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11/17/08
Don't have plans for dinner this Thursday? Maybe you' like to dine at Diablo Country Club, sampling a special menu featuring courses prepared by an all-star team of chefs from Lark Creek, Bridges, Postino, Walnut Creek Yacht Club and other top restaurants. This Thursday, November 20, the 17th Annual Warren W. Eukel Teacher Trust Dinner takes place at Diablo Country Club—the event honors three outstanding East Bay teachers with $10,000 grants, so it's a very good cause. Even better is the cuisine. Acclaimed foodie Narsai David prepares the menu each year, working with top local chefs to create a very memorable dinner. Tickets are $150 each, and there are still some seats available. And this year, two lucky winners will get to go for free. If you'd like to go, simply...
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11/13/08
Oliveto will offer its annual homage to the world-famous tuber with their White Truffle Dinners, November 18-21. The dinners will feature chef Paul Canales’ creations made with fresh Italian truffles hunted for and brought back from Italy by Bob Klein, Oliveto’s co-owner.
Klein scours Italy’s prime white truffle fields – principally the mixed forests in Piedmont, Romagna, Umbria and Tuscany – to collect the much sought-after delicacy. His yearly expedition insures that the dinners are made with the freshest and most potent ones on the West Coast. “Freshness is an extremely important factor in enjoying truffles,” said Canales. “We have found that the only reliable way to provide this experience to Oliveto’s tables is to...
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11/13/08
To jumpstart your ho-ho-ho spirits, head over to Rosenblum Cellars, Alameda, for their 2008 Holiday Hoorah Open House, November 15–16, 1-5 pm. The winery is located close to Alameda’s ferry terminal. The festive event will feature new and current release wines, live music and lots o’ hors d'oeuvres.
Local veterinarian Ken Rosenblum and wife, Kathy, founded the winery 30 years ago. Today, Rosenblum Cellars is recognized as one of North America’s most acclaimed producers of Zinfandel and Rhône varietal wines. Very vine indeed.
General Admission tickets are $40 online ($50 at the door). Wine Club members pay $25 online ($35 at the door) and get advance admission 12-1 pm.
Rosenblum Cellars, 2900 Main Street,...
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11/12/08
If you're driving to the mountains this winter, one thing you probably don't want to do is load up the cargo area of your SUV with raw fish. We did, and only narrowly averted disaster.
OK, so it was my idea. A group of us were going skiing for the weekend. While planning the trip, I started crowing about how wonderful it would be to come home from a day of flying down the cold mountains to a steaming bowl of cioppino, tomato-based fish and shellfish stew. We'd cook it Friday night at our cabin, and have it ready to heat up when we finished skiing on Saturday. Everyone agreed cioppino would make an awesome after-ski meal, but wouldn't it be easier to just eat out, they asked me.
I didn't answer because by that point I had entered Cioppino Land. I was far, far...
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11/06/08
You went to Gourmet East Bay, you tried all the fabulous appetizers, and voted on the tastiest and best presentation. Now the results are in! This year’s favorite appetizer is awarded to Lark Creek’s refreshing tomato and mozzarella salad and flatbread with figs. Va de Vi wins best presentation with their forks and spoons presentation of Ahi tuna. We are currently celebrating Restaurant Week until November 9, and have more than 40 restaurants participating—three course lunches are $20, and dinners are $30. Click here for more information.
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11/04/08
Diablo's executive editor, Michaela Jarvis, went on ABC-7s The View from the Bay yesteday to talk about the winners of our 2008 Food Awards. Hosts Spencer Christian and Janelle Wang interviewed Michaela about the East Bay food scene and Diablo's November Food Issue. Michaela was joined by chef Jeffrey Amber of Gigi in Lafayette, who received a special plate for being one of Diablo's eight winning restaurants this year.Click here to watch the clip. Fashionistas take...
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11/04/08
It’s Crab Season again...so pull out those bibs. This year, you can get your feasting on, surrounded by celebs. The 9th Annual Biletnikoff Foundation Celebrity Crab Feast & Sports Auction will be Nov. 7 at the San Ramon Marriott. You’ll be in good company with past and present Raiders, Raiderettes, and Greg Papa, voice of the Raiders and master of ceremonies for the event. A sports auction and live music by Pa Pa Do Run Run add to the fun. Tickets are $120 and proceeds help the foundation continue their efforts with young people to address substance abuse and gender violence. The foundation was established in 1999 when Tracey Biletnikoff, daughter of former Raider Fred Biletnikoff, was brutally murdered. For event information and ticket purchases, click
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10/30/08
If you don't have plans this Saturday, read this post! Gourmet East Bay, the East Bay's greatest food and wine party of the year, takes place this Saturday night in Walnut Creek's Broadway Plaza. Not only are all the top local restaurants and wineries serving and pouring their top shelf stuff, proceeds from ticket sales go to East Bay food charities. And, there's going to be a rockin' band. It's a win-win-win! Info here.
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10/24/08
I’m one of those women who doesn’t order dessert and then waits, fork in hand, to see what you get. So I was dismayed, even heart-broken, when I heard both my husband and brother order the banana cream pie after a meal at Chow in Lafayette the other night.
Banana cream pie? Bananas in a pie? Whatever for? We all know that Chow, despite its retro feel, isn’t some jello hut where 1950s food is glorified for the sake of nostalgia. How could this be happening, I asked myself.
When the two pieces arrived, I could feel my brother’s pain as well as my own. These weren’t giant creamy wedges, looking tall as ocean liners navigating across your plate. No, they were crust, topped with bananas, drizzled with caramel, and sporting a...
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10/23/08
Autumn hath cometh and Piatti Ristorante and Bar, Danville is presenting its second in a series of seasonal menus, through October 26. Featured items on the “Harvest Menu” celebrate the freshest of Fall’s foods including, corn, squash, figs and wine grapes. Among a full offering of dishes, you can enjoy butternut squash tortelli with toasted hazelnuts, sage & cider vinegar brown butter; white corn bisque with pepper, porn & scallion salsa; and spiced pumpkin crema with rum raisins & pine nut brittle.
Following the Harvest menu will be Piatti’s “Ode to the Mushroom” menu, November 28 -- December 7. Mushroom lovers can pay homage to porcinis, morels, chanterelles, truffles, etc. and the edible fungi’s wide range of...
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