With the growing interest in wines and the expansion of wine tasting in the area, Melony Vance, founder of Gold Country Hiking & Adventures felt there was a void that needed to be filled.
“Each vintner has an interesting story and a passion for what they do,” says Melony.
For more information, contact Melony at 530-478-1586 or email info@goldcountryhiking.com.
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Award-winning Nevada County artist Lisa Redfern of Redfern Photography — whose photos appear on the cover of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine — is really starting to come into her own.
Employing the distinctive techniques she’s christened as “transformative art,” her imaginative visual renderings on behalf of businesses has resulted in netting her another new credit: having her artwork of Nevada City’s Chamber of Commerce selected by SureWest Communications to be featured on the cover of one of their regional editions, shipping to homes and businesses this week.
Similarly, Redfern’s dreamy style was recognized by the publisher who took over Sierra Food Wine Art in 2009 which highlights entertainment offerings regionally in Sacramento, the Sierra foothills, Lake Tahoe, and Reno.
As the featured cover artist for the magazine under the leadership of publisher Jeff Pelline, Redfern’s “transformative art” showcases a regional business each issue, often leveraging the prevalence of lovely old historic buildings in the Sierra.
A veteran journalist of 30 years previously with the San Francisco Chronicle and a founding editor of CNET, Pelline recalled, “As soon as I saw one of Lisa’s paintings at a local restaurant, I immediately knew her style was ‘the look’ we’d been seeking to give our magazine distinctive cachet as well as a competitive branding edge.”
Redfern has been the featured cover artist on four quarterly issues to date for the magazine.
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The latest issue of our magazine, Sierra FoodWineArt, was shown on KCRA television in Sacramento last night, as part of a news feature on the new Grass Valley Wine Co. The new downtown wine venture — featuring Bent Metal, Montoliva, Pilot Peak and Solune wineries — is on the cover of the summer issue.
The KCRA news segment provided visibility for us — but most important, the wineries. Grass Valley is becoming a wine tasting destination, with Smith, Avanguardia and Sierra Starr also opening new downtown tasting rooms — many of them in renovated buildings. (The Grass Valley Wine Co. is in the old The Union building on Mill St.)
The goal of our magazine is to help bring residents from the “flatlands” to the foothills for wining and dining and the arts. This week we distributed thousands of copies of the summer issue in the foothills (Auburn, Grass Valley, Nevada City and Placerville), as well as Sacramento, Tahoe/Truckee, Reno and Butte County.
We go to hundreds of locations with our free quarterly publication: I dropped a bundle off myself at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, for example. Beale Air Force base is another drop-off spot. Another example: the Atlantis casino in Reno.
The video clip from KCRA on the Grass Valley Wine Co. is here.
The magazine also has a companion website called sierraculture.com. To read an exact digital copy of the latest issue, including the article on Grass Valley Wine Co., click here.
]]>After graduating from Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Watkins began his culinary career at the Grand Hotel Zermatterhof in Switzerland. Following his endeavors abroad, Watkins moved back to the states where he spent six years working at several different restaurants in San Francisco including Jardiniere, Frission, Elizabeth Daniel, Coi and Campton Place.
As the lead line cook or sous chef he perfected his skills working with local farmers and preparing high quality menu items, as well as supervising fellow staff. In 2006 he became the executive sous chef at The Plumed Horse in Saratoga, Calif. In more recent years Watkins gained experience in Truckee while he worked at the West Shore Café and most recently, at Plumpjacks.
Chef/Owner Billy McCullough is excited about Watkins joining the Dragonfly team. “It’s always fun to bring new people into the mix at Dragonfly. The people I surround myself with often offer learning experiences for me as they bring their expertise to the restaurant, which is different from my culinary background.”
McCullough knows that Watkins has the ability to be able to keep up with Dragonfly’s inventive approach to food, “I’m excited for Chris to bring his talents to the Dragonfly kitchen. He is able to be creative with the quality products we use. Dragonfly has led the way locally pushing culinary boundaries, and Chris is the perfect fit to help us continue in this endeavor.”
Dragonfly Restaurant and Sushi Bar is located upstairs at 10118 Donner Pass Rd., right in the heart of downtown Truckee. Reservations for dinner are recommended. The Sushi Bar is first come, first served. Check out Dragonfly on the web here or call 530-587-0557.
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Welcome to the summer issue of Sierra FoodWineArt, focusing on our thriving foothill wineries and the wealth of outdoor dining and cultural activities this time of year.
You can read an exact digital copy of the magazine here.
Despite the recession, many of our vintners are expanding, showing their bullishness about the future. “Baby boomers have enjoyed wine for decades and now millennials are showing an affinity for wine,” says Wine Institute President Bob Koch. California wineries shipped nearly 200 million cases to the U.S. wine market last year— up over the previous year despite the recession.
In the foothills, wineries are opening new tasting rooms to capture the demand. Last summer, Naggiar opened a $1.5 million tasting room at its vineyards. Since then, Sierra Starr, Smith and Avanguardia have popped the cork on tasting rooms in downtown Grass Valley, renovating historic buidings.
Now four wineries—Bent Metal, Montoliva, Pilot Peak and Solune—have teamed up to open the Grass Valley Wine Co. in a handsomely renovated downtown building. We profile the new venture, and the wineries, in this issue.
Summer and fall also are the time to enjoy the wealth of outdoor activities for food, wine and art in the region. We offer features on patio dining, picnicking, farmers markets and outdoor performing arts events—from the foothills to Tahoe/Truckee.
We also profile a favorite Sierra getaway—the Rainbow Lodge in Soda Springs. And we write about some “firsts”—the first Italian Festival in Grass Valley and the first day spa at a hotel in Grass Valley.
We will republish the articles on our new website SierraCulture.com, along with a blog, videos and an extensive events calendar.
Enjoy the warm weather season. As always, you can reach us at info@sierrafoodwineart.com or (530) 263-1843.
—Jeff and Shannon Pelline
(photo credit: Elizabeth Carmel)
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Music, art, dance and poetry unite in the Sierra Nevada at 6,200 feet in the seventh annual inspiring art hike produced by Trails and Vistas on Sept. 11-12 at Squaw Valley USA in Olympic Valley (North Lake Tahoe), CA.
Audience members, led by an experienced guide, hike in small groups pausing at eight art venues, each set against the striking backdrop of towering granite rock faces and cascading mountains.
Blending installation art with nature, the hike has a profound effect on participants who become integral members of this unique experience. Sold out three years in a row, Trails and Vistas’ art hike, is an extraordinary experience for North Tahoe residents and visitors alike.
Artists and performers will present the expected and the unexpected; taking participants on a journey that will resonate deeply in their soul.
This year’s theme, “If Dreams were Clouds” honors the dreamtime.
Inspired by dream songs of the land and animals intertwined with the playful and powerful dance of clouds in the sky, artists play with the concept of dreamtime and clouds-floating, twisting, and holding a sculptural figurine before being carried away to another place or sculpted into a memory.
]]>4 peaches, very ripe, cut in quarters
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup water
2 to 3 cups Champagne
In a small saucepan, heat the peaches with lime juice, honey, cinammon stock and water. Blend with a hand blender until smooth. Chill at least 1 hour.
To serve, slowly stir in Champagne until desired consistency and serve in chilled glasses.
]]>1/3 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 1/2 lbs. apricots, halved and pitted
Cinnamon
Powdered sugar
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Combine dry mixture and milk alternately, a little at a time, with the butter mixture. Spread in a 10 inch by 14 inch baking pan.
Top with apricots, cut side up. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. Increase temperature to 375 degrees and bake 10 minutes longer or until done. Sprinkle top with powdered sugar while still hot.
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FOR NEARLY THREE DECADES, JIM BRIL helped run the word-famous Fior d’Italia restaurant in San Francisco. His regulars included Mayor Joe Alioto, Tommy Lasorda and Lance Armstrong.
Now Jim owns Monkey Cat restaurant in Auburn. He jokes that Lance will be visiting again—this time as he rides past the upscale bistro in the Amgen Tour of California bike race in May.
Monkey Cat has become a popular spot since Jim bought it nearly six years ago. The restaurant is named after an exotic and elusive creature, with piercing green eyes.
“With a name like Monkey Cat, we can serve a wide range of entrees, from exotic to comfort food,” says Jim, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Trish.
The menu has a continental flair, with some exotic items. Examples include rack of lamb, chicken picatta, an blackened mahi-mahi. Other items include build-your-own pasta (we like the mushroom alfredo sauce) and vegetable risotto.
“Yin Yang” spring rolls are a favorite appetizer: bok choy, carrot, red bell pepper, cucumber and bean sprouts with Thai peanut sauce. The pan-seared scallops topped with a blackened corn salsa is a classic appetizer.
Monkey Cat’s Palapa bar is one of the foothills’ best outdoor patios. The cocktail menu includes classic Martinis, Rum Runners and fresh-fruit Margaritas. The restaurant’s terrace room, which seats 26 people, is ideal for banquets. Its French door open onto the patio.
Monkey Cat
805 Lincoln Way, Auburn
530-888-8492 monkeycat.com
WITH ALL THE BUZZ ABOUT FACTORY farming, more people are looking for meat from animals raised in pastures on small farms.
The foothills provide many choices: Nevada County Free Range Beef, Coffee Pot Ranch for pork and Chapel Farm for buffalo.
Sinclair Family Farm in Penryn is the place to go for naturally raised lamb. They also sell free-range poultry and eggs.
“We’re doing so well that we’re expanding,” says Karin Sinclair, whose family has run the 12-acre farm for more than a decade.
Sinclair Family Farm sells its lamb direct, as well as at Blue Goose Produce in Loomis and Newcastle Produce.
The farm also sells its eggs there and at BriarPatch Market in Grass Valley and Whole Foods in Roseville and Sacramento. “Some Bay Area markets are itching to sellthem,
but I don’t have enough,” Karin says.
Later this year Sinclair Family Farm will add to its flock of chickens—already numbering more than 600—and it will begin selling pasture-raised beef.
The farm has about 90 head of ewes (female sheep) and 150 lambs. The lamb is popular for its flavor—not gamey—and its environmental benefits.
Karin and Keith Sinclair, along with their two children, have lived in Placer County since 1992. Six years later, their daughter’s choice for her 4H project got them involved with producing sheep.
The lamb is sold in individual cuts, by the half or whole. It is vacuum sealed. Butterflied leg of lamb sells for $8.99 a pound. Loin lamb chops sell for $14.99 a pound. Eggs are sold by the carton, flat or case. A dozen eggs sell for $3 and up.
Sinclair Family Farm
7375 Callison Road, Penryn
916-663-3990 sinclairfamilyfarm.net