Thunder boomed and lightning lit the sky around Lake Tahoe last weekend, but it stayed dry at the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort long enough for an important announcement aimed at the 3,000 foodies in attendance. Which was: the winners of the 26th annual Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival competitions.

The Sept. 9-11 event at the Village at Northstar, a few miles from Truckee, culminated in Sunday's Culinary Competition & Grand Tasting. In it, each of 23 restaurants teamed with a winery to present the 23 best food-and-wine pairings. There were other categories, as well.

The big news for the Sacramento-area food scene was this: Chef Molly Hawks and her chef-husband, Michael Fagnoni, co-owners of Hawks restaurant in Quarry Ponds Town Center in Granite Bay, took medals in two categories. They won gold for Best Food category, and silver for Best Food & Wine Pairing. (For all the winners, go to www.tahoefoodandwine.com.)

"We wanted to show off our housemade charcuterie," said Hawks on Sunday, as eager wine- sippers crowded around her restaurant's sampling tent on the Northstar midway. On offer were thin slices of garlic-black pepper-red wine salami, and cubes of ciccioli on crunchy baguette crostini.

"Our ciccioli is pork shoulder, thyme and black pepper, cooked together and pressed in a mold to form a rustic pork tureen," Fagnoni said.

Hawks added, "Our charcuterie represents the overall concept of what we do at the restaurant – an investment of time and love."

The Hawks restaurant samplings were served with tastes of Scott Harvey Napa Valley sparkling pinot noir blanc, which took a gold medal in the Best White Wine category.

This was the fourth consecutive year that Hawks and Fagnoni have participated in the festival, one of the most prestigious in the West. Their prior entries have included pulled-pork sliders, crab dumplings wrapped in avocado and slow-roasted short-rib. This is the first year they've come home with medals.

Hawks is the only Sacramento-area restaurant to appear at the food fest. "Every year we put ourselves in front of (thousands of) potential customers," Hawks said. "It's a serious event and a good marketing tool. Maybe other restaurants think it's too far off the grid."

As our group sampled, we found other favorites, too. PlumpJack Cafe at the Squaw Valley Inn served an amazing braised short rib (www. plumpjacksquawvalleyinn.com), accompanied by our new favorite wine – Orin Swift Cellars 2008 Papillon, a blended red (www.orinswift.com).

We returned three times to the Pianeta tent for steaming bowls of the Truckee restaurant's wild boar ragu on top of Parmesan polenta (www.pianetarestaurant.com).

Though it's an international chain, the Hard Rock Cafe came through with an impressive bahn mi, a Vietnamese sandwich (www.hardrock.com).

Hawks restaurant is at 5530 Douglas Blvd., Granite Bay; (916) 791-6200, www.hawksrestaurant.com.

Clubhouse Sandwich Contest

Fortunately, the clubhouse sandwich has never gone out of style. The question is: Which area restaurant makes the best one?

To explore that, Wally Clark has announced his fourth Ultimate Clubhouse Sandwich Contest. It's a fundraiser for the Scottish Rite Clinic for Childhood Language Disorders, and the chance for the public to taste an array of classic and non-traditional clubhouses. Clark's a fourth-generation Sacramentan with clubhouse memories going back to his boyhood years. He is the longtime owner of Associated Sound in Sacramento.

The clubhouse showdown will be Oct. 29 at the Scottish Rite Center. In the meantime, Clark wants to hear from you. Nominate what you think is the best clubhouse sandwich on a restaurant menu. It might end up in the competition.

Send your email nomination to carmelers@aol.com by Oct. 15. Include your name, and the name of the restaurant and its location. Then stay tuned.

For the record, a traditional clubhouse is a BLT with sliced roasted turkey or chicken breast and a third slice of toast, cut into wedges. It's smeared with mayo and is often accompanied by potato salad or potato chips and a pickle slice.

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