Every year, January feels like a month of transition. Work is either slam-a-jama (like this year) or very quiet (like 2021). Those New Year resolutions don’t start themselves but it takes a minute to figure out how to work them into the daily routine. Plus, it’s the Ordinary Time (capitals for the Catholics) between Epiphany and Fat Tuesday. Blerg. What’s a girl to do? Write and eat. Repeat.

1. What’s Hot

Though the non-alcoholic drinks trend is hot (and I wrote about it – twice! – last year) I am definitely not someone who gives up alcohol for the month of January. Maybe during Lent, but probably not then, either. Instead, I double-down, looking for places to enjoy a well-crafted boozy beverage as I did for Eater San Francisco in  Where to Drink Anything But Wine in Napa, Sonoma and Marin.

2. The Best Of 2022

Many restaurants close for a reset during the first few weeks of the year, making it a good time to reflect on all the excellent eating of the year past. My 2022 Best Bites list hit 14, with a further 22 on the “Other Exceptional Dishes” list. I want to go back to them all and eat everything again.

3. Bakeries

January also seems to be a month when readers are thinking about baked goods. I poked into the nooks and crannies to find the big and small bakers contributing to the Marin baking scene in a piece for Marin Magazine. And, in my first published piece for SFGATE, which focused on Mill Valley, readers wrote in to demand expanded coverage of the town’s thriving baking scene. So it goes…

4. Get Featured

Interested in being a part of this newsletter or featured in one of my publications? Drop me a line or reach out on IG and let’s see what we can make happen.

5. About That Image

I have the good fortune of living next to someone who shares my delight in the local food shed. My neighbor, Mark, fishes for crab, salmon and other goodies from the Pacific. He dropped off a bucket of whole crab for my family just before 2022 turned to 2023. My in-kind plums, lemons and tomatoes seem too meager a response to what the ocean has to offer. I consider myself lucky, today and every day, for the food community I am a part of. Thank you!

How are you faring with your new year’s resolutions?

Until the saints come marching in,

Christina