the petite pig

spruce + black box wines + foodbuzz = delicious evening

wednesday night i finally got to dine at spruce, which many consider to be one of the best restaurants sf has to offer.  but even better, i got to dine for free thanks to foodbuzz and black box wines.  the evening started with a delicious selection of charcuterie paired with black box's riesling and merlot.  over a dozen food bloggers mingled with foodbuzzers and friends from black box wines, doing what food bloggers do best - talk incessantly about food.  for dinner, we luckily were quarantined from the non-food blogging world.  we whipped out our cameras without fear of being judged by neighboring diners.  the introduction of each dish was followed by a flood of flashes and the beeps of digital slr's.  in between bites and sips of our unending pours of black box wines, the chatter skipped from raving about one restaurant after another.  i was in heaven, free to indulge my obsession with a group of people just as food-obsessed as myself. 

spruce knew that the expectations were on with such a tough crowd to feed and served up a delicious four-course dinner.  but what surprised me the most was how great it all tasted paired with boxed wine!  this is by no means a knock on spruce but a compliment to black box wines  black box wines is definitely on a mission to prove that boxed wines does not have to mean cheap wine.  instead i've decided it's more economical wine.  the quality is all there and you have no need to worry about spoiling or corking - who could ask for more from their wine?  as one of the converted, i'm sipping a glass of their merlot as we speak (they were nice enough to send us all home with a box).  please excuse any typo's that may occur as a result of drinking and writing.

spruce & black box menu

beet & pear salad with aged goat's milk cheese, walnut vinaigrette
2008 new zealand sauvignon blanc

roasted halibut with fennel, chanterelles, fennel fumet
2008 monterey county chardonnay
2008 napa valley reserve chardonnay

grilled bavette steak with duck fat potatoes, bordelaise
2007 california cabernet sauvignon

farmstead cheese
2007 central cost shiraz

mark sullivan, executive chef (also of woodside's village pub) comes out to greet us at the end of the evening.  food bloggers cameras all start flashing at this rare celebrity-chef siting.  yes, we are a funny bunch that really should always be quarantined. 

announcing clementine

two months ago, i offered a sneak preview to my latest culinary venture.  after much back-and-forth with my web designer, i'm proud to announce that clementine culinary productions (whose acronym ccp may or may not have something to do with the chinese communist party) has launched and has even lined up a few dinner parties for the month of june.  although just a part-time undertaking, i'm excited to be taking my knife skills on the road.  many names were suggested for the venture (thanks to all those who emailed me with their thoughts) but the final selection of clementine came to me while i was out grocery shopping.  i picked up a clementine, and it just seemed like a natural fit for the name of a petite food entertainment company.  clementines symbolize a token of good fortune in chinese culture so a jar of clementines will be left at the end of each job, to leave just that with each party i feed.

if you're living in the bay area and interested in giving clementine's services a try, you're in luck.  most recently, i've been working with the founders of organicpicks, a great new website providing a community-based directory for organic living, and we've partnered for a promotion running through june 30th.  write five reviews of various green-oriented services or products on their site, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win a tuscan-inspired meal by ccp (aka me) for six in your own home.  not too shabby, eh?  yes, armed with my arsenal of pots, pans and knives and repertoire of italian recipes, i will drive to your home and cook in your kitchen and serve you and five of your guests dinner.  talk about the good life.  and even if you don't win, you can still get all of that.  you'll just have to fork up some cash.

 

and if you're looking for some tips on entertaining and how you can best take advantage of farmers market season (which has finally arrived in full force for all that great summer produce), check out the article i've written for organicpicks on "easy entertaining at home."

all photos by the wonderful allan hsu.

dining out for life: eat for a good cause!

a charitable dining event in a metropolitan area near you:

dining out for life is an organization that allows you eat and support the fight against AIDS at the same time.  restaurants participating in the program donate 25% of their food sales on a certain day to an AIDS service organization in their respective city.  some are even donating 25% of their food and liquor sales to the cause.  check out when your city is participating by visiting dining out for life's website.  san francisco will be participating on thursday, april 26th 2007 and features a few of my favorites in the city (chow, indigo and tres agaves) as well as many that i am dying to try (foreign cinema & firefly) on its list of participating restaurants.  happy eating!