Burrata with crostini. It doesn't get any better than that. Unless you add a lovely farmer's market pasta and a cute date. Here's one (the pasta, not the date) with plenty of garlic sauteed in olive oil mixed with cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and some lemon zest and juice thrown in for a little zing.
SF Chefs Food Wine was such an exciting event for me! I got to meet and interview such an array of amazing food and wine professionals. One of the highlights was being in the kitchen with three of the country's most renowned Asian chefs - Martin Yan (Yan Can Cook), Arnold Wong (E&O Trading Company) and Charles Phan (The Slanted Door). We laughed and laughed and they fed me!
I couldn't live without eggs (my favorite comfort food is eggs, white rice and black beans, anytime of the day) and I loved Food Network and PBS' Sara Moulton even more when she said she can't either. Check out Tyler Florence and Sara as they gab about food at home.
One of the highlights of SF Chefs Food Wine for me was getting to interview The French Laundry's Thomas Keller, my chef crush. I'll show you that video in the weeks to come, but for now, check out his tips on running a successful restaurant.
I bought a plane ticket two Saturdays ago for the next day to fly to Salt Lake City. Sure I went for my friends, but I'll admit I also went for the food. Tulie Bakery is nearly worth the trip. Something about their sandwiches are just perfection to me - the crusty bread, with impeccable ingredients, combined with bright acidic flavors. And I'm a sucker for really good ingredients warmed up into a panini (as opposed to those crummy paninis you can get at Tube stations in London...)
Try making my favorite sandwich at Tulie's - Rustic bread, sopressata, provolone, arugula dressed in fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. Heat it up in the over or in a panini maker. You'll love it.
I'll have a longer video of this amazing event, but for now here's some fun footage from the SF Chefs Food Wine "As Seen on TV" Cook Off. Food Network's Michael Chiarello (and contestant on Bravo's Top Chef Masters) hosted it between Chris Cosentino from Food Network's Next Iron Chef and Jamie Lauren from Bravo's Top Chef. Here's a little bit of their banter on spoons...Tyler Florence, Hubert Keller and Sara Moulton were judges and make guest appearances. Stay tuned for the results! Who do you think won?
I'm really excited about covering SF Chefs. Food. Wine August 6-9. It promises to be an amazing celebration of SF gastronomy. As part of that, I interviewed Top Chef's Jamie Lauren, executive chef of Absinthe. She's feisty, funny and fed me - what more could I ask for?
The last week has been a total food orgy. From oysters at Drakes Bay to sashimi from Tokyo Fish Market in Berkeley, to one of the best wine country lunches I've ever had, I was feeling very lucky. Then I decided to hop on a plane to Park City, Utah to join friends for an impromptu Indian BBQ. I've loved every minute of it (except the 6 hours I spent delayed in SFO.)
Stay tuned for videos from singing (not me, thankfully!) at Wente Vineyards and an interview I did with Jaston Berthold of Michael Mina's RN74.
Some of my first memories are of food. Those and the new food and wine memories that I make keep me happy, make me laugh and make me feel connected. Through sharing food and wine I feel most myself and most alive and my hope is that you feel that too. I'm originally from NY, but I'm a West Coast transplant and I like to think I have the best of both coasts in me. That means I love bagels and avocados, lobsters and oysters, and wine from…well wine from just about everywhere.
