You can do just that on July 30 at any Cheesecake Factory with a fun promotion called “Any Slice, Half Price.”
Yup, diners who eat in the restaurant that day can choose a slice of any of 30 different cheesecakes for half the price.
I’d already eaten lunch twice on my own dime, when I recently got invited to dine as a guest at Donato Enoteca in Redwood City.
So, you know I already think highly of the food created there by Executive Chef Donato Scotti.
For further proof, just consider that on the evening I was there, a Peninsula chef whom I’ve written about before, dropped by my table to say hello. He’s such a fan of the food there that he’s a regular with his family.
Scotti hails from the small town of Bergamo in Italy, where as a kid, he used to deliver fresh bread by bicycle to his neighbors. He’s worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy, as well as Valentino restaurant in Santa Monica, under the direction of owner Piero Selvaggio. Peninsula folks also may remember Scotti for his charming La Strada restaurant in Palo Alto.
He opened Donato Enoteca two years ago. On a warm summer day, a seat at a table on the front patio is a must. Inside, the lovely restaurant is divided into three rooms: First, a bright, airy dining room; then a room with an expansive length of bar that also accommodates diners; and finally, the rear one lined with wine bottles, dark burgundy drapes and masculine wood walls, where we sat.
We started with octopus carpaccio ($8), which arrived at the table in paper-thin cross-sections looking like some sort of artsy mosaic. It was crowned with peppery watercress dressed with olive oil and bright lemon juice.
Bistro Boudin at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf has upped the sourdough factor on its summer menu.
A variety of new dishes highlight the tangy, wonderful bread made by the cafe’s Gold Rush-era bakery.
Look for Bistro Shrimp Salad ($14.95) with grilled avocado, tangerines, chopped romaine and cilantro vinaigrette piled into a crispy sourdough cup; Grilled Salmon Al Tagine ($25.95) with clams, spinach, cherry tomatoes, Moroccan olives and capers served with sourdough crostini; and Sourdough Gnocchi ($23.95) with decadent chunks of lobster in a creamy pesto sauce.
Sure, you’ve heard of food truck crawls, where those culinary four-wheelers gather in one spot to ply their delicious wares. Now, get ready for a wine version of that.
SF Wine Crawl, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. July 24, affords you the chance to taste wines from 10 of San Francisco’s urban wineries.
Treasure Island is the location for this unique event — only appropriate since several wineries already make their home there. Sip wine, meet the winemakers and enjoy a breathtaking view of the Bay.
The event is accessible by car and #108 Muni bus.
Tickets are $40 per person; $60 VIP tickets include a VIP shuttle to ferry you around to each winery.
McEvoy Ranch — producers of spectacular estate-grown, certified organic extra virgin olive oils — is opening up its 550-acre property in the hills west of Petaluma for a garden walk plus lunch, 10 a.m. to noon July 22.
When flipping through a new cookbook, you spy a recipe called “Ginormous Biscuits.” You’re going to stop in your tracks completely breathless, aren’t you?
I mean, who wouldn’t with that temptress of a name?
The folks behind the new cookbook, “Tupelo Honey Cafe” (Andrews McMeel), sure knew what they were doing when they coined that name for these bountiful butter behemoths.
The book, of which I recently received a review copy, was written by Southern writer, Elizabeth Sims, and Brian Sonoskus, executive chef of the Tupelo Honey Cafe, which opened in downtown Asheville, NC in 2000 and now has a second location on the south side of the city.
I actually had the pleasure of dining at that adorable downtown cafe years ago, while touring the South after attending a journalism conference. Asheville is a thoroughly charming city. Like so many college towns, (it’s home to the University of North Carolina at Asheville), it is imbued with youthful energy, culture and artistic spirit. It’s also got one of the best self-guided walking tours around with iconic sculptures marking each significant landmark. One of the most famous ones is the restored boarding house that was run by the mother of American literary giant, Thomas Wolfe, where you can sidle up to his bronzed size 13 shoes at the entrance.
After working up an appetite from all that walking, head to the popular Tupelo Honey Cafe for down-home Southern fare made with seasonal ingredients from Sonoskus’ farm, Sunshot Farm.
At this convivial wine bar, where even on Monday nights you might have to wait more than an hour for an empty table, you’re sure to hear a lot of clinking of glasses and gregarious toasts of “cin-cin.”
Cin Cin Wine Bar in Los Gatos may be named for the Italian toast that means “to your health,” but the food by Executive Chef Chris Schloss goes beyond that with an eclectic global mix — from Korean tacos stuffed with bulgogi-style shaved rib-eye to South Carolina pulled pork sliders to three-cheese arancini fritters to soba noodle wraps.
The restaurant has attracted crowds since it was opened three years ago by long-time South Bay restaurateur Don Durante and former Google marketing professional-turned-sommelier, Lisa Rhorer, whom I had the pleasure of first meeting years ago, when we were both students in a wine class at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena.
It’s no surprise that the wines here take the spotlight as much as the food. The selections also span the world — from France to Italy to Spain to Argentina to California. They are offered by the 3-ounce or 6-ounce pour or by the bottle. Or best yet — in imaginative flights, which is what my friend Donna and I enjoyed when we dined here recently. Although we paid our tab, the chef sent out some extra treats on the house that he wanted us to try.
On a warm evening, you can’t go wrong with the rosé flight ($12), a trio of dry yet fruity summer wines that included Unti Rosé of Grenache/Mouvedre, Sonoma County 2010; Castella di Ama Rosato, Tuscany 2010; and Villa Creek Rosé of Grenache/Mourvedre/Carignan, Paso Robles 2010.
The boisterous dining rooms are outfitted with rattan chairs and green-hued, grasscloth-covered walls, lending a casual, almost tropical hideaway vibe. The menu is divided into “nibbles” ($4 to $7); “small plates” ($9 to $14)Â and “large plates” ($13 to $27), making them ideal for sharing.