The Butter Nut

More ways to love local walnuts

Northern California is covered in walnut trees. So why do we restrict ourselves to scattering the nuts onto salads or mounding them on cheese plates? Old Dog Ranch, a walnut farm...

Sprouting Up

The San Francisco Seed Library is small but growing

San Francisco gardeners know: April is a prime month for planting peas, beets and lettuces. A group of activists and gardeners wants you to plant seeds that come from local...

Chef Boy Oh Boy

Pasta made just the way the Bolognese do

“I used to think I knew how to make pasta,” says John Pauley, owner of Mattarello. “And then I lived in Bologna, and learned I had no clue.” After Pauley...

Sing of Fire

Local hot sauces with extra spice

Hot. Incendiary. Extremely punishing. Hot sauces seem to measure their appeal in Scoville units alone. Not these three, all from local producers. For them, chile is not the only...

Sugar Mama

State Bird Provisions' Nicole Krasinski is a wonder

As anyone who’s been to State Bird Provisions knows, you don’t order just one of Nicole Krasinski’s desserts at the end of the meal. You order all of...

Classic Takeout: The Phoenix Pastificio

Despite its reputation, this pasta shop stays hidden

There is no sign on the door of the East Bay’s most famous pasta shop. Peer though enough windows in the commercial building where The Phoenix Pastificio is housed, and...