Food and Wine

Lollapalooza day one: Radiohead, Cat Power, Duffy, Gogol, rock-wine pairings

I was somewhere around the Loop on the LSD when the hangover began to take hold…All photos by K. Tighe. By K. Tighe For concert attendees, Lollapalooza doesn't start until Friday morning, Aug. 1, but for intrepid journalists and their diligent plus-ones, there are kickoff parties, sponsor events, and Chinese dinners that all lead up to the main event. Thursday afternoon, I found myself in the Crystal Ballroom of the Blackstone Hotel, listening to a Sonoma winemaker attempt to explain about th...

Titus Vineyards 2006 Napa Valley Zinfandel

[Wine Spies: Today's Deal] If you are looking to impress with a great dinner wine, this Zinfandel is a sure winner. Its big and bold flavors and aromas make it a pleasure to drink, and its acidity make it a perfect food wine.

Bay Area Urban Wine Experience Tasting: August 9th, Oakland

Wine country means a lot of things in California, a state with winegrowing regions stretching most of its 800 mile length. For most residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, we tend to think of Wine Country as Napa or Sonoma. Increasingly, however, wine country must also include the East Bay. The cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda are now home to dozens of "Urban" wineries that are producing some of California's most sought-after wines. Recently united by an organization known as the East B...

Slow Food San Diego's Stagecoach Days Dinner

Our colleagues at Slow Food San Diego have asked us to share an announcement with Slow Food Los Angeles members and friends for the upcoming Stagecoach Days Dinner, a candlelight dinner celebrating the food cultures of early San Diego: Slow Food San Diego invites you to the Fifth Annual Taste of Slow Food, a "Stagecoach Days Dinner": When: Saturday, August 23, 2008 from 5:00pm until 9:00pm Where: Plaza of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park (located across Congress Street from the Old Town Tr...

Thomas Keller and Hiro Sone: Umami is Good for the Soul

Thomas Keller and Hiro Sone On Monday, I attended a symposium on umami called “New Frontiers of Taste”; it was organized in honor of the 100th year anniversary of Japanese Dr. Kikunae Ikeda’s discovery of umami—which is popularly known as the fifth taste. (The others being salty, sweet, bitter and sour.) It was one of those hotel conferences that both inspired me and frustrated me. Five academics—including master of wine Tim Hanni, Gary Beauchamp, the director of the Monell Chemical Se...

Bailout of Napa wine shrine flawed; Copia was broke and had violated tax rules

A tiny state-owned bank last year approved a $77 million bailout of Copia, a Napa Valley wine and food museum, even though the nonprofit was insolvent and facing penalties for breaching federal tax rules. The atrium at Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts offers sweeping views of the Napa Valley. The 80,000-square-foot center was built with a $20 million gift from the late Robert Mondavi and a $70 million bond offering facilitated by I-Bank. But despite its rich offerings and a...

All I want to do is make some money and bring you home some wine Raymond Douglas Davies

Click images for desktop size: "Its All Grey" by Jakob P I didn't go out looking for money yesterday. Probably a good thing. My blood sugar dropped below 2. It's supposed to not fall any lower than 4 and never any higher than 10. So too is hyperglycemic pass out time. I put it down to too much exercise, too much sweat. I found some chocolate coated coffee beans in the fridge (what kind of impoverished people have chocolate covered coffee beans in the fridge?) and a few of those stopped the black...

I Can't Believe It's Not Paint Thinner Vol. 4

This week we're drinking Richards (sic) Wild Irish Rose Wild Green Apple. It's a fortified wine the color of Skin Bracer, the aftershave made famous by Jack Palance. Yummers!

Visit to Sweet Revenge, 62 Carmine, on their third day

On Sunday evening, I went with my friends Matt and Desiree to the just-opened (on July 11th) Sweet Revenge at 62 Carmine Street. All photos by Rachel Kramer Bussel. See my entire photo set here. It is much more than just a bakery; it's more akin to a wine bar or cafe, and focuses on desserts, including plenty of cupcakes, as well as savory baked goods (perhaps to appease people like the guy who walked in and demanded, "Do you have any real food? Like meat?"). We tried all four cupcakes on offer ...

South Africa to Launch Wine and Food Carbon Footprint Study

Research into the carbon footprint of the South African fruit and wine industry will enable it to better understand its impact on the environment, a United Kingdom government minister said on Monday, July 7, 2008. Launching "groundbreaking" research into the carbon footprint of South African fruit and wine exports, Trade and Development Minister Gareth Thomas said the scheme would enable the food industry and its consumers to understand more about the effect of goods bought on climate change. He...