Tibetan Aid Project Gala, “Hell’s Kitchen” Winner Visits the Bay Area & More

Posted on by 2 comments

Chefs Elizabeth Faulkner and James Syhabout plate dishes at last year's Tibetan Aid Project gala. (Photo courtesy of the organization)

“Taste & Tribute San Francisco” Gala

Enjoy a lavish four-course meal cooked tableside by a pair of top Bay Area chefs — all for a noble cause.

The 11th annual “Taste & Tribute San Francisco,” 5:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown San Francisco, will benefit the Tibetan Aid Project, a non-profit dedicated to promoting education and literacy among the Tibetan refugee community.

The evening begins with champagne and hors d’oeuvres, as well as a silent auction for items such as weekend getaways, fine wines and beautiful Tibetan art.

Following that, guests are led into the main ballroom, where they will be seated at a table set for 20. Each table is assigned a different pair of chefs to cook for it. For example at Table 1, you’ll have Chef David Taylor of A16 and Chef Matthew Accarrino of SPQR feeding you. If you’re at the last table, No. 11, Chef Walter Abrams of Spruce and Chef Dmitry Elperin of the Village Pub will be doing the honors.

The line-up of chefs from last year's event. (Photo courtesy of the Tibetan Aid Project)

A live auction also will be held during dinner.

Tickets are $350 per person.

Meet Chef Rock Harper of “Hell’s Kitchen” in Oakland

He won Season 3 of “Hell’s Kitchen.” Now, Chef Rock Harper is on a mission to get kids and families to eat better.

Nov. 19, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., he’ll be visiting Beebee Memorial Cathedral in Oakland, where he’ll be doing a cooking demo, as well as signing copies of his book, 44 Things Parents Should Know About Healthy Cooking for Kids”” (Turner).

Read more

Tulsi Tea & A Food Gal Giveaway

Posted on by 17 comments

Take a taste of organic Tulsi teas for a blast of herbal deliciousness. (Photo courtesy of Davidson's Organic Teas)

You probably know your usual garden-variety Genovese basil as the cornerstone of pesto and Margherita pizzas.

But Tulsi or “holy basil” is definitely another type worth trying.

And Davidson’s Organic Teas gives you an easy way to do that with its new Tulsi teas.

Tulsi is considered a sacred herb in many cultures, including India, where it is used in religious ceremonies. It also has been commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries.

It also makes for a soothing cup of tea — either hot or cold. It has a pronounced herbaceous quality, with minty and floral undertones, as evidenced by the samples I recently tried.

The teas come in six varieties: “Signature Blend,” “Pure Leaves,” “Rooibos Chai,” “Spicy Green,” “Hibiscus Flower,” and “Chamomile Flower.”

They are all certified organic and certified Free Trade. They are all caffeine-free except for the “Spicy Green,” which has a small amount of caffeine from the green tea leaves that are added to the blend.

Davidson, the nation’s oldest organic tea company, provides the Tulsi seeds to farmers in India to grow the plants in the company’s own biodynamic garden. Ten percent of proceeds from the tea benefit projects that help the farmers, including the restoration of abandoned farmlands, and infrastructure improvements to housing and schools.

Tulsi Teas are available at Whole Foods for $2.95 for a box of eight tea bags or $5.50 for a box of 25.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win an assortment of 100 Tulsi tea bags to enjoy. Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Nov.  12. Winner will be announced Nov. 14.

How to win?

Read more


Palio d’Asti Offers New Gluten-Free Options

Posted on by 9 comments

A tangle of linguini with Dungeness crab at Palio d'Asti.

When the economy took a nosedive, Chef-Owner Dan Scherotter of Palio d’Asti in San Francisco’s Financial District did something quite clever.

Seeing his once-bustling lunch crowd diminish as nearby offices closed or laid off employees, he revamped the pricing of the dinner menu in hopes of enticing more diners in at that later hour.

The once a la carte dinner menu became completely prix fixe two years ago with quite reasonable prices. Two courses are $31, three courses are $39 and four courses are $45. Indeed, as Scherotter explains, unless you come in just for a salad at the noon-hour, dinner is actually more of a bargain than lunch.

With gluten-free such a craze now, he’s also spot-lighting wheat-free dishes on the menu, including polenta with a choice of five different toppings and tagliatelle made entirely with buckwheat.

The new pricing seems to be drawing folks in, as evidenced by a recent Thursday night when I was invited in a guest of the restaurant. When I arrived, the bar was abuzz with a large, boisterous after-work crowd sipping wine and cocktails. There also was a private party in the rear dining room.

The dining room has a medieval vibe.

Palio d’Asti, which has been around since 1990, is named for an Italian bareback horse racing festival in Asti that dates back to medieval times. That spirit is alive in the restaurant, which has a definite medieval feel to it with its soaring ceilings, coat of arms flags, artwork of castles and an installation of metal mesh horses in full stride across the long, dining room wall.

The menu is large, though, some dishes are decidedly stronger than others. The pastas, made in-house, are definitely the high point.

Although my friend and I decided to go with four courses each, the chef sent out a few extras.

Two types of Acme bread are brought to the table, along with a sampler of pickled veggies that included green beans and fennel, which was a nice touch.

Silky scallops with escarole.

We started with the day boat scallops with braised escarole, toasted sesame seeds and “Sicilian caviar,” which apparently is bottarga (the dried, salted roe of gray mullet or tuna). The scallops were sweet, tender and dressed up with a shower of black and white sesame seeds. But there was a sandiness that detracted from the dish.

Fried calamari arrived hot and crisp with an airy batter and a velvety pool of roasted red pepper sauce underneath to dip in.

Read more

Garden-Inspired Shortbread Cookies

Posted on by 5 comments

Buttery, crumbly shortbread flavored with herbs from the garden.

Sondra Wells used to make lavender shortbread for parties. Her friends and family would go crazy for them. So much so, that they told her she ought to sell them.

Now, she does. Her Botanical Bakery of Napa makes seven types of itty-bitty shortbread cookies inspired by the garden: Cinnamon Basil, Fennel Pollen, Cardamom, Lemon Thyme, Naked, ginger Squared and her original Lavender.

They’re all made by hand with Straus Organic Creamery butter, organic hard red wheat flour, and pure cane sugar.

The results are two-bite cookies that are buttery, crumbly and sandy — everything you’d want in shortbread.

Read more

20/20 Carrots

Posted on by 15 comments

They might not improve your vision, but they sure taste good.

For the longest time, I was both proud and perhaps a bit smug that I was the only person in my entire family — extended included — who did not need glasses.

That’s quite the achievement, too, considering how many Asians tend to be myopic.

I thought I had escaped that fate, as I remained spectacle-free through my teens, despite the fact that my parents, brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles all grew up wearing those familiar round or cat-eyed black, plastic frames.

My dreams came to an abrupt end, though, when my older brother Dale took me to the Department of Motor Vehicles one day to get my driver’s license. I had studied the manual like crazy so that I’d do well on the written and driving tests. But who knew it was the simple eye test that would do me in?

I guess I should have known what was in store as I stood in line and stared at the eye chart hanging some feet away behind the counter. As hard as I squinted, I still could barely make out anything on it. Once I got closer, though, I thought surely I would. My brother even coaxed me to get out of line, inch closer to the counter and try to memorize the chart before my turn was called. I did give that a try. But as luck would have it, they closed the line that I was in, and shifted us to another line — with a totally different eye chart. Curses!

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »