AN EMBARCADERO MEDIA PUBLICATION EXPERIENCE MIDPENINSULA DINING SPRING 2019 ON THE WHERE TO FIND GLUTEN-FREE GOODS ON THE RISE PENINSULA WHAT’S NEW? LOCAL RESTAURANT OPENINGS, CLOSINGS AND ANTICIPATED ARRIVALS 2 DELISH SPRING 2019 FRIDAY 8:00 PM • CAMPBELL RECITAL HALL JAZZ INSIDE OUT JUN 21 WITH JIM NADEL & FRIENDS 29 BRILLIANT CONCERTS SUN 4:00 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM INDIAN JAZZ JOURNEY JUN 21– 23 featuring Mahesh Kale, Stanley Jordan, George Brooks, & Subhankar Banerjee FRI 8:00 PM • CAMPBELL RECITAL HALL AUG 3 AKIRA TANA & FRIENDS: 28 THE MUSIC OF MICHEL LEGRAND SAT 8:00 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM BIRD WITH STRINGS 29 Featuring Andrew Speight SAT 10:00 AM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM EARLY BIRD JAZZ FOR KIDS: JUL 6 JIM NADEL & THE ZOOKEEPERS SAT 2:00 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM PAMELA ROSE: GREAT WOMEN 6 OF THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK FRI 8:00 PM • CAMPBELL RECITAL HALL ERIK JEKABSON SEXTET 12 FEATURING JOHN SANTOS SAT 8:00 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM ANDREA MOTIS QUINTET 13 With Ken Peplowski & the SJW 50/50 Jazz Orchestra SUN 7:30 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM MATT WILSON’S CÉCILE 14 HONEY & SALT MCLORIN TUE 7:30 PM • CAMPBELL RECITAL HALL SARAH REICH: 16 TAP INTO JAZZ SALVANT WED 7:30 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM THE DAYNA STEPHENS JUNE 22 BING CONCERT HALL 17 PERSPECTIVE SAT 8:00 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM LISA FISCHER & 20 TAYLOR EIGSTI SUN TWO SHOWS! 4:00 PM & 7:30 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM 21 JOEY ALEXANDER TRIO SAT 8:00 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM ANAT COHEN & 27 TRIO DA PAZ brazilian jazz supergroup SUN 8:00 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM DAFNIS PRIETO PROVERB TRIO 28 PRESENTED BY TUE 8:00 PM • DINKELSPIEL AUDITORIUM 30 TAYLOR EIGSTI GROUP SAT 8:00 PM • BING CONCERT HALL TICKETS 650-725-2787 JOSHUA REDMAN: AUG 3 STILL DREAMING STANFORDJAZZ.ORG SPRING 2019 EXPERIENCE 6 MIDPENINSULA DINING A vanilla cake soaked with elderberry syrup, frosted with lemon curd and vanilla elderflower buttercream from Sweet Diplomacy. Photo by Veronica Weber. On the rise 6 A look at where to find gluten-free goods on the Peninsula What’s new? 14 Local restaurant openings, closings and anticipated arrivals Persian market is here to stay 24 Rose International Market’s grand reopening The eight best Peninsula dive bars 30 Check out these classic watering holes 14 ON THE COVER: A steak-and-egg kimchi banh mi sandwich served on gluten-free bread at Gracie Jones Bake Shop. Taro San Japanese Noodle Bar serves fresh udon noodles custom made on Photo by Veronica Weber. a specialty machine from Japan. Courtesy of Taro San Japanese Noodle Bar. Publisher: William S. Johnson Vice President Sales/ Delish Editor: Elena Kadvany Marketing: Tom Zahiralis Art Director: Kristin Brown Advertising Sales: Tiffany Birch, Elaine Clark, Writers: Kate Bradshaw, Elena Connie Jo Cotton, Janice Kadvany, Anna Medina, Alicia Hoogner and Jillian Schrager Mies and Charles Russo Photographers: Michelle Le and Veronica Weber Embarcadero Media: The Almanac, Mountain View Voice, Palo Alto Weekly 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306 650-223-6500 24 AlmanacNews.com, MountainViewOnline.com, PaloAltoOnline.com Rose water and other extracts are among the specialty items at Rose ©2019 by Embarcadero Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without International Market in Mountain View. Photo by Veronica Weber. permission is strictly prohibited. 4 DELISH SPRING 2019 PALO ALTO WEEKLY MOUNTAIN VIEW VOICE THE ALMANAC 5 FOOD & DRINK Gluten-free goodies at Gracie Jones Bake Shop include cookies, vegan streusel muffins, donuts, cinnamon-apple gallettes and strawberry and jam donuts. Photos by Veronica Weber. Gracie Jones the ri Gluten Free Bakery, n se Palo Alto O find g e to luten graciejonesbakeshop.com er -fr h on the Pen e A 4-year-old boy inadvertently W ods insu e go la brought celiac disease to the attention of chef Gracie Jones, just under a de- cade ago when she was transitioning from working as a fine-dining chef to opening up the fast-casual Asian Box aiters no longer look at you like you’re an alien chain. She learned that the boy was life-form when you inquire about their gluten-free unable to eat gluten — a substance W commonly found in breads, baked options. goods, pasta and cereals — because In the Bay Area, gluten-free food choices abound from baked his body couldn’t process it. goods that don’t crumble in one bite to pizza crusts that stand up While cooking at this family’s home, Jones and the team decided to ÌÌ iÀyÕÀiÀV i`V«iÌÌ° keep the menu gluten-free, eliminat- Read on for some of the region’s best gluten-free baked goods and ing soy sauce and noodles. dining options. “It just worked, and we just kept with it ever since,” she said. 6 DELISH SPRING 2019 FOOD & DRINK Left: Gracie Jones, owner of Gracie Jones Bake Shop, prepares tiramisu, right, made with a gluten-free vanilla spongecake soaked in Vietnamese coffee with cinnamon egg cream and toasted marshmallow meringues. In what was meant to be a In addition to an assortment commissary and test kitchen of baked goods — the popular for Asian Box in Palo Alto’s chocolate chip cookies and Midtown neighborhood, Jones sprinkle donuts regularly sell out has opened her own gluten-free — she also serves savory lunch bakery. She enjoys the challenge items, including a Vietnamese of baking without grains. bahn mi sandwich, a recipe she “My goal is, I want to make has been working on for years. sure that people can’t tell the Jones was clear on one thing: difference,” Jones said. “I won’t She’s not baking for the gluten- serve it until it tastes exactly the free skeptics. way I want it.” “I would suggest for them not To start, Jones refers to recipes to try it; they’re going to try it, with gluten and then, through but then they’re always going to trial and error, goes through be negative about something,” many iterations of a single item she said. before she is satisfied with the Instead, she’s focused on mak- gluten-free result. Because ing delicious food, in its own gluten-free recipes call for right. many different ingredients to —Anna Medina create the flour equivalent, she has created her own pre-mixed The crispy rice-cake bowl with spring vegetables, scallions, tofu, shallots, gluten-free flour. (continued on page 8) peanuts and herbs at Gracie Jones Bake Shop. PALO ALTO WEEKLY MOUNTAIN VIEW VOICE THE ALMANAC 7 FOOD & DRINK (continued from page 7) butter blondies, vegan raspberry thumbprint cookies and coconut Clean Sweets chocolate chip cookies. by Sasha, When she was living in New Redwood City York in 2014, a doctor told Lipton to cut out grains, gluten, dairy, cleansweetsbysasha.com refined sugar and soy from her Sasha Lipton makes a living diet to remedy her cystic acne. selling cakes, muffins, cookies She quickly realized there were and other desserts with no grains, few truly healthy sweets avail- gluten, soy, dairy or refined sugar able. Motivated by a major sweet — basically, the ingredients that tooth, Lipton, who has baked and people associate with baked goods. cooked throughout her life, start- “There are a ton of gluten-free ed to experiment in the kitchen, and vegan bakeries, but vegan and making healthier variations of her gluten-free doesn’t mean healthy favorite sweets. in any sense. There are tons of As her skin started to clear up sugar and gums and thickeners and she started to feel more ener- and weird oils added to make getic, she said she started sharing those baked goods be the texture her baked goods with family and and taste that you would expect,” coworkers. she said. “I think the more simple, Lipton said she hopes to help the better. I’m staying true to that.” other people who are trying to be After plenty of trial and error, more conscious of the ingredients Lipton created a base recipe for that they put into their bodies while her baked goods. She uses almond also making a delicious product. flour, which she said makes her “I don’t want to make baked desserts more dense, and replaces goods that taste good for being butter and cream with coconut oil. healthy,” she said. “I wanted to make baked goods that taste She sweetens her desserts, made Top: Sasha Lipton, creator of Clean Sweets by Sasha, mixes brownie in her home kitchen, with maple good and happen to be healthy.” batter made with almond flour, cocoa powder, eggs, vanilla, coconut syrup. She makes everything —Alicia Mies sugar and coconut oil in her home kitchen. Above: Raspberry from lemon poppyseed muf- thumbprint cookies made with homemade raspberry jam are among fins and banana bread to peanut (continued on page 10) her healthy baked goods. Photos by Veronica Weber. 8 DELISH SPRING 2019 Free and open Proceeds benefit to the public local nonprofits 1-6pm Save the Dates 2019 May 18 - Cajun Carnival Food Farmers Mardi Gras/Blues Festival Proceeds benefit hunger and homelessness orgs Trucks MArket June 22 – Red, White & Brew Americana, Country & Craft Beer Fest Í× ü Proceeds benefit veterans and local health services Wine & Cocktails Aug 17 – Island Vibes Artisans ųº crafts Reggae Fest & Summer celebration Proceeds benefit environmental and sustainability causes ܺͦÑü Sept 21 – Bands on the Bayfront 3¦åƒÜѦ All Genre Music Festival Proceeds benefit school music and art programs Oct 19 – Fall Fiesta Kids Zone Free Latin cultural celebration with Halloween activities Proceeds benefit youth mentoring and sports programs Cooking for a Cause @FacebookFestivals www.FBCommunityEvents.com 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park PALO ALTO WEEKLY [email protected] MOUNTAIN VIEW VOICE THE ALMANAC 9 FOOD & DRINK (continued from page 8) Sweet Diplomacy, Los Altos sweetdiplomacy.com Melody Hu has infused her baking business with global ele- ments that reflect flavors tied to her own history as a Taiwanese- American woman: mochi cup- cakes, cakes and madeleines.