A Doggie Soiree, Wine Dinner, New Bakery, and A Whole Lot More

Posted on by 2 comments

A woof-ing good time. (Photo courtesy of the Hyatt Regency Monterey)

Guests of the two- and four-legged variety are invited to have a grand ol’ time at the second annual “Paws For A Cause” party, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort & Spa on Del Monte Golf Course.

The event for owners and their dogs will feature gourmet dog treats by Carmel Dog Parties for the canines, and appetizers from the hotel’s TusCA Ristorante for the humans. Guests also will enjoy environmentally-inspired cocktails such as Simply Pear-fect Martini and Wild Apple Martini, garnished with garden herbs and presented with tips on helping the environment, and seed packets to take home.

The SPCA for Monterey County will be on hand with adoptable dogs, too.

A $15 donation is suggested for the event, with 100 percent of proceeds going to the SPCA.

One of my favorite Cabernet Sauvignon producers will be featured at the Oct. 2 wine dinner at Seasons restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco. The five-course tasting menu will be paired with Napa Valley’s Shafer Vineyards’ varietals. Charming and knowledgeable Doug Shafer, president of the winery, will lead guests through the tastings.

Read more

Take A Break at the New Press Club in San Francisco

Posted on by 2 comments

Enjoy Napa Valley wines without driving to Napa -- at the new Press Club.

Downtown San Francisco has a new place to unwind. It’s Press Club, as in grapes being pressed, not as in a hangout for the media (though, lord knows they like to imbibe, too).

After months of permitting delays, this glam urban tasting room finally has opened its doors to spotlight eight of California’s most celebrated, small-production wineries: Chateau Montelena, Fritz Winery, Hanna Winery, Landmark Vineyards, Miner Family Vineyards, Mount Eden Vineyards, Pahlmeyer, and Saintsbury.

Read more


A Trip Down Memory Lane at the New California Academy of Sciences

Posted on by 7 comments

Soft pork taco is served at the new California Academy of Sciences -- a vast improvement on what once was offered.

As a kid growing up in San Francisco, I happily remember elementary school field trips and teen-age outings to the magical Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

I recall sitting back in pitch darkness and watching the stars overhead in the Morrison Planetarium, thinking this was the absolute coolest place on Earth. I remember staring at the antelope and cheetah on display in the natural history museum. I remember how I couldn’t take my eyes off the ancient manatee in the Steinhart Aquarium, even if he hardly moved much.

And I remember listlessly eating burgers and fries in the museum cafe that had been left under heat-lamps for god knows how long.

Well, Dorothy, we’re not in that Academy of Sciences any more. Welcome to the revamped, utterly dazzling new California Academy of Sciences that will finally open its doors on Saturday. I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview on Monday night.

The original 1953 museum was the first scientific institution in the West. After being damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, it was closed. After a $488 million renovation and expansion, the new institution is now the only one in the world to house an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and world-class research and education program under one roof.

Light fills the building designed by a Pulitzer-Prize winning architect.

It was redesigned by Pulitzer-Prize winner Renzo Piano, who also created the Pompidou Center in Paris. Like that fanciful French center, the academy boasts an extensive use of glass, giving it a modern, airy, and organic feel. Designed to be the greenest museum in the world, it is expected to earn a “platinum” rating (the highest possible) by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The living roof.

There is a “living roof” planted with native species, which is expected to reduce storm water runoff by up to 3.6 million gallons of water annually. A glass canopy with 60,000 photo voltaic cells will capture sunlight and is expected to produce up to 10 percent of the building’s needs. Additionally, building walls are insulated with old denim jeans.

The food also has gotten a much needed update, and how. San Francisco culinary legends, Charles Phan (chef-owner of the Slanted Door) and Loretta Keller (chef-owner of Coco500) have partnered to create the casual food-court-like Academy Cafe, and the full-service Moss Room. All the food served will be local, seasonal, and sustainable.

Charles Phan's newest venture, the Academy Cafe.

The cafe is arranged into stations such as “Slow Cooked,” “Steamed,” and “Sizzle.” Think soft tacos filled with juicy, slow-cooked pork; Vietnamese spring rolls; steamed chicken buns; tamales; fish & chips; green papaya salad; and vegetarian paninis.

Read more

Can You Stand Another Cupcake Photo?

Posted on by 14 comments

Cupcakes from the new Kara's bakery in Palo Alto (clockwise from top: banana, Java, Fleur de Sel)

I had the best intentions. Honest.

But an editor needing a freelance story from me earlier than expected, and an all-around shortage of time derailed those efforts.

You see, I had hoped to go to the new Sprinkles Cupcakes bakery in Palo Alto’s Stanford Shopping Center on Wednesday, the day after it officially opened. Then, I planned to zoom across the road to the 12-day-new Kara’s Cupcakes bakery in the Town & Country Village also in Palo Alto. My plan was to conduct my very own cupcake-war, taste-off to see which bakery had the most irresistible frosting-topped confections. After all, Cupcakes Take the Cake already included a Yelp review comparing the two.

As I rounded the Stanford Shopping Center, it wasn’t hard to spot where the new bakery was on the backside of the mall. The line was the telltale beacon. At 4 p.m. on Wednesday, there were more than 20 people queued up. All of them women. You’d have thought it was a Manolo Blahnik sale, for gosh sakes.

Not having the time or patience on that particular day, I headed to Kara’s instead. And I walked right in. No line. But plenty of cute cupcakes. I chose a banana cupcake with cream cheese frosting, a “Java” (chocolate cupcake with espresso buttercream), and a Fleur de Sel (chocolate cupcake filled with caramel, then topped with ganache frosting and a sprinkle of sea salt). My tab? Just under $10. Gulp.

Read more

A Most Eggs-cellent Taste

Posted on by 11 comments

Fresh eggs, only two days old.

Having been born and raised in San Francisco, I’m a big-city girl. I sheepishly concede that really shows sometimes, too.

When I was a summer intern at the Portland Oregonian newspaper way back when, my editors sent me to the county fair to write a story. Any story.

When I arrived, I noticed the dairy cow competition was about to begin. Admittedly, growing up in cramped, congested San Francisco, I never even lived anywhere that had room for grass in the yard. Not surprisingly, my experience with cows was limited to seeing them grazing off in the distance as I rode in a car on the freeway. Getting up close and personal with one was novel, to be sure.

I walked up to a young man at the fair, who was tending his cows. “Excuse me, Sir?” I asked. “Are you in the dairy cow competition?”

The young man looked at me, looked at his cows, then looked at me again: “Ma’am, these are beef cows.”

Ohhh, right. The cows were dark as coal, muscular, and rather hefty, I realized on second glance, as I slinked off in complete shame.

So it goes without saying that I grew up getting my eggs from supermarkets, too. Sure, I’d read and heard people say that farm-fresh eggs were so much better. But I had been content to take the easy route, just picking up a carton of 12 on my regular trips to the grocery store.

But a few weeks ago, my husband’s co-worker, who raises chickens, gave us two dozen of his farm-fresh eggs. They were about two days old, with shells that ranged in hue from alabaster to biscuit to bronze.

Supermarket egg on the left; farm-fresh egg on the right.

My husband, who also had never experienced fresh eggs, was eager to try them, too. The next morning, he cracked two open for sunny-side up eggs with toast. The difference was immediately apparent. The yolks were orange, not the standard yellow. Some say the more vivid color is due to the chickens being less stressed; others say it’s because farmers feed marigolds to the poultry to purposely attain that color in the eggs. And still others say the color comes from the farm chicken’s natural diet of grains, leaves and bugs, in contrast to the commercial chicken, which is usually fed soy and fish meals.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »