Carolyn Jung FoodGal has great things to share

SMIP Ranch Produce Boxes, Giant See’s Lollypop and Julia Child 100th Birthday Dinners

Tuesday, 7. August 2012 5:25 | Author:foodgal

Produce Boxes with A Chef Pedigree

Have you lusted after the pristine fruits and veggies on your plate when you’ve dined at the Village Pub in Woodside, Spruce in San Francisco, Mayfield Bakery & Cafe in Palo Alto and Cafe des Amis in San Francisco?
Now, you can purchase the same just-picked produce that those Bacchus Management Group restaurants, which also includes Pizza Antica, use daily. It all comes from SMIP Ranch in the hills above Woodside.
SMIP, an acronym for “sic manebimus in pace, Latin for “thus we will remain in peace,” began its relationship with the restaurants in 2001. The five-acre farm adheres to sustainable practices. In fact, the oil used at the restaurants is recycled and converted into biodiesel that powers the farm equipment and delivery van.
Its bounty has grown so abundant that it can now offer produce boxes to the public each week for $28 each.
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Scenes From SF Chefs 2012

Monday, 6. August 2012 5:24 | Author:foodgal

If you spied the huge white tent pitched in the heart of San Francisco’s Union Square this past weekend, you knew it could only mean one thing:
The arrival of SF Chefs, the annual food-wine-cocktail extravaganza that celebrates the Bay Area’s home-grown culinary culture.
Top chefs, vintners, sommeliers and mixologists descended upon downtown to put on a series of special dinners, wine seminars, panel discussions, and culinary battles before setting up inside the tent to dole out gourmet eats and drinks to throngs of attendees.
Chef Joey Altman’s all-chef band, the Soul Peppers, entertained the hungry crowd.

Earlier that afternoon, the first round of the Eater Chef Challenge took place at the Westin St. Francis Hotel, pitting the team of Mark Sullivan of Spruce in San Francisco and Omri Aflalo of Bourbon Steak in San Francisco against the team of Mark Dommen of One Market Restaurant and David Bazirgan of the Fifth Floor in San Francisco. With an hour on the clock, the two teams had to incorporate lamb and Guittard chocolate into two dishes, which were presented to a panel of judges.


As the clock ticked down, the Dommen-Bazirgan team plated their lamb dish with mole flavors, along with chocolate ice cream created with liquid nitrogen. On the opposing side, Sullivan and Aflalo put up their lamb dish with a Moroccan influence, along with chocolate mousse with caramel.
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