Foodie Friends 61306
For Those Foodie Friends of Ours
By Tom Luther
Foodie Editor
Foodie thought to ponder: If a food processor slices and dices food, what does a word processor do? Do viruses ever get sick? Can you tell that spring and summer fever has hit me all at once? The number and diversity of foodie events is overwhelming. The whole world is into foodie things. So with spring comes new restaurants. We are fortunate that restaurateurs from around the world are attracted to Marin.
An authentic taste of the Middle East at Falafel Hut in San Rafael
The newest restaurant in Marin is in San Rafael, on restaurant row on Fourth St. across from the Rafael Film Center. Falafel Hut opened on May 26, the creation of Salem Shawa, a veteran restaurateur from San Francisco. He has owned and operated Green Pepper on Gough St and Black Tea in the Broadway St. area of San Francisco. His chef is from Turkey and is also from San Francisco. Salem’s heritage is Egytian and Palestinian. Their knowledge and experience gives us another choice of Middle Eastern food in addition to Westside Café and Market just a few doors up the street. Falafel Hut is a welcome addition to the Marin culinary scene as well.
Everything is authentic starting with their falafel, tabouli salad, baba ganoush, eggplant salad, yogurt (with mint), chicken and spinach pies (in two shapes: round and square). But this is not just a sandwich place – their specialty is Shawerma – one of my favorite foodie things. Traditional Shawerma is lamb or beef or chicken cooked on a vertical rotisserie so that the meat is slow cooked and is actually brought to your table and sliced right in your presence and then returned to the cooking process. Presently their Shawerma is thin marinated slices of lamb and beef served with tomatoes, parsley, seasoned onions and tahini sauce on lavash bread. The permit for the traditional shawerma rotisserie is in the final stages. Chicken shawerma is now on the menu. They also make another one of my favorites-kebabs –ground lamb, beef and chicken. They are different - you’ll have to try them to see what I mean.
The dessert menu is tempting if you love the taste of honey. Among my favorite pastries are baklava and kataif – the perfect combination with Turkish coffee, another one of their specialties. Or perhaps you’re into fresh juices – try their fresh carrot or orange juice or their ginger beer.
Falafel Hut is quaint and the setting couldn’t be more inviting if you like small, intimate spaces either inside or on the sidewalk-café style tables outside. You can’t just gulp a Turkish coffee like a Starbucks, so it’s perfect for people watching. They’re located at 1109 Fourth St. (the former Orange Julius/Dairy Queen) and are open seven days. Their number is 259-0440.
First Wine, Now Olive Oil: California Rockets to World’s “Top 10”
California wine ranks among the best in the world. Now California premium olive oil does, too. Competing against 750 high-end oils produced primarily in France, Italy, Spain and Greece, Apollo Olive Oil from Yuba earned a coveted spot in the world’s “top ten” during a prestigious international olive oil competition.
Results of the third annual OLIO 2006, sponsored by Der Feinschmecker (a leading food and wine publication in Europe) and conducted by the celebrated Italian tasting panel I Mastri Oleari. were announced at a special awards ceremony in Munich, Germany on May 13, 2006.
“Apollo Olive Oil received recognition in this extremely important – and somewhat severe – worldwide olive oil tasting competition,” said Darrell Corti, president of Corti Brothers, who serves as chairman of the highly regarded Los Angeles County Fair olive oil tasting competition. “The entire experience is reminiscent of 1976 in Paris when California’s young wine industry stunned the world by finishing ahead of French wines. Now, olive oil from California has given the world a new reason to try it and take notice.”
Like the great olive oil producers based in the Mediterranean, the producers of Apollo Olive Oil grow their own trees, hand-pick the fruit, process the oil, and bottle it on-site at their mill in Northern California’s Yuba County. Along with a steadfast focus on quality, it is a highly sophisticated vacuum milling system that really sets Apollo Olive Oil apart.
In fact, Apollo is the only producer in the United States currently using this particular method that significantly limits exposure to oxygen during the milling process – which is the key to producing oil extraordinarily high in antioxidants and quality. The system is so specialized that only a handful of them are in use in the entire world. With this system and an ideal climate for cultivating olive trees, a tightly-knit group of artisans create a high-quality oil that has a high level of polyphenols, which both enhances its intense flavors and elevates its healthy attributes.
“We are striving to be consummate craftsmen, connected to the soil and what it brings forth, and committed to extracting every last ounce of essence at the mill. Our mission is to create oils absolutely true to the terroir, and at the highest quality level possible,” said Steven Dambeck, Apollo grower/miller/owner. “This recent commendation is a true honor and a powerful validation that our oil--crafted in a tiny corner of the Sierra Foothills--is the nation’s industry leader when it comes to premium olive oil.”
The Apollo estate is comprised of 3,000 older trees dating back to 1878, plus more than 4,000 younger trees imported from the great oil-producing regions of the Mediterranean. The large number of olive varieties (44) provides an extraordinary range of flavors, and all of the resultant oils--100 percent cold-extracted under vacuum--have deep varietal character.
In addition to its success at the world tasting competition in Europe, Apollo Olive Oil was also recently honored closer to home during the 67th Annual L.A. County Fair “Wines of the World” Competition. The Sierra blend was recognized with a Gold Medal while the Mistral, a blend of Provencal varieties, was awarded Gold Medal, “Best of Class.”
Wine events website for the dedicated wineophile
How many times have you found yourself looking for a really cool local wine event, wine education class, boutique wine shop or friendly wine club in your area? Or searched for wine events in destinations you plan on traveling to? After spending needless time searching inefficiently, you find very little or, worse, nothing more fun than visiting the local grocery store’s wine department. Or you could type www.LocalWineEvents.com into your browser and find it all at your fingertips.
LocalWineEvents.com was created in 2000 by wine industry veteran Eric Orange. The idea for the website had occurred to Eric when he was working as a wholesale wine representative. “I would show up to do a wine dinner with the restaurant and no one would be there. This happened in every city I would travel to! Restaurants and wine purveyors did not know how to get the word out,” states Orange.
Today the website receives over 9 million hits a month, and it ranks as one of the top search engine results for wine-related searches. Also featured are almost 2,000 web links to various wine, spirits, food and wine education websites. Over 55,000 events have been posted to date with new events being added daily. “There are exciting events going on all of the time,” says Orange.
Users browse the site for free and no registration is required. LocalWineEvents.com offers a user-friendly city search feature in the state or country of your choice, making it easy to find out what’s going on in your part of the world. Once you have selected the specific city, you simply choose those events of interest or select the subject pages such as “Wine & Food Educators,” “BYOB Restaurants” or “Food, Wine and Lodging” located at the top of the city webpage. LocalWineEvents.com users may also sign up to receive “The Juice” newsletter and e-mails about local wine events happening in their area.
Zinposium at the new Meritage Hotel
The second Zinposium will take place at The Meritage Hotel in Napa. The evening of July 7 will be a “refresher” course on the uniqueness of Zinfandel, in a walk-around format with wines presented by appellation. The session on Saturday will include a number of seminars, breakout sessions and speakers, like “Zin Takes the Heat: Debunking the Myths,” moderated by Karen MacNeil, during which Paul Draper (Winemaker, Ridge Vineyards) and Joel Peterson (Winemaker, Ravenswood) will discuss the ageability of Zinfandel, while presenting mini-verticals of their own wines to illustrate their points. Attendees will choose amongst a number of different wineries as the host venues for “Zinmaker Dinners.” On Sunday, they will visit vineyards in the morning in small groups and then join together for a closing ‘Zinday’ at The Heritage Vineyard in Oakville. Tickets are $295 per person for members of the trade and $375 for ZAP Advocates (the Saturday dinner is $85 extra for both). A consumer can join ZAP (The Association of Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) at the time they purchase tickets. Call 530-274-4900 for more information or visit Zinfandel.org. The Meritage Hotel, 875 Bordeaux Way, Napa, 707-259-0633.
Cheers, fellow foodies.