Category Archives: New Products

A Non-Alcoholic Alternative Made With Delicious Wine Grapes

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A quenching, non-tipsy beverage. (Photo courtesy of Napa VinJus)

You may already know Food & Vine Inc.’s Salute Sante! of the Napa Valley for its organic, high smoke-point grapeseed oil.

Now, get to know its divine new beverage, Napa VinJus, made from early-picked varietal grapes with low-sugar levels and high acid. The result is a non-boozy, golden-hued drink that is quite tangy, crisp, and with notes of green apple and honeysuckle.

I’m not a fan of sugary sodas, so I really fell for VinJus’ perky, puckery flavor. Indeed, it has about half the sugar of regular grape juice. Enjoy it in place of soda, or as an alternative to a cocktail.

A 750ml bottle sells for $14.50 at www.napavinjus.com/. You’ll also find it at Julia’s Kitchen at Copia in Napa, Go Fish Restaurant in St. Helena, Zuzu Tapas Bar in Napa, and the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone Campus in St. Helena.

New Dessert Shop, New Kids’ Menu, New Wine

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Frozen yogurt with Valhrona chocolate rice pearls and sunflower seeds. (Photo courtesy of Chill).

There’s a chill in the air in San Francisco — in more ways than one.

Chill is a new dessert cafe, 125 Kearny St. in downtown San Francisco across the street from the Crocker Galleria. Owner Trang Nguyen, who sports an MBA and work experience at Kraft Foods and Revlon, serves up unique sweets with global influences.

Low-fat, all-natural frozen yogurt comes in flavors such as original tart, black sesame, and rooibos red tea. There’s also vanilla frozen custard to give you goose bumps. Choose from toppings such as chocolate agave, black sugar, and dulce de leche.

Crispy crepe cone with frozen custard and strawberries. (Photo courtesy of Chill)

Or enjoy those offerings in concoctions such as Black Sesame Fig ($5.25), a mix of fig puree, grape syrup, organic condensed milk, and black sesame fro-yo, all on a bed of shave ice. Or have it all stuffed in a crispy crepe cone. How about Banana Walnuts ($5.75), a crepe cone filled with banana chips, walnuts, dulce de leche syrup, and frozen yogurt?

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Funky Monkey Doesn’t Monkey Around

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A lot of dried fruit these days comes loaded with way too much sugar. Not Funky Monkey.

The fruit snack has no added sugar, preservatives, color, or flavors. They also are gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, and are certified Kosher-Parve. They are manufactured in Brazil using tropical fruits that are freeze-dried.

The result is very crispy fruit pieces that are handy to tote along anywhere. Funky Monkey comes in four flavors: Bananamon (bananas and cinnamon), Jivealime (pineapple and lime juice), Purple Funk (banana and acai), and my favorite of Carnaval Mix (banana, pineapple, apple, papaya, raisins).

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An Ovation For Newest Newman-O’s

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A marriage of peanut butter and chocolate

I tore into a bag of the new Newman-O’s Peanut Butter Creme Filled Chocolate Cookies, and curiously took a bite. As I contemplated whether I liked the new cookie sandwiches, my hand started reaching for another. And then another.

That answered that.

Basically, I had to close up the bag and move it to another room so that I wouldn’t end up inhaling the entire package. The deep cocoa-tasting, crisp chocolate cookies encase a creamy, subtly salty peanut butter filling. I especially like how the cookies are not that sweet.

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