‘Tis the season and time for holiday gift recommendations. What to get the wine lover in your life? Not the same old same old. I’ve been looking all year for the coolest, most unique – and yes, stylish presents for you to give — and a few you might want to keep for yourself! Cheers and happy holidays. Chill Out. Forget chilling a whole bottle of wine, go by the glass. Keep the Napa Wine Chiller, a shiny silver sphere, aka “balls of steel” in the freezer until you’re ready to pour a glass or two of wine. Takes about 2 minutes or so to completely chill one glass of wine, and it works for at least two glasses. Does not hit your mouth when you sip. When you’re done, rinse, dry and refreeze. Tip: really only works with wide mouth glasses and bigger glasses that allow you to swirl even with…
Share – The Cookbook You Must Share
“This is a book about humanity and eating and families and sharing and caring and generosity,” Jesse Ziff Cool is a well known restauranteur and cookbook author based in Silicon Valley. She’s long been an advocate of eating locally, in season and organically, way before it was in vogue. Jesse opened Flea Street Café in Menlo Park, Calif., where her menus have reflected this way of cooking and eating for 33 years. She’s the first one to say however she’s not a chef, but “a cook.” Jesse’s a passionate person, not only about food but about causes she believes in. When she gets behind a project, she’s all in, hands-on. Photo by Tracy Craighead The book Jesse’s talking about is Share: A Cookbook That Celebrates Our Common Humanity. “Isn’t it joyful? It isn’t about despair, it’s about food and it’s joyful,” she says. The cookbook is the result of a…
EAT – Momofuku bad boy chef in town
David Chang, Momofuku’s colorful chef owner, had a book signing junket through the Bay Area. I saw him at Kepler’s, a great independent bookstore in Menlo Park. I got there extra early since I was sure the event would be packed. But at 10 minutes before his appearance, only a few people in chairs – so I got a great 2nd row seat. More people did eventually show, but it was not a sell-out crowd. David talked about starting up Momofuku Noodle Bar, and it is so unbelievable the restaurant even survived, let alone become such a success. It was a tiny, 600 sq ft space, and hardly any room to walk behind diners. In the summer the hoods sucked up all the air conditioning, so they had to figure out how to keep the diners from sweating to death. David said he stuck to his vision – creating great…