Category Archives: Wine

21st Annual Family Winemakers of California Event & A Food Gal Giveaway

Enjoy the opportunity to taste more than 1,000 California wines. (Photo courtesy of Family Winemakers of California)

Fans of California vino will want to head to Fort Mason Center’s Festival Pavilion, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 21, for the 21st annual Family Winemakers of California tasting soiree.

Enjoy the opportunity to sip wines from more than 300 California wineries that will be pouring about 1,000 different wines — all in one place.

This year’s event will be dedicated to the late-great Jess Jackson, founder of Family Winemakers and the Kendall-Jackson Winery, who passed away this spring at the age of 81.

It also will feature a new perk: Wineries will be selling select wines on site. So, if you fall in love with a particular vintage or varietal, you can buy a bottle to take home to enjoy.

Participating wineries include: Ceja Vineyards, Eden Canyon Vineyards, and Paltz & Hall.

Tickets are $65 each in advance or $75 at the door. Big spenders who fork over $100 per ticket can gain early access to the tastings for the trade before the doors to the public open up.

Contest: I’m thrilled to be able to give away one pair of free tickets to the Aug. 21 event. Entries are limited to those who can actually be in San Francisco that day to attend the wine tastings. Entries will be accepted through midnight PST Aug. 7. Winner will be announced Aug. 9.

How to win?

Read more

New Sourdough Specialities, McEvoy Ranch Garden Walk, Wine Crawl & More

Sourdough gnocchi with lovely lobster. (Photo courtesy of Boudin Bistro)

San Francisco’s Bistro Boudin Offers New Sourdough Dishes

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.

Grilled salmon tagine with sourdough crostini. (Photo courtesy of Bistro Boudin)

San Francisco Wine Crawl

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.

Enjoy a visit to McEvoy Ranch -- complete with lunch. (Photo courtesy of the ranch)

Garden Tour and Lunch at McEvoy Ranch in Marin County

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.

Read more

A Toast to Cin-Cin Wine Bar in Los Gatos

Wild mushroom empanadas at Cin Cin Wine Bar.

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.

For a fun experience, try a wine flight -- and discover how different one varietal can taste and look.

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)  and “large plates” ($13 to $27), making them ideal for sharing.

Read more

See’s Candies Exclusive Tour, Anthony Bourdain Comes to Town & More

See's Candies summer-time suckers in root beer flavor. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

Win a Chance to Visit the See’s Candies Factory

See’s Candies will celebrate National Lollipop Day on July 20 in a big way.

First, stop in at any one of more than 200 See’s locations that day to get a free See’s lollypop.

Second, for an entire week, July 16–23, See’s will be putting all its lollypops on sale at 30 percent off. A box of 30 will sell for $12 (regularly $15.80) and a box of 12 will be $5.75 (regularly $7.15). The cube-shaped lollys come in chocolate, vanilla, cafe latte, butterscotch and the special summer flavor of root beer.

Lastly, you and a guest can win a VIP tour of See’s South San Francisco candy factory, which is not normally open to the public. As one who has had the sweet pleasure of going on such a tour, take my word that it’s an unforgettable experience. Included in this prize package is round-trip airfare for two, four nights at a San Francisco hotel, ground transportation and a $100 per diem per day. Entrants also will have a chance to vie for $50 See’s gift cards. Contest is open through July 23. Winners will be selected in a random drawing.

The one and only Anthony Bourdain comes to Oakland. (Photo courtesy of the Travel Channel)

Anthony Bourdain Comes to Oakland

Culinary bad boy and host of the popular, award-winning show, “No Reservations,” Anthony Bourdain will be making a one-night appearance at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland at 8 p.m. Oct. 21, in which he’ll be lobbing his trademark barbs and thought-provoking insights in a lecture-style setting.

Read more

Anzu Gets A Fresh Look, New Campbell Eateries, Half-Off Wines & More

Anzu's new glam look. (Photo by Matthew Millman)

Restaurant Anzu Gets Glam

The Hotel Nikko’s Restaurant Anzu in San Francisco has debuted a chic new look with its bold citrine, black and white decor.

Jewel-like chandeliers, beaded pendant lighting, a black wall treatment, heavy, damask curtains and oversized white banquettes add an even more luxurious feeling.

You can still enjoy an array of sushi there, but the restaurant also has added a new emphasis on prime meat with  Kurobota double pork chop ($33), local rack of lamb ($34) and Wagyu beef that’s cooked tableside on a sizzling hot Japanese river stone ($34).

Campbell Welcomes Tasty, New Businesses

Downtown Campbell is hopping lately with new foodie places, including an intriguing Austrian-California restaurant, Naschmarkt (pronounced “nash-marked”), which just opened.

Long-time South Bay foodies may fondly remember the now-shuttered Cafe Marcella in Los Gatos. Those owners, Alain and Martine Staebler, have partnered with their son-in-law, Austrian chef, Matthias Froeschl, to open this restaurant that is named for Vienna’s largest open-air market.

Look for classic wiener schnitzel with lingonberry sauce, Hungarian beef goulash, steamed Scottish salmon with baby artichokes, and apple strude — but of course.

Soda pop buffs will get a kick out of Rocket Fizz, which also just opened downtown. Owners Chris Dunn and Lisa Pelgrim sell more than 500 varieties of soda, including more than 50 root beers. They’re all sold in glass bottles, which can be purchased individually, by the pack or by the case.

Don’t miss the candy selection, either, that boasts more than 2,000 kinds from around the world.

Finally, if that wasn’t enough sugar for you already, wander over to the new downtown Frost Cupcake Factory.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »