Category Archives: Enticing Events

Take Five with “Top Chef Masters” Contender Suvir Saran, on His Upcoming Bay Area Appearance with the Food Gal

Posted on by 9 comments

New York Chef Suvir Saran. (Photo by Jim Franco)

If you’ve been tuning in to this season’s “Top Chef Masters” on Bravo TV, you’ve probably already discovered not only how charismatic, but candid Chef Suvir Saran can be.

The 38-year-old, executive chef/owner of award-winning Devi in New York City will tell you he’s probably one of the most frank chefs you’ll ever meet. (Wait till you hear what he thinks of Zagat and Yelp.) That forthrightness, coupled with an energetic and telegenic presence, has made him a favorite speaker at seminars. See for yourself when he joins yours truly on stage at 7 p.m. April 29 for a lively Q&A session at the India Community Center in Milpitas. Tickets are $50 for ICC members; and $55 for non-members. Executive Chef Vittal Shetty of Amber India in San Jose will prepare signature hors d’oeuvres inspired by Saran’s recipes.

Saran’s South Bay appearance will be in conjunction with “Dining Out for Life Silicon Valley,” which is part of an annual  national campaign, in which participating restaurants raise money for those living with HIV/AIDS. Proceeds from the Silicon Valley event will support the Health Trust AIDS Services, which helps more than 800 people in Santa Clara County with hot meal delivery, food baskets, and housing assistance.

Forty restaurants in 12 Silicon Valley cities will donate at least 25 percent of their food sales on April 28 to that organization. For more details, click here. Saran also will be making a surprise appearance that evening at four South Bay restaurants, so keep your eyes peeled.

Additionally, at 12:30 p.m. April 29, Saran will present a talk about healthy cooking at the Health Trust Food Basket in San Jose. He will be joined by cookbook author and legendary restaurateur, Joyce Goldstein, who was an early pioneer in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Advance reservations are required by emailing Jon Breen at jonb@healthtrust.org.

Devi's mung bean chaat. (Photo by Ben Fink)

Lastly, Saran is not only donating four dinners for two at Devi, but also donating his time to cook a meal for eight at a private home in the Bay Area. These items will be auctioned off online on the Health Trusts Web site to the highest bidders, starting at midnight May 5.

Last week, I had a chance to chat by phone with him about what brought him to the United States at age 20, and what he thinks of the state of Indian food here.

Q: Why is ‘Dining Out for Life’ a cause near and dear to you?

A: I lost many friends to HIV/AIDS. My partner of nine years is a big civil rights person. He’s always yelling and screaming, and I realized that a voice demanding humanity was important in American society.

Most people take it for granted that we live in a democracy and everything is perfect. I have to be a champion of underdogs. I owe it to every underdog to speak up for them.

Q: Devi was the first and only Indian restaurant in the United States to earn a Michelin star. What did that honor mean to you?

A: That I should commit suicide now that they’ve taken it away after two years. (laughs) It was an honor. It was a wonderful thing. We got it at the top of our game. Then, it was taken from us. Since my business partner and I had a separation, we are now back at our prime. Who knows? Maybe next year, we’ll get it back again.

We had it two years in a row. It was a luxury. I don’t take it for granted. I look it as a sweet gift bestowed us on by powers that be. It’s not like those worthless Zagat ratings, which have no value in my mind.

Q: I’m almost afraid to ask what you think of Yelp?

Read more

Foodie T’s and A Food Gal Giveaway

Posted on by 16 comments

Show your love for kimchi with this bold T-shirt. (Photo courtesy of Flavour Gallery)

You’ve heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve?

Now, you can wear your favorite food on  your torso.

Flavour Gallery, which launched about a month ago, specializes in specialty T-shirts that are all food-oriented.

The shirts, almost all made in Los Angeles, come in men’s and women’s sizes with artsy graphics spelling out “kimchi,” and “Gigi’s Oyster Bar,” as well as designs featuring knives or a hand sprinkling salt.

Recently, I received a sample of a women’s “medium” in the short-sleeve “kimchi” design.  The soft, 100 percent-cotton T is thin like a man’s undershirt. It fits pretty true to size. It’s cut long enough to cover the hips, so it’s perfect for jeans that sit at belly-button level or lower.

How's this for a "sharp'' shirt? (Photo courtesy of Flavour Gallery)

The company also makes scarves, tote bags and memo pads adorned with its distinctive designs.

Prices range from $4 for a memo pad and $20 for a scarf to $28 for a woman’s tank top and $68 for a man’s hoodie.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win his/her choice of a Flavour Gallery T-shirt, as well as a tote bag and memo book. Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST April 23. Winner will be announce April 25.

How to win?

Read more

New Vietnamese Eatery, Cyrus Japan Fund-Raiser, Food Truck Fun & More

Posted on by 16 comments

Bun Mee's version of a Vietnamese Sloppy Joe. (Photo courtesy of James "Slim'' Dang)

San Francisco Welcomes Bun Mee

While her friends were scarfing down burgers, Vietnam-born Denise Tran was enjoying banh mi, the bargain-priced sandwich of her homeland made with roast pork, tangy pickled veggies, and paté stuffed inside a fresh-baked baguette.

Now, she’s reincarnating that favorite sandwich with modern twists at her new Bun Mee cafe on upper Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights, a short stroll from the Best Western Tomo in San Francisco.

The 16-seat restaurant, decorated with corrugated metal finishes and bicycle wheel chandeliers, specializes in Vietnamese street food, with most dishes priced at $5 to $7.

Choose from nine different banh mi, including a “Sloppy Bun” with curry ground pork, shaved onion and Thai basil; and the “Bun Mee Combo” of house-carved roast pork, paté de champagne, mortadella, house garlic aioli, shaved onion, pickled carrot and daikon, jalapenos and cilantro.

You just want to take a bite, don't you? (Photo courtesy of James "Slim'' Dang)

For more variety, the menu includes salads such as the “Mekong Shrimp” with grilled prawns, sliced mango, tofu, pickled daikon, and julienned cucumbers over mixed greens with blood orange vinaigrette; and “Momma Tran’s Crispy Egg Rolls” made with ground pork, crab, wood ear mushrooms, glass noodles and lettuce. Then, quench your thirst with Vietnamese coffee, kaffir limeade, and strawberry lychee aqua fresca.

“From my own travels to Vietnam to spending hours cooking with Momma Tran, I am really excited to bring the Vietnamese street food experience to Pacific Heights and introduce guests to one of my favorite things to eat,” said Tran in a statement, who collaborated on the restaurant with her mother.

Celeb Chefs Come Together for a Japan Benefit

Chef Douglas Keane of Cyrus has invited some of the biggest names in the Bay Area food scene to cook for a very worthy cause: the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, which is administered by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.

April 19, Keane will be joined by the likes of David Kinch of Manresa in Los Gatos, Corey Lee of Benu in San Francisco, James Syhabout of Commis in Oakland, Michael Cimarusti of Providence in Los Angeles, and Nicole Plue of Cyrus for a spectacular tasting menu.

Read more

An Evening at La Mar with Freeman Winery

Posted on by 13 comments

At La Mar Cebicheria in San Francisco, even dessert comes with a little pisco.

The quenching, tart Pisco Sour may be the usual drink of choice at La Mar Cebicheria in San Francisco, but about once a month, the restaurant also hosts winemaker dinners.  And you know these events are guaranteed to be stellar when they’re presided over by the restaurant’s consulting wine director, Emmanuel Kemiji, a certified Master Sommelier who not only makes his own wine, but has worked with some of the best chefs in the Bay Area.

In fact, Kemiji was responsible for introducing me to one of my new favorite Pinot Noir producers — Freeman Vineyards and Winery of Sebastopol.

Freeman wines.

It’s no secret that I have a soft spot for Oregon Pinot Noirs, with their more earthy profiles, rather than the jammy fruit-forwardness of so many California-style Pinots. Freeman Winery — owned by Ken and Akiko Freeman — make Pinots in that elegant style with notes of dark cherry, loamy mushroom and gravel. They are pure silky pleasure to drink.

Recently, I was invited to be a guest of the restaurant at a special dinner spotlighting Freeman wines. When the San Francisco fog gives way to warmer evenings, the wine dinners are held in the spacious back patio with its spectacular view of the Bay. But on a chilly night like this one, it took place at a long chef’s table beside the bustling kitchen.

The chef's table at La Mar is next to, but separated from, the exhibition kitchen.

La Mar is famous for its cebiches — raw seafood that’s “cooked” with citrus. But Pinots and Chardonnays typically clash with such acidic fish preparations, so there was no cebiche on our tasting menu that night. Instead, there was an amuse that paid homage — a shot glass filled with spicy, tangy, prickly cebiche-like marinade transformed into almost aperitif.

Read more

New Cupcake Bakery, Food Truck Gathering in San Jose & Much More

Posted on by 8 comments

A chocolate cupcake from Sinful Bliss. (Photo courtesy of the bakery)

Who’s Hungry for Cupcakes?

Downtown Pleasant Hill welcomes a sinful addition in April — Sinful Bliss Cupcakes, to be exact.

Owner Tammie Parnell believes in celebrating life’s everyday moments with something sweet. After surviving breast cancer, being laid off from her banking job and watching her husband lose his own job, she decided to bet the future on her love of baking.

Her cupcake shop offers a dozen flavors, including chocolate peanut butter cup, Nutella, raspberry and Red Velvet cheesecake. Mini ones are $2 each; regular size ones are $3.25 each. Parnell also does custom designs upon request.

Sinful Bliss Cupcakes will celebrate its grand opening at 10 a.m. April 17 with a ribbon-cutting and free tastings. The event is also a fund-raiser for the Pleasant Hill Middle School Art Department, which will receive 100 percent of that day’s cupcake profits. The students will be creating inspired artwork, which will be displayed at the bakery.

Morever, during the grand opening, children are invited to make their own cupcake design. Fifty of the winning designs will be made and sold on April 23, with profits of the sales going to Pleasant Hill Elementary School.

Custom cupcakes from Sinful Bliss. (Photo courtesy of the bakery)

A Food Truck Meet-Up in San Jose

Aren’t you tired of hearing about all those great food truck gatherings in that city to the North and that other one to the East?

Well, South Bay foodies, you don’t have to feel left out anymore. Here’s the event you’ve been waiting for –  SJEats: A Moveable Feast, noon to 8 p.m. April 2 in the Fallon House parking lot at Saint John Street and Almaden Avenue in San Jose.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »