Umami Mart

Khoi and Laura took me to this great little coffee spot, The Sentinal, in the SOMA district in downtown SF. They served good, strong coffee, and delicious morning pastries. But what makes this place most distinctive was the use of their tiny sliver of a storefront space- the layout was quite impressive considering they didn’t […]

I am back from my trip to CA and WA. It was nice hanging out with mom, but 10 straight days was a bit too much. Eating out every meal for 10 days was not cool either. I did have good meals, but not as much as I could have. Mom also cooks like me, […]

I am in SFO this week with my mom. Surprisingly mother is doing pretty well despite 17 hour time difference between here and Japan. We are having a very good time, especially in terms of the dining scene. I will blog all about it once I get back to New York, but I had to […]

Hard to believe that in my little hometown of Cupertino, CA, there is a world renowned winery tucked deep into the hillside. Cupertino is a part of the Silicon Valley- it’s where you can find 1 Infinite Loop aka Apple HQ; and all sorts of other hi-tech companies within a 15 mile radius (turn right […]

I’m back this week with my lady Vanessa’s fridge. You may recall that I went through V’s fridge a few weeks ago, as she was moving out of her SF apartment- here’s her fridge, just as fun as her freezer was! Fish sauce! I remember this just sat in my cupboard for a few years […]

This week, I’ve gone into my girl Vanessa’s fridge, who lives in San Francisco at the moment. She has moved since these pictures were taken, so you will be looking at what was eventually all thrown out. Sad! But I think that as a generation of transients and constant apartment movers, we all have this […]

On the subject of south asian/central asian/middle eastern cuisine, Tmonkey’s Nice & Spicey post reminded me that for the first time ever, I had Afghani food a few weeks ago in San Jose (Sunnyvale, if you want to be specific). I had never thought to check out this mysterious little place called Afghani House- which […]

They say that NY is the dining capital of the world- but what is the glory of that if you can’t even find decent burrito here? Mexican food in NY is so pathetic it makes me want to cry. So when in San Francisco, you must get your burrito on whenever you possibly can- yes, […]

Spent a day in San Francisco with my girl Vanessa- we walked around Hayes Valley, and stepped into this charming little candy shop, Miette. It’s a colorful fantasyland for anyone with a serious sweet tooth- you’re transported to a candy shop from the 1950s, with a huge selection of candies and chocolates, plus beautiful, organic […]

This is ridiculously overdue, being the last post in my California Soul series which began two months ago (!). Putting together this video has been haunting me, and I finally buckled down and worked on it for your viewing pleasure. It took me all Sunday to make it, so you better friggin love it! I […]