Archive for the 'Gourmet' Category
San Luis Obispo: $30 meals at 30 restaurants for Restaurant Month
November 22, 2009 7:04am
Mushroom and sage gnocchi, followed by chipotle shrimp linguini, and, for good measure, a chunk of Meyer lemon buttermilk cheesecake. That’s what $30 (plus tax and tip) would have gotten you at Black Cat Bistro in Cambria in January.
And now San Luis Obispo County’s Restaurant Month — Jan. 2 to 31, 2010 — is getting appetites whetted again.
During this third annual event, 30 restaurants will offer three-course menus for $30. Local wines from the Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo wine countries will also be suggested for your courses, though wine and other beverages come at an additional cost.
Participating restaurants are located all over the county, in Arroyo Grande, Avila Beach, Cambria, Cayucos, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo and Shell Beach. Read the rest of this entry »
NYC Restaurant Week 2010: Three-course dinner for $35
November 18, 2009 12:32pm
Time your New York City vacation right and you may be able to eat your way through the Big Apple without going broke. This week, the dates for the famous NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2010 were announced by NYC & Company, the city’s marketing and tourism organization.
The two-week event, which runs semiannually in summer and winter, is scheduled for Jan. 25 to Feb. 7, 2010.
And maybe we have the recession to thank, but prices for the foodie series are the same as they were in 2006. At participating restaurants, three-course, prix-fixe dinners will run $35. Lunches will cost $24.07 (as in 24 hours a day/7 days a week in the city that doesn’t sleep). These prices do not include beverages, tax and tip. And the special prices are valid every day during the two-week period except Saturdays. Read the rest of this entry »
Queen Mary to update restaurants; two-week December closure for Sir Winston’s
November 17, 2009 2:35pm
The Queen Mary’s signature upscale restaurant, Sir Winston’s, is about to go under the knife. Planned updates to the restaurant named for Winston Churchill follow a recent change in management for the popular tourist attraction.
We can expect the Old World classics on the menu, such as beef Wellington and rack of lamb, to receive “a more contemporary interpretation” as well as an emphasis on local, seasonal produce, according to a statement by Delaware North Cos. Parks & Resorts, which took over management of the Queen Mary in late September.
Menu and restaurant-décor changes are scheduled to be implemented by Dec. 21. As such, Sir Winston’s will close on Sunday, Dec. 6 and reopen on Monday, Dec. 21.
At the helm of the transition is Larry Banares, who was the executive chef at the Queen Mary over 17 years ago, and returned in October to serve as executive chef for all of the ship’s restaurants. Read the rest of this entry »
Big Bear: Free Thanksgiving dinner with vacation rental
November 14, 2009 5:45pm
I’m grateful for my many blessings — really, I am. But the thought of cooking a Thanksgiving dinner this year makes me to want to hide out until 2010. The only problem with that plan is that I’d really be missing out on the turkey and the trimmings, and of course the familial camaraderie. So maybe I’ll cart everyone up to a cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains instead.
Deal: Big Bear Vacations, which rents out over 300 cabins and homes, is offering a free prepared Thanksgiving dinner for those booking any of their properties for at least two nights during the holiday weekend, with arrival being on Wednesday, Nov. 25, only.
The dinner, enough for six to eight people, is prepared by the deli at the Vons in Big Bear Lake, and it will include turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, cranberry sauce, rolls and a pumpkin pie. If your party is a smaller one, you’ll get the same amount of food — but presumably, you’ll end up with lots for leftovers too. Read the rest of this entry »
Yosemite: Bracebridge Dinner begins Dec. 13 [Updated]
November 13, 2009 11:47am
Squire Bracebridge and his household request your attendance at a most unusual feast this holiday season, but you’d better book a seat soon. The famous and long-running dinner at Yosemite’s Ahwahnee hotel, though pricey, is always popular. Last year, most of the eight evenings sold out. [Corrected at 11:53 a.m. Nov. 17: Previous versions of this post, along with the headline, said the dinner was in its 80th or 84th season. It began in 1927 but missed some war years.]
In recounting her experience at a 2008 Bracebridge Dinner, L.A. Times staff writer Sharon Bernstein called the tradition, which has been going since 1927 (it took a two-year hiatus during World War II), “part corny, part historical, wonderfully musical, very California and perfectly Christmas.”
[A scene from last year's Bracebridge Dinner is shown above. Click here for a related photo gallery.]
For the event, the Ahwanee’s Dining Room transforms into the Great Hall at Squire Bracebridge’s manor, where guests are treated to a four-hour, seven-course Christmas feast and pageant featuring more than 100 performers. Read the rest of this entry »
Two California luxury hotels added to AAA’s 2010 Five Diamond Award list
November 6, 2009 2:45pm
Open less than a year, the Resort at Pelican Hill in Orange County like all hotels, has struggled against the tides of a beleaguered economy. But that doesn’t mean it can’t take a great compliment. The luxury coastal property is one of two California resorts that have danced into the exclusive ranks of AAA’s just-released Five Diamond Award list for 2010. [Corrected at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 6: An earlier version of this post said the Resort at Pelican Hill is south of Laguna Beach. It is north of Laguna Beach.]
California, with 20 five-diamond hotels, also added the opulent Grand del Mar in San Diego to its coffers.
The new Golden State additions join the company of some real longtimers, like the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, which has populated the list for 24 consecutive years, and the Peninsula Beverly Hills, with 17 consecutive years under its belt.
For Pinot, go to Willamette Valley, one of North America’s best wine regions
October 12, 2009 1:02pm
It being harvest season, good wine has been on the minds of many of us. If you’re thinking about a real wine-tasting getaway, you’ve probably already considered Napa Valley and Sonoma, popular spots that rank No. 1 and 2, respectively, on TripAdvisor.com’s recent list of top 10 wine destinations in North America.
But for something more adventurous, head farther north, to Oregon’s wine country. Willamette Valley, which ranks No. 3 on the list released by the user-generated-review site, boasts the largest concentration of wineries and vineyards in the state, according to the Oregon Wine Board.
The 150-mile-long valley, sitting between the coastal mountain range and the Cascades, is “a lush rural area” with a “gently curvaceous landscape shaped by volcanic events, then polished by abundant Pacific moisture,” said writer Patrick Comiskey in his article “Oregon’s lush Willamette Valley offers a vintners’ bounty.”
In the region’s 200 or so wineries, many of them small, you can sample wines produced from cool-grape varieties. And if you’re a fan of Pinot Noir? Read the rest of this entry »
‘Julie & Julia’ foodie tour of France
October 6, 2009 5:56am
Have you seen the movie “Julie & Julia,” directed by Nora Ephron? Read the book?
Much of the film takes off from “My Life in France,” describing Julia Child’s post-World War II encounters with French cooking and eating. The renowned chef was working on the memoir when she died in 2004, leaving it to be finished by Alex Prud’homme.
Now true believers in the “French Chef” can follow her tracks through the land of tripe and escargot on a tour devised by New York-based Tour de Forks, which specializes in culinary excursions around the world, from New Orleans to Australia.
DineLA Restaurant Week Oct. 4-9 and 11-16
October 4, 2009 12:47pm
DineLA is offering a second helping of Restaurant Week that starts today (Oct. 4-9 and 11-16). As if it weren’t hard enough to decide which of the 175 participating restaurants to try during the last event, in January, there are 125 more restaurants in this event. That’s a grand total of 250 restaurants to choose from. Some of the new celebs jumping on board to have some Restaurant Week fun include Josiah Citrin with Caché, John Sedlar with Rivera, Michael McCarty with Michael’s and Josie Le Balch with Josie.
If you haven’t dined out during Restaurant Week before, it’s a great opportunity to try new eateries around town. Participating restaurants offer a three-course meal for lunch and dinner at special prices that range from $16 per person to $44 per person. Note: Prices do not include tax, beverages or gratuity. It’s also best to make a reservation.
As you know, there’s been a big food-truck fad happening in LA. Five of L.A.’s top chefs took to the road to promote this season’s Restaurant Week, including Anisette’s Alain Giraud, above.
Tip: Did you know that lots of new restaurants have been opening up downtown? Check out the buzz to see whose tables you might’ve missed.
When: Oct. 4-9 and 11-16
More info: DineLA Restaurant Week
– Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger
[Photo: Anisette's Alain Giraud will be one of five chefs offering free tastes. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times]
Napa Valley wine travel: Use Twitter and Facebook to nab a deal during ‘Crush’ season
October 1, 2009 5:56am
TripAdvisor recently named Napa Valley the “undisputed American capital of wine” in its list of Top 10 North American Wine Destinations. Second place went to Sonoma and third place went to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. To celebrate, Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa put up a sale on rooms through Twitter and Facebook for their fans during the 2009 “Crush” grape harvest season. It’s a 72-hour sale that started Sept. 30, so book your rooms by Friday if you want to take advantage of a good deal during this annual event.
Deal: Rooms start at $99 (Sunday through Thursday) and $199 (Friday and Saturday) for stays through Nov. 14. That’s a significant markdown, considering that rates typically range from $209 to $259 weekdays and start at $279 on weekends. The lowest weekday rate I found (on sale) at Hotels.com was $159 per night. This deal is only good on Twitter and Facebook. It’s also worth following the Marriott on Twitter (@napamarriott) because it sometimes gives out free tasting passes to its local winery partners to tweeps who visit. Note that the offer is only good through .
