@virginiamiller.bsky.social
Over two decades in, it never gets old: my spectacular, unparalleled City by the Bay from Twin Peaks under a full moon.
“When the lights go down… on my City by the Bay” (SF’s own Journey)
At World's 50 Best restaurant Kadeau Nicolai Nørregaard’s menus reflect 2 seasons: summer+winter preservation. Scallop-squid toast w/ elderflower butter, wood ants!, plum. Signature cold-smoked salmon in lavender, onion & sardine garum. My Copenhagen guide
virginiamiller.substack.com/p/copenhagen...
San Francisco & New Orleans are the two best cities for Halloween: look/feel, decor on old homes+creative costumes (shout out to David S. Pumpkins dude flinging candy from his stoop). Trick-or-treating w/ fam in "newer" (1920s-50s) homes of SF's Sunset (not shown: magic 1800s homes of my own 'hood).
01.11.2025 23:30 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
My other top dish at new modern Chinese standout, The Happy Crane, tributes Chinese new year fave, Ferrero Rocher chocolates.
I LOVE jian dui (sesame dumplings). Chef James Parry’s version subs red bean paste for dark chocolate ganache with hazelnuts:
virginiamiller.substack.com/p/sf-is-domi...
I'm CRAZY about Danish smørrebrød. I love Palaegade & smorrebrod like red pickled herring with berries, creme fraiche, onion. Don’t skip the aquavit, like house dill & pepper distilled by Radius or Nordic Ethanol dill, flowers, white currant. My CPH guide: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/copenhagen...
31.10.2025 21:24 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
DJs/band members from Massive Attack, Portishead and Thievery Corporation?! This was the nightly experience & level at chefs/fine dining/drink Ein Prosit festival in Udine, Italy, a couple weeks ago — a peek into & description of the week: youtu.be/Jt4NJCvb0ig.
31.10.2025 18:35 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
2) Expect culinary ingredients like red bean or mustard. My favorite initial cocktail? Rosy Dawn, delicately but intentionally weaving Sipsmith Gin, coconut-fig leaf-rhubarb cordial, jasmine, cherry liqueur, all subtly carbonated.
My full review:
virginiamiller.substack.com/p/sf-is-domi...
At new modern Chinese SF standout, The Happy Crane, alongside sommelier Justin Chin's luxurious wine pairings, bar manager Carolyn Kao collaborated w/ none other than lauded N. America 50 Best Bars’ Pacific Cocktail Haven founder Kevin Diedrich & it shows.
virginiamiller.substack.com/p/sf-is-domi...
Killer wine selection with modern New Nordic-Indian Food from a Noma alum, chef Dhriti Arora? Why her food at Bar Vitrine — a tiny, single communal table wine bar — is my top new casual dining spot in Copenhagen.
My CPH dining, bar & hotel guide: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/copenhagen...
I'm a featured expert on World of Mouth app alongside chefs & industry I respect globally www.worldofmouth.app/experts
Download the app to follow my growing SF+ guides in categories from tacos to Middle Eastern (here, a fave underrated Mission taqueria)
www.worldofmouth.app/experts/virginia-miller
At new modern Chinese destination, The Happy Crane SF, James Yeun Leong Parry's play on firecracker shrimp stole the show. Head-on shrimp is wrapped in shiso & nori in subtly numbing mala glaze (Sichuan peppercorn+chili) & Korean gamtae seaweed. My review:
virginiamiller.substack.com/p/sf-is-domi...
Whisk(e)y time in Distiller Magazine: in addition to Scotch, I review Castle & Key 6yr Small Batch Bourbon, already winning gold medals + collector’s favorite @michterswhiskey.bsky.social 2025 editions of Bomberger’s KY Straight Bourbon & Shenk’s KY Sour Mash Whiskey:
distilling.com/distillermag...
The Wong family opened their Stonestown Galleria Le Soleil, an offshoot of the original 1993 Inner Richmond Vietnamese institution. The new spot has low-proof cocktails, like Strawberry Matcha with matcha foam over a strawberry aperitif. Le Soleil reviewed
virginiamiller.substack.com/p/where-to-e...
2) I'll eventually write about Hiša Franko: virginiamiller.substack.com, but for now, Fall visions in Slovenia, recalling past visits to neighboring sister Austria, including this "blast from the past" pic 12 years ago this month in Salzburg on an unforgettable trip with my parents.
28.10.2025 20:18 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
1) The hills (+mountains & valleys) are alive... One of the best meals of my brilliant work weeks in Northern Italy was actually in Slovenia at the great Hiša Franko.
We drove across the border from Udine, Italy, to chef Ana Roš' stunning property, inn & restaurant nestled amid mountains & meadows.
At SF's new The Happy Crane, James Yeun Leong Parry expresses a unique mashup from HK to Beijing: modern Chinese by way of SF with our unsurpassed ingredients & deep Chinese roots.
Ginger scallops, snap pea dumplings, beef shin+confit artichoke
Review:
virginiamiller.substack.com/p/sf-is-domi...
I’ve been tasting Mezcal El Silencio since it came out in 2013, but have never written about it. My review on this “bang for buck” mezcal in Distiller Magazine:
distilling.com/distillermag...
Daily in Udine, I had to pay homage to the Anais Nin mural near my hotel.
Her extensive diaries I loved —some of the most comprehensive ever published—where I recall her enchantment with this small Italian city in the blessed region of Friuli. I felt the magic & romance she wrote of in the air.
2) Carlotta’s (in #SF's Hotel Julian) strength is its sweet, winning staff. This is a team who cares, managed by industry pro Sean Doherty. The space is soothing and chill with a welcome enclosed courtyard. What works (and doesn't) on the menu:
virginiamiller.substack.com/p/where-to-e...
1) Opened March 2025, Carlotta's in Hotel Julian called to me as a lifelong Hitchcock fan, named after the haunting character who informs the great SF film Vertigo… for film buffs like me, this is the very hotel where Kim Novak’s character rented a room.
virginiamiller.substack.com/p/where-to-e...
Then there were white truffles. Being in Northern Italy for Ein Prosit week during truffle season meant I was blessed w/ an embarrassment of white truffle riches shaved & sliced over everything, from 3 Michelin Piazza Duomo lunch to truffle tasting w/ head of Alba's own Tartuflanghe: tartuflanghe.us
27.10.2025 13:52 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
PDX-based business Necesita Tequila was co-founded by a single mom who fell for tequila while rebuilding her life. Her Cristalino reviewed in my Distiller Magazine column:
distilling.com/distillermag...
+Ready-to-drink, US sake canned cocktail line Oishii, with new sake spritz flavors.
The biggest bone marrow ever. At Le Calandre in Rubano (just outside Padova).
(I’ll review the amazing restaurants like this in my future Italy dining guide as I went to some unreal, restaurants and locations around northern Italy on either end of the Ein Prosit festival).
#Italy
2 (Happily) Tasted at @EinProsit2020 in Udine:
—Local Udine gem Gelateria Gusto Antico's nocciola (hazelnut) and saffron gelati
—From Codropio, Italy, Dolcevita Pasticceria-Caffetteria's candied orange juniper-laced panettone sprayed with Gintilia gin
1) More obssess-able Ein Prosit tastes in Italy last week:
—Ontario, Canada's RPM Bakehouse (from celebrated Restaurant Pearl Morissette) brought brilliant pastries... brown butter caramel buckwheat financier dusted in roasted hazelnuts. And killer choux with plum jam.
1) More obssess-able Ein Prosit tastes in Italy last week:
—Ontario, Canada's RPM Bakehouse (from celebrated Restaurant Pearl Morissette) brought brilliant pastries... brown butter caramel buckwheat financier dusted in roasted hazelnuts. And killer choux with plum jam.
Besides an epic 5 day Ein Prosit festival, jumped around daily in N. Italy to different Michelin/ World's 50 Best restaurants. More in an upcoming Italy guide: virginiamiller.substack.com
Views & memories on the Gardone Riviera hills above gorgeous Lake Garda with the special Lido 84 Ristorante.
2) Piazza Duomo / chef Enrico Crippa favorites at Ei nProsit in Udine, Italy?
—Piemonte cardoon (artichoke thistle) in anchovy sauce & lardo
—Risotto with chestnut, Parmesan, butter, liver reduction, lemon zest, chocolate
—Salty-sweet cauliflower almond milk like risotto w/ licorice, capers, almond
1) The ultimate pop-up at Ein Prosit in Udine, Italy? A feast from 3 Michelin Piazza Duomo chef Enrico Crippa+team, paired w/ Gravner wines back to 1990!
Rabbit ragu polenta in Alba white truffles to beetroot gelee over beet tartare with chocolate, walnuts, herring cream sando, caviar beet borscht.
2) At Ein Prosit in Udine, Italy, we had the treat of Giacomo Giannotti + team from Paradiso in Barcelona serving cocktails, including a stunning grappa sour variation with Nonino
— and the amazing Antonella Nonino here herself.
And, oh, Paradiso's Truffle Gin...
