Sac Foodies

Favorite food: Cheese — smoked, raw milk, creamy, aged — I love it all!

Favorite local restaurants (formal dining, ethnic, neighborhood bistro): I can’t pick just one, but I have some favorites all across town. I like Nationwide Meats for their cheeseburgers, El Novillero for enchiladas, Jack’s for salads, and Frank Fat’s for pot stickers.

Favorite dining experience of all time: Mama’s Fish House in Maui while on my honeymoon. Beautiful location, excellent service, the freshest fish I’ve ever had and pretty great company, too.

Earliest food-related memory from childhood: Cooking with my mom. She wasn’t much of a baker, so she taught me a couple of tricks and then let me take over around six years old. By the time I was nine I had won Best of Show at the Monterey County Fair for my chocolate chip cookies.

Most impressive dish you’ve whipped up using only ingredients on hand: I’m not sure, but it must have been a casserole, probably with Mexican flair and lots of cheese!

Favorite family recipe: My mom’s Thanksgiving stuffing is legendary. She uses day-old French bread, fresh herbs, bacon, and her secret ingredient…linguica. The Portugese find a way to put linguica in everything and stuffing is no exception. It’s the one thing on the Thanksgiving table that everyone has seconds and thirds of.