There is a Chinese restauarant in San Francisco that is a hidden gem. As one dining companion said recently, "Jai Yun's chef could be the best Chinese chef in America, but no one knows about him!" I've had the opportunity to eat at Jai Yun three times (each a delight) and planned to write about the restaurant the first two times but never did because I felt the task was too daunting. After this last meal, I felt that I could keep silent no longer and had to tell as many people as I could about my unbelievable dining exeriences at Jai Yun.
Jai Yun 680 Clay Street San Francisco, CA 94111 (415) 981-7438 Reservations also available through OpenTable

When we moved to Austin, Texas in 2009, the type of restaurant that we missed the most was a ramen-ya ("ramen shop"). Having spent well over a decade living in the San Francisco Bay Area, we had become spoiled by not only the availability of ramen, but also the quality and variety of ramen. Most people know ramen as the homemade instant noodle soup made from dried noodles and special powders that borrows the same name. However, real ramen is a truly satisfying, labor intensive, and difficult dish to make well. In the last year, ramen has finally arrived in Austin and it's not only good, it's great.