Tag Archives: tomato dinner

Cake Art, America’s Cup Cocktail & More

Posted on by 4 comments

Artist Gary Komarin paints images of cakes on brown paper bags. (Image courtesy of the artist)

Cake Paintings at March in San Francisco

Cake — without the calories. That’s what you’ll find at Marche, the gourmet kitchenware store in San Francisco, when it hosts an exhibit by artist Gary Komarin, Sept. 28 through the end of November.

The whimsical artwork consists of water-based enamel and spackle paintings of cakes on paper bags.

“I have long been intrigued by the way paper bags are designed and the way that they fold back into such a beautifully flat object after being so very volumetric in their ‘open’ stance,” said Komarin in a statement.   “These bags have a terrific surface on which to paint and an almost puffy physicality once paint is applied.”

Komarin’s work was inspired by his mother, a consummate baker, and his father, an architect.

A cocktail to salute the America's Cup. (Photo courtesy of Michael Mina restaurant)

America’s Cup Cocktail

Hoist a drink to the America’s Cup World Series, which will take place in the San Francisco Bay, Aug. 21-26 and Oct. 2-7.

You can with a specially prepared cocktail, the AC45, available at Michael Mina restaurant and RN74, both in San Francisco.

The beguiling concoction is a blend of Carpano Antica, Velvet Falernum and Earl Grey tea that’s shaken, poured into a tall glass of ice, then garnished with black lava sea salt and nori.

Read more

A Food Gal Giveaway: Two Seats at A Special Tomato and Wine Pairing Dinner in Los Gatos

Posted on by 18 comments

Indulge your summer tomato cravings.

Two of my favorite places in Los Gatos are joining for one night to celebrate “Fruits of the Vine,” a salute to summer heirloom tomatoes and stellar wines.

Sept. 15, the owners of Enoteca La Storia wine bar will be supplying copious amounts of their 25 varieties of home-grown, organic tomatoes to Restaurant James Randall for a vine-to-table five-course feast.

Chef Ross Hanson’s menu will include dishes such as Dungeness crab croquettes with tomato relish; tomato braised beef with creamy polenta and Pecorino; and roasted tomato and peach shortcake.

The  6 p.m. dinner is $95 per person, which includes wine pairings. Tax and gratuity are not included.

Advance ticket purchase is required.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will get a chance to attend the dinner with a guest — for free (though a tip for the servers would be appreciated, I’m sure). Entries, limited to those who can make it to Los Gatos on the evening of Sept. 15, will be accepted through midnight PST Sept. 8. Winner will be announced Sept. 10.

How to win?

Read more

Michael Mina Happenings & Tomato Dinners

Posted on by 8 comments

The signature tuna tartare at Michael Mina restaurant. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant

Surprising New Chef at Michael Mina Restaurant, Plus a Bar Treat

Ron Siegel, who was on the opening team at the French Laundry in Yountville and the first American ever to defeat an “Iron Chef” on the original Japanese cult cooking show, is the new head chef at Michael Mina restaurant in San Francisco.

For Siegel, who has spent nearly a decade at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, it’s a home-coming of sorts.

Chef Mina first hired Siegel as a line cook in 1991 at Aqua, the restaurant that used to operate on the same spot where Mina’s eponymous flagship now is.

In the ensuing years, Siegel, a Palo Alto High School grad, worked at Daniel in New York, then became head chef at Masa’s in San Francisco, Charles Nob Hill in San Francisco, and both the Dining Room and its new incarnation, Parallel 37, at the Ritz-Carlton.

Chef Ron Siegel will be the new chef of Michael Mina restaurant. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

“Michael has been a mentor since the early days of my career and it is an honor for me to join the Michael Mina San Francisco team, cooking alongside him,” said Siegel, in a statement.

Siegel will start in September.

Meantime, Michael Mina restaurant wants to entice visitors to its swank bar by offering its famous tuna tartare for a special price of $10 (regularly $19).

Read more