Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category



What Does Mendocino County Taste Like? Wine, Pie and Seaweed

Published on June 17, 2013

Last week, Dibs attended an event titled “Taste of Mendocino” in San Francisco’s glorious Presidio. This event was designed to spread the word about Mendocino County, a scenic nearly 4,000-square-mile swatch of coastal Northern California that is blessed with deep redwood forest, sprawling vineyards, Old West architecture, rugged shoreline, hot sunny summer days and drenchingly [...]


Texas Caramels Gotta Be Hotter

Published on June 7, 2013

This week, we at Dibs had to chew. And chew. And chew. We did it for the sake of artistry, in support of independent enterprise, to whet the blades of ambition and fan the flames of rivalry and to honor butter and sugar and the power of chemistry to spin these two exquisitely simple ingredients [...]


Officially Local: How “appellations” and “AVAs” ensure the authenticity of local specialities

Published on May 29, 2013

I am a “locavore,” not in the original definition of the term — someone who only eats food grown or produced nearby — but rather in the sense that I seek out and enjoy local specialities native to particular regions or places. Until recently in human history, most local or regional specialties, from mochi cakes [...]


What Happens When You Squeeze 3 Lbs. of Local Produce into One Small Bottle?

Published on May 13, 2013

Today is grand-opening day for Thrive-Cleanse, a new shop in San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center. The basic idea behind a Thrive Cleanse is drinking six bottles of T-C preparations instead of three solid meals, ideally for three to five consecutive days. Formerly, T-C was a pop-up. But as of today, customers can buy bottles of nut [...]


Cottage Law Lets Home Cooks Go Legit

Published on May 5, 2013

California’s new cottage law, which became effective in January of this year, allows enterprising people to sell food products that were created in their own home kitchens. In passing this liberating legislation, California now joins many other states, including Michigan, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia. Last week, Dibs visited the Bay Area Homemade Market, where [...]


All Hail the Chamomile-Honey Bar

Published on April 27, 2013

The San Francisco Bay Area is aggressively, teeth-baringly, button-bustingly proud of its local chocolate. But unlike some of the other reasons for which Bay Area people love themselves too much, this one is totally justified. Everywhere you turn within a few miles of SF, you bump into either another indie company making its own amazing [...]


If Your Life Depended on It, Could You Tell Me Three Things About Corsica?

Published on April 24, 2013

Corsica is one of those places whose name your average non-European might know … or not. And even those of us who know its name — how many of us could find it on a map? (Hint: It’s an island west of Rome, southeast of Cannes. But I had to Google it just now to [...]


They Don’t Eat Tacos in Peru

Published on April 21, 2013

Let’s play a word-association game. Brunch + Peruvian. What comes to mind? Nothing? Or this: We used to have a little joke around the Dibs house. One of us would ask what we should have for dinner, and the other would say: “South American food.” This was considered hilarious because (a) neither of us had [...]


Mexico City Is a Region Too

Published on April 19, 2013

Copita Tequileria y Comida, the modern Mexican restaurant in Sausalito, CA that is co-owned by iconic restaurateur Larry Mindel and celebrity chef Joanne Weir, is going local with a new series of seasonal and regional menus created by executive chef Gonzalo Rivera, inspired by his culinary journeys through his native Mexico. Introduced this week, the [...]


Smørrebrød: Danish Sushi?

Published on

Order a sandwich almost anywhere and you’ll get bread on the bottom, bread on top and something in between. Smørrebrød, the closest Denmark comes to a national dish, are always called “open-faced sandwiches” in English. But do they even count as sandwiches when (by worldwide sandwich standards) they stop only two-thirds of the way up? [...]