GraceAnn Walden's Page

At a lunch, I ate only a small sampling of the dishes at Wexler's. It could be that I tried all the best things and there are demons lurking on the menu.

First Impression

Wexler's is in the space that originally housed Zare; then Les Amis.

It was love at first sight at 11:30 a.m. on a Tuesday morning. If I had showed up 30 minutes later, I probably would have had to wait for a seat; 30 minutes after that, I would have been turned away.

Edwin Caba worked at CreoLa for several years before he was able to buy the business. Slowly he has been able to improve the décor and menu.

One enticing dish is the fried green tomatoes with Gulf shrimp remoulade and basil oil, topped with chopped egg ($9).

The rib-sticking seafood gumbo is chock full of shrimp, crab, Andouille sausage and okra, available in a cup ($7) or bowl ($12).

Be sure you try the sampling of crawfish, flown in a couple of times a week, shrimp e

Consistency is one of my hallmarks for holding a restaurant in high regard, and Royal Thai in San Rafael has stood the test of time.

About five years ago, I interviewed Roxanne Klein, who at the time was the chef-owner of Roxanne's in Larkspur, since closed. These days she has a line of raw food for the consumer. When I took her out, she chose Royal Thai. And despite her allegiance to raw food, she ate cooked vegetarian food.

I was no stranger to Royal Thai, having enjoyed man

TV chef Michael Chiarello, who first came to prominence at Tra Vigne in St Helena, has, in my opinion, opened the restaurant that defines the first part of this year. Bottega in Yountville is Tra Vigne taken to a level of sophistication that other restaurants can only hope for.

Located in the V marketplace, the restaurant sprawls across a lovely veranda that looks out on rose bushes and a verdant lawn.

Of course, Chiarello, who was making salumi before anyone knew the word, ha

With their new restaurant, Pican, Michael LeBlanc and his chef, Dean Dupuis, are part of the uptown Oakland renaissance. With the Paramount Theatre and the reopened Fox nearby, Uptown is kicking it. A flock of new condos doesn't hurt business either.

Pican is a modern soul food restaurant. Don't expect fat back in your collards, but do expect a light, interesting green dressed with good olive oil.

The fried chicken is so good that on the weekends, people reserve their chickens