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Californians Supporting Bristol Bay
By Celeste Noche, Epicuring Alaska’s Bristol Bay is renown among fisheries because of the amount of sockeye salmon that return each year is currently unprecedented in the world: up to 40 million salmon, migrating within the world’s only fully functional ecosystem. Native Alaskans have relied on Bristol Bay salmon for thousands of years– not only as a food source but also as a way of life. Now the livelihood of this ecosystem and lifestyle are at risk as large gold and copper deposits have been found at the headwaters of the rivers that feed into the Bay. The proposed Pebble Mine would create a hole 20 miles wide and deep…
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10 Liquor Factoids Absorbed at St. George Spirits
Post-Libation Thoughts from Susie: How often can cocktail conversation trivia actually revolve around cocktails? Not very. During our Epicuring Spooky Spirits event at St. George Spirits at Hangar 1 in Alameda, we not only enjoyed several creative libations such as The Root of All Evil – a root beer / absinthe concoction – we laughed and learned several important bits of information while touring the distillery: Bourbon only comes from the United States. Anything bourbon-like made elsewhere can’t be called bourbon. Consider it our “champagne.” California liquor manufacturers cannot directly sell their booze to the public. They have to sell it to a distributor then buy it back from the…
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The Other Wine Country Harvest
By Emily Shartin, Epicuring In California wine country, “harvest,” for the most part, refers to grapes. But in just over a month, after all the Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys has been picked, another important crop will be harvested in wine country: olives. If you’ve spent any time around wineries, you may have noticed that olive trees often grow alongside grapevines. This is because the two plants share similar growing conditions, and olive trees are often seen as a way to add some biodiversity to the vineyards. The trees may also be planted around the perimeters of vineyards to help protect vines against wind.…
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Mushroom Lovers’ Events & Classes – Epicuring Picks by Cindy Roberts
Thanks to Cindy Roberts, Palo Alto culinary instructor for sharing her picks for seasonal mushroom events in the area: ‘Tis the season for Northern California mushrooms and you won’t want to miss them. The rains in the last week herald the start of the season in California so prepare yourself for some great eats. Although I tout myself as a mushroom expert I have been humbled recently to find out 500 types of mushrooms grow wild in Mendocino County. That will keep me busy for a long time learning about all of them. Don’t worry if you’re too timid to forage for mushrooms yourself. There are a few upcoming events…
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Crush: See You in Wine Country this October!
By Emily Shartin, Epicuring It may have been delayed a couple weeks this year, but this year’s grape harvest (“crush” as it’s known locally) is now in full swing. Having just moved to Napa from the east coast, I’m enjoying my first up-close-and-personal look at this bustling season — the beautiful rows of leafy green vines, the workers in the vineyards, the trucks full of fruit on the roads, and the pervasive aroma of fresh grapes. As you can imagine, this is a great time to visit the Napa and Sonoma Valleys and see for yourself how the place comes alive. You can also check out some unique events at…
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SF Cocktails Transcending the 21st Floor
Tony Abou-Ganim, Joel Teitelbaum, and Marco Dionysos prepare their signature cocktails. By Celeste Noche, Epicuring Through an act of serendipity, Harry Denton’s Starlight Room reopened just as San Francisco Cocktail Week ended. Although the two events were planned separately, both seemed to commemorate a milestone in San Francisco’s bartending culture. In its fifth year running, the city’s annual festival paid homage to its thriving cocktail scene while the Starlight Room’s reopening brought together the best of the old and the new. This week the iconic lounge welcomed a new era while commemorating its past 15 years on the 21st floor of Kimpton’s Sir Francis Drake Hotel on Powell Street…
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Boy Did We DIY at Eat Real Festival
A Perspective on Three Fun-Filled Days by Susie Wyshak On Epicuring we post lots of DIY food crafting classes and festivals, not to mention street food events and tastings. For the third year, the Eat Real Festival in Oakland’s Jack London Square brought it all together. From the time the event kicked off Friday night with a Jam Bar (cocktails made with jam), the crowd reveled in local beers, great dance music, and things to learn and taste in every nook and cranny. Photo and video booths captured people’s stories and moods for fun and posterity. We made bagels, shaped pretzels, and learned various bacon-making techniques (which you too can…
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Let’s Eat Real Together This Weekend – Prizes and Meet Ups
We’re heading to Eat Real in Oakland this weekend –will you join us? We’re meeting up all weekend long at a few key spots. Eat Real Oakland’s third annual three-day festival is a free celebration of our great food scene all set at Jack London Square in Oakland. There are classes, tastings, demos, markets, a farm and food trucks all in one spot. Epicuring Challenge & Prizes! Win a spot on a tasting tour with Epicuring of Susie’s favorite Berkeley Spots if you complete the three challenge below! Meet Up with Epicuring at Eat Real and pick up our new Epicuring Sticker Take a photo of yourself at Eat Real…
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Celebrate a National Food Day Every Day
A bit of seasonal silliness from Susie: Here at Epicuring we dig up and promote interesting events. When you’re in the mode to DIY event, there’s a world of food holidays dreamed up by clever people and organizations to inspire you (and inspire chuckles). For example: How could you have gotten this far in life without knowing October 9th is Moldy Cheese Day; October 20th National Brandied Fruit Day (start brandying now to candy then!); and especially that October 30th is National Candy Corn Day. Does that mean you can start sneaking those tri-colore delights whose ingredients we must squint to avoid reading the day before Halloween? I’d say yes.…
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From Seed to Table: The National Heirloom Expo
By Emily Shartin, Epicuring Tagged as “the world’s pure food fair,” the first-ever National Heirloom Exposition* sought perhaps a deeper response to the popular foodie question of late: “Where does your food come from?” This three-day agricultural festival in Santa Rosa celebrated heritage food breeds — those unique, flavorful and often colorfully-named varieties of fruits and vegetables that have often been passed over as farmers opt instead for breeds that will withstand the rigors of travel and supermarket stocking. The festival featured seeds and gardening supplies for sale (it was organized by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, which has an outpost in Petaluma), guest speakers (including chef Alice Waters and seed-protection…
