When:

Saturday, Feb. 11

Where:

The Bistro

1001 B St
Hayward, CA 94541
(510) 886-8525

$25 (includes commemorative glass and 5 taste tickets)

http://www.sfbeerweek.org/schedule?day=2012-02-11&region=All

Internationally acclaimed Double IPA Fest. The original kickoff of SFBEERWEEK, street fest with over 75 beers on tap. A new yet to be recognized beer style will also be judged this year ( Triple IPA ) aka Pliny the Younger , Dogfish 120 minute to name a few. Brewers will be stepping up for this challenge. Live music, cheese tastings, BBQ and more.

Winter Kraftbrew will be in the Landmark Ballroom at the San Jose Women’s Club. We will be pouring some fantastic Winter Spiced Ales, Porters and Stouts. Delicious menu to be provided by Naglee Park Garage. Come by for some excellent brew…s, live music, and good food.

Address: 75 S 11th Street, San Jose CA, 95112
Event Date: January 28th, 2012
Hours: 3pm-9pm
FREE admission – just pay to taste!

The food:
Ale poached smoked brat & polish dog $5
Cocoa braised beef stew $9
Dark Strong Ale braised pork ribs $8
Beet & green bean salad $5
Home Fries w/ smoked porter ketchup $5
Winter vegetable lasagne $9

Prices for beer will vary:
Beer Tastes range $2/$3
Full Beer range $4/$6

The beers:

American Ales

Alaskan Brewing Co. – Juneau, AK Winter – Ale “Old Ale “ ABV6.4% DBI
Allagash Brewing Co. – Portland, MN – Black “Belgian Strong Ale” ABV 7.5% WW
Bison Brewing Co.- Berkeley, CA. – Organic Ginger Bread Ale “Herbed/Spiced Beer” ABV 6.0% CI
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery – Milton, DE – Punkin Ale “Pumpkin Ale” ABV 7.0% DBI
North Coast Brewing Co. – Fort Bragg, CA Old Stock Ale “Old Ale” ABV 11.7% WW
Uinta Brewing Co. – Salt Lake City, UT – Dubhe Imperial Black IPA “American Black Ale” ABV 9.2% WW
Port Brewing Co. – San Marcos, Ca – Old Vicosity Dark Strong Ale “American Double/Imperial Stout” ABV 10.0% WW
Mission Brewery – San Diego, Ca. Shipwrecked Double IPA “American Double/Imperial Ipa

ABV 9.25%WW
The Bruery – Placentia, CA – Mischief “Strong Golden Ale” ABV8.5% WW

American Porters

Alaskan Brewing Co. – Juneau, AK – Smoked Porter “American Porter” ABV 6.5% DBI
Deschutes Brewing Co. – Bend, Or. – Black Butte Porter “American Porter” ABV 5.2% DBI
Rogue Ales – Newport, Or. – Mocha Porter “American Porter” ABV5.3% CI
Stone Brewing Co. – Escondido, Ca. – Stone Smoked Porter “American Porter” ABV 5.9% DBI

American Stouts

Anderson Valley Brewing Co. – Boonville, CA – Barny Flats “Oatmeal Stout” ABV 5.7% WW
Bison Brewing Co.- Berkeley, Ca. Organic Chocolate Stout “American Stout” ABV 5.0% CI
Drakes Brewing Co. – San Leandro, Ca.Drakonic Russian Imperial Stout “Russian Stout” ABV 8.75%CI
Rogue Ales – Newport, Or. – Chocolate Stout “American Stout” ABV 6% CI
Stone Brewing Co. – Escondido, Ca Stone Imperial Russian Stout ABV10.5% DBI

Belgian & Friends
Bieres De Chimay – Belgium – Grand Reserve Blue Belgian Strong Dark Ale
9.00% ABV WW
Brasserie De Saint-Sylvestre – France – Biere De Garde ”Red Ale” ABV 8.5%
Brasserie Huyghe – Belgium – Delirium Nocturnum Belgian Strong Dark Ale
8.50% ABV WW
Brasserie ST. Feuillien – Belgium – St. Feuillien “Belgian Strong Dark Ale”ABV 9% CI
Brouwerij De Landtsheer NV – Belgium – Malheur 12 Ale “Quadrupel” ABV 12% WW
Eggenberger Brewery – Austria – Samichlaus “Dark Doppelbock” ABV 14% WW
Harviestoun Brewery – Scotland – Old Engine Oil “English Porter” ABV 6% WW
Unibroue– Chambly, Canada – Chambly Noire “Belgian Dark Ale” ABV 6.2% WW

For Chinese New Year in South Bay you have to make a stop by Cupertino Village. I have to admit right off the bat that I am not a Dim Sum expert.  However, my friend, originally from Singapore, knows Asian food in the Bay Area and has taken me to Joy Luck Palace (Cantonese) for Dim Sum (on weekdays) for the past two years to celebrate the Chinese New Year.  There is a lot of variety and I’ve always found it to be tasty. This year I made a new tradition and that is to eat a chicken foot (not pickled) and it was pretty good!

After lunch/brunch, walk around and buy jasmine tea at Ten Ren and bubble tea or a green mango smoothie at Fantasia.  Pick up Chinese New Year Candy and Mooncakes from Sheng Kee Bakery.  Then, with your Chinese New Year shopping list in hand, stop by 99 Ranch Market and pick up everything you need. Mandarin oranges are the most popular and most abundant fruit during Chinese New Year so don’t forget to pick some up at 99 Ranch Market.

Everyone goes crazy over the parking at Cupertino Village on yelp.  If you go during the week just make sure it is after lunch (but at least by 2pm to be able to eat at Joy Luck Place which closes for lunch at 2:30pm), it is much easier to park but at that point, remember, they are starting to have fewer Dim Sum choices.

• 99 Ranch Market • Asian Groceries
  
• Joy Luck Palace • Dim Sum (busy on weekends)
  
• Fantasia • Pearl Tea Drinks (mango smoothie)
• Ten Ren • Boba Milk Tea (Bubble Tea/Pearl Milk Tea)
  
• Sheng Kee Bakery • Chinese Bakery (for Candy & Mooncakes /yue bing)

(408) 255-6988

• Carnitas and the Chips and Salsa bar.

There is really not much more to say here.

But, I will say more … with so many taquerias in the area, each being good for different reasons, we never had a reason to stop in to Los Pericos.  LP is an unassuming spot often filled with college students, young families, and sometimes a random homeless person. We now frequent Pericos to eat their tasty carnitas on nachos, in burritos, on salads, you name it.   We also appreciate their chips bar with tasty salsa varieties (see photos).  I don’t fill up the tiny cups,  I put the salsas all together in the paper chips basket.

• $3.25 bottles of beer
• Large, long tables for groups, we’ve eaten at LP with ten before

Give the chef a nod and he just might hook you up with extra meat, for real!

139 Water St
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

(831) 469-7685

1. Verve Coffee – for someone who LOVES coffee, get them the exceptional – Kenya Karatu $23.40 OR a 3-6 month subscription.
2. el Salchichero Charcuterie Butcher for fixings for a Cheese & Charcuterie Platter - in Santa Cruz on Swift Street. Persimmon Mostarda - Emperor Norton Canning Company (savory-tangy-sweet flavor) OR other canned goodies for a Charcuterie Meat & Cheese Tray with all the trimmings. House Made Curry Raisins – made at el Salchichero Chacuterie Butcher
3. Friend in Cheeses Jam Company - “Chow Chow”, “Pinot Cherries,” “Carrot Marmalade,” “Forbidden Fruit Marmalade,” “Fig Fennel Jam,” and “Spring Onion Jam” that you can buy in Santa Cruz at New Leaf, Shopper’s Corner, Staff of Life, Hay Market (Willow Glen) … or order online for $8 a jar.              For suggested pairings from owner Tabitha, – see here.
4. Sones Cellars-Refillable Bottle - Hedgehog Red, a petite sirah-zinfandel blend classified as a red table wine that is tapped from a tasting room barrel and sold in refillable bottles. $5 for the bottle $12 for refills ($10 for wine club members).  We tasted it yesterday and it was, yes, very tasty!
5. Santa Cruz Food Tour Tickets! ($52.50 ea. – lasts 3.5 hours, all food included)

We did a photo shoot for Santa Cruz Food Tours!  They updated their website with the photographs and it looks great!  Superb, tasty, and fun food tour with lots of Santa Cruz history too.

If you haven’t been out to a community dinner, they are a fun way to meet new folks and share in local, in-season foods.  In Santa Cruz there are two Community Dinners that I know about but have only attended one of them so far.  The photographs above are from Cellar Door’s Wednesday Night Community Table at the Swift Street Complex (3 course Prix Fix $30).  This dinner pictured above actually took place last June, hence the strawberries and peas,  but Community dinners and the first publication of the “Edible Monterey Bay” crossed my mind again this morning and I realized I should write about them.

The night that we ate at Cellar Door’s Community Table, we met a really nice couple from Carmel Valley who happened to be starting the first Edible Monterey Bay Magazine.  When you have been a tourist in other cities you may have noticed the “Edible Oakland,” “Edible Columbus,” “Edible …” so you get the point, they are in many cities in this country (actually 70 magazines are out there www.ediblecommunities.com).  When I saw my first “Edible” Magazine, I believe it was in Oakland and I was impressed with the variety of food stories featured and as a photographer was impressed with the images printed on this nice matte paper that has an earthy or organic feeling.  I realized that reading the “Edible” magazine for an area would educate me on local, more unique farm to table restaurants as well as stories on local food specialties and farmers and their own great recipes.  The “Edible Monterey Bay” magazine features local food cultures of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties, season by season.   You can pick up copies for free at these locations.

Two Community Dinners in Santa Cruz:

• Cellar Door’s Wednesday Night Community Table ($30 – 3 course meal)
  

• ---

  DIG’s Pop-Up Restaurant with Lightfoot Industries – Fridays ($35 for 5 course meal + dessert) Tickets are available online www.lightfootind.com  For questions about dinners please contact info@lightfootind.com.

If you think all there is to Santa Cruz is the beach boardwalk, you’re wrong, branch out.  Actually the boardwalk is not a first choice for a spot to spend the day down in Santa Cruz.  Of course, unless you have folks visiting from out of town who have kids. It is always fun to take the kids on the Big Dipper roller coaster or to walk out on the wharf and hear the barking animals below. Having just made that statement, let me contradict myself by telling you to check our three favorite Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk foods post!  AND, check out The Picnic Basket, a new place to grab lunch down at the Boardwalk for keepin’ it classy. It caught my eye this summer when we took our niece to get a homemade corn dog and to get jerked around for awhile on the rickety coaster.  The Picnic Basket doesn’t look like it belongs down by wharf area because it is quite tasteful looking in a retro beach kind of way, but not diner style-retro over the top.  It is owned by Penny Ice Creamery which is a great sign.  So one afternoon we finally got to stop in and get a great local El Salchichero hot dog with Farmhouse Kulture Kraut and a Santa Cruz Mountain Brew (check out their facebook page for $1 off coupon until 11/1/11 https://www.facebook.com/thepicnicbasketsc) or a Verve coffee.  They have a rotating selection from Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Santa Cruz Aleworks, Uncommon Brewers, Boulder Creek Brewing Company, Corallitos Brewing Company, Seabright Brewery, and Sante Adairius Rustic Ales (yes, all in Santa Cruz County!).   They let us have a taste of the local wine they serve and of course as we were quickly sipping, a train went by outside, nice touch.  You can still get Penny’s Ice Cream with a choice of about 9 flavors in the case. I love all of the local foods and drinks you can get at the Picnic Basket, seriously check out their tasty menu online and their fun coupon deals from FB.  PB is a healthy and tasty alternative, see their salad choices too. We are glad to have them around!

Kids, tell your parents you will let them go to The Picnic Basket if they take you to the Boardwalk.  It just might work!

The Picnic Basket tag-line says it all: Local • Artisan Food • Drinks • Coffee • Ice Cream

125 Beach Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

This is a really simple post but I wanted to feature this great BBQ Chicken Pizza by the slice that we had recently at Pleasure Pizza in Santa Cruz.  I don’t typically like chicken pizza toppings because they can be dry and bland but this is a the best I’ve tasted because of its sweet and subtle spicy flare. There are now two locations for Pleasure Pizza. They are both across the street from each other on 41st Avenue and one is a more of a sit down restaurant “East Side Eatery” and one is a pizza by the slice spot “Pleasure Pizza”.

BBQ Chicken Pizza:

• Semi Spicy BBQ Sauce
• Pepper Jack Cheese
• Red Onion
• Red & Green Bell Pepper
• Pineapple

PLEASURE PIZZA | 11AM – 10PM DAILY
BY THE SLICE • TO GO • DELIVERY
4000 PORTOLA DR. SANTA CRUZ, CA 95062
PHONE / DELIVERY: 831.475.4999

On Blame it on the Food we’ve basically gotten to the point where we just write about the places we like.  Enoteca is no exception here, we like it. One of the reasons we’ve become fond of it is because as our cousin who works in the food industry says, when the management is good in a restaurant and there is a positive vibe in the work environment, the place shines all around.  This is exactly how the environment is at Enoteca La Storia because the owners have created this and are so nice and professional and therefore so is their staff. They always seem to welcome customers and they feel bad if you have to wait for a seat.  They feel so bad that they often give you a complimentary glass of Prosecco to sip on as you wait.  Enoteca has only gotten more and more popular since the first time we visited.

I’ve actually been meaning to write about Enoteca La Storia in Los Gatos so many times in the last year but it is very dim inside in the evening and it makes it really hard to get decent photographs of the food and space. So I finally accumulated enough photographs to give you a feel for the interior and a bit of the food. It is a wine bar that serves some food and you can sit at the bar or at tables.  The backroom has some larger tables that seem like they could be reserved for larger parties. When people come into the wine bar they typically talk, eat, drink, eat a bit more and drink and hang out for extended periods. This is actually something I really like about it, you can meet friends at 8pm and hang out from there on out ordering snacks, wine, and to end, one of their really tasty desserts.

The food ranges from cheese to salumi boards (domestic and imported salumi) and crostini as well as paninis, salads and great desserts (carrot cake bites and chocolate cake with bacon bits). The majority of the food is nicely displayed and served on cutting boards.  For wine you can order half glasses, glasses, and bottles to share or flights.  We typically get a glass of wine each (or a Pliny de Elder, they often have that too), a cheese and salumi selection (Are Salumi & Charcuterie the Same Thing?) and then an awesome dessert like the chocolate cake with bacon bits on top!  If you come with at least four people the better deal is to buy a bottle (it is something like after the first bottle corkage fee, you don’t have to pay quite as much for each additional bottle).  Check it out on an upscale date night or plan to meet a couple of friends for chatting and good times.  It is kind of a bar for when you want to keep it classy, not really a hip spot so to speak but definitely not hipster – trendy maybe for the older crowd (40’s and up in age and not a kid or family spot).  On Fridays and Saturdays it can get fairly busy so keep that in mind.

416 N. Santa Cruz Ave.
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Phone: 408-625-7272
Email: info@enotecalastoria.com