Category Archives: Wine

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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Brazilian Wine

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Cabs from Brazil.

When you think of Brazil, you probably think of samba, beaches, Carnival, meat-laden churrascaria restaurants, and “The Girl from Ipanema.”

Wine?

Not so much.

But according to wine importer Stepan Baghdassarian of Rio Joe’s Brands, Inc., Brazilian wines may be relatively new in the United States, yet they have a long history in Brazil. Indeed, the Pizzato family, who immigrated from Italy to Southern Brazil in 1870, is a pioneer in the wine-making industry there.

The Pizzato Winery now produces 200,000 bottles annually of Bordeaux varietals. The family owns two vineyards — the Pizzato vineyards,  in the Vale dos Vinhedos appellation in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state in Brazil, adjacent to Uruguay and Argentina. They also own Fausto Vineyards, in the larger appellation of Serra Gaucha, which is 50 kilometers north of Valle dos Vinhedos and the winery.

When Baghdassarian offered to send me two bottles to sample, I jumped at the chance to try wines I’d never had before. I opened both bottles of Cabarnet Sauvignon over a dinner of hearty beef stew.

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Scrumptious Events

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starchefs

For a delicious time, head to one of these upcoming fun events:

* 22nd Annual Star Chefs & Vintners Gala: Chef Nancy Oakes of Boulevard in San Francisco once again is spearheading this gala that benefits Meals on Wheels of San Francisco, which provides meals to homebound seniors. The May 17 benefit at Fort Mason in San Francisco features more than 70 of the Bay Area’s best chefs, including Charles Phan of the Slanted Door in San Francisco, Mourad Lahlou of Aziza in San Francisco, and Christopher Kostow of the Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena.

Participating vintners include Pride Mountain Vineyards, Duckhorn Vineyards, and Vineyard 29. Mixologists from the Alembic and Absinthe will be concocting one-of-a-kind cocktails.

Silent and live auction items will include the rarest of wines, and dinner at a private estate in Pebble Beach.

Individual tickets start at $400. For more information, call (415) 920-1111 ext. 281.

Chef Tom Colicchio coming to San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of Williams-Sonoma)

* Panini tasting with Tom Colicchio: The head honcho “Top Chef” judge will be at Williams-Sonoma’s Union Square store, 340 Post St. in San Francisco, 5 p.m. April 15. Nosh on sandwiches as Colicchio signs his new book, “wichcraft.” For more information, call (415) 362-9450.

* Farm to Table at Nick’s Cove: Executive Chef Adam Mali will create a five-course dinner April 16 at the Tomales Bay restaurant, featuring ingredients from its on-site garden, Drake’s Bay oysters, and Drake’s Bay Family Farms.

Price is $65 per person. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Marin Organic, an association of organic producers. Those who want to spend the night in the cottages can take advantage of a special rate of $100 off luxury waterfront ones or $50 off water view ones.

* ”Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day” Deal: To support that national day on April 23, parents who dine at McCormick & Kuleto’s Seafood Restaurant in San Francisco and Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto in Berkeley will receive a free lunch entree and beverage for their children.

* Taste of Tamales by the Bay: Enjoy a variety of tamales, both sweet and savory, at the third annual event, noon to 4:30 p.m. April 26 at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. See tamale-making demonstrations, and enjoy margaritas, as well as heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo.

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