Category Archives: Wine

Passover Celebration and Wine Events

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Executive Chef Staffan Terje of Perbacco. (Photo courtesy of Frankie Frankeny)

Last year’s Passover celebration at Perbacco Ristorante proved so popular, the San Francisco restaurant is doing it again this year on April 10.

Chef and cookbook author Joyce Goldstein will join Perbacco Executive Chef Staffan Terje to create an Italian Jewish Passover dinner that includes antipasti, desserts, and side dishes served family-style, along with your choice of primi and secondi. Entree choices include seabass with a sauce of artichokes, and lamb shoulder braised with olives.

The four-course dinner is $49 per person. For reservations, call (415) 955-0663.

Tonight, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., enjoy a free wine-tasting lesson at Bistro Luneta in San Mateo that will be taught by Master Sommelier Reggie Narito, one of only three Filipino-Americans to hold that prestigious title.

This will be the first in a series of wine tasting sessions this year at the modern-Filipino restaurant. To reserve a spot, call (650) 344-0041.

Tasting Pinot at last year's Pinot Paradise. (Photo courtesy of the Santa Cruz Mountains Winery Association)

If Pinot is your thing, head to the fifth annual Pinot Paradise on March 28-29 to discover the flavors and terroirs of six recently defined sub-regions in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

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Cheese, Chocolates, Wines, Tributes and San Jose Eats On TV

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Delights from the California Artisan Cheese Festival. (Photo courtesy of Karen Preuss)

Deliriously delicious events you won’t want to miss:

*3rd Annual California Artisan Cheese Festival: The Sheraton Sonoma County in Petaluma will host this cheese extravaganza, March 20-23. Meet artisan cheesemakers at the March 20 reception and tasting. March 21, listen to a panel of experts including Laura Werlin and Clark Wolf.

Kelsie Kerr, director of the cooking school at Cavallo Point, will teach a cooking class about incorporating artisan cheese into everyday cooking. The March 21 gala dinner will feature five courses by a bevy of Bay Area chefs. At the Artisan Cheese Marketplace gets underway March 22, look for cooking demos by chefs such as Joey Altman.

Ticket prices range from $40 to $170. Ten percent of ticket sales will benefit five non-profits that support the artisan cheese-making community and its sustainability.

(Photo courtesy of the International Chocolate Salon)

* 3rd Annual International Chocolate Salon: Yes, chocolates, chocolates everywhere. That’s what you’ll find at this decadent event, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 21 at the Fort Mason Center’s Herbst Pavillion in San Francisco. Stroll through 30,000-square-feet of chocolate, wine, and confections to discover and taste. Chocolate demos, chef talks, and author signings also will be spotlighted.

More than 50 confectioners and wineries will be there, showing off their ware.

Yours truly, the Food Gal, will be there, too, as one of the tasting panel judges. Oh my. I better start fasting now in preparation.

Tickets are $25 for adults; $10 for children ages 6-12; and free for children under age 6 (limit two children per adult).

Chef Laurent Manrique of the Aqua Restaurant Group. (Photo courtesy of Justin Lewis)

* James Beard Foundation Benefit Dinner: Chef Laurent Manrique and his culinary friends will honor esteemed cookbook author Paula Wolfert at a special dinner, March 16, at the Fifth Floor in San Francisco.

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Your One-Stop Shop For French Gourmet Goods

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Le Fermiere honey yogurt (2-pack for $6.99) in pretty ceramic jars.

See that creamy, dreamy yogurt above?

People drive miles and miles for it. Because once you’ve had full-fat French yogurt, there’s no going back.

The bare-bones Gourmet Corner store, 873 N. San Mateo Dr. in San Mateo, is one of the few retailers in the Bay Area — if not the only one — where you can find it. Surely, no other establishment has the variety of French yogurts that this one does.

Find a good selection of French cheeses.

That’s because proprietor Hugues de Vernou knows his stuff. Well, he’s French, for one thing. And two, he’s been in the food import/export business for more than two decades. For years, he ran the Made In France/Village Imports business that sold European gourmet foods wholesale. It was most famous, though, for its occasional public sales, which would prompt foodies to line up for hours to load up on imported cheeses, wines, olive oils, and canned goods at bargain prices.

Owner Hugues de Vernou

De Vernou sold that business last year. In December 2008, he opened this store in what was once a car dealership. In two rooms, totalling 5,000 square feet, you’ll find an array of French products for sale, including chocolates, cookies, foie gras, dried morels, mustards, dried green lentils, jars of duck fat, canned hearts of palm, frozen escargot, and duck confit. De Vernou recently got his liquor license, and now sells wines, too, $8 to $25 per bottle (you get a 10 percent discount if you buy by the case).

Plans are to expand the store even more, to add a selection of prepared foods, and even a barbecue outside in the summer, when the floor-to-ceiling bay doors can be retracted to create almost an open-air market feel.

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Restaurant Specials and Food From the Heart

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Enjoy stuffed squash for half price, if you eat late and in a big party. (Photo courtesy of John Benson)

If you’re a night owl, gather your nocturnal friends for a dining deal at Zare at Fly Trap restaurant in San Francisco.

Its new “Ten After Ten” promotion lets parties of 10 or more who make a dinner reservation for 10 p.m. or later get 50 percent off the cost of food. It’s good Monday through Saturday. Just mention what special occasion you’re celebrating — birthday, anniversary, bachelorette party or something else — when you book.

Meatballs with harissa at Zare at Fly Trap. (Photo courtesy of the National Honey Board)

If you prefer eating earlier, Chez Papa Resto in San Francisco has introduced a monthly changing themed four-course prix fixe dinner menu (with amuse bouche) nightly for $50. Wine pairing is available for an additional $35.

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Days of Wine and Crab

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Enjoy the chance to sip some of Sonoma's best wines.

Wine lovers will want to head to the Dry Creek, Russian River, and Alexander valleys in Sonoma, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 17-18, when bottles will be uncorked for exclusive tastes.

The 17th annual Winter Wineland event will have more than 100 winery owners opening their cellar doors for a post-holiday celebration that will allow guests to taste limited production vintages, both old and new. Food pairings and tours also will be offered. Look for special discounts on bottles and cases, too.

Among the wineries to visit are De La Montanya, De Loach Vineyards, Siduri Wines, and Korbel.

Price is $40 for both days; $30 for Sunday only; and $10 for designated drivers. To purchase tickets and to see a list of participating wineries, click here or call (888) 251-0560.

Brewery Gulch Inn

If you want to enjoy some crab with all that wine, you won’t want to miss Mendocino County’s Wine & Crab Days at Brewery Gulch Inn in Mendocino, Jan. 30-31.

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