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Sausage, Spiedini, and the S.F. Meat Scene
The Italians have a special connection with the pig that few cultures have. I am continuously amazed by the way they honor the pig as a culinary ingredient with an endless list of ways to use its parts. Parts of America are beginning to go back to valuing quality pig processing and skilled butchery as they do in Italy. I was lucky enough to attend a Slow Food event last week at Ristobar that reminded me how lucky I am to live in San Francisco and how easy it really is to eat meat in the right way. The Fasciocco Brothers from Abruzzo, Italy held a demo on breaking down…
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Best Restaurant Dining Reviewers List for Bay Area
By Laiko Bahrs, Epicuring co-founder As a food professional, I eat out at a lot of restaurants for a number of reasons. To support the industry and friends/colleagues, for meetings, as well as to boost my professional knowledge (and because eating is a hobby, right?). My dining budget is not large, but I do like to try most of the new restaurants whenever I can. How do I hear about the best local restaurants? Word of mouth from colleagues is key for me, as well as a few must-read professional restaurant reviewers whom I trust. Then for fun, there’s the non professional eaters reviews too. If I have a lot…
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Distance Makes the Heart (and Appetite) Grow Fonder
As the newest member of Epicuring, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Maya and I recently returned from studying Food Culture and Communications in Italy. Italy’s culinary scene delighted my taste buds but after the first few months I began making a list of California foods I missed. Now that I’m back I’m getting to rediscover those foods and finding out about new food adventures. Below are some of the highlights from my list. I hope you will visit these places if you haven’t already. If you have been lucky enough to experience their magic, than you know the withdrawal I experienced. Either way, I hope to see…
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Beverly Hills Insider – 5 Spots for Adventuring Epicurators
By Susie Wyshak, a former Angeleno I stumbled upon a 2010 Sunset Magazine article Beverly Hills for the rest of us, about how to live large on a budget in this legendary city. It has fabulous tips for places to stay, eat, and gawk. Here are a few more insider tips for So Cal epicurators on the hunt for unique experiences: 1) Richard Simmons’ aerobics studio. When was the last time you said “aerobics?” He hasn’t changed locations since opening and you can still work out to the oldies! A bunch of friends and I did, making the moves back when leg warmers weren’t ironic. It is on Little Santa…
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Epicuring’s Holiday Food Gift Picks
Creative gift giving is fun & easy with Epicuring’s Picks & Markets Love Apple Farm has 25% off gift certificates for their classes which include cider making, gardening, bee-keeping, and an array of classes with Chez Pim from jam making to macarons and Thai food. Your chocophile friends will love Tante Marie’s “Professional Chocolate Techniques,” taught by the legendary Alice Medrich. She has written many books on working with chocolate and is the former owner of Cocolat. Starting in January, 18 Reasons will host a six-month Urban Gardening School, guaranteed to teach participants everything they need to know about growing their own fresh vegetables in small city spaces. A perfect gift…
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Wild Food Walks with ForageSF
by Celeste Noche, Epicuring In a region as metropolitan as the Bay Area, it’s easy to think that our only resources for produce are markets, farms, and gardens. ForageSF has set out to correct this misconception by leading educational Wild Food Walks and working to “rediscover a forgotten food source.” While foraging is only legal by permission on private land, these Wild Food Walks offer more than a morning of searching for plants. This past Sunday, I joined Kevin Feinstein as he led a group of 16 people through Golden Gate Park. Having grown up in the Bay Area myself, I never imagined that edible plants were in such abundance…
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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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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…
