Category Archives: New Products

Introducing the Food Gal Hat for Fashionistas with Stupendous Taste

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Is this too cute or what?

Just in time for your holiday gift-giving comes the new rockin’ Food Gal military cap with signature embroidered logo. It’s the perfect accessory for all your food-loving pals, as well as for yourself. Natch!

Choose mocha, olive or black.

Don’t forget, there’s also a wide range of other Food Gal items, including aprons, tote bags, and girly T’s.

Guys aren’t left out, either. Find manly Meat Boy aprons and T’s, named for my carnivore husband.

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Exceptional Chocolates in Berkeley

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Bright, bold, and beautiful chocolates from Chocolatier Blue.

Artisan chocolatier Christopher Blue has elevated the art of chocolate making to a whole new level at Chocolatier Blue in central Berkeley, which opened earlier this summer.

Blue, who has worked with the likes of Chef Charlie Trotter of Chicago, is the only chocolatier in the United States to use Amedei chocolate from Tuscany that’s made from 100 percent Venezuelan sun-dried cacao beans. He also uses Five Star organic butter, which has the highest fat content of any butter in the world.

His chocolates are organic. What’s more, the fillings are made using such techniques as grilling, roasting, and sous vide. The packaging is all biodegradable, and much of it made from recyclable materials.

Christopher Blue (Photo courtesy of Jessica Steeve)

I’ll use my patented scale of 1 to 10 lip-smackers, with 1 being the “Bleh, save your money” far end of the spectrum; 5 being the “I’m not sure I’d buy it, but if it was just there, I might nibble some” middle-of-the-road response; and 10 being the “My gawd, I could die now and never be happier, because this is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth” supreme ranking.

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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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