Get Ready for Burgers, Chocolate, Celeb Chefs, and More
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar is rolling out a bevy of burgers on its bar menu.
Sit down in the bar area at either of the two Bay Area locations, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek, to take your pick of Fleming’s Prime Burger (with cheddar cheese and peppered bacon, $12), Sliced Filet Mignon Burger (with sauteed mushrooms and Bernaise sauce, $18), Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Burger (with creamy mustard sauce, $16), Ahi Tuna Burger (with soy ginger sauce, $12), or Portobello Mushroom Burger (with sauteed spinach and creamy goat cheese, $10).
All are accompanied by a mini wedge salad and onion rings.
Every Wednesday through September from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., the restaurant will offer complimentary samplings of its burger menu to entice you even more.
If chocolate is more your thing, you’ll be in heaven at the 14th annual Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival, noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 12-13.
More than 40 vendors will be showcasing their chocolate creations, including Kika’s Treats, Mary Louise Butters Brownies, and Ciao Bella Gelato.
There will be live music, as well as a “Hands Free” Earthquake Ice Cream Sundae Eating Contest. Yes, it’s just what you think it is, and just as messy. The winner takes home a ginormous basket of Ghirardelli chocolate.
If that weren’t enough, “Top Chef” finalist, Casey Thompson, will lead the cooking demonstrations at 2 p.m. both days. Bravo TV fans may remember that Thompson was not only voted “America’s Favorite” on the show, but nicknamed “the Jennifer Aniston of cooking” by the one and only Anthony Bourdain.
The festival is free. Chocolate tasting tickets are $20 for 15 tastings. The event benefits Project Open Hand, a San Francisco non-profit that provides meals to seniors and seriously ill individuals.
Summer heirloom tomatoes go swank at Masa’s in San Francisco.
The restaurant is featuring a “Celebration of Tomatoes’‘ eight-course menu for $105 per person, Tuesday through Saturday nights through September. Wine pairing is an additional $79.
Dishes are expected to include ones such as Green Zebra tomato gazpacho with ricotta cheese flan and Gravenstein apple salad; and pan-seared medallion of prime New York beef with roasted tomato tartlette. The tomatoes are from Verdure Farm in Healdsburg.
Seafood goes Italian-style at Poggio Trattoria in Sausalito.
Sept. 15-19, the restaurant will host “Festa di Pesce” to showcase local seafood such as sardines, calamari, anchovies, mackerel, and swordfish.
Chef Peter McNee will debut a special menu of crudo (raw, marinated, cured), and cotto (cooked) seafood antipasti. They will be priced from $7 to $9, or three for $21. A pairing of three tastes of Italian wine is an additional $12 per person.
The Lark Creek Restaurant Group spotlights South Australia through September.
The “South Australia Comes to America” promotion will feature menus, wines, and special events showcasing the fourth largest of Australia’s six states. South Australia is one and a half times larger than Texas, and accounts for about 60 percent of all wine made in Australia.
