MenuPlease at El Mariachi’s: Good Mexican at Four Corners

The spot occupied by El Mariachi’s has seen a host of restaurants come and go over the years. If Femme de Joie’s memory serves her, El Mariachi’s was previously owned by the fine folks at La Cabana and has been under the current ownership for about two years. M. de Joie ate there once shortly after the new management took ove…

Apples to Oranges: Ag & Farmers Markets in Calif. and Wash.

As I explore my new home of Bellevue, Washington, I’m reminded of how important California’s agricultural exports are to the rest of the nation. While shopping for fresh fruit at grocery stores, signs stating “grown in California” pop out at me.

Northern California’s farmers markets offer an abundance…

Menuplease at Kobe: The Tom Jones of Restaurants

To look at the impressive faux-Italianate façade on the new restaurant at the corner of Shasta and Market Streets - the Sherven Square complex - you’d think that, well, a Tuscan restaurant was housed there. There’s nothing Asian about the terra-cotta colored exterior and the false shutters on second-story windows. The chee…