Monthly Archives: November 2010

Oakland’s New Cerruti Cellars Urban Winery

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The first vintage made by Tudal Winery, which includes a hand-drawn label done by John Tudal's mother.

For proof that the East Bay is turning into a hub for urban wineries, look no further than the new Cerruti Cellars, which is expected to open any day now across from Jack London Square in Oakland.

Yes, wine-making not in a bucolic, serene setting but a gritty one full of asphalt and concrete.

Nowadays, you’ll find just that at the 22 cosmopolitan wineries that make up the East Bay Vintners Alliance, whose members span Alameda to North Berkeley.

Winery owner John Tudal, holding up an old receipt from his family's produce farm.

John Tudal acknowledges that he’s taken some ribbing from his Napa Valley neighbors, where he operates his family’s more high-end Tudal Winery, about setting up shop in Oakland for his moderately priced Cerruti Cellars wines, which includes the well-known Tractor Shed Red.

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Scenes from “Worlds of Flavor” 2010

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Cold soba noodles in gelee at the 2010 "Worlds of Flavor'' conference on Japan.

Over the weekend, the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena presented its 13th annual “Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival.”

It was the first time that the conference — attended regularly by top chefs, restaurateurs, purveyors, food scientists and media — focused entirely on the cuisine of Japan.

For good reason.

A Japanese dancer.

Everywhere you turn these days, you can’t help but notice the influence Japanese cuisine is having around the world — from sushi being sold in most every American supermarket to ingredients such as edamame, yuzu and nori finding their place in professional kitchens around the world.

Assembling curry udon for the crowds.

Okonomiyaki -- savory noodle pancakes -- get grilled.

Turn on the TV to watch the excitement of “Iron Chef”; visit New York to wait in line at Chef David Chang’s wildly popular Momofuku Japanese-style, street food-inspired restaurants; or pick up the latest Michelin Guide, which awarded its highest honor of three stars to an astounding 12 restaurants in the Kansai region of Japan — more than any other area in the world.

The conference, “Japan: Flavors of Culture, From Sushi and Soba to Kaiseki,” was attended by 750 people, including more than 54 presenters from Japan, some of whom were visiting the Napa Valley for the first time.

It was a kick to see Masaharu Morimoto, Hiroyuki Sakai and Yukio Hattori — all of “Iron Chef” fame — wandering around the storied culinary campus. And even more memorable to hear Morimoto belt out an a cappella song in Japanese at the end of his cooking demo.

Morimoto cooking with suckling pig at a demo.

And what cooking demos there were — from watching a chef from Japan painstakingly make soba noodles from scratch on stage to the intricate details that go into making a perfect dashi stock to seeing Chef Doug Keane of Cyrus in Healdsburg prepare a broth made with his favorite matsutake mushrooms, which he confessed to loving even more than prized European truffles.

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Eating Out for A Good Cause, Bon Appetit’s Barbara Fairchild, Special Ubuntu Dinner and Meal Deals in Silicon Valley

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An event to help preserve Tibetan culture. (Photo courtesy of the Tibetan Aid Project.

Helping to Rebuild Tibetan Culture

Twenty-four top toques will be cooking at the 10th annual “Taste and Tribute” by the Tibetan Aid Project on Nov. 19 at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco.

The chefs will cook in teams of two to prepare four courses, with each table experiencing a different menu. Among those pairing up for the night to intertwine their culinary skills are: Bruce Hill of Bix, Picco and Zero Zero, all in San Francisco, with Liza Shaw of A16 in San Francisco; and Bruno Chemel of Baume in Palo Alto with Martin Brock of Gary Danko in San Francisco.

A silent auction will feature items such as vacation packages, wine tastings, and handmade Tibetan art.

Tickets are $350 per person.

Proceeds will help preserve and ship traditional Tibetan texts, art prints and prayer wheels to Tibetan refugees in the Himalayan region.

Aiding Mission District Youths

Mark your calendar for Nov. 10, when more than 30 restaurants, cafes, markets, ice cream shops and even food trucks in San Francisco will be donating 25 percent or more of sales to Mission Graduates, a non-profit that helps neighborhood youths prepare for and complete college.

The “Food for Thought’‘ event last year enabled more than 100 kids to attend a five-week summer program, and helped secure more than $250,000 in college scholarships to support high school students and their families.

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Presenting Auberge du Soleil’s Torte au Chocolat

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The magnificent, but pricey, Torte au Chocolat.

There are 11 layers in this showstopping cake made by the Michelin-starred Auberge du Soleil in the Napa Valley.

That’s layer upon layer of crisp hazelnut dacquoise, chocolate cremeux, pureed organic hazelnuts and dark chocolate ganache. It’s crunchy, nutty, densely rich and oh-so luxe tasting. The signature creation of renowned Pastry Chef Paul Lemieux, it comes packaged in a novel round gift box that splits open for easy removal of the cake.

How cool is this packaging?

This beauty, which can serve 6 to 8, can be yours — or that of a well-deserving friend or family member — for $57.50.

If that’s a little too rich for your pocketbook, you’ll be glad to know that the resort has added some more affordable items to its line of “Sweets from Soleil.” Recently, I had a chance to try samples of this glam cake and the newest sweet treats.

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Beer is the Secret Ingredient in this Stew

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It doesn't get better than hearty beef stew cooked with ale and topped with a fluffy buttermilk dumpling.

You know this beef stew has got to be fabulous if I made it and thoroughly enjoyed it during a fluke 90-degree heatwave a few weeks ago.

So just think how satisfying it will be during the bone-chilling fall weather to come.

“Beef-Ale Stew and Green Onion-Buttermilk Dumplings” is from the new “The Sunset Cookbook” (Oxmoor House) by the editors of Menlo Park-based Sunset magazine.

It’s the first new cookbook in 15 years by Sunset.

As a native San Franciscan, I grew up with Sunset magazine as a staple in my family’s house. A stack was always found on our coffee table. Over the years, the look of the magazine may have changed. But one thing that hasn’t is the reliability of the recipes. Meticulously tested, they always work and taste delicious.

The new cookbook, of which I recently received a review copy, follows that tradition. More than 1,000 recipes are packed inside this weighty book, which were selected from the magazine, then retested and updated.

The beauty of this stew is that the thick sauce is really made from nothing more than natural beef juices cooked down for three hours with caramelized onions and two bottles of ale. Yet it tastes far more complex than that. I used the New Belgium Brewing company’s Trippel Ale brewed with coriander, which was smooth, hoppy, robust and had an almost faint caraway note.

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