Bistro Vida is having a sister this summer, and her name is Loretta
Mark your calendars – Peninsula Restaurant Week is April 19-27! We’re talking nine days of special menu items from 88 restaurants, and it’s going to be delicious. In celebration of Peninsula Restaurant Week later this month, I caught up with Bistro Vida owner Ali El Safy, who’s putting out a $40 prix fixe menu for Restaurant Week.
El Safy has been running his French bistro in Menlo Park since 1998. (That’s before I was born!) Now, he’s working on opening a cocktail bar next door connected to Bistro Vida. I got a sneak peek of the space, and I’m very excited to see what it looks like when construction is finalized.
This week I also talked with Doreet Jehassi of The Ma’lawah Bar, a new Yemenite-Israeli cafe in Palo Alto, and Sophia Markoulakis caught up with Chad and Monica Kaneshiro, the owners of the former brunch spot Morning Wood in San Mateo, about their new concept Kuma Nori in Burlingame.
Stay tasty,
Adrienne
Bistro Vida’s owner is ready for an encore – opening a new cocktail bar in a spot made famous by the Grateful Dead
After 26 years since opening Bistro Vida, owner Ali El Safy is “having a new baby.” The due date is in June, and El Safy has already picked out her name: Loretta. Loretta will pay homage to the Grateful Dead on Wednesdays, and the bar program will be run by El Safy’s son.
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A Yemenite-Israeli cafe opens, new locations for Moods Wine Bar and Kadok’s, and drag brunch in Mountain View
- The Ma’lawah Bar, an all vegetarian, dairy-free and mostly vegan cafe serving Yemenite-Israeli food, opened March 30 in Palo Alto.
- Kuma Nori in Burlingame will operate for about two more years before the owners plan to focus on other projects, owners Chad and Monica Kaneshiro said.
- Printers Cafe closed this week after more than three decades on California Avenue in Palo Alto. Moods Wine Bar, a former subtenant of Printers Cafe, is opening its downtown Sunnyvale location in August.
- Bottomless mimosas with a show…say less. Stephens Green in Mountain View is hosting a drag brunch on Sunday.
- State Street Market and Linden Tree Books are hosting a Boozy Spring Book Fair tomorrow, April 11.
- Farm House in Belmont is hosting a Grape and Graze Spring Wine Mixer on Tuesday.
- San Mateo’s Rise Woodfire pizzeria is opening a new location in Santa Clara this summer.
- The Original Kadok’s Restaurant, in operation since 1994, reopened in a new location in Daly City March 16.
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Street fries from Mazra Redwood City
I went to Mazra’s new location in Redwood City the day after it opened, and the line was out the door for as long as it took me to sip on a mint lemonade, grab myself a cup of complimentary tea, nosh on halloumi cheese rolls, street fries with steak shawarma and six-hour lamb shank, and finish it all off with knafeh.
I think that probably tells you all you need to know.
Everything I tasted was superb, with the only snafu being I didn’t order street fries; I ordered a street wrap. But considering how bustling and loud it was in the restaurant, I don’t blame the worker at the register for the mix-up.
The mint lemonade was a delicious balance of herby, tart and sweet. The halloumi cheese rolls were sweet and savory with a honey drizzle, a crispy exterior and a gooey, cheesy interior. The street fries were loaded with steak shawarma, and the pickles added an acidic tang that cut through the richness. The lamb was fall-off-the-bone tender, seasoned well and not at all gamey. And the knafeh was crispy, cheesy, buttery and slightly sweet.
Mazra, 2021 Broadway, Redwood City; 650-503-8440, Instagram: @eatmazra. Open Tuesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
With a locals-first ethos and a seasonal farm-to-table menu, this restaurant has been anchored on Palo Alto’s University Avenue for nearly a decade
Stop by Local Union 271 for spring linguine carbonara and vegan lemongrass curry this Peninsula Restaurant Week
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