Chinese SF standout, The Happy Crane, alongside sommelier Justin Chin's luxurious wine pairings, bar manager Carolyn Kao collaborated w/ none other than lauded N. America 50 Best Bars’ Pacific Cocktail Haven founder Kevin Diedrich & it shows. virginiamiller.substack.com/p/sf-is-domi...
Killer wine selection with modern New Nordic-Indian Food from a Noma alum, chef Dhriti Arora? Why her food at Bar Vitrine — a tiny, single communal table wine bar — is my top new casual dining spot in Copenhagen.
I'm a featured expert on World of Mouth app alongside chefs & industry I respect globally www.worldofmouth.app/experts
Download the app to follow my growing SF+ guides in categories from tacos to Middle Eastern (here, a fave underrated Mission taqueria) www.worldofmouth.app/experts/virginia-miller
At new modern Chinese destination, The Happy Crane SF, James Yeun Leong Parry's play on firecracker shrimp stole the show. Head-on shrimp is wrapped in shiso & nori in subtly numbing mala glaze (Sichuan peppercorn+chili) & Korean gamtae seaweed. My review: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/sf-is-domi...
Whisk(e)y time in Distiller Magazine: in addition to Scotch, I review Castle & Key 6yr Small Batch Bourbon, already winning gold medals + collector’s favorite @michterswhiskey.bsky.social 2025 editions of Bomberger’s KY Straight Bourbon & Shenk’s KY Sour Mash Whiskey:
The Wong family opened their Stonestown Galleria Le Soleil, an offshoot of the original 1993 Inner Richmond Vietnamese institution. The new spot has low-proof cocktails, like Strawberry Matcha with matcha foam over a strawberry aperitif. Le Soleil reviewed virginiamiller.substack.com/p/where-to-e...
2) I'll eventually write about Hiša Franko: virginiamiller.substack.com, but for now, Fall visions in Slovenia, recalling past visits to neighboring sister Austria, including this "blast from the past" pic 12 years ago this month in Salzburg on an unforgettable trip with my parents.
