Kathleen Hill: Luau, BottleRock and Mickey D’s
Italian cooking class at SCC
Chef Maria Capdevielle will give a cooking class in making Mother's Day Brunch on Saturday, May 13 at Sonoma Community Center. While her name looks French, she grew up in Abruzzo, Italy and learned her fine baking and pastry skills from her family.
Chef Maria previously cooked at Rose Pistola and the Waterfront, and learned lots about selecting and preparing produce from Alice Waters as an intern at Chez Panisse. Incidentally, Alice Waters gets most of her vegetables from Bobby Cannard here in Sonoma.
You will see Chef Maria make bellini, artichoke and goat cheese strata, arugula salad with strawberries, ricotta salata and walnuts, and Italian bignès with cream, cinnamon and sugar. $85 public, $76 members. 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sign up at 938-4626.
Overlook Trail benefit lunch
Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards will host a hike and picnic lunch on property that is not usually accessible to the public at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, May 13 to help raise money for a rehabilitation project on Overlook Trail. Sonoma Raceway president Steve Page will lead the hike, which offers 360-degree views, spectacular wildflowers in bloom, and an opportunity to see the “woolly weeders” and their spring lambs in action. The cost covers the guided hike and a picnic lunch catered by Levy Restaurants, which handles food at many speedways. Lunch will include a variety of assorted sandwiches, pasta and veggies. For dessert, enjoy a seasonal fruit platter and gourmet dessert bars. Bedrock wines and non-alcoholic beverages will be served. $50 inclusive. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Register at overlookmontini.org. For more information, contact Jeni Nichols, jeninichols@icloud.com, 738-3791.
Luau swings into the Moose Lodge
The Sonoma Moose Lodge will host its third annual California Luau on Saturday, May 20 at its building on lower Broadway.
Funds raised from the event will be used for upgrades to the Lodge's kitchen. The menu, prepared by Moose member Roger Declercq of Sonoma Gourmet, will feature crispy whole roasted pig with three salsas, smoked chicken thighs with pineapple-soy glaze, slow-smoked beef brisket with horseradish barbecue sauce, and plenty of side dishes. Homemade desserts will be prepared by the Women of the Moose.
Tickets include dinner, one free drink, and live music by the band Showcase. The Hula Mai dancers will be back performing traditional Hawaiian dance, followed by a raffle and silent auction.
A social club dedicated to serving the community, the Moose Lodge gives money to local schools, the Sonoma Valley High School culinary program, 4-H clubs, the Lions Club, and local families facing hardships. $40. 4 to 11 p.m. 20580 Broadway. For tickets visit sonomamoose.org or call 996-3877.
Carniceria tours are back
Want to learn about all those interesting cuts of meats, inexpensive fruits and vegetables, and Mexican spices tucked away in Sonoma's local Mexican markets, or carnicerias?
Join our Friday, May 26 tour of several markets, lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, visit the Flowery School salsa garden, get a hot-off-the-barbecue chicken at El Brinquito, and finish the day off with Mexican ice cream at a local ice cream factory and shop. And the day starts at 10 a.m. with Mexican pastries and coffee at Ramekins Culinary Center. Loads of fun and learning, to say nothing of tastes. $70 inclusive (alcohol drinks extra). 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ramekins.com.
Big shot chefs coming to BottleRock
Can you believe it? Martha Stewart and José Andrés in Napa together? And alongside Napa restaurateur Masaharu Morimoto on the Williams-Sonoma Culinary Stage at Napa's BottleRock?
Andrés, who owns several restaurants around the country, and worked with the legendary Ferran Adrià at his El Bulli in Spain, is credited with bringing the “small plates” concept to the United States.
Andrés, himself an immigrant from Spain, is also well known for refusing to put a restaurant with his name on it in Donald Trump's Washington, D.C. hotel after Trump referred to Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and as people “bringing drugs” and “bringing crime” while announcing his candidacy for president in June 2015. He also closed all of his restaurants to honor the recent nationwide “Day Without Immigrants.”
Martha Stewart, of course, is best known for her mass market products and television shows teaching people how to be homemakers.
Others on stage will be Ayesha Curry, Roy Choi, Adam Richman, Chris Cosentino, Hubert Keller, Stephen Barber, Cindy Pawlcyn and Napa middle school baker Justice Faustina. Competitive eating champion (hot dogs at Sonoma Raceway) Joey Chestnut will also show up.
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