I just made the big move from Davis (read: comfort, security, mom’s house) to Sacramento (read: new, exciting, intimidating) and my friends/roommates and I have made a pact to explore the city where we now reside. Part of this pact is to try a new restaurant or bar at least once a week. Thanks to Metro Connected , formerly known as Sacramento Young Professionals, we were able to get a taste of The Park Ultra Lounge and Mason’s restaurant last week with an event called “Vino in the Park.” It was a great way to break up the work week and meet interesting locals.
The wine tasting itself was done in the form of a game – we broke up into groups of four or five and were each poured from a ‘mystery’ bottle of wine. The rules were simple; name five characteristics of the wine and ultimately decide what varietal you tasted. Simple for the wine experts maybe! Beyond characteristics such as “fruity,” or “nutty,” I didn’t have much to bring to the table. Who knew that “blueberry pancakes” would be one of the attributes!?! Needless to say, my team did not come out on top. But it did make for a very fun evening!
If you’re anything like me, then you get all too comfortable in your home town and forget there are amazing establishments in every neighborhood just waiting to be discovered. My advice: live your life like you’re on vacation – when traveling, one would never settle for returning to the same dinner hot spot every week, so why not venture out and explore here as well! No matter how long you’ve lived in Sacramento or how well you think you know it, I guarantee you there’s more.
You can start by checking out MetroConnected events here:
Slow Food Sacramento Presents a Chocolate, Port and Coffee Tasting Soirée
Saturday February 23 – 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Old Soul Coffee Company
1716 L Street (rear alley)
$25 Slow Food Members, $30 General Public
GET TICKETS NOW
Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first. We at Slow Food Sacramento echo American writer Ernestine Ulmer’s sentiments and are pleased to partner with three local treasures: Old Soul Coffee, Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates and Bogle Winery to host an educational seminar to learn about the dynamics of chocolate, coffee and port pairings, and to meet some of our area’s finest food and beverage artisans. And, after dessert, port and coffee, why not have dinner at one of Midtown’s excellent eateries?
Image courtesy of the Sacramento Bee.
Chocolate.
Ginger Elizabeth Powers, purveyor of Ginger Elizabeth Chocolate in Midtown Sacramento, will discuss the different kind of cacao beans and the trees they come from, as well as how chocolate is made and how fine chocolate differs from regular chocolate.
See what others are saying about Ginger Elizabeth Chocolate:
Sacramento Bee
TwinSoup
Sacatomato
Vanilla Garlic
Port.
Winemaker Eric Aafedt from Bogle Vineyards and Winery in Clarksburg will share his port-making approach as well as the family’s history and winemaking style. Eric is responsible for crafting Bogle’s unique Petite Sirah Port, sourced from the Old River Vineyard, directly across Elk Slough from the Bogle homestead.
Coffee.
Jason Griest, expert coffee roaster and co-owner of the Old Soul Company, will host the educational seminar and talk about his philosophy of community, using only fair trade and organically grown beans.
Taste of COPIA
Last week I had the pleasure of finally experiencing a piece of wine country that I’ve been meaning to visit for years: COPIA, the American Center for Wine Food & the Arts, a nonprofit organization located in downtown Napa.
Fellow SacFoodie, Amy Kull, along with a small group from our San Francisco office (COPIA is a new and very exciting client for FH), came together for a day of meetings. We got to mix business with pleasure when we broke for lunch and joined the public for that day’s Taste of COPIA event.
COPIA describes these weekly lunches as “part cooking demonstration, part feast” and I would add that it contains equal part wine education with a pinch of comedy – it was a blast! Taste of COPIA is a lunch that is held every Friday and an occasional Saturday/Sunday, with a culinary theme that changes monthly. For the month of January the theme was From Here to the Next County: Sonoma.
We walked into the theatre-style room that features a beautifully staged demo kitchen. Each seat was set for a three course meal with three full wine glasses at each setting. The interactive cooking demo began with Jacquelyn Buchanan, director of culinary programs, who introduced the theme and various local ingredients that she would be using in that day’s meal. The full menu included:
- Dungeness Crab Bisque
- Cheese Tortellini with Roasted Butternut Squash, Goat-Cheese Walnut Sauce and Arugula
- Blood Orange and Campari Granita
While Jacquelyn began cooking we watched her via overhead flat panel TV screens that showed the view from cameras focused above the range. Lily Peterson, wine educator, introduced the wines and explained several different pairings that she would like us to explore during the meal. Like most of the ingredients, the wine also came from Sonoma Country: a sparkling J Cuvee 20 Brut, Landmark 2005 Overlook Chardonnay and Emeritus 2005 Pinot Noir. I was excited about the Emeritus because it was an inaugural vintage from the founder of Sonoma Cutrer: it was subtle and fruity and a fantastic complement to the walnut sauce in the main dish.
Jacquelyn prepared each dish as we were eating it; she answered questions regarding ingredient substitutions, cooking techniques, and where to find certain ingredients locally. At the same time Lily explained the wines in an approachable manner – why she chose the three varietals, how to pair wine with food, and how to identify certain characteristics in each – she also shared fun facts about the wineries themselves. Lastly, Nick Landino, the kitchen manager for Julia’s Kitchen, came on stage and prepared the Blood Orange and Campari Granita and accompanying Hazelnut Campari Biscotti while it was being served. Each attendee is given copies of the recipes to make at home. Our group loved it all: the food, wine, personalities, presentation – bravo!
Taste of COPIA is a great way to get to know wine and food and the relationship they have with each other. I can’t wait to take my next out-of-town guest, adding COPIA to the “Moravec special wine country tour.” Check here for the current month’s theme and menu; cost is $50 general/$40 member and well worth it. The theme for February is “A Mardi Gras Feast: Let the Bon Temps Roll!”
On a side note, COPIA grows ingredients in its on-site organic garden for use in the lunches, as well as in the menu at Julia’s Kitchen. It was raining the day we went, but here are a few fruit/garden shots:
This crazy-looking fruit is part of the citrus family. It smells fabulous and is called Buddha’s Hand.
Winter Citrus Fruit Bowl
10th Day of Christmas: My Day-After Christmas Dinner Disaster
As many of you know, Christmas and the holidays are a time for friends, family and food. My group of five friends and I have a close relationship: we’ve been friends for more than 10 years and have become as close as brothers. For that reason, two years ago, we decided to make our own day-after Christmas dinner, with just us guys.
There were some key differences between our meal and the traditional family sit-down. For example, football was the main attraction and we served Samuel Adams instead of wine. For our only side dish, we decided to stick to delicious Betty Crocker Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes (ready in just 20 minutes!). We also planned on serving turkey because none of us had ever cooked one before. And thanks to Sarah, Kris’s girlfriend, we had holiday decorations including a nice tablecloth and candles. She even set it all up before leaving us to cook.
Everyone arrived at Kris’s house around 1:00 – just in time for the game. We wanted to eat between 4-5, so we told Kris to put the turkey in the oven and we would worry about the rest later. At about 4:00, we started getting the mashed potatoes ready, and we told Kris to check the turkey. He took the bird out of the oven and started pushing the electronic thermometer into the turkey; he got about three inches in before he said he was having trouble.
Apparently Kris doesn’t cook meat very often because no one had passed on to him the important information that you need to defrost meat before you cook it. He just threw a completely frozen turkey in the oven! After about 15 minutes of laughing, we started wondering what else we could do. So we called Pizza Guys, and ordered three large pizzas.
So there we were, on our day-after Christmas dinner: six brothers, a nice Christmas table cloth, mashed potatoes, beer, and pepperoni pizza with the half frozen turkey still sitting on top of the oven. None of us had any complaints and we had a great time nonetheless.
This event showed me that while food is still my favorite part of holiday meals, sometimes the memories are just as good. Oh, and yes – we did light the candles.
Tucos Wine Market & Cafe, Davis
Tucos Wine Market and Café proved to be the perfect setting for good times amongst great people last weekend as a few friends and I finally found our way to the adorable restaurant and wine bar on G Street in Davis.
I’d heard the buzz surrounding Tucos from a few friends, including fellow foodie Jenna Kirkwood, who recommended it highly – so I knew it was time to see for myself. Tucos (pronounced two-coze) has been pleasing the taste buds of Davis residents since 2004 and now I know why!
We each started with a flight of choice, the perfect introduction into the unknown. If you’re into white wines, I recommend the “White Discovery” flight. For a red-favoring palate, try the “Old World Discovery.”
Of course we couldn’t leave without something to snack on, so we chose the Pradera Aged Gouda of Holland and a memorable (although I seem to have forgotten the name) Brie. The cheeses at Tucos are served in ounce-portions and come with ACME bread, oven-roasted almonds, dried fruit, sliced apple, and olive oil.
Overall, the atmosphere was delightful and the food and drinks were perfect. I will be returning at the next opportunity! Tucos can also be visited at the Davis Farmers’ Market on Wednesday nights. Click here for more information and definitely call ahead to make a reservation on weekend evenings!