Category Archives: Chefs

Donostia Debuts in Los Gatos

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A simple, yet sublime, mushroom brocheta at the new Donostia in Los Gatos.

A simple, yet sublime, mushroom brocheta at the new Donostia in Los Gatos.

 

If you had any doubt that Spanish food remains one of the hottest crazes around even years after El Bulli’s Ferran Adria introduced the world to foams, just take a look at what’s happening in the Bay Area.

In January, Chef Paul Canales, formerly of Oliveto, opened Restaurant Duende & Bodega in Oakland. This spring, look for celebrity chef, Michael Chiarello of Bottega in Yountville, to open the splashy Coqueta on San Francisco’s Embarcadero.

Thankfully, the South Bay has not been left behind in all of this. Donostia (the Basque name for San Sebastian) opened last month at 424 Santa Cruz Ave. in Los Gatos to serve up tapas alongside Spanish wines and beers.

The new restaurant is by the same duo behind Enoteca La Storia, just a couple doors away in the same retail-business center. Owners Joe Cannistraci and Michael Guerra, couldn’t resist when this long, narrow 1,000-square-foot space became available.

The two Italian guys traveled to San Sebastian to familiarize themselves with authentic tapas. That’s where they met Agustin Elbert, a native Argentinian who has spent the past dozen years cooking in Spain, including at a number of well-known tapas places. They lured him to Los Gatos to be their consulting chef.

The long, narrow space features a bar with seating, as well as bar-height tables.

The long, narrow space features a bar with seating, as well as bar-height tables.

Last week, I had a chance to visit Donostia as a guest of the restaurant. With a built-in clientele who often spill over from sister establishment, Enoteca La Storia, Donostia is already packing in regulars even if it’s only been open a couple of weeks.

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Food Photo Exhibit, Tea Fest & More

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"Watermelon Radishes'' by Paulette Tavormina. (Image courtesy of the artist)

“Watermelon Radishes” by Paulette Tavormina. (Image courtesy of the artist)

March Debuts Food Photo Exhibit

Gourmet kitchen and pantry retailer, March, in San Francisco will feature an exhibition by food photographer, Paulette Tavormina.

The New York City artist creates sumptuous food photos that have the air of 17th century Old Master still-life paintings of food and flora. Tavormina styles each photograph with the utmost of detail and makes dramatic use of light.

March will display 16 of her works from March 14 to June 1.

Just think: You can take in an art show, then shop for table linens, cast iron cookware and gourmet jams to create your own tableau at home.

"Pears'' by Paulette Tavormina. (Image courtesy of the artist)

“Pears” by Paulette Tavormina. (Image courtesy of the artist)

San Francisco International Tea Festival

Enjoy the soothing and fascinating world of tea at the San Francisco International Tea Festival, March 10 at the Ferry Building.

The event includes seminars on the history of tea in the United States, tea as medicine and the green teas of Japan. There will be plenty to taste, too.

Exhibitors include the Imperial Tea Court, owned by festival host, Roy Fong; as well as Chado, Sky Tea and Alegio Chocolate.

General admission, which includes a commemorative tote bag and ceramic tasting cup, is $20 each. Seminars are $5 each.

“Taste of the Nation” Coming to San Francisco

A bevy of stellar chefs will be featured in the Taste of the Nation event, March 21, at the Bentley Reserve in San Francisco.

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Richard Blais To Appear at Santana Row’s Sur La Table, Justin’s Restaurant To Finally Open in Santa Clara, and More

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The whimsical cover of Richard Blais' debut cookbook.

Meet Top Chef’s Richard Blais

Richard Blais, winner of  “Top Chef: All-Stars,” will be appearing at Sur La Table in San Jose’s Santana Row on March 3.

The chef, known for his way with liquid nitrogen and other molecular cooking techniques, will headline a Q&A session at Santana Row Park at 11:30 a.m. At noon, he will sign copies of his new book at Sur La Table.

“Try This at Home: Recipes from My Head to Your Plate” (Clarkson Potter) is his first cookbook. It features 125 recipes that highlight his inventive approach to cooking, including adding coffee to butter for pancakes, cooking lamb shanks in root beer and making cheese foam for your favorite burger.

The book signing is a ticketed event and seats are limited. Tickets will be given out upon purchase of “Try This at Home” at Sur La Table.

Justin’s to Open in Santa Clara in March

It’s taken nearly three years, but Chef Justin Perez is finally poised to open his restaurant at the old Wilson’s Jewel Bakery site on Homestead Road in Santa Clara.

Only now, it won’t be called Restaurant O, after his former restaurant in Campbell. It’ll be Justin’s Appetite for Expression. Plagued by permit and construction delays, the new restaurant is expected to open March 5, if all goes according to plan.

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Alexander’s Steakhouse Gets In the Porky Mood

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Mangalitsa pork terrine at Alexander's Steakhouse in Cupertino.

Alexander’s Steakhouse of Cupertino may be famous for its princely Wagyu steaks and playful puffs of cotton candy.

Now, it’s adding another lure: Mangalitsa pork.

The heritage breed pig with the distinct wooly hair is originally from Hungary. It is known for its lush fat. So much so that it was once raised for its lard, which is supposedly very clean and pure tasting.

Executive Chef Gerardo Naranjo already has been playing around with various cuts from the half pig he got in a few weeks ago. He can barely contain his excitement about the whole 400-pound Mangalitsa that the restaurant will be receiving this week.

The Mangalitsas are from Csarda Haz, a family-owned farm in Davis. The free-range pigs are nourished on a diet of cover crops of peas and oats, as well as English walnuts from trees on the farm that are nearly 60 years old.

Look for the Cupertino restaurant to feature nightly specials of Mangalitsa in various preparations, including a 12-ounce loin chop for $80. With the restaurant set to get regular shipments of Mangalitsa (also known as Mangalica in Hungary), the artisan pork also is expected to be featured eventually at its sister restaurants, Alexander’s Steakhouse in San Francisco and The Sea by Alexander’s Steakhouse in Palo Alto.

The dining room.

Last week, I was invited in for a sneak peek and taste of this fabulous pork in a few preparations Naranjo has been playing around with.

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Chef Daniel Humm to Visit San Francisco, Beer Tuesdays at Boxing Room, and More

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Daniel Humm (right) and Will Guidara (right). (Photo by Francesco Tonelli)

Meet Chef Daniel Humm at A Book-Signing

Daniel Humm, acclaimed chef of New York’s Eleven Madison Park, will be appearing at 7 p.m. April 3 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.

Humm will be in conversation with the restaurant’s General Manager Will Guidara, with whom he collaborated on the cookbook, “I Love New York: Ingredients and Recipes” (Ten Speed Press). The cookbook, which will be released in April, fuses innovative dishes with New York classics like smoked fish, egg cream, and black and white cookies.

A culinary treat is promised to attendees at the reception and book-signing afterward.

Tickets are $15 to $25, and available by calling the box office at (415) 292-1233.

DIY Dinner Kits at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza has introduced weekly Farmers Market Chef Baskets, which come complete with recipes to make dinner, along with all the fresh ingredients needed as sourced from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

Each basket has been curated by a particular chef. For instance, Chef Joanne Weir’s market basket dinner includes the makings for fennel soup with Meyer lemon creme fraiche, and fresh spinach and shaved root vegetable salad. The $29 basket serves 2 to 3. All the recipes are gluten free, and can be made vegan, too. If you have hungrier appetites at home, you can opt for the Joanne Weir basket that adds a 1/2 chicken from Mountain Ranch Organically Grown to the mix for a total of $39.

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