Category Archives: Enticing Events

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things…

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If you saw my dining room table recently, you would have thought Willy Wonka had set up shop in my house.

Truffles, chocolate bars, nut brittle, bonbons, and more covered it from one end to the other. And yes,  I had to eat all of it. Well, at least try each and every piece.

It was all part of my judging duties for the fourth annual San Francisco Chocolate Salon, the sugaraholic’s dream event where chocolate makers show off their wares to media and members of the public, who get to sample and vote for their favorites.

Yours truly was on the team of expert panelists. For those, like myself, who couldn’t make it to the actual event this year at Fort Mason, the event organizers had the chocolate samples sent to our homes instead. Hence, the veritable candy shop in my dining room.

Here’s the list of winning chocolates from the event. And below, find my picks for my new favorite chocolate products.

What: Montana’s Posh Chocolat’s Artisan Sea Salt Caramels (photo above)

Why: Five different exotic, soft, sticky caramels enrobed in dark chocolate, each topped with a different sea salt. Think White Truffle Oil Caramel with Hawaiian Pink Sea Salt. It sounds weird, and it is different. But wow, is it elegant and memorable. And yes, you can really taste the pungent truffle oil. $15 for a box of 10.

What: Palo Alto’s  Gateau et Ganache’s Handmade Marshmallows

Why: OK, how cute are these? Shaped like pastel daisies, the spring assortment comes in flavors of lemon, passion fruit and strawberry. They’re light, springy and very fruity tasting. Nine marshmallows are $12.

What: Jade Chocolates of San Francisco for Chocolate-Covered Edamame and Dragon’s Breath, Kuro Genmai, and Mahal chocolate bars

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“Toast of the Town” VIP Tickets Giveaway

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How would you like to taste 500 premium wines and spirits, and nosh on gourmet creations from more than 30 top Bay Area restaurants — all in one spot?

And uh-hem, how’d you like to do all that for FREE?

Two lucky folks can.

Food Gal is thrilled to be giving away one pair of VIP tickets to “Toast of the Town,” a wine and food extravaganza at the stunning War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, a short hop from the Phoenix Hotel-Civic Center.

The April 22 event, presented by Wine Enthusiast magazine and the Wall Street Journal, benefits the San Francisco Food Bank.

Participating restaurants include Farallon Restaurant in San Francisco, Le Mar Cebicheria Peruana in San Francisco, and Mustards Grill in Napa. Participating wineries include Archery Summit, Champagne Louis Roederer, Rubicon Estate and Domain Drouhin.

Tickets are $89 (or $79 if purchased by April 1).  VIP tickets are $169 (or $149 if purchased by April 1).

With the VIP tickets, you get in at 5 p.m. — two hours earlier than regular ticket holders — to beat the crowds to all that tasty food and wine.

So how do you score the free pair of VIP tickets?

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Celebrating All Things Goat, Rhone & Cheese

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A Great Goat Time

They call themselves the “Goat Girls.”

Don’t ya just love the name?

Jennifer Bice of Redwood Hill Farm and Creamery, Laura Howard of Laloo’s Goat’s Milk Ice Cream, and Mary Keehn of Cypress Grove Chevre, have teamed up to host the first “Goat Festival” on April 17 at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, steps from the Hotel Vitale.

After all, goat’s milk is the most common milk consumed throughout the world, with a chemical structure that is apparently similar to mother’s milk. It’s higher in calcium, vitamins A and B6, and minerals than cow’s milk. It’s also naturally low in lactose.

Join the Goat Girls, 10 a.m.-11 a.m., for a talk, then a chance to sample goat milk products.

At 11 a.m., Mark Dommen, chef of One Market in San Francisco, takes the stage to do a cooking demo using seasonal ingredients and goat milk products. At 11:45 a.m., Maggie Ford, author of “Goat Cheese” will do a cooking demo and book signing. Finally, at 12:30 p.m., Gordon Edgar, author of “Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge,” will talk about his book and sign copies of it.

There even will be baby goats to “ooh” and “ahh” over near the Sur La Table store.

More Things Cheesy

If you get brie on the brain, the chevre shivers, and juiced about Jack, high-tail it to Petaluma for the fourth annual “California’s Artisan Cheese Festival,” March 26-29,where a veritable mountain of cheese awaits.

We don’t know about you, but we’re swooning at the thought of nearly 40 artisan cheese producers (most of them from California) showing off their specialties at a marketplace along with 20 wineries and breweries — all at the Sheraton Sonoma County in Petaluma. Plus, who can resist the world’s best gooey, cheesy flatbreads served hot from a wood-burning oven?

This four-day cheesy celebration kicks off with an old-fashioned barn dance, followed by a bevy of cheese seminars, a cheese-making demo, and a gala dinner served up by eight cheesemakers, eight chefs, and eight vintners. Tickets are $45 to $130.

California is the second largest producer of cheese in the country. OK, so Wisconsin beats us. But we have cuter cow commercials.

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Cooking Up A Spring Feast in Sonoma

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Drinking and eating, and not much heavy-lifting beyond that.

It’s so easy — too easy — to succumb to complete veg-out mode in Sonoma, what with its abundance of wineries and restaurants that beckon so invitingly.

But if you want to get a teeny bit more active by actually working for your food, Ramekins is the place to go.

This combo culinary school and inn is just an easy stroll from the main square. A bevy of cooking classes, about half of them hands-on, are offered at $55 to  $100 per person.

Ramekins is revamping its patio to install a pizza oven, too. In the coming months, look for a variety of grilling, bread-baking and pizza-making classes to be offered to take advantage of that sunny space.

Up on the second floor, there are six well-appointed guest rooms, done up in a luxe French farmhouse decor, priced at about $250 per night, depending upon the season. Stay overnight, and you can roll out of bed, enjoy a spread of homemade scones and coffeecake for breakfast, then walk downstairs to get cooking. How easy is that?

So easy, as I soon learned when I was invited as a guest to try a cooking class earlier this month.

Charles Vollmar, a longtime culinary instructor who owns Epicurean Exchange, was there to teach us all about “Spring Soups and Stews” in this hands-on class. Since there were only seven of us signed up for this class, we were each able to do a variety of tasks under very personalized instruction from Vollmar and a Ramekins assistant.

The demonstration classes are taught in a 36-seat theater equipped with a full kitchen and television monitors. Because our class was hands-on, though, we had the run of the second kitchen — an expansive restaurant-size kitchen with professional-grade equipment.

After donning aprons, we broke up into teams to cook one of four dishes: “Spring Asparagus Soup with Coconut Curry,” “Chicken and Barley Soup with Asparagus and English Peas,” “Spring Vegetable Ragout with Chanterelles and Fava Beans,” and “Spring Lamb and Artichoke Tagine.” Yours truly was in charge of the lamb.

Vollmar demonstrated how to turn a baby artichoke, then made sure we each had a chance to try it. With a paring knife, we removed the tough outer leaves, trimming the stalk, cutting the head in half, and removing the hairy choke and uncovering the tender heart. Although I’ve turned artichoke hearts before, I don’t think I’ve ever done such a pile of ’em. But then again, lucky me had them as one of the main ingredients in my dish. And oh, we were doubling the recipe, too.

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