Category Archives: Wine

Winners of Food Gal’s “Whine, Wine, and Thine” Contest

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Pondering contest winners over a nice glass of Pinot Noir.

Let me just say that you guys sure don’t make it easy.

About two dozen of you entered the very first Food Gal contest, “Whine, Wine, and Thine,” which asked you to share your favorite memory about wine.

Your anecdotes variously made me laugh, drop my jaw, brush away tears, and just plain grin from ear to ear.

Your passion and honesty made it very difficult to whittle the list down to just three winners. Basically, I wanted to give everyone a prize. Since I can’t exactly afford to do that, I am amending my prizes to include not only first-, second-, and third-place winners, but also TWO honorable mentions, each of whom will win one food or wine book from my collection. The rest of you already know that third place garners you two such books, second place wins three said books, and first place gets a whopping four books.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for participating. For those of you who weren’t victorious this time around, don’t worry. After the great response to this one, I’m sure I’ll hold another Food Gal contest in the months to come.

Without further adieu, here are the winners:

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Food Gal’s First Contest: Whine, Wine, and Thine

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Rosé -- the perfect sip for warm weather.

Wine Story #1:

I remember my first taste of wine. It was not a good one.

It occurred when I was not yet even in my teens. I was visiting my Uncle Harry in San Francisco’s Chinatown. I was feeling parched, so I rummaged around in the refrigerator for something cool to drink.

I spied a bottle of Welch’s Grape Juice, and poured myself a big glass. I eagerly took a gulp. Then, I nearly gagged.

This was definitely not grape juice, as I spat it out in the sink, and poured the remainder down the drain.

I later learned it was jug red wine my uncle had poured into the container instead.

Needless to say, I never drank anything out of that refrigerator again.

Wine Story #2:

I remember my first taste of wine that I loved.

I was not yet 21. (Shhh, don’t tell.) I was still in high school when my best friend and I decided to celebrate our birthdays together by going out to a French restaurant by ourselves. Yes, when you grow up in food-centric San Francisco, this was not uncommon for teens to do.

It was an old-school French restaurant on Geary Street, the kind where they served little bowls of pate with cornichons at the start, and flaming Crepes Suzette at the end.

Our waitress was an older French woman who was as kind as can be. When she heard we were celebrating our birthdays, she said we must have wine with dinner. My friend and I looked at each other anxiously, knowing full well we weren’t 21. We knew the waitress had to know, too. Still, she insisted. She told us there was a particular wine she knew we would enjoy. She raced off to get it.

She opened the bottle, and poured us two glasses. It was a blush pink wine, a rose that was fruity and sweet. We both smiled when we took our first sip. And our server grinned, too, at our delighted response.

I’m almost afraid to tell people nowadays what the wine was that I first fell so hard for.

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Scenes From Star Chefs & Vintners Gala

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Tasmanian ocean trout with potato rosti and quail egg

Take 80 of the Bay Area’s celebrated chefs and 76 top vintners. Put them together in one venue, and what you have is the 22nd annual Star Chefs & Vintners Gala last Sunday at San Francisco’s Fort Mason.

The lavish event is the main annual fund-raiser for Meals on Wheels, which provides more than 16,000 meals each week to homebound seniors in San Francisco. Yours truly was invited as a guest to enjoy the festivities that featured almost every well-known chef imaginable — from Chris Consentino of Incanto in San Francisco to Maggie Pond of Cesar in Berkeley to Daniel Patterson of Coi in San Francisco to Charles Phan of the Slanted Door in San Francisco to Richard Reddington of Redd in Yountville. For the sixth year in a row, Chef Nancy Oakes of Boulevard in San Francisco was the gala head chef.

Rabbit terrine with pickled ramp salsa

The $400-per-person gala started off with a walk-around reception, where 40 chefs doled out specialty hors d’oeuvres throughout the cavernous hall.

Saddle of lamb with shelling beans and foraged mushrooms

Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani of Ame in San Francisco set up their popular Nagashi somen station. Made of bamboo and looking a little like an amusement park game, you “catch” your somen with a small sieve as a tangle comes shooting down a bamboo trough flowing with water.

Catch your somen if you can.

You didn’t have to worry about missing, either. Doumani stood at the ready with her own handled basket to catch it if you didn’t. Once you nabbed your somen, you transferred it to a small cup filled with dashi, chopped ahi, salmon eggs, and konbu slivers to enjoy.

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Events To Drink To

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Renowned restaurateur and winemaker, Joe Bastianich, comes to San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of Joe Bastianich)

Restaurateur (with Mario Batali), son of Lydia, winemaker, and author, Joe Bastianich will hold court in San Francisco May 20 for two delicious events.

First up, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Bastianich (whose restaurants include Del Posto in New York; B&B Ristorante in Las Vegas; and Pizzeria and Osteria Mozza, both in Los Angeles) will host a talk, tasting, and book signing at Spuntino di Ottimista on Union Street in San Francisco.  Enjoy tastes of his wines from the Bastianich and La Mozza labels, as he signs copies of his book, “Vino Italiano” (Clarkson Potter). Price for the event is $20.

Next, join him at Ottimista Enoteca-Café across the way. This wine dinner also will feature Chrystal Clifton of Palmina, the Santa Barbara winery that specializes in Italian varietals.

This is a six-course dinner, in which every course will be paired with a Bastianich and a Palmina wine of the same varietal. Price is $100 per person.

An array of fresh shellfish at Waterbar. (Photo courtesy of Val Atkinson)

On Monday nights at San Francisco’s Waterbar restaurant, indulge in the “Shellfish & Champagne” special. For $60 per person, enjoy a three-course prix fixe dinner featuring shellfish, and accompanied by three sparkling wine selections. The menu will change weekly.

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Round-Up of Restaurant News

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Beef short rib sliders. (Photo courtesy of E&O Trading Company)

Dig into beef short rib sliders with pickled root veggies, sriracha aioli and taro strip fries ($15); albacore tuna crudo with seaweed and white soy ($15); and butternut squash dumplings with red curry lemongrass sauce ($9).

You can at E&O Trading Company. The restaurant, which has locations in San Francisco, San Jose and Larkspur, has an exciting, revamped menu, courtesy of new executive chef, the highly regarded Arnold Eric Wong.

Wong made a name for himself at his restaurants, Bacar and Eos, both in San Francisco.

The new menu boasts everything from hoisin and coffee-glazed Duroc pork spare ribs ($15) to crispy fried black striped bass with citrus segments and calamansi glaze $20). Long-time E&O fans can rest easy, too; the signature Indonesian corn fritters ($12) that have been served since Day One remain on the menu. Whew.

Butternut squash dumplings. (Photo courtesy of E&O Trading Company)

April 29 might be a perfect time to try E&O’s new eats because you can help a good cause, too. That night, the restaurant will host a fund-raiser for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Guests can enjoy hors d’oeuvres by Wong, and dance the night away to Chef Joey Altman’s Backburner Blues Band. There also will be a raffle.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to the non-profit. Tickets are $40 per person.

Additionally, through May 28, E&O will donate a portion of proceeds from the sale of its new coconut trifle dessert.

Menlo Park’s Marche will host a four-course “2006 Burgundy Dinner” on April 23 in the private dining room, and again as a chef’s tasting menu option in the main dining room on April 24-25.

Each course will be paired with a different 2006 Burgundy. Price is $195 per person.

Three Degrees Restaurant at the Toll House Hotel in Los Gatos will offer a wine dinner, too, on April 23. This four-course dinner spotlights Burrell School Winemakers. Price is $65 per person.

For the budget-minded — and who isn’t these days? — San Francisco’s Zinnia offers a “Halfsy Hour”  each week, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

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