"SfRestaurants" news and stories

As if oil and gas prices weren't enough, now the heavy rains and cold weather in northern California have made fruits and vegetables expensive. Lettuces are at an all-time high, and it's difficult to find many things that are normally abundant in springtime.

In restaurants, there's gourmet salad at Mixt Greens and a new Japanese vegan restaurant, Cha-Ya, in Berkeley. Hanazen is the closest thing to sushi houses in Japan, and the Inside Scoop reports that Upper Noe has more Italian restaurants, Budo will re-open as Cuvee Napa with the move of former chef James McDevitt to New York, Home restaurants is undergoing staff changes, and Le Colonial has a new menu.

Recipes this week include: Turkey Trattoria Meatballs and Turkey Pineapple Salad to help stay thin, Avocado and Tofu Salad, Rhubarb Strawberry and Hibiscus Fruit Soup, and Japanese okonomiyaki.

Olivia Wu revisits Shanghai.

So I'm poking around trying to motivate myself to plan a trip up to the Bay area sometime in the next few months, when what to my wandering eyes do appear, an announcement that SF Dine about Town is here!

The San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau and Visa are sponsoring this city-wide, month-long event that is now in its 5th year. There are almost 100 Bay Area restaurants that are participating by offering a three-course prix fixe meal at lunch ($21.95) or dinner ($31.95) or both.  Reservations specifically for SF Dine About Town can even be made via OpenTable.

I think the event is purely a promotional thing for both the Convention Bureau and Visa during a month which is typically slow for restaurants. Works for me, because a few of the restaurants are on my SF To-Dine List (A16!). Although, now I need to find a way up to SF. Unless we can convince Visa to do the same thing in LA!