Category Archives: Spirits/Cocktails/Beer

Scenes From the 23rd Annual Star Chefs & Vintners Gala

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For foodies, it was indeed a starry time on Sunday evening at the lavish Star Chefs & Vintners Gala at Fort Mason in San Francisco.

About 1,000 folks turned out to don their finest and to support Meals on Wheels of San Francisco, the city’s oldest and largest provider of home-delivered meals to seniors.

The Bay Area’s top chefs and vintners provided an impressive spread of eats and drinks for this annual event, which raised $1.1 million last year for this worthy organization that serves 16,000 meals to home-bound seniors every week.

Yours truly was invited to be a guest at the gala, which started off with a bang with an expansive walk-around hors d’oeuvre and wine reception, where chefs and vintners manned stations to pass out tastes of their finest.

It was quite crowded in the Festival Pavillion, but well worth the effort to jockey for position for such stellar eats.

I had a chance to sneak back into the kitchen area to see the chefs scurrying about to get the first courses ready for dinner, as an army of servers lined up in formation at the ready to ferry the dishes to the dining room.

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Intoxicated by Buddha’s Hand

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Forgive me if I’m a little tipsy as I tipe, er, type.

Remember that gnarly looking fruit that my friend Damian grew? That yellow citrus fruit that’s a dead-ringer for a sea amenomee, uh, anenome…um, you know what I mean? Yes, that Buddha’s hand that he gave me in January? Surely, you remember my post on that unusual gift.

You can probably guess what I made from it, after seeing the photo above with the bottle of Everclear lurking dangerously in the background. Yup, Buddha-cello. A version of the classic Italian liqueur, limoncello, but with Buddha’s hand rather then lemons.

After heeding some useful advice about making limoncello from Lisa at Learning To Eat and Hedonia — (I think it was them. I dunno any more. My mind isn’t so good now.) — I set off for BevMo to buy my first bottle of Everclear.

My husband says he remembers stirring up punch with this stuff at college frat parties. I wonder how he’s still walking now, let alone how he managed to graduate.

To say this stuff is strong is an understatement.  It’s P-O-T-E-N-T! It’s natural grain alcohol that’s 151 proof or 75.5 percent alcohol. Cough, cough. Good gawd.

Limoncello afficionados swear it makes a far superior product than mere vodka, because it has a more neutral taste and can therefore better absorb the flavor of the citrus that’s being infused.

Nothing but the best for my Buddha’s hand, I say. So I toted home a 750ml bottle, hoping it wouldn’t spontaneously combust  in my car on the ride home. Hey, ya never know.

In my kitchen, I set about taking apart my Buddha’s hand, which is definitely more work than just zesting a lemon. You have to cut off the individual fingers, then zest each one separately.

Into a sterilized glass jar went the zest, the entire bottle of Everclear, and the seeds from half a vanilla bean pod. Once the lid was secured, I set the jar on a back counter and waited.

It didn’t take long. In only about two days’ time, the once clear alcohol had taken on a deep yellow color.

After six weeks, I whipped up some simple syrup by heating 1/3 cup water with 1/4 cup sugar. Once the simple syrup cooled, I added it to the jar, along with 2 cups of vodka to help mellow the mixture. Then I set the jar back on the counter and waited again.

Two weeks later, I strained the mixture, then decanted it into bottles, which I stuck into the freezer so they would reach the optimal frosty temperature to enjoy my Buddha-cello.

Then, I poured a little into a shot glass and took a sip.

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Filipino Cuisine Symposium, Dessert Festival, Wine Dinner & More

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In San Francisco:

Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, Thai and Malaysian cuisines.

Been to those restaurants, eaten that.

But when it comes to Filipino food, just how much have you experienced of this bold, pungent cuisine with its Chinese, Polynesian, and Spanish influences?

May 15-16, explore “Filipino Flavors: Tradition + Innovation,’‘ a celebration of the foods of the Philippines organized by the Asian Culinary Forum.

The weekend events, featuring chefs, scholars, writers and winemakers, will take place at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of California in San Francisco, a short stroll from the Holiday Inn Civic Center.

May 15 kicks off with a hands-on cooking class with New York Chef Amy Besa ($85 per person); followed by a seminar on pairing Filipino foods with wines, hosted by Master Sommelier Reggie Narito ($45 per person). Next, a panel of scholars and writers will discuss the social, political and cultural touchstones that have shaped what Filipinos eat around the world ($15 per person; $10 for students). Finally, enjoy an “Adobo Show-Down,” where cooks will do battle with their best version of Filipino adobo for prizes ($20 per person).

May 16 starts off with a chocolate tasting with chocolatier Tonet Tibay (free to all symposium pass holders); and ends with a chefs panel all about the future of Filipino food ($40 general, $30 students).

Register here for tickets to individual events or for an all-symposium pass ($180).

Enjoy an intimate dinner with renowned wine importer, Kermit Lynch, May 6 at Absinthe Brasserie.

Lynch, who has made his Berkeley wine shop a vino lover’s destination for decades, will be pouring selected vintages from two of his benchmark producers, Domaine de Cherisey and Domaine Les Pallières.

Executive Chef Jamie Lauren will prepare a four-course dinner, which will include hamachi crudo with pickled green garlic, curried salt and pappadums; and braised beef cheeks with maple syrup-glazed smoked yams.

Price for the event is $150 per person. For reservations, call (415) 551-1453.

Foreign Cinema restaurant in San Francisco throws open its doors May 6 for a benefit auction for Creativity Explored, a San Francisco art gallery and studio for artists with developmental disabilities.

Original art, as well as an array of luxury items will be auctioned off that night, as Chefs Gayle Pirie and John Clark serve up small plates, cocktails, wine and beer. Guests are encouraged to come decked out in chromatic clothing to play up this year’s theme.

Tickets are $125 in advance or at the door. Or reserve by May 5, and pay $225 total for a pair of tickets. Call (415) 863-2108.

In San Jose:

Enjoy beer — a lot of beer — at brunch, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 15 at Left Bank Brasserie in San Jose’s Santana Row.

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Orlando: Backstage Eats at Epcot and A Restaurant Called the Ravenous Pig

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When I wasn’t eating my way through 27 sweet treats as a judge at the recent Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando, I was — well — eating still some more.

You see, the Pillsbury folks wanted to make sure none of the 12 Bake-Off judges were ever in danger of having the slightest hunger pang. Perish the thought.  So we were fed. Then, fed again. And on it went, calorie after lovely calorie.

Here are the highlights:

We were treated to a welcoming party at Epcot, where six of the theme park’s restaurants had set up cooking stations inside a large kitchen area. Epcot Executive Chef Jens Dahlmann was on hand to greet the judges and members of the media.

We mingled as we enjoyed sips of wine and tastes of cute little lamb sliders with tomato marmalade, shrimp in green curry sauce with fragrant basmati rice, duck two ways — smoked breast and leg confit with tomato and egg fettuccine, porcini-dusted beef tenderloin, and a fab fisherman’s stew by “Iron Chef America” Cat Cora’s Kouzzina restaurant.

My favorite nosh, though, had to be the martini glasses of spicy sashimi-grade tuna tartare with cucumber, daikon and pepper salad, and avocado-wasabi sauce and crisp lotus root chips. That dish, from the Hollywood Brown Derby at Epcot,  was so good that I even went back for seconds. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.

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Ferry Building Happenings, Glam Foodie Fund-Raisers & More

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In San Francisco:

The offerings at the Saturday farmers market at the San Francisco Ferry Building just got a whole lot sweeter.

The Arlequin booth, manned by Luis Villavelazquez, executive pastry chef of Absinthe restaurant in San Francisco, will now be a regular fixture at that Saturday market, just steps from the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, beginning May 1.

The booth, which already had been up and running at the smaller Thursday farmers market there, will be selling the likes of malted cupcake with banana cream and Oreo frosting; strawberry and tobacco-infused scone with creme fraiche; spiced ramp and provolone biscuits; and milk chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

Find the Arlequin booth next to Blue Bottle Coffee’s exterior stand,  8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Thursday and Saturday.

If luscious libations are more your thing, you won’t want to miss “Berries, Citrus and Rhubarb,” a fun cocktails class at the Ferry Building, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. May 7.

Master mixologist Scott Beattie will conduct a hands-on class to teach you how to make market-fresh strawberry margaritas, classic mai tais, and gimlets.

Master distiller, Lance Winters of St. George Spirits in Alameda, will talk about micro-distillation.

The Ferry Building’s Il Cane Rosso also will serve up cocktail-friendly noshes. Additionally, participants will get to take home a recipe booklet.

The class will be held under the North Arcade of the Ferry Building. Tickets are $45.

City College of San Francisco invites you to its 12th annual “Wok on the Wild Side,” a benefit for its culinary arts and hospitality studies department, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 26.

Participating in the star chef-studded affair are Staffan Terje of Perbacco in San Francisco, Bruce Hill of Picco in Larkspur, Laurence Jossel of Nopa, Jennifer Biesty of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco, and Mauricio Sibrian of John’s Grill in San Francisco.  They will be honoring City College alum, Tom Sweeney, the famous Beefeater doorman who has been welcoming visitors to the Sir Francis Drake Hotel for more than 30 years.

The chefs will be cooking up their specialties and being assisted by the students and faculty of the program.

Tickets are $150. For information, call (415) 239-3152.

You won’t want to miss another gala chefs gathering, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. April 29, when “Taste of the Nation San Francisco” rolls into town on the Club Level of AT&T Park in San Francisco.

The benefit for Share Our Strength, will feature tastes from more than 40 top San Francisco chefs, including Dominique Crenn of Luce, Mark Sullivan of Spruce, Hoss Zare of Zare at Fly Trap, and Matthew Accarrino of SPQR.

Live music and a silent auction will add to the festivities, which will benefit one of the nation’s largest organizations dedicated to alleviating childhood hunger.

Regular tickets are $85. VIP tickets, which get you into the event an hour earlier, are $140.

Monday, April 26, dine at a Pasta Pomodoro in San Francisco or elsewhere in the Bay Area to do a good deed.

That night, the restaurant chain will donate 25 percent of profits from every “Cena di Familia” meal to local food banks to help families in need. The three-course, family-style meal, which feeds four, comes with choice of salad, pasta and dessert for $35.

Around the Peninsula:

Take a taste of more than 100 wines from all over Italy in one spot. You can at “Enoteca 100 Primavera,” an Italian wine tasting at Donato Enoteca restaurant in Redwood City, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. May 1.

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