Christina Waters

Over at Gabriella, owner Paul Cocking has already scored a new chef — Kynan Campisi— formerly of Michael Mina in San Francisco. “He’s energetic, organized and intelligent,” says Cocking of his latest chef. “All the things you want.”

Can’t wait to sample the new hand at the helm. Stay tuned.

21st Annual Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association
Vintners’ Festival
Think of it as a lively, scenic opportunity to taste rare premium wines from area wineries along with tasty finger foods from local chefs.  The 21st annual event is spread over two weekends. Look for new releases and barrel tastings, plus live music, food and demos by local chefs, art displays and more. This weekend, wineries will participate in 15 locations in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
June 12-13, 11am - 5pm.  $30 advance, $35 door of participating wineries. Tickets include a commemorative wine glass.
For map and details: SCMWA on the web, or by calling 685-WINE.  

A visit to Carmel is always a good idea. Make sure you drive down by June 13, so you can catch the gorgeous exhibit of new large-scale multimedia work by Miriam Hitchcock at the Carl Cherry Center. Her new show, wittily entitled Suburban Tempest, shows Hitchcock stretching even further in her visual inquiry of restless loss and personal metaphysics.

The new works are the most ambitious of Hitchcock’s recent creations, loaded with visual surprise, mastery of unexpected materials and perfumed by a sophisticated meloncholy. Don’t miss a stop to the beautiful arts and crafts landmark, the perfect setting for Hitchcock’s work. Through June 13.

A lovely wine, this 2007 Hunter Hill pinot noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains. We tried it last night with Alaskan King salmon, polenta and braised kale. The wine opened quickly into a dynamic mix of plums, cloves and licorice. And it just kept coming.

For my money—a well-spent $24—I feel a slight disconnect between the label’s primary image, an abalone shell, and the winery’s name, Hunter Hill. Clearly there’s something I’m missing here. But it’s not about to stop me from being crazy about this wine.

Go get some and see what you think. (Also, get back to me about the label.)

Cool as a cucumber and tart as Serena Williams, my new favorite cocktail can be found at Oswald. I’m calling it “Rites of Spring” and it definitely leads to spirited behavior.

The secret ingredient of this crisp, unsweet, distinctive drink is…..cucumber. Specifically English cucumber.  Muddled into the the goblet, first cucumber slices and then a fresh strawberry. Add a fresh lemon and ice-cold vodka. Amazing.

Actually, I encountered the cucumber recently as the secret weapon in another cocktail, the Bellevue, at Hawg’s, where it is joined by ginger liqueur and Hendrick’s gin. Also killer.

Dirty Dozen: Amy Boewer, one of the twelve Irwin Scholars for 2010, puts the finishing touches on her military industrial altar site in time for the exhibition opening and reception, this Thursday May 27 at 5pm.

Filling the gallery’s three studios with innovative (don’t miss Carrie Ferguson’s high-tech hygiene installation) and haunting (Cahill Wessel’s anime-meets-graffiti illustrations) artworks, the show includes pieces by Rosie Chesney, Calen Barca Hall, Nathan Dickersin-Prokopp, Leonel Diaz, JJ Campanaro, Kenny Srivijittakar, Bridget Ho, Laurel Maha and Martha Rodriguez.
Come see what the new wave looks like; reception and awards ceremony, May 27. The show runs through June 12 at the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery, Porter College, UCSC.

Cabrillo College’s culinary students teamed up with the Surf City Vintners for the first annual Dare to Pair food and wine challenge on May 22. And in a nutshell, we came, we munched, we sipped.

Teams of culinary students paired with wine from each of the 12 Surf City wineries took the challenge to dream up dishes that exactly matched the flavor tones of the wines. Then they came to the wineries and did a little “remote cooking.”

It was one of those sensual events that made for delicious flavors, plenty of quality schmoozing and more than a little culinary education. The student chefs (more…)

Chef Lionel le Morvan of Ma Maison knows his way around paté. His wonderful appetizers and even more wonderful pistachio macaroons (the kind they make at Ladurée in Paris) were a big hit at last week’s New Music Works garden gala.

Now he’s met his match—winemaker Richard Alfaro (shown here in a characteristic pose), and next weekend the two will team up, menu and Alfaro Family Vineyard wines, for a special Friday night dinner, May 28.

The menu includes avocado stuffed with wild Dungeness crab, (more…)

The first time around, it was Robert Downey Jr. I was watching. And even with this second installment of the Marvel Comic hero, Downey is an endlessly adroit chameleon, able to pivot moods in micro-seconds. Yet, somehow—especially since most of the film reduces to a series of high-tech explosions—it’s Mickey Rourke I’m watching this time around.

No man sports tattoos better than Rourke, who’s made a performance piece out of his scars, unfathomable hair and more-macho-than-thou dress code. He could make tattoed feet a global fashion statement. But obviously the key to his seductive loser’s swagger lies elsewhere.

Seemingly free of pretense, he appears grittier, more real than the very screen he explodes upon. When he unleashes whips of fire and electricity, he’s believable. The metal teeth, the gutteral Russian accent, the unnaturally swollen fingernails that attack keyboards in order to reprogram satellite software—I submit, utterly, to whatever it is this guy’s selling. (more…)

Every year Bargetto Winery unveils its viticultural showpiece, a wine carefully nurtured, blended and finally chosen to wear the latest La Vita label.

The ninth release of La Vita (vintage 2006) happens this weekend, when a hundred or so friends of the area’s oldest winemaking facility will gather on the creekside patio for live music, finger food and a taste of wine. Well, more than one taste perhaps.

“It’s a unique blend of three Italian varietals,” winery director John Bargetto told me last week, when he showed off the new wine. The blend of estate grapes — Dolcetto, Nebbiolo and Refosco — has been aged for three years in oak, (more…)