Category Archives: More Food Gal — In Person

Scenes From My Latest Macy’s Event

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Monika Batista and Chef Earl Shaddix get cooking in the Macy's Cellar. (

If you missed the Food Gal’s most recent appearance at Macy’s Union Square in San Francisco last Saturday with Brazilian food entrepreneur Monika Batista, you missed a delightful, delectable time.

But don’t despair.

Thanks to to Macy’s regulars, Barry and Evan Jan, here are photos they took that captured the afternoon’s cooking demo, as Batista showed how to make the Brazilian cheesy snack bread known as pao de quejo.

Gluten-free, they are made from yuca root flour.

Sample plates. (Photo by Barry and Eva Jan)

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Join the Food Gal at Macy’s Union Square San Francisco on May 19

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Yours truly, the Food Gal, will be making a return visit to the Cellar at Macy’s Union Square in San Francisco, 2 p.m. May 19, when I play host to a fun afternoon of Brazilian eats.

Gourmet entrepreneur Monika Batista will be cooking a specialty dish from her Brazilian heritage, as well as giving out samples of her irresistible Mani Snacks, gluten-free yuca root flour rolls that are pure cheesy goodness. They’re made locally in Los Gatos, too.

Come hear how this former landscape architect turned a love for a childhood treat into a thriving business. Admission is free.

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Judging the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off

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My guy. (Photo courtesy of Pillsbury)

The Dough Boy and I — we go way back. We’re tight — like this (fingers intertwined). He’s even let me poke him in the tummy.

So, I was thrilled to be united with my doughy guy earlier this week, when I was invited to be a judge for America’s oldest and most lucrative cooking contest, the Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando.

It was my third time as a judge in this competition. And my third time having a hand in deciding who went home with the grand prize of $1 million.

Started in 1949, the event celebrates the joy of home-cooking as only amateurs are allowed to enter. Each time, tens of thousands of entries from home-cooks are whittled down to just 100 finalists who compete to create an original, great tasting dish that will impress not only a panel of discriminating judges, but the entire nation, which has grown up with this iconic contest.

The judges are chosen almost a year ahead of time. From that moment onward, we had to avoid reading, seeing or hearing anything about the contest so that the contestants remained completely anonymous to us. You almost felt like you’d been selected for a secret ops mission, where information is strictly on a “need to know” basis. Hmm, good thing I packed a lot of black clothing.

The ballroom with 100 kitchens set up for the Bake-Off. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

A day of quiet before all the action started. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

We 12 food professionals took our mission seriously, too. A few of us were veteran Bake-Off judges, having done it once or twice before. But others were first-timers, nervous and excited about what the judging process would be like. Should we do stomach exercises to gird ourselves for so many dishes? Should we wear XL elastic pants that day? Just how many hours would we be stuffing our faces? Would we have to arm wrestle one another if we couldn’t agree on a winner in the end?

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Patxi’s to Open in Campbell, Unique Chefs of Compassion Event & More

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Time for deep dish. (Photo courtesy of Patxi's)

Patxi’s Opens This Afternoon in Campbell

Get ready for some deep deep dish.

Patxi’s Pizza, which specializes in Chicago-style deep dish pies, is opening its seventh Bay Area location at 4 p.m. today, 1875 S. Bascom Ave. in Campbell in the Pruneyard Shopping Center.

What’s more, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 21, the Campbell locale will hold a grand opening with complimentary samples.

The first Patxi’s (pronounced pah’-cheese) opened in Palo Alto in 2004 by William Freeman and Francisco “Patxi” Azpiroz, who previously worked at the legendary Zachary’s Pizza in Berkeley. The restaurant features four types of pizza (stuffed, pan, thin, and extra-thin), as well as three types of dough (regular, whole-wheat, and a new gluten-free one).

The new Campbell location has special meaning for Freeman, too. “I have deep roots in the Campbell area –my family has farmed land here for a century, and my dad grew up on a walnut and apricot farm on Lawrence Road,” he said in a statement. “So this is a real homecoming for me.”

Exec. Pastry Chef Carlos Sanchez of Parcel 104 picks his ingredients from the food pantry. (Photo courtesy of West Valley Community Services)

Chefs of Compassion

So many chefs are used to cooking with every gourmet product at their disposal.

But what happens when four Bay Area chefs are charged with making a showstopping dish from ingredients found only in the West Valley Community Services food pantry?

You’ll find out if you attend the “Chefs of Compassion Cooking for a Cause” fund-raising event, 5 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Addison-Penzak JCC of Silicon Valley, 14855 Oka Road in Los Gatos.

Executive Chef Chris Schloss of Cin-Cin Wine Bar in Los Gatos; Executive Pastry Chef Carlos Sanchez of Parcel 104 in Santa Clara; Executive Chef Jay Essadki of Morocco’s Restaurant in San Jose and Mountain View; and Executive Chef Nanci Wokas of Cooking with Class will each be preparing one of four courses at this dinner, which will help fund West Valley Community Services hunger and homeless programs.

"Breakfast for Dinner'' by Carlos Sanchez of Parcel 104. (Photo courtesy of West Valley Community Services)

Yours truly will be one of the judges, charged with picking the winning dish, along with Tracy Lee, founder of Dishcrawl; Sheila Himmel, former Mercury News restaurant critic; Linda Zavoral, Mercury News travel editor; and Abby Schwartz, South Bay manager of Yelp.

Tickets are $100 per person.

Chef Daniel Humm Returns to Campton Place for One Night

Chef Daniel Humm of New York’s Eleven Madison Park is returning for one evening to the establishment where he got his start — Campton Place in San Francisco.

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“Plates on Fire”: Coming to Your TV Screens Soon If All Goes According to Plan

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Yours truly, with the most makeup I've ever worn, and flanked by Vincent Pastore and Stephen Baldwin. Not a bad way to spend a day, hey?

I spent all last Sunday working alongside actors Stephen Baldwin and Vincent Pastore.

Get out!

I kid you not.

Of course, you know the former as the youngest Baldwin brother who has starred in such flicks as “The Usual Suspects,” “The Young Riders,” and “Fourth of July.” You know the latter as the unforgettable Salvatore ‘Big Pussy’ Bonpensiero on “The Sopranos.”

And with luck, some day soon you might know them and yours truly as the judges on the pilot episode of “Plates on Fire,” which was filmed last Sunday at San Jose Fire Dept. Station #2 on Alum Rock Avenue.

It’s the brain-child of Santa Clara County Fire Capt. Joe Viramontez, who retired from his job only eight months ago. Instead of devoting time to improving his golf swing now, he decided to bankroll an idea for a reality cooking show he came up with three years ago involving firefighters battling it out in a series of culinary challenges in a fire station kitchen. The winner gets bragging rights, the title of champion and $10,000 for his/her favorite charity. The show is intended to travel around to showcase the cooking prowess of firefighters at stations all around the country.

“The charity component was important to me,” Viramontez says. “I didn’t want it to be just another cooking competition. I wanted to do something to give back.”

So, he hired producer Galley Molina, who splits his time between Los Angeles and San Jose, and whom Viramontez met at church. Molina, a reformed, convicted drug trafficker started his own independent production company, Reverence Gospel Media. He wrote and produced the film, “I’m in Love with a Church Girl,” which is expected to be released in 2012. The film, shot in San Jose last year, stars rapper Ja Rule, as well as both Baldwin and Pastore, which is how those two actors got involved with “Plates on Fire.” Michael K. Race, another producer on “I’m in Love with a Church Girl,” also was brought on board for this project.

A helmet covers the secret ingredients of the mystery basket.

Just how did the Food Gal, who has zilch acting experience, get asked to work alongside these Hollywood heavyweights? I’m told that someone who knew someone who knew someone recommended me as a good choice to round out the culinary know-how of the judging panel. I’m guessing it didn’t hurt that I don’t live too far away from Station #2, either. Or that I happen to be female — the only one in the cast, as it turns out.

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