Not my practice blog, by Scott Knaster

Harris Ranch

Anybody who has made the drive on I-5 between the SF Bay Area and LA knows about Harris Ranch, rising like an oasis roughly halfway between the two areas. We've been stopping there for years, but only last week did I actually order a (pricey) steak at the restaurant, and it was kind of blah, not very well seasoned and not so tasty. I'm not sure what the problem was. Is Harris Ranch a sham? Does the restaurant there not serve the good stuff? Or was it the kitchen's fault? Harris Ranch aficionados, please help me out here.

Two great restaurants

Over the past weekend my family and I were in North Hollywood. If you're not familiar with LA geography, North Hollywood is not Hollywood: the former is in the San Fernando Valley, and the latter is across the Santa Monica Mountains in the LA basin. (As my friend Andy Stadler says: "The problem with North Hollywood is that it's basically just West Burbank.") When we're out of town, we always try to avoid chain restaurants and get some local flavor instead, which is not always easy to do with kids.

On this trip, we found two gems: Art's Deli and Miceli's. At Art's, in Studio City on Ventura Blvd., we had wonderful corned beef, kosher salami, and potato knishes, along with a nice Dr. Brown's Cream Soda. Miceli's, a crowded Italian place in Universal City on Cahuenga Blvd. (which is the same street as Ventura after its name changes), featured great pizza, delicious hot rolls, and a terrific misto salad, along with live waitress singing and a general fun (but not too fun) atmosphere.

I highly recommend Art's Deli and Miceli's if you find yourself in the valley looking for great family food.

Saturn Cafe

Saturn Cafe is my favorite authentic non-touristy Santa Cruz restaurant. The atmosphere is fun, the food is great, the staff is funkily weird and helpful, and the place is family friendly. If you live in the SF Bay Area, check out the Saturn Cafe some time.

Sonic Drive-In

Last Monday we were driving home from a weekend in the mountains when we chanced upon a Sonic Drive-In in Ripon, California (near Modesto). Sonic is a chain with locations in most states, especially in Texas and Oklahoma. Their specialties are hot dogs, tater tots, and fruity drinks like limeade and a bunch of add-ins like cherry, grape, blue coconut, and watermelon. But the real fun is the carhop service, often provided on roller skates. I'm a sucker for a semi-cultish experience, and since there are no Sonics within an hour of where I live, this qualified. The hot dog I had was disappointing, but the tater tots were reasonable, and the limeade was great.

Bay Area Geeks Had Lunch

My experiment in transcoding Orkut into meatspace (requires Orkut membership) had its second instance yesterday at the Sourdough Eatery in San Jose. Crusty veterans and game newcomers alike braved the wilds of sorta-downtown San Jose for sandwiches and camaraderie.

In-N-Out

In-N-Out Burger makes the best fast food around. Plus, they have the cult thing going full-on with a secret menu (fries well-done are my favorite). Click here for a picture of a 20x20 -- that's 20 meat patties and 20 slices of cheese (warning: it's really gross).

(Picture via Dave McGary)

Award-winning

My buddy Hillel has been nominated for a prestigious award for writing about bagels. Woohoo! Congrats! I hope this doesn't affect his humility.

Much ado about eating

If you like erudite, obsessively detailed discussions of fancy food, be sure to check out Hillel's site as he documents his amazing dining and cooking adventures around the world.

Sears Fine Food re-opening!

The cool restaurant, which closed last month, has been rescued by San Francisco restauranteur Man Kim and will reopen this spring. Yippee!