Blood sausage fried rice. Beef tongue yakitori. A potato croquette nestled in a paper wrapper like a McDonald’s hash brown. They’ve all been on the menu at Miminashi, a four-month-old izakaya that is not, contrary to what all of the above suggests, in San Francisco. Instead, it is the most exciting restaurant to open in downtown Napa in a very long while. Staid California-Mediterranean cuisine, the kind that has infused Napa Valley for the past 20 years, it is not. But it is an example of the n

The phrase "Napa Valley" conjures images of premium, sun-drenched relaxation. But it's not all sparkling wine and caviar; Napa is an agricultural region, with a significant population of locals who aren't always enjoying a 16-course tasting menu at The French Laundry. From taquerias that cater to agriculture- and restaurant-industry workers to exceptional delis that offer picnic-worthy sandwiches, the Valley has more to offer than amazing wine tastings and high-end cuisine.

On Sunday mornings, the mid-Sunset’s Irving Street is alive. Asian grandmothers with bulging shopping bags negotiate for the best seafood at Sunset Super; restaurant owners rinse down front sidewalks as they prepare to open for lunch; and neighbors line up out the door for roast duck and pork at Lam Hoa Thuan and bubble tea at T-Pumps. Outside of Uncle Benny’s doughnut shop, home to the ’hood’s finest apple fritter, an elderly man plays familiar tunes on the ehru, a Chinese stringed instrument.

When the sun came up over the Vaca Mountains on Sunday, Aug. 24, the streets of downtown Napa were running red with Cabernet. A 6.0 earthquake at 3:20 that morning had shaken up homes and municipal buildings and sent more than 100 people to the hospital, but the damage to the region's wineries, wine bars, and tasting rooms quickly became the dominant story. Tweets and Instagrams flew around the internet from locals and early-on-the-scene reporters, bringing the world visions of toppled wine barr

The irrigator leans on his shovel in a Salinas field, his shoulders squared and his hand on his hip, as though he's taking a moment to assess his labor. The farmer crouches next to him, clad in a cowboy hat and work boots, holding a handful of soil and gazing out on the gently rolling Santa Lucia Mountains in the distance. It's a scene that's played out thousands of times in fields across the fertile Salinas Valley, but this one elicits a double-take from drivers zipping past in their road-wear

The fresh asparagus stalk was sweet, tender, and mild as spinach, with just a hint of the vegetable's usual astringency. It was the best I'd ever tasted, though its flavor was certainly enhanced by where I was standing: in a field of asparagus 12 feet below sea level, on an island in the middle of the Sacramento River Delta. It's one thing to get precious about the farm-to-table movement — about farmers, about the ingredients they grow or make, about buzzwords that swirl around the food system

San Francisco boasts upscale Americana, while craft beer and crab rolls rule outside San Francisco. Further south in Santa Barbara, it’s all about seafood, and in Los Angeles, Thai and taqueria eats are the draw. Las Vegas means high-roller dinners, but hop across the border to Valle de Guadalupe and you’ll find Baja-Med cuisine with hillside views. We hope you’re hungry! Photography by Beth Studenberg/thelicensingproject.com, Mary Costa Photography, ed anderson, Alanna Hale, shutterstock, Eric

As "locavore" becomes part of our everyday vocabulary and food critics continue to give West Coast cuisine accolades for its freshness and sustainability, West Coast Road Eats shows how why we eat-and where we eat it-matters more than ever. Part guidebook, part travelogue, and part history lesson, West Coast Road Food is a love letter to the seafood shacks, farm stands, taquerias, ice cream parlors, burger joints, wineries, and more that make up our unique edible ecosystem. Covering more than 1,500 miles from the Canadian border to San Diego, West Coast Road Eats offers a plethora of unique restaurants that dot the freeways and scenic byways of the West Coast. With suggested itineraries, overviews of major cities, and sidebars covering everything from captivating food-factory tours to instructions on how to pick the best produce at a farm stand, this book focuses the relationship between food and a sense of place with the enduring image of the American West as a backdrop.

If your comfort zone is in the ‘burbs—and the Golden Triangle has sucked you in like the Bermuda Triangle--this article is for you. It’s time to get out of town. From cooking schools to desert hikes to riverboat cruises, we’ve got a getaway for everyone, every weekend of the year. Start packing! Big Bear: It might not have the street cred of Mammoth or Whistler, but this local mountain’s day-trip proximity, advanced snow-making technology and varied offerings for beginners and snowboarders make

By March, the unrelenting clouds usually start to drive even the supposedly seasonal-affective-disorder-immune completely batty. If you’ve maxed out your library card and are starting to relate to the legendarily reclusive Emily Dickinson, it’s time to get up off the couch and embark on a lit-themed exploration of downtown. Pair beers with books at bars that double as libraries; browse the shelves at bookstores off the beaten path; and cap off your night in a luxurious hotel room that goes beyon