Category Archives: Enticing Events

NY Chef Seamus Mullen Visits the Bay Area, Call for Local Food Entrepreneurs & More

Chef Seamus Mullen to sign copies of his cookbook at two appearances. (Photo courtesy of the chef)

Meet Seamus Mullen

Seamus Mullen, chef of Tertulia in New York, will be signing copies of his cookbook, Seamus Mullen’s Hero Food,” at two upcoming Bay Area appearances.

Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a few years ago, he discovered that his quality of life improved dramatically when he based his cooking on 18 key ingredients, such as olive oil and fresh fish. Learn what other ingredients he favors, along with delicious recipes spotlighting them.

I became an instant fan of his “Mutti’s Blueberry Boy Bait” cake recipe included in the book. In fact, it was so good, I made it twice last summer. For the recipe, click here.

This simple and delightful blueberry cake recipe is featured in Seamus Mullen's book. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

Mullen will be signing copies at Omnivore Books in San Francisco, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Jan 25.

The next day, Jan. 26 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., he will appear at Whole Foods in Napa, an event sponsored by Cooperfield’s Cooks.

Calling All Northern California Food Artisans

If you’re a Northern California food artisan, Andrea Blum, culinary artist at Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, wants to hear from you.

She has started a project called “My American Pantry” (MAP), in which she is mapping the lush landscape of artisan American food and drink — through aerial photographs.

Just take a look at the image here of 23 Bay Area artisans with their products — everything from seaweed to pies to eggs to chickens to alcohol.

Twenty-three local artisans pictured with their food products. (Photo courtesy of Kenny Blum Photography and Andrea Blum)

Blum’s hope is to celebrate the breadth of the American pantry by eventually creating a map, where people can go to click on the stories, recipes and products of these artisans.

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Hear the Food Gal on KQED’s Forum

If you missed yesterday’s “Restaurant Roundup” on the airwaves of KQED’s “Forum” program, you missed out.

But not to despair.

You can catch the nearly hour-long podcast to hear what yours truly, along with Restaurant Reviewer Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle and Jonathan Kauffmann, San Francisco editor of Tasting Table, dished about Bay Area restaurants, chefs and dining trends.

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Delicious Times to Look Forward to in 2013

One of the noshes from last year's Wine & Wishes event. (Photo courtesty of Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area)

Wine & Wishes

Enjoy the offerings from more than 50 Bay Area restaurants and wineries at the 12th annual Wine & Wishes‘ gala, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Feb. 2, on Treasure Island.

All proceeds benefit the Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area organization, which grants wishes to children suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

The evening begins with a walk-around gourmet wine and food tasting, followed by a four-course wine pairing dinner by nine San Francisco star chefs, including Hoss Zare of Zare at Fly Trap, Jeff Baker of Baker & Banker, Suzette Gresham of Acquerello and Roland Passot of La Folie.

Tickets for the tasting are $150 each; tickets for the dinner (which includes admission to the tasting) are $500 each.

Meet yours truly and some of the best chefs in the country in January in Yosemite. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

Come Meet the Food Gal In Yosemite

Join me Jan. 20-24 in Yosemite, when I host a couple of events at the Ahwahnee’s annual Chefs’ Holiday Series.

If you’ve never attended one of these events, you’re missing out. For the month of January, 25 chefs from around the country will be featured over a series of eight sessions of cooking demos, receptions and gala dinners.

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Farm-Fresh Teas and A Food Gal Giveaway

Take a sip of the unusual teas by Grey Dog Tea.

Stinging nettles, sweet peppers and heirloom chiles — in tea?

You bet.

Last year, Baia Nicchia, the 9 1/2-acre farm in Sunol known for its impeccable tomatoes, started selling unique blends of teas, made from its organic herbs, fruits and vegetables that have been dried.

The teas proved so popular that farm owner Fred Hempel has now launched his own tea company, Grey Dog Tea, named for his pet Greyhound.

The teas are available in loose-leaf or bag form. The blends include ones with caffeine, as well as ones without. The actual tea leaves used come from San Francisco’s Five Mountains, which specializes in heirloom organic teas.

The four beguiling blends include:  “Dragon Mint Tea Blend” (heirloom teas, mints, chile pepper flakes and herbs), “Chile Mint Herb Tea” (heirloom chile pepper flakes, mints and herbs), “Citrus Stinger Herb Tea” (yuzu leaf, lemon grass, stinging nettles, sweet peppers, chile peppers, Persian spearmint, nasturtiums and citrus peel), and “Citrus Morning Blend” (heirloom oolong teas, herbs, stinging nettles, sweet peppers, yuzu leaf, heirloom chile peppers and citrus peel).

The signature "Chile Mint Tea.''

All of the blends have a purity of flavor to them, as if you were drinking something straight from the garden. The chiles in the blends won’t make you break into a sweat. They’re quite subtle, lending fruitiness and a delicate warmth.

I’m especially partial to the “Dragon Mint Tea Blend” because of how the gentle tannin of the tea leaves is lifted by the profusion of mint.

The teas sell for $9.99 to $16.99.

CONTEST: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a tin of Grey Dog Tea’s signature “Chile Mint Herb Tea,” plus a refill. You get your choice of loose-leaf or bags, too.

Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Dec. 22. Winner will be announced Dec. 24.

How to win?

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Eating My Way Through Montreal in the Fall, Part I

Inside the magnificent Montreal Notre-Dame Basilica.

MONTREAL, CANADA — Bundled up tightly in a trench coat, boots, gloves, scarf and a wooly hat, I have left the still sunny Northern California climate to make my way around Canada’s second largest city in the chill of early November.

I am joined by eight other food writers from around the globe, all of us hosted on this trip by Tourisme Montreal.

Our mission? To eat, drink and get to know Montreal’s vibrant food scene.

Naturally, we are more than up to the task.

I should have realized just how serious Montrealers take eating when I disembarked the plane at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and went through Canadian customs. When the agent realized I was a food writer visiting his country for the main purpose of eating, he asked to see my itinerary, then proceeded to point out which restaurants on the list he had visited and which he particularly liked. If that isn’t an auspicious beginning to a trip, I don’t know what is.

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