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San Francisco Chronicle Food & Home – Spoken Edition

Focused on trends in style, food, wine/spirits, design and travel, the San Francisco Chronicle publishes fresh storytelling and service journalism that resonates with our unique Northern Californian culture. Our coverage ranges from rich entertainment and insight, along with access to the region’s influential and creative people and institutions. It’s high-end fashion, society events, Michael Bauer’s restaurant reviews, wine recommendations, and great trend reporting on food and drink. A SpokenEdition transforms written content into human-read audio you can listen to anywhere. It’s perfect for times when you can’t read – while driving, at the gym, doing chores, etc. Find more at www.spokenedition.com

Latest Episodes:

Are San Francisco restaurants too loud? A new app helps diners navigate the noise Dec 20, 2018

Show notes

Thanks to a weeklong survey, an app that measures the noise level in bars and restaurants can now prove what some diners have complained about for years: Bay Area restaurants are too darn loud. In fact, they’re right up there, decibel-wise, with Midtown Manhattan’s. SoundPrint, an iPhone app founded by Oakland native Gregory Scott, incorporates a calibrated decibel meter as well as an interactive, searchable map of businesses with ratings (www.soundprint.co).

Ultimate Guide: The best restaurants around Union Square Dec 19, 2018

Show notes

As the holiday shopping frenzy approaches peak levels, here are our dining picks if you’re planning to brave the crowds in and around Union Square. Akiko’s Whether you go with the chef’s omakase menu or order by the piece, there’s no better sushi in neighborhood. Try the deep-fried soft shell crab and yellowtail collar. 431 Bush St., 415-397-3218 or www.akikosrestaurant.com.

Repertoire: Cabbage panade won’t win a beauty contest so it seduces with caramelized onions and gooey cheese Dec 18, 2018

Show notes

Brutti ma buoni — ugly but good — is a favorite Italian expression, and a pretty fair summation of my life as of late. But in spite of how messy my days look and feel, the season of beauty has arrived. It’s time for decking the halls, for cookies dressed in sparkling sugar, for beef Wellingtons crowned with golden caps of puff pastry. And in contrarian fashion I’ve concluded it’s time to tell you about one of the very ugliest recipes in my repertoire.

Marshawn Lynch’s new restaurant and lounge, Rob Ben’s, opens this week in Emeryville Dec 17, 2018

Show notes

Christmas stockings hang on the wall near the entrance of Rob Ben’s, Marshawn Lynch’s new restaurant in Emeryville. Across from the stockings is a newly-built black bar surrounded by sleek wood and glass shelving. Above it all are new lights and a framed No. 24 Oakland Raiders jersey, giving the space a chic, sports lounge feel. In the parking lot is a barbecue smoker, so large it has to be carried on a trailer.

Shake Shack’s first Bay Area restaurant opens Dec. 15 in Palo Alto Dec 14, 2018

Show notes

Less than a year after announcing its West Coast expansion plans, Shake Shack will open in Palo Alto on Dec. 15. It’s the first outpost of the famed New York burger chain to open in the Bay Area. Tucked away inside the Stanford Shopping Center, the restaurant will feature ingredients from local purveyors (read our original Shake Shack menu story here) in its straightforward menu of burgers, fries and shakes.

Life after Blue Bottle? Family’s cup runneth over with new San Francisco home Dec 13, 2018

Show notes

“It really feels like the lottery,” says Caitlin Williams Freeman, pastry chef and founder of feminist children’s clothing company Girls Up Front, when asked about the life circumstances that led to her current focuses of home and family. Last fall, her husband, James Freeman, sold a majority stake in Blue Bottle Coffee, the company he founded in 2002, to Nestle for a reported $425 million.

Shed in Healdsburg to close at the end of the year Dec 12, 2018

Show notes

Shed in Healdsburg will shut its doors at the end of 2018, closing the book on a charmed five-year run for Sonoma County’s most ambitious combination restaurant, marketplace, event space and fermentation bar. Co-owners and founders Doug Lipton and Cindy Daniel plan to close the brick-and-mortar location on Dec. 31 and turn it into an online-only entity. It was a business decision for the owners.

Tacos Oscar’s unlikely road to success in Oakland? Follow the T-shirt Dec 11, 2018

Show notes

If you follow Tacos Oscar’s Instagram feed (@tacososcar), which is how most of its fans would find its tacos before the pop-up opened a permanent spot in Oakland last week, you’ve grown accustomed to seeing smiling, often ridiculously attractive, people wearing TACOS OSCAR TACO STALKER T-shirts.

Soleil Ho named the San Francisco Chronicle’s new restaurant critic Dec 10, 2018

Show notes

The San Francisco Chronicle has named Soleil Ho, a nationally recognized food journalist and trained chef, to be the company’s next restaurant critic. “We are thrilled to welcome Soleil to the team. She was a clear choice: she has a fresh and modern approach to food journalism,” said Audrey Cooper, editor in chief of The Chronicle. Ho is known for her insightful, thought-provoking commentary and deep culinary knowledge.

The real story behind the NBA’s love of Napa Valley and Bordeaux Dec 07, 2018

Show notes

When you’re a wine writer, you don’t expect opportunities to watch NBA players like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson practice shooting after a day of training camp, especially while sitting on the sidelines to interview Draymond Green. But after months of trying to chase a story about why professional basketball players like Green have become enamored of fine wine — and having little luck during the offseason — that’s where I found myself.