At 70, a passion for baking led this Los Altos resident to start a cookie company
“It’s not biscotti, and it’s not shortbread,” said Lars Smith of his grandmother’s stick cookies, which are now available at most specialty food stores along the Peninsula.
Packaged neatly in a black-and-white box labeled Alice’s Stick Cookies, the cookies continue to represent Alice Larse’s legacy even after her death. The Los Altos resident started her company at 70 years old, born out of her deep passion for baking and the support of her family and friends. The grandmother to Smith, owner of State of Mind pizzeria, Larse was a major inspiration for Smith to pursue a career in the food and beverage industry. In fact, Smith’s first name Lars is a play off of Larse.
This week, I talked with the current owner of Alice’s Stick Cookies as well as Smith to learn more about the past, present and future of the cookie company.
Stay tasty,
Adrienne
Last week’s Bash at the Basement was a blast! I asked attendees about their favorite restaurants, and the most popular proved to be Mazra, Zareen’s and Taishoken. Do you agree? Feel free to email me your favorite restaurant!
At 70, Los Altos resident Alice Larse created a cookie company. Twenty-six years later, her legacy lives on
At 70 years old, many people have begun their retirement. Not Alice Larse – she started her debut company, one whose cookies would be included in a Grammys swag bag, enjoyed by Wolfgang Puck and twice win Best Cookie by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade.
A sushi shuffle, a new doughnut shop opens in Los Gatos and downtown San Mateo is throwing a boba celebration
- Palo Alto’s Kanpai Sushi will have its final day of service May 24 and subsequently merge menus with its sister restaurant Koma Sushi in Portola Valley.
- After almost four years since taking over the space, Puffin Donuts in Los Gatos is finally open.
- Il Mercato di Che Fico, an Italian market at Springline in Menlo Park, permanently closed after its final day in business Saturday.
- Zörek in San Bruno is back open after a temporary closure that began April 6.
- Downtown San Mateo is hosting its second annual Boba Day on Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. The event includes boba specials, giveaways and special treats at boba shops and other retailers.
- San Francisco-based Ocean Oyster Bar & Grill has opened in Redwood City.
- Deccan Morsels, a Fremont-based cafe specializing in Indian snacks, opened a new location March 16 in Sunnyvale.
- San Jose’s Academic Coffee has expanded to Santa Clara.
- Wildseed Palo Alto will host a pop-up takeover from the team behind Horsefeather May 2 from 7-10 p.m. Expect a special menu of low-ABV and zero-proof cocktails, with a portion of proceeds supporting the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health.
Tom yum porridge at Kan Kiin
I’ve had my fair share of Asian-fusion brunch (think Breaking Dawn, Sweet Maple, Taste and Glory and Son & Garden just to name a few), but I surprisingly hadn’t tried the only Peninsula Asian-fusion brunch in the Michelin Guide: Kan Kiin in Daly City.
Inspired by the recent influx of additional Asian-fusion brunch spots (Toast in Town opened recently in Foster City along with GIWA in Santa Clara), I decided to head up north for weekend brunch.
While the menu offers pretty comparable fare to other nearby brunch spots, a menu item that did catch my eye was the “jok” tom yum porridge with crispy pork belly, poached egg, ginger, shitake mushrooms and green onion, served with a fried doughnut ($25). I don’t often see congee on trendy brunch menus, and I was particularly interested in how adding tom yum flavors would translate to an otherwise relatively plain-tasting dish.
As it turns out, it translates wonderfully. The bright acidic tom yum flavors and strong punches of julienned ginger really elevated the rice porridge, and the poached egg was perfectly cooked. The pork belly was tender, meaty and well-seasoned, although I would have preferred it on the side instead of mixed into the porridge to retain its crunch. And notably, the dish is gigantic. I was stuffed after eating about a quarter of the bowl, and the leftovers took me three additional mornings to get through.
I also tried the matcha buttermilk pancakes ($17), which were nice and fluffy and served with a matcha sauce. I loved that the sauce had a very prominent matcha punch. The menu listed the pancakes as matcha-infused as well, but they didn’t look or taste matcha-infused.
What I was most surprised with at Kan Kiin was the speed of service. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes after placing my order that my massive bowl of jok arrived. Also, the price of cocktails is relatively low at only $12 a beverage.
Do I think Kan Kiin is remarkably better than other nearby Asian-fusion brunch spots? Not really. I like a developed coffee menu at brunch, but that wasn’t available here as there were only two coffee options (house coffee or Thai iced coffee). Also, there’s really nothing on the menu for vegetarians except pancakes — no Impossible meat or veggie burger patty options or any tofu on the menu, which surprised me for a Thai restaurant.
Kan Kiin, 201 Southgate Ave., Daly City; 650-755-8749, Instagram: @kan_kiin. Open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-8:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5-8:30 p.m.
Welcome to Wunderbar: Peek inside the underground cocktail bar inspired by Grimm’s fairy tales
Wunderbar opens at Wursthall in San Mateo
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