Wine Secrets Revealed

“Where do you shop for wine?”  Easily the most-asked question I get–sometimes several times per day.  “Where do you find these wines I have never seen before in my life?!?”  The beauty part is: most of them right here under your nose.  At local shops.  Owned by real people–not national corporations.  When I turn the…

Resty Updates 9.10

Lots of things to add to THE RESTAURANT LIST: HAPY BISTRO in Pismo Beach whole-heartedly added at ♦♦ for their plate-licking renditions of Greek and Meditteranean food.  Wine-list passable. Re-visited MARISOL in Shell Beach for dinner after a) a long absence and b) an embarrassingly bad lunch experience.  The memory of the lunch has thankfully been…

SIX TEST KITCHEN

Six Test Kitchen is Arroyo Grande’s flash-in-the-pan new eating establishment heavy on preparation and light on substance.  The basis of this resty is not new–single-seating per night, pricy prix fixe accomodations, an allegedly whiz-bang young gun with  an alleged stellar resume who is–by reduction–basically a local kid cooking in his parent’s–BEAUTIFUL WALL-TO-WALL STAINLESS STEEL–garage.  Everything is ridiculously…

Have you been to Cass House?

  http://www.casshousecayucos.com/grill Why does this review have no words?  It just seemed so unnecessary for Cass House.  Safely and comfortably on the Soif Eats Restaurant Report at ♦♦♦ and can only go up, as there has never been a single flaw in service, ambience, food, pacing or wine-service.  The only reason Cass House Grill does not…

New Restaurants Blessed!

TAQUERIA 805 Food truck added to THE TACO LIST at ♦  Quite disappointing.  Really lackluster. EL COMPADRE Atascadero added to THE TACO LIST at ♦  Full-on gringo spot.  Would suffice only in an absolute PINCH. EFREN’S DELI Oceano upgraded on THE TACO LIST to ♦♦  Hadn’t visited for several years.  Was was a bit more impressed this time.  Soon to open a new…

Vegetable Butcher SLO

San Luis Obispo’s newest restaurant–and most talked about–is Vegetable Butcher, downtown on Marsh.  I have had the pleasure of dining there twice in the past week–once for lunch and again a few days later for dinner.  Here’s a few quick hits. THE most talked about item on the menu is the kale appetizer.  Actually, calling…

BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT 7.23

A few days ago, someone told our most-prominent local food writer she wasn’t a real critic because she doesn’t review chains. So for the entire staff over at AM920 KVEC: Nice crispy tostada shell, definitely fried this morning in fresh oil, a little heavier shmear of beans than ‘corporate’ advises, but they have definitely rested…

BLUE HERON OPENING

THE most anticipated restaurant opening for the entire food & wine community here on the Central Coast has easily been BLUE HERON in the Baywood section of Los Osos.  Finally, after months and months of watching the build-out slowly creep towards fruition, the invites to family, friends, industry and media soft-openings started arriving.  I was lucky…

2 Additions to CENTRAL COAST TACO GUIDE

JALAPENO CITY in Paso Robles added to Taqueria List at ♦♦  Under new ownership and tacos were REALLY good and to be truthful, the rest of the Mexican food looked very nice too.  I was the only white person dining in restaurant the day I visited.  This is my new #2 taco stop in Paso Robles…

Taqueria Updates 5.10

New restaurants added to THE MOST COMPLETE TACO LIST in California: La Costa Grill Arroyo Grande  at  ◊ Luna Red San Luis Obispo at  ♦ Taco Roco Express Santa Maria  at  ◊ and the amazing TONITA’S in San Luis Obispo  at  ♦♦ THE Soifeats TACO LIST for the CENTRAL COAST And don’t forget to follow…