Category Archives: Chefs

A Pampering Experience at the Farmhouse Inn in Sonoma County

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Wake up to fluffy oatmeal pancakes with apples at the Farmhouse Inn.

From the moment you arrive at the bucolic Farmhouse Inn in tiny Forestville in the Russian River Valley, you know you will be in good hands.

After all, Charlotte most likely will be the first to greet you.

This is one friendly, adorable black cat you will want crossing your path. The inn’s resident pet, Charlotte, keeps pests in check on the property. But she’s also not above sneaking into your room to take a snooze.

And what rooms these are.

Eighteen rooms, cottages and suites ($345 to $745 a night) dot the property, whose centerpiece is a pale yellow 1873 restored farm house. The farmstead has been owned for the past decade by siblings, Catherine and Joe Bartolomei, whose family has farmed in Sonoma County for five generations. Recently, my husband and I were invited to be guests of the inn for an overnight stay that included dinner at the famed restaurant on the premises.

Although it blends in perfectly with the 1800s property, this barn is a new structure housing gorgeous suites.

The rustic and thoroughly chic look of the suite.

Notice the pillow on the bed that looks like a certain cat?

The room's double-sided fireplace can be enjoyed from the deck, too.

We stayed in an upstairs suite in the newly built barn at the back of the property. The suite definitely has a rustic vibe — but one attuned to Ralph Lauren.  Bright, airy and chic, the suite featured a four-poster bed adorned with a pillow decorated with a black cat in homage to Charlotte, of course. A double-sided stone gas fireplace sat across from the bed and could be enjoyed from the other side outside on the deck, too. The bathroom featured a jetted tub, separate steam shower and radiant heat floors to toast your tootsies on chilly mornings.

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Lidia Bastianich, Christopher Kimball, Jacques Pepin & Other Top Culinarians Coming to the Bay Area

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Chef Traci Des Jardins. (Photo courtesy of the chef)

Traci Des Jardins Hosts “Top Chef Masters” Alums Event

All you “Top Chef Masters” fans won’t want to miss a special evening on Nov. 3, when Chef Traci Des Jardins will be joined by four of her former competitors on that show at a gala dinner at her restaurant, Jardiniere in San Francisco.

Joining her will be: Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill in Los Angeles and Las Vegas; Naomi Pomeroy of Beast in Portland; Floyd Cardoz of North End Grill in New York (and winner of the most recent season of the show); and Suvir Saran of Devi in New York.

The event will benefit the anti-hunger, non-profit Share Our Strength.

A cocktail reception starts at 6 p.m., followed by a multi-course, sit-down dinner.

Tickets to the cocktail party are $150 each. Tickets to the cocktail party plus the dinner are $1,000 each.

Lidia Bastianich Comes to San Rafael and San Francisco

Catch beloved Italian chef and cookbook author, Lidia Bastianich, at two events in the Bay Area.

First up, she will host a cooking demo and book signing at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael at 8 p.m. Oct. 28.

Executive Chef Alan Fairhurst of Scoma’s in San Francisco will kick off the event by demonstrating how to make cioppino. That signature dish will be featured on Bastianich’s new PBS show, “Lidia’s Italy in America!,” which airs at 12:30 p.m. Saturdays on KQED, channel 9.

Following that, Bastianich will take the stage to show how to make a four-course Italian meal, including chicken Sorrentino and zuppa inglese. Best yet, four lucky audience members will be invited up on stage to taste the dishes with Bastianich. Additionally, a raffle will be held to win two different prize baskets — one filled with all of Bastianich’s pastas and sauces, and the other containing signed copies of all seven of her cookbooks, as well as her children’s book.

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Kokkari’s Greek Meatballs & A Food Gal Giveaway

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Meatballs with tomato sauce and green olives from San Francisco's Kokkari restaurant.

Shaped like flattened footballs, and heady with dried mint, cumin and Greek oregano, these meatballs are mighty meaty and plenty juicy.

They can be served as a meze or appetizer with bread. But I enjoyed them as a satisfying main course with couscous and a green salad.

“Spiced Meatballs with Green Olive & Tomato Sauce” is from the new cookbook, “Kokkari: Contemporary Greek Flavors” (Chronicle Books), of which I recently received a review copy. The cookbook was written by Erik Cosselmon, chef of Kokkari, the acclaimed upscale Greek restaurant in San Francisco; and food writer Janet Fletcher. It’s filled with favorites from the restaurant, including whole fish roasted with tomato, potato, fennel and olives; egg-lemon soup with chicken and rice; and okra with tomato, saffron and dill.

Kokkari, along with its sister restaurant Evvia in Palo Alto, have been long-time favorite establishments of mine. Step into either and you can’t help get caught up in the warmth and vivacity of the ambiance, as well as by the the bold flavors of the food, bright with lemon, olives, feta, tomatoes and lush olive oil.

Made with a combo of ground lamb, ground beef and grated onion to keep them very moist, these hefty meatballs are seared, then finished cooking in a simple sauce of canned tomatoes and green olives.

As an appetizer, the dish serves six, with one good-sized meatball per person. As an entree, it probably serves three, with two meatballs per person.

These meatballs are wonderfully tender and with a lovely hit of cumin and mint — a nice change-up from the usual Italian version.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a copy of the new “Kokkari” cookbook. Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Oct. 22. Winner will be announced Oct. 24.

How to win?

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Red Pepper Jelly Pork Chops

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Juicy pork chops with sticky red pepper jelly.

With a couple of jars of red pepper jelly in hand, I couldn’t help but dollop some over soft cream cheese for the old-school cracker spread we all adore.

But I wanted to do something beyond that with the rest, something a little more out of the norm.

I found what I was looking for in this wonderful recipe for “Pepper Jelly-Glazed Boneless Pork Chops with Steamed Baby Bok Choy.” The recipe is by Sara Foster of North Carolina’s Foster’s Market and can be found in the cookbook, “A Twist of the Wrist” (Alfred A. Knopf) by Los Angeles Chef Nancy Silverton of Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza.

We all know how pork takes to sweet, spicy and fruity in great Southern barbecue. It marries as beautifully with pepper jelly’s sticky goodness.

Good on almost anything.

I got my pepper jelly as a parting gift at the conclusion of a cookbook party at San Francisco’s Town Hall. But you can find pepper jelly in most well-stocked supermarkets.

The pork chops are marinated in pepper jelly whisked with red wine, rosemary, red wine vinegar, garlic, orange zest and orange juice. You can marinate the chops for an hour just before cooking them. But to do them real justice, marinate them overnight for a bigger boost of flavor.

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Nick’s on Main — A Tiny Place With A Big Heart

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Ahi tartare tower with Asian flavors.

With only 35 seats — and each of them snuggled close together — Nick’s on Main in Los Gatos is small on space, but vast on charm and warmth.

I’m not the only one who thinks so, either, as evidenced by the crowds that can’t wait to get in each evening to enjoy Chef-Owner Nick Difu’s robust comfort food.

Difu, 40, is a Santa Clara County native with legions of fans in the South Bay, who have followed him as he’s cooked his way around Los Gatos from Cafe Marcella to the Wine Cellar and to 180 Restaurant.

As evidenced by the name, Nick’s on Main is the restaurant he can finally call his own. Opened three years ago, this intimate space is done up in classic black and white with framed old family photos adorning one large wall and the other decorated with a striking carving emblazoned with the restaurant’s logo.

Recently, I treated my friend Donna to dinner here for her birthday. It was her first time dining here, and she couldn’t help but remark how it felt like she was eating in someone’s home, rather than in a restaurant.

Chef-Proprietor Nick Difu.

That’s because Difu makes you feel welcome from the get-go. He’s out in the dining room a lot, serving courses to tables, greeting regulars and making sure the folks waiting outside to get in are comfortable.

I first met Difu eight years ago, when I wrote a profile story about him when I was the food writer at the San Jose Mercury News. With his infectious grin and gregarious nature, Difu is hard to miss.  But what you might not detect at first until he confidently extends his hand to shake yours is the fact that he has only three fingers — all on his left hand. Difu was born with all of his fingers, but when he was 6 months old, blood clots developed that caused his other fingers to fall off.

Despite that, he graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco,  and worked his way up through a series of Bay Area restaurants, always impressing the chefs who had hired him with his work ethic and good cheer.  Indeed, it was another fellow chef years ago who bestowed upon him the nickname of “chef3lefty,” which Difu still readily answers to with pride.

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