Sevastopol

State Bird and Other Bay Area Greats Win James Beard Foundation Awards

When Nicole Krasinski and Stuart Brioza, the couple behind San Francisco's popular State Bird Provisions, entered the packed media room at last night's James Beard Foundation Awards at Lincoln Center in New York, they were quickly devoured by a hungry press corps like some tiny little quail. And wit ... More >>

Go Apple Crazy at Local Farmers' Markets

As tomato season comes to an end and sweet potatoes and winter squashes usher us into the final months of the year, the modest and always-appealing apple is in full swing at your local Farmers Market. Because different varieties ripen at different stages in the season, the time for the early birds, ... More >>

Veteran Writers

5 Summer Food Fests Worth The Drive

Okay, so you slept on the Castroville Artichoke Festival. Don't worry, there are still some fantastic food festivals left to tackle this summer in the greater Bay Area. Every road trip should be planned around good food, but why not plan a day trip where eating the best produce from the region that ... More >>

Sommelier Q & A with Urban Tavern's Steve Kleinfeld

Steve Kleinfeld C.S., General Manager of Urban Tavern, has built a wine list focused on wines with a sustainable focus to serve his mix of local and hotel guests. We have five questions for Sommeliers, and we hit him with them -- and then we can't resist dishing a bit below about his answers. Stev ... More >>

James Beard Awards Announce Semifinalists: Bay Area's Well Represented, Obviously

​The day has come for the James Beard Foundation to announce the semifinalists for the 2012 Restaurant Awards. As SFoodie has written before, the finals can resemble the Oscars in that they're often career awards rather than a measure of how the nominees are performing at this very moment. Tha ... More >>

Scott Mitchell, Man Who Drove Through Muni Tunnel, Accused of Being Drunk

​Police arrested 40-year-old Scott Mitchell on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after he got his SUV stuck in the Muni tunnel just in time for the the morning commute to start. Officer Albie Esparza couldn't explain why Mitchell drove into the underground tunnel at Church and Duboce, but he ... More >>

Bodies Shipped from S.F. to Latin America Take a Road Trip

We Taste Two New Local, Organic Sour Creams

​Something is stirring in the previously staid state of sour cream. Straus Family Creamery and Redwood Hill, under the Green Valley Organics brand, are dipping their toes in the artisanal sour cream stream. Two's a trend, so I took a tasting. I used Trader Joe's Organic Sour Cream, our house ... More >>

Almanac Beer Debuts Bottles, Parties Hard

Jason HenryAn alternate use for an Almanac bottle.​We've been waiting with bated breath for the inaugural release from San Francisco's Almanac Beer Co. and our zen-like patience is about to pay off in a big way. At the end of the month, all 309 cases of the Summer 2010 Vintage Blackberry Ale w ... More >>

Sonoma Report: Russian River's Belgian Flight, Iron Horse's Food Truck Fridays

Jonathan KauffmanRussian River Brewing's Belgian-style beer sampler, $8.​ A few of my vacation days last week were spent rambling around Sonoma, passing from the beer world to the wine world and back again. The difference between the two connoisseur cultures always cracks me up: the Springsteen-pl ... More >>

A Field Guide to Sustainable and Delicious Dry Farmed Wines

Whole lotta irrigation goin' on in Napa.​Irrigation is plainly a function of the modern world. Though the ancient Romans built spectacular gravity-driven aqueducts, drip irrigation for agriculture was not invented until the late 1960s in Israel, and only in the 1970s did water-bearing pipes a ... More >>

Saturday: Goat Gab and Schwag

mollyali/Flickr​Third Annual Goat Festival Where: Ferry Plaza, at the Embarcadero When: Sat., April 16, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Cost: Free The rundown: Enjoy free samples of all things goaty, from lotion and milk to yogurt and confections like fudge and caramel. CUESA's annual goat fest opens with ... More >>

Tom Waits No Longer To Be Inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Instagram username TomWaitsForNoMan (Wait, is that headline confusing? "No longer" modifies the verb "waits," not the compound adjective "to be inducted." Sorry if that seemed sensationalistic. But while we're on the subject of names that parse as verbs, consider the difficulty of writing a snappy h ... More >>

With Old Oak Beer Co., Local Beer Blogger Turns Brewmaster

Old Oak Beer Co.​Old Oak Beer Co. is on course to be licensed by the ABC (Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control) one of these days. Founded by Beer & Nosh blogger/beer dinner purveyor/beer porn photog Jesse Friedman ― along with partner Damian Fagan, whose design work already graces other ... More >>

Fresh Eats: Saving the Gravenstein, enjoying the Wayfare's Hangtown Fry

Slow Food's Gravenstein Apple Promotion: Make a Pie, Save a Tree

​ To the people who know them, Gravenstein apples are pie apples. One of the first varieties to appear in the markets in late summer, they have a bright acidity and a gorgeous aroma that survives even after the apples have been baked or simmered for hours. There are currently 900 acres of Gravenst ... More >>

Food Fight

From Hot Dog to Haute, Four Interesting Food and Beer Pairings This Weekend

Jesse Friedman/Beer & NoshA pairing from a previous event at Hopmonk Tavern.​With SF Beer Week 2010 less than a month away, you don't need to wait to get your beer 'n' munchies on. This weekend, feast and imbibe at events ranging from S.F. pub grub to full-on gastronomic experiences. • Sat. ... More >>

Weed Takes Root

Marijuana's steady creep toward legalization nationwide

You Could Totally Walk Away from Next Month's Fruit Fest with a Plumpeachicot

joeysplanting/FlickrNot the kind you drive: Fruit tree scions.​On Jan. 23, city folk will have an opportunity to gild their modest backyard orchards for pennies ― at most. That day, the annual California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG) Redwood Chapter garden club scion and plant exchange is happen ... More >>

Another 24 Hours: Craigslist Farm and Garden Classifieds

TheBigWRanch12/FlickrTasty as she looks, don't you dare think about eating her.​SFoodie's look at some urban essentials offered up on Craiglist this week. • This de-horned 1-year-old Nigerian Dwarf doe up in Santa Rosa sounds like a goat to be reckoned with. The owner writes: "she is skitti ... More >>

Another 24 Hours: Craigslist Farm and Garden Classifieds

SFoodie's weekly look at some urban essentials offered up on Craiglist. CraigslistMighty good eatin'.​• A farmer in Meridian has water-buffalo meat for sale. He's charging $8 a pound for vacuum-packed cuts. The animals' mozzarella di bufala-making days, apparently, were over. • Six Cucko ... More >>

Another 24 Hours: Craigslist Farm and Garden Classifieds

CraigslistCreepy, right?​SFoodie's weekly look at some urban essentials offered up on Craiglist. A keg of Anchor. A bottle of Jack. A bowl of chips to dip in fly-speckled guacamole. Fuck that. We're so over mediocre parties we're going to dial in a pig roast every time we get an invitation: ... More >>

Another 24 Hours: Craigslist's Farm and Garden Classifieds

Got $800? You can keep this bull from becoming hamburger.​SFoodie's weekly look at some urban essentials offered up on Craiglist. • Looking to improve your flock? Look to the city of Sebastopol, that charming namesake of a lackluster Jay Farrar solo record renowned for its apples, where one ... More >>

Sweet Beat: Chocolate Chip Apple Oatmeal Cookie from Twin Hill Ranch

​Sometimes, there's a fair amount of indecision involved when trying to pick a cookie. Twin Hill Ranch of Sebastopol has a rather ingenious flavor that will take care of some of that hemming and hawing: a chocolate chip apple oatmeal cookie. Rich and chewy, it's also fairly healthy as far ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Nana Mae's Organic Pressed Pear

 Sometimes, we wish Nana Mae was our grandmother. Sure, we'd have to drive out to Sebastopol to visit her, but the drive would be rewarded with her sublime, organic juices and health drinks. (Actually, Nana Mae was the late grandmother of company owner Paul Kolling.)Pear juice is a tough one to ... More >>

Raising the Roof: San Francisco Places Well In Solar Power Study -- But Not at the Top

Look, Ma! Solar panels and a three-car garage!If asked to guess which city in California sported the most rooftop solar installations, you might well guess San Francisco, right? And if asked which city would be most likely to include such information on its official travel brochure or within the stu ... More >>

Equinox Alert

elraigon.comSpring is here, and the city's farmers markets are brimming with fecund, fragrant, Technicolor abondanza: needle-thin asparagus fresh from the Delta; stalks of Pescadero rhubarb and Half Moon Bay snap peas; a dazzling array of Watsonville basil; loquats and fava beans and haricots vert f ... More >>

James Beard Award Nominations Announced

Bay Area Takes All Five Nominations for Best Chef in Pacific Region; Boulevard and A 16's Nate Appleman Among Locals Competing For Top PrizesThe prestigious James Beard Awards, given by the James Beard Foundation and often referred to as the Oscars of the restaurant and food media industries, announ ... More >>

California Cities and Same-Sex Couples Join SF's Prop. 8 Challenge

By Lauren SmileyThe San Francisco city attorney filed an amended petition (note: PDF file) challenging the constitutionality of Prop. 8 in the state Supreme Court Wednesday, adding seven same-sex married couples and 11 more cities and counties as parties. The amended filing also argues that Prop. 8 ... More >>

Tom Waits Sebastopol press conference

Tin Foil Hat Contingent Shut Down Sebastopol WiFi

Sebastopol Mastodon for Sale on eBay

She Opened the Box

An avid Net radio listener shares what she´d miss about the station that cracked her musical code

Reps Etc.

Stick to the Suds

Eldos Grill & Brewery

Best Outdoor Market

Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market

Songs of Science

If you don't know birds have accents, you haven't been attending your birdsong symposia

Father Figure

Oakland DJ Moda plays proud papa to local audiences, deck jockeys -- and his career

Best Jam Session

Jazz Jam Cafe

Twisp of the Tale

When C.D. Payne stopped writing ad copy, he created a revolutionary teenage hero

Riff Raff

The Wedding Present; Bands Wanted(Talent Helpful, But Not Required); Oops

Letters

Welcome to Newark, Calif.; Apparently, Ali, We Didn't Hit You Hard Enough; Natural Selection; Invasion of the Dot-Com Parasites; They Aren't All Millionaires; So, You Think We Should Start Paying Silke?; Cursing Those Who Curse the Morg

Ghost Museum

Night Crawler

School of Scandal

U.S. alleges $3 million fraud at Oakland's Laney College; 400 "students" involved

Night Crawler

Slap Shots

Fire Trek

Why do San Francisco emergency workers live so far away?