H29 delivers Great Wine in Bottle and on Tap with High Design
Stephen Chew likes to say that he is not a professional restaurateur. But with several years of success and multiple restaurants in his portfolio, one might want to question that premise. The newest project launched by him and his partners is called, H29 Coffee and Wine Bar, located in Burlingame, California (South of San Francisco and North of Palo Alto).
The cafe was named after the historic Highway 29 in Napa Valley, and the wine connection does not end there. The decor is sleek and industrialized, but in a warm and breathy wine-country theme. The rooms are divided in general between a streamlined “to-go” coffee shop which stays fairly busy during the day, and a larger restaurant and wine bar which serves food and wine for those who want to sit and take their time.
Says Stephen, “This space was originally another one of our restaurants, which we moved to another location. Then we used it as a kind of pop-up for Thai ‘river food.’ The food was good, but it took too much work to explain to people the difference between it and regular Thai food. So we decided to gut the space, event to the ceilings, and do something really different.”
One successful difference is that they have brought to the upscale town of Burlingame, flowing with tech and finance money, an affordable and stylish wine bar. Of course they have an extensive selection of vintages from which to chose, but what stands out most is their inexpensive yet high quality selection of wines on-tap. These includes labels such as Hahn and Liberty School.
The food is intriguing, and one of our favorites is the Cauliflower Risotto with Grilled Shrimp. The dish is made without rice, and uses the cauliflower as its base. The flavors mixed together have an appealing bite, and are quite appealing.
For anyone on the San Francisco Peninsula looking for a great glass of wine in a cool environment with tasty food and coffee, we recommend H29.
(650) 342-2992
The High Style Fashion Exhibition
TasteTV visits the opening gala for the High Style fashion exhibition, in San Francisco at the Legion of Honor.
This rare exhibition is on tour from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Costume Institute of the MoMA.
See TasteTV video feature here:
Spread the Love Jams and Jelly are Delicious
Marilyn Johnson may be a home cook, but thanks to the California’s Cottage Food law she is also now an official commercial jam maker, and her jams are worth a taste. Her firm, “Spread the Love Jams & Jellies,” is based south of San Francisco in Half Moon Bay, California.
We sampled three of her flavors to see if they stood out from the several other jams and jellies on the market. Marilyn uses a great deal of creativity in conceiving her creations. For example, she has flavors such as Apricot Pineapple, Pear Ginger, and Cranberry Habanero. However we felt what might really be a good test is to see how a staple flavor, like traditional Strawberry Jam, compared to others.
Fortunately we were not disappointed. The flavor was fresh, very present, and had a long mouth feel. In other words the flavor of strawberry lingered after you finished swallowing the taste. In addition, there was no need to put a large volume of jam on your medium (toast or crackers). Even a small amount spread to cover the entire surface, as well as deliver the full flavor of strawberry.
Says the company:
“We make our delectable jams with solely organic, non-GMO ingredients. All of the fruits used in our products were either bought directly from organic farms or wild harvested by the owner herself. For sweetening, Spread the Love uses low sugar non-GMO pectin and organic cane sugar.”
Based on this evaluation, our conclusion is that “Spread the Love Jams & Jellies” is indeed a welcome newcomer to the artisan confiture market.
Luxury Gifts for Guys – No. 2
If you are looking for a luxury gift for guys, with style and design, but also that gets the job done, these four brands might be a good start: Schrade Tactical Stylus Pens, Tactile Turn Mover & Shaker Pens, Crabtree & Evelyn, and Agraria San Francisco.
Moon Cheese Snacks combine high-tech and tasty fromage
How difficult do you think if could be to dehydrate a slice of cheese, then make it crispy and put it in a bag for the world to enjoy? Quite a bit, it turns out. So much so that a new technology had to be utilized for Moon Cheese Snacks to be created and launched.
The joint partnership that owns Moon Cheese, NutraDried, says they have “crunchified” the actual cheese in the product, which is pretty much the only ingredient: Cheddar Cheese [Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes, Annatto (Vegetable Color)].
Says the firm: “Dr. Tim Durance, Chairman and co-CEO, EnWave Corporation is the innovator behind the company’s dehydration technology. While at the University of British Columbia in 1996, Dr. Durance developed the first prototype Radiant Energy Vacuum (“REV”) machine for dehydrating food and nutraceuticals…Using patented technologies we remove only the moisture from cheese while keeping all the nutrition and flavour.”
There are currently three flavors of Moon Cheese available: American Cheddar, Pepper Jack and Gouda
There are about 200 stores in North America where you can find it, such as at Kroger’s Fred Meyer and Quality Food Centers stores across Washington, Idaho and Oregon, plus online here:
