La Posta & the Sensuous Appetizer
How good does this salad of radicchio, arugula and fava beans look? Almost as good as it tasted last night. Add a few slices of beet to continue the brilliant magenta colors of the radicchio, and then top it with a trio of sardines and an egg from those contented...
Academic Dooniverse
It was a town/gown Who's Who last Monday at Le Cigare Volant, as the UCSC Arts division celebrated the launch of a student-designed label for a Banana Slug Roussanne 2010, made by Bonny Doon Vineyards. Art major Louise Leong's crisp, colorful label design won the top...
Peay Tasting @ Soif
Anybody who wants to learn more about wines, winemaking and especially meet those who are most inside the process—winemakers themselves—should take advantage of the always-exciting wine tastings offered by Soif. Generous pours, cheese, bread and Marcona almonds,...
More Surprises from Doon
An exciting new chef, a logical new name—just when you thought the dust had actually settled over at the section of the galaxy ruled by Bonny Doon Vineyard.....think again. A new terroir-driven wine list—soon to be unveiled—will shake up your tired old...
Stern Cooks the Flavors of Spring
That would be Katherine Stern, who's busy transforming the season into edible orgies of flavor, texture and delight. Last night we sampled an outstanding entree of roast halibut, toasted farro and roasted leeks sauced with a pistachio pesto. A great pasta dish and the...
Pinot to Envy
That would be the 2006 Mt. Eden Vineyards Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir I had been saving (okay, only for two years....) and finally opened. Such a beautifully-balanced creation. Plums and sassafras, minerals, a through-line of licorice and a bouquet that suggested...
The Chron recognizes Corralitos
Even though many winemakers — and wine drinkers — have long recognized the unique properties of the Corralitos region of our SCM AVA, the news bears repeating. Still Sunday's piece at SFGate is a sweet bit of recognition. Check it out.
Le Cigare Volant – debut dinner
Yes there is a new chef, and a new name over at the Bonny Doon Tasting Room. Le Cigare Volant's the name, and Ryan Shelton—formerly of the Michelin two-star restaurant Baumé in Palo Alto—is the chef. Our initial dinner last week gave us plenty to smile about. The...
Nite Lite: Thomas Kinkade
He was one of the angriest men I ever met. Spewing platitudes and autographs with machine-gun precision, Thomas Kinkade was a one-man tent show of strategic branding, cornball imagery and raw, unrelenting ambition. Now that he's gone I have to wonder all over again...
The Hunger Games
Succumbing to curiosity, I took in a matinee of The Hunger Games last week to see what grabs the YA audience these days. The film isn't great, the acting is hit and miss, but the action is bracing. A fierce sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen (played by pretty,...
Herb Workshop @ UCSC Farm – April 1
If you're intrigued by the healing properties of medicinal herbs, don't miss this workshop by herbalist Darren Huckle, founder of Roots of Wellness, this Sunday April 1 from 10am - 1pm. The workshop will focus on cultivating and using herbs for teas and salves that...
New Doon @ Bonny Doon
Applying some spin to his perennially avant garde branding instincts, Doon-meister Randall Grahm has brought in a new chef, and ushered in a new name for his tasting room restaurant. Gone is the fairly tame "Cellar Door" and in comes the dashing "Le Cigare Volant"...
New Star in Paso Robles
A very attractive Latin Fusion retaurant, Estrella, has just opened in Paso Robles, in one of the old Victorians lining the central zocalo on Spring Street. The brainchild of Chef Ryan Swarthout (of Roberts restaurant fame) and Travis Borba, the restaurant surfs a...
MAH Show Opens March 31
All You Need is Love - one of the finer memories provided by the Beatles - and also the title of the next museum-wide exhibition scheduled for downtown's Museum of Art & History, opening for a Member's Preview on Friday, March 30 - and then to the general public...
Bitter Ending
Finally, I came to the end of the labor-intensive process. The orange bitters had steeped, it had been crushed, it had been filtered, it had rested. The last stage had involved mixing together the high-octane orange peel-infused alcohol with water and finally with...
In Light: Noah Buchanan @ John Pence Gallery
A youthful old master is showing his works in San Francisco's John Pence Gallery through March 10. The one-man show by Noah Buchanan fills a spacious room with a large suite of consummate realist oil paintings and drawings reminiscent of the work of Ingres, Odd...
Smart Art – UCSC reception March 4, 5pm
Chris Cravey and Ari Finkelstein—friends, artists, over-achievers—will take over the Eduardo Carrillo Gallery @ the UCSC Art Department for a week starting March 1. The duo will unleash Collections: Figurative Sculpture, Drawings and Paintings upon a world hungry...
Bitters Odyssey: Part 2
After two weeks of slumbering in 100 proof grain alcohol, my alchemical mixture of Seville orange peels, coriander, fennel seeds, gentian and quassia bark was ready for stage two on the road to becoming orange bitters. After pouring the alcohol—now tinged a pale...
Soif Does Dinner
Last week I expected to find disarming French reds (wines, not commies) and inventive rosés, but I'm not sure I was ready for just how polished the kitchen at Soif has become. New menu, new generously-proportioned attitude, and dishes loaded with comfort flavors and...
The Body Electric – Pina
Pina Bausch was one of my heroes. Most of my life I tracked her conceptual innovations in choreography, and the creation of her Tanztheater company in Wuppertal Germany. Moving dance beyond the lexicons of ballet and even Graham's modern dance tropes, Bausch used the...
And the Oscar goes to…..
A preliminary stab in the highly-hyped dark. Hugo and The Artist just might cancel each other out. Which would leave The Help battling with The Descendants. Will the George Clooney factor kick in? Or will the tasty froth that is Midnight in Paris take home the gold...
Wagner’s Heroic Ring
Is this man the thinking woman's opera star? the most heroically proportioned tenor currently plying the world's Wagner circuit? or is he the Siegfried that launched the Metropolitan Opera's current Ring cycle to mega-YouTube status? Yes, yes and yes! Jay Hunter...
Getting Doon with Guest Chef – Sunday Feb. 26
Should you need another reason to swing by the Cellar Door and feast upon biodynamic vibes, Bonny Doon Vineyard wine and glamorous food, now there's David Taylor, from San Francisco's sizzling A16, who will take over the kitchen for a Winemaker Dinner, Sunday Feb. 26...