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Category Archives: Enticing Events

Get Ready — Tickets to Pigs & Pinot to Go on Sale

Posted on January 11, 2011 by foodgal 8 comments

Yup, you gotta be fast, as this porky-palooza is so popular that tickets sell out in a snap. This year, there’s even a new lottery system for hotel packages because demand is just that high.

But then again, that’s not surprising, given that Chef Charlie Palmer’s sixth annual “Pigs & Pinot,” March 18-19, will bring together the best Pinots from more than 60 wineries and 10 top chefs to cook up a feast of porky goodness.

Among this year’s participating chefs are: Bryan Voltaggio (“Top Chef” finalist and chef-owner of Volt restaurant); his brother, Michael Voltaggio (who won “Top Chef”); Nancy Oakes of Boulevard restaurant; and Philippe Rispoli of France.

Sommeliers, including William Sherer of Aureole in Las Vegas and Fred Dame of Foster’s Wine Estates, will be lending their vino expertise.

Additionally, just like last year, Palmer is even raising two suckling pigs for the event, which are getting fattened up on trimmings from his Dry Creek Kitchen restaurant, as well as on spent barley and grain from nearby Bear Republic Brewing Company.

A Cheesy Food Gal Giveaway

Posted on January 10, 2011 by foodgal 45 comments

I just had to laugh the other morning when a local newscaster joked that if he won the Lotto, he’d be spending it all on good cheese.

Just goes to show how much we all love the stuff.

To help you get a better and easier handle on all the wonderful cheeses in the market these days, Chronicle Books has come out with a new iPhone app, “Cheese Plate.”

It’s based on the book, “Cheese and Wine: A Guide to Selecting, Pairing and Enjoying” by noted Bay Area food writer, Janet Fletcher. Curated by Fletcher, the app includes information and photos on how to put together 25 cheese plates, each consisting of three complimentary cheeses (and alternatives if you can’t easily find your first choice).

You’ll learn how to pronounce cheese names, who makes the particular cheeses, and the best descriptors for each type.

The app is $4.99 at the iTunes store.

One lucky Food Gal reader, though, will win a free app, plus a copy of the book that it’s based on. But wait, there’s more. That winner also will receive another book by Fletcher, The Cheese Course” (Chronicle Books), which is full of information on artisanal cheeses plus wines to pair with them.

How’s that for a deal?

Contest: It’s open only to those in the continental United States. Entry deadline is midnight PST Jan. 15. Winner will be announced on Jan. 17.

How to enter?

New Cooking Classes at Berkeley’s eVe Restaurant

Posted on January 7, 2011 by foodgal 9 comments

Who wouldn’t want to learn how to cook from a husband-wife chef team who have worked at the likes of Georges Blanc in France, and Charlie Trotter’s and Everest, both in Chicago?

You can, now that Chefs Christopher and Veronica Laramie of eVe in Berkeley have started offering once-a-month cooking classes at their intimate 28-seat restaurant. Likewise, their classes will be equally personalized in that each is limited to only 10 students.

You have the choice of meeting at the restaurant at 11 a.m. or meeting the two chefs at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Farmers Market to help choose produce for that day’s class. Then, you’ll roll up your sleeves to get cooking in this hands-on class that lasts until 2:30 p.m. After all the cooking is done, you’ll sit down with the Laramies to enjoy a cozy lunch featuring the dishes you and your classmates have made.

My Fave Eats of 2010

Posted on December 31, 2010 by foodgal 25 comments

I’ve eaten a lot this year. Let’s just get that out of the way at the start.

So, you can imagine my dilemma in coming up with a list of a mere 10 dishes or items that were my ultimate favorites this year. I limited the list to meals I ate out at restaurants, rather than made at home.Â They also had to be so great as to have me still longing for a taste even now.

Here, in no particular order, are my top eats of this year:

Bacon Time at Lafitte

Posted on December 23, 2010 by foodgal 13 comments

Lafitte's bacon flight. (Photo courtesy of Sonya Yu)

Photo by Sonya Yu

Sure, you’ve indulged at restaurants in wine flights, beer flights, and even dessert flights.

But when’s the last time you’ve succumbed to a porky-licious bacon flight?

You can at Lafitte at Pier 5, just blocks from the Hilton in San Francisco’s Financial District.

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