The Other Critics

Gallagher Recommends New Year’s Day Brunches; Sens Reviews One Market, Mateo’s Cocina Latina; and More

Mayhem might not be a bad option...
Mayhem might not be a bad option…

Sitting in for Patty U. over at the Examiner, Lauren Gallagher names a few ideas for New Year’s Day brunch — even though pretty much everywhere you go after, say, 10:30 a.m. is going to be a mob scene. She recommends Absinthe, Eats in the Richmond, Brunch Drunk Love, Mayhem, and Scala’s to name a few. The latter two might not be so mobbed, actually. [Examiner]

Mayhem might not be a bad option…

Josh Sens files a couple of new reviews in the new San Francisco mag, including a two-and-a-half-star review for Mateo’s Cocina Latina in Healdsburg, writing, “Like Healdsburg itself, the restaurant has an aura of easy living.” He loves the variety of salsas, the cocktails, and says “[chef Mateo] Granados makes the most of minor touches.” Also, he says it’s an “endearing restaurant, run by a chef with a great backstory who isn’t merely coasting on his narrative.” [SF Mag]

Sens also updates his thoughts on One Market, saying that the place does well playing to its strength as an expense-account destination. “Under chef Mark Dommen, the menu caters smartly to this audience’s interests, balancing conservative conventioneer favorites (beef carpaccio; Caesar salad) with Cal-Med flashes that aren’t so fanciful that the boys back at the office would call them fey.” All told: two stars. [SF Mag]

And Sens also pens a new review of Bottle Cap in North Beach — the place that quickly tried to repaint a bit after Michael Bauer dis’d their green walls. Some of those green walls are still there, and Sens admits “The setting is your grandmother’s idea of hip.” But he says chef Dane Boryta is “sure-handed” and “keeps his flavors focused” despite the “hodgepodge” of the menu. He gives them two and a half stars in their most positive review to date. [SF Mag]

And, finally, on the East Bay beat, the Chron’s Nicholas Boer reviews new Walnut Creek bistro Cypress, from a classically trained chef, Rick Delamain, who cut his teeth at the venerable but closed Le Virage. He writes of the menu that “for every classic dish on the menu, there’s a wholly contemporary creation,” citing dishes like a roast duck with “crackling” skin, “chewy farro risotto laced with confit,” and a savory sauce that’s “a far cry from the sweet orange and cherry glazes of Le Virage.” All told: two and a half stars. [Chron]

Gallagher Recommends New Year’s Day Brunches; Sens Reviews One Market,