Join me, 6 p.m. June 25 at Macy’s Valley Fair in Santa Clara, when I’ll be hosting a cooking demo with Chef Robert Sapirman of Citrus restaurant.
Sapirman, head chef of the restaurant at the Hotel Valencia in San Jose’s Santana Row across the street, will be dropping by to cook up a storm with local, sustainable ingredients. You may remember the long-time South Bay chef from his years at Parcel 104 in Santa Clara, too.
(Photo courtesy of La Boulange)
All through June, La Boulange bakeries throughout the Bay Area will salute PRIDE month with a limited edition box of rainbow-hued macarons.
What’s more, La Boulange will donate $1 from each box sold to the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation, which raises funds for AIDS service organizations through the production of entertainment programs.
The limited edition box of seven macarons is $12.50.
And you thought a library card was only good for checking out books?
Not the Santa Clara City library card.
Now, show that library card at participating local businesses to reap discounts such as 10 percent off at Athena Grill, $10 off a tab of at least $50 at Justin’s Restaurant, 10 percent off at Fuji Florist, free coffee with purchase at Stan’s Donut Shop, 10 percent off Mission City Creamery and many more. For a full list, click here.
StarChefs will salute its 2013 “Rising Star” award winners 6:30 p.m. June 13 at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
Peace. Quiet.
Two simple things in short supply these days. With weekdays full of honking cars during dreaded commute traffic, ring tones that jolt, emails that never cease and all manner of pinging high-tech gadgets tethered to us 24-7, our lives are assaulted by so much noise – both figuratively and literally.
So, when Folgers recently asked me to write about how coffee and music play into my morning ritual in order to help tout its Folgers Jingle Contest that supports aspiring musicians, I got to thinking. I realized there are few things I appreciate more now than the stillness of an early Sunday morning. I covet creeping out of bed before my husband wakes, when sunlight is just started to seep through the edges of the curtains. The soothing sound of solitude is broken only by the rustling of the pages of the morning’s newspaper, the whistling of the kettle as I make my French press coffee, and the caressing vocals of Adele that emanate softly from the CD player.
Yes, I’m old-school. And I make no apologies for it.
Sure, I carry a smartphone, write my articles on computers, shoot with a digital camera and exercise to streaming tunes. But when it comes to Sunday mornings, I want none of that. I don’t want to read words on a backlit screen. I want to hold a real honest-to-goodness newspaper in my hands, the kind that lands with a thud on the porch. I want to turn its pages, one after the other, joyously discovering story after story just because they happened to catch my eye. In the background, I don’t want a thumping techno beat created by the wizardry of electronics, but a soulful, plaintive voice of a chanteuse that harkens back to another era. And I don’t want the latest-greatest gadget that dribbles out one tiny solitary cup of coffee at the touch of a button. No, I want the civilized ritual of actually pouring steaming water over fragrant grounds until they swell, before I push a plunger down forcefully to release the deep, dark, brooding brew.
To me, that is a perfect Sunday morning. I relish each and every one of them, too. Because like a great cup of coffee, it does its intended job. It relaxes me, then slowly but surely perks me up me to take on the challenges in the week ahead.
Only one thing could make it even better: If Folgers could ever get Adele to croon its jingle. Now, that would make my Sunday complete.
Folgers Jingle Contest: Be sure to vote for the best Top 10 finalist in Folgers’ Jingle Contest. Meet the Top 10! Take a look at Folgers® Jingle Contest Finalists, and listen to the tracks that earned them a spot in the Top 10. Cast your vote once every day through June 19. You could win exciting prizes, like free Folgers Coffee, iTunes® gift cards, signed CDs from Gavin DeGraw, and even a $10,000 Grand Prize just for voting. Vote now. Click here for official rules.
Yes, now here’s your chance to try a mini version of my Food Gal “Ultimate Guide to Bay Area Dining” — for free.
Available at the iTunes store, the free version has 21 recommended restaurants on it. If you like what you see, you can download the complete app with 70 more restaurant write-ups for a mere $1.99. It’s just like trying a cookie sample at the supermarket. With that first bite, you’re sure to enjoy it so much that you’ll want the whole shebang.
The map feature cleverly lets you find my recommended spots closest to you no matter your location in the Bay Area. Also new to the app is the ability to make reservations through OpenTable.
There might be no such thing as a free lunch. But now you can partake of my delicious mini app for free.
Chef Cindy Pawlcyn’s pioneering Mustard’s Grill in Yountville will celebrate its 30th anniversary in a very sweet way.
We’re talking cake — a different one featured daily for 30 days, from now through June 15.
Chef Cindy Pawlcyn celebrates a mega anniversary. (Photo courtesy of Alex Farnum)
The cake will be available on the dessert menu daily not only at Mustard’s Grill, but at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena and Cindy Pawlcyn’s Wood Grill & Wine Bar in St. Helena.
Chef Dave Cruz will be cooking in Oakland. (Photo courtesy of the chef)
You know him as the original chef for Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc restaurant in Yountville. Now, after leaving the Keller fold, Chef Dave Cruz is embarking on a series of pop-up events in Oakland — a prelude to opening his own restaurant some day.
The first dinner, May 18, will feature Chefs Simone Fung and Sebastian Mendieta of S+S Gastropub, cooking with Cruz at their downtown loft on Jackson Street in Oakland. The five-course dinner that night will be reminiscent of the hearty, seasonal meals he did at Ad Hoc. Dishes will include salad of Asian baby greens with slow cooked egg; crisp pork belly and clams; and strawberry shortcake with strawberry sorbet, Tokaiji-macerated strawberries and arlette cookies. Price is $85 per person.
Two seatings are available for the BYOB dinner: 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The exact location of the dinner will be emailed to guests after a reservation is made.