SF Chefs. Food. Wine.

SF Chefs. Food. Wine. is a foodie’s dream come true.
Where else can you…
… Attend an ITALIAN COOKING DEMO moderated by Umberto Gibin (Perbacco) and that showcases the talents of Craig Stoll (Delfina), Daniel Scherotter (Palio d’Asti), and Robert Helstrom (Kuleto’s) and…
… Learn about the chefs and the various paths and reasons that led them to where they are today (including «to meet girls»).
… Hear them speak of «respecting traditions but taking artistic licenses» and staying true to the region by sourcing local ingredients.
… Witness firsthand the camaraderie among the chefs and their infectious enthusiasm.
… See the delicious dishes they whipped up with Eggplant and Ricotta: Kuleto’s Ricotta Ravioli with Caponata, Delfina’s Baked Ricotta with Eggplant Sott’Olio, and Palio’s Melanzane alla Parmigiana. (PM me your email if you’d like to try these recipes out!)
… Enter THE TASTING TENT to slay all tasting tents and …
… See Thomas Keller signing his beautiful cookbooks with a practiced flourish.
… Watch a chef from Range on the other end demonstrating how to make a summer fruit cobbler.
… Admire the creativity of the SF Baking Institute via their gorgeous edible homage to SF.
… Attempt to try all the tastings offered by dozens of the best restaurants in the City. Favorites were: the freshly pulled mozzarella from Kuleto’s (with homemade tapenade, pesto, and sea salt), Delfina’s homey Tomato Bread soup, RN74’s rich and silky smooth Chilled Corn Soup, Cane Russo’s cleverly presented Chicken Pâté with Egg, Millennium’s simple but flavorful Tomato and Cucumber Salad on Papadum, and Yoshi’s uniquely delicious Blackberry Ice Cream.
… Not come even close to trying a fraction of the wine offerings from the mind boggling 60+ wineries present.
… Meet and mingle with fellow SF food lovers like The Gav, cool food bloggers, and longtime Unilocal friend and inspiration Wilhelm Y.
… Attend the VIEW FROM THE TOP afternoon session with Charles Phan (The Slanted Door), Douglass Keane (Cyrus) and Thomas Keller (French Laundry) and …
… Listen to their thoughts on what makes the SF food scene so unique («being able to source local ingredients» and «having a receptive audience»).
… Learn how they got to the top, how they’ve stayed there, and where they look to for motivation and inspiration («giving other people opportunities»).
… Be reminded that «It’s only food.»
… Snap a pic and have a word with the unbelievably gracious Thomas Keller.
… And at the end of the day riding down down the Westin’s glass elevator with Michelin star Chef Keane to one side, bubbly Miss Tablehopper Marcia Gagliardi on the other, and drinking in the sunshine and beautiful San Francisco skyline across the way and wondering how it was that I got there, not really knowing, but being very glad nevertheless.

My cup runneth over.
(And by «cup» I mean muffin top and by «runneth over» I mean my pants.)
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A Gluttony of Pictures here:

«I’d like to thank the Academy»…
… Thanks to the rock star organizers and volunteers for this event: Golden Gate Restaurant Association, Andrew Freeman & Company, and Dominic Phillips Event Marketing. Mind. BLOWN.
… Love to my foodie wingwoman, MC. (This adventure wouldn’t have been half as much fun without you girlfriend!)
… And MOST IMPORTANTLY, thanks to the awesome folks at Unilocal for giving me the day passes for this most foodie-​fun-​tastic experience!

I met and had a one-​on-​one discussion with Thomas Keller. 4 days later I’m still talking about it. How could this not have been the best day of my life?
Okay, that moment aside, this was truly an amazing event. My date and I had a Sunday pass and started off the day with a demonstration on Italian cooking with the executive chefs of Palio d’Asti, Kuleto’s, and none other but Delfina. Not only was the talk informative and interesting, but there was also plenty of food to go around! And, if you felt so inclined as I did, there was plenty of time at the end to get some face time with the chefs.
Side note — Craig Stoll is just plain cool and I want to be his new best friend. And by best friend, I mean lover. And by lover, I mean I’d be happy if he just recognized me on the street.
Moving on to the grand tasting… Alright, I’m going to be real. I’m sure the food at many of these restaurants is better than what was actually served at the tasting (in fact, I know so as I’ve eaten at many of them). But, the nature of these types of events limits what can be served, so it’s not exactly their fault for not breaking out the big guns. That being said, the food was still very solid, and somehow it didn’t get so crowded that I ever had to wait in line to pick up a sample. Highlights were the fresh mozzarella balls from Kuleto’s and the cold corn soup from (I believe) RN74.

As far as the wine was concerned, I question if I’ve ever seen so many bottles gathered in one place. It was essentially an opportunity to do a wine tasting at 100 different wineries in the Napa valley and hone your wine tasting skills (as well as your walking without falling over skills). Plus, many of the wineries were giving cards for free tastings or special deals, which means I’ll clearly be making a trip to Napa soon.
I finished the day with an extremely interesting session on cheese and wine pairings. I was amazed by how certain flavors of cheese blended perfectly with that of the wine, and it was really an enlightening experience. And, having taken away a lot of useful information, I will be practicing my pairing skills tomorrow!
Overall, I came to this event skinny and tired, and left fat and happy. Happy is actually far too light of a word to express the mood I was in after leaving. Elated is better. If you consider yourself a foodie, this is an event you cannot miss, and I can’t wait to go back next year!

Thanks Unilocal for letting me go to the SF Chefs Urban BBQ Event as an Elite Ambassador. I ate, I drank, I saw Rachel Dratch! I think you would have been proud.
Bonus points for two Kellers: Hubert Keller of Fleur De Lys Fame and Thomas Keller of French Laundry Fame.
Let me cook it up for you… that is, before I blacked out from the booze/​food coma… i mean, what? kidding.
We roll up to the tent in union square, and are presented with a wine glass. Thank you very much.
We fill said wine glass with champagne provided by Villa Italia and start circulating the many booths. There was so much to choose from all focused on the Urban BBQ theme (so we’re talking massive amounts of pork sliders and ribs… mmmm…).
The music was fun (ch-ch-chain…chain of fools…) and folks were even dancing. Dancing is good when you are eating massive amounts of meat.
Lots of wineries which was nice… Kept paying a visit to Quady with their orangey-​delicious Essencia dessert wine.
First stop, a shot of blanco tequila with Carbay winery and distillery located in Napa. Met a 13^th generation distiller who also enjoyed a shot. mmm… warm and fuzzy feeling.
Next a sampling of food from various vendors:
*Urban Tavern served up a refreshing watermelon and shrimp skewer along with the best pork sliders in the place.
*Oola blew everyone out of the water with their amazing, fall-​off-​the-​bone ribs. The BBQ sauce was perfectly flavorfull without being too spicy
*1300 Fillmore and their amazing blue cheese grits… to die for
*Bön Appetit with Chef Robbie Lewis served up these little cups of bbq pork… calling it «bbq without the mess» that were scrumptious
*Le Colonial served up some delicious short ribs
*Always impressive was the tuna tartar of Asia de Cuba on wonton chips
*Blue Mermaid Chowder House & Bar impressed this picky chowder lover with their offering
For dessert I wasn’t a huge fan of Absinthe’s cherry-​ish dessert, instead preferring the mini red velvet cupcakes and mini chocolate/​peanut butter bars of Mi2Sweets.
Ryan Farr was a no show during the early part of the evening, so I missed out on 4505 Meats (too bad since it’s part of the street food scavenger hunt and I was going to offer to do a shot with him for a photo!) Ryan, I will find you!
Though the cocktails were ever intuitive on behalf of Bourbon and Branch, Elixir, Nopa, Rye and Conduit, 15 Romolo’s «Smokin bols”(mescal and bols) was my personal favorite. Many of them were heavy on the whiskey, which my husband was loving. Still props to the Conduit guy who was making a stone fruit cocktail despite a strong allergy to stone fruit! (Yes, he brought his eye patch just in case things got a little swollen. Now that’s dedication). And here’s to Elixir for working in Saint Germaine and Pimms in the same tasty drink.
Thank you for the Fiji water.
Based on the foods tasted here, new restaurants I must visit include:
Oola
Urban Tavern
1300 Fillmore
Plus a trip to Charbay and a stop over at 15 romolo.

Nearly three years in the making, the inaugural edition of SFChefs.Food.Wine. was an event not to be forgotten.
Bringing together a select group of some of the Bay Area’s brightest culinary masters in addition to a bevy of talented bartenders, vintners and brewers the four day event held inside a grand tent constructed at Union Square in the heart of downtown San Francisco was a food and drink lover’s dream-​come-​true.
I attended on three of the four days sampling enough new and exciting flavors to last a decade. The event wasn’t only about eating and drinking though. Food education was another key to the success of this event with participating chefs, vintners and food experts teaching show attendees not only cooking demos but food and wine history and food and wine insight. I even attended a session on food reviewing with Unilocal’s own Nish N. among a panel of reviewing experts.
The event was about charity too with a portion of the proceeds going to five fabulous charities — Feeding America, The Golden Gate Restaurant Association Scholarship Foundation, Meals on Wheels in San Francisco, Project Open Hand and the San Francisco Food Bank.
Thursday night, August 6, was opening night. I attended the event as a volunteer, and I was lucky to be assigned a position that didn’t require me to start working right away. Had I known that I would have brought a camera as I stood within two feet of the event organizers along with celebrity chef Tyler Florence and Mayor Gavin Newsom for the official ribbon cutting ceremony. The Rising Star Chef Reunion brought together 18 up and coming chefs and 8 fabulous bartenders. My assignment was to make regular stops at all the chefs’ tables and make sure they were well stocked with utensils, napkins, plates and cups. When I was able to get a break I’d join in on the feast minus the alcohol, of course. My favorites for the night were the Monterey Squid & Corn Salad from chef Justin Simoneaux of the Moss Room and Lamb Chops from chef Erik Hopfinger of Circa.
I had purchased tickets to three of the Saturday events which kept me in the Union Square area for nearly 14 consecutive hours. I finally met the new Unilocal SF CM Ruggy J. and I kept running into he and Michelle B. All of the foods I sampled were so delicious. My favorites at the Saturday afternoon tasting tent included the Spicy Calamari with Watermelon from chef Gerald Hirigoyen of Piperade and Fried Green Tomatoes from chef David Lawrence of 1300 on Fillmore. At the Urban BBQ event on Saturday evening I couldn’t stop eating the BBQ Shrimp & Watermelon Skewers from chef Colin Duggan of Urban Tavern and the Mojito Ice Sorbet from chef Shari Tate of Silver Moon Desserts. Since most of the chefs featured some sort of BBQ pork my favorite was the Slow Roasted Pork Ribs from chef Chad Newton of Fish & Farm. Everything I tried at the late night Chocolate Enchantment was fabulous.
I purchased tickets for the Sunday afternoon tasting also. Among my highlights was finally meeting Unilocal friend Amy C. Among my favorite foods for the session was the sushi feast provided by chef Andy Tonozuka of We Be Sushi and the hand spun Mozzarella from chef Robert Helstrom of Kuleto’s.
Like many, I certainly hope this is not a one-​time-​only event. San Francisco needs an event like this to showcase the amazing food and wine scene in the area, and I need an event like this to enlighten my palate.
Going back to the session on food reviews I recall Tanya Henry of the Marin I-​J saying one of the most important tasks in writing reviews is to let the reader experience the restaurant as you experienced it. For that task I like to refer my readers to my photos. Here are the links to my SFChefs.Food.Wine. photo albums. Enjoy!
Saturday Tastings:
The Urban BBQ:
Chocolate Enchantment:
Sunday Tastings: