Poggio features special dinner deals to celebrate Easter and the coming of spring

Next week, Chef Peter McNee of Poggio Trattoria is preparing Spiedo Misto della Pasqua, or a variety of spit-roasted meats including rabbit, goat, young pig and assorted game birds for $19. Poggio, which means "hill" in Italian, is appropriately named since it has a hillside garden overlooking the San Francisco skyline where they grow organic herbs and vegetables such as radicchio, kale, watercress and peppercress. They also make their own pastas, burrata, mozzarella and house-cured salami. Dine in casual elegance at this classic Italian trattoria located in the Casa Madrona Hotel and Spa in Sausalito. Spiedo Misto della Pasqua will be served April 7-11. 415.332.7771

Where to have a kid-friendly Easter

Looking for someplace both you and the kids will enjoy for Easter? Here are a handful of places that have family friendly offerings. Whether you have a hankering for something savory or sweet, you will undoubtedly have a hopping good time!

18th Annual Union Street Spring Celebration and Easter Parade, Marina. Sunday, April 12th, 10am-5pm. Parade starts at 10am. Numerous Union Street restaurants will be serving food in an outdoor bistro setting. There will be a petting zoo, pony rides, jumpers, a climbing wall, kids' rides and games and costumed characters.

Park Chalet, Sunset. Sunday, April 12th, 10am-3pm. Brunch buffet, $35 for adults and $18.95 for children. Bottomless champagne for adults and the Easter bunny with an egg hunt for the kids at 11:45am. A live, kid-friendly band will perform from 11am-1pm.

Foreign Cinema, Mission. Sunday, April 12th, 11am-3pm. They will have a special three course meal, $40 for adults and $15 for children.

Easter Bunny Brunch at McCormick and Kuleto's, Ghiradelli Square. Saturday, April 11th, 10-11:30am. Take your own pictures with the Easter bunny. Adults: $30, children 6-12: $20, children under 6: $5. Advance reservations are required.

Old Fashioned Spring Egg Hunt at Dunsmuir House, Oakland. Saturday, April 11th, 12-3pm. Kids can greet the Easter bunny, go on age-appropriate egg hunts, play games, see tap dancing bunnies and watch puppet shows. Go on a tour of the mansion and bring your own picnic lunch to enjoy on the estate. Adults: $5, children 5 and up: $2, children under 5 are free. Family price: $12. Tour and games included.

Brunch with the Easter Bunnies at the Jelly Belly Factory, Fairfield. Saturday, April 11th, 10:30am. Meet Mr. Jelly Belly, Wendy and Wendell Bunny, and Kelly the Clown. Adults and children 3 and up: $19.99, children under 3 are free.

Charles Chocolates Factory and Store, Emeryville. Saturday, April 11th, 1-4pm. Paint your own chocolate Easter bunny. They will be giving samples away of their Easter chocolates. Bunny $9.75 plus $3 to paint with colored cocoa butters.



Go to Opentable.com for more restaurants, About.com for a list of Easter events , and Kiddie Koncierge for Easter egg hunts all around the Bay Area.

New manager infuses Hawaiian vibe into Sundance Kitchen

Earlier this month, Pat Da Silva-Fong took over as manager of the Sundance Kitchen located next door to the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on Post at Fillmore in Japantown. The former owner of Honu's Island Grinds has introduced a new Hawaiian inspired menu featuring assorted appetizers, poke, salads, main dishes and pizzas. Her executive chef Sal Chen, who worked at Butterfly and Honu's prior to Sundance Kitchen, whips up items like Kobe beef sliders and an Ultimate Hawaiian pizza topped with kalua pork and pineapple. Some of Honu's classics like chicken adobo, kalbi short ribs and kalua pig cheese fries can also be found on the revamped menu. In three weeks, they will start serving lunch from 11:30am to 2:00pm. Da Silva-Fong expanded their bar by adding draft beers on tap, including several specialty Hawaiian beers. She has brought island beats to Sundance Kitchen as well. Every Friday and Saturday night, from 9:00pm until midnight, contemporary bands perform live on the upstairs dining room stage.

Dinner is served from 5:00-10:00pm Wednesday through Saturday, and on Sundays from 5:00- 9:00pm. Happy hour begins at 4:00pm. Sundance Kitchen is available for private events on Mondays and Tuesdays. For reservations, call 415.346.3243 after 5:00pm.

For more info: Sundance Cinemas

Okay, so The Candy Store isn't a restaurant, but my kids love their inventory of sweet treats so much they would make a meal of it any day. Owners Diane and Brian Campbell showcase a wide-range of products in their bright, clean, well-stocked Russian Hill boutique. For the past two years, they have been bringing smiles to the faces of big and little kids alike and it's nice to see their success on the rise. Here is the latest news straight from Diane and Brian.

"It's a really exciting time for the store! In just the past week, Diane was interviewed on "Dining Around With Gene Burns" on KGO radio (her 4th appearance) and was also quoted in an article about candy on the front page of the New York Times.

Also, Macy's Union Square is about to kick off their 63rd Annual Flower Show, where The Candy Store has been selected as their spotlight boutique (they choose one small business per year). The boutique will be located in the middle of the main floor of Macy's, where they are building out a scaled-down version of our Russian Hill store. In addition, one of their enormous display windows on Stockton Street will be devoted entirely to The Candy Store. It's been a real pleasure working with Macy's Visual Merchandising team - they are really going all out for us, replicating our store's wall of jars and even creating custom wallpaper from our logo. We hope you'll be able to come visit us - we'll be there from April 3rd through the 19th. We'll be selling some great Easter candy (Macy's is offering a "build-a-basket" service) as well as many of our everyday store favorites.

Our Vallejo Street location will, of course, continue to be open its regular hours. Spring is such a fantastic time for candy, and we hope you'll take full advantage of it. We just got in a new shipment of chocolates and other confections from Italy, as well as elegant boxes of Hazelnut Feuilletines made by local pastry chefs (Diane's new fave). Another of our favorites is a selection of amazing truffles made especially for The Candy Store by Oakland's Michael Mischer. And lastly, you won't want to miss the abundance of Easter specialties we have in stock right now - everything from chocolate floppy-eared bunnies to candy-filled acrylic ducks to lovely boxes of Easter marzipan.

We can't thank you enough for your continued support of our store, and we hope to see you soon."

The Candy Store: 1507 Vallejo Street, SF 415.921.8000

Bushi-tei's sibling bistro opens April 1st

Bushi-Tei Bistro, the long-awaited offshoot of the upscale French California fusion restaurant Bushi-tei, is slated for a soft opening on Wednesday, April 1st. Owner Tak Matsuba says that Bushi-tei's executive chef, Seiji "Waka" Wakabayashi, will run both kitchens. Under Wakabayashi's culinary leadership, Bushi-tei earned a coveted star from the Michelin Guide as well as three stars from San Francisco Chronicle's Michael Bauer. He has worked with Wolfgang Puck at Spago and was the executive chef at Ondine in Sausalito. This more casual spinoff will offer California fusion food with greater Asian influences such as "tonkatsu" or Japanese style pork cutlets, and Thai curry style crab. The average tab per person will be between $25 and $30.

Roughly the same size as its sibling, the bistro can seat up to 130 people and has a private banquet room for 40. Given its spaciousness, affordable prices and proximity to the Sundance Kabuki theaters, it is bound to be a popular spot for many movie-goers. Starting this Wednesday, Bushi-tei Bistro will be open for lunch and dinner service from 11:30am-9:30pm everyday except Tuesdays. Wine and beer. Location: 1581 Webster Street at Post in Japantown.

Underdog's a winner for organic and vegetarian hotdogs

Who would have imagined that you could find an organic hotdog joint in the Inner Sunset? Underdog is a tiny place that offers organic meats and vegetarian sausages, as well as organic salads, desserts, sodas and juices. This busy Irving Street spot has a line out the door on weekends and turns out pretty tasty dogs on toasted buns such as fire-roasted red pepper chicken and turkey, vegetarian bratwurst, and vegan kielbasa. You can pile on the condiments yourself - organic sauerkraut, pickled relish and onions. Their potato salad and tater tots are popular, although the taters are not as crispy as I like them.

There are just two small tables inside, and an outdoor bench with a handful of TV trays for makeshift alfresco eating. It has such a comfortable, casual vibe that people even sit on the sidewalk and devour their meal. And, there's a bucket of chalk for your little crumb-grinder and a bowl of water for your pooch. The next time you have a hankering for a hotdog, try one here.

In this lively, even noisy FiDi eatery, Chef Staffan Terje and his team turn out delicious Northern Italian dishes that make the din seem like a communal celebration of how good the food is. Perbacco shines with cooking that spotlights the Piemonte region and elements from Liguria and Provence. The slow roasted veal appetizer with lemon and albacore tuna sauce is so tender and tasty, they should seriously make giant sandwiches out of that stuff. While I thought about having the Salumi Misti, house cured meats and salami - after all, it is #18 on 7x7's list of places to try before you die - I opted for the squid which was also impressively tender and nicely accented with lemon and red chili flakes. The folks here make their own pasta daily, and you can taste the freshness in dishes such as the roasted rabbit agnolotti. The Subrich, or Piemontese meatballs, were perfectly prepared, not too dense or mushy, with a rich and savory spiced red wine jus offset by slightly sweet apples and potato puree. Don't forget dessert. They have a lot of chocolatey and nutty decadence on the menu, but they also have interesting items like citrus and vanilla infused rice pudding with a caramel crust, a cross between rice pudding and creme brulee. At noon, the suit set converges upon this place, so be sure to have reservations.