Appetizers

The eye-opening check at the end of the meal seems not to be an obstacle for high-rolling foodies with a penchant for high-end restaurants.

Now the online Daily Meal - which reports on all things food and drink - has compiled its list of "The 25 Most Expensive Restaurants in America." Nine of them are in California, named here according to their rankings. Not surprisingly, most hold Michelin stars.

The No. 1 spot goes to Masa in New York City, where the average check is $1,269.

The notion of spending a bucolic day on a 200-acre walnut farm an hour's drive from Sacramento brings to mind the "unofficial anthem" of the Woodstock Music Festival of 1969. Sure, there's a connection.

"Goin' Up the Country" by Canned Heat became an international hit after Woodstock, with lyrics that include, "I'm gonna leave this city, got to get away.../Well, I'm going where the water tastes like wine.../ I'm goin' to some place where I've never been before."

Which sounds a lot like going to Back to the Farm - yes, in the country - where you'll find live entertainment, smokin' barbecue, a farmers market, pie-eating contest, games of horseshoes and a good ol' fashioned milk bottle toss. Plus: tractor and farm equipment exhibits and demonstrations.

You'll take Highway 99 north toward Yuba City, then scenic Highway 20 west to Meridian, finding Farmlan Road when you arrive.

The good times will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 2. Admission will be $5 "per wheel," so you'll pay $20 if you arrive by car, $10 if by motorcycle. Information: (916) 355-4056, www.benalishrine.org. Back to the Farm will benefit Ben Ali Shriners.

The notion of spending a bucolic day on a 200-acre walnut farm an hour's drive from Sacramento brings to mind the "unofficial anthem" of the Woodstock Music Festival of 1969. Sure, there's a connection.

"Goin' Up the Country" by Canned Heat became an international hit after Woodstock, with lyrics that include, "I'm gonna leave this city, got to get away.../Well, I'm going where the water tastes like wine.../ I'm goin' to some place where I've never been before."

Which sounds a lot like going to Back to the Farm - yes, in the country - where you'll find live entertainment, smokin' barbecue, a farmers market, pie-eating contest, games of horseshoes and a good ol' fashioned milk bottle toss. Plus: tractor and farm equipment exhibits and demonstrations.

You'll take Highway 99 north toward Yuba City, then scenic Highway 20 west to Meridian, finding Farmlan Road when you arrive.

The good times will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 2. Admission will be $5 "per wheel," so you'll pay $20 if you arrive by car, $10 if by motorcycle. Information: (916) 355-4056, www.benalishrine.org. Back to the Farm will benefit Ben Ali Shriners.

The notion of spending a bucolic day on a 200-acre walnut farm an hour's drive from Sacramento brings to mind the "unofficial anthem" of the Woodstock Music Festival of 1969. Sure, there's a connection.

"Goin' Up the Country" by Canned Heat became an international hit after Woodstock, with lyrics that include, "I'm gonna leave this city, got to get away.../Well, I'm going where the water tastes like wine.../ I'm goin' to some place where I've never been before."

Which sounds a lot like going to Back to the Farm - yes, in the country - where you'll find live entertainment, smokin' barbecue, a farmers market, pie-eating contest, games of horseshoes and a good ol' fashioned milk bottle toss. Plus: tractor and farm equipment exhibits and demonstrations.

You'll take Highway 99 north toward Yuba City, then scenic Highway 20 west to Meridian, finding Farmlan Road when you arrive.

The good times will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 2. Admission will be $5 "per wheel," so you'll pay $20 if you arrive by car, $10 if by motorcycle. Information: (916) 355-4056, www.benalishrine.org. Back to the Farm will benefit Ben Ali Shriners.

Most restaurants have signature dishes. If Sacramento has a signature restaurateur, it's the pioneering Randy Paragary.

The "corporate menu" of the Paragary Restaurant Group includes Paragary's Bar & Oven, Esquire Grill, Centro Cocina Mexicana and Spataro. Add to the list four Cafe Bernardos, the newest one opening a couple of weeks ago downtown along the K Street mall. It's serving breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekends. Its menus offer more choices than its three siblings' menus.

The new cafe is inside the converted former site of Paragary's Cosmo Cafe. It closed in December because it didn't "resonate" with the cabaret crowd that frequents the neighboring bars and nightclubs, Paragary said in December.

It's not too early to plan for a road trip to Monterey for the 11th annual Monterey Beer Festival, 12:30 to 5 p.m. at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairgrounds Road. Tickets are still available, but maybe not for long, said event organizers.

Three beer wagons will be on site, pouring gallons of draft suds. Deschutes Woody Wagon (pictured), Ninkasi Adventure Wagon and English Ales Beer Wagon will be joined by the Bruvado Beer Truck. Plus, more than 80 breweries will offer hundreds of beer and ciders from 15 countries.

Five-time All Star Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas, the super-slugging first baseman/designated hitter for the Chicago White Sox in the 1990s, will emcee the event. This will be the California debut of his new Big Hurt beer brand.

Dozens of vendors will be on hand with long menus of eats, from bratwurst to fish. Sip and sample while several local bands take turns on the stage.

General admission is $40, with VIP ticketing at $60. You must be 21 years old to attend. To buy tickets and for more information, go to www.nightthatneverends.com/brew_with_a_view.html.

The local festival season continues with the upcoming 10th annual Taste of Carmichael. Restaurants, bakeries and wineries will offer tastings, with a backdrop of live music, art, and a vintage- and classic-car show. Don't overlook the raffles and silent auctions.

Taste will be from 4:30 to 8 p.m. May 19 at La Sierra Community Center, 5325 Engle Road, Carmichael. Tickets are $35 at the door or in advance at (916) 481-0196.

The candy-centric folks at the Nestlé company have teamed with Girl Scouts of America to "reinvent" the iconic Girl Scout cookie as the Nestlé Crunch Girl Scout Candy Bar. The three flavors will be dark chocolate-covered Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Crème and Caramel & Coconut. Anticipated sales are through the roof.

The bars (and boxes of Crunch pieces) will be sold nationwide from June through September in stores that usually sell Crunch bars. However, on Wednesday there will be a pre-sale during which the curious can buy the candy at www.facebook.com/nestlecrunch "while supplies last."

There's more:

Get you 'cue hunger on - the barbecue season has begun, and cook-offs are a part of it.

For starters, the inaugural Smoke & Fire BBQ Cook-Off will feature cookers from eight Sacramento fire station teams, whose labors of love will be judged in the tri-tip and pork rib categories, followed by an awards ceremony. The public will be the ultimate winner, of course.

Cost is $5 for tastings and $5 for a full lunch plate. Also, look for a display of antique firetrucks, a beer garden, live music, and demonstrations by the DART rescue team.

The smokin' event will be noon to 4 p.m. May 20 at Acacia Hall, 1803 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento; (916) 923-6200, www.smokeandfirecookoff.com.

Smoke & Fire will benefit the Sacramento City Fire Volunteer Reserves. Co-sponsored by the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership.

When the Oak Park Farmers Market opens Saturday, it will be in a new venue - McClatchy Park, 3500 5th Ave., Sacramento. On opening day, tickets to the May 12 Jubilee Farm Pig Roast will be sold and given away.

About that upcoming pig-out: Chef Brad Cecchi of the Grange restaurant and his crew will roast two whole Berkshire pigs, a sight to behold. The lunch menu will include salt-roasted pork, grilled pork ribs, roasted porchetta, sausages, and chicken (cooked inside the pigs), with side dishes.

The market will open at 9 a.m., with lunch starting at 1 p.m., accompanied by live music and activities for children.

Tickets are $25 general admission, $50 for VIP and $65 for a "family pack" (two adults and two children). Information: (916) 304-3276, www.jubileefarmca.com.

As good (and getting better) as the Sacramento dining scene is, it's fair to say that San Francisco is one of the world's great dining destinations, full of world-class restaurants.

Which leads to the news that reservations are now being taken for "Dine About Town San Francisco," in which 111 restaurants will feature two-course lunch deals for $17.95 and/or three-course dinner specials for $34.95. Those price points "can represent up to a 25 percent saving," said Joe D'Alessandro, president and CEO of the San Francisco Travel.

"Dine About Town" will be June 1-15. To reserve a spot and see the list of participating restaurants, go to www.sanfrancisco.travel/dine/dine-about-town. For more information: (415) 391-2000.

Party time is coming to the Fountains center in Roseville on Thursday, in the form of the second annual Mikuni Japanese Street Festival.

Look for martial-arts demonstrations, taiko drumming, dance performances, oragami and other activities for children - and a Honda Fit car giveaway (the finalists have already been chosen).

Food will also play a big role, of course, as the Mikuni Sushi Bus will be on hand to sell sushi rolls and green tea smoothies.

Information: www.mikunisushi.com.

OK, moms and moms-to-be - here's a shout-out from the Green Boheme restaurant, which specializes in "organic, raw, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free (dishes)."

Chef Brooke Preston has created a dish specifically for expectant mothers - "birthberry pie," which, she says, is "packed with nutrition and antioxidants." Ingredients include coconut, coconut oil, blueberries, cashews and dates.

The pie will debut on Mother's Day at Green Boheme, where moms and soon-to-be moms will get 25 percent off the $7.50 price.

Meanwhile, join chef Preston at 6 p.m. Wednesday for her culinary class that will teach how to make birthberry pie at home. Cost is $10, or watch the streaming version for free at the restaurant's Facebook page, www.facebook.com/thegreenboheme.

Green Boheme will serve a full menu on Mother's Day, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The restaurant is at 1825 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento; (916) 920-4278.

Your family and friends go wild when you prepare your special chicken dish from your super-secret recipe. If that's a close scenario in your cooking life, maybe you should get in line for the $10,000 grand prize (plus a year's supply of chicken) in the third annual Foster Farms Fresh Chicken Cooking Contest.

The competition is open to "home, amateur and professional chefs in California, Oregon and Washington." One of the rules: Recipes must reflect the "fresh ingredients grown on the West Coast." Entry deadline is June 3.

After the preliminary rounds, six finalists will compete for the top spot on Sept. 28 at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena.

For the rules: www.fosterfarms.com/cookingcontest. To see last year's recipes, visit the company's new Pinterest virtual pinboard page: http://pinterest.com/fosterfarmsca.

There are three ways to enter the contest: online at www.fosterfarms.com/cookingcontest; via email at cookingcontest@fosterfarms.com; and by snail mail at Foster Farms, c/o Cooking Contest, P.O. Box 306, Livingston, CA 95334. For still more info, Foster Farms has Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The Johnsonville Big Taste Grill gets around, having made appearances at the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, the Kentucky Derby, even the Pentagon.

It sure won't fit in your back yard, but it is coming to our area to host what could be the biggest tailgate parties ever.

The world's largest touring grill was built by the Johnsonville Sausage Co. of Wisconsin in 1995 to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Now three Godzilla-size grills tour the country, cooking and selling bratwurst to raise money for local and national charities - $3 million so far.

The grill's numbers are impressive:
- Weight: 53,000 pounds. Diameter: six feet. Height: 20 feet. Length: 65 feet.
- The lid weighs 6,000 pounds.
- Grilling power is 440,000 BTUs.
- The onboard refrigerator stores 1,000 pounds of brats.
- The grill cooks 750 brats at once - about 2,500 per hour.

If you think you can handle all that, here's the Big Taste Grill's schedule of upcoming events:

May 12-13: The grill will be smokin' at the Roseville Berry Fest, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Placer County Fairgrounds, 800 All American City Blvd.; (916) 786-2023.

May 15: Safeway supermarket, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 8640 Sierra College Blvd., Roseville; (916) 783-2225.

May 17: Food Maxx, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., 1845 Countryside Drive, Turlock; (209) 632-0825.

May 19-20: Galt Strawberry Festival, 10 a.m. 8 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., respectively, 900 Carolina Ave., Galt; (209) 745-2529.

For more information about the Johnsonville Big Taste Grill, go to www.johnsonville.com. While you're at the website, check out the rules to enter the No Ordinary Burger Contest, good for $10,000.

Most of us don't know beans about fasolada, but that's about to change.

Recipes vary, but fasolada is a fragrant soup of white beans, veggies and olive oil, known in certain quarters as the national dish of Greece.

A fasolada cookoff will be part of the spring festival at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, noon to 6 p.m. Saturday. The $6 ticket price includes a "tasting kit" and ballots for tasters to vote for their favorite fasolada from 1 to 4 p.m. Think "people's choice."

The fest also will feature other traditional Greek foods and beverages, backgammon tournament, raffles, a silent auction and more. Information: (916) 682-9243.

Much debate swirls around what licorice candy really is. Are Red Vines and Twizzlers really licorice? What about the licorice inside Good & Plenty? How about those pinwheel-shaped licorice wheels at Snooks Candies? What about Nibs?

Now adding to the national discussion is a new product by Welch's - the juice folks - which has teamed with Frankford Candy. Filled Licorice comes in strawberry and Concord grape flavors ($1.59 for a 3-1/2-ounce package). They call it "a fun innovation. (It) combines a soft licorice outside with a flavorful (gel) filling inside... made with real fruit juice."

Well... We rounded up a panel of tasters for their comments:

"

It's the season for Sunday brunch on outdoor patios, so we stopped by Fabian's Italian Bistro yesterday to cruise the new menu items.

Last year, the restaurant debuted its brunch with a menu devised by husband-wife owners Christian and Mercedes Forte, and chef Tom Patterson. The three consulted again this year and made some interesting tweaks.

New to the lineup are a farmers market omelet (fresh veggies and goat cheese), applewood-smoked salmon (cooked in a smoker in back of the restaurant), frittata Bolognese (scrambled eggs with meat sauce), and seared flatiron steak 'n' eggs (with tomato arugula butter).

Hmmm. Wait a minute, what's this? A "breakfast burger," described this way: "Hand-formed Angus patty, soft fried egg, applewood-smoked bacon, spicy aioli, tomato jam (on a) bun (with) sliced fries" ($8.95).

Ours soon arrived, looking great on the plate (pictured here). The sandwich was well-balanced, the beef juicy, the bacon smoky, the tomato jam and aioli adding nice dashes of sweet 'n' heat flavors. The hand-cut russet potatoes were creamy and addictive, thanks to the sweet 'n' salty seasoning.

For more brunch destinations, look for Blair Anthony Robertson's round-up of Mother's Day brunch destinations, coming Sunday in the Bee's A&E section.

Meanwhile, Fabian's Sunday brunch is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 11755 Fair Oaks Blvd. in the Almond Orchard center, Fair Oaks; (916) 536-9891, www.fabiansitalianbistro.com.

Some whisky isn't just whisky. Over the past 20 years or so, fine bourbons have become the American versions of French cognacs. Imbibers of high-end bourbons have been advised to sip them slowly, savoring their complex characteristics.

Kentucky is the birthplace of bourbon, declared by Congress in 1964 as "America's only native spirit." As much as bourbon connoisseurs love the fiery, amber-colored liquid, it's not likely that many of them will make the pilgrimage to Kentucky's bourbon country to tour the distilleries.

Perhaps the next best thing is "The Kentucky Bourbon Experience: A Visual Tour of Kentucky's Bourbon Distilleries," with informative text and dramatic photographs by Leon Howlett (Acclaim, $39.95, 192 pages).

Inside, we tour eight bourbon distilleries and get to know their heritages and bourbon-making techniques. Professional photographer Howlett adds drama with striking photos of the countryside surrounding the distilleries. This is a fine visual cocktail.

The bourbon-makers covered in the book are Barton, Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve. Cheers.

More information: www.bourbonexperience.com.

Back in 1879, the Royal Dirkzwager Distillery in Schiedam, Holland, decided to name its vodka after Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890).

As time passed, the family-owned distiller began specializing in flavored vodkas - from acai-blueberry to wild apple, 21 in all. It's especially known for its Dutch chocolate-infused vodka.

Recently, the company was inspired by a classic American sandwich - peanut butter and jelly - for its newest flavor, PB&J ($27).

That flavor profile struck us as ... well, odd. So we held an informal tasting. Hmmm. Smells like peanuts. Tastes like raspberry jelly with peanut butter. If you're a fan of the PB&J sandwich, this one could be for you. More information: www.vangoghvodka.com.

Meanwhile, Van Gogh send over a recipe:

Michelin star-holding chef Thomas Keller is one busy restaurateur, overseeing the French Laundry, Bouchon and Ad Hoc in Yountville, and Per Se in New York City.

So it was a pleasant surprise to see him take time to be interviewed by the online Daily Meal as part of its "At the Chef's Table" series. The Daily Meal reports on all things food and drink, and its newly launched video-interview program is a welcome addition to the site.

For part one of the four-part interview with chef Keller, go to www.thedailymeal.com/video/related/454. The other three parts will be posted in coming weeks.

Try this soundbite from Chef Keller: "I really got involved in cooking through my previous job, which was washing dishes. I think there's so much value in that job - organization, efficiency, feedback, teamwork, repetition and rituals. It's exactly what a cook does. And so that act of washing dishes really set the stage for me to become a really good cook."

Bee staff photograph by Randy Pench

Two chauffeur-driven Rolls Royces stop next to each other at an intersection. The passengers in the backseats of both cars are eating lunch. The men are dressed in suits and ties.

The dashing gent in the white Rolls leans out the car window and asks the distinguished-looking man in the tan Rolls, "Pardon me. Would you have any Grey Poupon?"
"But of course," the man replies in a French accent, handing over a jar.
Voiceover: "The finer things in life... Happily, some are affordable."

That iconic 1980s TV commercial helped raise America's consciousness about mustard from the city of Dijon in the Burgundy region of France, the mustard capital of the world. Misguidedly, many Americans are still stuck on good 'ol ballpark mustard.

It's time to move on with two luscious Dijon mustards from Reine de Dijon, condiment-makers since 1840 - a traditional yellow, and that same mustard spiked with red pepper and tomato. Find them at Corti Bros. Market, 5810 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento, (916) 736-3800. They're $3.99 each in seven-ounce jars.

The 3,600-unit Arby's restaurant chain specializes in roast beef sandwiches. "Roast beef" as in "R.B." as in "Arby," get it?

It's also known for curly fries. In a special "tax relief" deal, it's offering a free "value size" order of those fries on April 17 (while they last), along with the chance to win $5,000.

To print a special coupon, go to www.Facebook.com/Arbys.

The 62-unit Chevys Fresh Mex restaurant chain has made some changes to its operation, trying to return to its roots in search of the elusive ingredients that made it such a hit in bygone years.

Its pilot program of reinvention was announced in February - new menus, extended happy hours, updated music playlists, exhibition prep kitchens, even new uniforms for the staff.

We'll be having lunch at a Chevys soon, for a review in the "Counter Culture" column in an upcoming Friday Ticket section.

Meanwhile, with tax deadline looming, a few specials will be happening during "Taste of Tax Relief" weekend:

Bee photograph by Randy Pench

Let's see, we have peanuts, we have almonds, we have dark chocolate. We have crunch, we have protein, we have sweet, we have savory. What we don't have is calorie-guilt.

The granola-centric folks at Nature Valley have a new product - the straightforwardly named Protein Chewy Bars. They come in two flavors - peanut/almond/dark chocolate, and peanut butter/dark chocolate.

For endorsement, Nature Valley is the "official natural energy source" sponsor of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. For the rest of us, a box of five bars is $3.89 at supermarkets and big-box stores. More information: www.naturevalley.com.

We conducted a taste test of the new bars, rounding up the usual suspects, starting with me:

Last Triple A baseball season, the 700,000 hungry fans who flocked to Raley Field to watch the Sacramento River Cats were abuzz over a novelty item that wouldn't be out of place at the state fair. It was a bacon cheeseburger wedged between two glazed doughnuts (pictured; photograph by Andy Alfaro). Yikes!

That item is back this year, along with other returning favorites and a few new dishes, said executive chef Ryan Curry of Ovations Food Services, the concessions vendor.

Returning will be the chicken strip basket with fries, Ceasar salad, tostadas salad, tri-tip sandwich, pork ribs, garlic fries and the iconic Dinger Dog, to name a few.

Ovations switched from Alpine-brand dogs and sausages (bratwurst, hot link, Polish) to the Wienerschnitzel brand. Gone is Straw Hat pizza, replaced by Round Table.

"My brother Sam and I went out fishing in Alaska with Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand," restaurateur Dominic Mercurio was saying on the phone earlier today. "Those guys are nuts! Waves were breaking over their (113-foot crabbing boat) Time Bandit. During the trip I taught them how to make pizza - I barbecued it."

Mercurio is the owner of Cafe Fina and Domenico's restaurants on Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey. The Hillstrand brothers are among the stars of the reality-TV show "Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel. It documents the fishermen who go out in 60-foot seas to harvest Alaskan king crabs in the Bering Sea.

The three are planning an over-the-top "Deadliest Catch" king crab feast at Cafe Fina later this month (details coming soon).

Meanwhile, Mercurio bought the last of the season's Alaskan blue king crab from the Hillstrands and is serving it at both restaurants. "It's very hard to get the real Alaskan blue," he said. "Don't be fooled by the Russian (product) - it sits in brine too long and gets salty and stringy."

Crab dinners are $49 with trimmin's, cooked in the shell four waysl: steamed with drawn butter; broiled with garlic butter; sauteed in olive oil scampi-style, with garlic and white wine, served over angel hair pasta; and served warm on a salad of butter lettuce, radicchio and pancetta, with lemon vinaigrette.

Cafe Fina: (831) 372-5200, www.cafefina.com.

No one caught any waves this year at the Mavericks Invitational Surf Contest near Half Moon Bay - there weren't any big enough - but today burger-lovers can catch a deal.

The Islands restaurant chain will give away one of its namesake Mavericks Burger (with fries) per customer - that's right, it's free - with an asterisk: Guests must bring in a picture of their "favorite Mavericks wave" or any big wave. For inspiration, look at the sample on Islands' Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/islandsfineburgersanddrinks.

The two Islands in our area are at 2455 Iron Point Road, Folsom; (916) 983-4092. And 1902 Taylor Road, Roseville; (916) 772-5044.

For more information: www.islandsrestaurants.com.

There seems to be some confusion, judging from recent phone and e-mail inquiries, and a certain amount of speculative rumor circulating within the local foodie community.

Preview: This story has a happy ending. Bottom line: No, the health department did not close owner Mai Pham's iconic Lemon Grass restaurant on Munroe Street in Sacramento due to evidence of rodent infestation.

But, for that reason, it did temporarily close Pham's Lemon Grass Asian Grill & Noodle Bar, and owner Trong Nguyen's La Bou Bakery & Cafe. The two restaurants share facilities inside a building along Howe Avenue in Sacramento

Bee staff photograph by Randall Benton
One of the inevitable parts of any given Easter Sunday is mounds of candy stuffed inside Easter baskets. Peeps, jelly beans, chocolate-covered marshmallow bunnies, malted-milk-ball robin's eggs...

Stepping it up is the venerable See's Candies, with a special line of goodies for the Easter season, available now through April 8.

We sampled three of the 13 seasonal treats, pictured at left - the dark-chocolate "sitting rabbit" ($5.65), rocky road (with walnuts) decorated egg ($11.40), and orange-cream lollipops ($5.55 per eight-pack).

The tasters loved the high-quality dark chocolate (the rabbit's ears were the first to go), swooned over the luscious chocolate-marshmallow-walnut rocky road egg, and savored the creamy, orange-y lollipops.

See's sources its cocoa and chocolate from the Guittard Chocolate Company in Burlingame (www.guittard.com) and manufactures its candies at factories in South San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Charles and Florence See opened their confectionery business in L.A. 1921, using Charles' mother Mary's original recipes and portrait to "symbolize the old-fashioned virtues of homemade quality and friendly service." Mary See died in 1939 at age 85.

Today, there are more than 200 See's candy shops in 13 states. For more information, go to www.sees.com.

Columnist Marilyn Hagerty's quaint review of the new-to-her-town Olive Garden restaurant in the March 7 edition of the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota caused a firestorm across cyberspace (www.grandforksherald.com).

Those observers with not enough to do were quick to show how clever they are by parodying the 85-year-old reporter's straightforward assessment of the restaurant, one of 750 franchises in the national chain.

The negative viral response to her review served to partially pull back the curtain and reveal some of the insular arrogance infused within the national sideshow of uncredentialed culinary snobbery

Then a legion of her defenders (including "No Reservations" host Anthony Bourdain) stepped up, calling Hagerty's review a refreshing reality check. .

Hagerty became an instant celebrity, her review a hot topic. She made the rounds of TV talk shows and was treated to a whirlwind dining tour of New York City. Her casual lunch at a hot dog stand there was duly covered by the New York Times. Still, Hagerty says she remains puzzled over all the fuss.

We took a cue from her review and dropped in on the Olive Garden in Folsom, sort of an "in the footsteps of Marilyn Hagerty" dining adventure.

Between monthly wine-tastings on the last Wednesday of each month, and daily specials concocted by chef Tom Patterson (fried spinach, seasoned polenta fries), something's always going on at Fabian's Italian Bistro.

Now husband-wife owners Christian and Mercedes Forte are reopening their restaurant's outdoor patio for Sunday brunch (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), beginning this coming Sunday.

Last year, we loved the eggs Benedict Florentine (pictured), house-made Italian sausage link, and cinnamon custard-soaked brioche French toast.

Those dishes will return, along with a breakfast burger, house-smoked salmon, frittata Bolognese and seared flat iron steak with eggs, plus an expanded children's menu. Begin with a Bellini (Prosecco with peach puree) and end with one (or more) of eight desserts.

Also new: Dinner will now be served 4 to 9 p.m. Sundays. In exchange, the restaurant will be closed Mondays.

Fabian's is at 11755 Fair Oaks Blvd. in the Almond Orchard center, Fair Oaks; (916) 536-9891, www.fabiansitalianbistro.com.

How would you like to take a trip to the birthplace of wine, the Republic of Georgia? As a bonus, you can travel with internationally recognized food and wine expert Darrell Corti of Sacramento (pictured here at the Alaverdi Monastery). Of course, this is all vicarious.

For five days in September 2011, Corti and Corti Bros. Market director Rick Mindermann traveled with a group of 60 international food and wine writers, scholars, scientists and media personalities. They were in Georgia to attend the first International Quvevri Wine Symposium, sponsored by the Georgian National Wine Association.

After that, Corti and Mindermann struck out on their own to tour the famous Tokaj wine district of Hungary, stopping at wineries and sampling as they went.

"We tasted the sweet wines of Tokaj," Corti said on the phone today. "Before the communists took over Hungary after World War II, those were the wines of which it was said, 'The wine of kings, the king of wines.'"

On-snow gourmet grazing and sipping while walking on snowshoes or gliding on cross-country skis?

What a concept, but that's just what will be on offer at the 11th annual Gourmet Ski Tour, 1 to 3 p.m. March 11 at the Tahoe Cross Country Ski Center, 925 Country Club Drive, Tahoe City. If you don't have your own snowshoes or skis, the center will rent you the gear.

Kiosks will be set up along the trail, where purveyors will offer bites and adult beverages. Among the 13 restaurants will be Sunnyside, Jake's On the Lake, Bridgetender, Christy Hill, Mama Sake and North Shore Hawaiian Grill. Children 12 and younger get free admission and complimentary hot dogs, fruit and ice cream.

The afternoon will end with live music and margaritas, 2:30 to 5 p.m.

Wear a dance costume to match the "Snow Dance" theme (disco, hip-hop, ballet and the like) and get a chance to win a Tahoe XC season pass.

Tickets are $32 for adults (includes a half-day trail pass), $27 for ages 13-17. For information and to purchase tickets: (530) 583-5475, www.tahoexc.org.

If you have faith in your cooking skills and want a job in a professional kitchen, Safeway, Inc. has an offer.

It's looking for a chef to work in its 4,000-square-foot research-and-development recipe center, Safeway Culinary Kitchens in Pleasanton. Bonus: His/her original recipe will be included in the lineup of Safeway's Open Nature Skillet Meals.

All you have to do is win a national competition by "demonstrating a passion for innovation" in creating a recipe for a skillet meal "with 100 percent natural ingredients."

"We are the first to host a major competition where a talented chef has the opportunity to win a new job and develop a product that will be on the shelf in a major national grocery store," said Safeway senior vice president Joe Ennen.

The competition will include an April 23 regional cook-off at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Later, the judging panel for the final cook-off in Pleasanton will include chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli of the Food Network's "Chopped" and "Iron Chef."

For all the details and to enter, go to facebook.com/safeway.

The Davis Farmers Market is a landmark destination for all of the Sacramento region, offering an impressive array of top-of-the-line local agriculture.

This Saturday, it will host the 21st annual Pig Day, celebrating all things pork. Bring your appetites for individually priced items from vendors ($3.50 to $12), including breakfast (pancakes and bacon), breakfast sandwiches (with pulled pork or bacon), pigs in a blanket, barbecued ribs, pizza, piggie-shaped cookies and bread, corn dogs and hot dogs, watermelon-chocolate chip ice cream and more.

Farmers market partner Sutter Davis Hospital will host a cooking-demonstration station, with free samplings of Bledsoe pork stir-fry, and free menu cards.

Special events are planned for children, including family photo opportunities with the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, an appearance by "Ms. Piggie," a piglet petting zoo, and arts and crafts.

"After 21 years, Pig Day is part of the Davis culture," said farmers market manager Randii MacNear. "It's the only event of its kind in California, celebrating the pig's rightful place as one of mankind's most intelligent and useful domesticated animals."

Pig Day at the Davis Farmers Market will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in Central Park at Fourth and C streets. More information: (530) 756-1695, www.davisfarmersmarket.org.

If you're seriously in to chocolate - and seriously in to partying - the 6th annual San Francisco International Chocolate Salon has your name on it.

More than 30 chocolatiers will offer their artisan and gourmet delights, while live music plays in the background and wine and premium spirits are poured.

Your ticket buys chocolate tastings and wine pairings, chocolate-making demonstrations - even "chocolate fashion and body-painting." Get in on new product launches and experimental flavor combinations. Or maybe be interviewed by reporters from TasteTV's "Chocolate Television" program.

Panel discussions will touch on such topics as "The Return of the Toffee" and "Asian Flavors and Influences in Artisan Chocolate."

Look for appearances by Tanya Holland, chef-owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen and B Side BBQ in Oakland and author of "New Soul Cooking; and "Top Chef's" Marisa Churchill of San Francisco, author of "Sweet & Skinny."

The chocolate extravaganza will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 4, in the 30,000-square-foot Herbst Pavillion at Fort Mason Center, Marina Boulevard and Buchanan Street, San Francisco; (415) 345-7500, www.fortmason.org.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door for adults; $10 for children ages 6 to 12; free for 5 and younger. To buy tickets, watch videos from past events and for more information, visit www.sfchocolatesalon.com.

Here's an irresistible trio: free pancakes, Miss California flipping those pancakes, and a fund-raiser to benefit ill children.

To celebrate National Pancake Day, those flapjack-lovers at IHOP have put together a special program. All 1,500 IHOP stores around the country will serve a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes to each customer, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday.

As a bonus, Miss California - Noelle Freeman (pictured) - will cook and serve pancakes from 7 to 11 a.m. at the IHOP at 2941 Advantage Lane, Sacramento; (916) 575-9025.

The goal of the promotion is to raise $2.7 million for the Children's Miracle Network and other charities. To accomplish that, Sacramento-area customers will be encouraged to donate to CMN to benefit UC Davis Children's Hospital, which is a member. CMN raises money for more than 170 children's hospitals nationwide.

For more information: www.ihop.com.

We Californians already know our state boasts some of the top restaurants in the nation, if not the world. Now the Daily Meal agrees.

The online www.thedailymeal.com - which reports on all things food and drink - just released its second annual list of the 101 Best Restaurants in America.

"Our team of editors, restaurant critics and food bloggers from around the country boiled down a selection of 202 restaurants to 101," said Daily Meal editorial director Colman Andrews by email. "From ultra-casual to super-fancy, old-fashioned to avant-garde, the final list covers all flavors of the food world and corners of the country."

By the way, restaurateur-chef Cindy Pawlcyn (pictured), whose Mustard's Grill in Napa placed 55th in the ranking, appeared for the Sacramento Bee Book Club in September 2010.

For the complete list and a slide show, go to www.thedailymeal.com/101-best-restaurants-america.

The 23 California honorees are:

Meat department manager and master butcher Mike Carroll and his crew were getting ready for St. Patrick's Day, when Sacramento "goes green" March 17.

In the labyrinthian prep areas behind the Corti Bros. Market meat counter, Carroll trimmed and brine-injected beautiful briskets and other cuts of beef (pictured), then sank them under more house-made brine in stainless-steel barrels. There they will soak until Feb. 29, when they will be displayed in the meat department cold cases and sold to home cooks eager to bring a taste of Ireland into their kitchens. Some of the brined cuts will likely still be available post-March 17.

"St. Patrick's Day is huge for corned beef sales," Carroll said, stacking chunks of beef onto a huge cutting table. "We're injecting and barrel-brining more than 2,000 pounds of meat - choice, prime and Wagyu (Kobe-style) briskets, (leaner) eye of rounds, bottom rounds and prime Diamond Jims (from the shoulder), and a limited amount of pork shoulder and beef tongue."

The beef is from premium wholesaler J.B.S Meats of Greenley, Colo., said Carroll, who has been with Corti Bros. for 34 years. What's the difference between the beef cuts?
"The texture of the meat," he said. "The briskets are chewier and more fatty, while the others are leaner and more tender. But my choice is always the brisket because it has the most flavor."

When we refer to "ballpark mustard," most often that's generic-speak for the iconic French's yellow mustard. The classic condiment gets its distinct color from turmeric, a plant in the ginger family with alleged powers of healing.

Now the 100-year old French's is offering two new mustard options. The creamy Dijon with chardonnay has a nice puckery bite ($3 for 12 ounces), a sparky addition to potato salad and deviled eggs. The tamer Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce ($2.50) is sweet and tangy, and a suitable pairing with finger foods like veggie sticks or pretzels. More information is at www.frenchs.com.

As a bonus, here's a recipe from French's:

The late food-and-travel magazine Gourmet may have been more sophisticated. And the to-the-point Cook's Illustrated is far more academic. But Bon Appetit certainly ranks near or at the topwhen it comes to mouth-watering color photography and user-friendly cooking articles. It's the food magazine with a sense of play.

Now the news reaches us that the Conde Nast product has launched a digital tablet-edition app aimed at helping home cooks. Among the features are step-by-step how-to videos, sideshows, photos, tutorials and, of course, recipes and tips. The "cooking tool," as its editors call it - and rightly so - is available for the iPad, Nook Tablet and Nook Color. Find it at www.bonappetit.com/ipad and www.bonappetit.com/go/nook.

Print subscribers will have access to the digital edition. For others, the monthly tablet edition is $1.99 per "issue," or $19.99 for a year.

The online edition of Bon Appetit is at www.bonappetit.com.

As we count down to Valentine's Day - which is tomorrow, guys - the question becomes how to show affection for the one we cherish.

Flowers and chocolates are traditional V-Day remembrances, but we have some questions. Like which chocolates to buy. So we called Teresa Higgins, co-owner with her chocolatier husband, Craig Higgins, of Capital Confections at Town & Country Village. For V-Day, they made 1,500 pounds of chocolate and turned it in to hand-crafted delights.

So, what's the hot chocolate this year?

"We have 24 flavors of truffles, made on site," Teresa Higgins said. "We have gluten-free and sugar-free chocolates. As for Valentine's Day gifts, it's a matter of taste. (Prices range from) four truffles in a box for $10 up to a 40-pack at $100, and everything in between.

"One of our most popular items is the nine-pack for $39, in a box topped with handmade paper roses," she said. "Another is 12 assorted small truffles in a velvet box for $29.95 (pictured). Yes, you can pick your own flavors. omorrow we'll be doing chocolate-dipped strawberries."

Town & Country Village is at Marconi and Fulton avenues, Sacramento. For Capital Confections: (916) 973-0249, www.sacchocolate.com.

Husband-wife restaurateurs-chefs Randall Selland and Nancy Zimmer recently opened another fine place to eat, this one in the El Dorado Town Center. It's named and modeled after the popular Selland's Market-Café in East Sacramento.

We dropped in Tuesday night and found the place slammed and joyfully noisy, like a party with endless wine. The revelers were in attendance partly for the Selland Group's well-deserved reputation for serving really good food.

But let's add the joke: If you open an envelope in the El Dorado Hills-Folsom area - much less a restaurant - crowds will form. Remember that local foodies actually camped overnight in the parking lot at the Palladio center in Folsom so they could rush the new Whole Foods store on opening morning, Oct. 26.

Anyway, the new Selland's Market-Cafe occupies a 4,200-square-foot corner space in the New Orleans Building. It's spacious and well-designed. Is that a real stamped-tin ceiling? Various sizes of wood tables fill the dining hall, competing for space with shelves of packaged merchandise - jams, jellies, horseradish cream sauce, key lime curd, crackers, sauces, flavored olive oils, wine and the like.

The cooks in the open kitchen keep the display cases of hot and cold foods filled with top-quality dishes, including shredded beef brisket, pork carnitas, pork roast, meatloaf and many salads. The astute staff was particularly helpful.

We ordered chicken breast with light gravy and sauteed mushrooms ($7.95), panko-crusted salmon with soy-citrus glaze ($8.95), a side of Asian noodle salad with carrot, bell pepper, scallion, peanuts and spicy sesame dressing, and an apple croustade - pie crust hand-formed into a disc and filled with sauteed apple and cinnamon ($4.95). What's that saying? It's all good.

Selland's Market-Cafe is at 4370 Town Center Blvd., El Dorado Hills; (916) 932-5025. Also: 5340 H St., Sacramento; (916) 736-3333. More information: www.sellands.com and www.thesellandgroup.com.

Victorian-era novelist Charles Dickens' birthday on Feb. 7 reminded us that his Valentine's Day visit to New York City in 1842 was occasion for 3,000 of his fans to attend a super-soiree in his honor.

The catered menu for that affair - the Boz Ball - is documented as having included "40 hams, 50 rounds of beef, 50 jellied turkeys, 50 pairs of chickens and 25 of ducks, and 2,000 fried mutton chops."

It's appropriate, then, to raise a toast on V-Day (next Tuesday) to one of the greatest writers in the English language. With that in mind, we have a recipe for brandy punch from Dickens' book "A Christmas Dinner" (Red Rock, $24.95, 88 pages).

Not to exaggerate, but we came across a dish Monday night that is one of the most remarkably delicious we've ever tasted.

It's composed of Carmoroli risotto (white rice from northern Italy), wild hedgehog mushrooms from the California coast, duck confit (house-cured duck poached in its own fat), grana padano (the hard, grainy cheese that dates to 12th century Milan), butter, saba (a sweetish reduction from the must of Trebbiano grapes, which make balsamic vinegar) and Italian parsley.

The dish is at Piatti Ristorante at the Pavilions center, but only for the next six to eight weeks, until the end of hedgehog mushroom season. The starter bowl is $12, the entree is $17.

Just in time for Valentine's Day - or any day, for that matter - is the 75-page multimedia e-book for iPad, "Valentine's Desserts," 99 cents at the Apple store.

Step-by-step videos hosted by culinary-arts professor Judy Parks show how to make three of the 10 dessert recipes (raspberry napoleon hearts, flourless chocolate cappuccino cake, chocolate mousse). The other seven are illustrated with step-by-step color photos and text. Included for all 10 are recipes, and lists of ingredients and directions.

Judy and Bruce Parks are former restaurateurs (Tarts & Truffles on Arden Way) who maintain an international gourmet cake-delivery business (www.chocolatebakery.com) and a local online bakery (www.tartsandtruffles.com). Judy Parks has taught baking classes at American River College for 20 years.

Look for "Valentine's Desserts" soon at the Barnes & Noble Nook store and Amazon's Kindle store (for the Kindle Fire).

"We'll be making a series of multimedia books that will cover a range of baked goods, and the how-to techniques and tips for making them at home," Judy Parks said.

For more information: www.chocolatebakery.com.

When it comes to beer, Newcastle is a suds-meister. The brewmasters at the Caledonian Brewing Company in Edinburgh, Scotland, have been up to their necks in malts and hops for 80 or so years, crafting variations of its famous brown ale.

Each year, Heineken International distributes several special-edition, seasonable Newcastle beers for limited times. Rotating through the calendar year are Summer Ale, Werewolf ("Naturally blood-red in color") and, in December-January, Winter India Pale Ale.

Now on the U.S. market for the first time is Founders' Ale, honoring Newcastle's five founding breweries. We asked a few beer-drinking buddies to pop some tops at an informal tasting and offer their opinions. Among them:

"It starts out sort of sweet, then becomes interestingly bitter. The colder, the better."
"I can taste caramel, and I like the foam."
"Good mouth-feel, not too carbonated."
"Even though it's amber, the body is a lot lighter than you'd think. It gets better as you go along."

Founders' Ale will be around Sacramento into April, for $9 a six-pack. Visit www.newcastlebrown.com.

.

You'll have to move fast on this one, as the first deadline is Friday:

Many of the 50 Art Institutes campuses across the nation (including the one in Sacramento) are offering $4,000 tuition scholarships to their International Culinary Schools. The 12th annual Best Teen Chef Competition invites high school seniors to participate. A separate, first-time competition invites participation by high school graduates seeking culinary degrees (there is no age limit).

High school seniors must first download the Best Teen Chef Competition brochure and fill out the Entry and Release form, at www.artinstitutes.edu/culinary. All the details and rules for both competitions are there, plus an invitation to conduct a live chat with an Art Institute representative. Those who finish in second place at each Art Institute will receive $1,000 tuition scholarships.

The next deadline is Feb. 24 and involves submitting your best recipe, plus a 250-word essay.

Local cook-offs - including one at the Sacramento campus - will be held around April 21. The Sacramento campus is at 2850 Gateway Oaks Drive. For more information: (916) 830-6320.

As the national political circus continues to pitch its tents in towns and cities across America, many citizens are already growing weary of the rhetoric.

To lighten up the landscape, Ella Dining Room and Bar is offering the Bipartisan Burger during the month of February. It comes with fries and a root beer float for $15.

I asked Josh Nelson for details. He's a partner in the Selland Group, which owns Ella and other area restaurants.

The hamburger patty is ground from premium Wagyu beef (American Kobe) from Snake River Farms, he said. It's topped with imported Gruyere cheese and thick-cut peppered bacon, and plopped on a bun from the Acme Bread Co. Sharing the plate are hand-cut fries from potatoes grown around Winnemucca, Nev. The float is assembled from Burg's root beer and house-made Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream.

If the burger is bipartisan, what is Nelson's political leaning? "I don't have a political affiliation when I'm in Ella. It's too close to the Capitol," he said. "Let's just say I'm independent."

The burger lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Ella is at 1131 K St., Sacramento; (916) 443-3772, www.elladiningroomandbar.com.

My "Counter Culture" restaurant-review column in last Friday's Ticket section was a sampling of tasty dishes served at various restaurants around town. Included was a go-to favorite, Faith's Crepes at the Quarry Ponds Center in Granite Bay.

What a shock to learn that hard-working owner Faith Loo had to shutter her creperie, effective yesterday. Efforts to reach her by phone and e-mail today were unsuccessful.

In part, her farewell at www.fatithscrepes.com says:

The banana is one of nature's perfect foods. Simply peel 'n' eat for a blast of nutrients such as potassium, along with vitamins B6 and C. And don't forget the fiber. No wonder the banana is the No. 1-selling item in supermarkets in the United States.

Knowing all this, the Dole Food Company - the world's largest producer of fresh fruits and vegetables - is reaching out in a social-networking way with its Go Bananas Every Day campaign. Sign up and receive free banana recipes, tips and trivia, and the latest in health-related research.

Banana-lovers can play on Twitter (@DOLEBananas#Go366) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/dolebananas), and will receive daily banana-friendly suggestions. More information: www.dole.com/bananas.

Meanwhile, you should know that Aug. 25 is National Banana Split Day, when the iconic dessert will celebrate its 108th birthday. Plus, next time you're in Pasadena, try the banana cream pie at Pie 'n' Burger, called America's best version by the New York Times.

You say you make the best cupcakes in town? Here's a chance to prove it.

Kristy DeVaney, the creative force behind the popular Cakegrrl food blog, is doing a shout-out to amateur cooks around town.

The challenge: Make a three- to five-minute video that shows why your cupcakes are tops. Upload it to Youtube and submit it to www.cakegrrl.com by April 1. The next day, 10 entries will be posted online, for voting by viewers. Then, on June 23, three finalists will go cupcake-to-cupcake against a trio of professional bakers at the 10th annual Sacramento Chef Challenge

"We're looking for amateurs who bake for fun," DeVaney said on the phone this morning. The contest will ultimately help raise funds for Inalliance, "a nonprofit organization that supports people with developmental disabilities" (www.inallianceinc.com).

.
For contest rules, more details and to see sample videos, go to www.cakegrrl.com or www.chefevent.com. Or email DeVaney at cakegrrl2007@gmail.com.

DeVaney is a member of Sacramento Connect, a network of high-quality news providers and bloggers hosted by the Sacramento Bee. Visit them at www.sacramentoconnect.com.

The compact town of Yountville is one of the Napa Valley's most prestigious fine-dining and wine-drinking destinations, a place where Michelin stars abound. Its heady menu of A-list restaurants includes Ad Hoc, Bottega, Bouchon and the French Laundry, all of which maintain lists of exclusive local wines.

Another upscale player (and star-holder), Redd, was opened in 2005 by chef Richard Reddington. On his resume are Masa's and Jardiniere in San Francisco, and Auberge du Soleil in the Napa Valley.

Now Reddington and former Redd chef Jacob Kossman will open another Yountville restaurant, Redd Wood, on Jan. 26.

Remember that new year's resolution you made, the one about eating more healthfully? If you're about to fall off that particular wagon, you might find a boost of inspiration at the third annual Sacramento VegFest.

The event will celebrate "raw, vegan and vegetarian cuisines," featuring specialty dishes from area restaurants, shops and caterers. Food samplings, cooking demonstrations, free recipes and competitions will be part of the scene.

Get your veggies on from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Artisan Building, 1901 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento. Admission: $3. For more information: (916) 923.6200, www.sacvegfest.com. Sponsored by the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership.

"Asian street food" occupies the menu at Star Ginger in east Sacramento. We've been there many times and like it a lot. So we were happy when it was announced that Lemon Grass chef-restaurateur Mai Pham's noodle bar-grill will celebrate its one-year anniversary by offering four menu items for only $1 each. Usually, they sell for $6 to $8 each.

First, some ground rules: The one-buck dishes are available only between 5 and 9 p.m., for dine-in only, one per person over the three-day celebration. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., though, look for free giveaways every 15 minutes. You must be there to win.

Now for the items: Green curry and jungle curry on Tuesday; BBQ chicken banh mi (sandwich on a great roll from Village Bakery in Davis) on Wednesday; and ginger sesame chicken salad on Thursday.

Star Ginger is at 3101 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento; (916) 231-8888. www.lemongrass.com.

In May, the eight-restaurant Mikuni Restaurant Group will celebrate 25 years of serving first-rate Japanese cuisine around the Sacramento area and at the Village at Northstar ski resort.

You can join the good times, with chances to win prizes and participate in special deals. Each month through May, new promotions and events will be posted at www.mikuni.com.

This month on the website, you can enter to win a trip for two to Las Vegas (including dinner with master sushi-maker Taro Arai, pictured), and a Honda Fit automobile. Plus, the chain has introduced a new sushi roll - the Mikuni 25 - filled with panko shrimp, crab salad and tuna, then torched, sauced and garnished with crunchy tempura bits. It's a $16 value for $10, said a Mikuni spokeswoman.

Attractions over the coming months include the release of a limited-edition (600 bottles) Mikuni-labeled cabernet sauvignon; chances to win special dinners; tickets to the Sushi Chef & Server Showdown; and price rollbacks on many menu items.

The celebration concludes in May with Mikuni's second annual Japanese Street Festival at the Fountains shopping center in Roseville.

Vodka comes in many flavors, including chocolate. Which - in a stretch - links to Valentine's Day (Feb. 14), when chocolates and flowers rule. Suddenly, we have the notion of a chocolate vodka-based cocktail.

This recipe is from the folks at the Van Gogh Vodka company in Holland, whose version of chocolate vodka contains Dutch cocoa and Colombian coffee, plus spices.

Dessert Fizz

Ingredients:
1-1/2 ounces chocolate-flavored vodka
1 large strawberry, chopped
Handful of mint leaves
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
3 ounces Champagne or other sparkling wine
Directions:
Muddle the strawberry and mint with agave and lemon. Add vodka and strain into chilled Champagne flute. Top with Champagne or other wine. Garnish with a strawberry slice on the rim.

Sure, it's only January, it's cold outside and we're still waiting for the rain. Warming us up, though, are thoughts of the 10th annual Sacramento Chef Challenge on June 23.

Right now, event organizers are looking for participants - restaurants, wineries and breweries - who want to show off their fare to the public at one of Northern California's top culinary events. For the vendors, it means exposure. For attendees, it means lots of noshing for $25 per person (tickets are on sale now).

The program is to include two culinary competitions, wine- and beer-tastings, food samplings, a raffle and silent auction, and entertainment. Vendors can win prizes courtesy of www.sacdine.com, sponsor of the People's Choice Awards.

"Most booths are free for local businesses, but vendor space is limited," said a spokesperson for Chef Challenge.

For tickets and more information: www.chefevent.com or call Jessica Bean at (916) 381-1300, Ext. 170.

The Chef Challenge benefits INALLIANCE, "a nonprofit organization that supports people with developmental disabilities." The event is planned to take place at the group's campus headquarters, 6950 21st Ave., Sacramento; (916) 381-1300, www.inallianceinc.com.

>One of the most precious and unique - and therefore expensive - delicacies in the global marketplace is the truffle. Black truffles retail for about $1,700 a pound; white truffles cost around $4,500 a pound.

Truffles may not look like much, but for centuries they've been a treasured ingredient in haute cuisine. Master chefs call them "the diamonds of the kitchen."

A truffle is a type of mushroom that grows underground, usually close to oak and hazelnut trees. Dogs commonly are used by Italian and French truffle-hunters to help locate them in the wild and dig them up.

That info and so much more was part of the second annual Napa Truffle Festival, which ran from last Friday through Monday. Various a la carte packages were available for truffle-centric meals, wine-tastings, winery tours and cooking demonstrations.

Cafe Capricho in east Sacramento is one of our favorite places, and now it has been recognized in a national way. First, some background:

The collaboration between two food-centric websites that cover the nation's dining scene has produced some insightful and entertaining stories. Gourmet Live (www.gourmet.com) is the "reimagined online version of Gourmet magazine," said one of its editors (the newsstand edition folded in 2009). BlogHer (www.blogher.com) is a consortium of food-related blogs by home cooks.

Each month, BlogHer puts together a "Road Trip" feature for Gourmet Live. The current one features restaurants that the writers consider to be among the most conscientious about serving healthful foods, including Cafe Capricho.

This sounds like a good time and a good deal: A year-old national company called Dishcrawl is organizing a toured tasting of three to four small-plate specialty dishes at each of four Midtown restaurants.

The tour starts at 7 p.m. Jan. 25, but the meeting place and identities of the restaurants will be kept secret until Jan. 23. At that time, Dishcrawl "ambassador" Wes Beatty of Elk Grove will email the foodie participants with details.

"Dishcrawl offers a delicious journey (on which) you can be your own food critic and meet chefs, restaurateurs and new people with the same interest as yours," Beatty said.

For clues about the restaurants' identities, follow Beatty on Twitter at dishcrawlsac, beginning Tuesday.

The tour tab is $29 per person. For tickets and reservations: www.dishcrawl.com/midtown.

Meat-lovers, this one's for you: National Pastrami Day is Saturday, and in celebration the 40-year-old Togo's sandwich chain (242 units nationwide) is holding its "Pastrami Pounder Challenge" from today through Feb. 21.

Finish a two-foot-long sandwich stuffed with a pound of pastrami within 30 minutes and you'll win a commemorative T-shirt and a certificate immortalizing your feat. And maybe even indigestion. Plus, your photo will be posted on Togo's Facebook page, if you wish. The monster sandwich is $19.99.

Also on its Facebook page is the "Pastrami Palooza" promotion, with a chance to win free sandwiches for a year. One more thing: Show your "Pastrami Love" by posting your own pastrami-centric photographs to the fan page gallery.

We wonder if competitive eater Joey "Jaws" Chestnut is allowed to play...

Information: www.togos.com.

Restaurateur-chef Mai Pham has worked her cooking magic in Sacramento since 1988, when she debuted Lemon Grass restaurant on Fulton Avenue. It continues to serve some of the best Southeast Asian cuisine anywhere.

Pham also has two Lemon Grass Grills, which are more casual, and Star Ginger, specializing in Asian "street food" (the banh mi sandwiches are tops). Her three cookbooks are must-haves in home kitchens, as are her signature sauces and marinades (www.starginger.com).

In December, in the interest of "growing our brand," Pham and food-service giant Sodexo opened a "Star Ginger concept" company cafeteria inside the State Street Financial Center building in Boston. "The 2,000 employees told Sodexo (which operates the cafeteria) they wanted Asian food, and Sodexo said (to me), 'Why don't we do this.'"

Two years ago Pham partnered with Sodexo, which promoted her as a celebrity chef on college campuses during a 19-city tour. Sodexo has contracts with many colleges (and corporate and military facilities) to run their cafeterias.

"Campus dining can be quite sophisticated, but I saw during the tour that I could help their food operations with Asian (offerings)," she said on the phone.

The Pham-Sodexo relationship moved forward to the point where now "Sodexo is our licensee for campus (and corporate) dining. It's similar to a franchiser-franchisee (model). In instances where both parties feel there is a need to open a Star Ginger concept, they're the operator who supplies the space (and labor) and we supply the expertise and training. We provide an authentic, high-quality Asian restaurant concept that comes pre-branded."

In other words, Sodexo is promoting a ready-to-go package to its clients, who apparently are hungry for Asian fare.

"We are working with (universities) to improve their Asian offerings (in their cafeterias)," Pham said. "I'm just back from Yale, where I worked on their Asian salads and banh mi programs."

So, between corporate accounts and college campuses, could this first Star Ginger concept be just the start of many more across the country?

Yes, Pham said. "In business, you have to act on your vision for expansion, and cooking is my passion."

Stay tuned.

California is world-renowned for its bounty, from produce and cheese to seafood and wine.

An integral part of that is the upcoming 14th annual Mendocino Crab & Wine Days festival, Jan. 20 through Jan. 29. Locally harvested Dungeness crabs will join locally produced reds, whites and roses in a celebration of eating and drinking that attracts foodies from around the U.S. and beyond.

Festival events are held in various venues around Mendocino County and are priced a la carte. The centerpiece is the Crab Cake Cook-Off and Wine Tasting Competition, at which 12 Mendocino County restaurant chefs will make their best crab cakes and pair them with sips from 22 wineries. The photo above shows a tray of crab cakes topped with green salsa and yellow aioli (photo by John Birchard), served at last year's event. For "dessert" will be crab cioppino and crab salad.

Other festival highlights will include crab-themed dinners, winemaker dinners, family-style cioppino feasts, cooking demonstrations, food-tastings, wine-tastings and competitions, winery tours and - something different - crab-catching excursions with local fishermen aboard their vessels.

For a calendar of events and lodging packages and other specials: www.visitmendocino.com (type in "crab" in the search window), (866) 782-9636.

One of the most precious and unique - and therefore expensive - delicacies in the global marketplace is the truffle. Truffles may be mere fungi, but for centuries they have been a treasured ingredient in haute cuisine.

Simply put, a truffle is a type of mushroom that grows underground, usually close to trees. Pigs and dogs commonly are used by Italian and French truffle-hunters to help locate them in the wild and root them out. As rustic as that scenario sounds, remember that for centuries the truffle has been been called "the diamond of the kitchen" by master chefs the world over.

Now you can join the truffle cognoscenti at the second annual Napa Truffle Festival, Jan. 13-16, and do some foraging of your own.

Food- and drink-wise, look for numerous meals featuring truffles, food- and wine-tastings, cooking demonstrations, winery tours, a marketplace that will showcase specialty wines and foods (in the Oxbow Public Market in Napa), and a special truffle dinner and wine-pairing at La Toque restaurant in the Westin Verasa hotel in Napa. It will be masterminded by chefs whose restaurants hold Michelin stars.

Science-wise, on the schedule is a truffle orchard excursion featuring a truffle-hunting dog demonstration, capped by program on the cultivation of truffles.

For tickets and details, including special packages and lodging deals: (888) 753-9378, www.napatrufflefestival.com.

Thumbing through the recent fourth edition of the Zagat dining guide to the "world's top restaurants," we found several of the usual suspects in the "San Francisco Bay Area" section (but none in Sacramento). The French Laundry and the Restaurant at Meadowood in the Napa Valley, Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Manresa in Los Gatos, Commis in Oakland, and Boulevard in San Francisco were among the 24 entries.

What stopped us - in a gratifying way - was the inclusion of the family-owned Swan Oyster Depot among those high-end dining palaces. The Swan has been around for nearly a century, practicing a brand of lacavorism - salmon, rockfish, Dungeness crab, halibut, sole - before the word was even coined.

Seriously, do you really want molecular gastronomy or a steak poached sou vide when you can opt for the Swan? Walk in and become part of the boisterous crowd, enjoy the camaraderie while you wait for a well-worn stool at the marble counter, check out the first-rate seafood market.

Banter with the cooks (who have a streak of stand-up comic in them), sip a beer, spoon a bowl of clam chowder, tear off a chunk of sourdough bread, crack a crab, dig into a plate of fresh raw oysters on a bed of ice. It's a San Francisco experience that's real, unpretentious and satisfying on many levels.

Among the comments in the Zagat guide, from real Swan diners: "Fabulous seafood so fresh that you expect it to talk back."

The Swan Oyster Depot is at 1517 Polk St. (between California and Sacramento streets) in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood. Information: (415) 673-1101, www.swanoysterdepotsf.com.

Two more things: Cash only, and it closes at 5:30 p.m.

The annual Victorian Christmas extravaganza that fills the streets of historic Nevada City with visitors and vendors has been going on for at least 20 years. On Sunday, it was bigger and better than ever.

The main and side streets of the town were closed to traffic to accommodate the 1,500-plus revelers who strolled from booth to booth buying hats and scarves, jewelry and art. They also lined up for fragrant street food - wood-fired pizza and smoked brisket, Thai noodles and steaming hot dogs, freshly popped kettle corn and fat enchiladas. And they eagerly jammed the shops and restaurants that line the streets. Gratifyingly, the bookstores were doing brisk business.

Roaming costumed characters and carolers got plenty of smiles from curious children. Street musicians played fiddles and banjos. Families lined up for horse-drawn carriage rides.

We got lucky when we blindly chose the 9-year-old family-owned-and-run Cirino's for lunch shortly before the Victorian Christmas crowds began arriving. Still, the restaurant was jammed, but we miraculously found two seats at the 19th century bar, where the mixologist specializes in bloody marys.

The room was alive with diners' conversations and laughter, the two cooks moving at double-time speed, flipping this and plating that, the servers never losing their smiles. A certain holiday spirit was in the air inside and outside.

The lunch menu showed Sicilian sausage, meatballs, calamari, burgers, pasta, grilled polenta and salads. We settled for an unusual take on the classic clubhouse sandwich, which was more of a single-decker grilled cheese (with luscious Fontina) layered with turkey, ham and grilled tomato on toasted sourdough (hold the mayo, please). It packed plenty of rich flavor and soothing texture (pictured; $9.95). Cirino's is at 309 Broad St., (530) 265-2246; www.cirinosbarandgrill.com. There's a sister restaurant in nearby Grass Valley.

Dessert was excellent handmade-in-Nevada City English toffee from the Sierra Sweets kiosk (www.sierrasweets.net).

There's one more chance to catch the Victorian Christmas excitement. The last of five celebrations will occupy the town from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. Information: ((530) 265-2692, www.nevadacitychamber.com.

Happy-hour menus abound around town, but we found a top one last night.

But first: The modern "happy hour" at restaurant bars likely has roots in 19th-century New York saloons, when the so-called "free lunch" brought customers in by droves. Buy a drink and get a free bite, was the deal. Stay awhile and buy more drinks, was the hope.

We flashed on that when we ducked into Ruth's @ the Bar for a respite from the holiday-shopping scene. There, we found the "Sizzle, Swizzle & Swirl Happy Hour" menu. It's a bargain-priced list of items served in the bars of both Ruth's Chris steakhouses in our area.

The seven appetizers usually cost $8 to $15 each, but go for $6 across the board from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays. For the "sizzle": Prime-beef burger with fries, prime-beef sliders, tenderloin skewers, steak sandwich with fries, New England lobster roll with fries, deep-fried lobster chunks with spicy sauce, and seared ahi tuna.

On our plates, meltingly tender chunks of medium-rare beef were speared on a wooden skewer and dashed with sesame soy sauce. Perfect, but better were the two lobster offerings (pictured). Lightly breaded and fried chunks of succulent lobster were tossed in just-hot-enough cream sauce. For the lobster roll, cold lobster salad was tucked into a slice of toasted and folded bread that had actual bread flavor.

"What I like best about these dishes is they're so satisfying and flavorful you don't need to order more," said my happy-hour pal. Well, actually, yes, we do... But another time.

Wine and beer are on the "swizzle and swirl" part of the menu, but the real attraction is the cool cocktails - cosmo, martini, Manhattan, Moscow mule and a margarita with orange juice added. Each for $6.

Find the "Sizzle-Swizzle" happy-hour menu at Ruth's Chris-Sacramento in the Pavilions center on Fair Oaks Boulevard near Howe Avenue (916-286-2702); and at Ruth's Chris-Roseville in the Galleria center on Galleria Boulevard in Roseville (916-780-6910). More informtion: www.ruthschris.com.

Good 'ol Floyd Rothenberger knows a few things about barbecue. That's him on the left, holding a smoked brisket. His J.R.'s Texas Bar-B-Que has been around for 25 years, in a light-industrial area near the Campbell Soup factory. There, he loads cast-iron smokers with mesquite and cooks brisket, beef and pork ribs, pork shoulder, chicken, turkey and hot links.

Four years ago he set up a J.R.'s in West Sacramento, and on Oct. 19 opened a third 'cue joint on El Camino Avenue, near Watt Avenue.

Both satellite restaurants "have the same menu as the mother store," he said on the phone Wednesday. "I'm getting ready to start breakfast soon (at the El Camino site), probably after the first of the year. We'll have biscuits and gravy, chicken-fried steak - items like that."

We'll be waiting. Meanwhile, pass another slice of brisket, please.

The new J.R.'s Texas Bar-B-Que restaurant is at 3445 El Camino Ave., Sacramento; (916) 514-1148. The original is at 180 Otto Circle, Sacramento; (916) 424-3520. The West Sacramento site is at 4055 Lake Road; (916) 373-0800. To see menus: www.jrtexasbbq.com.

We dropped by Town & Country Village last Saturday and sampled some breads and pastries at the unique Bäcker Bäck Bakery. Three fat cherry strudels has just been pulled from the oven and wore a dusting of powdered sugar (pictured). Yes, they tasted as good as they looked, but we had to make sure - over and over...

Other fine pastries crowded the display case, along with 30 kinds of rustic whole-grain breads in traditional and wedge-shaped loaves. They're made in Germany and France from proprietary recipes and arrive partly baked and frozen, then are finished off at Bäcker Bäck ($1.89 to $4.59).

The bakery is going seasonal with fruit- and nut-studded stollen, marzipan, pannetone with cranberries and walnuts, and other treats. Our problem was getting past the cherry strudel.

T&C center is at Marconi and Fulton avenues. Call Bäcker Bäck at (916) 487-2225).

Last year about this time, we mentioned the hand-made decorated gingerbread people at the Village Cake Shoppe at Town & Country Village. They were such a hit that owner Patrick Clarke has brought them back. They're $2 to $2.50 (and up) "depending on how elaborate the design is," he said. They're available through Dec. 24.

What makes them so special? Well, they do bring back childhood memories of holidays past. Also, their quality is something special: The from-scratch little people are made in small batches from organic butter and molasses, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. They're made to appeal to a child's taste, so they're not super-spicy.

"The demand for them last year was surprising, so it's a good idea to call first to make sure we have them at the moment," Clarke said. "Or people can call for special orders and customized decorations, like children's names."

The Village Cake Shoppe is in Town & Country Village, Marconi and Fulton avenues, Sacramento; (916) 485-8611, www.villagecakeshoppe.com and www.shoptownandcountry.com.

We were surprised and disappointed last summer when we stopped by the Zinfandel Grille in Gold River and found the doors locked and the dining room dark. Then, one night last week, we found it open and operating under a new name - Zinfandel California Cuisine.

We sat in a booth, drank wine and ate a pepperoni-mushroom-pine nuts pizza from the wood-fired oven and studied the menu. Hmmm. With the exception of a few items, the lineup of dishes looked the same as when the restaurant was the Zinfandel Grille. Salads, pizzas, crab cakes, mussels, pasta, steaks, chops.

What was going on? Turns out the Grille changed ownership in April and closed for a slight renovation, then reopened under its new name in September.

"We wanted to break off from former (business) associations and have a fresh look, so we did a mini-remodel," said new owner Ash Khan on the phone Monday. "It took longer than we expected."

What about the menu?
"It was always (about) California cuisine, so basically it's the same menu, with seasonal changes," Khan said. "We kept most of it because we wanted to play it safe. We felt we should stick with what (the restaurant) has done well for so many years, and improve the wine list."

A smart move, really. The Zinfandel Grille had a loyal clientele, most of which found comfort in seeing familiar dishes on the menu. Which is one of the reasons why diners frequent certain restaurants - they known what they like and where they can get it. Consistency is key in the restaurant industry.

General manager Thomas Harris and chef Domingo Hernandez were with the Zinfandel before the name change, and continue there now.

"We've always used fresh everything," Harris said. "We've never had a freezer or microwave oven in the kitchen. All of our produce, fish and meat arrive four to five times a week. We're trying to get everything locally, and all our wines are from California."

Zinfandel California Cuisine is at 2220 Gold Springs Court, Gold River; (916) 853-9600, www.zincalicuisine.com.

Note that there is no relationship between Zinfandel California Cuisine and the independently owned Zinfandel Grille at 2384 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Sacramento.

The ambitious volunteers at SactoMoFo (Sacramento Mobile Food) tried their best to bring together a gathering of mobile food trucks and microbreweries on Dec. 3 at Power Balance Pavilion. Unfortunately for foodies - and our city in general - it didn't work out.

But there's good news, too: As has been reported on this blog site, a scaled-down version will happen from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Saturday, under the freeway at 8th and W streets. It will benefit Toys for Tots and the Sacramento Food Bank.

Among the 20 expected vendors will be Nicki Smith of Elk Grove, piloting the Heavenly Dog truck built by her husband, Chris Smith. HD is a family-involved dog-centric restaurant that opened in 2008 and features a lot of items from family recipes, such as the tri-tip chili. It's one of our go-to spots when the dog mood is on us. The house-made relishes are great.

The thing is, this mobile food-truck gathering will be Nicki's first.

"I'm not sure entering the event was smart, but it's big and that's good," she said by phone Monday. "I'm a little nervous, but my husband built the truck just like the kitchen at the restaurant. We'll be doing the same things we do every day, only on a truck."

Look for a variety of Heavenly Dog's red hots, including a bacon-wrapped version, along with chili cheese fries, garlic fries, sweet potato fries and onion rings.

What could possibly go wrong?
"We could sell out," she said, "(even though) we're planning on serving 1,000 dogs. We're bringing a small freezer-trailer for backup."

The brick-and-mortar Heavenly Dog is at 9160 E. Stockton Blvd., Elk Grove, in the Marketplace 99 South shopping center; (916) 714-7877, www.heavenlydoghotdogs.com.

Thursday afternoon, post-Thanksgiving dinner. The crowd had demolished a turkey and trimmings and was sprawled in the the massive family room, watching NFL football on big-screen TV.

"How about we do a tasting of a new limited-edition product?" I suggested. "It's called Kahlua Peppermint Mocha. Says on the label, 'A delectable mix of 100 percent Arabica coffee beans, cool peppermint and decadent dark chocolate. Perfect throughout the winter season.'"

We poured, we tasted, we agreed: Though the liqueur was smooth and did mingle coffee, mint and chocolate tastes, we wanted more mint and more dark-chocolate flavors. We also agreed it really perked up when drizzled over vanilla ice cream. Think versatility, such as using it as an addition to baked goods.

The 40-proof liqueur will be available now through Dec. 31; $18 for a 750 milliliter bottle.

Meanwhile, here's the recipe for Kahlua Peppermint Mocha Hot Cocoa:

Ingredients
2 parts milk
1 part "drinking chocolate" (warm chocolate milk or chocolate powder such as Swiss Miss)
1 part Peppermint Mocha

Directions
Bring milk to a simmer. Whisk in drinking chocolate. Simmer for 30 seconds while stirring. Add liqueur. Garnish with peppermint stick and marshmallows.

For more information: www.kahlua.com.

On a bad day, popcorn can be too salty, oily, stale and kind of stinky. On a good day, it can be just the right snack to satisfy our craving for crunch and flavor.

Our advice: Grab a handful (or three) of 479 brand artisanal popcorn, made from a small harvest of organic, heirloom corn grown on a family-run farm near Sacramento. Though the folks at 479 wouldn't say which farm, wishing to safeguard their limited source.

479 makes eight creative popcorn flavors, involving combinations of ingredients such as caramel, French sea salt, black truffle, white cheddar cheese, chipotle peppers, almonds, cashews, ginger, sesame seeds, curry, coconut, cinnamon, sugar, paprika, tomato, onion and alderwood smoke.

We tasted two - Ginger Sesame Caramel and Chipotle Caramel Plus Almonds - and came away with a new respect for what popcorn can be.

Among our tasters' comments:
"The ginger taste is subtle."
"We need more almonds."
"How about a bag of caramel almonds? Or chipotle almonds?"
"Love the chipotle afterburn, it lingers."
"Could eat the ginger popcorn all day."
"I've never had better caramel popcorn.'"

At www.479popcorn.com, you'll find all the info you need to choose flavors and order a stash. The popcorn is gift-packaged in five- to 12-unit "sets" of pouches, cannisters and boxes, $19 to $55.

479 is offering exclusive discounts to Sacramento Bee readers. Type in the code word "sacbee" at the site and get 20 percent off, now through Sunday.

For more information: (415) 876-7600.

When it comes to beer, IPA has been stylin' for awhile now, but just what is it?

The letters stand for India Pale Ale, a 19th century descendant of 17th century pale ales. "Pale" because the brewing process left them lighter in color and taste than many comparable beers of the day.

Right now, the venerable Heineken International is distributing a limited-edition Newcastle Winter IPA, a cousin of the darker and luscious Newcastle Brown Ale. Both are made by the Caledonian Brewing Company in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Winter IPA replaces the fall release of the limited-edition Newcastle Werewolf. Just the name alone makes us sorry we missed it, plus this description: "Naturally blood red in color... Sweet berry overtones and a sudden bite of bitterness."

We didn't know what to expect from the Winter IPA, so we enlisted a few beer-lovers and popped some tops at an informal tasting. Among their comments:

"The creamy head is a match for the silken body."
"Sweet, with a lot of caramel and toffee."
"Malty, with a clean finish."
"Not a truly great IPA, but it will do just fine in front of the fireplace."

Newcastle Winter IPA is available in area stores into January. Six packs will be distributed in a few days. Meanwhile, we priced a 12-pack at the BevMo store in Folsom. It's $16.49, on sale for 11.99 through Wednesday.

More information: www.newcastlebrown.com.

Citrus doesn't get much better than sweet, juicy mandarin oranges, and the first harvest of the season is upon us. So it's natural that the 18th annual Mountain Mandarin Festival invites fruit-lovers to the hills for a celebration of taste.

Look for a mandarin cooking contest, a peel-and-eat throwdown, demonstrations by chefs, 200 vendors selling art, crafts and holiday items, live entertainment, a children's play area, food booths (wings, pulled pork, pizza) and a few tons of mandarins (and gift baskets) for sale by local growers. Don't forget the dozens of made-from-mandarins sauces, marinades, syrups and dressings.

The festival will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Gold Country Fairgrounds, 1273 High St., Auburn. Admission: $2 on Friday only. Saturday and Sunday, it will be $6 general, $4 seniors. Free for ages 12 and younger. Parking is $5.

For information: (916) 663-1918, or www.mandarinfestival.com.

Fund-raising crab feeds will abound over the coming weeks as the Dungeness crab harvest shows up in area stores. But what about a cioppino feed?

You know cioppino. It's the fish stew that was "invented" in the late 1800s by Italian and Portuguese fishermen along the North Beach docks in San Francisco. Essentially, it's a "catch of the day" melange of crab, shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, calamari and fish in seasoned tomato-based broth. When served with crusty sourdough bread, it's a full meal.

Now word comes from the 85-year-old Dante Club that it will host a cioppino dinner at 7 p.m. Saturday at 2330 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento. The feast will begin with antipasti and salad, followed by risotto and cioppino, and end with tiramisu. Cost is $40 per person, benefitting the social club's scholarship fund.

"The cioppino is my Aunt Lena's recipe," said board member and dinner co-chairman Jim Casali. "(Club member and chef) Michael Talani will do the cooking."

For reservations and more information: (916) 487-9896.

Veterans Day seems to be the right time for this story:

A few years ago, Waylon Walchesky of Yuba City served in the military in Saudi Arabia, and returned home to his wife, Shelly, and their young children.

After a series of financial setbacks, one more unfortunate thing happened: Waylon Walchesky suffered a seizure earlier this week and was diagnosed with an illness likely related to his time spent in the Middle East. Concerned friends and family rushed in to help. Asked what it was the family needed most, Shelly Walchesky answered, "Meals."

That's what Dani Luzzatti of Sacramento's Bella Lu Catering came across on a friend's Facebook page, which was overflowing with expressions of sympathy and support for the family, from friends and strangers alike. She posted the situation on her own Facebook account, and the response was immediate and gratifying.

"I asked other restaurant people to help with family-friendly prepared meals," Luzzatti said today. "Within an hour, general manager Howard Cantrell (of East Bay Restaurant Supply in Sacramento) had donated a freezer, and our awesome restaurant community offered meals to fill it up."

The timing now is to deliver the meal-stuffed freezer to the Walcheskys "on Monday or Tuesday," Luzzatti said.

Among the Sacramento-area restaurants participating so far are Roxy, Lucca, Matteo's Bistro, Becky Jo Pies, Cafeteria 15L and Magpie Cafe, and Chef's Table in Rocklin, said Luzzatti.

"Several other restaurants privately responded, rather than go on a public page," she added.

For more information, email Luzzatti at dani@bellalucatering.com.

.Some stories do have happy endings.

In late September, husband-wife Michael and Margo Powers were in the midst of closing their well-regarded Terrace restaurant at Town & Country Village. He would start job-hunting. She would turn their 3-1/2-acre homestead in Wilton into a "full-on organic farm," though it already produced a variety of fruits and vegetables used in the Terrace kitchen. Understandably, they were stressed and heartbroken.

Things got brighter three weeks ago when Michael Powers became the executive chef at the Bistro at Villa Toscano Winery in Plymouth.

"I sent a resume and they called me," he said Thursday. "I went for an interview and they hired me on the spot. I started working right then. It's a lot of the responsibility I wanted, without the issues of restaurant ownership. I can just do my work and play with the food."

The winery's food operation focuses on catering ("That's my forte"), but the Bistro offers a counter-service menu of pizza, pasta, sandwiches, salads and daily specials.

"I want to broaden (the Bistro) menu and put my signature on it," Powers said. "Pasta-wise, I'm coming with a lighter, fresher angle. (Pizza-wise) we're going to start making calzones. And I'll be bringing changes to the catering menu, too."

In September, we came across the Twin Peaks Orchards kiosk at the Village at Northstar during the Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival. It was among many vendors that weekend. We bought bagsful of plums and peaches, along with jars of peach preserves, and were impressed.

Now the family-owned-and-operated orchard will host a free fall-harvest open house, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at its grounds in Newcastle.

The centerpiece will be a persimmon-tasting and - depending on the weather and "harvest availability" - U-pick mandarins, said family member Camelia Enriquez-Miller, company partner and marketer.

"Our specialty in the fall is persimmons," she said. "We grow four types, and one is unique to our farm - the amagaki, which translates from Japanese to mean 'sweet persimmon' in English."

The day will also include orchard tours, hayrides, a fall tree-pruning workshop (11:30 a.m.), wool-spinning demonstrations, and a petting zoo (alpacas) and face-painting for the children.

You can buy lunch from Farm To Belly catering company, and a copy of "Placer County Real Food From Farmers Markets" and get it autographed (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.).

The Farmer's Marketplace sells jam and honey, olive oil and cheese, spices and baked goods.

To get to Twin Peaks Orchards, take Interstate 80 toward Reno to the Sierra College Boulevard exit and bear left. Drive through Loomis and turn right on Highway 193. After about three miles, look for the signage on the left.

Information: (916) 346-5569, www.twinpeaksorchards.com

In the parking lot on Sunday, we followed the smokey smell of cooked bacon into Maranello restaurant and grabbed a table in the main dining room.

A server passed by, balancing two platters heaped with what looked like giant pieces of chicken covered in gravy.

We consulted our menus and found the dish: "Southern-fried chicken breast, buttermilk biscuit, pork sausage gravy, two eggs any style, house potatoes." Added was the comment, "Of course, no Fair Oaks chickens were harmed," a reference to the free-roaming poultry population of the town.

We were there to sample Maranello's new breakfast-brunch, along with 25 other like-minded diners. Ten more sat at the bar, watching the 49ers run over the Redskins, while 20 or so more had gathered in a private dining room to celebrate a baby shower. Next time, we'll get more leg room on the weather-proofed outdoor deck.

Executive chef Gabriel Glasier and his crew worked the kitchen, turning out waffles and pancakes (chocolate chip with Belgian chocolate sauce), eggs and omelets (smoked salmon and dill cream cheese), and "comfort food" that included chicken-fried hangar steak, and maple-cured pork loin teamed with potato pancakes ($6.75 to $12.95).

Years ago, Glasier opened and owned Redbud Cafe & Wine Bar in Cameron Park. Later, he was executive chef at Slocum House, a Fair Oaks landmark that closed in March.

We crowded our table with a heap of food - fat link sausages, deeply flavored bacon (crisper, please), a hazelnut buttermilk waffle with maple syrup (more bits of hazelnut, please), and chunky, incredibly tender corned-beef hash made from a bottom-round cut instead of the more traditional yet tougher brisket.

The sweet-smokey hash mingled with caramelized onion and was dolloped with whole-grain mustard hollandaise. "I would come back just for this," said one brunch pal. Everyone else nodded.

The show-stopper, though, was the daily special (pictured) - two thick patties of crab and rock shrimp (containing capers, garlic, lemon and dill, bound with housemade mayonnaise) topped with roasted tomato hollandaise, served with two perfectly poached eggs and roasted potatoes ($13.95).

"If there's one word for this, it's 'sublime,'" said a second brunch pal, and we nodded again.

Maranello, 8928 Sunset Ave., Fair Oaks; (916) 241-9365, www.maranellorestaurant.com. Sunday breakfast-brunch is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Get ready to dig in. Restaurateur-chef Randall Selland will open another Selland Group restaurant, this one in the El Dorado Town Center and modeled after the popular Selland's Market Café in East Sacramento. He also mentioned the possibility of opening one or two other restaurants later in 2012.

"Our new restaurant should be open by the beginning of January," he said. "It will be a duplicate of Selland's Market Café on H Street, but with a very cool look. The same design firm that did Ella (Dining Room and Bar) is designing this one. It will have a very traditional country-French bistro feel to it."

At 4,200 square feet, the new place will be 1,000 square feet larger than the existing Market Café, and carry a similar array of foods. It will occupy a street-level corner space in the New Orleans Building at Town Center.

Foodies in the El Dorado Hills-Folsom area have anticipated the new Selland's since rumor of its coming began to spread two years ago. Then word came in May that the restaurant would open by Thanksgiving.

If you love mushrooms and enjoy a glass or two of vino, the annual Mendocino County Wine & Mushroom Fest awaits you Friday through Nov. 13. It's been called "one of the top six food festivals in the nation" by the food and wine experts at www.oprah.com.

Right now is peak mushroom-harvesting season there, with 500 edible varieties from which to choose. Those delectable fungi go into dishes that pair well with the wines of the Anderson and Russian River Valleys.

The 10-day multi-venue, county-wide festival will feature special dinners and wine-, beer- and food-tastings, workshops and seminars, hands-on cooking classes and cooking demonstrations, entertainment and art exhibits, and guided expeditions (on foot, and by kayak and train) to forage for mushrooms.

Get all the details at www.mendocino.com or call (866) 466-3636.

Tonight is Halloween, a dress-up occasion in more ways than one. While your doorbell keeps chiming to announce another wave of trick-or-treaters, your party guests are looking for a round of adult beverages. Consider these:

Vampire's Kiss, from www.realsimple.com
Ingredients (must be ice-cold)
1 part raspberry liqueur
1 part vodka
1 part champagne
Vampire's teeth, candy corn, licorice and/or blood orange slice for garnish
DirectionsLayer raspberry liqueur, vodka and champagne in a fluted or martini glass. Garnish with above.

Halloween Sunset, from www.marthastewart.com
Ingredients
3 ounces orange or tangerine juice
1-1/2 ounces white rum
3/4 ounce grenadine
Ice cubes
Directions
Combine juice and rum in a tall glass filled with ice. Top with grenadine.
Cook's note: This cocktail is beautifully two-toned when first poured; afterward, the ingredients start to mix together into an intense orange color.

Caramel Apple, from www.thebar.com
Ingredients
4 ounces Bailey' Caramel Irish Cream
1 ounce apple-flavored vodka
2 dashes Goldschlager liqueur
Directions
Pour Irish cream and vodka into an ice-filled shaker. Shake and strain into a collins glass filled with ice. Float Goldschlager on top and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

One of life's small vicarious pleasures is looking through the ads in ritzy Town & Country magazine.

Hmmm... Here's one for a Spark necklace with seven carats of diamonds and 66 carats of gemstones. On the next page is Gucci, and after that is Ralph Lauren.

Wait...what's this? Something much more affordable - multiple flavors of MV's Best extra-large "hand-prepared gourmet peanuts from the fields of Virginia, where the largest peanuts grow."

We nut-lovers were curious, so we sampled four flavors of the fancy legumes. We passed them around the room, crunched, munched and made notes.The tasters gave entusiastic thumbs-up. The quality and freshness of the peanuts were obvious in every half-handful.

One taster, who's from Virginia said, "These take me back to the days of pouring a handful of peanuts into an ice-cold bottle of Dr. Pepper. A more grown-up version would be to serve them alongside an ice-cold Blue Moon beer and a slice of orange."

Our tasting results:
Salted: "Pure nutty goodness...Not too salty...Very crisp."
Jalepeno: "Well-balanced seasoning...A lot of heat in the aftertaste...Good, but one-dimensional."
Cajun: "More flavor than the jalepeno...Not so hot that you have to run to the water fountain."
Toffee: "The toffee coating complements the peanut flavor...I expected a sugar rush, but found light sweetness instead."

Quntities and prices of the peanuts range from single 4.9-ounce tins for $5 each, to 40-ounce multi-flavor "gift bundles" for $50, to 16-tin "corporate cases" for $64. Order at www.virginiacocktailpeanuts.com

Get ready, all you fans of the mobile-food movement, here comes yet another ambitious SactoMoFo project, the HoHoHoliday Brewfest.

Check it: 24 microbreweries and 25 to 30 mobile food trucks, carts, grills and stalls from around Northern California, spilling their cornucopias of mini-burgers and sweet-potato tots, Korean barbecue and Indian curry, among other delights. And all in an indoor venue.

"We're about halfway there with the logistics, and still doing outreach to the vendors," said SactoMoFo coordinator Paul Somerhausen, on the phone this morning. "We want to do something for charities during the Christmas period, and provide an opportunity for mobile food vendors to have a good day (during wet weather)."

HoHoHoliday Brewfest will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Power Balance Pavilion (previously Arco Arena; www.powerbalancepavillion.com). Tickets: $5 admission only, $10 admission and five beer samplings. Buy additional beer tastings inside; food items will be $5 or less. Tickets are available now at www.ticketmaster.com, and coming soon to www.sactomofo.com.

SactoMoFo is the main advocate for our region's somewhat controversial mobile-food movement, which has a legion of devotees. Their voices were heard on May 1, when 10,000 hungry supporters lined up at 21 mobile food trucks for the Sacramento Mobile Food Festival at midtown's Fremont Park. They wanted to send a message to the Sacramento City Council: We want food trucks, so lighten up on the local ordinances that restrict mobile food vendors.

Two weeks later, a petition signed by 3,700 food-truck fans was handed over at a city council meeting. Now, five months later, the council is preparing once again to address the food-truck issue.

Currently, Sacramento food trucks cannot stay parked for more than 30 minutes at a time in most parts of the city, and must shut down at dusk, among other regulations.

As for the upcoming event's possible effect on the city council's collective consciousness, Somerhausen said, "We hope it accentuates (to the council) that there is a demand for food trucks. The uncertainty that comes with the ordinances makes it very difficult for our vendors to operate businesses that enrich our food culture."

HoHoHoliday Brewfest will benefit Toys for Tots and the Sacramento Food Bank. Donate to either charity and the $12 arena parking fee will be waived.

HoHoHoliday Brewfest is a work in progress. For continuing updates and more information: www.sactomofo.com, and SactoMoFo on Facebook and Twitter.

We're lucky here in Sacramento: We can stoke up the grill and cook ribs year-round, and the recent glorious fall weather makes that a real weekend pleasure.

If you can't get enough smokey, juicy St. Louis-style pork ribs - the cut used by professional cookers at the huge annual Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off - look this way: The Albie Ribbin' BBQ Cook-off to benefit the Albie Aware Breast Cancer Foundation is planned from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Hilltop Tavern, 4757 Folsom Blvd.

Fifteen "Q teams" from area restaurants and sports bars will compete for trophies and braggin' rights. Among the sauce-slatherers will be teams from the Hilltop, Chargin's, Club Raven, Club 2 Me, Clubhouse 56 and Morgan's.

So, what does this mean for you? A $20 buy-in gets a rib dinner, entry in a raffle, a silent auction and all the live music you can handle from the Q-Balls.

For more information: (916) 927-1592, www.albieaware.org .

.
It's pretty safe to say that nearly everybody likes pancakes. Fluffy, buttery, syrupy discs of nostalgic delight, right?

The 53-year-old International House of Pancakes chain knows something about that. Now, with Halloween in mind, IHOP is offering a couple of special items through October.

The "design your own" Count Spatula Scary Face Pancake is $4.59, but is free to the 12-and-younger set all day Friday (7 a.m. to 10 p.m.) nationwide, including at the 14 participating IHOPS in our area.

And: "Trick or Treat All You Can Eat" buttermilk pancakes start at $4.99, but go up to $8.99 when they are ordered in combination with, say, bacon, ham, eggs, hashbrowns and the like.

Information: www.ihop.com

Every time we drop by the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op and cruise the aisles, we find something that grabs our attention. This time out, it was the array of nut butters.

"They go so well with other fall products like apples and pears," pointed out assistant marketing manager Stacie Traylor. "You can spread them on crackers and use them to make cookies, too."

A lunch pal and I sampled an array of organic nut butters, which were surprisingly mild-tasting. Some were more blended than others. In a few cases, it was difficult for us to blend the dense pulverized-nut mass at the bottom of the jars with the thick layers of nut oil floating on top.

Here's the harvest of our favorites, with tasting notes.

The Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op is at 1900 Alhambra Blvd., (916) 455-2667, www.sacfoodcoop.com.

San Francisco-based Boudin ("boo-deen") Bakery has made sourdough bread since Gold Rush days. A few years ago, it expanded with a chain of cafes, two of them in our area.

New to those menus is an item specifically geared to the cooler weather of fall. It's the gooey, crunchy, oh-so-comforting grilled cheese sandwich, in five incarnations (four are pictured).

Between the five, their ingredients include cheddar, Swiss, Brie and Havarti cheeses, applewood-smoked bacon, turkey, ham, sliced green apple, fig jam, Dijon mustard and cranberry Dijon mustard. They're served on Parmesan-crusted sourdough and multigrain breads. The price of each is under $8; add $2 for a companion bowl of tomato soup.

Boudin SF is in Loehmann's Plaza, 2573 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento (916-973-1849). The Roseville store is at 1017 Galleria Blvd., (916-782-1849).

Information: www.BoudinBakery.com.

.
Foodies and the culinarily curious are working up their appetites remembering last October's Lake Tahoe Food and Wine Festival. It was over the top in a good way, and past attendees are anticipating the next one.

Well, get ready. The fest returns Oct. 28-30 at Harrah's and Harveys hotel-casinos at Stateline at South Lake Tahoe. Bet on a long list of food-and-wine pairings, single-malt scotch tasting, multi-course dinners, live entertainment and contests, cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, seminars and special presentations such as "The Wines of Napa Valley."

Sharing tips and anecdotes will be Adam Richman, traveling gourmand and host of the Travel Channel's "Man v. Food" and "Man v. Food Nation." He'll take the stage the evening of Oct. 29 in Harrah's South Shore Room. What to expect? Let's just say the food enthusiast is also a veteran actor and comedian.

If your birthday's in October, get ready for some pretzels.

The national Pretzelmaker company's own birthday is Thursday. To celebrate 20 years of baking and selling soft pretzels, the four Pretzelmaker stores in our area will give away a free order of Birthday Bites to anyone with an October birthday. The Bites are morsels of salted soft pretzel.

The giveaway will be all day Thursday at the four stores - at Arden Fair Mall and Country Club Plaza in Sacramento, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, and the Galleria in Roseville.

All you need for a free order (one per person) is official identification, with your name and October birth date.

For more information: www.pretzelmaker.com.

>The "team members" who work at the 300-plus Whole Foods Markets in the U.S., Canada and United Kingdom take their jobs very seriously. When your employer's motto is "Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet," and its "core values" are essential to its everyday operation, you'd best be on close terms with food sourcing, and know what "natural" really means.

The chain's customers are equally as passionate about "America's Healthiest Grocery Store," as named by Health magazine. That's why it was nearly impossible to navigate the aisles at the opening of the Roseville store in November 2008, even without a shopping cart.

A similar scenario is expected Oct. 26 at the grand opening (after years of delays) of the area's third Whole Foods Market. It will be at 10 a.m. at 270 Palladio Parkway in Folsom (916-984-8500). The first 250 shoppers through the doors will be given reusable shopping bags filled with groceries.

On Oct. 22, a Street Market will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the store's parking lot, where 60 local vendors will offer samples and sales. Plus, hands-on food-oriented workshops, live music, beer- and cider-tasting, hay maze, pumpkin patch, and "sneak peek" tours of the store.

With local sourcing in mind, the 45,000-square-foot supermarket will carry goods from more than 200 suppliers from neighboring counties. In spring 2012, the Foothill Farmers Market Association will open a year-round certified farmers market in the parking lot. It will be modeled after the farmers market now held Thursdays at the Roseville store.

For a schedule of upcoming events at the Folsom store, go to www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/folsom

The two other Whole Foods Markets in our area are at 4315 Arden Way, Sacramento (916-488-2800), and 1001 Galleria Blvd., Roseville (916-781-5300).

For the record, the chain rang up sales of more then $9 billion last year.

Few naturally sourced food items are as tasty, healthful and versatile as olive oil - a.k.a. "liquid gold." It's thought that farmers on Crete were the first to cultivate olive orchards for the production of oil, more than 4,000 years ago.

Which leads to the annual Olive Oil Celebration, sponsored by the Sacramento Italian Cultural Society. The $20 buy-in includes appetizers, meatballs, pasta and desserts. Plus, a tasting and seminar on what to do and what not to do when curing olives for home use. It will be hosted by olive producer Dave De Camilla.

Samplings and/or sales will include dozens of extra-virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars, pastas and sauces, and a big selection of olives. As for door prizes: oil-and-vinegar gift sets, Italian foods and a dinner for four. Look for a book-signing by Richard S. Calhoun, author of "California Olives, Olive Oils and Vinegars."

The extravaganza will be 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the new Italian Center, 6821 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael; (916) 482-5900, www.italiancenter.net.

The advice is irrefutable, which is why it has been passed from generation to generation: Eat your vegetables.

In a smart marketing move, the chips-making folks at the Maryland-based Snikiddy Snacks have introduced a line of chips called ... yes, Eat Your Vegetables. The claim: "(The chips) offer bona-fide nutritional benefits - a full serving of vegetables in each ounce (around 13 chips)."

The press release says EYV chips are made from "a unique blend including sweet potatoes, carrots and navy beans." The chips are available in three flavors - Sea Salt, Sour Cream & Onion, and Jalepeno Ranch.

We looked at the ingredients list on the bag of the Jalepeno Ranch flavor. In part, it read: "Dried potatoes, navy beans, rice flour, potato starch, carrot, sweet potato, onion powder, green bell pepper powder, jalepeno pepper powder, paprika extract."

The price is $3.49 to $3.99 per 4.5-ounce bag, at area supermarkets and Toys R Us. Information: (866) 892-6365, www.snikiddy.com.

Meanwhile, we passed around bags of Jalepeno Ranch and Sour Cream & Onion, and got back these responses from our tasters, beginning with my own impressions:

Another Sacramento restaurant has shut its doors, adding to the plague of area restaurant failures that have mounted this year.

The sudden (though long time coming) closure of Buonarroti Ristorante at Town & Country Village is one more painful reminder of how California's woeful economic climate continues to affect small businesses. On Sept. 25, another Town & Country restaurant, the Terrace, went dark after serving its last Sunday brunch. It was owned by husband-wife Michael and Margo Powers.

Restaurateur-chef Daniel Alcantaro and his wife-business partner, Kathleen Alcantaro, invested $100,000 to open Buonarroti in October 2008, just as the economy took another downturn.

The Town & Country site was the couple's second restaurant. The first Buonarroti opened in downtown Lincoln in 2003, and will continue to operate, Daniel Alcantaro said this morning.

It's well-known among the barbecue and classic-cocktail crowds that the bar at Poor Red's Bar-B-Q (since 1948) in the tiny town of El Dorado goes through more Galliano Italian liqueur (since 1896) than anyplace else in the world.

That's because the joint's signature drink since 1952 has been the Golden Cadillac, a frothy blend of Galliano, half-and-half, white cream de cacao and ice.

"I order from three to six 12-bottle cases of Galliano each week, and make about 100 Golden Cadillacs a week ($7 each)," said second-generation bartender Mike Speegle. His dad, also named Mike Speegle, tended bar at Poor Red's for 27 years. "We're kind of the historians of the place," Speegle the younger said on the phone today.

With sales like that, it's no wonder Poor Red's caught the eye of the Lucas Bols company, "the world's oldest distilled spirits brand."

Now, to honor Poor Red's connection with Galliano, comes the Bols-sponsored Golden Cadillac West Coast Tour. On Monday, a gold-colored 1979 Cadillac DeVille will start its engine and cruise from San Diego to San Francisco on a multi-stop promotional tour.

On Oct. 16, the Caddy will pull in to Poor Red's, where festivities will begin around noon, Speegle said. On tap, so to speak, will be the country-western band The Golden Cadillacs, an outdoor barbecue and lots of merrymaking. At 4:30 p.m., Bols representatives will preside over the ceremony honoring Poor Red's thumbprint on cocktail history.

According to Bols, "Fans will be able to follow the tour on the Galliano facebook page facebook.com/gallianoliqueur and on Twitter @GallianoLiqueur."

Poor Red's is at 6221 Pleasant Valley Road; (530) 622-2901, www.poorredsbbq.com.

California leads the nation in the international slow food movement, whose goal is to foster regional and traditional cuisines while connecting to and honoring the local ecosystem. Think of terms of locavorism and the farm-to-fork concept.

Which is a lot to digest. Helping is "Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes From and Why We Need to Get it Back" by Ann Vileisis (Island Press, $22.50, 360 pages).

Helping further will be Vileisis' free presentation, at which she will discuss "the story of American food from early colonial farmers to the advent of canning and processing, to today's huge industrial food producers." Appetizers and wine will be served at the pre-event reception.

The evening will start at 6:30 Oct. 12 at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, 1914 Alhambra Blvd.; (916) 455-2667, www.sacfoodcoop.com. The presentation is co-sponsored by Slow Food Sacramento, www.slowfoodsacramento.com.

No matter what the ethnicity of the cuisine, one thing is true: The best dishes are made from the cherished family recipes handed down from one generation of home cooks to the next.

Which dovetails nicely with "From Generation to Generation," the theme of the 34th annual Jewish Food Faire. Come nosh from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 16 at Congregation Beth Shalom, 4746 El Camino Ave., Carmichael; (916) 485-4478, www.cbshalom.org. Heed event coordinator Jami Goldstene: "Come early because the food does tend to go fast."

As for the dishes that will be for sale ($3 to $8), picture stacked corned beef and pastrami on rye, along with homemade stuffed cabbage, chopped liver, borscht (soup), kugel (casserole), baked goods and more.

Plus, deli meats, breads, dill pickles and other goodies will be brought in from three legendary Jewish delis - Saul's in Berkeley, Canter's in Los Angeles and Katz's in New York. Also featured will be music, dancing, and professional-level arts and crafts. Free parking and admission.

For the food- and drink-centric, there's www.thedailymeal.com, a website devoted to "creating a complete food experience for cooks, food lovers, wine connoisseurs, discerning diners and everyone in-between."

Now the DM has ranked "the most gluttonous cities in the nation," and Sacramento is No. 11 out of 20. Seven other California cities made the list, too.

How did the DM researchers come up with the list? First, they defined "gluttony" as "the quantity of food available to a certain population, and the kind of food available to it." For instance, the number of fast-food chain outlets was a negative.

Then they assembled data from "the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control on the number of grocery stores and supermarkets per capita, the number of fast-food establishments, the number of full-service restaurants, and rates of obesity. ... This data was then weighed against similar research compiled by private research firms."

For better or worse, DM concludes the most gluttonous city is New York City, followed by Detroit, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Las Vegas, Columbus (Ohio), Chicago, San Diego, Philadelphia, Sacramento ("Has nearly the same number of fast-food and full-service restaurants; adult obesity rate is 26.7 percent"), San Antonio, Orlando, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Oakland, Riverside and San Bernardino.

Nutritionally speaking, sweet potatoes are good for us. They're rich in vitamins B6 and C, and are loaded with beta carotene. But they're not on everyone's "best of" list, even though crispy sweet-potato "tots" are a hit item on food trucks.

How to get those truck "tots" to the family dinner table, where maybe the young ones will find them fun to eat? One way is with a new product, Sweet Potato Puffs from Alexia Foods. A 20-ounce bag goes for $3.49 at most area supermarkets.

Bonus: Celebrity chef Tyler Florence (who lives in Mill Valley in Marin County) offers recipes using the puffs, at www.alexiafoods.com.

We asked four moms to serve the puffs as part of their family meals. Their reports:

It's early in this particular game, but... Chef Molly Hawks and her chef-husband, Michael Fagnoni, co-owners of Hawks restaurant in the Quarry Ponds Town Center, are planning an expansion.

"It's definitely something that's been on our minds and we're looking at a spot near the intersection of Alhambra and Stockton boulevards (in the forthcoming Stockton Boulevard Medical Building)" Hawks said on the phone today. "It's under construction, so we couldn't open until a year from now. We haven't signed a lease, so if that location doesn't pan out, we'll keep looking for another one."

Hawks pointed out that the "biggest challenge" in opening the new restaurant will be finding investors. "There's the potential for a big lunch business (at that venue)," she said, "and we're looking for investors."

As for the new place, "It will definitely reflect our style of food, but in a more casual way," she said. "We want to do something that's dressed down. We would give it a different name (than Hawks), though we might tie it in."

Earlier this month, the couple took gold and silver medals at the 26th annual Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival, held at the Northstar ski resort. Competing against 22 other restaurants, their housemade charcuterie won first place in the Best Food category, and second place in the Best Food & Wine Pairings category.

Hawks is at 5530 Douglas Blvd., Granite Bay; (916) 791-6200, www.hawksrestaurant.com.

PHOTO CREDIT: Patrons enjoy lunch at Hawks Restaurant. Autumn Cruz/Sacramento Bee

Among the world's cuisines, few can offer fare as hearty as Irish on a good day. So, with cooler weather in the months ahead, we're anticipating Wednesday's opening of Kinnee O'Reilly's Irish Pub & Restaurant.

The menu will include shepherd's pie, mulligan stew, corned beef and cabbage, boxty (a crepe-like dish made from potato-based batter), and house-made potato chips smothered in Irish cheeses and "sprinkled with chopped corned beef and scallions." Other European (and American) rib-stickers will be included: lamb shanks, bangers 'n' mash, fish 'n' chips, burgers, sandwiches and the like.

Being a pub as well as a restaurant, the thirsty can choose from more than 40 whiskeys and nearly as many international beers at the hand-crafted wood bar.

"Our goal is to make everyone feel like they've stepped into a casual corner pub in Ireland," said Dave Wohler, co-owner with his wife, Betsy Wohler.

Kinnee O'Reilly's is in the Montano Shopping Center, 1000 White Rock Road, El Dorado Hills. Information: (916) 933-2720, www.kinneeoreillys.com.

The highly regarded Terrace restaurant at Town & Country Village will close Sunday "after we serve one last brunch," said co-owner Margo Powers. She and her chef-husband, Michael Powers, opened the Terrace late in 2007 after selling the Village Bistro in Fair Oaks, which they ran for five years. The Terrace serves breakfast and lunch.

"Our monthly overhead is double what we make," Margo Powers said in explaining their decision to move on. "We always have our fingers crossed that (business) is going to get better, but our well has run dry."

Donahue Schriber is the Terrace's landlord. The Costa Mesa-based retail-property company owns Town & Country Village, Pavilions and Natomas Marketplace, all in Sacramento, as well as 75 other shopping destinations in four Western states.

"Donahue Schriber was saddened to learn earlier this week of the Terrace's intent to close on Sunday," said Audrey Yokota, the company's director of marketing. "It was solely the Powers' decision. We wish them the very best in their future business endeavors."

Here's a heads-up for caffeine-lovers: Sept. 29 is National Coffee Day, and the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores has a deal.

Walk in to any "participating" (meaning most of them) 7-Eleven franchise between 7 and 11 a.m. next Thursday and receive a free medium-size cup of coffee, cappuccino or latte, while supplies last.

It's the company's way of thanking its customers, said a spokesperson, much as it thanks them on July 11 each year with free Slurpees.

On the heels of the Sept. 9-11 Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival - where Hawks of Granite Bay took gold and silver medals in the Culinary Competition, versus 22 other restaurants - comes the second annual Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week, Oct. 2-9.

Experience has taught us it's never too early to make lunch or dinner reservations, especially when it comes to a culinary safari with an army of other foodies intent on mountain dining.

With that in mind, go to www.tahoerestaurantweek.com for details, including lodging packages, menus, maps and contact information (or call 530-525-1164). Meanwhile, this will get you started:

About 60 restaurants around the lake and in Truckee will offer three-course prix fixe meals for $20, $30 or $40 per person (tips and taxes not included). "No passes, tickets or coupons are required," said program organizer Pettit Gilwee. "It's an opportunity to try new restaurants and visit old favorites."

Dining venues range from historic resorts to gleaming new bistros, from the casual to the high-end. Among the high-rollers are the four-star Plumpjack Cafe in Olympic Valley, 19 Kitchen and the Sage Room at Harveys at South Lake Tahoe, Friday's Station at Harrah's at South Lake Tahoe, Lone Eagle Grille at the Hyatt Regency in Incline Village, Manzanita at the Ritz-Carlton above the Northstar ski resort, and Wolfdale's in Tahoe City.

Did we mention reservations?

Landslides of special events throughout Northern California are gearing up for the fall season. Let's mention one that involves eating, drinking and shopping, plus a scenic drive - always good things.

Truckee's eighth annual Downtown Wine, Walk & Shop soiree is on the calendar from noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 1. It will feature samplings from a dozen restaurants (including the four-star Manzanita at the nearby Ritz Carlton hotel, and delightful Truckee newcomer Troykay Cafe), and tastes from 40 wineries. Of course, visitors are encouraged to drop by the many art galleries and storefronts that make Truckee a unique shopping destination.

Advance tickets are $30 at www.truckeewinewalk.com and in the town of Truckee at the chamber of commerce visitors center and the Pour House wine shop. Day-of tickets are $40, exclusively at the registration kiosk near Sports Tahoe and the Mountain Home Center on Donner Pass Road. Details on lodging specials are on the website.

For more information: (530) 550-2252.

Fortunately, the clubhouse sandwich has never gone out of style. The question is: Which restaurant makes the best one?

To explore that, Wally Clark has announced his fourth Ultimate Clubhouse Sandwich Contest. It's a fundraiser for the Scottish Rite Clinic for Childhood Language Disorders. It's also a chance for the public to taste an array of classic and non-traditional clubhouses. Clark, a third-generation Sacramentan whose fond memories of clubhouse sandwiches go back to his boyhood years, is the owner of Associated Sound in Sacramento.

The clubhouse showdown will be Oct. 29 at the Scottish Rite Center. In the meantime, Clark wants to hear from you. Nominate what you think is the best clubhouse sandwich on a restaurant menu. It might end up in the competition.

Send your email nomination to carmelers@aol.com by Oct. 15. Include your name, and the name of the restaurant and its location. Then stay tuned.

For the record, a traditional clubhouse is a BLT with sliced roasted turkey or chicken breast and a third slice of toast, cut into wedges. It's smeared with mayo and is often accompanied by potato salad or potato chips and a pickle slice.

As thunder boomed and lightning lit up the Tahoe Basin and outlying areas on Sunday, the rain held off long enough for the smiling winners to be announced at the 26th annual Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival.

The three-day event, Sept. 9-11 at the Village at Northstar ski resort a few miles from Truckee, culminated in Sunday's Culinary Competition & Grand Tasting (pictured). In it, each of 23 restaurants teamed with a winery to present the 23 best food-and-wine pairings. There were other categories, as well.

The big news for Sacramento-area foodies: Chef Molly Hawks and her chef-husband, Michael Fagnoni, co-owners of Hawks restaurant in the Quarry Ponds Town Center in Granite Bay, took medals in two categories. They won gold in the Best Food category, and silver in the Best Food & Wine Pairings category.

"We wanted to show off our housemade charcuterie," said Hawks on Sunday, as people crowded around her sampling tent on the Northstar midway. Fagnoni was away at the moment, on a nearby stage being photographed with other competition winners.

Last Saturday, we took a well-advised exit off of Interstate 80 and on to Keystone Avenue in Reno. We were on journey to the 23rd annual Best in the West Rib Cook-off at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks and wanted a stretch and a bite.

Our destination was the landmark Gold 'n' Silver Inn restaurant. There, we met Sacramento Bee correspondent Mel Shields, who has covered the Reno-Lake Tahoe entertainment scene for this newspaper since 1976. His column appears each Sunday in the Living Here section.

The G&S opened in 1956 and continues to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner 24/7. And 365. It has been closed only one day in its life, for Christmas many years ago.

Attention, food- and wine-lovers: Another culinary safari is approaching, so let's make plans:

The 26th annual Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival runs Friday through Sunday (Sept. 9-11) in the picturesque Village at Northstar, between Lake Tahoe and Truckee.

Special events will include a grape stomp, gourmet marketplace, food- and wine-pairing seminar, outdoor cooking demonstrations, hands-on cooking classes, arts and crafts, live entertainment, art and sculpture shows, and much more.

The two top attractions each year are the Mountain Chef Blazing Pans Cook-Off (think "Iron Chef" and the surprise of "secret ingredients") and the big finale - the Grand Tasting and Culinary Competition, at which dozens of restaurant chefs pair delectables with wines from dozens of wineries.

Most events are free (including cooking classes), but the ticketed ones cost $15 to $90 (the festival is a fund-raiser). For the schedule, ticket availability and lodging suggestions, visit www.tahoefoodandwine.com

There's more: Following the festival will be the second annual Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week, Oct. 2-9.

The deal: About 60 restaurants around the lake and in Truckee will offer three-course prix fixe meals for $20, $30 or $40 per person. "No passes, tickets or coupons are required," said event organizer Pettit Gilwee. Be sure you make reservations, though.

At www.tahoerestaurantweek.com, you'll find a list of participating restaurants (from family-run to high-end), menus, maps, lodging deals and contact info.

The 23rd annual Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off was a Godzilla-size throwdown at which 24 professional cookers competed for cash, trophies and bragging rights. Along the way, they sold 240,000 pounds of bones to a Rib Nation a half-million strong.

The six-day event - considered the most prestious of its kind - culminated Monday afternoon on Victorian Square at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks. That's when Nugget officials announced the winners to a cheering crowd. They were:

First place: Back Forty Texas Barbecue of Pleasant Hill, Ca., $7,500
Second place: Chicago BBQ Co., Burr Ridge, IL., $3,000
Third place: Bone Daddy's, Midland, Mich., $2,000
Fourth place: Kinder's Custom Meats, Concord, Ca., $1,000
Fifth place: Porky 'n, Beans BBQ, Port St. Lucie, Fla., $500

The People's Choice Award (and $500) went to Bone Daddy's BBQ. The Best Sauce Award (also worth $500) went to newcomer Uncle Bub's of Westport, Ill.

The 24th Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off is planned for Aug. 29 through Sept. 3, 2012. For reservations, event history and information: (800) 648-1177, (775) 356-3300, or www.nuggetribcookoff.com.

There's big news (and a party) on the olive-oil front: The 113-year-old Star Fine Foods in Fresno - formerly of San Francisco - is celebrating its first extra-virgin olive oil made from California-grown olives. Until now, its products have been imported from Mediterranean countries.

The main event of Star's "Taste of the Good Life Tour" will be an olive oil-tasting and food- and wine-pairing at 6 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Greek Village Inn, 65 University Ave., Sacramento; (916) 922-6334, www.greekvillage.com.

The point is to demonstrate the differences between imported extra-virgin olive oil and Star California-produced extra-virgin olive oil.

"The tasting will (feature) six Greek specialty dishes, including roasted lamb shank," said restaurant owner Cathy Tsakopoulos. Note that seating is limited. The cost is $62.50 per person.

The new Star oil is a blend of first cold-pressed Arbequina, Arbosana and Koroneiki olives grown in the Central Valley. Find it in supermarkets and specialty-foods stores for $9.45 (16 ounces) and $12.98 (24 ounces). Information: www.starfinefoods.com.

The California Wool Growers Association has been "the voice of the sheep industry since 1860." Recently, it honored master meat-cutter Mike Carroll, the meat department manager at the Sacramento specialty market Corti Bros.

Carroll was displaying his framed certificate the other day, which reads, "CWGA 2011 Retailer Marketer Award (acknowledging) Corti Bros. for the continuing dedication toward promoting and marketing the California sheep industry."

"I've been very excited about it," Carroll said. "We went to the Pine Resort on Bass Lake near Yosemite for the banquet dinner and awards presentation."

Carroll has a remarkable assortment of lamb displayed in the cold case at his meat department. "We carry lamb from three different companies," he said. "We sell so much lamb that we exhausted the supply of one of our purveyors. She won't have any more until February, when her lambs mature."

What's that piece of meat over there? "That's a cradled lamb loin, something I invented myself," Carroll said. Joining it were rack of lamb, lamb chops, rib chops, small loin chops, shoulder chops, round bone chops, riblets, boneless lamb stew, chateau roast, lamb shanks and leg of lamb.

Makes you want to fire up the grill. Corti Bros. is at 5810 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento. For the meat department: (916) 736-3805.

Chocoholics, get ready for a trip to San Francisco to indulge in your favorite sweet at the 16th annual Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival. The square is a landmark that's listed on the National Historic Register.

Festival highlights will include 40-some chocolate-makers and their wares; cooking demonstrations; ice cream sundae-eating contest; live music and other entertainment; and dollars-off specials at local stores. Plus, Cadillac's "Ride & Drive" event will let you test-drive some of the carmaker's new wheels

Also, the Ghirardelli company has teamed with the Fairmont Heritage Place "private residence club" on the square for the Ghirardelli Chocolate and Wine Package deal, through Dec. 31. Details are at www.fairmont.com/ghirardelli. .

The chocolate festival will be from noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 10-11 in the courtyards of Ghirardelli Square and along Beach Street, adjacent to Aquatic Park on the outskirts of Fisherman's Wharf.

Tasting tickets are $20 for 15 samples; all other activities and demonstrations are free. For details, call (415) 775-5500 or visit www.ghirardellisq.com. Buy tasting tickets (including the VIP version) at the door or online at www.ghirardellisquarechocolatefestival2011.eventbrite.com.

Looking for more to do this Labor Day weekend? You might add the second annual Sample the Sierra "farm to fork festival" to your agenda.

Nearly 30 restaurants and wineries will offer their wares from booths set up along Ski Run Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe, from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Afterward, catch the free fireworks show at 8:30 p.m. from nearby beaches. But back up a minute: Other special events are going on now through Sunday. For a complete schedule, go to www.samplethesierra.com.

Tickets are $25 at the door for Sunday's food- and wine-tastings and a commemorative wine glass, plus loads of live entertainment. For more information: (775) 588-1728.

Singalong show tunes don't get much better than the ones from the musical "Oklahoma!" by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. They're especially tasty when accompanied by a spread of homemade food.

The two will be paired at Camerata California's special celebration of "Oklahoma!" at 4 p.m. Sept. 18, 5412 Gibbons Drive, Carmichael. Guests can sing from a stage or from their seats, or simply sit quietly and enjoy the tunes. If you come dressed in Western attire, you might win the best-costume prize.

Now for the Chuckwagon Feast part: On the menu will be appetizers, barbecued tri-tip and chicken, au gratin potatoes, cowboy beans, apple-ginger coleslaw, cornbread and peach cobbler. Plus sarsaparilla, beer and wine.

The special fund-raiser marks the new season for Sacramento's chamber choir (www.cameratacalifornia.net). Proceeds will help fund California Camerata's "Emerging Young Artist Scholarship Program."

Tickets are $50; for more information and to make reservations: (916) 483-1386.

Here's a chance to interact with a lineup of top Sacramento chefs as they prep and cook fabulous foods, all in the "period facilities" of Sutter's Fort State Historic Park.

The second annual A Taste of History will feature Kurt Spataro (Spataro), Randall Selland (Ella, The Kitchen), Patrick Mulvaney (Mulvaney's B&L), Janie Desmond Ison (Cafe Vinoteca) and Jay Veregge (Ten22). They will prepare a four-course dinner "reminiscent of those enjoyed when John Sutter founded Sutter's Fort in 1839."

The fund-raiser is sponsored by the Friends of Sutter's Fort in association with Slow Food Sacramento. Appetizers, beer- and wine-tastings, live music and a silent auction will be included.

Tickets are limited. They cost $75 a person if purchased by Sept. 2, $85 after that. The event is 6:30 p.m. Sept. 24. For tickets and more information: (916) 323-7626, www.suttersfort.org.

Yes, you need a membership to buy groceries at Sam's Club, the national chain of retail-warehouse mini-shopping centers. But a trip to www.samsclub.com/meals is free.

There, after clicking on "Tips and Videos," you will find our very own chef Molly Hawks, starring in two how-videos on making rotisseried chicken tacos and cherry cobbler. Hawks and her husband, Michael Fagnoni, co-own Hawks restaurant in Quarry Ponds Town Center in Granite Bay (916-791-6200, www.hawksrestaurant.com).

Hawks' videos are part of Sam's Club's "Simply Delicious Meals" program, which will feature eight chefs from around the nation demonstrating how to cook certain dishes. The other seven chefs' videos will be posted at the site in the months ahead.
"The program is intended to show (home cooks) how to make restaurant-quality meals at home," says Hawks in her video.

If you need guidance that's more up-close and personal, Hawks is hosting a cooking demonstration (those chicken tacos) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Sam's Club, 7147 Greenback Lane, Citrus Heights; (916) 721-6499.

Master baker Teresa Urkofsky dropped by the office today, bearing a box full of sweet and savory mini-pies and looking for some feedback.

After sampling the goods, a dozen randomly chosen tasters wanted to stand up and applaud her. The baker herself was gratified that all her pastries had disappeared so quickly.

Urkofsky teaches baking and pastry-making at American River College, and was co-owner of the since-closed Baby Cakes bakery on J Street. Her new company, www.beckyjopies.com (916-217-5421), opened just two weeks ago, and she's working hard to keep up with the demand for her "hand pies" (crescent-shaped turnover size) and 9-inch "puffy pies."

Today's sampling of hand pies: goat cheese, roasted potato and tomato with arugula pesto and corn; honey-ginger peach; nectarine-raspberry; blackberry-pluot; and chocolate caramel custard. The puffy pie was heavenly, buttery pastry heavy with luscious sliced nectarines and raspberries. Filling combinations can be used in both types of pie.

The pies are sold Fridays through Sundays at Corti Bros. market (which just doubled its order), but the smart approach is this: Go to the website and order the pies in advance, then pick them up later. Hand pies are $4.99; puffy pies are $22.99.

"The fillings will change every month, according to the season and what's available. Apples and pears will be coming up," Urkofsky said. "In September, I'll make chicken pot pie and salmon pot pie."

Corti Bros. Market is at 5810 Folsom Blvd.; (916) 736-3800.

We've sampled Nonni's-brand products in the past, and have always given them a thumbs-up.

New to its baked-goods lineup is Biscotti Bites, 24 mini-biscotti to the bag, each morsel carrying 40 calories. The Bites come in three flavors - almond (with a touch of anise), almond dipped in dark chocolate, and caramel milk chocolate. Bites are $3.49 to $3.99 in most supermarkets. For more information: www.nonnis.com.

We passed around the bag of traditional almond-anise Bites and asked our tasters to offer their critiques. I'll go first:

"Nonni's, with roots in Lucca, Italy, has always baked some fine dunking cookies. They're crunchy, fresh-tasting, not overly sweet and really made from old recipes using quality ingredients. However: For some, they may be a bit dry. The new Bites are convenient and casual (and cute?), and - like all biscotti - are best when dunked in red wine."

"Flavor: Excellent; love the interplay of anise and almond. Texture: Good; a bit less dense and crispy than my favorite biscotti, but close. Size: If your coffee cup is half-empty, forget it; these little nibbles are too short for dunking."

"

If you've been honing your hamburger skills this summer, you may be ready for the big time - with a dollop of fun on top.

Relish Burger Bar will host its second annul Burger Smack Down on Sept. 11, and you're invited to compete.

The rules are simple: "Complete the (online) application and submit your burger recipe. We'll pick the top 10 recipes and (notify the semifinalists) one week prior to the event. Those 10 contestants will cook their burgers at Relish, to be judged by a panel of local celebrities."

"The winner will get his or her burger on our menu for a couple of months," said Relish owner Richard Righton. And bragging rights, of course.

To register and for more information: www.relishburgerbar.com and (916) 239-9041.

Relish is in the Montano Center, 1000 White Rock Road, El Dorado Hills.

Today is National Rum Day, so there's this story to think about: The late Norman Keith Collins - a.k.a. Sailor Jerry - was a tattoo artist, Navy veteran and skipper of a three-masted schooner that sailed the Hawaiian islands.

These days, Sailor Jerry Ltd. makes spiced Navy rum and sells it nationwide. The folks at the company named after Sailor Jerry offer these cocktail recipes - not only for today, but for any time. For more, go to www.sailorjerry.com.

Rockabilly Juice
Ingredients:
2 parts spiced rum
1/2 part lemon juice
1/3 part Orange Curacao
2 parts iced black tea
How to:
Build over ice in a tall glass, squeeze and drop in a lemon wedge.

Backyard Tea
Ingredients:
2 parts spiced rum
1 part iced tea
2 parts lemonade
How to:
Add ingredients to a tall, ice-filled glass and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Perfect StormIngredients:
2 parts spiced rum
Ginger beer
2 to 3 lime wedges
How to:
Build in a tall glass over cubed ice, and garnish with squeezed lime wedges.

Banana Hammock
Ingredients:
1-1/2 ounces spiced rum
3/4 ounce banana syrup
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
Dash of Angostura bitters
How to:
Mix ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into a coupe glass.

When it comes to dining out these days, $40 doesn't go far, especially if you have a glass of wine with your meal. We all need a deal, so here's one to end the summer.

Take your appetite to Off to the Races, a fund-raising food- and wine-tasting from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, in the courtyard at Pavilions shopping center on Fair Oaks Boulevard (east of Howe Avenue), Sacramento.

Line up for hors d'oeuvres from an array of restaurants: Bella Bru, Fabian's Italian Bistro, Icing on the Cupcake, Land Ocean New American Steakhouse, Lemon Grass, Piatti, Roxy, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Sienna, Star Ginger Asian Grill & Noodle Bar, and Sutter Street Steak House.

Then enjoy pours of red, white and rose from wineries including Amizetta, Andis, Barefoot, Borjon, Karley, Mount Aukum, Perry Creek, Clarksburg Wine Company, Vino Noceto and Morse Wines/Il Gioiello.

Off to the Races will be emceed by KCRA news anchor Adrienne Bankert. Live entertainment will accompany.

Tickets are $40 each at the door or in advance at (916) 933-4056. Off to the Races is the kickoff event for the 13th annual Race for the Arts, 8:30 a.m. Aug. 27 at William Land Park.

For more information on both events, go to www.raceforthearts.com.

We dropped by the 11-year-old Bidwell Street Bistro the other night for a light but tasty spread. We were reminded how good chef Wendi Mentink's dishes can be: plump Prince Edward Island mussels in caramelized pineapple-rum broth; gazpacho, made chunky with watermelon, avocado and cherry tomatoes; and a bright apple-butter lettuce salad with just the right amount of dressing (we added grilled prawns).

Afterward, word arrived via email from owner Richard Righton about Mentink's newly revised lunch menu, which changes seasonally. Amid a straightforward lineup of sandwiches, salads, quiche, soups and sides (and a few specials each week), this trio is flying out of the kitchen, he said:

Club sandwich of smoked turkey breast, roast beef, bacon, white cheddar, lettuce, tomato and Dijon aioli on sourdough ($8.95).

Ultimate BLT of roasted pork belly, baby greens, tomato and pesto aioli on sourdough ($9.95).

Grilled certified Angus skirt steak with pommes frites ($12.95).

The bistro is at 1004 E. Bidwell St., Folsom; (916) 984-7500, www.bidwellstreetbistro.com. Lunch is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Righton also owns Relish Grill & Bar (think upscale burgers on a great patio) in the Montano Center, 1000 White Rock Road, El Dorado Hills; (916) 933-3111, www.relishburgerbar.com.

Next time you stir your appetites with a hike or a jet-ski excursion at Lake Tahoe, consider some luscious bites at Brook's Bar & Deck at the Edgewood Tahoe golf course. Yep, it's casual.

The well-landscaped outdoor patio - surrounded by the snow-pocketed Sierra - overlooks a slice of the lake and some gorgeous acreage of fairways and putting greens. We sat at a table under a giant umbrella and cruised a straightforward menu of appetizers, salads, entrees and desserts.

A big hit was the half-pound sirloin burger on ciabatta with lettuce, tomato, sliced red onion and, in our case, Dijon mustard ($14). For an additional $1 each, choose from among three cheeses, applewood-smoked bacon, sauteed mushrooms, guacamole, Ortega chile and grilled onions.

Also tops: Firecracker Salad, skewers of juicy chicken satay atop greens and a confetti of diced yellow and green bell peppers, with marvelous peanut-based dressing; tender tri-tip French dip with intense jus; and a twist on fish 'n' chips - beer-battered salmon instead of the usual pollock or cod.

Edgewood is at 100 Lake Parkway, Stateline, Nev. (in back of Harveys). Open 7 a.m.-9 p.m. daily until mid-October. Info: (775) 588-618, www.edgewoodtahoe.com.

We always thought the term "triple double" referred to a performance by a basketball player who's had a great game. Now the folks at Nabisco have redefined it as the Triple Double Oreo, literally the biggest version yet of the iconic cookie (introduced in 1912).

This handful is constructed of three chocolate Oreo wafers, stuffed with a layer of vanilla creme and one of chocolate creme.

Could it be an improvement over the traditional Oreo cookie (there are nearly 40 variations), which have sold in the billions? We asked our panel of tasters to twist, lick, munch or dunk the Triple Doubles and offer their expert opinions, beginning with my own. For more information: www.nabiscoworld.com/oreo/.

P.S. A Nabisco spokesperson emailed this: "The Triple Double will be available in August. We cannot give out individual retailer names, but (the cookies) are being distributed nationally. The suggested retail price is $4.19 (for a 13.1-ounce package)."

There's so much New York-style pizza in town that we should be talking with accents. Let's remember that the guy who helped pioneer the thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizza movement here is John Ruffaine, who opened Giovanni's Old World New York Pizzeria 10 years ago.

"I'm just happy to still be here 10 years later," he said on the phone Monday.
So happy that Ruffaine has rolled back the price of his large (16-inch) cheese pizza from $17.95 to the 2001 price of $9.95. "If you build your own with your favorite toppings, it's a good way to get a very good deal," he said, and we agree.

The roll-back program runs through August at the two Giovanni's pizzerias in Sacramento: 5924 S. Land Park Drive (916-393-7001) and 6200 Folsom Blvd. (916-455-8831).

"I'm providing a style of pizza I grew up with in Brooklyn," Ruffaine said. "I'm making it with no shortcuts, from scratch and with ingredients imported from New York and Italy." That includes the extra-virgin olive oil.

If you're not in the mood for pizza, the Sicilian roasted chicken from a family recipe is a winner ($9.95 whole, $5.95 for a half).

Visit at www.giosnypizza.com.

If you and your foodie friends find yourselves in San Francisco today through Sunday, you'd be wise to participate in SF Chefs Restaurant Week, billed as "the third annual premier food, wine and spirits" experience. The action will be on Union Square and inside the Westin St. Francis Hotel.

Included in the culinary party will be offerings from chefs, restaurants, farmers, wineries, breweries and the makers of artisanal foods of all sorts. Also: cooking demonstrations, spirits classes, seminars, panel discussions, silent auction and the chance to meet some of the stars of Northern California's food and wine industries.

Most of the fork-to-mouth tastings will happen Friday through Sunday inside the Grand Tasting Tent on Union Square.

For the details (including pricing), go to www.sfchefs2011.com.

Once again, for the eighth straight year, the sign has gone up at Whitey's Jolly Kone: "Fresh peach milkshakes."

Imagine a visit to peach heaven and how a milkshake would taste there: high-quality vanilla ice cream studded with chunks of fragrant peach, blended into an icy concoction that freezes the throat. To quote the British pop group the Eurythmics, "sweet dreams are made of this."

Each summer, the owners of the landmark drive-in - Steve and Paula Ericson - sell the shakes as fast as they can make them. The secret: tree-ripened freestone peaches from Modesto. From now until around the end of August, they'll serve the area's best peach shake.

"They're going over very well," said Steve on the phone this morning. Years of first-hand experience tell us that's an understatement. Get 'em while they last. Regular, $3.25; large, $3.75.

Whitey's is at 1300 Jefferson Blvd., West Sacramento; (916) 371-3605.

Yes, "Animal Crackers" is the title of a 1930 Marx Brothers comedy, but beyond that the cookies are a British import popularized here in 1902. That's when the National Biscuit Company made the classic Barnum's Animals, which quickly became a national icon. Nearly 40 different circus and zoo animals have filled the distinct Barnum's Animals packaging over the decades.

Which brings us to a new product sent to us from Petaluma-based Barbara's Bakery. Our tasters sampled two of the six available flavors - double chocolate and peanut butter "animal cookies ... made with organic grain" (www.barbarasbakery.com). They're $3.99 per 7-1/2-ounce bag, available at Safeway and Whole Foods stores.

We passed them around the room and asked our tasters to give their opinions. Here they are, beginning with my own:

"

We dropped by Capital Confections for preview tastes of two unusual items that owner Teresa Higgins has concocted for the second annual TomatoFest. Her store is at Town & Country village, the site of Saturday's all-things-tomato celebration (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

Earlier this year, Higgins created the Red Hot Chili Truffle - chili oil-infused ganache covered in a dark-chocolate shell. It was a hit, but it wasn't hot enough for some chocolate-lovers. So she added more fire for a second version, the Double Hot.

For a special TomatoFest novelty item, she added sun-dried tomato to the original hot truffle to produce the Lil Hot Tomata Truffle. It packs a bit of fire, plus bits of subtly flavored sun-dried tomato. Give it a thumbs-up. It and the other two truffles are $2.50 per 1.5-ounce piece.

The Highway 50 corridor to Lake Tahoe is jammed this time of year, good news for businesses. The sad news for diners is the passing of the four-star Dante's on the River Italian restaurant, between Pollock Pines and Kyburz, and the ongoing locked doors of the St. Pauli Inn in Pollock Pines.

However, the remodeled Red Apple restaurant outside Placerville is open (530-626-8144), and the dining room at Strawberry Lodge in Kyburz is a familiar standby (530-659-7200).

The Fresh Pond Trading Post in Pollock Pines is another oasis for hungry motorists on the to-or-from Tahoe trail, and a convenient stop for picnickers planning al-fresco dining at nearby Sly Park.

Two years ago, I reviewed the family-oriented Heavenly Dog in Elk Grove, which still sells 13 variations on the wiener theme, plus a Hella Good Corn Dog that's hand-dipped in house-made batter and deep-fried.

We liked the dogs a lot, and heaped a ton of the four house-made relishes and five mustards all over them. Plus we knocked back sides of homemade macaroni and potato salads.

Now there's news: Though the brick-and-mortar store will stay where it is, owner Nicki Smith has plans to take her dog emporium on the road.

"My husband Chris is in the process of building our food truck," Smith said. "It will be Heavenly Dog on wheels. We'll have to trim back some of the menu items, but we'll sell our most popular dogs and rotate the others through the menu."

What about timing?

"We still have to go through the paperwork and licensing process," she said, "but we're hoping to be on the road by the end of October. There will be three of us on the truck, and we're planning to cover a lot of the outlying areas, away from downtown Sacramento."

Watch this space for upcoming developments. Meanwhile, check out Heavenly Dog at 9160 E. Stockton Blvd., Elk Grove, in the Marketplace 99 South shopping center. Information: (916) 714-7877 or www.heavenlydoghotdogs.com.

We dropped by the California State Fair on Wednesday to check out the upcoming buffet at the food kiosks along the main promenade. Workers and cookers rushed around, preparing for today's noon opening. We found the usual on-a-stick items (alligator tail tastes nothing like chicken, by the way), along with chocolate-covered bacon, deep-fried Moon Pies and tons of garlic fries.

Looking for something more healthful, we spotted pasta, vegetarian spring rolls, falafel and grilled vegetables. But what stopped us was the Corn Shack, this year celebrating its 20th anniversary at the fair.

There, we talked with owner Dominic Palmieri, who has worked the fair circuit for 22 years. His company is based in Phoenix, Ariz.

Tell us about your corn-on-the-cob, please ($3.50 an ear, with fixins).

"It's California-grown 'big barrel corn,' with a cob almost 10 inches long," Palmieri said. "We oven-roast the ears in the husks at 600 degrees. It cooks so quickly that it never gets the chance to reach the starch stage. Instead, (the fast roasting) brings out the corn's naturally occurring sugar-content level. Our corn is picked every morning and goes from the field to the customer within 24 hours. We'll sell an entire field of corn here at the state fair."

After cooking, the ears are removed from their husks and handed over to customers. It's up to them to doctor the "naked corn" with butter and/or combinations of a dozen seasonings. "There are more than 300 combinations of seasonings, whatever creation you can come up with. It's a corn-lover's fantasy come true," Palmieri said.

Obviously, fairgoers love fresh corn. "Oh, yes," he mused. "It's amazing to watch them line up for corn at 10 a.m., when the fair opens (Fridays through Sundays; otherwise noon)," he mused. "Who eats corn in the morning?"

And the record for the most corn eaten by one fairgoer in a single day? That would be 24.

For more on the state fair: www.bigfun.org.

Somehow, it seems appropriate that a company called Mars would have a longtime "candy connection" to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Mars candy company has supplied the M&Ms that have been aboard 130-plus space shuttle missions since 1981.

To commemorate NASA's final space shuttle launch on July 8, Mars delivered a batch of shuttle-themed M&Ms (pictured) to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to be shared by the Atlantis astronauts and ground staff.

Unfortunately, you can't get any of the special red, blue and silver iconic candies, but you can do the next best thing: Customize your own M&Ms. Here's how:

Go to www.mymms.com. To begin, click on the "Register" button in the upper right-hand corner, and follow the directions from there. Choose up to three colors of M&Ms on which to put your personalized messages or art work, and then select from packaging options. As for pricing, it's on the website.

For more on the Atlantis shuttle's "sweet sendoff," go to www.collectspace.com.

Would you rather visit France vicariously or get a meal deal? How about both? Along with a chance to win a round trip to Provence, of course.

The Irvine-based Mimi's Cafe chain, with six stores in the Greater Sacramento area, is celebrating Bastille Day (French Independence Day) on Thursday with an offer: "Guests can enjoy a free two-pack of muffins, including the new chocolate mousse flavor, with a valid coupon and any purchase." To print the coupon, go to www.mimiscafe.com or www.facebook.com/mimiscafe.

More eats: From now through Oct. 5, Mimi's "Taste of France" program is featuring "Tour de Provence" seasonal menus, with Provence-inspired dishes. We dropped by the Folsom store for breakfast and had the sweetish cinnamon brioche french toast (one of four choices; $7.50).

Better was the three-course dinner deal for $14. In between a decent Caesar salad and an OK apple cinnamon crisp was the "country French beef gratin" (one of three entree choices). Described as a "French-inspired shepherd's pie," the ramekin-bound casserole was tasty and filling. There's a three-entree Provence-inspired lunch menu, too ($11 with beverage).

And: To enter the "Chance for France Giveaway" - five days in Provence, plus 100 other prizes - go to Mimi's Facebook page and "like" it. If you're not a Facebook member, you can register at Mimi's website.

"Taste of France" will continue with more seasonal menus. "Tour de Paris" will be Oct. 6-Jan. 25, and "Tour de Burgundy" will run Jan. 26-May 30.

San Francisco-based See's Candies has learned a thing or two during its 90 years of operation. One is how to promote itself, which, in this case, is a good thing for us.

For starters, on National Lollipop Day - July 20 - the candymaker will give away a gourmet lollipop to every customer who visits any of its 200 stores. Also, candy-lovers can buy boxes of the pops at reduced prices.

The bigger news is See's National Lollipop Day Sweepstakes, in which the winner and a guest will win round-trip air fare to San Francisco, four nights at a hotel, ground transportation, $100 per day for "incidentals," and a VIP tour of See's candymaking facilities. Enter the sweepstakes through July 23 at www.sees.com/lollypopsweepstakes or at any See's outlet. See the rules at www.sees.com/sweepstakesrules. Winners will be randomly selected on Aug. 26.

One more thing: See's four lollipop flavors are cafe latte, butterscotch, chocolate and vanilla, but right now there's a limited-edition summer flavor - root beer. We got our hands on a batch and orchestrated a quick taste test:

"Not too sweet, but the flavor could be bolder. When it comes to root beer, subtlety should not be part of the equation."

"Very nice, not cloyingly sweet, good root beer flavor, with a touch of creaminess. The original pops are good, but I like this one better."

"I like root beer plenty, but I've never been crazy about it in candy. The sucker's not bad, but not something I would opt for, given See's other choices."

"Very satisfying. I'm not one for root beer candy, but this is really flavorful, caramel-like and smelled of root beer as soon as I unwrapped it. It lasted a long time."

"Wow! This is as high-quality a root beer sucker as I have ever had. Though with every lick, all I can think is: I'd rather be sucking on a chocolate one."

The pieces are nearly in place for the second annual Sacramento TomatoFest, July 30 at Town & Country Village. But before we get to those details, there's one other thing...

Take a good look at the TomatoFest mascot in the photograph. She'll make her debut at the festival, but she needs a name. To that end, the winner of the "Name the Mascot" contest will receive a $100 gift certificate good at participating stores at the shopping center. Email your entries to sriceecp@aol.com, with your name, city of residence and daytime phone number. Deadline is July 22.

Also: Those tomatoes growing in your backyard garden right now could be a "cash crop" at the TomatoFest. At stake is $500 in prize money for each winner in three tomato categories: largest, smallest and ugliest. The tomatoes must be ripe. Contestants can download entry forms at www.theterracecuisine.com., or register tomatoes in person by 9:30 a.m. July 30.

There's more: Restaurant chefs will compete for the Orient & Flume glass-art trophy and bragging rights as they prepare their best salsa, bruschetta and cold or hot tomato-based soup (samples will be available to help attendees decide on the People's Choice Award). Last year's grand-prize winner was chef Jon Nelson of Sienna in El Dorado Hills.

Judging the dishes will be Gloria Glyer and Bernice Hagen, who were part of Sacramento magazine's Dining Divas team for 17 years; wine writer and former Sacramento Bee restaurant reviewer Mike Dunne; Sacramento Bee wine columnist Chris Macias; and Alex Lane, community manager of Yelp.

Also on the agenda are a village-wide sidewalk sale, live music, art displays, winetasting, gardening demonstrations, a children's area, a Tomato Trot for kids 13 and younger, and performances by the Sacramento Theatre Company. Taste-wise, look for tomato-based truffles and gelato, and bloody Marys.

Cooking demonstrations will be given by Nelson of Sienna, Buonarroti chef and co-owner Daniel Alcantaro, chef Gene Moana of Forge in the Forest in Carmel, and chef-cookbook author Elaine Corn.

The second annual Sacramento TomatoFest will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 30 at Town & Country Village, Marconi and Fulton avenues, Sacramento; (916) 933-4056, www.shoptownandcountry.com

Let us count the good things about a new line of tortilla chips made from two kinds of beans (navy and black) and rice, instead of the traditional corn. Beanfields' four protein-rich flavors of "crispylicious" chips:

- Are gluten-free.
- Contain 4 grams of fiber per 1-ounce serving.
- Are free of all the "FDA's eight most common ingredients that trigger food allergies."

You get the picture. And you can get the product at Whole Foods (www.wholefoodsmarket.com) and Elliott's Natural Foods stores (www.elliottnaturalfoods.com) around the Sacramento area. They're $3 to $4 per 6-ounce bag. More at www.beanfieldssnacks.com.

Yes, the chips seem to fall more on the healthful side of the snack divide, but what about taste? We distributed the four flavors (unsalted, sea salt, sea salt and pepper, and pico de gallo) to a group of tasters. Here's what they said, starting with my own comments:

Mark's Sports Bar & Grill was rockin' Wednesday night, with music blasting from the state-of-the-art jukebox and hungry folks lined up for its annual summertime barbecue. Owner Mark Adelhelm put together the 'cue program two summers ago, and it's back.

It works this way: Every Wednesday from 5 to 9 p.m. on the garden-style patio, Mark's cooks will grill and serve hefty cheeseburgers and plump hot dogs, with sides of house-made beans and potato salad (each plate is $5; two dogs per plate).

More interesting to us are the babyback ribs, prepared and sauced according to "a family recipe." Three ribs and the two sides are $7, with additional ribs at $1.50 each.

Also: an all-night open jukebox and featured drink specials that will change weekly.

We dropped by and loaded plates with much of the above. Frankly, there are some restaurants devoted to barbecue that don't do as good a job.

Check it out at 303 Iron Point Road in Folsom, (916) 357-5567, www.markssportsbar.net.

The dining scene continues to warm up at the Palladio at Broadstone in Folsom, the 54-acre "lifestyle center" that was an unfinished ghost town until Cinema West opened a very popular 16-screen movie complex (www.gopalladio.com).

The Pinkberry (frozen yogurt) and Johnny Rockets (burgers) chains followed with stores nearby, catching the moviegoing traffic and anticipating more store openings.

The latest restaurant to set up shop is the Blue Nami sushi house, which had its grand opening June 24. It's the third store in the mini-chain, with sister restaurants in Roseville and Orangevale.

Plans are for more dining spots (and a Whole Foods store) to open between October and "the end of the year," said Stephen Hemington. He's the chief financial officer for Elliott Homes, owner of Palladio. Then he dropped some names: Chicago Fire, Chops, Panera Bread, Freebirds World Burritos and Toby Keith (named after the country singer, and part of his national chain).

So, what's going on here? "I think restaurants are recognizing an underserved market here in Folsom," Hemington said on the phone today.

Indeed, the joke is that if you open an envelope in Folsom - much less a restaurant - crowds will form. Case in point was when Land Ocean steakhouse debuted a few weeks ago, just down the street from Palladio, in another Broadstone center owned by Elliott Homes. Getting through the door still can be a struggle, but the menu's worth it (2720 E. Bidwell St., 916-983-7000).

Meanwhile, the Blue Nami menu looks good - from barbecued scallops and shrimp tempura to sushi, sashimi and nigiri. Plus, pork, beef, poultry and noodle dishes. Look for an upcoming review in "Counter Culture," my restaurant review column that appears Fridays in The Bee.

Blue Nami in Folsom is at 330 Palladio Parkway, (916) 983-3388, www.bluenamisushi.com.

At the tender age of 6 months, Fabian's Italian Bistro continues to grow its base of loyal customers at viral speed. All that word-of-mouth is based on good reasons.

Let's start with its monthly winetastings, usually held from 6 to 8 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month. The bargain price of $10 buys four tastes and appetizers.

A twist on that is coming July 13, with a special pairing of appetizers and four Sierra Nevada beers - Torpedo, Harvest, Kellerweis and Old Chico wheat beer (www.sierranevada.com). Same hours, same price. However, chef Tom Patterson is planning a special dinner that night as well, using Sierra Nevada beer as an ingredient. The menu and buy-in are still being worked out.

Moving to the daily menu (and nightly specials), on offer are homestyle meals with a glaze of finesse. In a "Counter Culture" restaurant review in March, I quoted co-owner Christian Forte (with wife Mercedes): "We came up with the menu based on (the dishes) we enjoy cooking at home and the ones I grew up with. My dad (former teen idol Fabian Forte) is an incredible cook."

For awhile, I've been stuck on the salmon, crispy polenta and garlicky gazpacho whenever I drop by. But Fabian's outdoor patio opened recently, and three lunch pals and I attended Sunday brunch (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

From the to-the-point menu ($6 to $11) we shared four dishes that were outstanding for their vibrancy and choice ingredients (and big portions). With its two bright-yellow poached eggs and perfectly cooked Yukon gold potatoes, the spinach Benedict (pictured) took first place.

It narrowly edged out the french toast (cinnamon custard-soaked brioche with vanilla cream), spring vegetable frittata (light and moist) and "eggs in the hole," which had nothing to do with the classic British dish (toad in the hole) other than toast (Pugliese from the Acme bakery) and sausage (house-made Italian link). Think also in terms of melted provolone and marinara sauce.

One more thing: subdued live guitar music is played from 6 to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Anticipating the brunch rush from the after-church crowed, we finished our Bellinis (Prosecco and peach puree, with raspberry garnish) and headed for the hills.

Fabian's is at 11755 Fair Oaks Blvd. in the Almond Orchard center, Fair Oaks; (916) 536-9891, www.fabiansitalianbistro.com.

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of you-know-what for the Fourth of July party.

The folks at the Sailor Jerry spiced-rum company want to offer a few recipes to help you keep the spirit of Independence Day ... interesting.

Backyard Tea
2 parts spiced rum
1 part iced tea
2 parts lemonade
Add ingredients to an ice-filled highball glass and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Hellfire
1 part spiced rum
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 part ginger beer
Pilsner or lager beer
One-quarter fresh lime
Squeeze the lime into a beer glass. Fill with ice. Add Tabasco, spiced rum and ginger beer. Top with beer.

Sailor Jerry barbecue sauce
In a medium pot, add 1 liter spiced rum, 4 to 5 quartered oranges, 3 lemons and 2 limes (3 to 4 tablespoons of mixed fruit juice concentrate optional).
Reduce at a rapid boil by about 75 percent or until slightly thickened. Strain and let cool.

Pick your favorite brand of barbecue sauce. In a second pot, bring desired amount of sauce to a slow warm, adding the spiced-rum mixture a little at a time. About 5 to 6 parts barbecue sauce to 1 part rum mixture works well, but taste it along the way to see how you like it. Great on ribs and pulled pork.

How would you like to take a trip to Italy with internationally recognized food and wine expert Darrell Corti of Sacramento? You can - vicariously, of course.

For 12 days in March, as part of two wine-trade events, Corti toured through Palermo (Sicily), Venice and northern Italy. Looking calm and confident, and sporting various brightly color bow ties, he tasted and sampled while visiting with some of his store's purveyors. His trip was sponsored by Winett Taste & Trade (a Venice-based wine-marketing company) and the Sicilian Regional Wine Institute.

Accompanying him was Corti Bros. Market store director Rick Mindermann and videographer Esther Ritter. The two assembled a day-by-day blog site with commentary, 95 videos and 317 photos. Go to www.sites.google.com/site/tvcorti/home/BLOG (and check out the Corti Bros. Facebook page).

"The blog site captures what it's like to travel with Darrell," Mindermann said on the phone.

What were some of the highlights?

The dining scene at summertime Lake Tahoe is off to a great start, with the best tables found outdoors on decks and patios.

Example: Though Sal's BBQ isn't on the water per se, it is situated in a grand people-watching venue. An elevated patio in front of Embassy Suites fronting Highway 50 - near Harrah's hotel-casino and the Heavenly Valley gondola ride - has been set up to accommodate diners hungry for grilled goods and in the mood for music.

Offerings off the grill range from burgers and bratwursts to baby back ribs and hard-to-find skirt steak. Wash them down with draft beer (Hefeweizen and Kona Longboard), smoothies and sodas. Overseeing things is restaurant manager Terry Darmer.

Food prices range from $11 to $14. The children's menu features a burger, hot dog and cheese quesadilla ($5 to $7).

The food's good, as is the live music. We dropped by Saturday afternoon and caught one-man-band singer-musician Fabrizio, whose playlist ranges from reggae and pop to country and oldies rock. He plays weekends, with other live acts Thursdays and Fridays.

Sal's BBQ is an arm of the Echo restaurant inside Embassy Suites, and named for executive chef Sal Delgado.

Check it out from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 7 p.m. Sundays, through Labor Day. It's happening at 4130 Lake Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe; (530) 543-2140, www.embassysuiteslaketahoe.com.

Some of the best food in town is served at the restaurants operated by the Selland family. Let's see, there's The Kitchen and Ella Dining Room and Bar, and the more casual Selland's Market-Cafe. Coming to the El Dorado Hills Town Center is a second Market-Cafe.

The news is that the Market-Cafe in East Sacramento is now open Sundays, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nancy Zimmer - who is married to Randall Selland - oversees the restaurant.

The Sunday breakfast menu includes pizza, sandwiches (egg with peppered bacon and cheddar cheese on toasted levain) and house-baked quiche. Lunches and dinners offer a wide array of beef, pork and seafood dishes, along with pasta and numerous salads. Plus lots of wine.

Selland's is at 5340 H St., Sacramento. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and now 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. Visit at www.sellands.com.

Sometimes, you feel like a nut. Or, more likely, a handful or two.

The folks at the family-owned and -operated Hampton Farms in rural Severn, N.C., understand that. The company specializes in peanut products, and reminds us that it is the "No. 1 brand of in-shell peanuts in the country." It also says that peanuts "have more antioxidants than broccoli, carrots or green tea."

A 10-ounce bag of its new product - "Hickory Smokehouse flavored in-shell peanuts" - arrived here at Food Central the other day. We tore it open and passed it around the room. The reviews were generally positive.

Before we get to those, though, we called Hampton's vice president of sales and marketing, Tom Nolan, to ask: Where do the nuts get their "straight from the smokehouse taste"?

"It's a natural flavoring, basically liquid smoke that is introduced during the roasting process," he said.

To buy the peanuts ($1.99), drop by any Winco store after July 1, call the Hampton Farms company store (757-654-1400) or visit its online store (www.hamptonfarms.com).

Anyway, here's what our tasters had to say about the peanuts, beginning with my take:

We were hopscotching around Monterey over the weekend and were reminded of how many seafood restaurants populate the area.

Which segued nicely with Saturday's second annual West Coast Chowder Competition, at which 26 of the 34 entries were from local restaurants. The categories were "clam chowder," "seafood chowder" and "creative chowder," judged by a panel of 10 "food experts." We came upon the event by serendipity and joined the crowd for our share of sampling, too.

That contest was conjoined with the 35th annual Monterey Wine Festival, at which 45 wineries poured tastes (www.montereywine.com). It all happened at the Custom House Plaza, behind the Portola Hotel.

Meanwhile, over on nearby Fisherman's Wharf, we dropped by Cafe Fina for a big bowl of its steamed clams. Its clam chowder took second place in last year's competition; this year, its sister restaurant, Domenico's, took second place in the "creative chowder" category.

But about those steamed clams... They're cherrystones from the East Coast, which have more flavor and a better texture than the Manila clams most often used in the dish.

"We keep everything simple, with the philosophy that less is more," said restaurateur Dominic Mercurio. "The base of the broth is the natural salty clam juice that seeps out when the clams open (upon cooking). We cook the clams in butter, white wine, fresh garlic and fresh Italian flatleaf parsley."

Under attack from our cocktail forks, the meaty clams didn't get to swim for long in the buttery, garlicky broth. And we lost count of how many slices of Italian sesame twist bread we dipped into that fragrant broth (the bread is from the Palermo Baking Co. in neighboring Seaside). Afterward, we sipped some Amaro Averna, the Sicilian herbal digestif first concocted in 1868. You should, too. Cafe Fina: (831) 372-5200, www.cafefina.com.

An aside: As much as we enjoy Fisherman's Wharf, we're put off by the hawkers who stand in front of some of the restaurants, loudly soliciting passers-by to sample their clam chowders. Best advice: Keep walking.

Back to the West Coast Chowder Competition. And the winners were:

For clam chowder:
1. Characters Sports Bar & Grill (Monterey)
2. Loulou's Griddle in the Middle (Monterey)
3, Club XIX (Pebble Beach)

For seafood chowder:
1. Fishhopper (Monterey)
2. Flaherty's (Carmel)
3. Sam's Chowder House (Half Moon Bay)

For creative chowder:
1. Isabella's (Monterey)
2. Domenico's (Monterey)
3. Duke's Chowder House (Seattle)

Scallops are among the tastiest gems of the sea, but they're easily overcooked. That's why I, for one, finally gave up trying to saute and grill them, and launched my years-long search for perfect scallops served in restaurants. (Remember, "perfect" is subjective.)

That search ended (at least temporarily) when I ordered the appetizer plate of the bivalve marine mollusks at the Terrace restaurant at Town & Country Village.

There, chef Michael Powers and co-owner/wife Margot Powers have put together a unique menu of specialty dishes that include twists on jambalaya, pulled pork and salmon BLT. But it was those scallops that stopped us. They're large, super-fresh, highly prized dayboat sea scallops, meaning they're brought from sea to land within 24 hours.

On the phone, Powers described how he cooks them. His techniques involve searing, steaming and deglazing. White wine, butter and olive oil play important roles.

The two accompanying sauces require the juices produced from wilting radicchio, spinach and fresh fennel in olive oil and wine, along with whole-grain mustard, cream, fresh pesto, salt and pepper. Reduction is key.

There are yet more ingredients, but you get the picture. Tab: $10 for three scallops on wilted greens, topped with microgreens.

"Timing is critical," Powers said. "The scallops take less than a minute, but you can't walk away from them, you have to be right there."

Do customers like them? "They're tied with the house-smoked salmon as our most popular appetizer," he said.

For the record, what we call scallops - those glistening white and yellowish rounds in the seafood cases of grocery stores - are actually the adductor muscles that are removed from whole scallops in the harvesting process. The adductor muscle attaches the scallop's two shells and controls their opening and closing, allowing the animal to "swim" in short bursts via water propulsion.

Interesting, but of little concern when you're sitting at the table with a plate of the delicacies in front of you.

Call the Terrace at (916) 486-1907 or visit www.theterracecuisine.com. Town & Country Village is at Marconi and Fulton avenues, Sacramento.

A Texas A&M University study shows that we Americans eat more than 200 sandwiches a year, which is a tribute to our creativity. Which naturally leads to this: It's time for the fourth annual Make That Sandwich Recipe Contest, sponsored by Mezzetta, a Napa Valley-based purveyor of olives, peppers and other condiments.

Home cooks, you can submit your original recipes at www.makethatsandwich.com in any (or all) of the categories - cold sandwich, hot sandwich and vegetarian sandwich - from now through Sept. 5 (Labor Day). The top prize is $25,000 and a "culinary trip and tour of the Napa Valley for two."

For inspiration, look at Mezzetta's database of sandwiches; click on "Sandwich Recipes" at the website. For still more inspiration, you might consult "The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches by Susan Russo (Quirk, $18.95, 300 pages).

This year, Mezzetta will invite the public to choose the grand-prize winner from the 10 contest finalists, via online voting. That is, after the Mezzetta judges have pick the finalists, based on certain criteria. Online voting will begin after the entry portion of the contest closes on Sept. 5.

Still more: The Celebrity Chef Sandwich Charity Challenge is a co-category involving "eight culinary masters" whose sandwiches are now in competition (voting is open at the website). The winner will get to choose a charity that will receive a $10,000 donation.

Among the chefs are two from San Francisco: David Bazirgan, executive chef at the Fifth Floor restaurant (with an open-face grilled eggplant tartine sandwich); and Jeffrey Saad, host of the Cooking Channel's "The United Tastes of America" (with a variation on the classic Cuban sandwich).

Specialty-foods producer Mezzetta opened its doors in 1935 in San Francisco's historic North Beach.

Noted Sacramento gourmand David Berkley instituted Friday-night wine-tastings at his store in the Pavilions, oh, nearly a quarter-century ago.

When he sold David Berkley Fine Wines & Specialty Foods to Greg Rhategan in 2008, and it was renamed the Market at Pavilions, the end-of-the-work-week tradition continued.

Now there's a twist: The tasting has moved to Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., but the spirit will remain the same.

Tomorrow night's tasting is dubbed "Kobe Burgers & Bordeaux," at which grilled Kobe beef sliders will be paired with a flight of five reds from the Bordeaux region of France. The tasting fee is $10 ($5 is refunded with a wine purchase), the sliders are $3 apiece.

The Market is in the Pavilions center in Sacramento, along Fair Oaks Boulevard near Howe Avenue. Information: (916) 929-4422, www.marketatpavilions.com.

We Northern Californians love our farmers markets, and why not? We lead the country in our devotion to locavorism and the farm-to-table movement, largely because we have such ready access to fresh produce and artisanal products, especially at farmers markets.

Now's your chance to show some loyalty to the farmers market(s) where you regularly shop (if they're registered for eligibility). The America's Favorite Farmers Markets national contest is open to take your online votes at www.farmland.org/vote, through Aug. 31.

The rules state that voters can nominate as many "participating farmers markets as they choose, but can vote only once for each market." The categories are arranged by size - small, medium, large and "boutique-size." Farmers markets that have not yet enrolled for eligibility (it's free) can do so at www.farmland.org/marketmanager.

One winning market in each category will receive prize packages and local celebrations, and be featured on the food-oriented website www.epicurious.com.

The contest is sponsored by American Farmland Trust, a "conservation organization dedicated to saving America's farm and ranch lands."

"Farmers markets offer a great way for consumers to support local farms and farmers," said American Farmland Trust president Jon Scholl. "The markets provide access to fresh, seasonal foods and help strengthen our ties to the land where our food is grown and the people who grow it."

For more information: (202) 331-7300, www.farmland.org.

Gentlemen (and ladies), start your grills!

Summer is officially here, even though the weather says otherwise. But when has a little rain and wind ever stopped dedicated backyard grillers?

We stopped by Corti Bros. Market last Saturday, nosing around, and counted eight kinds of ground beef in the meat case, including one called Mike's Ultimate Blend. Immediately, we thought of hamburgers in their many styles and variations - especially burgers on a charcoal-fuled grill.

So we chatted with master meat cutter Mike Carroll, manager of Corti's meat department. "We sell tons (not literally) of ground beef in the summertime," he said. "People looking for a flavorful hamburger have to remember, though, that fat is what gives burgers their flavor."

Carroll broke down his ground-beef offerings for us, ranking them according to quality and flavor, plus fat content.

At the top of the heap is Mike's Ultimate Blend, a mixture of prime chuck roast, prime top round and choice brisket ($5.99 a pound, destined to increase to $6.99 a pound; 18 percent fat). We took home a pound and made meatballs one night, a thick burger the next. Lots of texture and flavor. Next:

Kobe ground beef: "This is the trim from our Kobe beef program," Carroll said ($7.99, 20 percent).

Prime ground beef: "Trim from the table cuttings of six kinds of prime beef" ($5.99, 25 percent).

Piedmontese ground beef: Piedmontese beef is from an heirloom breed of "double-muscled" cattle originally from northern Italy. It's low in saturated fats, but you wouldn't know that to taste it ($5.99, 15 percent).

Extra-lean: exclusively from the sirloin tip ($4.99, 5 percent).

Ground sirloin: $3.49, 15 percent.

Ground round: $3.29, 17 percent.

If you don't want to make your own burgers, consider meat clerk Greg Stoffel's "gourmet burgers," patties handmade from Kobe and prime ground beefs, with bacon, Gorgonzola cheese and a touch of Mangalitsa pork lard ($7.99, 20 percent).

Corti's is at 5810 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento; (916) 736-3805.

Though it's been only 18 months since Mark and Karoline Platt opened their impressive Sienna restaurant (formerly Masque) in El Dorado Hills, just last Monday they welcomed the first customers into Land Ocean, their "new American steakhouse" in Folsom.

"The style (of cuisine) at Sienna is California fusion, something I would classify as culinary, with complex dishes and sauces," Mark Platt said Wednesday as he paused here and there to make sure all was well with lunchtime diners. "Land Ocean is meant to be 'casual upscale' - high-quality but simple fare."

The space, formerly occupied by a Ruby Tuesday, has been transformed into an intimate dining room with a swank feel. A huge sheet of creamy, backlit onyx greets guests at the hostess station. Whole chickens slowly turned on a rotisserie over chunks of flaming mesquite. The ceiling is of beechwood slats, the broad windows are louvered, and dangling over the centerpiece bar is a striking sculpture/light fixture. Seating is in elevated booths, tiered so that "everybody gets a good seat," Platt said.

We cruised the lunch menu and found most of the choices reflective of the restaurant's logo - a bull standing on a beach (land and ocean, you see). Included are steak sandwiches, St. Louis-style Kurobuta pork ribs, Kobe burger, raw oysters, ahi tuna salad, blackened mahi and fresh fish of the day. A couple of surprises - crisp Southwestern-style egg rolls, Thai noodle steak salad and a hefty portobello mushroom burger.

Lunch ranges from $5 to $17; dinner runs up to $30 per entrée (steaks are from the Double R Ranch in Washington). If there are signature dishes, they're the bone-in 22-ounce cut of prime rib and the wild Alaskan king salmon.

We happened to be sitting on the patio at Corti Bros. Market the other day, munching on Italian mortadella sandwiches and watching Dan Johnson, Jr., grill chicken breasts. He had brushed them with his dad's barbecue sauce and was handing out cut-up pieces to passers-by. Pretty soon, there was a line.

We tasted samples of the sauce trio he was marketing, and then tasted them some more. They're from Diamond J Ranch in Yuba City -- Gourmet Barbecue Sauce and Marinade (with cranberries; $6.99 at Corti's), Smokey Chipotle Dipping Sauce ($6.99) and Jalepeno Hot Sauce ($3.29). In a word: Wow!

I called Dan Sr. -- Dan "Boots" Johnson - at his home, where he put the phone down for a minute to take a venison roast out of the oven.

"This all started with a crazy idea I had, so I put it out to the public and they went for it," he said.

Boots explained he'd been "playing" at creating a barbecue sauce since 1959 because "I couldn't find any sauces in stores that didn't have liquid smoke in them, and I'm allergic to it." After he retired from CalTrans in 2000, he discovered that everyone who tasted the sauce (at home barbecues and the like) went wild for it.

One thing led to another, and he started packaging and selling the bottled sauce. In the beginning, he sold 48 cases ("Jar by jar, and each case has 12 bottles") at a home show in Yuba City. "I was thrilled, and it just took off from there," he said.

The barbecue sauce is now sold at more than 100 places - supermarkets, specialty stores, delis, mom-and-pops - and is used in a few restaurants.

The success of the barbecue sauce led to the creations of the chipotle dipping sauce and the jalapeno sauce. They're designed to be compatible, so feel free to experiment and mix them together.

Here's a tip from Boots: If you want the barbecue sauce a bit hotter, add to it one tablespoon of jalepeno sauce. Hotter still: Add two tablespoons.

For recipes and more information: www.diamondjbbq.com, (530) 300-3738.

Cort Bros. Market is at 5810 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento, (916) 736-3800.

I confessed something last week and it shocked everyone who heard it. It was this: I'd never made or tasted a s'more (as in "some more") until Kraft Foods sent over bags of a new product called Jet-Puffed StackerMallows.

They're rectangular-shaped marshmallows specifically designed to fit on a graham cracker, two of the three ingredients in a s'more (the other is chocolate, but sliced banana is an optional addition).

S'mores have been described as "traditional nighttime campfire treats," and the Kraft people have timed the release of StackerMallows with the summertime camping season. I consulted many parents on s'mores' popularity, and they all agreed that the right way to make them is, indeed, around a campfire.

However, time was short and the woods were wet, so we took the in-the-kitchen trail instead. Assisted by a 4-year-old and a 7-year-old, I made my first s'mores in a microwave oven and a second batch under the broiler in a conventional oven. They looked OK to me, and the two borrowed daughters of friends loved 'em. My conclusion: way too sweet.

But what do I know about s'mores? Nothing. So I turned to parents more experienced with the purity of the s'mores experience.

Bee food writer Niesha Lofing made s'mores with StackerMallows and reported: "My young children were enthralled with the idea of flat marshmallows...but the mooshy factor was missing.

"One problem we encountered while using the new mallows for s'mores was that they were more difficult to skewer for roasting. While clumsy children's hands usually can navigate sticking a bulbous marshmallow with a stick, these thin marshmallows definitely require an adult's careful touch.

"The new mallow plumped a bit upon hitting the flames and charred in the same lovely fashion a normal marshmallow does. The flatter shape was easier for squishing within the s'more sandwich, but absent was the abundance of gooey goodness a normal s'more marshmallow imparts. When I'm stocking up on s'more supplies for camping trips, I'm sticking with the classic."

Bee staff writer Carlos Alcala makes his open-face s'more in a toaster oven: "I use some good quality semisweet chocolate chips...but a thin bittersweet-chocolate bar would work, too.

"I put a layer of chips on a graham cracker and put it in a toaster oven at 275-300 degrees. When they get soft, I put on the marshmallows. Usually I like the tiny kind and put them on one by one. These (StackerMallows) are better. Obviously, they're made the right size to fit across the cracker.

"I fit (three) on a cracker. After I put them on the chocolate, I put (the s'more) back in the toaster oven on broil and cooked it until the marshmallows swelled, browned and then smoked. You could add another cracker on top, but I like the ratio with just one graham cracker.

"(The StackerMallows) would not (work) well on campfire s'mores, though, if you want to toast them on a hanger. You need the fat ones for that, I'd think."

If bags of StackerMallows ($1.69 for 8 ounces) aren't in your favorite supermarkets, club stores and/or mass merchandisers right now, they will be very soon. For recipes (appearing within a week): www.kraftrecipes.com.

The biggest event on the Monterey Peninsula is coming to the Monterey Bay Aquarium May 20-22. That would be the 10th annual Cooking For Solutions program, and now's the time to make your plans to attend.

There will be plenty going on, including cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, food- and wine-tastings, book-signings, wine seminars, wine-and-food pairings, "grazing" on local produce and artisan foods, programs on the sustainable and organic food movements, a Southern-style breakfast with champagne and mimosas, and more.

Don't lose sight of the overall fund-raising goals of Cooking For Solutions - "To discover ways to save the oceans."

Most events are priced a la carte. Some are free with the purchase of admission to the aquarium. Others move into the hundreds of dollars. Discounts are offered to aquarium members; call (866) 963-9645) to sign up ($50 to $250, tax-deductible).

By far the most popular event of the three-day program is the opening gala, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. May 20 ($150 general, $120 aquarium members; a percentage of each is tax-deductible). There, you'll sample "gourmet dishes" from celebrity chefs and 70 restaurants, and taste delicacies in the Sushi Lounge. Chef-authors will sign their books - Rich Moonen ("Fish Without a Doubt"), aquarium culinary partner (and event co-host) and Sacramento Bee Book Club alumna Cindy Pawlcyn of Mustard's Grill in the Napa Valley ("Appetizers"), and garden-designer P. Allen Smith ("Seasonal Recipes from the Garden").

Up for silent auction will be "culinary adventures, great wines and many one-of-a-kind items."

Go to www.montereybayaquarium.org for details. The aquarium is at 886 Cannery Row.

For area lodging, special offers, dining, attractions, events, tours and more, visit www.seemonterey.com.

Rain or shine, cold or hot, stormy or calm. No matter what the weather or the season, the time is always right for a bowl of soup. (Or a glass of champagne, but that's another issue.)

Now that two of downtown Sacramento's top soup destinations have regrettably closed - Fog Mountain Cafe and La Bonne Soupe - that leaves Muntan's Soups and Salads (1225 J St., 916-498-9340) for excellent steaming bowls.

However, if you want good soup without leaving home or office, try the microwavable Original Soupman line. If you do want to get out of town for soup, the Original Soupman restaurant is scheduled to open May 19 on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco (the chain's first West Coast site). The menu will offer soups, sandwiches and - a first for the company - cioppino. Baseball legend Reggie "Mr. October" Jackson, an "advisor" to the company, will be present for the grand opening.

Anyway, there's a lot to like about the frozen soups, starting with the packaging. Each of the five flavors is in a plastic tub encased in a cardboard box. On the front you'll find a picture of Al Yeganeh, with some clever text, such as, "The soup that New Yorkers (who don't wait for anything) line up around the block for."

Some context: Yeganeh opened the doors to his New York City soup cafe in 1984, and became so iconic that he was parodied on TV's "Seinfeld" (the "Soup Nazi" episode, Nov. 2, 1995). Now, with 15 Soupman restaurants around the country and a quality product in some supermarket chains, obviously Yeganeh has had the last laugh.

We recently sampled three of the five flavors - seafood bisque, chicken vegetable and tomato basil (the other two are broccoli and cheese, and Italian wedding). The tasting panel agreed: four stars for the tastes, textures and quality ingredients.

The seafood bisque was chunky with whole bay shrimp and bits of lobster meat, scallop, crayfish and mussel. Among the other ingredients: sherry, cream, butter and curry powder.

The broth in the chicken vegetable soup held pieces of chicken, carrot, brussels sprouts, squash, onion, celery, tomato and more.

"Silken" is how one taster described the tomato basil soup, which contains an array of veggies in vegetable broth spiked with sherry, butter, vinegar and more.

The soup is not yet available in area supermarkets, but the company is negotiating with a major California chain to stock it within a month. Stay tuned for that announcement.

Meanwhile, 10-ounce servings of Original Soupman soups can be ordered at www.originalsoupman.com. Seafood bisque is $4.49; other flavors are $3.49.

The revitalized West Shore Cafe & Inn on Lake Tahoe opened its doors in January, bringing another dimension to the lake's culinary and lodging scenes. Gearing up for summer, it's holding the inaugural Spirit of the West Shore Cocktail Competition. Here's how it works:

If you're got a recipe for an original cocktail - one that's "perfect for sipping on warm summer days" - you're invited to play. Submit your recipe to www.westshorecafe.com by Friday. If yours is among the top 10 drink recipes chosen by the judges, you'll be invited to the property on May 28 to concoct your adult beverage in person.

There, judges will taste and choose the one cocktail they think best reflects the free-wheeling summertime lifestyle on Lake Tahoe. It will be named the West Shore Cafe & Inn's signature drink.

To the winner go bragging rights and a 2011-2012 season ski pass to Alpine Meadows and Homewood Mountain resorts. The inn is at 5160 W. Lake Blvd., Homewood; (530) 525-5200.

For the food- and drink-centric, there's TheDailyMeal.com, a website devoted to "creating a complete food experience for cooks, food lovers, wine connoisseurs, discerning diners and everyone in-between."

Its latest missive addresses Saturday's running of the 137th Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the annual Triple Crown. Of course, what's a weekend of horse racing at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., without the signature cocktail, the Mint Julep?

If you're hosting a Kentucky Derby party at your place, TheDailyMeal.com suggests some drink options. The complete list of recipes is at www.thedailymeal.com/7-kentucky-bourbon-cocktails. Meanwhile, try these:

It's the season for hands-on cooking classes, in this case "Taste of the Village," in the spirit of Second Saturday. A trio of learning opportunities will be offered from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 14 at Town & Country Village restaurants. Reservations are now being accepted at (916) 933-4056. Classes are $40 each, or $100 for the three.

Join executive chef Daniel Alcantaro at Buonarroti Ristorante and learn how to make gnocchi, those chewy, pillowy dumplings. There will be a tasting, of course, along with a wine pairing (9 to 11 a.m.).

Also, chocolatier Craig Higgins of Capital Confections will show how to create hand-rolled truffles (1 to 3 p.m.).

At the Terrace, you can follow executive chef Michael Powers' lead as you and he make seared tiger prawns, crispy polenta and Tuscan Eggs Benedict. Expect a wine pairing (4 to 6 p.m.).

As a bonus, artist Frank Wilson will appear at the Helen Jones Gallery for his "It's a Small World" exhibition and champagne reception (4 to 6 p.m.).

Town & Country Village is at Marconi and Fulton avenues, Sacramento. More information: www.shoptownandcountry.com.

When it comes to making meals, it's the wise home cook who chooses fresh over processed. For most of us, though, time constraints don't allow that luxury on any consistent basis. Bottom line: We all take shortcuts for the sake of convenience.

That's where a new product - Hungry Jack Premium Hashbrown Potatoes - enters the kitchen. The dehydrated spuds are packaged in a container the size and shape of a pint of milk, and you open it the same way. Once you do, the directions say to add hot water, close the carton and let it stand for 12 minutes and then drain well.

What you have now is rehydrated shredded potatoes, ready (after patting them dry) for pan-frying in oil or butter. Amazingly, the yield is a full pound of hashbrowns.

Just about every major casino maintains a steakhouse, along with an Italian or Asian restaurant, a buffet and a 24-hour cafe.

The Red Hawk Casino is no exception. Its centerpiece is the award-winning, high-end Henry's, specializing in steaks and chops. On the over-the-top sider of the menu is a 48-ounce porterhouse for two, $76, carved at tableside.

For those who want less freight (and weight), Henry's is now serving lunch on weekends, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The emphasis is on soups, salads and sandwiches ($6 to $20), and the menu looks good.

For instance, pork tenderloin on rosemary focaccia with sage aioli, rare prime roast beef french tip on sourdough with horseradish cream, and Maine lobster roll with tarragon mayo on a soft roll.

Red Hawk is off Highway 50 at 1 Red Hawk Parkway outside of Placerville. More information: (888) 573-3495, www.redhawkcasino.com.

If there's such a thing as a "celebrity nutritionist," Carl Germano is probably it. He has lots of letters after his name (RD, CNS, CDN) and is the "chief science officer" of Inergeticss, a company that makes and sells dietary supplements.

Realizing that barbecue season has arrived in California - and considering our generally poor eating habits, as well - he is offering "tips for low-calorie replacement foods" for summer weight-loss and overall health. Like these:

Instead of: A cheeseburger
Try: Turkey sliders with sliced tomato

Instead of: Hot dogs off the grill
Try: Chicken teriyaki skewers

Instead of: Nachos with cheese and jalapenos
Try: Baked nachos with guacamole, tomatoes and jalapenos

Instead of: French fries
Try: Baked potato skins with tomato-basil bruschetta

Instead of: Beef chili with shredded cheese
Try: Turkey chili with black beans, corn and salsa

Instead of: Fried Buffalo wings with ranch dip
Try: Baked chicken wings with hot-sauce dip

Instead of: Regular pizza
Try: Whole wheat margherita pizza

Instead of: Chips, cookies and brownies
Try: Air-popped popcorn, oat pretzels and fresh fruit

Instead of: Beer, soda and juice
Try: Flavored sparkling water

As "royalmania" ratchets up, the eyes of the world - most of them, anyway - are fixed in anticipation on the Friday nuptials in London of Prince William and Catherine "Kate" Middleton.

Ah, the romance, the drama, the tension, the biggest travel day of the year... We think that deserves a drink. So does www.idrink.com, "the drink-mixing website."

Among its 32,000 drink recipes are more than 20 new additions, what it calls "royal wedding-themed cocktails." Here's a sampler; go to the website for the rest.

Never before have so many coffees from so many sources been available to so many consumers.

Coffee beans are grown throughout North America and the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Africa and the Middle East. Like fine wines, the brew from each type of bean has its own flavor profile.

The coffeehouses in the Starbucks and Peet's chains have become social centers, and the Italian word for "bartender" - "barista" - has become a common part of the English language. Now it refers to the person behind the counter who concocts all those specialized coffee drinks.

One of the most distinct and recognizable coffees comes from the Kona district of Hawail. Once you've tasted Kona coffee, you'll never confuse it with another. The problem is, Kona beans are often found in blends with other beans, and it's tricky to track down 100 percent Kona-bean coffee. However, we recently sampled some award-winning all-Kona from the Lyman Kona Coffee Farms, "certified organic from seed to cup."

The Vienna roast is far more popular than the farm's dark roast, said co-owner Hans Eckert (with wife Marsha Lyman-Eckert) in an email. Each is $30 to $32 a pound via mail-order.

I brewed pots of the coffee over four mornings. The aroma and taste swept me back to the week I spent on Maui, where Kona coffee is commonly available.

For a more expert opinion, I asked a barista pal to assess it. He said, "It's earthy and bold, with good body. It reminds me of some of the African coffees. I recommend using at least two tablespoons to the cup when you make it."

For more information and to order, go to www.lymankonacoffee.com.

Food Network "Iron Chef" Catherine "Cat" Cora has added another entry to her resume, this time under the "Restaurateur" heading.

The aptly named Cat Cora San Francisco just opened at Terminal 2 at the San Francisco International Airport, offering a menu of small plates for airline passengers with time to play (feta cheese-stuffed jalepeno poppers, lobster-flecked mac 'n' cheese, chimichurri chicken skewers).

Drinks-wise, the "cocktail chemists" behind the bar are mixing such exotics as the Ouzotini (pomegranate and pineapple juices with vodka and Ouzo) and the Airmail (prosecco, lime juice, honey and rum) - just to take the stress out of travel.

"I'm thrilled to have my first airport restaurant," Cora said. "By using the freshest, locally sourced ingredients, I can offer our clientele a delicious and environmentally sound dining experience while they're between flights" (650-821-9288).

The airport restaurant joins Cora's CCQ (barbecue) in Costa Mesa, and Kouzzina at Walt Disney World's BoardWalk in Orlando.

Cora has written three cookbooks. She grew up in a Greek household in Jackson, Miss. (thus the 'cue); earned a degree in exercise physiology and biology from the University of Southern Mississippi; graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.; apprenticed in France with three-star Michelin chefs; and worked at world-class restaurants in New York and the Napa Valley. Her father, grandfather and godfather were restaurateurs.

Visit her at www.catcora.com.

There's passive and there's active. As in, watching chefs prepare dishes on Food Network TV shows is passive. Participating in local cooking classes is active.

You can experience the latter from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 14, when Town & Country Village shopping center celebrates the spirit of Second Saturday with "Taste of the Village." It's a trio of hands-on learning opportunities at T&C restaurants. Cooking-class reservations are now being accepted; class sizes are limited, so save your spots at (916) 933-4056. Classes are $40 each, or $100 for all three.

For starters, join executive chef Daniel Alcantaro at Buonarroti Ristorante and learn how to make gnocchi, those chewy, pillowy dumplings - in this case, covered with Alcantaro's marvelous sauces. There will be a tasting, of course, along with a wine pairing (9 to 11 a.m.).

Also, chocolatier Craig Higgins of Capital Confections will show you how to create hand-rolled truffles (and how to appreciate the taste of ganache). Be prepared for some finger-lickin' (1 to 3 p.m.).

At the Terrace, you can follow executive chef Michael Powers' lead as you and he make seared tiger prawns, crispy polenta and Tuscan Eggs Benedict. Expect a wine pairing (4 to 6 p.m.).

As a bonus, artist Frank Wilson will appear at the Helen Jones Gallery for his "It's a Small World" exhibition and champagne reception (4 to 6 p.m.).

Town & Country Village is at Marconi and Fulton avenues, Sacramento. More information: www.shoptownandcountry.com.

Paesanos restaurant in midtown has turned 15, and in celebration it's offering a menu of specials from now through April 30. Included are price rollbacks, dining and drink specials, prize giveaways and more.

"We want to thank Sacramento for 15 great years, and hope we get 15 more," restaurateur Dave Virga said on the phone.

Go to www.paesanos.biz for details. The restaurant is at 1806 Capitol Ave., (916) 447-8646.

Amid all that pasta at the two Paesanos, what's Virga's go-to dish? "I'm a traditional guy, so it's the tutto mare bianco - penne pasta with shrimp, garlic, tomatoes, lemon, white wine, spinach, oregano and marinara sauce, topped with garlic bread crumbs and Parmesan," he said. "It's on our 'underground menu,' so you have to ask for it."

We've always liked what Virga and his business partner-chef, Mark Scribner, have done at their Italian restaurants. Let's see, there's that Paesanos in midtown, Paesanos in Elk Grove (8519 Bond Road, 916-690-8646), Pronto (1501 16th St., Sacramento, 916-444-5850) and two Uncle Vito's New York pizzerias (1501 16th St., Sacramento, 916-444-3699, adjoining Paesanos; and 524 Second St., Davis, 530-758-3000).

Are we full yet?

Let's just say it: The world is a better place with Sriracha sauce in it.

If you don't know the spicy, garlicky "Rooster Sauce," you need to join the club. It's way good and way popular - 15 million bottles of the Thai chili-pepper sauce are produced yearly. Bon Appetit magazine named it the Ingredient of the Year in 2010.

And get this: Now there's "The Sriracha Cookbook: 50 'Rooster Sauce' Recipes That Pack a Punch" (Ten Speed Press, $16.99, 128 pages) by Randy Clemens. He's a graduate of the California School of Culinary Arts, a nationally recognized beer-contest judge and self-described "all-around hedonist" (www.randyclemens.com).

The cookbook is organized this way: sauces and seasonings, starters and snacks, salads and sides, soups and stews, breakfast, main courses, and drinks and desserts. The intriguing dishes include Thai chicken-coconut soup, baked mac 'n' cheese, prawns a la "diabla" and lamb kebabs (www.thesrirachacookbook.com).

Here's a simple recipe to get you started:

<

From the chain that brought us the freshly cut and grilled six-ounce tri-tip steak for $10.99 (with the "endless salad bar," such a deal) comes this:

The six Sizzler restaurants in Sacramento have added another popular, more seasonal, meat item - a half-rack of St. Louis-style pork ribs, brushed with Cattlemen's barbecue sauce and accompanied by corn bread and sweet potato fries with chipotle ranch dipping sauce.

The freight is $11.99; an additional $2.29 buys entrance to the salad bar, where two other items also have debuted - potato soup with trimmings, and a BLT salad with garlic dressing. All three new items will be around through May 29; look for burgers at Sizzler starting in June.

Now, here's something you may not know: "St. Louis-style" refers to the way a rack of pork spareribs is trimmed, to get rid of the fat flap and gristle. The result is a near-perfect rectangle of meat and bones. It's what the pros use - the rack of choice at the annual Best In the West Nugget Rib Cook-Off at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks each Labor Day weekend.

Also: Spareribs and baby back ribs both come from hogs of the same size, but from different parts of the animal. Baby backs are so called because they're literally smaller than spareribs, and are what's left over when the pork loin is boned. Spareribs are from the fattier breast and belly area of the hog, the source of bacon.

The Sizzler chain does business in 12 states, with 111 units in California (www.sizzler.com).

We're big fans of Roxy restaurant's Burgers & Bottles program (3 to 10 p.m. Thursdays), in which we get to custom-build our own burgers and pair them with giant bottles of beer.

Now, in the interest of small-plate dining, Roxy has introduced its Sweet Bites menu, a four-item lunchtime dessert offering as an alternative to the bigger bites on its regular dessert menu.

"We started it for our lunch service, to give people something sweet but still have an option of a (dessert) that's a little smaller," said pastry chef Kristina Dula, who's been at Roxy since it opened in 2006.

"A lot of diners are here on business lunches and their time is budgeted, so we weren't moving a lot of desserts at lunchtime," said Roxy general manager Mike Holyfield. "But the small desserts have been received very well, much better than we'd anticipated. The minis seem to be where it's at right now."

New items will rotate to the lunchtime mini-menu, along with changing fillings and toppings. Today the lineup ($3 each) is:

- Beignet with mixed-berries dipping sauce.
- Crepe with fresh strawberries, chocolate sauce, Chantilly cream and toasted almonds.
- Napoleon with Meyer lemon cream and blueberry compote.
- Warm dark-chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce and candied walnuts.

Roxy is at 2381 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento; (916) 489-2000, www.roxyrestaurantandbar.com.

"You should be walking when you eat that," somebody said.
"Hey, you're right," I said, and walked away.

The guy was referring to the Walkin' Taco, which I was delightedly devouring. It's one of several new menu items that the vendor Ovations will offer fans this minor-league baseball season at Raley Field.

The Sacramento River Cats' home opener will be 7:05 p.m. Thursday, when they go against the Tacoma Rainiers. But I was on site Tuesday night for an exhibition game (there's another one at 6:35 tonight) and a sampling of those new dishes, which included the Walkin' Taco. On March 30, my colleague Chris Macias blogged on "Appetizers" about his own experience at a previous Ovations tasting; scroll down to read it.

The secret to the Walkin' Taco's background flavor, revealed Ovations general manager Mark Stone, is the taco seasoning mixed in the batter before the waffle cone is cooked and stuffed with slaw, special sauce and a choice of tri-tip, chicken or chayote squash and other veggies.

"We're really excited about the Walkin' Taco," Stone said. "Nobody else in the country is doing it. The waffle cone has a little bend to it, so it's not too brittle."

The Walkin' Taco was the hit of the evening, followed by the salmon taco with lime-cilantro aioli, and slices of fresh mango dusted with chile powder and shot with squeezes of lime juice, then skewered on wooden sticks.

One reason the Walkin' Taco was so tasty was because of the juicy grilled tri-tip inside, and let's talk about that California cut for a minute.

The tri-tip sandwich has long been a favorite at Raley Field. Until the 2009 season - when the leaner ball tip was substituted - it was a top-seller for nine years. Last season, said Ovations executive chef Ryan Curry, the ball tip was dropped and the tri-tip was reinstated. "That made a lot of people happy," said Curry, who has cooked at some of the top country clubs and resorts between here and Alaska.

Though the hot dog is the No. 1 seller at Raley Field - as it is at most ballparks - tri-tip is No. 2.

"Conservatively speaking, last year our tri-tip sales surpassed the ball tip by 25 percent," Stone said. "We sold more than 22,000 pounds of it. We'll have tri-tip sandwiches this season, certainly, but we're putting tri-tip in a couple of our new offerings - the Walkin' Taco and the barbecued beef nachos. We're predicting tri-tip sales this year at around 26,000 pounds."

The a la carte tri-tip sandwich will be $7.75, as will the Walkin' Taco. Both are home runs.

Information: www.rivercats.com

The 9-year-old Carpe Vino wine bar/wine shop/restaurant of Auburn is taking the fifth. Fifth anniversary of the restaurant part, that is.

In celebration, a prix-fixe menu for $39.99 (plus tax and tip) will be served from 5 to 10 tonight, and every night through Saturday. Or you can order items a la carte.

The four-course meal starts with a choice of steamed mussels, foie gras and chicken liver mousse, or roasted beet and goat cheese napoleon.

The second course is a choice between French onion soup and a salad of organic mixed lettuces.

For the entree, choose between roasted Angus filet mignon (add $10 to your bill), English pea risotto or fish of the day.

End the evening with a hard decision: Will it be the buttermilk panna cotta or the chocolate cake with coconut ice cream?

Working the kitchen will be executive chef Eric Alexander, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Carpe Vino stocks 500 wines, so it's interesting and educational to stroll the racks and ask questions of father-son co-owners Gary and Drew Moffat. Be sure to get a look inside the Wine Mine Room out back.

Carpe Vino is at 1568 Lincoln Way in Old Auburn. Reservations: (530) 823-0320, www.carpevinoauburn.com.

The next time you plan a trip through the Napa Valley, make your first stop the new Napa Valley Welcome Center at 600 Main St., along the riverfront in downtown Napa.

At the 2,400-square-foot center, visitors will find "interactive digital information tools," including the "Visit Napa Valley Mobile App."

The free app is downloadable on all smartphones and uses GPS technology to "pinpoint wineries, restaurants, hotels and spas," said Clay Gregory, president of the Napa Valley Destination Council. The app also includes an events calendar, suggested activities and attractions, maps, directions, weather forecasts, special offers and local news.

Also featured at the center are photos of the Napa Valley, a 3-D topographical map (coming in May), an illustrative appellations map, a concierge desk with personal guidance and assistance with restaurant and hotel reservations, looped videos showing images of the valley, a shop that sells locally produced products, and much more.

The center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

For more information: (707) 260-0106, www.legendarynapavalley.com.

The owners of the high-end Zachary Jacques French country restaurant in Placerville signed a lease this week to occupy the space formerly held by the Redbud Cafe in Cameron Park, said executive chef John Evans. The plan: to open a bistro by mid-May, to be called Zac Jack.

"It will be a gastro bistro, with the tagline, 'Everyday Gourmet Cuisine,'" said Evans, co-owner with wife Lynnette Evans of Zachary Jacques.

"The theme will be California cuisine," said Evans, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef. "All of my techniques are French, but the food (at Zac Jack) won't be French. It will be in an accessible, everyday style. We're going to be a very affordable restaurant, not high-end at all, but we will serve gourmet food."

How does Evans reconcile the terms "gourmet food" with "affordable"?

"It is kind of an oxymoron," he allowed. "'Gastro' stands for 'gastronomy,' which means gourmet food. Bistros are casual, designed to feed the local communities they occupy. That's the concept for Zac Jack. The only fine-dining restaurants that are going to make it (in this down economy) are the ones that start going to this format. You have to be affordable for fine dining at this point."

Evans is looking at the expansion as "a huge opportunity for us. Sure, the economy is horrible, but this is a time (for businesses) to reposition (themselves) for better locations and (more favorable) leases. As much as I'm excited (about the Zac Jack opening), I'm also terrified. If I wasn't scared, there would be something wrong with me."

Zac Jack will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. On the menu will be the likes of short ribs reduced in cabernet or Guinness beer, wood-roasted chicken, flatbreads, small plates and "structured salads."

For years, Zachary Jacques' signature dessert has been the rich, pastry cream-filled St. Honoré cake. "It's as big as a beehive," Evans said. A smaller version of that classic dessert will show up at Zac Jack in an individual-serving size.

"We'll have multiple flavors (such as) key lime, Bananas Foster, chocolate and vanilla, and pumpkin and eggnog during the holidays," Evans said. "When berries come in from Apple Hill, we'll have fresh raspberries, boysenberries (and the like)."

Zac Jack Bistro will be at 3275 Coach Lane, Cameron Park. Zachary Jacques restaurant is at 1821 Pleasant Valley Road, Placerville; (530) 626-8045, www.zacharyjacques.com.

Sunday brunch - the leisurely repast that marries breakfast to lunch - continues to bring diners to restaurants and hotel buffets. Though Mother's Day is the queen of brunch holidays, Easter is No. 2, followed by Father's Day.

If you're planning ahead for your April 24 Easter brunch outing, consider that the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant will be open that day for the first time in its 15-year history. The restaurant is part of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA) cooking college at Greystone in St. Helena. That 19th-century stone building was the original Christian Brothers Winery.

"Our Easter menu is inspired by our favorite spring ingredients, and many of the items that day -- such as my Aunt Lee's breakfast eggs - are making their debut," said executive chef Polly Lappetito. "I love the opportunity to have a little fun with the menu."

The a la carte brunch menu will include garlic soup, spring lamb tartare, smoked salmon flatbread, and steak and eggs ($9 to $29). A four-item children's menu is also available ($6).

The main building on the campus will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On offer will be tours, tastings, shopping and a 1:30 p.m. cooking demonstration. Hand-sculpted chocolate Easter treats, made by CIA students, will be for sale ($5 to $25).

The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Reservations and information: (707) 967-1010, www.ciachef.edu/california. The CIA is at 2555 Main St., St. Helena, the Napa Valley.

Artisanal chocolates continue to fill a niche in the marketplace. Many have high cocoa content, making them almost bitter; others contain sea salt, chile peppers and even bacon.

Let's consider a less flashy product - the Hershey's milk-chocolate bar. Entrepreneur candymaker Milton Hershey introduced the first one to the nation in 1900, followed by that sweet icon, Kisses, in 1907 (www.hersheys.com).

Now the Hershey's company has rolled out a new product, Drops, in two flavors - Milk Chocolate and Cookies 'n' Creme. They're disc-shaped, sort of like giant M&Ms (made by the Mars candy company since 1941), but larger and without the colorful candy shell (www.mms.com/us/, and www.mars.com).

Samples of Drops arrived the other day and we passed them around the room. An 8-ounce pouch is $3.29, available at most supermarkets.

Before we lay out what our tasters had to say, here's a heads-up: Look for new Easter candies from Hershey's, including chocolate creme egg, mini malted milk robin eggs and Reese's peanut butter 'n' chocolate eggs.

Now these comments from our tasters:

<

San Francisco is a worldwide travel destination, and one of its biggest draws is its burgeoning restaurant scene. From the top of the high end to the simplest of ethnic restaurants and burger joints, the City by the Bay offers dining choices that are unrivaled.

Adding to the city's dining legend are three classic grills whose cachet lies not with revolving-door trends, but with heritage and traditional offerings that are consistent and dependable.

The Tadich Grill (established in 1849), John's Grill (1908) and Sam's Grill (1922, though it started as an oyster stall in 1867) are old-school seafood-and-steak houses that draw knowledgeable diners, local power brokers, celebrities, politicians and adventursome tourists. Tables and counter stools fill quickly, and the turnover rates are turbulent.

Always in search of a laugh and a bite, the nation is eagerly preparing to indulge in chicken satay, ice cream bars, ice pops, caramel apples and beef kebabs in celebration of Something On a Stick Day, which falls on Monday, March 28.

In the midst of the excitement and anticipation, let's spare a thought for the corn dog - the ultimate "on a stick" food - at Denio's Roseville Farmers Market & Swap Meet.

The battered, deep-fried pup has been a standard at the 64-year-old Denio's for 42 years. In that time, some 5 million corn dogs have been eaten by eager shoppers, who've left nothing behind but empty sticks.

To honor Something On a Stick Day, the market is offering two corn dogs for the price of one ($1.85). The downloadable coupon, at www.deniosmarket.com, is redeemable Saturday and Sunday (Denio's is open on weekends only, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

Quality batter is what separates a world-class corn dog from its mundane cousins. Denio's batter was concocted by founder Jim Denio, and the same recipe is still used today. So said Jim's grandson, Eric Denio, on the phone from company HQ.

"I've eaten these corn dogs all my life and probably have corn dog batter running through my veins," he said. "We wanted to go healthier, so now we use turkey dogs and cook them in vegetable oil. The corn is still (coarse) milled for us, according to my grandfather's (recipe). When I was young, I remember him talking about how he wanted the batter to be heavily granular on the outside, and not smooth like a frozen (product). The (cornmeal) is produced that way solely for Denio's."

The market is at 1551 Vineyard Road, Roseville; (916) 782-2704.

If you're into food - talking about it, buying it, cooking it, eating it at home or in restaurants - join our live chat at noon on Wednesday, March 30. To participate, go to www.sacbee.com/live.

The chat will be your chance to ask food-related questions of Rick Mindermann, store director of the internationally regarded Corti Bros. Market on Folsom Boulevard; and John Paul Khoury, corporate chef for the purveyor Preferred Meats, a Bay Area company dedicated to small-farm operations. It supplies fare to many of Sacramento's premiere restaurants, including the Kitchen and Mulvaney's B&L, as well as to the Michelin star-winning Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena.

Mindermann and Khoury are two of six panelists who will appear at "Table Talk: The regions's food community comes together for an evening of lively discussion." That free event will be held at 6 p.m. April 13 at The Bee, 2100 Q St., Sacramento.

Join the conversation as two panels of leading local chefs, restaurateurs, food-industry experts and food writers share their thoughts on food trends, Sacramento's dining habits and the state of food blogging and traditional food writing. Light snacks will be provided by Source Global Tapas.

Participants must register for "Table Talk," which will be limited to 160 guests. Go to www.sacbee.com/tabletalk.

Sacramento is fertile ground for our growing specialty-market scene. Add one more choice: Sprouts Farmers Market plans to open in Roseville on April 6 at 6760 Stanford Ranch Road, in the Stanford Ranch Plaza in Roseville (916-774-1120).

Corporate HQ in Arizona has some specials planned at its newest store, including:

- The first 500 shoppers to buy merchandise will get coupons for 10 free sandwiches.

- Make a purchase and sign up for the Sprouts mailing list for the chance to be among the 50 customers a week who will receive "a 100 percent rebate of their purchases" (through April).

- On opening day, all purchases will be bagged in free reusable totes.

- Many of the store's most popular items will be on sale through April 10.

Sprouts specializes in produce, bulk foods (200 bins of rice, spices, nuts, grains and the like), organic food and dairy items, natural meats and seafood, vitamins and dietary supplements, and gluten-free items.

The Sprouts chain maintains 56 stores in Western states. For details: www.sprouts.com.

Oh, that Cindy Pawlcyn - she's here, there and everywhere.

The chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and widely acknowledged Queen of Wine Country Cuisine has taken her expertise to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (www.montereybayaquarium.org). There, she developed menus for the casual self-service cafe and the adjoining full-service restaurant.

We dropped by last Friday on a wet and wind-swept day and checked out both dining areas. The cafe offers salads, soup, pizza, sandwiches and desserts ($1.85 to $14). The dishes carry Pawlcyn's unmistakable imprint. For instance, the tuna Nicoise sandwich is made with pole-caught albacore tuna with roasted red-pepper tapenade on artisanal bread.

In the more formal restaurant, we grabbed a table by a window and enjoyed a world-class view of white-capped Monterey Bay. The menu showed crab cakes, roasted artichoke, salads, sandwiches and spectacular-sounding entrees, including Thai-style mussels with coconut curry, grilled hangar steak with caramelized onions, grilled sea bass, oyster po' boy ($8 to $22).

Pawlcyn has three restaurants in the Napa Valley - Mustards Grill, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen and Go Fish (www.mustardsgrill.com).

P.S.: This just in from the aquarium: "The aquarium's Seafood Watch program has connected seafood lovers to ocean-friendly choices for over a decade. Now its recommendations are available as an Android application. (Users) can download the free Seafood Watch app from the Android Market to get on-the-go access to sustainable seafood choices when dining or shopping. To find out more and download the Android app, visit www.montereybayaquarium.org/seafoodwatchapp."

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

Two classic cookbooks just aren't enough. Despite ongoing, updated editions of French chef Auguste Escoffier's "Le Guide Culinaire" (1902), and Irma Rombauer's "The Joy of Coooking" (1936), our appetite for cookbooks is insatiable. Home cooks, chefs and collectors devour the thousands of new titles that appear each year.

So here's another course for that table: The International Association of Culinary Professionals has named the finalists for its 2011 Cookbook Awards, along with the finalists for the Bert Greene Awards for Food Journalism. The winners will be announced June 2.

Fifty-two cookbooks in 17 categories were chosen from a field of 500. For food journalism, Saveur magazine is very much in the hunt. For the complete lists, go to www.iacp.com.

Meanwhile, taste this sampling of finalists' titles:

Airline passengers are always at the mercy of the elements. Which element at any particular time depends on the circumstance. For instance, the restaurants at airports around the nation can be very good - or not.

Next time you take to the air, go to www.blogsouthwest.com and print out the full version of this list and bring it with you. It's from the site where Southwest Airlines employees mingle in cyberspace.

In this case, a Southwest flight crew member - who spends a lot of time in airport food courts - names the 10 restaurant chains he likes the best, having encountered them often during his own travels. Included is Saladworks; you'll find one of its outlets at Sacramento International Airport (916-568-0999).

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Snow play will go upscale Sunday, March 13, when Tahoe Cross Country hosts its 10th annual Gourmet Ski Tour. Participants will sample food and wine from 19 area restaurants and bakeries, which will be stationed in tents along the "gourmet food course."

Tahoe Cross Country maintains 40 miles of groomed cross-country ski and snowshoe trails, and this "on-snow food-tasting along gentle terrain" is one-of-a-kind.

Bring your own skis and/or snowshoes or rent gear there. From 1 to 3 p.m., participants will meander along a one-mile-long trail, stopping at kiosks for food and wine samplings. Participating restaurants include Jake's on the Lake, Sunnyside, Wolfdale's, Bridgetender, Christy Hill and Brockway Bakery.

"Dessert in the yurt" concludes the event, with baked treats, winetasting and live music until 5 p.m.

Cost is $30 adults, $25 ages 13 to 17, free for 12 and younger. The price includes an afternoon trail pass. The ski center is at 925 Country Club Drive, three miles east of downtown Tahoe City, along Highway 28.

For more information: (530) 5823-5475, www.tahoeexc.org.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-11128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Mac 'n' cheese could be renamed "comfort 'n' carbs." Over the past decade, "gourmet" versions of the ultimate comfort food have found cachet among many high-end restaurants and their nostalgia-minded customers. On the other end of the spectrum is this: Kraft Foods reports selling 1 million-plus boxes of its classic (since 1937) mac 'n' cheese each day.

Now the 255-unit Noodles & Company, a "fast-casual" concept chain with restaurants in our area, has added three tasty versions of mac 'n' cheese to its menu, through May 1 ("Mac & Cheese All Grown Up").

Lunch pal Michael Troyan and I finally found parking in jam-packed Loehmann's Plaza, took a booth in the clean, airy, well-lit space, and sampled the trio ($7.95 each). Troyan is the community-relations manager for the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Citrus Heights.

Tip: Thoroughly mix the elbow macaroni with the other ingredients in your bowl before you dig in; that way, the grated cheeses melt and all the flavors and textures merge.

Our favorite was the "Fancy Pants," white truffle oil, sauteed "baby" portobello mushrooms, Parmesan cheese and toasted breadcrumbs. As good as mac 'n' cheese gets.

Second on our list was Southwestern chili mac ("Spicy"), macaroni with red chilis, ground beef, cheddar and jack cheeses and diced green onion. The heat was minimal, but bottles of Sriracha red-chili sauce are on each table.

No. 3 was the "Hearty," with ground beef, bits of bacon, two cheeses, tomato, green onion and breadccrumbs. The corporate ad campaign calls it a "deconstructed bacon cheeseburger," but that's a huge stretch.

Noodles & Company stores are at Loehmann's Plaza, 2555 Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento, (916) 484-7250; 7405 Laguna Blvd., Elk Grove, (916) 478-0373; and 1186 Roseville Parkway, Roseville, (916) 780-1441.

More information: www.noodles.com.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Do you have a favorite original recipe for a special chicken dish? Enter it in the second annual Foster Farms Fresh Chicken Cooking Contest and you could win $100, $1,000 or $10,000 and a year's supply of fowl.

"The recipe should be inspired by fresh, local ingredients," said Foster Farms spokesman Ira Brill. "Our contest is a celebration of the West Coast bounty of fresh produce and foods we are lucky to have at our fingertips."

The competition is open to "home, amateur and professional chefs" in California, Oregon and Washington. Entry deadline is May 31.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

The Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights is getting a new "tenant," it was announced Friday - a Saturday farmers market, debuting March 5.

This comes a year after the Certified Farmers Market left its space in the Sears parking lot behind the mall's main entrance after a 23-year presence. It relocated to the Sunrise light-rail station at Sunrise and Folsom boulevards near Highway 50, in Rancho Cordova.

The new farmers market is being opened by the Carmichael-based BeMoneySmartUSA, which describes itself as a "non-profit training company specializing in providing youth with financial-, business- and career-education programs" (www.bemoneysmartusa.org).

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

What do we know about that succulent cut of meat known as the tri-tip? Several things - not the least of which is this: A freshly cut and grilled 6-ounce tri-tip steak, and an invite to the "endless salad bar," is yours at the six Sizzler restaurants in the Sacramento area. The cost: $10.99 (www.sizzler.com).

The Sizzler chain does business in 12 states, with 111 units in California.

Now, about that tri-tip:
- It was dubbed the "California Cut" by the California Beef Council for two reasons: It was first popularized in the 1950s in Santa Maria, and it remains largely unknown outside of California.

- Tri-tip is one of the three muscles in the bottom sirloin of the steer.

- Because it gets along so well with marinades, it's the king of the California grill.

- More than 400,000 pounds of aged black Angus tri-tip are sold through the Buckhorn steakhouse in Winters and Buckhorn Grills in the Bay Area, Napa Valley and Sacramento (1801 L St., (916) 446.3757; www.buckhorngrill.com).

- New York City was introduced to tri-tip in January 2010 at the Tri Tip Grill at Rockefeller Center.

- The tri-tip sandwich is the No. 1 meal sold at Raley Field during the Sacramento River Cats baseball season.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

The potent, herbal, anise-and-fennel-flavored liquor known as absinthe has long been shrouded in mystery and myth.

Its roots go back to 1797, when the first absinthe distillery opened in Switzerland, making what was then considered a medicinal elixir. Absinthe gained and waned in popularity, until by 1915 its sales were forbidden in the U.S., France and Switzerland.

After a lobby campaign to separate absinthe fact from absinthe fiction, on March 5 2007 Lucid Absinthe Superieure became "the first authentic absinthe imported into the United States."

The liquor's restored reputation has led to its growing popularity, to the point that absinthe-centric bars have opened in Brooklyn (Maison Premiere oyster bar) and Miami Beach (La Fee Verte "burlesque house"). And let's not forget the vintage Olde Absinthe House in New Orleans.

To celebrate absinthe's re-entry into the U.S., the Lucid brand has declared March 5 National Absinthe Day. Yeah, that can be considered rather self-serving, but at least it gives absinthe-lovers a reason to try these two cocktails, complements of Lucid (www.drinklucid.com).

For more absinthe-based cocktail recipes, look at "A Taste for Absinthe" by R. Winston Guthrie (Clarkson Potter, $24.99, 176 pages).

ABSINTHE FRAPPÉ
Ingredients:
2 ounces absinthe
Dash of simple syrup
6 to 8 mint leaves and sprig
Splash of club soda
Directions:
Muddle mint leaves in the bottom of a frappé-style glass. Add absinthe and simple syrup, and fill with crushed ice. Pour the mixture into a shaker and shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker begins to frost. Pour contents into the glass, top with a splash of club soda and garnish with mint sprig.

ABSINTHE GARDEN
Ingredients:
1.5 ounces absinthe
Half-ounce simple syrup
Club soda
Kiwi fruit
Cucumber
Directions:
Muddle two cucumber wheels and two peeled kiwi wheels with the simple syrup in a double rocks glass. Fill with ice and add absinthe. Top with club soda. Garnish with an unpeeled kiwi wheel on the rim of the glass.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

What are some of the good and bad points when it comes to dining trends? Here are a few, as veteran restaurant consultant Jerry Prendergast sees them. He's the founder and president of Prendergast & Associates in Los Angeles (www.restaurantproducer.com).

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

A Mardi Gras celebration wouldn't be complete without a king cake, which you can order here in Sacramento and help a worthy cause at the same time.

A king cake is the traditional confection served during Mardi Gras and was named after the "three kings" mentioned in the Bible. A trinket of some sort is always baked inside the king cake, and whoever gets the slice that contains the trinket is obliged to buy the next cake or throw a Mardi Gras party the following year. Mardi Gras - or Fat Tuesday - comes around the day before Lent begins, and this year falls on March 8.

The king cakes will be baked and sold by the volunteers and staff of the charitable nonprofit Malachi's Homes Ministry, "dedicated to helping people (and children) in need." Prices and sizes range from mini ($3 each, minimum order one dozen) to large ($29.95). Four flavors of filling are available. To order, and for more information: (916) 534-5013, (916) 576-9679 and www.malachishomescenter.org.

Pick up king cakes at the Mardi Gras Family Day Celebration, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 5 at the Jose Rizal Community Center, 7320 Florin Mall Drive, Sacramento. Food and entertainment will highlight that party (free admission).

That night, there's another fundraising party at the same venue - the Capitol City Mardi Gras Ball, 7 to 11:30. It will feature entertainers from New Orleans, along with hor douvres and drinks. Admission is $35 per person in advance, or $300 for a VIP table for six. Tickets are available at the Malachi's Homes website.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Everyone has it now and then, and to varying degrees, but there are ways to avoid it. The subject is halitosis - bad breath - and Valentine's Day is not the time for it.

Offering helpful advice is Susanne Cohen, a dentist who left her practice to co-found Triumph Pharmaceuticals, maker of SmartMouth products (mouthwash, toothpaste, gum and mints; www.smartmouth.com).

To keep romance from fading, she advises:

Limit libations: Champagne or cocktails can help "set the mood for a romantic night, but alcohol can dehydrate the body and mouth. The result? Alcohol can cause or worsen bad breath on your big date. Limit yourself to one drink per hour and have a glass of water between each one."

Pass up protein-packed meals: Protein-rich foods feed "the germs that live in our mouths. From those proteins, germs create bad breath gases."

Take a break from coffee: So-called "coffee breath is not caused by drinking coffee alone. Coffee itself smells delicious (but) coffee breath is the result of coffee on top of already existing bad breath. Stick to water."

The chocolate challenge: Yes, chocolate can be a good thing - "Dark chocolate contains tryptophan, which triggers the release of serotonin, a natural anti-depressant" - but don't overdo it. "About an hour after eating chocolate, the germs that cause bad breath will begin to increase, putting you at risk for a less-than-fresh kiss."

Morning mouth: "Everyone wakes up with morning breath every day, especially if you over indulged in the above-mentioned bad-breath behaviors." Rinse, floss and brush before a morning kiss.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

It's that time of year again, when home cooks can win cash and prizes by coming up with original recipes for baked goods.

The 45th annual Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest is now accepting entries through April 18; register and submit your recipes online at www.bakeoff.com. You could be among the 100 finalists who will gather for the contest finals March 25-27, 2012, in Orlando, Fla. There, they will make their dishes and vie for a chance at the grand prize.

The prestigious bake-off will distribute "more than $1.1 million in cash, prizes and trips" next year to amateur cooks in four cooking categories. Each category will have a number of finalists, and judges will choose one winner from each category. Then, judges will fork over $1 million (plus $10,000 in kitchen appliances) to the ultimate winner among those four; the three-runners-up will get cash and appliances.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

For the food- and drink-centric, there's www.thedailymeal.com, a website devoted to "creating a complete food experience for cooks, food lovers, wine connoisseurs, discerning diners and everyone in-between." Its motto: "All the food that's fit to eat."

One of its latest postings is a list of the 14 most expensive meals found around the world. It's not so much the refined ingredients in these dishes that make them outrageously expensive; rather, in many cases it's the side dishes - such as jewelry.

Sample these:

Samundari Khazana curry ($3,000), Bombay Brasserie, London: The curry includes "abalone, crab, caviar, white truffles and lobster, whose shell is shellacked with loads of edible gold."

Strawberries Arnaud ($1.4 million), Arnaud's restaurant, New Orleans: This dessert is "a patented blend of bright-red berries, vanilla ice cream, a port-red wine sauce, whipped cream, mint and a 5-karat pink diamond ring" with a pedigree.

FleurBurger 5000 ($5,000), Fleur by Hubert Keller, Las Vegas: "Rich Kobe beef is crowned with foie gras and black truffles. The meaty spectacle is paired with a bottle of 1995 Petrus wine and two Ichendorf Brunello glasses."

Zillion Dollar Frittata ($1,000), Norma's in New York City: "That eye-popping sum buys a six-egg frittata freighted with a whole lobster and 10 ounces of lustrous caviar."

More reasonable is the $95 mac 'n' cheese at Mélisse in Santa Monica: "Fresh tagliatelle pasta is topped with gobs of Parmesan cheese, brown-butter truffle froth and shaved white truffles."

For the remainder of the heart-stopping meals and a slide show, go to www.thedailymeal.com/14-bank-breaking-dishes.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Can you use a year's supply of free flapjacks from the International House of Pancakes? What about a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes from IHOP on National Pancake Day, which will be March 1? If so, get your knife and fork ready for a worthy fund-raiser.

Once again, IHOP is sponsoring its national online contest, "Stacks for Good Acts," which asks good Samaritans for their 250-word stories "about a good deed they or someone they know did in 2010." The judges will choose one winner based on his/her story's "emotional impact, originality and entertainment value." That person will get free pancakes for a year.

To get started right now (through Feb. 25), see the contest rules (and more information) at www.ihoppancakeday.com. The winner will be announced March 1.

There's more: On March 1, more than 1,500 IHOP restaurants nationwide will fork over a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. In return, says a spokesman, "We will ask guests to make a voluntary donation to support Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and other local charities."

There are 25 IHOPs in the greater Sacramento area.

"National Pancake Day is IHOP's way of saying thank you and helping kids in need," said IHOP president Jean Birch. "We want to hear about (our customers') good deeds and reward one of them for an extraordinary act."

To further benefit Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, "Miracle Balloons" will be available at IHOPs for $1 and $5 each from now through March 1.

Since 1983, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $4 billion to help 170 children's hospitals nationwide. The money raised in the Sacramento for this fund-raiser are will benefit the UC Davis Children's Hospital.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Does the "correct glassware" really affect the characteristics of different types of wines? The experts say yes. After all, the bubbles in champagne won't work their magic if that sparkling wine is served in anything but a flute.

If you really want the subtleties of matching the appropriate glasses with certain wines, consider attending a seminar on Tuesday. It's sponsored by the 300-year-old Riedel wine glass company of Austria. Leading it will be 11th-generation glassmaker Maximilian Riedel, who's flying in from New York City to "demonstrate the remarkable difference in glassware by pairing the correct wine with the perfect glassware" (www.riedel.com).

The wines will be from the Delta region, courtesy of Bogle, Wilson Vineyards, Heringer Estates and Lange Twins. The paired foods will be from Chris Jackson Catering, Beth Sogaard Catering, the Firehouse restaurant and the Chocolate Architect.

The event will feature "comparative wine tasting" with Riedel, followed by hors d'oeuvres and desserts. Doors will open at 6 p.m. at Elks Tower, 921 11th St., Sacramento. The $75 cost will include a Vinum XL four-glass tasting set. Buy tickets at www.sacramentonace.net.

The tasting/demonstration will benefit the Sacramento chapter of the National Association of Catering Executives.

More information: (916) 276 5080.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni, (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

When we have no option but to grab a bite at a chain restaurant, we try to find an El Pollo Loco outlet. Though the chain operates more than 400 restaurants in 12 states - six of them in our area - we think it stays focused on its tasty specialty. That would be flame-grilled fresh chicken that's been marinated in citrus juices, herbs and spices, an old family recipe

Now there's a twist: Beginning Saturday and running through mid-April, El Pollo Loco will offer two kinds of "Baja-style" fish tacos. The Classic will be "drizzled with yogurt sauce mixed with (red) salsa; the Spicy will be topped with yogurt sauce combined with avocado salsa."

The fish itself is deep-fried beer-battered pollack, a white-fleshed fish from Alaska commonly used in fish 'n' chips restaurants around the country.

Each taco will cost $1.99; a combo for $5.29 will include any two fish tacos and a small drink. "A 'free-standing insert' with coupons for fish tacos will be mailed Feb. 7 to (a segment of) consumers," an El Pollo Loco spokeswoman emailed. In other words, check your mailbox for a deal.

One coupon will offer one free fish taco with the purchase of another fish taco and any size drink. The second coupon will offer a free fish taco with a $5 minium purchase (before sales tax) of any menu item.

For more information: www.elpolloloco.com.

P.S.: If you really love fish tacos, you'll have some fun at www.fishtacomagazine.blogspot.com.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Let's imagine this scenario: You and yours want to go out for a bite, or phone a restaurant with a takeout order or a delivery. Problem is, you're undecided about what type of cuisine you're in the mood for, or even what restaurant you might visit.

Possibly offering a helping hand is www.allmenus.com, a website that posts restaurant menus from around our region. Actually, the parent company - www.dotmenu.com - says on its site that its www.allmenus.com network includes "240,000-plus menus in 8,000-plus cities nationwide." Plus, its www.campusfood.com site will direct users to restaurants near college campuses.

To sample, we visited the listing for Sacramento menus. Hmmm. There are 22 cuisines listed (American, Italian, Tex-Mex, diner) and 24 dishes (burgers, pasta, salads, soul food).

We clicked on "Japanese" and up popped 21 restaurants. Kru on J Street sells its "deluxe sushi bento box" lunch for $18 ("one tempura roll, five pieces nigiri, five pieces sashimi).

The "seafood" category showed 12 restaurants, four of which flashed the message, "Sorry, we currently don't have this menu." Among the eight restaurants that did have menus was Wolfgang Puck Express at the Sacramento Convention Center. Its menu showed zero seafood, an absence confirmed by a phone call. Hmmm.

At www.campusfood.com, we selected restaurants around the University of California, Davis ("Browse menus in Davis"). Under the "diner" category were listings for three Denny's - two in Woodland and one in West Sacramento. Again: Hmmm.

We called www.dotmenu.com headquarters and left messages, but didn't hear back. And, no, we did not create an account.

Our bottom line: These two websites could be useful - with an asterisk.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

The folks at Russian Standard Vodka in St. Petersburg had a clever thought: Let's team our product - a top brand in the Russian market - with the concept of Valentine's Day. We can create cocktails with an "aphrodisiac twist."

The effectiveness of the drinks' "aphrodisiac" elements is debatable, but these recipes sound really tasty and they're all in fun:

Russian Aphrodite
"Honey is associated with the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite."

Ingredients:
1 ounce vodka
1.5 ounces honey from acacia flowers (or any floral-smelling, mild-tasting honey)
4 ounces chilled sparkling white wine, such as Prosecco
Dash of orange bitters
1 orange twist, for garnish

"Directions: Pour honey and vodka into a mixing glass and stir until honey has dissolved. Then pour into a champagne flute and carefully top off with sparkling white wine. Finish with a dash of orange bitters and garnish with an orange twist."

Latin Fling
"Some spices are known for their qualities as aphrodisiacs. This punch is perfect for couples to make at home."

Ingredients:
2 ounces top-quality aged rum
1.5 ounces fresh pineapple juice
1 ounce five-spice syrup
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1 slice jalapeño pepper

"Directions: Combine ingredients and shake. Serve on rocks in Collins glass and float a splash of rum and club soda. Garnish with a pineapple leaf and floating whole star anise.
"To make five-spice syrup: Bring 2 cups water, 2.5 cups natural brown sugar (demerera) and 4 tablespoons five-spice powder to a boil. Cover, let cool and strain. Recipe can be multiplied to fill a traditional punch bowl."

Sexy Mary
"Absinthe is made from a unique recipe of herbs - including wormwood, fennel and anise. This recipe is rich in special compounds and oils."

Ingredients:
1.5 ounces absinthe
1 ounce vodka
4 ounces spicy Bloody Mary mix
4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Horseradish, ground pepper, garlic salt, celery salt

"Directions: In a pint glass, add ice, absinthe, vodka, Bloody Mary mix, Worcestershire sauce and spices. Shake and serve with an olive, pepperoncini and lime wedge."

Standard Blue
"Think of this as a cocktail for him."

Ingredients:
2 ounces vodka
Splash of dry vermouth
Splash of olive brine

"Directions: Shake ingredients gently over ice. Strain and serve in a chilled martini glass. Garnish with blue cheese-stuffed olives."

Russian Romance
"And think of this cocktail as especially for her."

Ingredients:1.5 ounces vodka
Splash of lemon juice
2 ounces pomegranate juice

"Directions: Shake ingredients with ice, pour into a cocktail glass, garnish with a mint leaf or a lemon twist."

For more information: www.russianstandardvodka.com

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

We Sacramentans love to dine out, and our restaurant scene has never been bigger, better or more diverse. A newer generation of first-rate restaurants has helped put us on the California culinary map.

But long before there were Ella, Lemon Grass and Waterboy, to name just three of dozens, there was a previous generation of go-to restaurants whose names are largely lost in time. Iconic places in the day, such as Capitol Tamale, Stroh's Neptune Table, the Ram, Golden Tee, Ken's Red Barn, the Oaks, Robert's Seafood Grotto, Aldo's, Zombie Hut, Bedell's and the Palomino Room.

Among that lost generation, the restaurant that seems to resonate most in our readers' memories is the Coral Reef, formerly at 2795 Fulton Ave., a thoroughfare that for a time was Sacramento's "restaurant row" after World War II.

"By far the biggest demand from readers is for recipes from the Coral Reef, and of those the No. 1 request is for the salad dressing recipe," said Teri Watson. For 15 years she has compiled "The Mailbox" recipe-hunter column for The Bee's Food & Wine section.

From its opening in 1949 until its closing in 1994, the Coral Reef served "Cantonese and American dishes," though the decor leaned toward Polynesia, with an outrigger canoe, taxidermied fish, netting, ceramic tiki-statue masks, rattan chairs, bamboo trim, fish tanks and tropical plants.

On the back cover of the menu was a "mission statement" from Jack and Elwood Maleville, who founded the restaurant. In part, it read, "The Coral Reef interior is the product of several years of collecting to give you the most authentic atmosphere posible of a beachcomber's shack in Tahiti or Pago Pago."

There are many stories and fond memories surrounding the Coral Reef, and we invite you to share your favorites with other readers. How often did you dine there? Did you go with your family? Who was your favorite server? What was your favorite dish? The pineapple spareribs? The paper-wrapped chicken?

Please keep your Coral Reef memory to a maximum of 150 words.
If you email: Type "Coral Reef" into the subject field and send it to taste@sacbee.com. If you snail-mail: Coral Reef, c/o Food & Wine, Sacramento Bee, P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, CA, 95852

In either case, please include your name, city of residence and daytime phone number. We'll publish your responses in an upcoming Food & Wine section.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

We're fortunate to live in a region where a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables is ours for the year-round picking, so to speak. Just think of all those farmers markets.

To emphasize the point is the VegFest Food Fair: A Celebration of Raw, Vegan and Vegetarian Cuisines, sponsored by the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership.

Get your produce on from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday in the Artisan Building, 1901 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento.

Look for free tastings and recipes, vendors and exhibits, and a 1 p.m. demonstration by "featured guest" Michael Marks, a.k.a. "Your Produce Man" (www.yourproduceman.com).

More than two dozen restaurants, specialty shops and caterers will be represented, including Green Boheme, Never Felt Better, Happy Go Lucky, Cultured Kitchen, Sugar Plum and Raw Chocolate Love. They and others will compete in a judged tasting of vegan and vegetarian dishes, culminating in an awards presentation scheduled at 2:30 p.m.

For more information: (916) 923-6200, www.delpasoboulevard.com.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

If you're into winetasting and dollars-off deals, Carpe Vino could make it on your list of upcoming destinations.

The wine bar/wine shop/restaurant is planning its ninth annual Wine Thing, a tasting and sale. More than 75 bottles of various varietals (mostly California) will be open for sampling, accompanied by cheese and baguette palate refreshers.

"This is the largest private tasting in the Sacramento region," said Drew Moffat, 29, co-owner of the store with his father, Gary. "Our goal is to appeal to all tastes and budgets."

As for the deals, Drew Moffat offered this overview: "The minimum discount is 5 percent on one to five bottles of wine. Every additional bottle purchased earns another 1 percent discount, maxing at 24 percent on two cases, mix and match."

The discount program will apply to the wines being poured as well as all 500 or so wines in stock. A list of the wines featured in the tasting will be posted by Jan. 22 on Carpe Vino's website, www.carpevinoauburn.com.

The tasting fee will be waived for Wine Club members, and they will get a one-hour early entry to the event. Wine Club membership is free and can be arranged on the day of the tasting. For details, visit the website or call (530) 823-0320.

Wine Thing will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 29; cost is $20. Carpe Vino is at 1568 Lincoln Way in Old Town Auburn.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

If your travels should take you to the mountain town of Truckee on Jan. 27, give a thought to the inaugural Beer & Food Festival. It's planned from 6 to 9 p.m. at Dragonfly restaurant/sushi bar.

Small-plate dishes will be paired with six Mammoth Brewing Co. specialty beers at "beer stations" throughout the restaurant (www.mammothbrewingco.com). Socialize, nosh and drink, then repeat.

Mammoth brew master Sean Turner will be on hand to answer questions and explain the art of brewing. Also: live music and a raffle.

"Sean Turner approaches beer like I approach food - in a very creative, fun way," said Dragonfly owner/chef Billy McCullough. "The casual station set-up will offer guests a cool way to mingle."

The menu will include beer-battered smoked-salmon sushi roll, hoisin-braised shortrib and sage-cured pork tenderloin.

Tickets are $28 at the door or at (530) 587-0557. Dragonfly is at 10118 Donner Pass Road, Truckee; www.dragonflycuisine.com.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

When it comes to charitable foundations, Make-A-Wish has a great cause. It "grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions, to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy."

Make-A-Wish will host its 23rd annual Winter Wine & Food Fest, a fundraiser that will allow it to grant 100 wishes throughout the coming year.

More than 100 wineries, breweries and restaurants will be on hand at the Sacramento Convention Center. Also featured will be a VIP live auction, a silent auction of vacation trips, autographed memorabilia, and live music by Over the Edge.

Participants will include the new gourmet food truck Mini Burger, Ruth's Chris steakhouse, Paul Martin's American Bistro, Buckhorn Grill, Frank Family Vineyards, Duckhorn Vineyards, Wente Vineyards, River City Brewing Co., Pyramid Alehouse Brewery and Sudwerks Brewery.

The fest will be from 5 to 10 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Sacramento Convention Center, 1400 J St.; (916) 808-5291. Cost is $85 per person, $185 for a VIP ticket.

To register and for more information: (916) 437-0206, www.makeawish-sacto.org.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916)321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

If you've not tried the farmed, mild-tasting fish called tilapia, Friday is the day to get aboard.

That's when Whole Foods Market on Arden Way will hold a special on fresh (not frozen) tilapia fillets from Ecuador. The firm-fleshed fish will be priced at $4.99 a pound; it usually sells for $8.99 to $9.99 a pound. The one-day-only deal will happen at all Whole Food Markets around the country.

The question is: Why?

"We want to get the product out there so customers can taste it and know that tilapia can be a very healthful part of their diets," said Marshall Bronk, seafood team leader at the Sacramento store.

The Whole Foods press-release sales pitch about its farm-raised fish program is impressive: "(Our) quality standards prohibit antibiotics, added growth hormones, preservatives, and poultry and mammalian byproducts in (tilapia) feed. Plus, we have extensive requirements for protecting water quality, wildlife and sensitive habitats (where the fish are raised)."

For more information on Whole Foods' aquaculture standards, go to www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/aquaculture.php.

For recipes, go to www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1603. If you want more than the one for tilapia tostatas, type in "tilapia" in the "Search" field.

For information on Friday's sale, Bronk will answer questions at (916) 488-2800 (ask for him in the Seafood Department).

Whole Foods is at 4315 Arden Way; open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

P.S.: If you're in the mood for another kind of seafood dish - spicy garlic shrimp in white wine sauce, where whole cloves of garlic meet finely ground red peppers - try the Mandarin, next door to Whole Foods (916-488-4794).

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

After a 10-month-long, $1.5 million expansion and renovation, the pioneering Enotria Restaurant and Wine Bar opened today. The wine bar hosted a successful soft opening last week.

Though the formal dining room won't be serving until early February - to be marked with a grand opening - the diverse wine-bar menu now offers lunch and dinner - from soup, salad and small plates, to pasta, fish and rack of lamb. Enotria's motto: "Food made for wine made for food."

The art-deco wine bar hours are 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 5 to 11 p.m. Saturdays, and 4:30 to 9 p.m. Sundays.

Enotria has plans for a special prix fixe dinner (5 to 9 p.m.) over the Valentine's Day weekend (Feb. 11 to 14). It's suggested that couples linger over dinner and candlelight in the main dining room, while singles may enjoy a more casual menu and less formal setting in the wine bar. For reservations: (916) 922-6792.

"The idea is there's something for everybody," said Enotria public-relations consultant Nancy Mallory. "You may even meet the love of your life."

Enotria is at 1431 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento. Visit its website at www.enotria.com.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

We tried a taste of www.fitbee.com, a website devoted to diet and fitness, and found a list of foods projected to be popular in the coming year.

The site is a collaboration between Rodale, publisher of health and wellness magazines, and www.msn, the news-features-sports site.

Try these on for size. Read more at the webside.

Gluten-free: "Expect to see more corn- and rice-based bread, cereal and pasta options, as well as other foods with 'gluten-free' on their labels."

Ethnic street food: Street food-inspired dishes such as kebabs, taquitos and tempura top the National Restaurant Association's 'What's Hot in 2011' chefs' survey for upcoming appetizer trends."

Thai iced tea: "The orange-colored beverage made with sweetened condensed milk is expected on more menus."

Tapas: "Look for a surge in tapas, small-plate meals and half-portions, predicts the National Restaurant Association's annual survey."

Artisan cheeses and bacon: "Look for (high-end) house-made bacon and handcrafted cheeses to start appearing in stores."

Seeds: "From flaxseed to chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, these morsels of monounsaturated fats are going to take a more prominent place on restaurant menus and supermarket shelves."

Grab-and-go snacks: "A growing number of fast-food chains, coffee shops and convenience stores are making over their grab-and-go selections."

Heirloom foods: "Heirloom crops refer to foods that were found in our early history of eating, and they're making a big comeback. Look for heirloom varieties of grains such as red rice, black rice, kamut and spelt in supermarkets."

Coconut water: "It's the health drink of the moment -- the liquid inside immature coconuts."

Hyper-local foods: "Thanks in part to Michelle Obama's White House vegetable garden, growing your own food is suddenly 'in' and going hyper-local is all the rage. This year, people will want to know where their meals are coming from, down to the very farm."

Macarons: "Not to be confused with macaroons (a small coconut-based cookie), macarons (a meringue sandwich cookie) have already been tapped as the heir apparent to the designer cupcake craze."

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916() 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Yes, San Francisco is one of the world's great restaurant cities. Plugging into that for the past decade has been Dine About Town San Francisco. From Jan. 15-31 and June 1-15, the program will offer foodies "the opportunity to select from more than 100 restaurants offering a two-course lunch menu for $17.95 and/or a three-course dinner menu for $34.95" (www.dineabouttown.com).

To kick off the January promotion, the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau (www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com) will host a "launch party" at 6 p.m. Jan. 12 in the City View meeting space at the Westfield-Metreon Shopping Mall, 101 4th St. About 20 restaurants and 10 wineries will provide tastes and sips. Guests can enter the "Eat Your Way from SF to LA" sweepstakes. Deejay Jamon Iberico will supply the tunes.

Tickets are $25 apiece (includes a commemorative wine glass) at www.dineabouttown.com/launch. Tickets will not be sold at the door. All proceeds will benefit the San Francisco Meals on Wheels program.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

One place that takes cornbread very seriously is the town of South Pittsburg, Tenn., 30 miles west of Chattanooga. Each year it sponsors the National Cornbread Festival, a celebration that attracts 40,000 revelers over two days.

"We close the town and turn it into a street fair," said a festival spokeswoman.

In preparation for the 15th annual event over the weekend of April 30, the folks at the Loge Cast Iron and the Martha White baking-products companies once again are co-sponsoring a national cornbread cook-off.

You can enter an "original main-dish cornbread recipe" now through March 1. "Ten finalists will compete during the cornbread festival; one cook-off champion will receive a $5,000 cash prize," said a press release.

Here's how to enter:

"An entry must be an original main dish recipe prepared with at least one package of Martha White Cornbread Mix using Lodge (cast iron) cookware. Entries must include contestant's name, address, daytime phone number, date of birth and name of grocery retailer."

Note that the four Foods Co. stores in our area carry Martha White products. Loge cast iron pans are available at many cookware stores.

"To enter online, go to www.marthawhite.com, click on the 'Promotion and News' section, and submit your recipe along with contact information."

By email, send your recipe and contact information to cornbread@dvl.com. By snail mail, print the recipe and contact information on an 8-1/2 x 11-inch sheet of paper and mail it to National Cornbread Cook-Off 2011, 209 Seventh Ave. North, Nashville, TN 37219.

To get an idea of what the judges are looking for, check out the winning recipes from past years (and the complete rules) at www.marthawhite.com or www.lodgemfg.com.

Note that the 10 finalists will make their dishes for "a panel of food experts" at the cornbread festival in Tennessee. To help get them to the site, the sponsors will give each finalist $500 toward travel expenses.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

The 40-year-old Togo's restaurant chain is honoring National Pastrami Day (Jan. 14) with the return of its Pastrami Guarantee, which it first featured in the fall of 2009. Plus, there's a free bonus waiting for its Facebook fans.

These are the fixin's: If you buy a six-inch hot pastrami sandwich at any Togo's this year and you're not completely satisfied, you'll get the price of the sandwich -- $5.59 -- refunded. If you pay the $7.01 for the nine-inch hot pastrami sandwich and don't like it, you'll get the same $5.59 refund.

"The No. 9 pastrami sandwich has been our top-selling sandwich through the years," said Renae Scott, vice president of marketing for Togo's Eateries. "We serve over 1.5 million of them a year."

Also beginning Jan. 14, Togo's Facebook fans can print a coupon good for a complimentary 20-ounce drink with the purchase of the six-inch pastrami sandwich. The coupon must be redeemed by Jan. 31. "It's our way of saying we 'like' you, too," Scott added.

For more information: www.togos.com.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

The executive team behind the Food Network show "Dinner: Impossible" is putting out a casting call for its new show, "Restaurant: Impossible."

It's looking for a Sacramento-area eatery that's suffering economically and needs some help in the "front of the house" as well as the back (kitchen). The goal: To perform a 36-hour restaurant makeover and film an episode about it, to air sometime this summer.

The makeover itself will likely occur in the second quarter of this year.

"We're looking for a family-run restaurant that's fallen on hard times, not a chain," said "Restaurant: Impossible" associate producer Justin Leonard. "Everybody's been hurt by the recession, and there's nothing we can do about that. What we can do is go in to a restaurant and update the menu and help them redesign the interior. It's the tangible things we're looking to change in a very quick turnaround."

After the selected restaurant undergoes the speedy makeover, there will be a grand reopening.

The debut episode of the "Restaurant: Impossible" series will air at 10 p.m. Jan. 19, based on restaurant makeovers in 2010. "Restaurant: Impossible" spends an average of $10,000 on a typical makeover.

The makeover team will be led by Food Network celebrity chef Robert Irvine, host of "Dinner: Impossible," and a support crew of a designer and construction specialists. "Chef Irvine will work on what's going wrong and make a plan to make it right," Leonard said.

Part of the "Restaurant: Impossible" casting call reads: "Is your restaurant at risk of closing? Are you in need of a boost in customers, good reviews and overall revenue? We are looking for passionate restaurateurs who have fallen on hard times. The restaurant's owners and management ... must be willing to overhaul their menu, décor and theme to put them back on the path to success."

Restaurateurs can apply for the makeover at www.restaurantimpossible.com.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Carnivores rejoice this time of year, when cold winds blow in winter specials to restaurant menus. We're talking braised lamb shanks, spicy cioppino and tender short ribs with steaming mashed potatoes.

But what about the harder-to-find osso buco? A specialty of Milan, it's cross-cut veal shanks usually braised in a medley of broth, wine and tomato sauce. The term translates to "bone with a hole," and the hole is filled with luscious marrow.

Be happy: You can find osso buco for lunch and dinner at Buonarroti Ristorante through the winter months (along with deep-fried soft-shell crabs, but that's another story).

"I braise the veal shanks with vegetables (including carrots, celery and onion) and slowly cook them in red wine and our red sauce," said owner Daniel Alcantaro.

That sauce was passed down from Alcantaro's grandmother. The ingredients are a family secret, of course, but it's "a vegetarian sauce with garlic, rosemary, red wine, olive oil and a lot of other things," he allowed.

Buonarroti's fork-tender osso buco is being served as a lunch and dinner special (if you don't see it on the white board, ask for it). The lunch portion is 10 to 12 ounces and comes with penne pasta and seasonal vegetables ($19). The 16-ounce dinner plate arrives with pappardelle pasta (flat pasta in wide ribbons) and vegetables ($24). Note that risotto (creamy Arborio rice thick with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese) can be substituted for either pasta; again, just ask.

In addition, the restaurant has waived its $15 corkage fee Wednesday nights. And special three-course meals for two are $29.95 Monday and Tuesday nights (choose from six entrees, but not osso buco).

Buonarroti is in Town & Country Village, Marconi and Fulton avenues. Information: (916) 265-2110, www.buonarrotis.com

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

The revitalized West Shore Cafe on Lake Tahoe in Homewood opened its doors Sunday, bringing another dimension to the lake's culinary and lodging scenes (www.westshorecafe.com).

"It will be an asset to the community and will complement the existing restaurants around the lake," said Jeff Pelline, who was there for the grand opening. He's the publisher of the quarterly publication Sierra Food, Wine, Art (www.sierraculture.com).

Lodging-wise, the property offers four "mountain-inspired" guest rooms and two two-room suites.

For years, the West Shore Cafe was a small eatery doing business only during the summer months. Then its owner built a fabulous lodge with a dining room and expanded kitchen. Outside are a lakeside deck and pier, used for dining. The property closed a couple years later, was sold to JMA Ventures (owners of Homewood Mountain Resort and Alpine Meadows Ski Resort) and is now back in a new incarnation.

Executive chef Jessika Bryce has a few things up her sleeve, including daily lunch and dinner, plus après-ski appetizers from 3 to 6 p.m. The lunch menu includes a version of the classic croque monsieur ($11) and a Chinese chicken salad ($12). Two of the dinner entrees are lamb chops ($24) and pork loin chop with apple-bacon chutney ($22).

Also, Bryce is serving a special holiday menu through Jan. 2, which includes hamachi poke, seared scallops with truffle mashed potatoes, and ribeye steak. Her prix fixe New Year's Eve menu will feature oyster bisque and venison osso bucco (reservations: 530-525-5200).

The West Shore Cafe is at 5160 W. Lake Blvd., Homewood, Calif.; (530) 525-5200.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

For the food- and drink-centric, there's www.thedailymeal.com, a website devoted to "creating a complete food experience for cooks, food lovers, wine connoisseurs, discerning diners and everyone in-between."

One of its latest postings is aimed at holiday tippling, with advice on how to "decide on the drinks menu for your holiday party." With a sense of fun in mind, Daily Meal editor Valaer Murray assembled a list of cocktails with "the most disgusting names":

"Buzzard's Breath: Apparently, buzzards have slightly minty breath because this shooter mixes peppermint schnapps with Amaretto almond liqueur and coffee liqueur."

"Sewer Water: Not the result of a plumbing problem, this fruity gin cocktail with melon and pineapple liqueurs probably got its name from its muddy brown color."

"Blood and Sand: Being named after a Rudolph Valentino film, according to www.gourmet.com, doesn't make the scotch-brandy-orange juice mixed drink any more appealing."

"Swamp Gas: According to 'The Bartender's Best Friend,' this stinky-sounding cocktail originated in New Orleans, and mixes blue curacao with melon liqueur."

"Gorilla Milk: Not surprisingly, this cocktail has crème de banana in it, which is where the 'gorilla' part comes in. Then light cream makes it 'milk.'"

"Goat's Delight: This one has been around since before Prohibition, as evidenced by the inclusion of a dash of absinthe - enough to get your goat."

The recipes for these cocktails are at www.thedailymeal.com/10-most-disgusting-cocktail-names.

Meanwhile, if you imbibe too much during the next 10 days, check out "Drink Experts' Favorite Hangover Cures" at www.thedailymeal.com/drink-experts-favorite-hangover-cures#ixzz18rGXpuGN.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

Though the Village Cake Shoppe in Town & Country Village specializes in wedding and holiday cakes, and cupcakes, it will offer gingerbread men (and women) from Friday through Dec. 24.

"They're popular because they capture the magic of Christmas, and bring back the excitement and memories of our childhoods - baking in the kitchen with your grandmother, reading stories about gingerbread men by the fire," said cake designer Victoria Werhan. She bakes and decorates the cookie people.

The from-scratch gingerbread characters are hand-made in small batches from organic butter and molasses, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. "They're made to appeal to children, so they're not super-spicy," Werhan said.

They sell for $2 to $2.50 each, "depending on how elaborate the design is. We can customize them with the names of your choice," she added.

How does she eat hers? "I bite the head off first," she revealed. Ouch!

The Village Cake Shoppe is in the T&C center, Marconi and Fulton avenues, Sacramento; (916) 485-8611, www.villagecakeshoppe.com.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

In general, casinos are good places to find bargain meals, upscale dining and price points in between - all in one spot.

With that in mind, you might explore the dining specials offered by nearby Red Hawk Casino. Added entrees (leg of lamb, roasted duck, prime rib), prix fixe menus (squab, scallops) and other specials will be offered on Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

All five of Red Hawk's restaurants will participate - Henry's Steakhouse, Pearl Asian Cuisine, Koto Grille, Waterfall Buffet and Two Rivers Cafe.

The casino is off Highway 50 at Exit 40. For details, menus, prices and more information: (888) 573-3495, www.redhawkcasino.com.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.

By Allen Pierleoni
apierleoni@sacbee.com

This is the season for commandeering the kitchen and baking sweet-smelling goodies to share with family and friends, and - no coincidence - the time for cooking- and food-related contests. The brain trust at Pillsbury headquarters is in the thick of things with the Pillsbury People Essay Contest.

The top winner will recieve a $10,000 kitchen makeover and gift basket of Pillsbury baking products. The three runners-up will each win a digital camera and gift basket.

From now through Dec. 20, home cooks are urged to submit first-person essys or short stories (250 words or less) sharing their fondest baking memories and/or why they love to bake.

"We hope the contest inspires home bakers to proudly share their homemade memories and special baking stories," said Pillsbury spokeswoman Maribeth Badertscher. "We look forward to hearing all the ways families around the country have come to be 'Pillsbury People.'"

For rules and entry form, go to www.pillsburybaking.com.

Call The Bee's Allen Pierleoni at (916) 321-1128.