Gourmet and $40: Michelin just released its annual Bib Gourmand list for the greater Bay Area — and 78 bistros made the cut, including 15 in the East Bay and five in the South Bay. Michelin-starred restaurants are exquisite affairs, but they are spendy. The Bib Gourmand designation, on the other hand, recognizes really excellent restaurants where you can buy dinner — two courses and a glass of wine — for less than $40. They’re date-night restaurants — and the places the Michelin food inspectors go on their days off.
A number of brand new restaurants made the list, including Iyasare in Berkeley and Chino, the “Chinese-ish” San Francisco restaurant opened by the Tacolicious team. And 13 restaurants appear on the list for the first time this year. Among them: Michel Bistro in Oakland, China Village in Albany and Ippuku and Rivoli in Berkeley.
In the South Bay and Peninsula, the bistros include Donato Enoteca in Redwood City, Evvia in Palo Alto, Fey in Menlo Park, La Costanera in Montara, and Vesta in Redwood City. Get more of the scoop at www.mercurynews.com/eat-drink-play.
Fine din(er)ing: We’d mentioned a while back that James Beard award-winning chef Bradley Ogden, of Lark Creek and Campton Place fame, was working on a Menlo Park project that would reinvent the American diner. Opening day is less than two weeks away for Bradley’s Fine Diner — or BFD. It’s a dual Ogden affair. Bradley and his son, chef Bryan Ogden, are applying the “fine dining” concept to retro diner fare with a menu that includes Yankee Pot Roast — braised short ribs with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes — as well as burgers, apple turnovers and butterscotch pudding. Pork and grits? That would be huckleberry glazed pork belly.
The new BFD will serve lunch and dinner daily, plus brunch and family-style dinners on Sundays. And unlike most diners, this one has a bar. Details: 1165 Merrill St., Menlo Park; bradleysfinediner.com.
Walk it off: Gastronomy is central to Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood. Now, you can experience it on your feet. The new Rockridge Neighborhood Heritage & Walking Food Tour is a three-hour, 3-mile guided walking tour that includes tastings from six local restaurants (we hear Zachary’s made the cut), demonstrations from local business owners and insight into the area’s rich history.
Tours are offered at 2 p.m. Thursdays and 11 a.m. Sundays, starting at the northeast corner of Tunnel Road and Domingo Avenue, outside the Berkeley Tennis Club. Details: $55 per person, $100 for two, $35 for kids 12 and under; www.rockridgefoodtour.com.
No Waterloo: Four years after perfecting his macaron recipe, French-born baker Razmig Tchoboian is expanding his Los Angeles-based patisserie to Northern California. His Napoleon’s Macarons opened last weekend at Santa Clara’s Valley Fair, and another is headed to San Francisco’s Westfield Centre. Details: www.napoleonsmacarons.com.
Devilish food trucks: We’ve lost count of how many Off the Grid gourmet food truck gatherings there are by now, so let’s just call the newest one — at the Devil’s Canyon Brewery in San Carlos — the umpteenth. And what better day to launch a devilish new food event than Halloween? Six to eight OTG food trucks will congregate at the brewery at 5 p.m. every Friday evening. Details: 935 Washington St., San Carlos; DevilsCanyon.com, www.OffTheGridSF.com.
Send your tips to jyadegaran@bayareanewsgroup.com and lzavoral@mercurynews.com.