Tag Archives: wine country

kenwood dining-feature

Kenwood Inn Chef Says ‘See Ya’ to Gordon Ramsey, Hello to Sonoma

by careysweet4 months ago in Food.0 Comments

There’s London. There’s New York. Then, there’s Sonoma, and when the choice came to down to it for a chef used to working in the world’s best Michelin Star restaurants, the decision was easy. Sonoma rules. That’s why Chef Steven Snook has just taken over the kitchen at Kenwood Inn & Spa, direct from six years of sweating in the {…}

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Ring in the New Year with Sparkling Korbel Champagne

by jamesknight4 months ago in Wine of the Week.0 Comments

Many times I’ve been an advocate for the go-for-broke approach to New Year’s Eve festivities, but after the holiday shopping has been done, many of us find ourselves, well, broke. Fortunately, few people sweat the bubbly, as long as it goes “pop,” and a cheap bottle grabbed on the way to the party usually does the trick. But is there {…}

Find out how to make this delicious Northern California favorite, cioppino.

You’ve Got Your Crab, So Make Cioppino

by careysweet4 months ago in Recipes.1 Comment

Many Sonoma seafood purveyors offer advice on how to enjoy crab. At G&G Markets, for example, the butchers can recommend one-stop shopping for customers to pick up simple dips of Crosse & Blackwell cocktail sauce, lemons, butter and pepper, or artichoke jalapeño dip from the deli. The staff at Spud Point Crab Company will detail the simple process of humanely {…}

feature

Hark! Sonoma County’s Crab Season Opens

by careysweet4 months ago in Food.0 Comments

The Season Begins with Fresh Crabs Crawling Your Way We wait for it all year long, and finally, it’s here – the highly anticipated Dungeness crab season has arrived. These large, hard-shell crabs are a true Northern California specialty, renowned for their sweet flavor and pink, flaky meat, and are considered a delicacy among all seafood connoisseurs. Crab is a {…}

The Latin Symbol for Cancer

Why is it Crab?

by careysweet4 months ago in Insiders Guide.1 Comment

You say a word enough times, and sometimes suddenly, it doesn’t make sense anymore. What makes crab, well, crab? And specifically, Dungeness? There are more than 4,400 varieties of crabs in the world. The Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus Magister (formerly Cancer Magister), is a species that inhabits eelgrass beds and water bottoms on the west coast of North America. Its common {…}

Gloria_beautypic

Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvée 2004

by jamesknight4 months ago in Wine of the Week.1 Comment

Pop the Sparkling Wine Before New Year’s Eve You’ll notice that wine scribes everywhere are keen to advocate the wider use of sparkling wine, and perennially decry the narrow notion that it’s only a once-a-year kind of treat. You’ll also notice that at year’s end, they suck it up and churn out the obligatory “sparkling wine for New Year’s Eve!” {…}

farmhouse inn

Holiday Deal: $11 Dinner at Michelin-Star Farmhouse

by careysweet4 months ago in Food.0 Comments

Make Your Reservations Now December is a time of gift giving, and how nice – the lovely people at Farmhouse Inn of Forestville have come up with a very, very special gift for us all. In honor of the boutique hotel and restaurant’s 11th anniversary, owners and siblings Joe and Catherine Bartolomei are putting a bow on one of the {…}

feature

Sonoma County bubblies sparkle for holidays

by careysweet5 months ago in Insiders Guide.2 Comments

Bring on Beautiful Bubblies for the Holiday Season Cheers. Salut. Skál. Whether your language is English, Spanish or Icelandic, the holidays are when everyone brings forth their best spirits in wholesome toasts to friends, family, health and, hopefully for 2012, wealth. And what goes best with a toast? Sparkling wine, indeed. So put some extra sparkle in your holidays with {…}

Go Retro for Your Sonoma County Wedding

by careysweet5 months ago in Insiders Guide.2 Comments

How About a Mad Men-Marvelous Marriage? Remember the days of jumbo shrimp cocktails, thick New York steaks served with a loaded baked potato, and a good, stiff Manhattan? Then, lighter meals came into vogue, with pan-seared fish, steamed broccoli, and an iced tea. Well. That’s good for every day healthy dining, certainly, but for a most memorable wedding, how about {…}

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Truett Hurst Winery shows off Biodynamic roots

by jamesknight5 months ago in Tasting Rooms, Wine of the Week.0 Comments

While organic and Biodynamic farming is still perceived by some as a risky endeavor, who would have thought that the challenges would include belligerent sheep? When one of Truett Hurst Winery’s sheep – normally a docile sort – went errant in the parking lot, and decided that a visitor’s Lexus was its blood enemy, it went on the attack. Presumably {…}