Category Archives: Enticing Events

A Gingery Time for a Good Cause

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Fresh-baked gingerbread stars to help the Make-A-Wish Foundation. (Photo courtesy of the Lark Creek Restaurant Group)

Satisfy your gingerbread craving while doing a good deed, too.

You can if you purchase a bag of star-shaped, iced gingerbread cookies for $10 from participating Lark Creek Restaurant Group establishments throughout November. All proceeds will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which makes wishes come true for children with severe illnesses.

The cookies, available on the dessert menu, were designed by One Market Pastry Chef Patti Dellamonica-Bauler. Glam them up with frosting, sprinkles and candies to enjoy at the restaurant or take them home with you in a decorative box.

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Meet Harold McGee and Amanda Hesser

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Harold McGee (Photo by Harold Petzke)Meet Harold McGee:

Bay Area author  Harold McGee’s seminal “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen” (Scribner) is beloved by home cooks and professional chefs alike.

Now, he’s come out with a new book that’s sure to be another classic: “Keys to Good Cooking: A Guide to Making the Best of Foods and Recipes” (Penguin Press).

The new book is filled with useful information, based on scientific findings, that will no doubt make us all better cooks. For instance, did you know that you should reboil refrigerated meat or fish stocks every few days, as they are so perishable that they can spoil even in the fridge? Did you know that figs are so perishable that they can be spoiled inside without obvious external signs? Or that you should not use foil to wrap acidic foods or to cover steel or cast-iron pots as aluminum corrodes in contact with acid or non-aluminum metal containers?

You can meet McGee, when he’ll be signing copies of his book at various events around the Bay Area:

* Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at Kepler’s in Menlo Park.

* Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the Sobrato Center for Non-Profits, 1400 Parkmoor Ave. in San Jose. The event, hosted by the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley, is $10 for members and $15 for non-members. For tickets, call (408) 847-7730 or click here.

* Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. at Omnivore Books in San Francisco.

* Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz.

Join Amanda Hesser for a Food Writing Seminar

Longtime food writer for the New York Times, Amanda Hesser, will be leading an adult writer’s seminar, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Women’s Building, 3543 – 18th St. in San Francisco.

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Getting into the Spook-tacular Spirit

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Chef Jamie Oliver and Steve Ells, founder of Chipotle, in their "frightening'' costumes. (Photo couresty of Chipotle)

Boorito Time:

Chipotle Mexican Grill has teamed up with UK Chef Jamie Oliver for a clever Halloween promotion to expose just how scary processed foods can be.

Just visit any Chipotle restaurant between 6 p.m. and closing on Oct. 31, dressed as a horrifying processed food product, and you’ll be treated to a burrito made with naturally raised ingredients for just $2.

Proceeds from the “Boorito 2010,” up to $1 million, will benefit “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” a campaign to get people to cook and eat fresh, healthful food.

Chipotle also will host an online costume contest, where customers can be photographed in their frightening processed food costumes at Chipotle’s, then can post the pic online here.

The grand prize winner will receive $2,500; five runners-up will get $1,000 each. And 20 honorable mentions will receive a burrito party for 20 guests at a Chipotle’s of their choice.

Better get cracking now on that one-of-a-kind costume to win.

Pumpkin Carving:

Yankee Pier in Larkspur invites kids to come in, Oct. 28-31, for its annual pumpkin-carving contest.

There will be various prizes for different age ranges, including giveaways of toys and bookstore gift cards. Contest winners will be announce on Oct. 31 via Facebook.

This week, the Lark Creek Restaurant Group also will be concluding its annual “Pumpkin Festival” of dishes that showcase fall squashes.

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New Pinkberry, Free Pasta and More

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Another Pinkberry Opens:

The tart fro-yo craze continues as the South Bay welcomes another Pinkberry, this one at 2362 El Camino Real in Santa Clara.

The grand opening, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 22, will feature free samples and celebrity guest DJ Joe Manganiello from HBO’s “True Blood,” spinning tunes.

Wine Dinner at Red Crane:

Chef Royce Mori of Red Crane in Cupertino. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)Join Burrell School Winery and Chef Royce Mori when they host a special wine dinner at Red Crane in Cupertino, 7 p.m. Oct. 26.

The four-course dinner includes such delightful pairings as crispy snow crab cake with papaya salsa matched with the 2006 “Teacher’s Pet” Estate Chardonnay; and pan-roasted petit filet mignon with roasted gold beets accompanied by the 2007 “Honor Roll” Estate Merlot.

Price is $80 per person. For reservations, call (408) 725-1990.

Prime Time for Prime Rib:

It definitely will be at Sent Sovi in Saratoga, Oct. 28, when Chef-Owner Josiah Slone hosts the “Big Scary Prime Rib” dinner.

Nothing to fear; the scary part refers to those big bottles of wine (magnums and larger) that we have stashed at home, wondering when we’ll ever have the occasion to uncork them.

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Three Delicious Events

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Doc Willoughby. (Photo by Romulo Yanes, courtesy of Gourmet.com)In Mountain View:

Meet the one and only John “Doc” Willoughby, executive editor of Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazines, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at Books, Inc. in Mountain View.

Willoughby recently rejoined those magazines after the demise of Gourmet magazine, where he worked for nine years.

He’ll be signing copies of “The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook” (Boston Common Press) at this free event.

In the East Bay:

Two teams of chef will square off in a Southern challenge, 7 p.m. Oct. 21 at Five restaurant in Berkeley.

Chef Banks White of Five will be joined by Chef Scott Howard, opening chef of Five and now chef of Brick & Bottle in Corte Madera, as they duel against chefs, Dean Dupuis and Charlie Copley of Pican in Oakland in this “Iron Chef”-like challenge, “Seasonal Showdown Dinner.”

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