The 30th annual Napa Valley Wine Auction went down over the weekend, raising $8.5 million for local charities which Jon Bonné notes in the Chron was an "impressive rebound" from last year's disappointing take of $5.7 million. Also, the Bangles...
The wine-centric burger bar may be softly open as soon as next week.
Watch a crazed woman destroy a lot of wine inventory at the Outer Richmond Delano's.
• As rosés become ever more popular, wineries are making more bad rosés. Jon Bonné recommends some good ones. [Chron] • Café Royale is hosting a 'hipster apocalypse' on Thursday. [Tenderblog] • Unilever won't let anyone else use the brand...
"I love the fact that [S.F.] is so independent that when I was opening, it asked me to testify to the fact that I wasn't a chain. On one hand, it's a lot of bureaucracy and on the other hand,...
• This year's rainy spring means that Bing cherries are taking longer than usual to ripen. But pick-your-own-cherry season in Fairfield begins next weekend. [Chron] • The caliber of French food to be found in a mini-mall in Lafayette is...
• After being acquired by a conglomerate, Alameda's Rosenblum Cellars closes and will soon become a grocery store-friendly brand. [Gray Market Report] • In praise of Sam's ChowderMobile and their true East Coast lobster roll cred. [Merc News] • Speaking...
Middle class wine buyers in China tend to want $1000+ trophy bottles.
"The trend is for opening smaller neighborhood-focused restaurants, and the trend is a way from the palaces," says Kevin Westlye, executive director of Golden Gate Restaurant Association.
We showed you the menu, now see the inside of Matthew Straus's 48-seat Heirloom Café (2500 Folsom Street), which just opened its doors for dinner last night. Also, take a look inside the wine cellar at this very oenofile eatery,...
The oenofile eatery has low-priced food but wines ranging in price well into the hundreds.
• Oakland's Cinco de Mayo festival canceled for the second year in a row. [Tribune] • A report from 2010 Noodle Fest in North Beach last weekend, marrying Italian and Chinese noodle/dumpling traditions. [Cooking With the Single Guy] • According...
L.A. transplant Matthew Straus brings a highly focused wine program to this small Mission Cafe.
• Little did we know, you can still find freshly popped popcorn with real butter at various SF cinemas. [Bay Area Bites] • Frances gets a write-up in the Times (via 7x7's Jordan McKay) about its buck-an-ounce house wine deal....
• The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to lift the two-decade-old restrictions on new restaurants along 24th Street in Noe Valley. [Examiner] • A handful of California winemakers are leading the charge of "natural" winemaking. [Oakland Tribune] •...
The SF Chronicle spoke to several vegetarian and vegan wine makers about their difficult plight, especially when it comes to wine pairings and feeling like an odd man out at wine maker dinners. The vegans suggest pairing French fries and...
• What's ailing all of us this week? As Southern Exposure says, it's Americanitis, and to wipe away all the icky feelings that come from they've invited beekeeper and mead maker Bryon Waibel and home distiller Adam Wolf to create...
Tasting 500 wines and spirits is a job for only those with strong constitutions.
• Kauffman asks why more restaurants don't offer their wine for off-site drinking at retail prices like À Côté, Terroir, and Heart do. [SFoodie] • Mark Morford pens an angry rant about the executives who run fast food chains. [SF...
On April 27th Heart will be hosting its first sit-down dinner event devoted to the food and wine of Segovia, Spain. Owner Jeff Segal promises four courses plus wine for $100 a head, including a roast suckling pig. More guest...