Through the Blue Smoke

Had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend: stayed close to home, relaxed, puttered a bit... and of course cooked outdoors twice. Last year I bought a fire pit, and it's cool to get a fire going there, right in front of us, and relax and cook and eat. The girls in particular love it, as it's perfect for making Smores. (Smores and some Prager Port -- is life good or what?)

The blue smoke? As the coals burn. No gas for me. Yes, gas is much easier, and yes, it's much, much quicker. But that's the point: often the way to make Every Meal A Feast is to s-l-o-w down, to savor not just the food but all that leads up to it. So I will continue to cook with coals...

Nv + Bl = Crush → Cy!

No, no chemistry here folks (I was a word guy in school, avoided the science topics like the plague). Just a big announcement regarding friends, clients, clients as friends, and an amazing pending restaurant experience.

Long story short: My filmmaking friends Susan and Wayne Boyer, of TwinBrain Productions (see pic at right), have developed an idea for a reality show called Crush. The idea is to follow three wine-related folks through a season of winemaking. Because S&W aren’t independently wealthy (yet!), they needed each winery to kick in some $$$ to help pay for the production of the “sizzle” reel: a five- to seven-minute film which will then be used to pitch the big execs on the show, its concept, etc. So… yours truly introduced them to the Nord family… who in turned signed on… and who in turn introduced Susan and Wayne to the owners of Bennett Lane Winery… who in turned signed on too… and which made it easier to secure the third party, Carol Farrow, a Sonoma County grape grower. So now wheels-are-in-motion re: Crush. Three days of filming are in the vault (see pics here, of Julie Nord and the Nord family, all courtesy of Lori Laube), the sizzle reel should be finished by approximately June 1, and hopefully S&W will receive a “go” from a network by the end of June, with filming throughout the summer and fall to produce six or seven episodes.

Ah, wouldn’t it be FUN to be part of a TV show? And FROTB would receive all kinds of cool invites, such as being able to attend certain filming dates, the cast party, etc. Anyway, stay tuned for more Crush info coming soon….

(BTW, the Nord's are featured in today's Napa Valley Register newspaper. Man, they're getting a lot of great pr of late. They must have a great marketing guy working for them.)

P.S. And here’s the really cool part: as a thank-you to me, S&W have given me a gift certificate to… Cyrus Restaurant in Healdsburg. Can you say SCORE! Cyrus is considered by most to be THE best Sonoma County restaurant, and one of the top wine country (Napa and Sonoma) restaurants, period. In fact, in the 2008 Zagat guide, Cyrus received a 28-point rating – second only to The French Laundry’s 29-point rating. So this will be quite the splurge and certainly an Every Meal A Feast-worthy posting (or two, or 20). And Jimmy Z, man, I’m this close – this close – to inviting you. I just gotta figure out how NOT to invite G., if you know what I mean. I mean, come on, wives can come and go… but poker buddies who love good food and wine, well, they’re FOREVER, right? (Right? Hey, back me up on this, man....)

Stay tuned...

While you're out grilling this weekend (like me) and partaking of some great Napa Valley or Sonoma County wine (like me), mull on the fact that on Monday there will be a HUGE -- and I mean HUGE -- announcement on Every Meal A Feast. Plus next Friday, May 30, a super anniversary celebration that will leave you... well, let's just say, dazzled. Ah, living the dream. A CRUSH to discuss, white port, and 365 days of... well, you'll see. And OMG, YES--I almost forgot: wheels-are-in-motion for another VEGAS, BABY trip. Is life good or what? Ciao!

The Important "B"

If you're like me, i.e., a foodie, then you like staying in Inns and Bed and Breakfast spots. As FROTB know, my favorite Napa Valley getaway is The Wine Country Inn, located just north of St. Helena. For Sonoma County, I love (and recommend!) the Inn at Occidental, in Occidental. The Inn at Occidental has a great feel to it, filled with folk art and antiques in a picturesque setting; the innkeepers, Jerry and Tina, are friendly and down to earth; and it's a short walk to the quirky-yet-always-fun town of Occidental and its great restaurants. (More on those later.)

Now, I like the "Bed" part of Bed and Breakfast, but I really like the "Breakfast" part, and the Inn at O serves a great breakfast, led by Chef Laura (see pic above). I was able to chat with her the other day, and peak behind the scenes, as it were, and it was fun to listen to her discussing food, and the obvious passion she has for great food. Anyway, if you want a Sonoma wine country sneak away, sneak away to the Inn at Occidental... and by all means, don't oversleep!

Happy breakfast folks! (Note: my friends Carrie and Jessie)

*&^%$##

Does anyone out there work for Comcast? HOW MUCH LONGER is this "system upgrade" going to be going on? Arrrrrrr! Came downstairs to my home office this morning, checked my email, looked at the headlines, then went and had breakfast. Came back... AND NO INTERNET CONNECTION. NO TV. NO COMCAST. I wanted to scream... and was the same eight hours later, when it finally came back on. This caused me to (1) not be able to do much of anything work-related today which means (2) I just finished work now, at 9:33 p.m., which means that (3) I had to miss the La Gare event with the Sonoma County Meat Buying Club! ARRRRRRR!!!! Good thing no Comcast employees were poking around my yard today, I might have gone Uma on them!!! (Well, I had a pitching wedge--not quite the same, but still, I could've done some damage.)

Oh, well.... I guess the Meat Club just wasnt' meant to be. I had invited Jimmy Z., but he couldn't go because of his golf league (trust me on this: you get a second shot at this world, you want to come back as Jimmy Z) though he did say that the next time dead cow was involved, to think of him.

I will leave you with one tantalizing tidbit, a hint, if you will, of BIG things to come: Wheels-are-in-motion re: a Major, and I mean MAJOR, food and wine event that yours truly is tuned into, and part of, and thus will share with you when the time is right. And tied to this will be a HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT soon re: a soon-to-be-eaten at Sonoma County eatery. This is BIG. REALLY BIG. Trust me on this. In fact, it even makes up for the *&^%$#$# Comcast Internet being off all day today. Stay tuned....

CENSORSED

Whew, with the temperature pushing 105+, my thoughts have been turning to one thing of late: ice cold beer. And when I'm hot and yucky and just want to kick back and not think too much, that means turning to one of my faves: Lagunitas Brewing Company, out of Petaluma. I LOVE their CENSORED rich copper ale: flavorful, full-bodied, with no mean aftertaste. Try it. Now. Hurry.

And I LOVE the company's whole marketing thing. Here's one tag line on the CENSORED bottle: Life is Uncertain. Don't Sip.

How true! Their web site is hilarious, too. Here's info they have about some supposed misspellings on their labels:

It has been broughten to our attrition that they're have been numberous spelling errors on hour various lables. From the cureous (as in 'steet') too the sublime (as in 'redempetion'). As a soulution to this problem we have retrained an imminent linguist from Stanford and have invested in a spel checker computter utilitiy. For now however, the thing I want to know is: Who are these werd police? Anyway? Who is the boss, ewe or the words? Huh? And besides, what dew words, let alone speling, have to do with beer anyway. I mean, who ever herd of some namby pamby pale lexiphile curling up buy a warm fire with a good book and a cold beer. This hole bussiness has gone plenty far enouph, don't you think?

And I LOVE this, which is part of their description for the CENSORED Ale:

Anyway, we were going out to, uh,the ,uh, you know, thing, and all, and when we got there, well, uh, the dude was, like- "whoa man!" I mean, and we were all, uh, you know - "whoa!" and stuff, and when I said to him, like, you know, "hey man", and all they, I mean he, was all "what?" and stuff- and I just told him what you said and all and they were all man- "not cool dude", but whatever- so, uh, we split and went back to my lair and just hung out and whatever, but the whole thing was, like, just SUCH a bummer and all but, you know, it was cool and stuff, but you just gotta, you know, about the dude and all, like, it's cool and all you know, but what's up with that "blah blah blah"? Whatzit got to do with beer and all? I mean, really, dude, whatever...but, it's cool and all...

Stay cool... and don't sip.

Mushrooms and Meat

To paraphrase the Cat in the Hat who once said, "It's fun to have fun but you have to know how," it's cool to have friends... particularly if they're foodies! Anyway, thanks to Monica and my new friend Emily, I wanted to share a couple of upcoming food and wine events that seem too-cool-for-school.

Mushroom Recipe Contest

Put on by Marx Foods. Deadline: May 16. Check out their web site for details. Any shroom fanatics out there? Monica, this has YOU written all over it.

Local Veggie and Meat Tasting

This Monday night, May 19, 6-8 p.m. at La Gare Restaurant in Santa Rosa's Old Railroad Square. This event is being put on by the Sonoma County Meat Buying Club (I swear this is legit -- I'm NOT making this up.) Jimmy Z, this has YOU written all over it.

FYI, I'm about a 1 in a 20 for the shroom contest, but a 93% favorite to attend the Meat Club's extravaganza. (Oooo, you know that you're playing a lot of poker when you start calculating your life events using poker odds!)

Anyway, hope to see you Monday evening.

P.S. The pic below is dedicated to Mad, who turned me on to the Cat in the Hat. (Or was it the other way around? Oh, well, the important thing is that it happened....)

Viva la French!

With French food on my mind regarding my recent conversations with Chez Pierre, it only seemed appropriate that J and I would lunch last week at Bistro Jeanty, a classic French bistro in Yountville, in the Napa Valley.

One word: Wow! Bistro Jeanty has a great 'atmosphere', with full bar and several small rooms, which create the feeling of intimacy. The menu is to die for, with all kinds of goodies like moules "brule doigts" (wood oven roasted mussles with grey salt and olive oil), quail and porcini risotto, a selection of cheeses, and poulet au citron (stewed lemon chicken with garlic cloves and roasted artichokes). Me? I went old-school (I know, I know--surprise, surprise): to start, I had their Crême de tomate en croute (tomato soup in puff pastry) which was fabulous: light, yet with concentrated tomato flavor, then coq au vin (chicken, mushrooms, bacon, and red wine stew) and a side of buttered egg noodles. Ahhhhh, I can't think of three more resplendent words in the English language than "buttered egg noodles." (Note: they must be in that exact order.) J'aime cette nourriture!

Anyway, you cannot go wrong with Bistro Jeanty from everything to a cocktail at the bar, to a light lunch, to an incroyable dinner. Enjoy!

Bistro Jeanty

6510 Washington Street

Yountville, CA 94599

tel: 707-944-0103

bistrojeanty.com

Odds and Ends

Much, much, much happening in the Every Meal A Feast realm of things.... Here are some "goodies" that we're eyeing, and want to share with you. Enjoy!

Cirque de Gourmet

Sat. May 10, 5:30-10:30 p.m.

harmonyauction.org

Mother's Day Brunch at Zazu

Sun. May 11, 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Lavendar waffles, corn crepes, black pig bacon, della fattoria grilled toast, etc.

zazurestaurant.com

Passport to Sonoma Valley

May 17 and May 18

sonomavalleywine.com

Cool Blog: Ruhlman rules!

http://blog.ruhlman.com/

Stumbled Across This:

(Man, the work-fam "thing" is TOUGH:

http://www.buildingabakery.blogspot.com/

Bye for now...

You Say Te - mā’- tō, I Say...

...yum! Yes, yours truly not only talks the talk when it comes to food and wine, but I walk the walk too. Case in point: I'm in the process of planting my garden. (See pic to right*.) My primary crop: tomatoes! IMHO, there is almost NOTHING that says 'summer' better than home-grown cherry tomatoes.

To introduce some Every Meal A Feast dash into the garden this year, yesterday nana (see pic to right) and I ventured to Kendall-Jackson Winery both to taste some wine (of course) and also snap up some of their heirloom tomato plants, which they had on sale (all 150+ varietals). Some of the varieties I bought include Plum Lemon, Snow White, and Olga's Round Yellow Chicken. I also scored some Genovese and Purple Ruffles basil, to go with the mint and cilantro I had planted previously. So it'll be interesting to see how these heirlooms do -- and taste!

At KJ

*Just kidding--that's the entrance to the KJ garden; here's part of my garden

FYI, here are a couple of K-J events that look cool:

Winemaker Dinner

Friday, May 9, Hyatt Vineyard Creek

$89/person

Fantastic menu with wine pairings including grilled basil-marinated white prawns, braised daube de boeuf, and chestnut flour crepes with Royal Blenheim (?) apricots.

12th Annual Heirloom Tomato Festival

September 6

Note: this event always sells out, and if you buy your tickets before June 30, tickets are only $55 per person, vs. $65 thereafter. For ticket info and purchasing, visit their web site or call (800) 769-3649.

Kendall-Jackson Wine Center

5007 Fulton Road, Fulton, CA 95439

www.kj.com

Ah, here comes summertime!!!!