I'm waxing poetic today.... October -- and fall -- almost here. Soon, Mother's Apple Pie, holiday parties, New Year's Eve. Holiday meals with family. Menus being mulled right now (though they remain virtually the same every year). My personal wish now, as September leaves us: to not just find but create magic in every meal through these final three magical months of the year.

Rosemary Syrup

Have you had this experience, where you go to a restaurant or spend a day eating and drinking a variety of great food, yet ONE THING stands out, even... haunts you? That happened to me during my day-long cooking/eating/drinking adventure with Chef John Ash recently at the Culinary Institute of America. What stunned me -- and the others in my group -- was a simple Rosemary Syrup, which we served over bundt cake-type dessert (the name of which I've forgotten -- sorry). Anyway, try this clear concoction sometime over cake... cornbread... fish... chicken... etc. (And please note, this is John's recipe, not mine; he gets all the credit -- I'm just the 'fan'.)

Rosemary Syrup

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup water

3 tablespoons Rosemary leaves

1 Bay leaf

1/2 tablespoon whole peppercorns

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Combine all in a saucepan, stir, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool, strain, then refrigerate. Serve chilled.

Two Events

Here are two cool events that crossed the Every Meal A Feast radar. The first, an olive/olive oil festival:

And on October 8, the Sonoma County Library has its annual "Chocolates and Cinema" fundraiser at the Rialto Cinema. This is always a fun--and delicious--event.

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Movie: Casablanca

Tickets: $30 for 1; $50 per couple

To purchase tickets, call 576-7079

I Get My Toque On

Many of you Every Meal A Feast FROTB (Frequent Readers of This Blog) know that I have a restaurant fantasy. Mind you, my fantasy runs to the opening and running and, well, hanging out parts of the restaurant business. Not the cooking, in other words. But that doesn't mean that I don't like to cook, nor that I'll pass up a chance to cook like the pros.

Which is what I did last Tuesday at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone (CIA). Wow, they have a FANTASTIC four-day culinary program called Sophisticated Palate. Wow, wow, wow. It's one part cooking, one part dining, one part wine tasting, and about four parts cool. I mean, does it get any better than being in a CIA kitchen, in a full chef's uniform*, cooking with some cool people and a CIA Chef AND legendary Sonoma County chef John Ash? No! (For a little more on this, check out my previous posts: Hanging with John and The Art of Presentation.)

Cooking with Chef Ash was great. (See the pic above -- that's me showing Chef Ash a thing or two.) I learned some great techniques not only about cooking, but also about simple things like using garlic three ways, and the proper way to hold and use a knife.

We cooked all morning, ate our lunch, then went to an olive oil producer. (More on that later...) That evening, then, we ate dinner at the CIA's Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant with an expert on food and wine pairings. I finally stumbled home about 11:00 p.m. dizzy with all I had taken in -- food, wine, and otherwise -- from an amazing day. Save your pennies. Get a second job, if you have to. Go to the track and bet on that long shot. Just do whatever you can to attend the Sophisticated Palate course. It's a foodie's paradise.

(*The full chef's attire is clogs, chef pants, a chef's jacket, a toque [hat], apron, and two -- not three, not one, two -- hand towels placed in your apron string.)

P.S. How did I get to attend for one day? Well, it helps to have friends in the right places. T--I OWE you big-time!!!

The Art of Presentation

Yes, I'm still reeling a bit (in a good way) from my Tuesday adventure with John Ash at the Culinary Institute of America (see my previous post). In addition to the cooking and the eating, one of the parts of the day I enjoyed the most was John's presentation to us on, well, presentation, in this case when plating and serving food. It was fascinating to listen to what he tries to achieve for his presentations, and some of his suggestions for when we're in the kitchen. Here are some of the highlights:

* Your goal should be to have the plate of food "seduce the eye." In other words, you want your presentation to look fabulous, not just rely on taste.

* Attempt to have one or more elements of surprise. John said that we're all "intrigued by the sense of discovery." One way to do this is to pair items in an unusual way.

* Attempt to have a "visual storyline" where the eye moves from one food item to another to another. Note that most humans read from left to right, so that's normally how we view food. Also, try to avoid the "bulls eye" affect, where the mail element is right in the center of the plate.

* For variety and sense of play, make all the foods on a plate different cuts and sizes. You want, in other words, a variety not just of tastes and textures, but also shapes.

Coming soon: Cooking with John (aka, I Get My Toque On)

Hanging with John

Wow, did I have fun Tuesday: hung around at the Culinary Institute of America doing a little cooking, a little wine tasting, and then dinner with some great people, including someone named, uh, John Ash. That's right, the John Ash (see pic), of John Ash and Co fame and famed teacher, author and chef. (He has a VERY cool web site; check it out: ChefJohnAsh.com)

It was a blast (though I'm completely exhausted today). I'll go into more details soon, but let me begin by talking about our dinner last night at the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant. We started with "Today's Temptations", a series of small bites that included a humus dish and a pate. And then:

First Course

Summer Harvest Farms Tomato Salad

Second Course

California Red Snapper

Main Course

Ribeye off the Grill

Dessert

Peach and Ginger Souffle with Creme Angalise

It was a fantastic meal. I didn't particularly care for the ribeye (a bit fatty for my taste), but the snapper was incredible, and who can't get enough heirloom tomatoes this time of year.

Oh, and what's "John" like? Amazing approachable and likable, a great teacher, a man obviously passionate about all things food-related. All in all, a day-- and meal -- I won't forget.

Next time: John and I in the kitchen (and I have the pics to prove it)

At the Station

O.K., so I'm a bit embarrassed to say that yours truly from Every Meal A Feast had never eaten at La Gare Restaurant in Santa Rosa's historic Old Railroad Square... until this past Saturday evening. La Gare, of course, is one of Santa Rosa's mainstays, and has been consistently voted one of the "most romantic dining spots" in the Santa Rosa area.

The meal? In a word: fabulous. G. had the Filet de Boeuf Wellington Tenderloin, which was outstanding, and I had the pork schnitzel special. The accompanying sauce was WOW. I also love the fact that La Gare has a good offering of wines by the half-bottle (perfect for the 'She's a white, I'm a red' couple...). All in all, fantastic food and a great experience.

I do have to say, though, that the "most romantic" has me a bit puzzled. Yes, the interior is dark, and cozy. But the tables are also very close together, making it not only somewhat loud, but also difficult for the waiters to negotiate. (Yes, during the meal, we heard at least two things fall/tip over.) But forget the romantic stuff; go for the food!