What are your favorite spots to shop for food?
I like the Marin market on Sundays. A lot of farmers don’t come to the city, so I can do some shopping with them in Marin. There’s always a ton of interesting things to see like nice greens, with all their individual heads and leaves. I like that the market always has the rotisserie truck and that porchetta sandwich. If I’m with the kids we’ll get a loaf of bread and some chicken, and hang out by the lake.

New May Wah Market is great because they have live things like Monterey spot prawns, fresh out of the tank. They’re less expensive than we can buy from our wholesale fish retailers. The other side of the market has so many kind of fresh noodles from udon, ramen, and lo mein. There's probably a hundred kind of fresh noodles in there. It’s all fun to learn and play around with. On the dry side of the market, there’s every other kind of Asian ingredient you can imagine.

What are your favorite date night spots?
I like to go to Fisherman’s Wharf and get live crab. All those little stands where they crack ‘em for you. It's great, if you don’t mind waiting 20 minutes. I always go to Alioto’s because the guys there are really cool. Plus, it’s clean. We get two whole crabs and a couple cold cans of beer.

What are your favorite meals to have with your family?
We like to pack up and BBQ at Crissy Field. I have a set up in the car with a knife and cutting board. We’ll put table cloths out, make some salad, and bring all the grill stuff. You can look out at the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz. It’s the greatest place to have a family dinner.

We usually go to Swan’s if we have time and went there recently for my birthday. All the guys know us there. They’ve known Max since he was born. If they see Max and it’s the end of the line, they let him get in line to let us in, too. That’s a lot of fun. We get oysters, clams, crab salad. Wiley loves raw fish, oysters, clams, uni live in the shell; he’s the most adventurous eater.

What is your guiltiest food pleasure?
A banana split. When I was growing up, I always loved Dairy Queen. Here I go to Ghirardelli because they have huge ice cream dishes.

Joseph ManzareJoseph Manzare

Chef Joseph Manzare's Favorite Local Food Spots