The Perfect Spot

06/14/2026

Nothing like California trees...

Last weekend at home in SF (in Chicago now for James Beard awards!), playing hide-and-seek among the majestic redwoods, eucalyptus and California cypress trees with my nephews in Golden Gate Park.

06/13/2026

Some of the best stir-fry of my life (including China — though I had a mind-blowing stir-fry chifa dish on my first visit to Lima, Peru, nearly 15 years ago)... like delicate slivers of geoduck cooked about eight seconds on the wok so it stays medium-rare in soybean paste with purple garlic, chiles and yellow bell pepper.

The kitchen is two people. Seats: 8. Returning to Fu Hui Hua last week, it remains the most exciting Chinese tasting menu in the nation (wonderful to go with you, Rae!):

https://virginiamiller.substack.com/p/san-franciscos-best-new-restaurants

06/12/2026

Between all my lead spirits awards judging, North America's 50 Best Restaurants in Nola, now James Beard awards in Chicago, awards season is fast & furious these 5 nonstop weeks.

But time home has been all the sweetness, here picnicking blocks from home in my unparalleled Golden Gate Park with the fam, including my nephew Davey, the birthday boy this week.

Highlight? A round of hide & seek with my nephews amid the redwoods, eucalyptus and California cypress trees.

06/12/2026

From the streets to jazz brunch (here, at Miss River at Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans and at Commander's Palace), the birthplace of jazz changed the world and influenced the many musical genres that were birthed out of it.

I've long said you can feel New Orleans on your skin, and in your soul. This place speaks my soul like few cities do, in all its varied shades, gritty to glorious. And its music is at the core.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

06/12/2026

Wish I could re-order this right about now: Nola’s Flour Moon Bagels special collab with 50 Best Restaurant from D.C. Moon Rabbit while they were in town for North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards doled out goodness like this green curry shrimp salad bagel sandwich and crab rangoon bialy with hot pepper jelly. Damn.

06/12/2026

Scenes from the front row at North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards at Sheraton Nola on May 28:

Then there was Nola, our host city... and my "other" U.S. home besides my own beloved San Francisco. Studying and ingesting this one-of-a-kind city into my spirit, soul and heart for two decades, I am so proud of the diverse, forward-thinking, beautiful, historic restaurants and people honored here (as I am of so many others) from the small but mighty city of New Orleans:

https://youtu.be/Yq4bohsE2Hg

www.theworlds50best.com/restaurants/best-in-north-america/list/1-50

Emeril's

06/12/2026

/ / : Loves me some creative bathroom wallpaper... and peacocks.

Kudos to the peacock paper lining the walls at Maria's Oyster & Wine Bar in New Orleans, part of my restaurant and bar research in Nola late May.

06/11/2026

The most exciting new Filipino restaurant in the nation is a tiny little spot in SF blocks from the city's original 1800's Manilatown and near the highest concentration of Filipino Americans of any municipality in the U.S.

Partners in life and co-owners, Patrick Gabon and Celine Wuu, delight and push boundaries with his Michelin-pedigree and Filipino roots and her thoughtful wine pairings and mind-blowing NA (non-alcoholic) pairings:

https://virginiamiller.substack.com/p/upping-the-filipino-game-sustainably

06/11/2026

Scenes from the front row at North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards at Sheraton New Orleans Hotel on May 28:

In addition to the five SF Bay Area restaurants (www.youtube.com/watch?v=59SsvRKNBqk) proud of each of the amazing California winners/top 50 (from my old SoCal stomping grounds): 3 from LA, 1 from San Diego.

https://youtu.be/1j5iOUanJak

www.theworlds50best.com/restaurants/best-in-north-america/list/1-50

Holbox Kato Restaurant Addison Restaurant

Scenes from the front row at North America's 50 Best Restaurants aw...

06/11/2026

Scenes from the front row at North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards at Sheraton New Orleans Hotel on May 28:

Here, all my hometown SF / Bay Area restaurants, including winners of the Sustainable Restaurant Award and Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award (voted on only by chefs) for the entire continent...

Proud of each of you!

https://youtu.be/59SsvRKNBqk

www.theworlds50best.com/restaurants/best-in-north-america/list/1-50

Sons and Daughters SF Atelier Crenn SAISON SingleThread Farm - Restaurant - Inn Dominique Crenn

Scenes from the front row at North America's 50 Best Restaurants aw...

06/11/2026

Been following/writing about Che Fico /Back Home Hospitality bar director Danielle Peters-Clossey’s beautiful cocktails over her years in Sonoma, now SF.

I’ve tried every cocktail on the menu at Via Aurelia and even the vodka cocktail shines. Confluence is a soft, fruity-herbaceous sipper with meloncello, Alchermes spiced Italian liqueur, sage, citrus and egg white.

Bartender Patrick Clinton Southall also did me right with some house creations, including a fab grassy, funky rum-guava sipper.

BHH director of wine Jason Alexander's team & list did us right again with the last, special bottle of 2022 15-days skin contact Tanca Nica “Terra Forte” Zibibbo from Pantelleria, Sicily (my Mother land):

https://virginiamiller.substack.com/p/italy-still-rules-in-sf-f9e

06/10/2026

Beloved industry friends & faces at Jewel of the South's epic crab boil the day of North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards...

I'm now a devotee of THE best Zydeco "trad-psych Cajun" band, Lost Bayou Ramblers ... and have long been of The Best Stop's boudin (which I get at home in SF at Sandy's SF) + Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls, both serving us sno-ball and boudin + andouille sausage goodness.

But Alexandria Bowler (bar manager at Emeril's), my new Nola kindred, especially made the day as we savored the Boil together, sipping on her savvy prep BYO of Martin Woods Winery Eola Springs Cabernet Franc Rosé (just what the heat required!) and a digestif of UNDERBERG.

06/10/2026

On May 28, in celebration of North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards (held that night in New Orleans), Nola's renowned Jewel of the South threw an epic crab boil, complete with beers in tubs, boudin and other sausages from Louisiana's great The Best Stop, Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls and THE best Zydeco band, Lost Bayou Ramblers, a "2x Grammy Winning trad-psych Cajun band" from Lafayette, Louisiana.

They kept us jamming the whole three hour party and despite the humid, sweaty heat, it was one of the best parties ever, out of countless hundreds of food and drink industry parties I've been to over the years... this one was so Nola, so soulful, and a joy to share with fellow industry from around the globe.

On May 28, 2026, in celebration of North America's 50 Best Restaura...

06/10/2026

Crab guts and fish maw bladder (steamed with ginger and scallion to become chewy and solid, like pork belly) never tasted so good.

This is just a hint at the magic that feels like an intimate dinner party at the home of charming father-son Yuezhong Ge and Tao William in their tiny restaurant Fu Hui Hua, one of my top openings of last year:

https://virginiamiller.substack.com/p/san-franciscos-best-new-restaurants

06/09/2026

There is no Chinese restaurant in the Americas like Fu Hui Hua. It was a privilege to be back this week at the impossible-to-get-into counter with father-son Yuezhong Ge and Tao William for this soulful goodness...

Oh, that dessert-like starting bite of monkfish liver mousse, touched with soy, orange peel, seaweeds & bitter melon over sour cherry jam with a strawberry on top.

To name but a few nuanced Shanghainese (with touches of Japan and Cantonese cooking) pleasures on the current 15-course menu:

https://virginiamiller.substack.com/p/a-tiny-chinese-restaurant-like-no

06/09/2026

Every beautiful corner of my incomparable Bay Area calls to me... this weekend's morning hike in the hills above the Marin village of Fairfax yielded blue skies, soaring hawks, textured grasses and trees, manzanita to Japanese maple trees, views of the Bay and my city in the distance.

06/09/2026

Bursts of flame from stir-frying geoduck to the delicate crunch of slicing paper-thin pastry, the cooking rhythms of father (Yuezhong Ge) and son (Tao William) at 8-seat chefs’ counter-only Fù Huì Huá feel meditative, spiritual.

A privilege to be back early June with a friend from Hong Kong, savoring the wonder of a Chinese restaurant like no other, hidden in SF's Mission District:

Bursts of flame from stir-frying geoduck to the delicate crunch of ...

06/08/2026

Happy 20th anniversary, Nopasf! I was there since opening in 2006 and started writing about it as I became a professional/published food writer in 2007/08. It was a defining restaurant, pushing wood-fired cooking with an advanced cocktail menu (including rarities like eau de vie and sherry cocktails), exemplyfing what a top-notch but chill neighborhood restaurant could be.

Popped into the (packed house) anniversary party on Thursday for a moment to cheer on Laurence Jossel, Holly Rhodes and the Nopa team!

(A "blast from the past" I wrote about Nopa in 2013: https://theperfectspotsf.com/2013/12/01/top-tastes-110)

06/08/2026

Still reveling in the glow of Nola times just over a week ago... a few more pics with chefs, bar manager and fellow Academy Chair at North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards in New Orleans. What a wonderful reunion it was with friends & colleagues from far and wide.

06/08/2026

An evening with a wonderful couple and their unique whiskies from New Alchemy Distilling.

Feasting with them at Via Aurelia (my review here: https://virginiamiller.substack.com/p/italy-still-rules-in-sf-f9e), I was especially thrilled with a couple new dishes on the menu.

Though I long ago wearied of polpo (octopus) dishes I once loved (yes, "My Octopus Teacher"!), this was a damn good one with gigante beans in Southern Italian salamoriglio dressing.

But the "lose my sh-t" dish was chef David Nayfeld's airy-creamy sformato: savory green garlic custard with foamy celery root and pecorino cheese.

Second, his artful Spring-into-Summer take on my beloved panzanella "salad" with English peas, snap peas, Meyer lemon and croutons.

06/07/2026

A highlight in New Orleans during North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards was a slice of my youthful hometown LA (Los Angeles) in LA (Louisiana): Kato Restaurant’s pop-up in a private room at Hotel Saint Vincent.

In the lofty, brick-walled, historic room it felt like a dinner party with records spinning, dining companions of writers and chefs from Nola to DC, served by Kato’s stellar team who I adore.

Highlights were many, including Ryan Bailey and Austin Hennelly’s savvy canned cocktail, NA (non-alcoholic) and wine pairings (that Bao Zhong oolong tea, seascape strawberry and white pepper drink! 2023 Savagnin white wine, Kato/Ryan’s collab with Cole Ranch near me in Mendocino! Kato’s own barrel bottling of Kavalan Whisky, long a beloved distillery I visited in Taiwan!)

Gifted chef Jon Yao’s four courses likewise wowed, whether a decadent caviar and jamon rendition of youtiao, my favorite fried cruller breakfast when I was in Taiwan, oozing with brown butter emulsion and sea urchin, or a clean, cool play on traditional liang mian cold noodles perked up with raw fish, wasabi root, sesame milk and smoked jelly, touched with only-in-Taiwan but specially brought over for them peppercorn Magao, Taiwanese mountain pepper.

More on Kato: https://virginiamiller.substack.com/p/los-angeles-gifts-to-the-world

06/07/2026

My hometown Cali crew at North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards in New Orleans...

Proud of all my fellow Californians (and hundreds of others not on the list but could be) who continuously bring deep knowledge, creativity, innovation, skill and warm hospitality to the world.

CA restaurants in the 50 Best:
SAISON Atelier Crenn SingleThread Farm - Restaurant - Inn

www.theworlds50best.com/northamerica/en/list/1-50

06/05/2026

pt. 2 and : On May 24, I got hooked on my fave Nola band I didn't know yet (and I know a lot over nearly 20 years at jazz clubs here)... shades of Robert Glasper and beyond!

Playing Spotted Cat on Frenchman in my beloved New Orleans as I was in town for North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards, Pat Casey and the New Sound is BOMB. What talented musicians... and the keyboardist kicks ass!

On May 24, 2026, moments from the great Pat Casey & the New Sound p...

06/05/2026

: On May 24, moments from the great Treme Brass Band playing an intimate show at Spotted Cat Music Club on Frenchman Street in my beloved New Orleans as I was in town for North America's 50 Best Restaurants awards.

https://youtu.be/9Dj66tfs9YA

On May 24, 2026, moments from the great Treme Brass Band playing an...

06/05/2026

Ever grateful and honored to stand alongside my fellow academy chairs for North America's 50 Best Restaurants from Canada, Caribbean & U.S. Amazing to be with you all in Nola!

www.theworlds50best.com/northamerica/en/voting/the-academy.html

The World's 50 Best Restaurants Sanpellegrino