Are you celebrating Dry January? Did you make any resolutions for 2026? I looked back at my 2025 to-do's and fared ok.
Here in NorCal, our recent rains created epic flooding. Blame the perigree moon, KingTides and – let's not forget – good ol' sea level rise thanks to melting glaciers elsewhere on our green planet. Everything from homes and cars to highways and bike paths near my house was underwater. Neighborhoods were islands, boxed in by rising water. Climate change is happening and it is coming for the coasts first. Is your family's emergency kit ready for action? Making one is a good New Year's resolution, if you are still considering one for 2026.
That's enough gloom for my intro. If your spirit – like mine – needs some support (January is always an odd character, even without flooding, fires, or whatever comes next), I've got an assortment of food (and drink!) events to lift the mood. And finally – finally! – I'm catching up and sharing some of my late 2025 restaurant adventures. Expect more of those in February's issue.
And, now that we've hit '26, my newsletter cadence returns to its monthly norm. You may have noticed this one arrives a week later than usual. I, too, am feeling January-level energy.
What's Hot:
Not all together and not all at the same time. These are just a few of the food and food-adjacent events that have caught my attention in the first weeks of the year.
Defying the on-going small plates trend, Barcha, in San Francisco' FiDi neighborhood, is opening its doors on Friday and Saturday evenings to big group energy and family-sized portions with Weekend Feasts.
Begin the meal with three mezze (muhammara, baba ghanoush, marinated cucumber, eggplant caponata, and the like), then choose an entrée:
If you've been following me for a while, you know I lead a gluten-free and dairy-free life. I was delighted to learn that Salt & Straw,the Portland-based ice cream company, launched two vegan and gluten-free flavors in January.
Called "The Vegandulgence Series," the January menu at all their scoop shops includes:
Black Forest Ice Cream Cake – the classic Bavarian dessert layers chocolate cake with coconut frozen yogurt, swirled with tart cherry jam and crystallized cacao nib crumble.
If True Laurel, had a doppelgänger in New York City, it would be Shinji's, an 18-seat cocktail bar in Flatiron with a similarly tiny but mighty team known for crafting highly technical, custom-designed drinks.
For one night only (and in collaboration with Nikka Whisky, bartenders Bobbi Adler and Gerald Cullhai are heading West to whip up a selection of cocktails from Shinji's menu, including:
Sumac Society (NA) Seedlip Grove, Sumac, Freeze Dried Raspberry, Yuzu, Egg White Powder
Though I could not find out the matching food items, the team there promises that there will be an à la carte menu focused on yakitori and accompanying dishes, from chefs Te'Sean Glass and David Barzelay.
At Glen Ellen's Songbird Parlour in Sonoma, Executive Chef Miller McRae welcomes fellow Saison alumnus, Shawn Phillips, to the kitchen for a one night only, six-course experience.
Phillips' Michelin pedigree (Atelier Crenn, The French Laundry, Alinea, Saison) leans into haute cuisine without the fuss, a perfect match for the low-key vibes of Songbird Parlour where only the "u" in its name is pretentious. Expect dishes like smoked squab with Jamaican banana gastrique from Phillips alongside McRae's ingredient-driven signatures like green curry scallops with bomba rice.
Other dishes include chicken and waffles with chicken liver pâté and hot honey, Tomales Bay oysters with smoked roe, kanpachi tiradito with satsuma leche, and slow-cooked cabbage with sweet potato cornbread.
Nothing quite screams "It's January m***er f***ers!" like learning about that most classic of all NA beverages, water. Lead by cocktail writer and educator Camper English, the class begins by looking deep into the soul of tap water, including the local stuff and bottled tap waters like Dasani and Aquafina, before discussing and measuring the dissolved solids (TDS) in water.
Then really nerd out on H2O by tasting regionally-sourced bottled waters, categorizing them, and learning how waters differ according to source, mineral makeup, TDS, pH and more.
Plentiful tastings are guaranteed.
Class takes place in an office on the 6th floor of the Mechanics Institute Library in San Francisco.
7 Adams’ chefs David Fisher and Serena Chow Fisher are kicking off a year-long dinner series that features the Fishers dueling with Michelin-starred chefs in their Fillmore District (San Francisco) restaurant kitchen.
Each dinner will present a six-course menu designed jointly by the visiting chef and the Fishers, including dueling canapés, alternating savory courses, and dessert.
The series opens with Chef Jassimran Singh of New York City’s Crown Shy.
I like to kick off a new year not only looking forward (and cleaning out my closet) but looking back. What thrilled me about the year just passed? What did I achieve (and were my goals achievable). Revivifying the best things I ate is a celebration of the broader food community. And it's a reminder, that amidst the slop of online everything, our palate is entirely human and irreplaceable.
And so, here are 13 dishes that tickled my palate in 2025. I call them #bestbites in my digital landscapes. Some were "ordinary" dishes that a chef took to new places using exacting technique. Others expressed the thrill of the unexpected, from fermentation or fresh use of a familiar ingredient, to something so perfectly in season, it achieved the sublime. All were memorable.
You already know I started a podcast. My fifth episode is up. It's me chatting with Chef Preeti Mistry of Napa's Silver Oak Winery. We chat about how Chef changed Indian food in America, about being a chef at heart, and their path back to cooking full-time and bringing flavor to their seasonal, four-course tasting menu – Chef's Table – at the acclaimed winery.
Will you please take a listen and send me thoughts about what you like (or not)? As ever, be kind in your comments. Constructive criticism is what I am after here, not a takedown.
Restaurants On My RADAR
After too many years of writing about the Bay Area food scene, I finally made it to Thanh Long in San Francisco's Outer Sunset. Of course we ordered the Roast Crab and Garlic Noodles as well as Spicy Eggplant and Crispy Rice Paper Rolls. And, while I can't say I was blown away by the crab's garlicky-peppery flavor (we were there a few weeks before the local season officially opened), I was blown over by the cost of each crustacean (north of $80). It was, indeed, a special night out.
In Japantown, fellow food writer Larissa Zimberoff and I sampled the eight-course tasting manu at HED 11. We both loved the pacing of the meal – start to finish in two hours, ideal on a school night, without feeling rushed. the Sea Crab Dip in Red Curry was addictive – briny, sweet, spicy, creamy – and I loved the textures in rice wine-marinated Duck with red curry and lychee. But the winner of the evening was Watermelon Salad. I haven't asked Chef Saint how he infuses so much flavor into the famously sweet and liquidy fruit but the fried shallots, crispy fish bits – and, is that crispy rice? – atop the glistening cubes made for a fresh, late fall experience.
Have you been to the stretch of 9th Ave between Lincoln and Irving in San Francisco's Inner Sunset lately? The block is crawling with heavy hitters like Marnee Thai (one of the first restaurants I visited when I moved to San Francisco in 1998), Fiorella Sunset, and Tartine. On the north side of the street, is relative newcomer Caché, a French bistro I wish was within walking distance of my house.
Why? It's got the neighborhood feel – clean looking yet cozy, a bar burbling with locals sipping aperitif – and a seafood-forward menu that feels fresh and tastes inspired. I can't remember the last time I had an anchoïade that balances pickled and fresh veg with drizzles of tartar sauce and another drizzle made of the little fishes. Green pea soup was dotted with fresh raspberries (ah! The many seasons of California produce!), and I could eat every bite of a buckwheat maple syrup tart. Yum.
Have you tried the Green Beans at Sunnyvale'sValley Goat? Seared then tossed with fish sauce vinaigrette, they are crunchy with plentiful umami and a hint of sweetness. I nearly ate the whole plate of 'em myself. I like how Stephanie Izard interprets global flavors, making them seem entirely American. She pairs pickled jalapeños with yuzu kosho vinaigrette and tons of fresh herbs on Tomato Salad and layers toasty pecans and cripsy quinoa in a Tuna Poke Salad that's unlike any I've ever had. Plus the space, which features a long bar and a patio that is at the center of the Treehouse Hotel, is bursting to the brim with energy. Can't say there's anything like it in the neighborhood!
About That Image
When I visited Silver Oak in November, I was stunned by chef Preeti Mistry's elegant use of vanilla with seafood in a dish of scallops and parsnip purée, so much so that the dish made my Best Bites of 2025. The winery's Chef's Table setting is moody and spirited, the multi-course menu a thrill of flavors. The experience and the meal were a memorable way to cap a day in wine country.
Thanks for reading and be in touch.
Christina
Christina Mueller
Lifestyle journalist and marketing consultant. Creative storytelling at the top of the funnel for lifestyle and hospitality brands and businesses. How can I help your business tell its story? cmw@christinamueller.com
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