As I wrote in my thoughts on the 2014 Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC14), the overall value of the conference is one of the biggest reasons I’d consider going again in the future. And nothing can illustrate that better than the one additional excursion I attended the afternoon after WBC14 closed: the Bridlewood Estate Excursion. For
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26 August, 2014
Mac & Cheese Night #3: The Tipsy Pig
Comments : 2 Posted in : Dining in San Francisco - CA, Restaurants on by : The Gourmez Tags: & Spirit Reviews, bacon, bacon fat, bay area, Beer, cheese, cow hollow, dinner, english, gastropub, hamburger, mac & cheese, mac and cheese, mac n cheese, macaroni and cheese, manhattan, marina, old fashioned, potato salad, pub, quest, review, san francisco, scallops, slider, taro, tartare, tipsy pigIt’s only a few days until Mac & Cheese Night #4, and I’m just now getting the write-up done for Night #3—it’s been that sort of month, y’all. You’d think I’d be tiring of all that pasta, cheese, and sauce by now, but frankly, I want more comfort food bliss. Night #3 was our biggest
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21 August, 2014
Mirchi
Comments : 4 Posted in : Dining in Fremont - CA, Restaurants on by : The Gourmez Tags: dinner, fremont, fried chicken, fries, fusion, hole in the wall, house spice blend, lahore burger, lunch, mirchi, pakistani, review, rooh afza, rosewater syrup, southern, strip mall, waffleOne of my friends is a police officer in Fremont, and thus he knows all the awesome hole-in-the-wall spots to grab a bite in his precinct. Mirchi is one of those, and I’ve joined him twice for lunch there now. It’s located at the end of a small strip of shops, so you may pass
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19 August, 2014
The Quini App and My Changing Wine Reviews
Comments : 1 Posted in : Wine, Writing on by : The Gourmez Tags: app, application, change afoot, creative, imagery, kayla koroush davis, marcy gordon, quini, roger nouiem, tasting notes, wine reviewsShortly before I headed out to the 2014 Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC14), I agreed to watch a demo of the new Quini app with Roger Noueim, the company’s CEO. Excepting the occasionally slow search functions, it works beautifully on iPhone, iPad, and the desktop. I’m mostly using a beta version for Android, which is much,
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12 August, 2014
Michael’s Sourdough
Posted in : Dining in San Rafael - CA, Restaurants on by : The Gourmez Tags: bay area, bread, chicken salad, lunch, marin, michael's sourdough, north bay, review, san rafael, sourdoughMichael’s Sourdough is a small chain in Marin and Sonoma counties that specializes in giant sandwiches featuring their signature, fresh-baked sourdough rolls. Most of their meats are also hand-roasted, which is a huge undertaking for a sandwich shop in a small space, so applause! I’m guessing they have a central kitchen somewhere to pull that
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7 August, 2014
Red Blossom Tea Tasting at Café 4
Posted in : Coffee Shops, Coffee Shops in Castro Valley - CA, Coffee Shops in San Francisco - CA, Events on by : The Gourmez Tags: alice, alishan, cafe 4, castro valley, china, chinatown, dragon pearl, formosa oolong, gand shou wild leaf lincang, green tea, honey orchid, liu an gua pian, mi lan xiang, neighborhood church, phoenix oolong, pu-erh, red blossom tea, san francisco, sourcing, taiwan, tea facts, tea samples, tea tasting, white teaLast week, I took part in a free Chinese tea tasting held at Café 4, one of my favorite coffee shops round these parts. One of these days, I’m going to give Café 4 its own post to highlight how awesome it is, but for now, just know that you can find it right near
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5 August, 2014
WBC14: Syrahs of the Ballard Canyon AVA
Comments : 2 Posted in : Events, Red Wine, Shiraz / Syrah, Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 on by : The Gourmez Tags: appellation, ava, ballard canyon, beckman, harrison clarke, hilarie clarke, jonata, keith saarloos, kimsey vineyard, larner, michael dees, michael larner, patrick comiskey, peter stolpman, right wine right time, ruben solorzano, rusack, saarloos & sons, sandre de jonata, steve beckman, steve gerbac, stolpman vineyards, syrah, wbc14, wild, wine bloggers conferenceMy favorite educational session at the Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 (WBC14) was assuredly our introduction to the Ballard Canyon AVA. This region of Santa Barbara County was just designated as an appellation in October 2013. If this panel and tasting were any indication, Ballard Canyon’s winemakers and their syrahs are ready to prowl. Patrick Comiskey
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