Appetizers

As "Appetizers" first reported, Drewski's Hot Rod Kitchen is opening its first brick-and-mortar location which can be found at Republic Bar and Grill (908 15th St., Sacramento). Located at the former spot of Dream Ultra Lounge, grand opening festivities will kick off this weekend, starting with a grand opening party at 7 p.m. You can also catch some gnarly UFC fight action starting at 4 p.m. Saturday and a Super Bowl party on Sunday afternoon.

The menu created by Andrew "Drewski" Blaskovich includes a range of burgers, hot dogs wrapped in bacon, egg roll-like "spark plugs" and a burger with a 5-pound patty aka the "18 Wheeler" that costs $40 - or free, if you can woof it down during a specified amount of time.

A second Drewski's food truck will also be running "very very soon," said Blaskovich.

"We'll be doing more menu options because we now have test kitchen," said Blaskovich. "We're able to store more stuff and have more fun with the menu. Food trucks are my baby and the brick-and-mortar is a platform to gain more of a client base."

Can Kelli Powers go from kitchen disaster to culinary master? The Sacramento woman has all-star help from celebrity chefs and a chance to win $25,000.

Powers is one of 16 contestants tabbed for season three of Food Network's "Worst Cooks in America," which debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12.

Powers will be part of chef Anne Burrell's team of eight "recruits." They'll battle in kitchen boot camp with eight other admittedly awful cooks, mentored by superstar chef Bobby Flay.

All 16 contestants were nominated by family and friends for their atrocious cooking skills.

"Kelli's Nana -- her grandmother -- saw great cooking potential in her as a child, though Kelli was more interested in hitting the books than the pots and pans," according to the show's website. "Now a mother herself, Kelli wants to maintain her family's cooking traditions and is determined to no longer be the mom whose dish sits untouched at potlucks."

In the season premiere, Powers and cohorts attempt Orange Pumpkin Pancakes with Vanilla Whipped Cream and Cinnamon Maple Syrup. The contestant with the least successful dish each week goes home.

Upcoming episodes feature an international cuisine challenge, seafood preparation and cooking for a class of third graders. The series culminates April 8 when the two most-improved cooks are judged by culinary stars David Burke, Marcus Samuelsson and Susan Feniger. The winner gets $25,000 plus new confidence in the kitchen.

For more details, click on www.FoodNetwork.com/Worst-Cooks-In-America. Full episodes will be available for online streaming the day after original broadcast.

You'll have to move fast on this one, as the first deadline is Friday:

Many of the 50 Art Institutes campuses across the nation (including the one in Sacramento) are offering $4,000 tuition scholarships to their International Culinary Schools. The 12th annual Best Teen Chef Competition invites high school seniors to participate. A separate, first-time competition invites participation by high school graduates seeking culinary degrees (there is no age limit).

High school seniors must first download the Best Teen Chef Competition brochure and fill out the Entry and Release form, at www.artinstitutes.edu/culinary. All the details and rules for both competitions are there, plus an invitation to conduct a live chat with an Art Institute representative. Those who finish in second place at each Art Institute will receive $1,000 tuition scholarships.

The next deadline is Feb. 24 and involves submitting your best recipe, plus a 250-word essay.

Local cook-offs - including one at the Sacramento campus - will be held around April 21. The Sacramento campus is at 2850 Gateway Oaks Drive. For more information: (916) 830-6320.

John Paul Khoury, the corporate chef for Preferred Meats, is one of the good guys in the business. He's smart, passionate, and committed to doing things the right way -- and the right way usually means a better, more flavorful product on your plate.

Khoury's main business is supplying high-end, sustainable proteins to some of the best restaurants around. But he's also a superb chef who often educates as he cooks. Usually, it's professional chefs. This time, it's the listeners for Capital Public Radio in a segment with the station's food journalist and author Elaine Corn.

Click here to learn a little about cooking a duck breast and making a sauce.

Blair Anthony Robertson is The Bee's restaurant critic. Follow him on Twitter, @blabrob.

Hot Italian, the popular midtown pizzeria, is opening a second location, entering the highly competitive Bay Area market.

It is expected to open in early spring in an Emeryville shopping center called the Public Market. The center is in the midst of a major renovation by TMG Partners out of San Francisco and it will be anchored by Urban Outfitters, Guitar Center, an artist collective, Peet's Coffee, along with Hot Italian in a 3,000 square-foot space (pictured here) - which is about half the size of the Sacramento location.

"It's a longtime coming," said Andrea Lepore, who partnered with Fabrizio Cercatore to start the business about three years ago. The plan was always to have multiple locations.

The two restaurateurs will be doing plenty of back-and-forth travel in the weeks ahead as they oversee the many facets of opening a new restaurant.

They will host a job fair Saturday. Lepore says there are openings for shift leaders, servers, and various kitchen positions. A job fair last Tuesday in Sacramento attracted 300 applicants - a sign of the times, perhaps. People are looking for a job --- or a second or third job.

Asked how Hot Italian will stack up to the competition in the Bay Area, Lepore said, "We've tried all the pizza places down there and think they're all great. Fabrizio was born and raised in Italy and has been doing this his entire adult life. He is the maestro pizzaiolo. It will be fun. It's a great market and people there really appreciate good food."

Folks in Sacramento appreciate good food, too. Business has been excellent at Hot Italian, even in this dreary economy.

"Sacramento has been awesome. We have so many repeat customers. We couldn't have done this expansion without that. It's really a testament to the support that we've gotten here," Lepore added.

Expect the new restaurant to have the same style as the Sacramento place - black and white, with plenty of cool touches, from the Illy coffee can lights to the giant fan from Bigassfans.com. The bike racks out front are the best in town, practically pieces of functional sculpture.

Sacramento's talented Mike Whisten of 12M Metal & Woodworks, will be doing plenty of work on the inside of the new restaurant. Many of his creative touches are featured at the first location, including the round communal table made of reclaimed wood, and the wood storage units affixed to the walls. Whisten has also done work for restaurants like Press Bistro and coffee shops like Old Soul at the Weatherstone.

Blair Anthony Robertson is The Bee's restaurant critic. Follow him on Twittter, @blarob.

"Appetizers" recently shared the news that Kelly McCown was leaving his executive chef position at Ella Dining Room & Bar to head Goose & Gander, a new restaurant in the Napa Valley located in the former Martini House. Now, there's another connection. Marcus Marquez, former owner of L Wine Lounge & Urban Kitchen, has joined Goose & Gander's team as its general manager and partner.

Marcus, who ran the L with wife Kolea before shutting down in July due to money and legal issues, will move his family to St. Helena in the summer. Goose & Gander's aiming for an early April opening, meaning Marcus Marquez will be doing some commuting between Napa and Sacramento for a few months. The expectations are meanwhile high for Goose & Gander, which was recently named by Zagat.com as one of the Bay Area's "17 hottest openings of 2012."

The opportunity took shape for Marquez after attending McCown's farewell dinner at Ella. Since the L's closure, Marquez took a job with the distributor Epic Wines and spent many working days in Napa.

And the burger related posts keep rolling today on "Appetizers" ... along with word about Ella Dining Room & Bar offering its new "bipartisan burger" special, local fans of "fast-casual" dining can sink into news that Smashburger is opening its Elk Grove location at 10 a.m. Wednesday. This south area franchise at 7701 Laguna Blvd. in Elk Grove marks the Sacramento area's fifth Smashburger location. And evidently, Sacramentans love their burgers. The San Diego area is the only other part of California which boasts Smashburger eateries.

Smashburger has gained a following with burger aficionados for making their food to order and using a meatball-sized mound of Angus beef which is then "smashed" into a patty shape over a buttered grill. In a 2010 review of Smashburger's Citrus Heights location (5500 Sunrise Blvd., Citrus Heights), the Bee's Al Pierleoni awarded Smashburger a notable 3 out of 4 stars and a hearty thumbs up on its "juicy burgers."

Hours will be be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For more information: www.smashburger.com

As the national political circus continues to pitch its tents in towns and cities across America, many citizens are already growing weary of the rhetoric.

To lighten up the landscape, Ella Dining Room and Bar is offering the Bipartisan Burger during the month of February. It comes with fries and a root beer float for $15.

I asked Josh Nelson for details. He's a partner in the Selland Group, which owns Ella and other area restaurants.

The hamburger patty is ground from premium Wagyu beef (American Kobe) from Snake River Farms, he said. It's topped with imported Gruyere cheese and thick-cut peppered bacon, and plopped on a bun from the Acme Bread Co. Sharing the plate are hand-cut fries from potatoes grown around Winnemucca, Nev. The float is assembled from Burg's root beer and house-made Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream.

If the burger is bipartisan, what is Nelson's political leaning? "I don't have a political affiliation when I'm in Ella. It's too close to the Capitol," he said. "Let's just say I'm independent."

The burger lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Ella is at 1131 K St., Sacramento; (916) 443-3772, www.elladiningroomandbar.com.

Despite the Sacramento Kings' dismal season on the court this far, here's something that local wine fans with a fandom for sports can toast. Selections from Rail Bridge Cellars, the urban Sacramento winery located just north of downtown, are now being poured at Power Balance Pavilion.

So, if you're looking to wash that King Dog down with something besides the same ol' beer or soda, you can instead savor some sips of Rail Bridge Cellars 2007 Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc or their Boredeaux blend known as Lattice. Other Rail Bridge Cellars options at Power Balance Pavilion include the 2009 Chardonnay Sienna and a 2007 merlot made from Napa Valley grapes.

Look for the wines at Power Balance Pavilion's wine kiosk and its Skyline Bar. The folks behind Rail Bridge Cellars, a small winery which is on track to produce about 1,400 cases of wine this year, consider this Power Balance Pavilion product placement a slam dunk.

My "Counter Culture" restaurant-review column in last Friday's Ticket section was a sampling of tasty dishes served at various restaurants around town. Included was a go-to favorite, Faith's Crepes at the Quarry Ponds Center in Granite Bay.

What a shock to learn that hard-working owner Faith Loo had to shutter her creperie, effective yesterday. Efforts to reach her by phone and e-mail today were unsuccessful.

In part, her farewell at www.fatithscrepes.com says:

The banana is one of nature's perfect foods. Simply peel 'n' eat for a blast of nutrients such as potassium, along with vitamins B6 and C. And don't forget the fiber. No wonder the banana is the No. 1-selling item in supermarkets in the United States.

Knowing all this, the Dole Food Company - the world's largest producer of fresh fruits and vegetables - is reaching out in a social-networking way with its Go Bananas Every Day campaign. Sign up and receive free banana recipes, tips and trivia, and the latest in health-related research.

Banana-lovers can play on Twitter (@DOLEBananas#Go366) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/dolebananas), and will receive daily banana-friendly suggestions. More information: www.dole.com/bananas.

Meanwhile, you should know that Aug. 25 is National Banana Split Day, when the iconic dessert will celebrate its 108th birthday. Plus, next time you're in Pasadena, try the banana cream pie at Pie 'n' Burger, called America's best version by the New York Times.

You say you make the best cupcakes in town? Here's a chance to prove it.

Kristy DeVaney, the creative force behind the popular Cakegrrl food blog, is doing a shout-out to amateur cooks around town.

The challenge: Make a three- to five-minute video that shows why your cupcakes are tops. Upload it to Youtube and submit it to www.cakegrrl.com by April 1. The next day, 10 entries will be posted online, for voting by viewers. Then, on June 23, three finalists will go cupcake-to-cupcake against a trio of professional bakers at the 10th annual Sacramento Chef Challenge

"We're looking for amateurs who bake for fun," DeVaney said on the phone this morning. The contest will ultimately help raise funds for Inalliance, "a nonprofit organization that supports people with developmental disabilities" (www.inallianceinc.com).

.
For contest rules, more details and to see sample videos, go to www.cakegrrl.com or www.chefevent.com. Or email DeVaney at cakegrrl2007@gmail.com.

DeVaney is a member of Sacramento Connect, a network of high-quality news providers and bloggers hosted by the Sacramento Bee. Visit them at www.sacramentoconnect.com.

The Unified Wine & Grape Symposium wrapped up Thursday, taking over the Sacramento Convention Center and Hyatt Regency for three days of workshops and a wine industry trade show, and this year's convention attracted record attendance of 12,400. That number is up 200 guests from the previous record of 12,200 set in 2011. And that's a gain of 700 attendees from 2010, which saw a slight drop from the previous year at Unified.

The Convention Center was meanwhile packed with nearly 650 vendors showing off the latest in winemaking and grape growing technologies, and much more in what's billed as the western hemisphere's largest wine industry trade show. That number's up about 20 vendors from 2011, and the challenge for Unified organizers is finding more space for those who want to show off their wares. In recent years, Unified has taken over the third floor and a chunk of the first floor lobby at the Convention Center to accommodate all those who want to show off their wares. The running joke at Unified is they might have to start adding trade show booths in the restrooms. Meanwhile, there's already a waiting list to vend at Unified 2013.

Here's a link to a wrap-up of Unified's "state of the industry" presentation, and another story about Unified's major impact on local restaurant business.

Chris Macias is the Bee's food and wine writer. Follow him on Twitter @chris_macias

The compact town of Yountville is one of the Napa Valley's most prestigious fine-dining and wine-drinking destinations, a place where Michelin stars abound. Its heady menu of A-list restaurants includes Ad Hoc, Bottega, Bouchon and the French Laundry, all of which maintain lists of exclusive local wines.

Another upscale player (and star-holder), Redd, was opened in 2005 by chef Richard Reddington. On his resume are Masa's and Jardiniere in San Francisco, and Auberge du Soleil in the Napa Valley.

Now Reddington and former Redd chef Jacob Kossman will open another Yountville restaurant, Redd Wood, on Jan. 26.

Remember that new year's resolution you made, the one about eating more healthfully? If you're about to fall off that particular wagon, you might find a boost of inspiration at the third annual Sacramento VegFest.

The event will celebrate "raw, vegan and vegetarian cuisines," featuring specialty dishes from area restaurants, shops and caterers. Food samplings, cooking demonstrations, free recipes and competitions will be part of the scene.

Get your veggies on from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Artisan Building, 1901 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento. Admission: $3. For more information: (916) 923.6200, www.sacvegfest.com. Sponsored by the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership.

"Asian street food" occupies the menu at Star Ginger in east Sacramento. We've been there many times and like it a lot. So we were happy when it was announced that Lemon Grass chef-restaurateur Mai Pham's noodle bar-grill will celebrate its one-year anniversary by offering four menu items for only $1 each. Usually, they sell for $6 to $8 each.

First, some ground rules: The one-buck dishes are available only between 5 and 9 p.m., for dine-in only, one per person over the three-day celebration. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., though, look for free giveaways every 15 minutes. You must be there to win.

Now for the items: Green curry and jungle curry on Tuesday; BBQ chicken banh mi (sandwich on a great roll from Village Bakery in Davis) on Wednesday; and ginger sesame chicken salad on Thursday.

Star Ginger is at 3101 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento; (916) 231-8888. www.lemongrass.com.

Today marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, but around Sacramento it might as well be the Year of the Pig. The inagural Bacon Fest ran from Friday through Sunday, with some two dozen Sacramento area restaurants participating, and marked by packed events and food shortages from the bacon-hungry hordes. Pangaea Two Brews Cafe reported its busiest day ever due to its Saturday Bacon Fest event which featured bacon and beers specials. Because of this whopping success, Pangaea was closed on Sunday for an employee appreciation day.

Founded by local musician and bacon aficionado Brian Guido and Nick Miller, managing editor of the Sacramento News & Review, just five official events were planned when Bacon Fest was announced two weeks ago. Once word got out, that number jumped to 24 participating venues, including Samuel Horne's Tavern in Folsom, the Shady Lady and Lucca restaurant.

Highlights included "Kevin Bacon Tribute Night" on Friday at Luigi's Slice Fungarden, with local bands cranking out tunes from Kevin Bacon movies (think: "Footloose" and favorites from "Animal House" - "thank you sir, may I please have another!"), and a Bacon Fest breakfast at Magpie Cafe. Big crowds and bacon shortages turned out to the norm.

Needless to say, plans are already being formed for Bacon Fest 2013. Also look for a few one-off Bacon Fest events as the year moves along, including a "BLT Day" once the tomato season arrives.

In recent years, it has become commonplace to include every farm and farmer on restaurant menus. This was initially greeted as a good idea -- it taught us to appreciate where our food was coming from and, in doing so, it brought new attention to farmers who were doing things the right way.

At some point, avid restaurant-goers began to see it as overkill. They were reading about farms and farmers and small towns in far-off lands they had never heard of, and they didn't know what to make of all the names. Some restaurants began dialing it back, mentioning the source only when it really seemed to matter.

The Porch, the new restaurant that opened on K Street in midtown recently (in the building occupied for years by Celestin's) has an excellent way of showcasing its ingredients without shoehorning them onto the menu. A link on the restaurant's website called "Providers" goes into great detail about the origins of the food. For those into this kind of thing, it's quite informative.

The sandwich bread, for instance, is as local as you can imagine -- they get it at Old Soul Bakery, which is a block or two away. The cornmeal comes from Grass Valley Grains, "a small one man farming operation on a fifth generation farm in Wheatland."

The Porch is one of the few restaurants around serving grits. The website tells us: "Our grits are from Ridgecut Gristmill in Chico and from War Eagle Mill in Rogers, Ark. Due to the demand of white hominy corn (used for masa), we can't always get our grits from Chico."

Check out the link and learn a little about The Porch and its products. It's good reading. Further, it shows that this new restaurant, still finding its footing, is already conscientious about sourcing and meticulous about dealing with responsible and ethical farms.

Blair Anthony Robertson is The Bee's restaurant critic. Follow him on Twitter, @Blarob.

This just in: Got a call from one of the organizers of Sacto MoFo, which has thrown mobile food truck festivals around the Sacramento area for the past year, and a new event is coming April 21. Full details will be announced soon, but alcohol sales will be included for the first time and live music will also be added to this event.

The SactoMofo folks intended to throw a similar mobile food festival with a beer garden at Power Balance Pavilion in December, but after some logistical problems about cooking indoors with propane, the event was moved to Eighth and W streets. 23 food trucks participated and attracted more than 4,000 customers.

So where will this latest food truck festival be held, and which vendors are participating? We'll let you know as soon as we do.

Chris Macias is the Bee's food and wine writer. Follow him on Twitter @chris_macias

By Mark Glover

mglover@sacbee.com

Star Ginger Asian Grill and Noodle Bar in Sacramento will celebrate its one-year anniversary next week by offering $1 menu items.

Sacramento restaurateur-chef Mai Pham's restaurant at 3100 Folsom Blvd. opened its doors on Jan. 25 last year.

To mark the opening milestone, select dishes will be offered for $1 from 5-9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday - for dine-in only and one per person.

In May, the eight-restaurant Mikuni Restaurant Group will celebrate 25 years of serving first-rate Japanese cuisine around the Sacramento area and at the Village at Northstar ski resort.

You can join the good times, with chances to win prizes and participate in special deals. Each month through May, new promotions and events will be posted at www.mikuni.com.

This month on the website, you can enter to win a trip for two to Las Vegas (including dinner with master sushi-maker Taro Arai, pictured), and a Honda Fit automobile. Plus, the chain has introduced a new sushi roll - the Mikuni 25 - filled with panko shrimp, crab salad and tuna, then torched, sauced and garnished with crunchy tempura bits. It's a $16 value for $10, said a Mikuni spokeswoman.

Attractions over the coming months include the release of a limited-edition (600 bottles) Mikuni-labeled cabernet sauvignon; chances to win special dinners; tickets to the Sushi Chef & Server Showdown; and price rollbacks on many menu items.

The celebration concludes in May with Mikuni's second annual Japanese Street Festival at the Fountains shopping center in Roseville.

Workers at the California Board of Equalization building at 4th and N streets who showed up Tuesday and hoping to get lunch or coffee at its cafeteria were out of luck. The cafeteria abruptly shut down over the weekend due to "personal reasons" from vendor Darren Simonds. The cafeteria is expected to be closed for the next two weeks while a new vendor is secured.

A coffee kiosk has since been installed to service the building's 1,900 employees, and the vending machines were re-stocked, according to Board of Equilization spokesperson Jaime Garza. There's also been outreach to Sacramento's food trucks to help fill those hunger pains in the interim, and the Board of Equilization is working with the City of Sacramento to extend the parking limits for food trucks while the cafeteria remains closed. Under current city ordinance, food trucks must move every 30 minutes. The sandwich truck Wicked 'Wich has already made a stop at the building this week, and Drewski's Hot Rod Kitchen also plans to feed the civil servant masses there, said Drewski's owner Andrew Blaskovich.

The Board of Equalization's cafeteria utilizes the Department of Rehabilitation's Business Enterprise Program, which trains the legally blind to operate food service entities. Simonds shut down his cafeteria operations without giving any prior notice, said Garza.

Chris Macias is the Bee's food and wine writer. Follow him on Twitter @chris_macias

Vodka comes in many flavors, including chocolate. Which - in a stretch - links to Valentine's Day (Feb. 14), when chocolates and flowers rule. Suddenly, we have the notion of a chocolate vodka-based cocktail.

This recipe is from the folks at the Van Gogh Vodka company in Holland, whose version of chocolate vodka contains Dutch cocoa and Colombian coffee, plus spices.

Dessert Fizz

Ingredients:
1-1/2 ounces chocolate-flavored vodka
1 large strawberry, chopped
Handful of mint leaves
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
3 ounces Champagne or other sparkling wine
Directions:
Muddle the strawberry and mint with agave and lemon. Add vodka and strain into chilled Champagne flute. Top with Champagne or other wine. Garnish with a strawberry slice on the rim.

About a year ago, The Bee dropped by Rogers Family Company in Lincoln to check out its coffee operation and learn about its philanthropic efforts in Panama. The coffee company roasts beans under a variety of brand names, including San Francisco Bay Coffee and the Organic Coffee Co.

Now, the company's released "Rare Find," a fair trade coffee with proceeds to benefit the wild cat conservation organization Panthera. The coffee costs $11.99 for a 12-ounce bag and $22.99 for 2 pounds of whole beans, and 20 percent of online sales will to towards Panthera's efforts to protect jaguars. 10 percent of wholesaler and distributor sales will also go toward this cause.

"We are honored to work with Panthera to preserve the jaguar - which is one of nature's treasures and one of the great symbols of the wild- for future generations," said Jon B. Rogers, the president of Rogers Family Company, in a statement. "We hope that Rare Find coffee can make a meaningful contribution to the effort to save jaguars in coffee growing regions where we've seen firsthand how our industry can play an important role in preserving nature."

For more information: Rogers Family Company

Sure, it's only January, it's cold outside and we're still waiting for the rain. Warming us up, though, are thoughts of the 10th annual Sacramento Chef Challenge on June 23.

Right now, event organizers are looking for participants - restaurants, wineries and breweries - who want to show off their fare to the public at one of Northern California's top culinary events. For the vendors, it means exposure. For attendees, it means lots of noshing for $25 per person (tickets are on sale now).

The program is to include two culinary competitions, wine- and beer-tastings, food samplings, a raffle and silent auction, and entertainment. Vendors can win prizes courtesy of www.sacdine.com, sponsor of the People's Choice Awards.

"Most booths are free for local businesses, but vendor space is limited," said a spokesperson for Chef Challenge.

For tickets and more information: www.chefevent.com or call Jessica Bean at (916) 381-1300, Ext. 170.

The Chef Challenge benefits INALLIANCE, "a nonprofit organization that supports people with developmental disabilities." The event is planned to take place at the group's campus headquarters, 6950 21st Ave., Sacramento; (916) 381-1300, www.inallianceinc.com.

Have you ever checked out Yoshi's, the live music spot and Japanese dinner house with locations in San Francisco and Oakland? A new Sacramento spot, Antigua Cantina & Grill, aspires to be the local equivalent and with a Latin twist. So far, Antigua has booked Salvador Santana - son of famed guitarist Carlos Santana, and a fine musician in his own right - to play at Antigua on March 9.

Meanwhile, Antigua is undergoing a few months of soft launching. Located in the former Three Monkeys spot at 723 K St. - which catered to those who wanted sushi, pork sliders and bratwurst in a single setting a.k.a. hardly anyone - Antigua's formal grand opening won't be until May 5 aka Cinco de Mayo. For now, Antigua is open for happy hour and as a nightclub from Thursdays through Saturdays.

Antigua will also host a tequila tasting on Wednesday at 6 p.m., which costs $20 and includes samples of Avion (aka Turtle's tequila from "Entourage") and Tequila Clase Azul. Attendees also get three appetizers, including pan roasted gulf prawns with walnut cilatro pesto.

>One of the most precious and unique - and therefore expensive - delicacies in the global marketplace is the truffle. Black truffles retail for about $1,700 a pound; white truffles cost around $4,500 a pound.

Truffles may not look like much, but for centuries they've been a treasured ingredient in haute cuisine. Master chefs call them "the diamonds of the kitchen."

A truffle is a type of mushroom that grows underground, usually close to oak and hazelnut trees. Dogs commonly are used by Italian and French truffle-hunters to help locate them in the wild and dig them up.

That info and so much more was part of the second annual Napa Truffle Festival, which ran from last Friday through Monday. Various a la carte packages were available for truffle-centric meals, wine-tastings, winery tours and cooking demonstrations.

I finally got hold of Timothy Newbold -- and no, it wasn't at the ICU.

Newbold, as you may recall, is the guy who wolfed down the double burger with bacon and cheese, along with the amazing "disco fries Ryan" at The Eatery. Just a fun little challenge for this West Sac restaurant.

Newbold not only rose to the challenge, he did it to make his brother proud and get the family name on the wall. The feat for all comers will now be known as the "Newbold Challenge."

Turns out, Newbold, 34, is a super nice guy, a stay-at-home dad who worked as an insurance broker for 10 years. He and his wife have four daughters.

He did the feat as sort of a last hurrah before going on a diet -- he wants to lose 140 pounds. Let's wish him well.

Tim was nice enough to answer a few questions I emailed him, but before we get to that, let me quickly address the topic of "gluttony," since I have been getting emails and voicemails about eating and overeating. This little challenge is just for fun. No one is putting a gun to anyone's head. Not only is the food of the highest quality, it is also priced reasonably. No one at The Eatery thinks a double burger and disco fries should be a part of anyone's daily diet.

Here's what Tim emailed me:

1. I took the challenge in response to the urging of my brother. He is amused by things bearing our names. Newbold is not a very common last name so its kind of novel I guess.

2. Honestly I have never done a challenge like this one and I was full after the burger was gone and I still had not touched the salad or Disco Fries Ryan. I just pushed forward. Seriously could have fed a small family with that much food.

3. I didn't eat for 30 hours after "the Challenge" I was not comfortable for the first few hours and by 10pm my blood sugar was 309...never that high before that I know of.

4. The food was awesome! I am kind of a burger junky, but only good burgers. This one destroys the field. I would say top three of those that I have tried, maybe number one (I will let you know next time when I have a chance to savor). Salad was made to order and SUPER fresh. What can I say about the fries...legendary.

5. As for the name thing...Awesome! That's why I did it. I really don't eat like that I have NEVER eaten that much food in my life. It was super fun. Thanks and Kudos to Jess and all of the staff at the Eatery!

Magpie Café puts out some of the best food in the city, night after night. If you go there, you can see the kitchen in action.

I recently heard Magpie was hiring. No, you won't be starting at the top if you land one of the jobs. Magpie is looking for cooks, not chefs.

Since the restaurant has been so well regarded for its quality food, I called co-owner and chef Ed Roehr to find out what kind of people he was hiring.

A couple of weeks earlier, I had read a piece about Rene Redzepi, the celebrated chef at Noma, the Copenhagen restaurant regarded by many as the greatest in the world. Redzepi was responding to a question about how an aspiring chef could be lucky enough to snag a non-paying job at Noma when he said: "We receive a truly humbling number of job applications [...] We don't necessarily look for the most impressive resume as, most of time, it's better to have someone who has cooked three-four years at a more modest restaurant rather than a chef who has hopped from one great kitchen to the other, only spending a year or less in each."

Not to compare Magpie to Noma, but I am interested in how quality places seek out and hire quality people. At the end of the day, it's the people who make or break a restaurant. Magpie put an ad on Craigslist looking for two or three line cooks.

Fresh off its review in The Bee, The Eatery is having some good-natured fun with some of its best -- and most notorious -- dishes.

If you're a big eater and a bon vivant, this is something you'll want to sink your teeth into.

During happy hour, The Eatery is offering its amazing "Disco Fries Ryan" (named after a culinary school classmate) for $5 (regularly $10). If you know what's on that massive plate -- two eggs, bacon, melted cheese, gravy and lots of fries -- you will realize what a bargain that is. And this is the good stuff -- top-notch ingredients presented in fun, delicious, decadent balance.

But that's not all. If you also order the double burger (with bacon and cheese) like the one I mentioned in the review, and you manage to finish the burger and the fries within an hour, the food is on the house and you get your photo on the wall of fame.

It's a great idea, and a scary one. Who would try such a thing?

Turns out, his name is Timothy Newbold, and he can really pack it away. Newbold wolfed down the food in 40 minutes. Not only will his picture hang on the wall, The Eatery is naming the challenge after him. Let's hope this doesn't come back to haunt him if he ever runs for president or is nominated to the Supreme Court.

The fame has apparently blindsided the area's newest celebrity. A message to his Facebook page requesting an interview has not been answered. Where is Timothy Newbold? Is he OK? Did his health insurer see The Eatery's Facebook page and promptly cancel his policy?

All we know is that Mr. Newbold is a gifted and determined eater. On The Eatery's Facebook page, Newbold left a couple of comments beneath the picture of his empty plates: "I am feeling it right now" and "no person should ever do this, but it was fun."

When he wakes from his food coma, we hope to land an exclusive with the man behind "the Newbold Challenge." Until then, let's see if any other eaters out there can make it onto the wall of fame. Even reasonable people will enjoy the food at The Eatery. Indeed, you don't have to overeat to eat well at this new and very fine restaurant.

Blair Anthony Robertson is The Bee's restaurant critic. Follow him on Twitter, @Blarob.

Cafe Capricho in east Sacramento is one of our favorite places, and now it has been recognized in a national way. First, some background:

The collaboration between two food-centric websites that cover the nation's dining scene has produced some insightful and entertaining stories. Gourmet Live (www.gourmet.com) is the "reimagined online version of Gourmet magazine," said one of its editors (the newsstand edition folded in 2009). BlogHer (www.blogher.com) is a consortium of food-related blogs by home cooks.

Each month, BlogHer puts together a "Road Trip" feature for Gourmet Live. The current one features restaurants that the writers consider to be among the most conscientious about serving healthful foods, including Cafe Capricho.

Chef Billy Zoellin left the Golden Bear (24th and K streets, Sacramento) just before the midtown eatery and watering hole hit the national airwaves. In January of 2011, the Golden Bear was featured on the Food Networks' "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," with host Guy Fieri chowing down on Zoellin's food including banh mi sandwiches and tacos. But by the time the episode aired, Zoellin split to raise his son and work at the Crocker Cafe.

But like a gastropub prodigal son, Zoellin returned to cook at the Golden Bear about three weeks ago. Sous chef Dave Avender had taken over Zoellin's kitchen duties, and Avender will continue to lead the kitchen team even with Zoellin's return.

"I'm not in charge and that's kind of the reason I came back," said Zoellin. "I'm here to help, and I'm going back to school as well."

It's the beginning of a new year, meaning it's time to work out those resolutions to lose weight - which just happens to coincide with crab feed season. And as The Bee reported today, a second wave of Dungeness crab is about reach consumers soon. So grab your crab feed bib and fork, and prepare to chow down.

But here's what we'd like to know: Which are the best crab feeds around Sacramento? Not only would we like to share this information with readers, but The Bee would like to feature one of these crab feeds for our well-viewed page of local events photos a.k.a. Snapshots.

Let us know in the comments section ... thanks and happy crab feeding!

This sounds like a good time and a good deal: A year-old national company called Dishcrawl is organizing a toured tasting of three to four small-plate specialty dishes at each of four Midtown restaurants.

The tour starts at 7 p.m. Jan. 25, but the meeting place and identities of the restaurants will be kept secret until Jan. 23. At that time, Dishcrawl "ambassador" Wes Beatty of Elk Grove will email the foodie participants with details.

"Dishcrawl offers a delicious journey (on which) you can be your own food critic and meet chefs, restaurateurs and new people with the same interest as yours," Beatty said.

For clues about the restaurants' identities, follow Beatty on Twitter at dishcrawlsac, beginning Tuesday.

The tour tab is $29 per person. For tickets and reservations: www.dishcrawl.com/midtown.

After a couple of delays, the El Dorado Hills location of Selland's Market Cafe (4370 Town Center Blvd. #120, El Dorado Hills) is finally set for a grand opening on Jan. 30. Like its flagship eatery at 5340 H St. in east Sacramento, this second Selland's will specialize in hand-crafted forms of comfort food (think: mac 'n cheese, pizza, sandwiches and salads with a gourmet touch) plus wine tasting and a bottle shop. The El Dorado Hills version, however, will be about 1,000 square feet larger than the H St. location and accommodate seating for 100 inside, plus another 40 on the patio. Also look for a larger wine shop, with a selection ranging from budget-friendly bottles to special occasion wines.

For more information, surf over to the newly redesigned sellands.com.

Chris Macias is the Bee's food and wine writer. Follow him on Twitter @chris_macias

Meat-lovers, this one's for you: National Pastrami Day is Saturday, and in celebration the 40-year-old Togo's sandwich chain (242 units nationwide) is holding its "Pastrami Pounder Challenge" from today through Feb. 21.

Finish a two-foot-long sandwich stuffed with a pound of pastrami within 30 minutes and you'll win a commemorative T-shirt and a certificate immortalizing your feat. And maybe even indigestion. Plus, your photo will be posted on Togo's Facebook page, if you wish. The monster sandwich is $19.99.

Also on its Facebook page is the "Pastrami Palooza" promotion, with a chance to win free sandwiches for a year. One more thing: Show your "Pastrami Love" by posting your own pastrami-centric photographs to the fan page gallery.

We wonder if competitive eater Joey "Jaws" Chestnut is allowed to play...

Information: www.togos.com.

Restaurateur-chef Mai Pham has worked her cooking magic in Sacramento since 1988, when she debuted Lemon Grass restaurant on Fulton Avenue. It continues to serve some of the best Southeast Asian cuisine anywhere.

Pham also has two Lemon Grass Grills, which are more casual, and Star Ginger, specializing in Asian "street food" (the banh mi sandwiches are tops). Her three cookbooks are must-haves in home kitchens, as are her signature sauces and marinades (www.starginger.com).

In December, in the interest of "growing our brand," Pham and food-service giant Sodexo opened a "Star Ginger concept" company cafeteria inside the State Street Financial Center building in Boston. "The 2,000 employees told Sodexo (which operates the cafeteria) they wanted Asian food, and Sodexo said (to me), 'Why don't we do this.'"

Two years ago Pham partnered with Sodexo, which promoted her as a celebrity chef on college campuses during a 19-city tour. Sodexo has contracts with many colleges (and corporate and military facilities) to run their cafeterias.

"Campus dining can be quite sophisticated, but I saw during the tour that I could help their food operations with Asian (offerings)," she said on the phone.

The Pham-Sodexo relationship moved forward to the point where now "Sodexo is our licensee for campus (and corporate) dining. It's similar to a franchiser-franchisee (model). In instances where both parties feel there is a need to open a Star Ginger concept, they're the operator who supplies the space (and labor) and we supply the expertise and training. We provide an authentic, high-quality Asian restaurant concept that comes pre-branded."

In other words, Sodexo is promoting a ready-to-go package to its clients, who apparently are hungry for Asian fare.

"We are working with (universities) to improve their Asian offerings (in their cafeterias)," Pham said. "I'm just back from Yale, where I worked on their Asian salads and banh mi programs."

So, between corporate accounts and college campuses, could this first Star Ginger concept be just the start of many more across the country?

Yes, Pham said. "In business, you have to act on your vision for expansion, and cooking is my passion."

Stay tuned.

Two local wineries are greeting 2012 with especially coveted news: They've made the cut for the third annual WSJwine Annual Dozen. Also known as the Wall Street Journal's wine club, which touts more than 100,000 active customers, its Annual Dozen selects best-of-the-year wines in two categories and offers them for sale.

But to make the cut, the wines must make their way through a series of blind tasting panels, with the judging led by best-selling wine author Hugh Johnson. So, let's give it up for Scott Harvey Wines of Sutter Creek and Lodi's Borra Vineyards, which were each selected in "America's 12 Smartest Wine Buys" for the Annual Dozen.

Scott Harvey Wines scored for its 2008 Mountain Selection Barbera, which sells for $29.99 and described as "lively, very fresh and quite delicious" by judge and Master of Wine Justin Howard-Sneyd.

Over at Borra Vineyards, there's a double celebration going on this week. Along with its selection in WSJwine's "America's 12 Smartest Wine Buys" for its 2008 Red Fusion, the 2009 vintage of this wine scored a double-gold medal over the weekend at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

In a move to fill seats during the normally down month of January, this year's edition of Dine Downtown Restaurant Week launches today and runs through Jan. 18. More than two dozen downtown and midtown restaurants are participating, and will feature 3-course prix fixe dinners for $30 a head. It's a pretty good deal for those looking to sample from eateries that might normally be outside the household budget, though it's still not necessarily a cheap night out if you do the math. By the time the bill comes for a table of two, including parking/valet and some kind of beverages, plus tip, the tab can easily come to $75 on the lower end. That's still a relative deal when considering the usual tariff when dining in some of Sacramento's top tier restaurants, but are too many people still being priced out during Dine Downtown Restaurant Week? How about some other options that could show off fine local food closer to the $20 range, or Dine Downtown programs that don't lock people into a prix fixe menu?

Either way, local chefs have some tasty looking menus planned for the next 10 days, including those from Restaurant Thi13en, Ella and The Porch, which recently opened and am hearing a strong buzz that the food's pretty solid over there.

For a full list of Dine Downtown participants and link to menus, click here.

Chris Macias is the Bee's food and wine writer. Follow him on Twitter @chris_macias

Kudos to Sacramento Magazine and Mari Tzikas for the cover story in the current issue, "15 Great Nights Out."

Lots of good ideas and they show just how much there is to do in our thriving city. The piece even mentions a new place, The Eatery, in West Sacramento. Just so happens, my review of The Eatery is coming this Sunday in The Bee.

Read Tzikas' entire piece here.

Blair Anthony Robertson is The Bee's restaurant critic. Follow him on Twitter, @Blarob.

In recent years, bacon has enjoyed something of a second act, thanks to restaurants and premium food markets that showcase the way it's really supposed to look and taste.

Now comes Baconfest, a three-day event that celebrates the greatness of bacon and has a little fun along the way.

The event is the brainchild of Brian Guido, who works at the California State Archives filming historical documents for preservation and security. Guido was aware of Baconfest events in Chicago and Des Moines, and he wanted to do something like that in Sacramento.

"It all started with a wild idea, a love for bacon and the desire to fill the void that a town like this has for events," Guido said.

California is world-renowned for its bounty, from produce and cheese to seafood and wine.

An integral part of that is the upcoming 14th annual Mendocino Crab & Wine Days festival, Jan. 20 through Jan. 29. Locally harvested Dungeness crabs will join locally produced reds, whites and roses in a celebration of eating and drinking that attracts foodies from around the U.S. and beyond.

Festival events are held in various venues around Mendocino County and are priced a la carte. The centerpiece is the Crab Cake Cook-Off and Wine Tasting Competition, at which 12 Mendocino County restaurant chefs will make their best crab cakes and pair them with sips from 22 wineries. The photo above shows a tray of crab cakes topped with green salsa and yellow aioli (photo by John Birchard), served at last year's event. For "dessert" will be crab cioppino and crab salad.

Other festival highlights will include crab-themed dinners, winemaker dinners, family-style cioppino feasts, cooking demonstrations, food-tastings, wine-tastings and competitions, winery tours and - something different - crab-catching excursions with local fishermen aboard their vessels.

For a calendar of events and lodging packages and other specials: www.visitmendocino.com (type in "crab" in the search window), (866) 782-9636.

The local food truck industry continues growing, with a mobile food vendor that specializes in sandwiches that launched recently. Meet Coast To Coast Sandwiches, which includes po' boys, philly cheesesteaks and New York-styled pastrami among its mobile food offerings. The truck and its $7 sandwiches launched in November, just in time for the Sacto MoFo 3 festival, and is the brainchild of Robert Ramos and Sean Figueroa.

These two local culinary school graduates first had plans to open a brick-and-mortar sandwich shop, but switched gears so to speak after figuring a mobile food concept would be a better business plan. They still plan to open a stand-alone sandwich shop, and hope to build its brand recognition first through its food truck.

For now, Coast To Coast Sandwiches works off a fixed schedule (Update: this schedule starts next week): Mondays will be at Goodyear tires on 11th and I street, Tuesdays are a trip to Prospect Park in Rancho Cordova, it's downtown near 12th and O streets on Wednesdays, Thursdays will cater to DMV workers on 24th St. near Broadway and Fridays mean a stop at the CalPERS building near 4th and Q streets.

One of the most precious and unique - and therefore expensive - delicacies in the global marketplace is the truffle. Truffles may be mere fungi, but for centuries they have been a treasured ingredient in haute cuisine.

Simply put, a truffle is a type of mushroom that grows underground, usually close to trees. Pigs and dogs commonly are used by Italian and French truffle-hunters to help locate them in the wild and root them out. As rustic as that scenario sounds, remember that for centuries the truffle has been been called "the diamond of the kitchen" by master chefs the world over.

Now you can join the truffle cognoscenti at the second annual Napa Truffle Festival, Jan. 13-16, and do some foraging of your own.

Food- and drink-wise, look for numerous meals featuring truffles, food- and wine-tastings, cooking demonstrations, winery tours, a marketplace that will showcase specialty wines and foods (in the Oxbow Public Market in Napa), and a special truffle dinner and wine-pairing at La Toque restaurant in the Westin Verasa hotel in Napa. It will be masterminded by chefs whose restaurants hold Michelin stars.

Science-wise, on the schedule is a truffle orchard excursion featuring a truffle-hunting dog demonstration, capped by program on the cultivation of truffles.

For tickets and details, including special packages and lodging deals: (888) 753-9378, www.napatrufflefestival.com.

Look for a new executive chef to be heading Ella Dining Room & Bar starting Feb. 1. His name is Michael Thiemann, and is currently executive chef with the San Francisco Bay area's Wayfare Tavern and Hawks Tavern. If Thiemann's name sounds familiar, it might be because he's a former Sacramento local who started his culinary career at the now-defunct Greta's Cafe. He has since landed chef gigs in New Zealand, Hawaii and most recently with the Tyler Florence restaurants Wayfare Tavern and Hawks Tavern.

The owners of Ella conducted a national search after chef Kelly McCown put in notice that he was returning to Napa wine country. McCown will be chef at Goose & Gander, located in the former Martini House - a restaurant where McCown once worked before coming to Sacramento about two years ago.

For Thiemann's try-out at Ella, he prepared a range of dishes including salmon crudo, a sous vide 1/2 chicken, lamb shanks and other items. His managerial experience with Tyler Florence's restaurant group helped seal this deal.

Fresh for 2012, the midtown location for the venerable Squeeze Inn opens today at 1630 K St., in the former space used by Infusion Cafe. Whenever the topic of "best burger in Sacto." comes up, Squeeze Inn can pretty much be counted on to be name checked, especially the "squeeze with cheese" which comes with its skirt of fried cheese. Along with big ol' burgers that taste so good but will make your cardiologist wince, its menu also includes a variety of sandwiches.

This midtown location marks the fifth eatery in Squeeze Inn's growing empire. Its original location opened in south Sacramento with a mere 12 stools, but moved to more spacious digs at 5301 Power Inn Rd. after being targeted in a lawsuit claiming violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act. The suit has since been dropped.

Squeeze Inn has also opened locations in Roseville (106 N. Sunrise Ave.), West Sacramento (1350 Harbor Blvd.) and Galt (545 Industrial Dr.). Squeeze Inn was also featured in a segment on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" back in 2010.

In terms of local burger wars, yours truly has always felt Squeeze Inn is a bit overrated. My personal pick is the ground French steakburger from Nationwide Freezer Meats (1930 H St., Sacramento). But more importantly: Who gets your vote for best local burger? Leave your choices in the comments section.

Chris Macias is the Bee's food and wine writer. Follow him on Twitter @chris_macias

In the past year, I started noticing some really nice photographs by Rik Keller on various websites. Since one of his many subjects is food, I lined up a Q&A to get to know him and his approach to photography a little better.

I also asked if we could run a few of his photos. They accompany the text. What follows is our exchange, in which Keller talks about his passion for photography, his advice for those looking to become better photographers, and, finally, we pin him down on a few fun things related to food:

1. Please provide some basic information about yourself: where you're from, your interests, career path, how you got your start in photography.

My interest in photography started almost 25 years ago in college with a fascination in studying art photography. Harry Callahan, Minor White, Bill Brandt, Aaron Siskind, Man Ray are some of the Modern masters that spring to mind. I started taking, developing, and printing my own black and white photos then. I am mostly self-taught from years and years of experience, darkroom work, and self-critique. A photographer has to be comfortable with a very high failure rate. And a willingness to learn from mistakes.

I started off in graduate school in architecture and ended up getting a Masters degree in city planning. Photography as a hobby has continued to feed the frustrated designer inside of me throughout my city planning career the last 15 or so years in the Sacramento area.

When it comes to New Year's Eve celebrations, you can go in all kinds of directions for tasty adult beverages. Champagne is always going to work, but there are plenty of other options.

Let us know what your favorites are - bonus points if you include a recipe in the comments below.

For now, here are a couple of simple ones:

1. "Appletini" (pun intended, from the iPad app "Cocktails HD")
1 ½ ounces vodka
½ ounce sour apple schnapps
1 ounce sweet and sour mix
1 maraschino cherry
Fill shaker halfway with ice. Add vodka, schnapps and sweet and sour mix. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Strain into chilled martini glass and garnish with the cherry.

2. "Thriller from Vanilla" (from "Difford's Encyclopedia of Cocktails")
¾ shot vanilla-infued Ketel One vodka
¾ shot Tanqueray London dry gin
½ Cointreau triple sec
2 shots freshly squeezed orange juice.
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.

For those who might get carried away this New Year's Eve, see the blog post below about how to get a free ride home that doesn't involve the police, bail and an unflattering mug shot.

It's a little known fact that the last day of December is also known in some Western cultures as New Year's Eve, and on that day - which happens to be Saturday - people are known to enjoy a drink or two. For those who do, you should also know that AAA is offering a free "tipsy tow" to anyone who doesn't want to drink and drive. And by "anyone," I mean anyone who is smart enough to know that a DUI can ruin your life for the next several years. Yes, friends have told me as much.

AAA has a great deal. The catch, by the time you need their help you may A) forget how to spell it, B) be unable to pronounce it or C) forget where you jotted down the phone number.

If you can get past those hurdles, all you have to do is call 1-800-222-4357 or 800-AAA-HELP and say, "I need a tipsy tow." If you come up with something that sounds sorta like that, chances are you'll still get a tipsy tow.

Have fun, good luck, be safe, play smart and remember one thing when you start imbibing: if you have even the faintest designs on becoming a Supreme Court Justice, president of the United States or even a member of Congress, resist the urge to tweet how messed up you are or post dazed and confused photos of yourself on Facebook. Going shirtless and flexing won't go over well either. Just ask Anthony Weiner, the former Congressman who thought he was a Chippendales dancer.

Happy New Year. I've got the Champagne chilling in the fridge. We plan to ring in the New Year like pros - low-key, at home, out of earshot of guys who screech and holler when they have fun, with the car parked in the driveway.

Cowtown Eats doesn't sleep. Following up on my post about restaurants in hiring mode, here's a good one to add to the list: Selland's Market & Cafe. Looks like they're hiring for all kinds of positions.

Here's what I got over at Cowtown Eats: Selland's Market & Café is hiring for our new Eldorado Hills location. We have a job fair scheduled for Monday 1/2/12 and Tuesday 1/3/12 from 1 P.M. until 6 P.M. at the Town Center location (4370 Town Center Blvd. El Dorado Hills, CA 95762). We will conduct interviews for the following positions: cashier, counter staff, sous chefs, cooks, dishwashers, and externs. Please bring a current resume to the job fair.
Both Selland's locations are also hiring assistant general managers. We will be accepting resumes at our Hst location (5340 Hst Sacramento, CA 95819)for the management position only.

Speaking of Selland's, I happen to know they're looking for a new head chef to replace Kelly McCown at Ella Dining Room & Bar. McCown is returning to the Napa Valley to be a partner in a new restaurant.

Just a quick note for those of you out there who may be looking for a job (or maybe a second job). There's a new restaurant getting ready to open downtown early in the new year. It's called Blackbird Kitchen & Bar -- and there are lots of job openings.

Here's the notice from their Facebook page: "Blackbird is now recruiting talent. Looking for deft chefs, mixologists, and front of the house positions. Show time is very, very soon...
Please email resumes in an attachment to: blackbird.talent@gmail.com

If you haven't heard of Blackbird, here's a summary of the concept (again, from Facebook): "Blackbird will be featuring organic cuisine, highlighting seasonal produce from local farms such as Full Belly and fish from Passmore Ranch; a full bar emphasizing modern, unique cocktails, American craft beers, awesome whiskeys and badass tequilas; a rawbar with a changing selection of oysters, crustaceons and other shellfish; and house-made breads and pastas. During lunch, in addition to the usual suspects diners can expect a few signature egg dishes such as biscuits with lobster gravy, crabcake Benedict, and arguably the best quiche in Northern California. At dinner, the kitchen will be providing an elegant menu featuring smoked and brined fish, big bowls of beer-popped mussels with grilled bread, and aged steaks."

In addition to Blackbird, there is actually quite a bit of positive movement in the business right now. Qualified job seekers could also do well at The Porch and Monsoon, two new restaurants that just opened in midtown. The Mongolian BBQ place at 19th and J is getting ready to open and the Firestone Public House is going to open in a couple of months (the place is completely gutted at the moment and all of the California Pizza Kitchen decor is gone).

I didn't think much of it when I got the email from Meadowood, a restaurant in St. Helena that last year earned three Michelin stars. The notice said the restaurant would be closed for about 10 weeks beginning in January "to undergo an exciting renovation." Sure, it's a nice dining room but a little bit low-key, and it could use a splash of fresh color. Then I saw there will also be an extensive reworking of the kitchen to "allow for more space, better control of temperature, superior equipment and overall flow for service. The new kitchen will also include a Chef's Counter, which will seat up to 5 guests."

That's when I realized what I already suspected: Executive chef Christopher Kostow, though honored and humbled by all the recent praise of his food, wasn't satisfied with the greatness he has already achieved. If you've ever eaten at Meadowood, you can see the passion and inventiveness in Kostow's cooking. When I reviewed Meadowood more than a year ago, it was a Michelin 2-star restaurant, but it was pretty clear it was heading way, way up. I spoke extensively over the phone with Kostow, going over his thoughts on several dishes I had from the chef's tasting menu. I took note of Kostow's competitive fire, along with his humility. Months later, he was featured in "Art Culinaire," where he talked about creating dishes you won't find at any other restaurant. The very greatest dining experiences are like that. When we ate at Corton in New York City (in October), the chef's tasting menu contained course after course of food so unusual and edgy and complex that I took note of all the dishes I had neither seen nor tasted at any other restaurant. Chef Paul Liebrandt's mindset and ambition are similar to Kostow's. (Try to watch the documentary about Liebrandt if they re-run it on HBO; it's called "A Matter of Taste: Serving up Paul Liebrandt" and they follow his highs and lows for 10 years).

The recent Meadowood email directed me to click on a link to read Kostow's personal explanation for the temporary closure. It's an extraordinary example of what it takes to achieve excellence. Turns out, the temporary shutdown isn't solely about aesthetics in the dining room and functionality in the kitchen. It's about getting to the next level, even if there are no more Michelin stars to recognize that kind of achievement.

The chef says:

"The team and I continue to be humbled by the accolades and attention paid to The Restaurant since its inception.

I look forward to welcoming you back to The Restaurant.

The Restaurant at Meadowood will reopen March 12. It will be exciting -- and perhaps inspiring -- to see what the rethinking and retooling will bring us in the days that follow.

Blair Anthony Robertson is The Bee's restaurant critic. Follow him on Twitter, @Blarob.

Albert Villanueva is a foodie. He and his wife love going out to eat in their off hours.

When he's working? He's visiting restaurants, too. He insures them.

When I became aware of Villanueva and his specialized line of work, I contacted him for an interview. I didn't know there was an insurance company that focuses solely on restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Since he's also an avid restaurant-goer, I also wanted to get his impressions on the local food scene.

Villanueva, 33, lives with his wife and two kids in East Sacramento. He works for InsuRestaurants as a producer/marketing director, a job that has him visit 15 to 20 restaurants a week. He estimates his company insures 90 percent of the bars and nightclubs in the area, along with countless restaurants.

When you read in the newspaper about a mishap at a nightclub - a fight, a shooting, a death -- Villanueva is probably reading about a client.

"Anybody who has high alcohol sales tends to get more hostile patrons. Assault and battery coverage is extremely important. It covers any kind of fighting - incidents between patrons or between employees and patrons. It's one of the things that our company boasts we can do extremely well," he said.

Villanueva says a busy nightclub will likely be paying $12,000 to $18,000 a year for general liability, liquor law liability and assault and battery coverage.

Of course, our restaurant scene doesn't see a lot of fighting. Villanueva says restaurants often deal with mishaps like slips and falls, food-borne illnesses and injuries like a chipped tooth.

Like a lot of people who make sales calls, Villanueva relies on word-of-mouth referrals. He is selling a product these businesses are legally required to have, so he has to win them over with personal service, attention to detail and all the little things that prevent a chore from becoming a hassle.

"I love my job and I love helping people protect their livelihood.," he said.

Villanueva typically plans his work two weeks out, relying on his iPad and iPhone to stay organized.

"Google calendar runs my life. It's something I'm constantly organizing," he said.

Regarding the food scene in the Sacramento area, he has visited nearly every kind of restaurant imaginable since he began specializing in this realm in 2005.

"I've seen it mature drastically in the last three or four years, especially outside downtown in the greater Sacramento area," he said. "There are some great places in Roseville and Folsom. The dining scene is maturing and really getting there. I really think over the next three or four years there is going to be even more

"There are a lot of young, talented chefs and they're starting their own eateries. They're coming with a plethora of skills."

Then I asked Villanueva a few food-related questions just for fun.

Memorable meal: "The most recent one that comes to mind is the Ella tasting menu in September. I had my birthday meal there. It was really great."

Favorite dive: "I'd have to say JR's Texas BBQ. I like JR, I love the food. I take my kids there."

Guilty pleasure: "Probably an In-N-Out burger. I don't eat much fast food, but I probably go there once a quarter."

Food that cheers him up: "I'd say pizza. It's just one of those things. It's a family affair. We make our pizzas at home. It's something that would cheer me up for sure. We hand-roll our dough and go to the farmers market to buy all the ingredients."

Food he won't eat: "That's tough. I probably wouldn't eat those Hostess cupcakes."

Something he might be embarrassed to admit he eats: "A combination pizza from Roundtable."

Blair Anthony Robertson is the restaurant critic at The Bee. Follow him on Twitter, @Blarob.

After managing the masses at the mall and stringing oodles of holiday lights, leaving the cooking to someone else on Christmas Eve couldn't be a better gift. A variety of Sacramento restaurants will be ready to serve with special holiday menus and extended hours in some cases.

But, if you want to get a table at some of the area's fine dining establishments, better book a table soon. The Firehouse in Old Sacramento, which is offering a chef's tasting menu along with its regular offerings, will be open until 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve but is close to sold out. The remaining reservations start at 8:15.

At Sienna restaurant in El Dorado Hills, its Christmas Eve reservations are completely booked but still taking names for a waiting list. In Roseville, diners who want to sample La Provence's "menu de noel," a prix fix menu for $45 and $12 for children 10 and under, should prepare to eat on the earlier end. Just a few reservations are currently available at 4 p.m. and 4:15.

Thumbing through the recent fourth edition of the Zagat dining guide to the "world's top restaurants," we found several of the usual suspects in the "San Francisco Bay Area" section (but none in Sacramento). The French Laundry and the Restaurant at Meadowood in the Napa Valley, Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Manresa in Los Gatos, Commis in Oakland, and Boulevard in San Francisco were among the 24 entries.

What stopped us - in a gratifying way - was the inclusion of the family-owned Swan Oyster Depot among those high-end dining palaces. The Swan has been around for nearly a century, practicing a brand of lacavorism - salmon, rockfish, Dungeness crab, halibut, sole - before the word was even coined.

Seriously, do you really want molecular gastronomy or a steak poached sou vide when you can opt for the Swan? Walk in and become part of the boisterous crowd, enjoy the camaraderie while you wait for a well-worn stool at the marble counter, check out the first-rate seafood market.

Banter with the cooks (who have a streak of stand-up comic in them), sip a beer, spoon a bowl of clam chowder, tear off a chunk of sourdough bread, crack a crab, dig into a plate of fresh raw oysters on a bed of ice. It's a San Francisco experience that's real, unpretentious and satisfying on many levels.

Among the comments in the Zagat guide, from real Swan diners: "Fabulous seafood so fresh that you expect it to talk back."

The Swan Oyster Depot is at 1517 Polk St. (between California and Sacramento streets) in San Francisco's Nob Hill neighborhood. Information: (415) 673-1101, www.swanoysterdepotsf.com.

Two more things: Cash only, and it closes at 5:30 p.m.

Remember when coffeehouses were stimulating places full of intellectual rigor, lively conversations and, maybe, someone scribbling notes into a leather-bound journal or writing the next great short story?

OK, that coffeehouse was in Paris, and it never really existed on this side of the pond. Years ago, some of us would read about the so-called "Lost Generation," folks who traveled to Paris to absorb the culture, try their hand at a new way of living and maybe find some kind of artistic inspiration or stumble upon profundity. Eventually, they all seemed to pull up a chair at a little café, writing things in little notebooks before reconvening at Shakespeare and Co., the famous bookstore. Hemingway, Pound, Virginia Woolf, Fitzgerald. Even a bearded William Faulkner hit up Paris for a time. (A great book about this era, by the way, is by Morley Callaghan called "That Summer in Paris.")

Before the current wave - or third wave - of coffeehouses like Chocolate Fish, Old Soul, Temple, Naked and Broadacre, there was the ever-expanding empire called Starbucks. Before that? There was Weatherstone, Boulevard Coffee and Java City. Then it was left to Denny's and 7-Eleven, where you could give your java a jolt of "Irish cream" flavored creamer. I remember going to this great bookstore in Oxford, Miss., when I was attending a Faulkner confernence. It was called Square Books, and I thought it was so cool you could have a coffee and a pastry while sitting in a bookstore. Tattered Cover did the same thing in Denver. Then Barnes & Noble made it generic and widespread.

The new coffee joints generally have very good coffee, employees who are really into coffee and an ambience of stone-faced folks staring at their laptops or iPads. Books? What are those? Conversation? Ideas? That's so '80s. I have gone into coffeehouse after coffeehouse and noticed that no one was actually talking - or even enjoying coffee. Libraries are livelier, the waiting room at my dentist more fun.

That may be why I was encouraged by a recent story I read on the Sacramento Press site about a new locally owned business, Insight Coffee Roasters, at 8th and S. One of the owners, Ben Lance, actually addressed the issue when he said there were a limited number of power outlets for people to plug into:

"We don't want this to be a place where everyone is clicking away on their laptops and you're afraid to make a sound," Lance told Sac Press. "We want you to play a board game or sit and have a conversation."

I suppose wi-fi at this point is a deal with the devil. One shop somewhere provided free wi-fi, so folks with laptops went there, bought a coffee and surfed the web. The place got crowded. Others had to respond. So now nearly every coffee joint has free wi-fi. Who needs friends or conversation when you have wi-fi. Even Starbucks, which used to charge for it, gives it away. There's a guy at 15th and H who actually sits with his laptop on the sidewalk across the street from the Starbucks but within wi-fi range. At least that's interesting.

I suppose the stone-faced and hush-hush issue at coffee shops won't go away until wi-fi is everywhere. It would be nice to see these great places for coffee actually feel great when you're sitting there. I had a conversation at one once and had some hipster look at me like, "What are you doing? Talking? This is a coffeehouse."

My mistake.

January generally doubles as the downtime for the restaurant industry. After all of the holiday shopping's been done, and folks feel a little economically hung over, dining out tends to take a back seat for many consumers. So, here's one way that Sacramento's restaurant community tries to keep those seats filled each January: Dine Downtown, which includes 10-days of specials at a variety of central city restaurants.

Organized by the Downtown Partnership, Dine Downtown runs Jan. 9 through Jan. 18, with three-course prix fix menus costing $30 per person. 29 restaurants will participate this time around, including four new eateries: The Porch (located in the former Celestin's), Tequila Museo Mayahuel, Restaurant Thir13en, Blue Prynt.

"Dine Downtown provides restaurants a huge boost at the start of the new year," said Michael Ault, executive director for Downtown Partnership, in a statement. "We estimate that the event generates just over $1 million in restaurant sales and parking revenue in just 10 days."

Here's the full list of participating restaurants, courtesy of the Downtown Partnership: Fires Lounge, 4th Street Grille, Biba Restaurant, Blue Prynt, The Broiler Steakhouse, Cafeteria 15L, Capitol Garage, Chops Steak Seafood & Bar, Dawson's at the Hyatt, deVere's Irish Pub, Ella Dining Room & Bar, Esquire Grill, Fat City Bar & Café, The Firehouse Restaurant, Frank Fat's, Grange Restaurant at The Citizen, Il Fornaio, Kupros Bistro, The Melting Pot, Morgan's at the Sheraton, Paragary's Bar and Oven, Pilothouse, The Porch, Restaurant Thir13en, Rio City Café, Spataro, Tequila Museo Mayahuel, Ten 22, and Tulí Bistro.

After a second year of unseasonably cool temperatures, the grape tonnage has been tallied and the results are ready. According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, 3.3 million tons of wine grapes were harvested in the 2011 growing season, a 9 percent drop from the previous year.

That's not too much of a surprise considering the cold shoulder that Mother Nature gave to Northern California this year, with its wet spring and temperate summer. The grape harvest started about three weeks late in Lodi, with growers hoping for warm weather to help their grapes reach ripeness.

This year's total pales compared with 2009, when 3.7 million tons of grapes were harvested - the second largest amount in California's history. But as the saying goes, good things come in small packages.

The annual Victorian Christmas extravaganza that fills the streets of historic Nevada City with visitors and vendors has been going on for at least 20 years. On Sunday, it was bigger and better than ever.

The main and side streets of the town were closed to traffic to accommodate the 1,500-plus revelers who strolled from booth to booth buying hats and scarves, jewelry and art. They also lined up for fragrant street food - wood-fired pizza and smoked brisket, Thai noodles and steaming hot dogs, freshly popped kettle corn and fat enchiladas. And they eagerly jammed the shops and restaurants that line the streets. Gratifyingly, the bookstores were doing brisk business.

Roaming costumed characters and carolers got plenty of smiles from curious children. Street musicians played fiddles and banjos. Families lined up for horse-drawn carriage rides.

We got lucky when we blindly chose the 9-year-old family-owned-and-run Cirino's for lunch shortly before the Victorian Christmas crowds began arriving. Still, the restaurant was jammed, but we miraculously found two seats at the 19th century bar, where the mixologist specializes in bloody marys.

The room was alive with diners' conversations and laughter, the two cooks moving at double-time speed, flipping this and plating that, the servers never losing their smiles. A certain holiday spirit was in the air inside and outside.

The lunch menu showed Sicilian sausage, meatballs, calamari, burgers, pasta, grilled polenta and salads. We settled for an unusual take on the classic clubhouse sandwich, which was more of a single-decker grilled cheese (with luscious Fontina) layered with turkey, ham and grilled tomato on toasted sourdough (hold the mayo, please). It packed plenty of rich flavor and soothing texture (pictured; $9.95). Cirino's is at 309 Broad St., (530) 265-2246; www.cirinosbarandgrill.com. There's a sister restaurant in nearby Grass Valley.

Dessert was excellent handmade-in-Nevada City English toffee from the Sierra Sweets kiosk (www.sierrasweets.net).

There's one more chance to catch the Victorian Christmas excitement. The last of five celebrations will occupy the town from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. Information: ((530) 265-2692, www.nevadacitychamber.com.

I am a big fan of controversy. It's important, stimulating and essential. Controversy is often how we figure out who we are and where we stand. It's how we change our minds or reaffirm what we believe, whether we're talking about the Middle East, the presidential election or a plate of pasta. Reflection is a good thing, too. But there's a difference between controversy of the stimulating kind and controversy that takes an unfortunate turn - leading to insults, needlessly stirring up anger and, worst of all, missing the mark.

I am referring to Rick Mahan's reaction to my largely positive review of his restaurant, The Waterboy. I was quite surprised to hear about it. I thought I had been very generous in my praise, and my criticisms were largely quibbles. But based on the tone and the language of his reply on Facebook, I was left wondering: Did I write a restaurant review or call a foot fault on Serena Williams?

Food lovers wait in line at Drewski's mobile food truck during the Sacramento Mobile Food Festival at Fremont Park on Saturday April 30, 2011. Lezlie Sterling, Sacramento Bee

February is shaping up to be a big month for Drewski's Hot Rod Kitchen, the popular local food truck that specializes in grilled sandwiches (think: aged Havarti cheese melted over Korean braised beef, kimchee and other goodness). Not only is Drewski's planning to launch its second truck on Feb. 1, but a new sports bar coming to downtown will host a brick-and-mortar version of Drewski's. Located in the former Dream Ultra Lounge, Drewski's will operate out of The Republic (908 15th St., Sacramento) which will feature pool tables, plenty of TVs showing sports events and an expanded menu from Drewski's. Look for it to open right around the beginning of February.

The Republic will act as a kind of home base for Drewski's and provide much coveted storage for its food trucks.

"This will save us money," said Andrew Blaskovich, the restaurateur behind Drewski's. "On the trucks we have a limited amount of space, so I'm constantly shopping. With the labor, gas cost and time it's challenging."

Happy-hour menus abound around town, but we found a top one last night.

But first: The modern "happy hour" at restaurant bars likely has roots in 19th-century New York saloons, when the so-called "free lunch" brought customers in by droves. Buy a drink and get a free bite, was the deal. Stay awhile and buy more drinks, was the hope.

We flashed on that when we ducked into Ruth's @ the Bar for a respite from the holiday-shopping scene. There, we found the "Sizzle, Swizzle & Swirl Happy Hour" menu. It's a bargain-priced list of items served in the bars of both Ruth's Chris steakhouses in our area.

The seven appetizers usually cost $8 to $15 each, but go for $6 across the board from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays. For the "sizzle": Prime-beef burger with fries, prime-beef sliders, tenderloin skewers, steak sandwich with fries, New England lobster roll with fries, deep-fried lobster chunks with spicy sauce, and seared ahi tuna.

On our plates, meltingly tender chunks of medium-rare beef were speared on a wooden skewer and dashed with sesame soy sauce. Perfect, but better were the two lobster offerings (pictured). Lightly breaded and fried chunks of succulent lobster were tossed in just-hot-enough cream sauce. For the lobster roll, cold lobster salad was tucked into a slice of toasted and folded bread that had actual bread flavor.

"What I like best about these dishes is they're so satisfying and flavorful you don't need to order more," said my happy-hour pal. Well, actually, yes, we do... But another time.

Wine and beer are on the "swizzle and swirl" part of the menu, but the real attraction is the cool cocktails - cosmo, martini, Manhattan, Moscow mule and a margarita with orange juice added. Each for $6.

Find the "Sizzle-Swizzle" happy-hour menu at Ruth's Chris-Sacramento in the Pavilions center on Fair Oaks Boulevard near Howe Avenue (916-286-2702); and at Ruth's Chris-Roseville in the Galleria center on Galleria Boulevard in Roseville (916-780-6910). More informtion: www.ruthschris.com.

Morgan Song, owner and Executive Chef of Ambience, drizzles burgundy-apricot nappage on venison tenderloin, a sixth course in a 7-course meal at his restaurant in Sacramento. Andy Alfaro, Sacramento Bee

File this one under: Oooops! In yesterday's news about The Kitchen and Carpe Vino of Auburn making the list of OpenTable's "diner's choice awards" for Top 100 Best Restaurants in the United States, yours truly overlooked Ambience of Carmichael also making the cut. Like The Kitchen, Ambience specializes in prix fix menus, which in this case are $55 for five courses or $75 for seven courses prepared by executive chef Morgan Song.

Ambience is also a favorite of Blair Anthony Robertson, the Bee's esteemed restaurant critic, who raved in a four-star review earlier this year: "Giving this chef room to show off with a seven-course dinner evokes thoughts of Frank Sinatra with a microphone or Miles Davis on trumpet. He's just that good. If he ever puts out his 10-course dream menu, watch out."

Well heck, if Song is the Miles Davis of the local food scene I wonder which one of his courses is the equivalent of "Blue In Green?" Check BAR's full review here (which compares prix fix dining at Ambience and The Kitchen).

For more information: www.ambiencerestaurantsac.com or (916) 489-8464.

The sound of clinking glasses and congratulations continue on the local food and wine scene. Fresh off the news that four local wineries made Wine Enthusiast magazine's list of the Top 100 wines, The Kitchen and Auburn's Carpe Vino were both ranked in OpenTable's "diner's choice awards" for Top 100 Best Restaurants in the United States. OpenTable, the popular online restaurant reservation system, compiled the list from more than 10 million reviews submitted by OpenTable users over 12,000 restaurants.

The news is doubly sweet for Carpe Vino, which was also ranked in OpenTable's list of the Top 50 restaurant wine lists. Only four restaurants nationally were ranked in both of OpenTable's lists for best wine list and best restaurants, noted Carpe Vino owner Gary Moffat.

Meanwhile, the staff at The Kitchen is also celebrating news that they're being awarded 5 diamonds from AAA, one of the most prestigious ratings in the domestic dining industry. Look for this to be announced formally around the new year.

The other day, I ordered marrow bones from the meat counter at Taylor's Market, asking that these 8-10 inch behemoths be sliced lengthwise. Taylor's is old-school. You can watch them do the cutting on the well-worn band saw.

These were gourmet-caliber bones, and I neglected to tell the butcher they were not necessarily for human consumption. Among the places I've enjoyed roasted bone marrow in the past year or so are Red Lotus (now closed) and Ella (which is about to lose its well-regarded chef to St. Helena).

Oscar, a Rhodesian mix who would eat a tank if given the time, does not have what I would describe as a discriminating palate (ask me sometime about the dead salmon at the American River). He enjoyed his marrow without cooking or seasoning. But if you're so inclined and willing to be a bit adventurous, you can turn these into a side dish for an upcoming homo sapien meal .

I called John Paul Khoury, the corporate chef at Preferred Meats (which has supplied the bones to Ella, among others) and asked how he would prepare them. A couple of days ago, he posted a photo of his roasted bone marrow with flavors of tabbouleh. It looked fantastic, and I could practically smell it through the screen of my iPad.

More generally, JP suggests folks roast the bones at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes, perhaps with salt and pepper and a little Dijon mustard. You'll also want an accompaniment to cut the richness of the marrow -- a popular side is a simple parsley salad with a lemon vinaigrette.

Good roasted marrow has a creamy mouthfeel, but there shouldn't be a greasy finish. And you can go in several directions with a wine selection -- a big and bold zin, maybe, or sauvignon blanc with nice acidity.

Try bone marrow in the kitchen, and if that doesn't work for you, there aren't many dogs who will turn down these bones (al fresco dining for the pooch recommended with this dish unless you are due for a carpet cleaning). For Oscar and me, it has been a bonding experience.

Jim Moore of Uvaggio wines checks on a vineyard of grapes near Lodi. Chris Macias, Sacramento Bee.

2011's winding down, which means it's time for lists honoring the best wines of the year. And in this bit of good fortune, four local wineries received accolades in Wine Enthusiast magazine's "The Enthusiast 100." They are (cue drum roll):

Michel David of Lodi for its 2008 6th Sense Syrah (#11), Uvaggio 2009 Moscato Secco from Lodi (#25), Easton 2009 Monarch Mine Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc from the Sierra Foothills (#30) and Terre Rouge 2009 Viognier from the Shenandoah Valley (#63). (Note that both Easton and Terre Rogue are made by winemaker Bill Easton, and his "Easton" wines are non-Rhone varietals).

The nod from Wine Enthusiast was especially nice for Jim Moore of Uvaggio, a winery which specializes in Lodi-grown Italian varietals. Moore rarely sends his wines out for review, and when facing a world of competition from Bordeaux, Napa, the Rhone and other wine hot spots, he was happy to see Lodi get some love.

I wanted to clarify and correct a clumsy slip in Sunday's review, out of respect for Rick Mahan and the crew at The Waterboy, as well as our many eagle-eyed readers. In a short section about the dessert served at a special Thursday prix fixe dinner, I referred to carnaroli as a pasta rather than a rice. I apologize for getting it backwards.

To casual, non-foodie readers who happened to land here for something to read, that last paragraph must have sounded overly serious. Hey, I apologize for that, too!

As a writer, my obligations are many - to opine, to entertain, to inform --- but the most important fundamental is to be clear. Sometimes, the more you try - the more you stir and hone and fuss and fumble - the worse it gets. Throw in the whir and flurry of deadlines, one writer's effort to trim a line or two to fit the space and you end up calling rice pasta. I think.

It seems I have heard from every person who has ever made risotto, letting me know -- and gleefully chiding me -- that carnaroli is a rice. Thank you. I have that very rice in my pantry, purchased at Corti Brothers (if you're looking for it), and over the years I have made risotto that has ranged from dreadful to delicious.

Here's what I thought actually went down at The Waterboy that very pleasant Thursday evening. Toward the end of the meal, we chatted about dessert with our server, who informed us that they were using a plump Italian rice used for risotto. Every other course on the menu that night had a pasta component. During the give-and-take, our impression was that this rice was selected because it gave a pasta-like quality to the dessert. There was plenty of chatter, and it's possible we misunderstood our server's point, which may have been simply that the rice is Italian in origin. My minor - and it turns out clumsily realized quibble - was that the rice was just too firm for rice pudding (while our lasagna didn't seem firm enough). This was a small point and, in hindsight, wasn't really worth getting into.

For all those who felt CIA-superior for knowing your rice, you can thank me for the ego boost, especially on a chilly Monday morning. And for those who didn't notice and skimmed right over the error, let me reflect the spirit of my email in-box today: HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE SO DUMB?

Kelly McCown, the chef who took the already popular Ella Dining Room & Bar to new heights, is leaving the elegant K Street restaurant for a new opportunity in wine country.

Outspoken and passionate about his craft, McCown was also known as something of a provocateur in the local restaurant game during the 2 ½ years he was in town. Online or in person, the chef tried to urge fellow chefs to think bigger and aim higher in order to elevate the city's dining scene beyond the "safe and secure cuisine" label that is sometimes all too fitting.

McCown, 44, will return to the site of the once-acclaimed (it earned a Michelin star) and now-shuttered Martini House in St. Helena. It was there, beginning in 2002 as chef de cuisine under executive chef and partner Todd Humphries, that McCown continued to expand his impressive repertoire. The new restaurant in that location has a working name of Goose & Gander, and the style of food is believed to be along the lines of a "gastro-pub," a term McCown doesn't necessarily like. He will be a partner in the new restaurant.

Now here's some good news for those who have a wine lover on their holiday shopping list. The Kitchen and its sister restaurant, Selland's Market Cafe, are offering 20% off all retail wines on Saturday. Though The Kitchen (2225 Hurley Way, Sacramento) sells retail bottles by appointment, tomorrow its doors will be wide open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the 20% off wine sale. Now this is a wine list that runs especially deep, offering such coveted California "cult" wines as Screaming Eagle, Bond, Harlan and Kongsgaard. But you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to score a special bottle. Look for wines from Sequoia Grove, Audelssa and Bridesmaid to nab some great gift bottles in the $50-$70 range.

Over at Selland's (5340 H St., Sacramento), some special wines can be had for about the price of a pizza. Long before I started writing about food, this was always one of my go-to shops for wine, a place where I could ogle at a bottle of Shafer Hillside Select or Blankiet on the shelves but still opt for a tasteful budget Bordeaux or Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato d'Asti. Look for a variety of local producers and moderately priced sparkling wines as well. The 20% off sale runs from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

And just for the record, I've been more nice than naughty this year, so I'll add a bottle of 1997 Dalla Valle to my holiday wish list 8)

Good 'ol Floyd Rothenberger knows a few things about barbecue. That's him on the left, holding a smoked brisket. His J.R.'s Texas Bar-B-Que has been around for 25 years, in a light-industrial area near the Campbell Soup factory. There, he loads cast-iron smokers with mesquite and cooks brisket, beef and pork ribs, pork shoulder, chicken, turkey and hot links.

Four years ago he set up a J.R.'s in West Sacramento, and on Oct. 19 opened a third 'cue joint on El Camino Avenue, near Watt Avenue.

Both satellite restaurants "have the same menu as the mother store," he said on the phone Wednesday. "I'm getting ready to start breakfast soon (at the El Camino site), probably after the first of the year. We'll have biscuits and gravy, chicken-fried steak - items like that."

We'll be waiting. Meanwhile, pass another slice of brisket, please.

The new J.R.'s Texas Bar-B-Que restaurant is at 3445 El Camino Ave., Sacramento; (916) 514-1148. The original is at 180 Otto Circle, Sacramento; (916) 424-3520. The West Sacramento site is at 4055 Lake Road; (916) 373-0800. To see menus: www.jrtexasbbq.com.

Hey, home cook, think you have the goods to be on Fox's "MasterChef?" Think you can withstand the heat in the kitchen while host Gordon Ramsay scrutinizes your every move? Well, brush up on those recipes and knife skills because there's a casting call for "MasterChef" on Saturday in San Francisco. We know it's a bit of late notice to make the haul to San Francisco, but hey, you know there's a $250,000 grand prize at stake, right? The producers also want to tap into Sacramento's culinary talent pool and are offering 10 front of the line passes to Sacramento home chefs who make the trip. Here's where it all goes down:

Le Cordon Bleu
350 Rhode Island St
San Francisco, CA 94103

The casting call runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and you're asked to bring your best home baked dish. For those front of line passes, send an e-mail to: vanessa.bond@yahoo.com.

For more information and all the fine print for audition information: www.masterchefcasting.com

We dropped by Town & Country Village last Saturday and sampled some breads and pastries at the unique Bäcker Bäck Bakery. Three fat cherry strudels has just been pulled from the oven and wore a dusting of powdered sugar (pictured). Yes, they tasted as good as they looked, but we had to make sure - over and over...

Other fine pastries crowded the display case, along with 30 kinds of rustic whole-grain breads in traditional and wedge-shaped loaves. They're made in Germany and France from proprietary recipes and arrive partly baked and frozen, then are finished off at Bäcker Bäck ($1.89 to $4.59).

The bakery is going seasonal with fruit- and nut-studded stollen, marzipan, pannetone with cranberries and walnuts, and other treats. Our problem was getting past the cherry strudel.

T&C center is at Marconi and Fulton avenues. Call Bäcker Bäck at (916) 487-2225).

Patrons Jerrold Anub, left, and Elaine Dano of Rancho Cordova receive their food through the window of the 'Mini Burger' food truck in Sacramento on Saturday, December 3, 2011. Randy Pench, Sacramento Bee

You'd think the competition would be especially steep for local food trucks at Saturday's Sacto MoFo 3 mobile food festival. With such favorite Bay Area food trucks in the mix, including Chairman Bao and Seoul On Wheels, you'd think that locals would flock to the trucks that might only stop in the area a couple times a year. But even late in the afternoon, the local food trucks were getting plenty of love in the form of long lines.

Late in the day, Sacramento's own MiniBurger was pulling the longest lines by far. Anyone remember the three-hour wait for Chairman Bao at the first Sacto MoFo? By 4 p.m. you could get your order in less than 5 minutes. Meanwhile, MiniBurger set a personal sales record and cranked out more than 500 orders - a 10% increase over its previous record which was set at the inaugural Sacto MoFo. Overall, Sacto MoFo 3 drew about 5,000 people, according to the festival organizers.