Category Archives: Enticing Events

Foodie Happenings

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The winery that put California on the map. (Photo courtesy of Chateau Montelena)

You’re invited to take part in a James Beard Foundation gala event to honor one of the Napa Valley’s — and the world’s — most lengendary wine-making families.

The Barrett family of Chateau Montelena helped put California wine on the map when its 1973 Chateau Montelena won the famous “Paris Tasting,” beating out all other wines, including notable French ones.

To honor the family’s historic contributions to the wine world, the foundation is hosting a “Legends of Wine” event, July 11-12, in the Napa Valley.

It starts with a tasting, tour, and lunch at Chateau Montelena in Calistoga on July 11. A flight of Chardonnays, going back 15 years, will be sampled, along with a tasting of Estate Cabarnets. Lunch will be prepared by Chef Ken Frank of acclaimed La Toque restaurant in Napa. That night, dinner also will be prepared by Frank at his restaurant.

The next day, La Toque hosts a gala dinner with guest chefs that include Neal Fraser of Grace in Los Angeles, and Michel Richard of Citronelle in Washington, D.C.

VIP tickets that get you into all the events are $1,500 per person. If that’s too rich for your blood, the gala dinner is $500. For reservations, call (707) 257-5157. The event is a fund-raiser for the James Beard Foundation.

For more fabulous wines to enjoy, don’t miss “Pinot Days San Francisco,” now through June 28.

The event thatl celebrates everyone’s favorite varietal, includes a grand festival that features more than 200 pinot producers from around the world, as well as winemaker dinners, and focused tastings. Tickets range in price from $50 to $150.

A wine deal at Terzo. (Photo courtesy of Art Gray)

Terzo restaurant in San Francisco has a deal for wine afficionados. Sunday through Thursday through Labor Day, the restaurant is offering all $40 and under wines on the menu at half-price for dinner guests. Just order two small plates or one large one per person to take advantage of the vino special.

To commemorate San Francisco’s Pride Parade on June 28, Macy’s Union Square Cellar is hosting a cooking demo, noon June 27, with some of the Bay Area’s top toques. They include Adam Jones of Market Street Grill in San Francisco; and Jennifer Biesty, former contestant on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” and now chef at Scala’s Bistro in San Francisco.

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Feast On This

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Husband and wife, chefs Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani, of Ame in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of Ame)

* Wednesdays, head to Ame in San Francisco to enjoy a new three-course themed dinner that changes weekly.

That’s three courses with wine/beverage pairings for $55 per person.

The June 24 dinner highlights the distilled Japanese spirit, shochu. To whet your whistle, I’ll let you know what one of the featured dishes that night is “bo ssam” — braised pork belly that you wrap at the table with fried oysters and kimchi. It will be accompanied by “Imperial Jade,” a shiso cucumber-infused shochu cocktail with preserved Meyer lemon and soda, served on the rocks.

* Friday, a new contemporary Indian restaurant opens in downtown Mountain View.

Sakoon, named for the Indian word for “peace,” features a dramatic interior decorated with fiber-optic chandeliers, hand-carved wood panels, and a shimmering waterfall. Executive Chef Sachin Chopra, who previously headed the kitchen at Mantra in Palo Alto, serves up regional Indian cuisine with a modern touch.

* Find pork galore on June 27 at the “High on the Hog” event at Epic Roasthouse in San Francisco.

The al fresco afternoon soiree will feature Pinot Noir tastings, and Executive Chef Jan Birnbaum preparing a slow-roasted whole pig scented with fennel. If that’s not enough, wine writer Jordan McKay also will be on hand to sign copies of his book, “Passion for Pinot: A Journey Through America’s Pinot Noir Country” (Ten Speed Press).

Talk about goodie bags. Guests will get to take home a treat of pork cracklings’ seasoned with sea salt.

Price is $50 per person for everything; $20 for just the food; or $30 just for the wine tasting.

* San Mateo’s modern Filipino restaurant, Bistro Luneta, has added weekend brunch to its lineup.

Wake up to “Eggs Benedict” ($8.95), served with sun-dried tomatoes and Philippine sausage; or a “Fili-Panini Sandwich” ($8.95), a panini filled with pork adobo or barbecued pork. Beverage choices include calamansi juice made from the tiny Filipino citrus ($3.80), and a 1-liter “Sangria Flask” ($9).

Buttery croissant sandwich at Mayfield Bakery & Cafe. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)

* Palo Alto’s Mayfield Bakery & Cafe also will start serving breakfast, beginning June 22.

Take a bite of a “Croissant Breakfast Sandwich.” A homemade croissant — but of course, with its fab bakery on site — is stuffed with Gruyere cheese, scrambled eggs, and your choice of bacon or ham.  Or dig into a bowl of “Semolina Pudding with Honeyed Cream,” a velvety porridge topped with brown sugar, and a dollop of cream cheese sweetened with maple syrup. Breakfast dishes will be priced from $8 to $15.

A new kids' cookbook by the former food editor of Sunset magazine.

* Treat your kids to a hands-on cooking demo at MacArthur Park restaurant in Palo Alto, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. June 20.

The event celebrates the new children’s cookbook by Jerry Ann DiVecchio, former food editor of Sunset magazine, and artist Francoise Kirkman, who also worked at the magazine. “You’ve Got Recipes” (Trafford Publishing) features waterproof, laminate pages, as well as a French-English glossary with a pronunciation guide for French terms used in the book.

The class is $25. The book is $27.95, and will be for sale at the class. Call (650) 321-9990 for reservations.

* The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco is getting its grill on.

June 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., get an education in meat from Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats, as he teaches a sausage-making and grilling class. He’ll be joined by meat purveyer, Steve McCarthy of Prather Ranch Meat Co., who will give the low-down on sustainable meat. Mixologist H. Joseph Ehrmann also will show you how to concoct seasonal, fresh cocktails.

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Winners of Food Gal’s “Whine, Wine, and Thine” Contest

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Pondering contest winners over a nice glass of Pinot Noir.

Let me just say that you guys sure don’t make it easy.

About two dozen of you entered the very first Food Gal contest, “Whine, Wine, and Thine,” which asked you to share your favorite memory about wine.

Your anecdotes variously made me laugh, drop my jaw, brush away tears, and just plain grin from ear to ear.

Your passion and honesty made it very difficult to whittle the list down to just three winners. Basically, I wanted to give everyone a prize. Since I can’t exactly afford to do that, I am amending my prizes to include not only first-, second-, and third-place winners, but also TWO honorable mentions, each of whom will win one food or wine book from my collection. The rest of you already know that third place garners you two such books, second place wins three said books, and first place gets a whopping four books.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for participating. For those of you who weren’t victorious this time around, don’t worry. After the great response to this one, I’m sure I’ll hold another Food Gal contest in the months to come.

Without further adieu, here are the winners:

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Restaurant Doings & Foodie Happenings

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Scottish eggs, crisps, and pasty of the day at Martins West Pub. (Photo courtesy of Martins West Pub)

* A century-old Redwood City Alhambra building, once housing a saloon that apparently Wyatt Earp frequented, has been tranformed into Martins West Pub.

How’s that for apropos?

Executive Chef Michael Dotson, formerly of PlumpJack Cafe in Squaw Valley, turns out honest-to-goodness British gastropub eats, including herb-crusted marrow bones with kumquat and celery salad ($8), fish & chips with peat-smoked fries ($12), and brioche-crusted black cod ($22).

Pastry Chef Kelly Fields, formerly of Restaurant August in New Orleans, offers playful desserts such as Devonshire cream tartlet with strawberries, elderflower and long pepper; and chocolate “rillettes” with Scottish heather ice cream, peanuts, and sugared brioche.

Devonshire cream tart with strawberries. (Photo courtesy of Martins West Pub)

* If you haven’t noticed already, Tanglewood in San Jose’s Santana Row has closed its doors. Left Bank Brasseries, which operated Tanglewood, is expected to open LB Steak in its place in June. It will be Santana Row’s first steakhouse.

Blame the economy, as well as construction on a new mixed-use building right next door, which made crowds stay away, says company CEO Richard Miyashiro.

“Tanglewood started out as a high-end restaurant and could not survive without a transformation,” he says.

When LB Steak opens, look for signature dishes such as braised pork belly with five spices and Coca Cola glaze; and a 20-ounce Porterhouse.

* For 11 days beginning June 3, enjoy the “City Bites” promotion in downtown San Jose. Twenty-six downtown restaurants will feature three-course dinners for $20, $30, or $40.

The event kicks off June 3 when participating restaurants will offer sample bites for free or for a charge of $3.

Among the participating restaurants are 19 Market, A.P. Stump’s, and Paolo’s restaurant.

* Similarly, San Francisco kicks off its eighth annual “Dine About Town” promotion, June 1-15.

Participating restaurants will offer three courses at lunch for $21.95 and at dinner for $34.95. Participating restaurants include Absinthe Brasserie & Bar, B44, Luce, and Poleng Lounge.

Napa Valley Chef Cindy Pawlcyn (Photo courtesy of Steven Rothfeld)

* May 30 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., sip fine varietals at the fifth annual “Ultimate Blind Date” wine tasting event at Flora Springs Winery in St. Helena.

More than 60 of St. Helena’s best wineries will be pouring their finest. For those who want to put their palates on the line, there will be a fun blind-tasting challenge in which you can win a cellar-full of St. Helena wines (valued at more than $2,000). All the participating wineries will pour one wine blind. If you venture any kind of guess at all about the wine, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win the prize.

Napa Valley restaurateur Cindy Pawlcyn, who owns Go Fish, Mustards, and Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, will offer up food to nosh along with the wines.

She’ll also sign copies of her new cookbook, “Cindy Pawlcyn’s Appetizers” (Ten Speed Press), which will be available for a 50 percent discount at the event.

Tickets are $60. For more information, call (707) 963-6045. A portion of proceeds will be donated to St. Helena’s Work Connection, a non-profit providing assistance and work placement to vineyard and migrant workers.

* It’s cherry time and there’s no better time to celebrate the joys of everyone’s favorite pitted fruit than 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., May 30-31 at C.J. Olson’s fruit stand in Sunnyvale.

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Sustainable Is…

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Tracy Griffith's sustainable sushi.

At last week’s eighth annual “Cooking for Solutions” event at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, chefs, winemakers, scientists, purveyers, fishermen, farmers, and food writers came together to learn and discuss  how to better follow a more sustainable path — one that lessens the impact on earth and oceans.

What is sustainable? It comes in all guises. Come see for yourself.

Sustainable is…

…Tracy Griffith, sushi chef and sister of actress Melanie, whose seared albacore roll (see photo above) served at the gala showcased a sustainable fish that’s one of the top choices on the aquarium’s “Seafood Watch Guide” and “Sushi Guide.”

Earthbound Farms' organic fro-yo served at its farmstand.

…Carmel Valley’s Earthbound Farm, the pioneer in pre-washed salad greens. With 40,000 acres in California, Arizona, and Mexico, it  now is the largest organic farm in the world. Its farm stand on Carmel Valley Road is open year-round. It just started selling its own organic fro-yo, too.  Slightly tart and lighter in body than Pinkberry, the creamy treat comes in natural honey and a fruit flavor (You can get the two swirled together, too). The day I was there the featured flavor was raspberry.

Chef Thomas Keller.

…Thomas Keller. The acclaimed chef of the French Laundry in Yountville was honored as “Chef of the Year” by the aquarium for his work in promoting fresh, local, and sustainable ingredients through his spectacular four-star cooking.

Keller graciously signed copies of his cookbooks during the event, as fiancee Laura Cunningham, former director of operations for his restaurants, looked on. She wasn’t wearing her Keller-designed engagement ring that night, only because it was being re-sized. Still no word yet on whether the nuptials will take place this year or next.

The jovial Alton Brown.

…the Food Network’s Alton Brown, who was honored as “Educator of the Year” by the aquarium. Brown and his wife plan to set up a foundation to foster sustainable food projects. He’s also received the nod from the Food Network to do several “Good Eats” shows highlighting sustainable seafood.

…Tataki Sushi & Sake Bar in San Francisco, the first sustainable sushi bar in North America. Diners are heartily embracing the concept, so much so that the tiny sushi bar now sometimes has a wait of two hours on weekdays.

At the “Cooking for Solutions” gala, Tataki’s sushi chefs handed out “faux-nagi” — scored wild sablefish brushed with the traditional sweet soy-rice wine sauce that has the same silky mouth-feel as overfished unagi (eel).

It tastes like unagi, but this is sustainable.

…Greenfish Catering, a five-year-old San Jose company that specializes in sustainable sushi platters, bento boxes, and catered events that feature good-for-you and good-for-the-environment ingredients such as farm-raised oysters.

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