Category Archives: Spirits/Cocktails/Beer

Fig Fun, Killer Tomatoes and More

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Attend Fig Fest to sample lovelies like these.

This little figgy went to market.

Actually, a lot of figs will be at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 15, just in time for Fig Fest.

With August the peak season for these delicate, sugary delights, what better time to meet eight fig farmers who will be showing off their different varieties, including Black Mission, Brown Turkey, Adriatic, and Kadota.

Learn all about the cultivation and nutritional benefits of figs. Pick up a hand-made fig bar (for a $1 donation), learn how to grow your own fig tree from garden designer Maria Finn of Prospect & Refuge, and watch free cooking demos.

Tune in 10 p.m. tonight as San Francisco’s own Chris Cosentino, chef of Incanto, debuts his own show, “Chef vs. City” on the Food Network. He’ll be joined by New York chef Aaron Sanchez.

Each week, the duo will challenge two local foodies to find the “biggest, boldest, most unexpected” food places in each city they visit.

The ever-chic Masa’s Resaurant in San Francisco will host “A Tasteful Pursuit” on Aug. 17. The star chef-studded dinner is a benefit for Share Our Strength, the organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America.

Masa’s Executive Chef Gregory Short and Executive Pastry Chef John McKee will be joined in the kitchen that evening by Xavier Salomon of the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, Mark Dommen of One Market Restaurant in San Francisco, and William Werner of Quince in San Francisco.

Tickets for the five-course dinner with wine pairings are $150 per person. Live and silent auctions also will be featured.

Foreign Cinema in San Francisco celebrates its 10th anniversary on Aug. 20 with an extravaganza of magicians, dancers, henna artists, acrobats, and jugglers. Of course, there will be cocktails and tasty bites to nibble, as well.

Tickets are $65 per person. Proceeds benefit DrawBridge, a Bay Area non-profit that provides creative programs for homeless children.

Scott Beattie's "Blackberry Lick'' cocktails. (Photo reprinted from "Artisanal Cocktails,'' published by Ten Speed Press)

Master Mixologist Scott Beattie will conduct a hands-on cocktail class, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 15 at San Francisco’s Ferry Building.

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Silver Moon Rising

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Strawberry Daiquiri in ice cream form.

Working a dozen years in the topsy-turvy industry of high-tech in Silicon Valley is enough to drive anyone to drink.

For Sheri Tate, though, it drove her to ice cream — laced wickedly with liqueurs.

Tate traded high-tech for artisanal ice cream three years ago, when she launched her Los Gatos-based company, Silver Moon, a purveyor of ice creams and sorbets made with high-end liqueurs.

Tate has a long fondness for ice cream. She made the hand-cranked stuff for years just for fun. Friends and family were so enamored with her concoctions, they urged her to start selling it.

A big bowl of dreamy Orange Creamsicle ice cream.

And so she did, combining two of her after-dinner favorites — dessert and liqueur all in one.

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Pineapple Persuasion

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Bottoms up.

I anointed this smooth, tropical cocktail with that moniker because after one of these babies, you can get people to do just about anything for you.

Smile giddily no matter what foolish nonsense you say? Check.

Forget their worries completely? You betcha.

Invite you on a cruise around the world aboard a luxury yacht complete with private chef and spa butler? OK, maybe not. But you never know if you don’t try, right?

Admittedly, my hubby and I are mostly wine drinkers at home. But when a sample of Van Gogh Pineapple Vodka arrived in the mail, we decided it was high-time for cocktail hour in our humble abode.

We invited some foodie friends over to take a sip or two or three or….

Pineapple vodka immediately brought to mind pineapple juice and fresh pineapple. Thus was born the “Pineapple Persuasion,” a fruity, twangy, just-sweet-enough blend of pineapple juice, pineapple vodka, lime juice, and sugar. Because I had kaffir lime leaves handy, I threw them into the pitcher to infuse. Fresh mint leaves would be another nice option.

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Drunken Pasta

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No, you don't have to be drunk to enjoy this delightful, impromptu pasta dish. But you do have to add a little booze to the mix.

This is what results when you find yourself with 2 pounds of fresh clams, a craving for pasta, and some already opened containers of booze lying around.

Although my husband, Meat Boy, loves to grill and roast big hunks of meat — hence the nickname — he also loves making seafood pasta. I know, I know. One has nothing to do with the other. But that’s just him. And you got to love a guy for his contradictions, don’t you?

He found a recipe online. But it called for chorizo. We had none, and didn’t want to make an extra trip to the grocery store, so we used bacon instead, along with a liberal amount of red pepper flakes.

The recipe also called for white wine. We didn’t feel like opening a bottle that night just for this dish, so we decided to use a mix of vodka and absinthe instead. After all, I still had a quite full bottle of St. George Spirits Absinthe Verte, and it did add such a nice touch to the Manhattan Bay Scallop Chowder I made this past winter. So why not give it a go in pasta?

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Ferran Adria’s New Beer

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The debut of Ferran Adria's new beer.

Bearing black glass and a simple, lone gold star at the bottom of it, a sample bottle of the much-buzzed-about Estrella Damm Inedit landed on my doorstep last week.

It’s the new beer by none other than Chef Ferran Adria of Spain’s esteemed El Bulli. Yes, the pioneer of molecular gastronomy, the chef who dares to go where no chef has gone before, has turned his wildly creative talents to crafting his own brewski.

The beer is a collaboration between Adria; El Bulli’s sommeliers; and Estrella Damm, Barcelona’s leading brewer. Adria says it’s meant specifically to enjoy with food.

Of course, Adria’s beer is unlike any other. Forget toting a six-pack. This elegant beer comes in a wine-like bottle with a cap that’s easily removed with your standard bottle opener. With its 750 ml bottle, Inedit is meant for sharing. It’s also meant to be served chilled, in a white wine glass.

It has a nice creamy head, and a golden, slightly amber color.

After one sip of the light-bodied, light-flavored beer, my husband declared that he could slam down a few glasses easily. (Full disclosure: Yes, he belonged to a college fraternity. ‘Nough said.)

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