That’s the only way to describe the luxe “Eggs and Toast” package at the Redwood Room Bar in the Clift Hotel in San Francisco.

Forget over-easy. Think Tsar Nicoulai California Estate Osetra Caviar (from sustainable farmed sturgeon). This is no time for whole-wheat, either. Think crispy potato chips instead. And coffee has given way to premium Champagne.

Ahh, that’s the kind of eggs and toast I’m talking about. It’s all part of the Redwood Room’s 75th anniversary celebration.

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Hallelujah, I’ve experienced a miracle — albeit a modest one.

It didn’t involve seeing Jesus on a tortilla or the Virgin Mary in a rust stain on the side of a building. No, my miracle involved a teeny-tiny red berry known as “miracle fruit.”

Haven’t heard the buzz on this fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, that’s native to West Africa? Well, brothers and sisters, let me fill you in. I’ve been intrigued by the fruit ever since reading a New York Times story about it in May.

This small fruit purports to have an amazing effect when eaten: It changes the taste of anything you stick in your mouth afterwards, particularly things that are sour or bitter, leaving them seemingly sugary sweet. 

Admittedly, I was more a curious skeptic than any kind of true believer. So when my friend, Elaine Villamin, winemaker at her family’s Eden Canyon Vineyards in Creston, Calif. (believed to be the only Filipino-American estate winery in the country) asked me to come to a miracle fruit event she was hosting last weekend, I jumped at the chance. Elaine planned to have attendees test the reaction of the fruit on her wines, as well as a variety of other foods, including Tabasco, white vinegar, pickles, Spam, and her homemade pot roast. Talk about a rather curious last supper. 

The event was held at Periscope Cellars in Emeryville. Trivia fans will note that its warehouse area was the set for the first season of Bravo TV’s “Top Chef.” The Kenmore appliances are still there as proof. 

About three dozen folks forked over $12 in hopes of having a miracle last Saturday afternoon. The seeds ($3 each and just a tad larger than pomegranate ones) were picked just a couple days ago in South Florida, where they are grown by Curtis Mozie who sells them through his Web site.

We were instructed to pop the seed into our mouth, to suck on the smidgen of pulp that’s pretty tasteless, then spit out the bitter seed. We also were told the effect of the protein, miraculin, would last about an hour. Then we made our way around the tables set up with condiments and foods, trying each with eager anticipation. 

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Riesling? Gewurztraminer? Australian Shiraz? When to serve each of those wines with what Asian dishes?

You’ll learn exactly what wines go with what flavor profiles in Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese and other Asian fare in the 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 11 class, “Master Food and Wine Pairing” at Le Colonial restaurant in San Francisco. Yours truly has been helping to put together that class that is part of the three-day weekend “Asian Culinary Forum,” a series of classes, tours, workshops and discussions celebrating the vibrant changes in Asian cuisines around the globe.
Join Edwin Soon, enologist and wine columnist for Time Out Singapore, as he leads you through pairings of varietals with tastes of various classic Asian dishes. Everyone goes home with a copy of his book, “Wine With Asian Food, New Frontiers in Taste” (Tide-Mark Press), which he co-authored with wine teacher Patricia Guy. The class is $85.

To whet your appetite, enjoy this recipe, along with wine pairing recommendations, from the book:

Imperial-Style Grilled Spareribs

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Urban Tavern, a stylish gastropub, has opened in downtown San Francisco, the newest project by celebrated Chef Laurent Manrique (of Aqua in San Francisco), and restaurateurs Chris Condy of C&L Partners, and Donna Scala of Bistro Don Giovanni in Napa.

With a unique horse sculpture made of tractor, car and motorcycle parts as its centerpiece, the restaurant serves Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. Meats and seafood (grilled conventionally or cooked on the plancha, a flattop grill), with your choice of sauces served a la carte. Also on the menu is grilled lamb ratatouille sandwich ($16), mussels four different ways ($14 to $16), and beef Daube Catalane (priced for 1, 2, or 4 persons at $23, $42, and $79, respectively).

Journey south to Santa Clara on Sept. 20 for Parcel 104’s sixth annual “Wine and Cheese” dinner. Chefs from around the Bay Area will help prepare the multi-course feast, in which every course will feature a different artisan cheese. Author and cheese expert Laura Werlin will be on hand to answer questions. Price is $145.

Parcel 104’s Executive Chef Robert Sapirman also once again will be the lead chef for the seventh annual March of Dimes Celebrity Chefs & Master Vintners Gala Silicon Valley, Sept. 14 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose.

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Uncork a bottle of Black Eagle Wines to toast Labor Day in a most apropos way.

Black Eagle Wines is a collection of varietals launched by the field laborers and leaders of the United Farm Workers. It signifies the progress made by the UFW — from its founding by Cesar Chavez to its days of grape boycotts 40 years ago to the pride these days in the harvest and production that respects farm workers’ labor. The grapes for these wines were harvested by workers whose union membership has helped bring better wages and living conditions.

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