Category Archives: New Products

Pastelaria Adega Opens Its Sweet Doors in Downtown San Jose

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Expect a line for these Portuguese custard tarts at the new Pastelaria Adega.
Expect a line for these Portuguese custard tarts at the new Pastelaria Adega

If heaven is a warm, eggy custard tart, you’re sure to be in total bliss then when the new Pastelaria Adega opens in downtown San Jose today.

From the team behind the award-winning, fine-dining Portuguese restaurant Adega in the city’s Little Portugal in the Alum Rock district comes a artisanal Portuguese bakery. It is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Last night at a preview party, I had a chance to check out the new spot at at 30 E. Santa Clara St., Suite 130.

Bakery case.
Bakery case.

As Chef-Owner David Costa, a native of Portugal, says: It’s the type of place you would go to in Lisbon every day for coffee, pastry and bread.

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Caffeine Convenience: Verve Nitro Flash Brew

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Verve's Nitro Flash Brew comes with a creamy head.
Verve’s Nitro Flash Brew comes with a creamy head.

Are you like me — desperately in need of that cup of joe in the morning to get going? Then, you’ll love the convenience of Verve Coffee Roaster’s Nitro Flash Brew.

Conveniently packaged in 9.5-ounce cans, it’s ideal for time-pressed days when you just can’t spare making your own.

I had a chance to try a sample of the product, made by the Santa Cruz coffee company that roasts its beans in vintage roasters, and is committed to preserving heirloom varieties of coffee and to paying farmers prices above Fair Trade minimums.

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Sorrento Limoncello From A Carmel Restaurateur

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The family recipe for this limoncello dates to 1902.
The family recipe for this limoncello dates to 1902.

Rich Pepe may have grown up in New Jersey, but his family’s southern Italian roots have lived on deliciously since his grandparents emigrated here.

His upbringing, surrounded by a large extended family who made their own wine, jams, breads and pastas, had a profound impact on him. Indeed, after arriving on the Monterey Peninsula, Pepe worked as a baker, and eventually purchased the historic Carmel Bakery in Carmel-by-the-Sea. He, his wife and two sons now oversee half a dozen Italian-inspired establishments in the area. Besides the bakery, they include Little Napoli, Bistro Italian; Vesuvio; and Peppoli at Pebble Beach.

If that weren’t enough, he also makes his own limoncello. PepeCello is hand-crafted in small batches in Sorrento, using only certified organic Sorrento lemons.

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A Special Time at Oakland’s Tamarindo Antojeria Mexicana with “East Bay Cooks”

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Get a taste of fresh, zingy and vibrant shrimp aguachile plus other delicious noshes at a special event at Tamarindo Antojeria Mexicana. (Photo by Eva Kolenko)
Get a taste of fresh, zingy and vibrant shrimp aguachile plus other delicious noshes at a special event at Tamarindo Antojeria Mexicana. (Photo by Eva Kolenko in “East Bay Cooks.”)

Join yours truly on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Oakland’s vibrant Tamarindo Antojeria Mexicana, when Chef-Owner Gloria Dominguez and I will be signing copies of my new cookbook, “East Bay Cooks: Signature Recipes from the Best Restaurants, Bars, and Bakeries” (Figure 1).

The cookbook spotlights more than 40 top restaurants and bakeries in the Bay Area’s most populous and diverse region, including Tamarindo Antojeria Mexicana.

That evening, if you purchase a copy of the book at the restaurant ($32.99), you’ll receive a ticket for special complimentary appetizers, including a taste of shrimp aquachile, one of the restaurant’s signature recipes in the book. You’ll also enjoy a free surprise dessert.

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Cheers to the Portland Trail Blazers With Limited Edition Wines

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Some very cool labels on these two very cool wines by Adelsheim Vineyard.
Some very cool labels on these two very cool wines by Adelsheim Vineyard.

OK, Warriors fans, don’t hate me for writing about the Portland Trail Blazers.

After all, it’s really two special wines that I’m concentrating on here. And admittedly, I am partial to Oregon pinot noirs, which one of these is.

To celebrate the monumental 50th anniversary of the Portland basketball team, Adelsheim Vineyard, the first winery founded in the Chehalem Mountains in the Willamette Valley, has come out with two limited-edition commemorative wines: a pinot noir ($50) and a chardonnay ($50), both 2017 vintages.

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