I’ve got a confession that’s not really a confession to anyone who’s ever met me. I’m a Francophile. Like I’m pretty sure I could subsist on rosé and oysters and pâté and steak tartare until the gout came and slapped me off the gilded bar stool where I’m fantasy chilling with all my other red-lipped Frenchies and chain-smoking Gauloises. Sadly (and perhaps luckily?) that place has never existed in Boise. Until now. Petite 4 quietly opened this week on Latah Street, adjacent t

**Now Closed** I did a double take when I stumbled across the website for Barnyard Kitchen and Bar. Fried green tomatoes with house-smoked pork belly? Fried chicken on buttermilk biscuits with house pickles? Fresh local goats milk and sheep’s milk cheeses made in an on-site creamery? Wait ... is this in Idaho? Turns out it most definitely is, near the big box dominated corner of Fairview Avenue and Eagle Road. Housed in the former Muse Bistro & Wine Bar building in Meridian,

We were lucky enough to attend last Saturday's sold out dinner at the Arid Club featuring three chefs and a sommelier from the Basque Country. Chef Aitor Elizegi of Restaurante Gaminiz in Bilbao; Chef Beñat Ormaetxea, former Head Chef at the Guggenheim Bilbao and owner of Jauregibarria in Amorebieta-Etxano; and Chef Josu Ibarra of Asador Zuria in Bilbao whipped up six unique courses. The evening also featured Txakoli and Rioja pairings from sommelier Mikel Garaizabal Pildain,

I've been fairly unimpressed with Boise's Korean offerings. But I changed my tune after a recent trip to Gangnam Korean Restaurant, which opened in the former Wasabi space on Orchard. Here's my review, which came out in today's Boise Weekly: Banchan, or "side dishes," are an essential component of any Korean meal. The small plates boast everything from squiggly japchae to spicy kimchi to savory pancakes, and they're set in the middle of the table to share. Like any good Korea

Photo via Laurie Pearman at Boise Weekly The first kaiten-zushi, or conveyor belt sushi shop, opened in Japan in 1958. From there, the fast food sushi concept slowly crept across the world. In the Treasure Valley, Shige Express has owned the floating sushi boat scene for the past few years—with two locations that serve small plates that drift by diners in a revolving moat. Now there is a new rotating sushi spot in town—fittingly called Rotary Sushi—that has ditched the water

I've always enjoyed The Lift's shady, grape-vine-draped back patio in the summertime. It's a quick bike jaunt down the Greenbelt and is somehow insulated from the chaos of nearby State Street. Not to mention, I can get a stiff $3 gin and soda during happy hour. But apart from The Lift's famous fish tacos, I tend to shy away from the food—nachos, burgers, etc. That is, until recently, when I spotted a couple of intriguing new additions to the appetizer menu: Pork Street Tacos

It’s no secret that Madhuban has a great lunch buffet. Not only does the spot consistently win Best Local Indian in BW’s Best of Boise contest, but there’s regularly a line stretching out the door. We stopped by today for a late Memorial Day lunch and the place was as packed as ever. We gladly lingered outside the of the State Street strip mall space for around 20 minutes until a table was available. Inside, families picked up clean plates and waited in another line to ladle

So, I'm a tad biased (considering my husband's the chef) but brunch at The Modern Hotel is freaking awesome. Today, I snagged a shady patio seat and ordered the housemade corned beef tossed with hunks of perfectly roasted beets and potatoes, topped with a sprinkling of chive flowers. It was fantastic (and beautiful, just look at that oozy, deep yellow yolk!) My mother-in-law opted for the Cured Steelhead Lox with thin rye toasts, housemade crème fraîche and a zippy parsley an

Hyde Park's 13th Street Pub has had essentially the same menu for as long as I can remember—a fairly standard line-up of salads, sandwiches and burgers. So when I swung by for happy hour last week, I was surprised to see some more adventurous new items on the menu. The Risotto Goat Cheese Cakes ($10) were particularly impressive—both in size and execution—with a super crispy, deep-fried exterior that gave way to soft risotto with a core of creamy, pesto-laced goat cheese. Tho

I'm not typically a fan of the spicy tuna roll. It's an excuse to serve sub-par scraps of tuna riddled with stringy sinew that are bound together with enough spicy mayo to conceal the fact that the fish isn’t great. My ideal sushi roll is something simple—like tuna and asparagus or salmon and avocado—with ample hunks of fresh fish and zero mayo. But having said all that, Sushi Joy has officially won me over with its spicy tuna roll. The Sushi Lunch #2 combo features six plump