by the Sunset editorial staff

Joey Altman, Traci Des Jardins,
and Michael Mina? They'll be there too.

I want to be with all the biggest chefs and most devout cooks in the West, who will be converging at Union Square Thursday through Sunday for SF Chefs. Food. Wine. The well-punctuated name pretty much says it all, but I might add this elaboration: Parties. Tastings. Classes.

The heirloom tomato cookoff between Joanne Weir and Gary Danko and hosted by Sunset’s food editor, Margo True, is sold out, alas. But you can still get into a head-spinning array of events, from a Friday morning shuck-and-sip pairing of wines and oysters to Saturday night’s urban barbecue on the square, where the band members are chefs you might recognize from around town. 

When: August 6–9, 2009
Where: Union Square and surrounding hotel and retail spaces as well as restaurants throughout the city.
Expected guests: 1,500 attendees per day
Tickets: One-day passes are $150, which includes the midday Grand Tasting, as well as a morning and afternoon class. Children free at Sunday family activities.

by MacKenzie Geidt, Sunset assistant travel editor

As a novice rider, I need a little incentive to get on the bike. Preferably incentive of the caloric nature. Which is why I'm psyched about this weekend's SF Bike Coalition's Ice Cream Sunday Ride that I just read about on SF Gate.  A guilt-free tour of the city's top creameries...Brilliant.  Be there.

Photo: John Clark

If you CAN'T be there, don't fret.  You should still get on the bike (AND eat ice cream). Here's a list of our other favorite biking towns:

Pacific Grove, CA

Boise, Idaho (pictured above)

Boulder, Colorado

Vegas

Moab, Utah

Fruita, Colorado

If you get on the bike, surely you've earned some ice cream.  Try it Sunset-style and make it yourself!  I'm intrigued by this recipe for Coconut Avocado ice cream recipe that I found on sunset.com...

Photo: Annabelle Breakey; Styling: Karen Shinto

By Trina Enriquez, Sunset copy editor

The Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle is hosting its last $5 Fridays event of the '08–'09 season this Friday, May 22, from 6 to 7 p.m. A dance preview orchestrated by PNB artistic director Peter Boal and put on in one of the Phelps Center's practice studios, the series features excerpts from the current program, except that dancers perform in practice gear and Boal precedes and follows up each excerpt with comments, then a Q&A. Very intimate, pretty informal, and über-cool for anyone who’s interested in the ballet but maybe a little intimidated by their lack of experience with or technical knowledge of it.

Artistic director Peter Boal and young audience members watch
PNB principal dancers Louise Nadeau and Jeffrey Stanton
at the PNB's $5 Friday Swan Lake studio rehearsal.
© Angela Sterling; photo courtesy of the Pacific Northwest Ballet.

This particular Friday's event is Director's Choice, featuring parts of Dances at a Gathering (with music by Chopin and choreography by Jerome Robbins) and After the Rain (a pas de deux choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and set to Arvo Pärt's music). It’s a fun way to gain some insight on what goes into creating the slick, tricked-out performances onstage.

Order tix online or by phone (206/441-2424) to secure a spot in the general seating; otherwise you may nab tickets at the box office (301 Mercer St., Seattle). If you miss this $5 Friday, tune in later to the PNB's $5 Friday info page for more on the '09–'10 season.

Make a night (or a weekend) of it

Head for La Dolce Vita, about a mile away from the Phelps Center, after the show ends at 7 p.m. The cozy restaurant opens at 5 p.m., which would make it a tight squeeze for a pre-show bite, but it takes reservations until 10:30. One glance at the dinner menu will have your mouth watering: salsiccia e vongole (housemade sausage and fresh Manila clams in a tomato–white wine sauce) and tagliatelle alla Dolce Vita (fresh pasta with English peas, locally foraged spring mushrooms, pine nuts, and blue cheese), for starters. 

Photo courtesy of La Dolce Vita Ristorante Italiano.

For sleeps, look no further than the Alexis Hotel, featured in Sunset's March '09 issue. Sure, it's a little pricier than what you just spent at the ballet—but it is, as we billed it, "a downtown getaway that lets you curl up with a good book and get out exploring the city." Retrace the story and savor a weekend of culture and learning and eats and words.

Order the mushroom frittata or hot Dungeness crab on brioche
for brunch at the Alexis Hotel's Library Bistro & Bookstore Bar, and have books
within arm's reach while you wait. Photo by John Clark.

By Trina Enriquez, Sunset copy editor

Ever since Lisa Taggart wrote about the chibi taiyaki (small, golden, fish-shaped cakes made to order with fillings such as Nutella, chocolate, vanilla, or red bean, plus a catch of the week) at Sweet Breams in San Mateo, California, for the March ’09 Northern California issue of the magazine, I’ve sort of taken to haunting the place. And joined its Facebook fan page. And initiated as many friends as possible into the cult of Tiny and Tasty.

While I wait for my school of 12 fish, I look over works by resident artists Cat Oshiro, Andrew Uy, and Simon Tran, and took to coveting Uy’s Miso Panda print until word came that it was sold out—argh! But this Saturday, April 18, Sweet Breams is hosting its first group art show, Meet Me Under the Cherry Blossoms, featuring new works by the 3 artists and 11 of their friends. Spanning genres from “psychedelic acrylics” to “urban lifestyle,” their newest digital illustrations, drawings, and paintings will debut at this exhibition, which takes its name from the beauty of sakura, or Japanese cherry blossoms. (To extend the festivities, check out the Sunset story on SF's J-town and head to San Francisco.)

Be sure to stop by the shop between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Saturday, meet and chat with some of the artists, and order a school (or three) of taiyaki while you’re at it. (At $5.50 a school, so worth it, seriously—and don't forget about Sweet Breams' secret menu.) A digital illustration from CatmAndru! (aka Andrew Uy) will be raffled off during the reception. If you can’t make it, the artists' works will be on display in-store through May 27.

Click on any of the artists’ names below for a sneak preview and more info.

Cat Oshiro
Simon Tran
Andrew Uy
Martin Hsu
Liz Lorini
Gem Mateo
Jeramie Tolentino
Rob Beckstrom

Chibi taiyaki photo courtesy of I Heart Sweet Breams

Eating cheese in Petaluma

By Rachel Levin, Sunset senior editor

Calling all hard (and soft) core cheese fans, the California Artisan Cheese Festival is this weekend--so pop your lactose pill and head on up to Petaluma where our favorite cheese whizzes from around the state have gathered for four days of presentations, pairings, lunches, and gala dinners. Okay, I know, why didn’t we post this earlier as most of the events are already SOLD OUT. Cheese and wine pairing with Quince chef Michael Tusk? Sold out. Learning to navigate your way around a cheese counter with Laura Werlin? Sorry. Best of blue cheese and beer? I know, I’m pissed, too.

Still, you can visit the festival web site to see what is still open to the public--like cheesemaking demos and tastings at the Artisan Cheese Marketplace and talks on cheese trends by legends Sue Conley and Peggy Smith of Cowgirl Creamery.

Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam (yum)

Or, skip the crowds and plan your own cheese course. Many of the all-stars from the festival offer tours, classes, and tastings throughout the year, too:

Cheese School of San Francisco Tons of classes ongoing. One fun one upcoming: Cooking for cheese lovers ($95)

Cooking School at Cavallo Point in Sausalito, Cheese Tasting Intensive, April 9 ($75)

Cowgirl Creamery Thursday 11:30 a.m. tours ($30) at their new Petaluma Creamery, Friday 11 a.m. tours ($3) in Pt Reyes

By Amy Wolf, Sunset travel editor

Can you spare $3.50?

Good, because a little bit of warm deliciousness goes a long way in these bleak, rainy, recessionary days. Which is why we should all hightail it over to Berkeley to treat ourselves to a cup of thicker than thick, chocolatey, creamy slightly spicy hot cocoa from Chocolatier Blue. I've had a few mind-blowingly good hot chocolates in my day. But the one made by Chris Blue, who opened Chocolatier Blue with his fiancée just this past August, blew my mind.

Step into the tiny shop and you'll be stopped in your tracks by the sight of rows of jewel-like handmade chocolates with flavors like sasafrass and pine nut and darjeeling, so shiny and colorful they're almost too pretty to eat.

So instead, drink. Blue prepares each cup by hand, using an induction stove to heat up thick, yellow cream that he special orders from a tiny farm in Nebraska, along with hot, melted Amedei chocolate from Tuscany. Bars of this same chocolate are on sale for $9 a bar, which makes the cocoa—at $3.50 a cup—a steal. Throw in a vanilla bean and some spices, plus a handmade marshmallow, and you've got something so good you'd think it should be illegal.

Got $7? Make that a double.

By Amy Wolf, Sunset travel editor

When it's spitting dampness and the sky is white-gray, winter's not quite over, and Hawaii is a few thousand dollars out of my reach, I start thinking about spending the weekend someplace really, really green, where I can hike up and down hills and dales but still be within sight of the ocean.

Yes, that would be Point Reyes National Seashore. Here's my recipe for the coziest, most scenic and delicious weekend imaginable—all just 2 hours from San Francisco.

Drive out along Highway 1, pick up picnic fixings at Tomales Bay Foods, that barnlike emporium of local goodness. I liked the looks of this citrus-quinoa salad. Or go for something more portable, like a Red Hawk triple cream cheese and a loaf of crusty Acme bread. And yes, a bottle of red.

Or maybe head to Marin Sun Farms, where you can gaze at cuts of beef, poultry, lamb, and goat pure and pretty enough to make a vegetarian think twice—and pick up a bag of beef jerky, dried on-site, to bring along too.

Then head to the Pt. Reyes National Seashore Visitors Center, possibly the most tasteful, expansive park visitors center in the West, to get tips on where to hike. (If I were feeling more flush I'd like to make the park service an offer and build my second home in that barn.)

Layer up for rain and set out on the trail with your gourmet grub. You might have to squint when you walk through electric-green forests like the one above—it's that green. But you also get ocean vistas like this. And you might, as we did, find an elk antler. Ah, wilderness!

If you're staying in town, head home to your digs (we love the Old Point Reyes Schoolhouse, shown below) and shower up. If you're not, use the visitors center restroom for a cold, makeshift freshening up. (No one will care.) Then head to Osteria Stellina, the newest restaurant in town. This place is the bomb. All local, simple, and Alice Waters-esque. I thought I'd died and gone to heave to find not one but three leafy-green dishes on the menu, including beans and greens. Plus, they make their own sparkling water and keep your carafe of it filled all evening long. Gotta love that.

What's your favorite place to go on a rainy late-winter weekend? Please share...

by MacKenzie Geidt, Sunset assistant travel editor

Today is Wednesday. That makes tomorrow...Thursday.  Which means that you still have time to mentally prepare for the oh-my-god-amazing-ness of Thursday Grilled Cheese Night at my favorite LA restaurant, Campanile. Yes, an entire night devoted to the most beautiful and unearthly combination that is simply grilled bread and cheese. Ingenious.

Behold:

Now I'm exposing my shameful photography skills here (and don't mind the bite that I had to take before taking the picture), so consider this photo doing this holy sandwich no kind of justice.  I'm a purist, so I chose the classic grilled cheese with no extra hoo-ha.  Just La Brea Bakery bread (fresh from next door) with gruyere cheese resulting in perfection.  But if you wanna get crazy, they have other options with egg, bacon, ham, all that jazz.  All beautiful in their own way. 

So here's the real question: is a grilled cheese sandwich possibly worth $15?  Here's the real answer: YES. It's that good. PLUS, you get to soak up the atmosphere of this gorgeous bell-tower building (originally designed for Charlie Chaplin) and it's a CHEAPER way to enjoy a glamorous night out at one of LA's best restaurants. 

So it's still Wednesday. And you still have time to make a reservation for tomorrow. Take your date on a cheesy pre-Valentines night out.  And if you think you've found a grilled cheese spot to rival this, please share. 

If you're on the hunt for other great grilled cheese spots around the West, you'll want to check out Sunset editor Rachel Levin's posting on HER favorite grill cheese spot in Point Reyes: http://traveler.sunset.com/2008/09/the-best-grille.html

By Peter Fish, Sunset Editor-at-Large

Happy January 5! Glad to be back at work?

No? Let us help. King of Cocktails Dale DeGroff has just published a new book, The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks. It makes a great post-holiday present, particularly to oneself. 

Sure, some amateurs think that with the holidays and New Year’s past, cocktail time is over.

They could not be more wrong.

Now, as you sit at your desk considering all the things you said you’d do by 2009 that you have not in fact done, the thought of a good stiff drink is more welcome than ever. And in The Essential Cocktail, DeGroff, who has consulted for such high-profile watering holes as the Halekulani’s Lewers Lounge, gives you a raft of good drink options. With winter coming on, I’m more drawn to your darker, bourbon- and whiskey-based beverages, like the Kentucky Colonel. But maybe you’re more in the mood for a Ramos Fizz. Whatever the drink, it’s probably here, its recipe clearly presented and accompanied by lots of DeGroff expertise. E.g. on the proper whiskey for a Rob Roy: “if you want to use single malt, steer clear of any tremendously smoky and peaty Islay malt or its kin and instead use a lighter style like Glenmorangie, which is really the first stop on the malt train after you’ve left the blended station.”

Of course there's always the option of going out and buying a good drink. To see what joints the Sunset travel staff has liked of late, visit here, here, and here.

Health-minded chef Akasha Richmond shares her take on sustainable and good-for-you eats. Photo by Joe Schmelzer

Expert: Akasha Richmond, restaurateur and chef, Akasha ($$$; 9543 Culver Blvd., Culver City; 310/845-1700)

Field of study: Healthy, sustainable eats

Favorite healthy ingredients: Soy milk and unusual ingredients like açaí and goji berries.

Can’t-live-without-it ingredient: Hand-harvested salt from a company called Big Tree Farms (866/972-6879).

Recommendations for finding sustainable and safe seafood: The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a downloadable seafood guide divided into regions of the country.

Tips on healthy dairy products: It’s important to eat organic dairy products or artisanal cheeses from small, local dairies like Bellwether Farms (888/527-8606) in Sonoma County.

Favorite cheese shop: The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills (closed Sun; 419 N. Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills; 800/547-1515).

The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills creates and sells mini boules with melty Apenzeller, Gruyère, and Emmentaler cheeses. Photo courtesy of the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills.

Cookware to use at home: Americraft Cookware. Really good stainless steel cookware will last forever.