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This year more than 5,000 guests will be sampling the food and wine of the Bay Area’s Dry Creek Valley during Passport on April 28 – 29. Unless you purchased tickets by early April, there is a good chance you won’t be able attend at all. All 50 participating wineries are offering food and wine pairings – Dry Creek Valley wineries is drawing on Mediterranean, Tuscan, Provencian, and Mexican themes while others focus on disco, rock ‘n roll, and the Wild West. Read More
Yesterday, Foreign Cinema in San Francisco’s Mission launched their Bar Bites menu. Available daily, the Bar Bites menu features seasonal dishes to accompany cocktails and wines ar both the Foreign Cinema Bar as well as the Laszlo Bar. The current menu includes: Mixed Warm Olives ($5); Five Spice Duck Cracklings ($5); Duck Liver Mousse Bruschetta ($7); Cured Sardines ($7); and Pork Skins ($5). Menu is availabe Monday through Thursday, 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, Friday through Saturday, 5:30 PM to 11:00 PM, and Sunday, 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM. 2534 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94110. 415-648-7600.
One Market’s ‘Weekly Beast’ dinners
Featuring a revolving weekly menu at this contemporary American eatery
About a year and a half ago, One Market’s chef Mark Dommen (pictured above) and co-founder Michael Dellar came up with “The Weekly Beast” concept spotlighting a different animal. This four-course dinner is still dazzling crowds looking for something different. Chef Dommen’s idea pays tribute to the Michelin-starred restaurant’s philosophy of farm to table. During the month of March, he has already served up beef, lamb, and veal. Come this Friday and Saturday (March 28 and 29) as chef will be cooking up a pig from Devils Gulch Ranch in Nicasio, CA. Read More
On Monday, March 19 Monk’s Kettle in the Mission District is going to host Santa Rosa-based Moonlight Brewing for a five-course food and beer pairing. Owner and brewer Brian Hunt will be on site to talk about the five beers being poured (Lunatic Lager, Old Combine, Uncle Olsen, Twist of Fate, Obedience Training, and Bony Fingers), and you should totally see him talk.
Chef Adam Dulye‘s menu will feature dishes like: Warm Iacopi Farms Fava Bean Salad Lemon Zest and Baked Crescenza; Seared Diver Scallops with Fennel and Apple Risotto, Candied Bacon and Arugula Vinaigrette. Tickets are $90 per person. To book email nat@monkskettle.com. 3141 16th Street San Francisco, CA 94103. 415-865-9523.
It’s been four years since Arya Global Cuisine opened in Cupertino, CA – now, Downtown Redwood City will be home to the restaurant’s second location offering Persian, Italian, and American cuisine. Arya features a wood burning oven, two “wine bar and lounge” areas, an outdoor patio, a Chef’s Table, and live jazz, Italian music, and belly dancing performances on the weekends.
Executive Chef Mohsen (Mike) Hashemi‘s menu includes Borani Bademjoon (eggplant platter), Pistachio/Pomegranate Meatballs, Lamb Shank with Baghali Polo (basmati rice with dill weed and lima beans), Chicken Kebabs with Shirin Polo (basmati rice with almonds, pistachios, orange peal and saffron), pastas, pizzas, taftoon (a Persian bread) and foccacia bread, and a variety of steak and seafood. Housemade desserts such as a Bumba (white chocolate case with mango gelato and raspberry filling) and Baklava are available along with Persian teas and coffee. 885 Middlefield Rd., Redwood City, CA 94063. 650-367-4939.
A16 invites guests Joyce Goldstein and Lorenza Sebasti Pallanti for Festa della Donna
Celebrating International Women's Day
A16 in San Francisco’s Cow Hallow will celebrate International Women’s Day, or Festa della Donna, with a charity dinner featuring more than forty wines by female winemakers on March 8 from 5:30 – 10 PM. In celebration of women present and past, A16 chef David Taylor has collaborated with chef and author Joyce Goldstein and winemaker Lorenza Sebasti Pallanti, of Italy’s Castello di Ama Estate in Tuscany, to prepare a menu for this one-night event. 15% of the evening’s proceeds will go to La Cocina, an organization helping low income entrepreneurs formalize and grow their businesses. 2355 Chestnut St, San Francisco, CA 94123. 415-771-2216.
San Francisco‘s 21st Amendment Brewery is starting the “Big Can Draft Series“ as a part of its periodic release of small batch, draft-only brews. Kegs will be offered in half and sixth barrels starting this week with the first being the strongest beer in the lineup, the Lower DeBoom Barleywine. Lower DeBoom, 10.5% alcohol by volume, is an American-Style barleywine (a beer thats comparable to the strength of wine) that is full of citrusy Pacific Northwest hops, flavored with toffee malt, fruitcake, tropical fruit, toast, and piney hops. 563 2nd St., San Francisco, CA, 94107. 415-369-0900.
Flavor! Napa Valley returns for a second year
A taste of Napa Valley
November 14 – 18 will be the second annual Flavor! Napa Valley, hosted by the Silverado Resort and Spa. Foodies and wine enthusiasts will have the opportunity to enjoy a showcase of what Napa Valley has to offer featuring two full days of hands-on experiences hosted by the local vineyards, wineries, restaurants, farms and more. Additionally, this event raises scholarship monies for students at The Culinary Institutes of America at Greystone, donating $60,000 last year.
Having trouble finding that perfect tomato-seed strain? Love Apple Farms can help with their Annual Seedling Sale, where tomato-lovers can check out over 100 varieties of heirloom tomato seedlings. From March 10 – June 30, Ivy’s Porch in Scotts Valley will be home to the seedling sale. Guests can purchase a variety of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes including the Black Oxheart, Chili Verde, Super Marzano, Ludmilla’s Pink Heart, and Berkeley Tie-Dye ($3.50 to $5.50 each) while learning at-home landscaping and plant a garden. Ivy’s Porch will be open Monday – Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM and Sunday, 11 AM – 4 PM. Ivy’s Porch: 5311 Scotts Valley Drive Scotts Valley, CA 95066. 831-588-3801.
Brian Hunt of Moonlight Brewing’s philosophy on beer styles
'Why bother making beer that's not delicious'
Santa Rosa-based Moonlight Brewing Company was created by Brian Hunt back in 1992. Twenty years later, still small, and local. So small, it doesn’t even have a tasting room, let alone a brewery tour. Brian brews about 1,000 barrels of beer per year, not much considering Sierra Nevada outputted nearly 850,000 barrels in 2011. Which is exactly what Brian intended for his brewery to be, micro, keeping the distribution within the Bay Area, selling beers in kegs exclusively. Thus making it almost impossible to find anywhere else in the country. Taste Terminal host, Jace Milstead caught up with the whimsical Brian Hunt at the Opening Celebration of San Francisco Beer Week and asked him about his philosophy on beer styles. Read More
In just a few weeks, over 100 wineries will participate in Wine Road Northern Sonoma County’s annual barrel tasting, including wines from Dry Creek, Russian River, and Alexander valleys. The barrel tasting will allow attendees to sample young, unfinished wines with the option to purchase discounted cases (“futures” will be received 12 – 18 months later) and meet the winemakers.
The event takes place March 2 – 4 and March 9 – 11 from 11 AM – 4 PM. Tickets (good for the entire weekend) can be purchased online until February 27 for $30, or for $40 at participating wineries.
The Bruery of Orange County is flexing its muscles during San Francisco Beer Week. On Thursday night, February 16 at The Monk’s Kettle, Head Brewer Tyler King (pictured on the left) will be pouring anniversary ales Papier, Coton, and Cuir. Tyler will also make an appearance with Smoking Wood and Burly Gourd kegs at Oakland’s Beer Revolution on Friday, February 17. On Saturday, February 18, Beer Revolution will relinquish control of its taps allowing Southern California breweries, including The Bruery, to showcase their brews.
Hear from travel experts at the Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show
At the Santa Clara Convention Center
Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show is coming to the Santa Clara Convention Center on February 18 from 10 AM – 5 PM and February 19 from 11 AM – 4 PM. The show focuses on helping travelers plan for their ideal getaway and offers travel resources, hands-on activities, and informational seminars. Read More
An inside look at the plethora of Bay Area breweries at the ‘Opening Celebration’ of S.F. Beer Week 2012
See host Jace Milstead interview some heavy hitters of S.F. craft beer
2012′s beer week, now underway, will have over 300 events spread around the Bay Area. A monumental growth from four years ago when beer week only had a few dozen events. Since last year, “basically everything has doubled in size,” S.F. Beer Week Communications Director, Brian Stechschulte tells us.
Over 68 Bay Area-based breweries flexed their brewing muscles at the “Opening Celebration” of San Francisco Beer Week last weekend, from old school outfits like Anchor Brewing to newcomer, Almanac Beer Company. The festival, presented by the San Francisco Brewers Guild was held at the Concourse Exhibition Center and drew over 2,600 beer lovers to officially welcome ten days of beer celebration. Read More
