A Chef Worth Getting to Know in Sonoma County

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Chef Steven Snook of the Restaurant at the Kenwood Inn and Spa. (Photo courtesy of Sylvias Photography)

Chef Steven Snook spent seven years working for bad-boy celeb Chef Gordon Ramsay in both London and New York.

And yes, he’ll be the first to tell you that he did get yelled at by the famous chef who’s known for his rather colorful outbursts.

“You think you’re doing it right and then you hear it,” Snook says with a knowing chuckle. “I got called ‘f—ing donkey’ many times, especially my first year there.”

After becoming sous chef at the flagship Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, then working at Maze by Gordon Ramsay at the London hotel in New York, Snook was ready for a change of pace.

Married to a former Gordon Ramsay pastry chef, and with a new baby, Snook and his family were ready to trade the hustle-bustle of New York City for a more bucolic existence reminiscent of the English countryside. They found what they were looking for in the Valley of the Moon, otherwise known as Kenwood in Sonoma County.

Squab with rhubarb from the seasonal tasting menu.

For the past four months, Snook has been the executive chef of the Restaurant at Kenwood Inn and Spa. The 26-room Mediterranean-style inn is surrounded by vineyards and fruit orchards. Its 22-seat restaurant with a roaring fireplace has the feel of an intimate, out-of-the-way European country-side restaurant. In Snook’s hands, it’s most definitely worth visiting, too.

The fountain in the interior courtyard.

There are only 26 rooms in this inn, surrounded by orchards and vineyards.

The one catch is that the restaurant is only open to guests of the inn. But you can become a “guest for the day” if you book an appointment at the inn’s spa.

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Lines Are Already Forming at Asian Box in Palo Alto

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Asian Box's slogan is: "What's in your box?'' In this one, it's Jasmine rice and seasoned, charred pork.

The fast-casual, gluten-free Asian Box in Palo Alto’s Town & Country Village may have just opened last month. But already, lines are forming for this fun, new concept headed by Executive Chef Grace Nguyen, formerly of the Slanted Door and Out the Door, both in San Francisco.

On a recent Wednesday night, when I was invited to come in as a guest of the restaurant, to-go orders were flying out the door.

Unless it’s a nice day, you’ll most likely want to get your food to go, since there’s only one communal table inside the small space. And folks waiting for their food tend to linger right around it. Otherwise, there are a few tables outside, but no heaters.

But since all the food comes in handy compostable containers, it’s a breeze to grab and go.

The newest eatery in the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto.

Order at the counter, then come back to get it when your name is called.

The concept is simple. You choose the base of your box: Jasmine rice, brown rice, Asian vegetable salad or rice noodles. Then, you pick your favorite protein of the five offered, from six-spice chicken ($7.25) to coconut curry tofu ($6.95) to garlic and soy glazed beef ($8.25).

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All-Star Foie Dinner, Giada De Laurentiis & More

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Chef Victor Scargle of Lucy at Bardessono will be one of the chefs headlining the all-foie-gras dinner at the Plumed Horse. (Photo courtesy of the chef)

Plumed Horse Celebrates Foie Gras April 9

With California set to be the only state in the nation to outlaw foie gras starting July 1, a bevy of chefs have been rallying to raise grass-roots support for the luxurious delicacy.

The latest to join in on the action is the Plumed Horse in Saratoga, which will host a top toque-studded $200 per person prix fixe on April 9 in which every course will feature the decadent fattened liver of a goose or duck.

Among the chefs cooking that night alongside Plumed Horse Executive Chef Peter Armellino will be Victor Scargle of Lucy at Bardessono in Yountville, Ron Boyd of the Daniel Patterson Group, Marc Zimmerman of Alexander’s Steakhouse in San Francisco, and Joey Elenterio of Chez TJ in Mountain View.

Scargle will be serving his Sonoma Artisan foie gras and sauteed Petrale sole with spring onions, ramps and Granny Smith apples. Armellino will serve smoked chicken and foie gras dumplings. And Ted Romero, executive pastry chef of Lucy at Bardessono, will be turning heads with a Guittard chocolate, hazelnut and foie gras nougat with ruby port poached pear.

Half of the $200 per person price for the dinner will be donated to the Coalition for Humane and Ethical Farming Standards, which is made up of pro-foie gras culinary professionals. For tickets, click here.

For those who want to bring their own wine, corkage will be waived that evening.

Giada De Laurentiis To Visit the Bay Area

Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis will be signing copies of her newest book, “Weeknights with Giada” (Clarkson Potter) at three upcoming Bay Area events.

The cookbook is filled with go-to dinner recipes that take about half an hour to prepare.

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A Most Eggs-Cellent Farm

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Deep orange yolks exemplify how special the eggs from Coastide Ranch are.

When you’re the son of rock legend Neil Young, it might be expected if you rested comfortably on your father’s laurels.

When you’re his son and born with cerebral palsy, which has left you wheelchair-bound and able to communicate only with a computer device, it would be understandable if you were at all reclusive.

But that’s not Ben Young, 33, the middle child of the famed singer-songwriter.

Ben Young, who has cerebral palsy, is the son of the legendary Neil Young.

Thirteen years ago, Young started an egg farm called Coastside Farms on three acres of his family’s La Honda property. In 2002, it was certified organic. A few weeks ago, I had a chance to visit him there.

Today, he raises about 250 Red Sex-Links, similar to Rhode Island Reds, which have the run of the place under the close watch of a herd of adorable alpacas who guard them against predators.

A ranch mascot.

He sells the eggs, with their glorious deep orange yolks, to Calafia Cafe in Palo Alto and Cafe Gibraltar in El Granada, where he makes deliveries each week with the help of his assistant.

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Judging the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off

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My guy. (Photo courtesy of Pillsbury)

The Dough Boy and I — we go way back. We’re tight — like this (fingers intertwined). He’s even let me poke him in the tummy.

So, I was thrilled to be united with my doughy guy earlier this week, when I was invited to be a judge for America’s oldest and most lucrative cooking contest, the Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando.

It was my third time as a judge in this competition. And my third time having a hand in deciding who went home with the grand prize of $1 million.

Started in 1949, the event celebrates the joy of home-cooking as only amateurs are allowed to enter. Each time, tens of thousands of entries from home-cooks are whittled down to just 100 finalists who compete to create an original, great tasting dish that will impress not only a panel of discriminating judges, but the entire nation, which has grown up with this iconic contest.

The judges are chosen almost a year ahead of time. From that moment onward, we had to avoid reading, seeing or hearing anything about the contest so that the contestants remained completely anonymous to us. You almost felt like you’d been selected for a secret ops mission, where information is strictly on a “need to know” basis. Hmm, good thing I packed a lot of black clothing.

The ballroom with 100 kitchens set up for the Bake-Off. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

A day of quiet before all the action started. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

We 12 food professionals took our mission seriously, too. A few of us were veteran Bake-Off judges, having done it once or twice before. But others were first-timers, nervous and excited about what the judging process would be like. Should we do stomach exercises to gird ourselves for so many dishes? Should we wear XL elastic pants that day? Just how many hours would we be stuffing our faces? Would we have to arm wrestle one another if we couldn’t agree on a winner in the end?

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