Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Mission Hill Family Estate's Summer Lineup

See the full gallery on Posterous

Sample Menu:

Locally-sourced ingredients and wine pairings from Mission Hill's portfolio. Highlights include:

Vine Smoked Arctic Char with berry gel;
Ocean Wise Shrimp and Sweet Corn Panna Cotta;
Naramata White Peach Gazpacho;
Deep Fried Hen's Egg with chickpea panisse and buttered green peas;
"AAA" Beef Strip Loin with crispy polenta and truffled cauliflower;
Glazed French Lemon Curd 'Bar' with basil marshmallow and pine nut crunch.

4-Course Garden to Vineyard Lunch: Thursday, July 19th, 2012

Guests are invited to join Executive Winery Chef Matthew Batey in Mission Hill's on-site varietal garden, to glean knowledge and pick their own fresh ingredients that will pair perfectly with the meal's wine selections. Enjoy a four-course tasting menu in the vineyard, created and presented by Chef Batey from the day's harvest.

Thursday, July 19th, 2012 at 11am $85 per person

Summer in Whites Loggia Dinner: Friday, August 3rd, 2012

Fresh, vibrant, alluring, these words all describe the white wines of Mission Hill. This exclusive dinner is a splendid way to enjoy these exuberant wines of summer. Guests will be privy to a gorgeous pre-dinner vineyard reception, a Sommelier-hosted winery tour and a three-course wine-paired dinner, set in the winery's stunning Loggia gallery. Guests are encouraged to dress in white in celebration of the evening's wine theme.

Friday, August 3rd, 2012 at 6pm $99 per person

Purchase tickets online: missionhill.com

Mission Hill Family Estate is world renowned and honored as one of the 'Top Five Winery Restaurants in the World' by Travel + Leisure magazine. The restaurant and epicurean program is led by Executive Winery Chef Matthew Batey and Chef of The Terrace Chris Stewart. Majestic mountains, scenic lakes and lush orchards encase the winery's dramatic architecture. With sustainable practices that ensure care for the environment, and a timelessness that respects the von Mandl family's European heritage, guests experience the height of winemaking in an incomparable lakeside mountaintop winery.

@LocalFoodAndWine

Posted via email from Okanagan Food And Wine

Monday, May 28, 2012

Wine Evenings at Restaurant 114 Faubourg St. Honore

By Paige Donner

Saturday, April 28, 2012

GMO Labeling Initiative Heading to California Ballot!

Hi LA friends, I wanted to let you know about this event taking place in LA next week to celebrate the good news that Californians will get to decide in November whether we have the right to know if the food we eat is made with genetically engineered ingredients. This rally and press event will take place at the Board of Elections office in Norwalk, where hundreds of thousands of signatures will be dropped off on May 2. Please help spread the word and all are welcomed to come celebrate!

Thanks,
Stacy Malkan

Environmental Working Group

We have a right to know what's in our food. More than 90% of Americans agree: genetically engineered food should be labeled. We are going to get this done in California. Join us on the road to victory in November!

GMO Right to Know Victory Rally May 2 in Los Angeles: On Wednesday, May 2 we will be turning in more than enough signatures to bring the California Right to Know initiative to label genetically engineered foods on the November ballot! This massive achievement is thanks to the work of thousands of volunteers across the state, including farmers, concerned, parents, activists, celebrities, sustainable businesses and many others.

Now we need your help to show the world the energy and commitment behind this historic initiative. Join us May 2 to celebrate our success and show the world our intention to win in November. We will deliver petitions in baby carriages to represent how important this issue is to future generations.

Please arrive at 10:00 a.m. May 2 with signs, posters, carriages, bring the kids and your friends!

Los Angeles area event: Meet at Board of Elections office at 12400 Imperial Highway, Norwalk. Speakers: singer, songwriter and GMO Right to Know leader Zuri Allen Star, petition leader and mom Stacey Hall, special guests TBA.

Help spread the word: http://www.carighttoknow.org/content/gmo-right-know-victory-rallies-join-us-may-2-celebrate

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♥Chérie Du Vin

Posted via email from Local Food And Wine

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Food Truck Fever Hits Paris

by Paige Donner

Paris, the ultimate city of foodies, is, as we write this, gripped with Food Truck Fever.

WATCH VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE

Yes, believe it! In exemplary fashion of how it takes several months to a few years for trends to cross the Atlantic (and it goes both ways!)... Since December, when Paris got its first Food Truck, aptly named Le Camion Qui Fume (transl. "The Smoking Truck,") to now, mid-April when Paris can boast its second Food Truck as of April 1st - Cantine California - to feed the fevered frenzy for French Fries, we can now confidently say that food trucks have firmly taken hold of the Parisian Foodie Scene.

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Because, indeed, it is french fries these food trucks purvey. Cantine California offers both sweet potato french fries and regular french fries. All are organic. On their menu are also Burgers made from steak-grade quality cuts of beef bought direct from a small country farm where no hormones or other additives are used to process the meat. Same goes with the pulled pork he slow roasts in Mexican (mild) spices to achieve a very excellent Paris rendition of carne asada tacos. The taco shells are handmade in the truck and are the traditional soft tacos that anyone from California has come to expect.

Carne_asada_tacos_cantine_california_paris_local_food_and_wine

And the cupcakes - red velvet with a butter cream white frosting, or a deep dark chocolate with a rich chocolate frosting - all made with organic flour that he - owner-entrepreneur Jordan Fielders (French/American/ Canadian) also buys direct from the mill. And the chocolate is Fair Trade too. The chef, also named Jordan (Powers) and her boyfriend man the cooking and prepping while Jordan Fielders, always a foodie but formerly working in the energy and mining sector, takes care of the "front of house."

Cantine_californias_jordan_fielders_and_jordan_powers_pictured_in_truck_local_food_and_wine

Figure on about 10€ for a plate of carne asada tacos, served with lime wedges and real black beans, along with authentic hot sauce. Truly one of the few places, very few places, in Paris where you can find an authentic California -even S. of the border - taco. Hamburgers are stupefyingly delicious. I'll stop by regularly just for more sweet potato fries. And the cupcakes are a terrifying 2.50€ - terrifying because at that price I'll be able to pick up a half a dozen of those fresh baked butter cream monsters at a time.

WATCH VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE

Kudos to both Kristin of Le Camion Qui Fume - read more about her hamburgers in this month's Glamour magazine, French version - and Jordan of Cantine California for braving not just a city of foodies (yes, ok, read food snobs) but also a business bureaucracy that doesn't make things all that easy for young entrepreneurs. Although, I have to come clean, I did see a food truck parked in St. Germain - on St. Germain Blvd near rue du Bac - last year during Designer Days. They were giving away/selling little cups of butternut squash soup and macarons, if memory serves. Will have to dig up that picture I snapped...if only to prove to myself I'm not imagining it!

Also, when you reflect on the whole itinerant food vendor thing and the long history the city has with its fresh markets, all of which also have food vendor stalls established within them (like crepes to go or roasted chicken with potatoes) it doesn't, in fact, seem like such a stretch for these new kids on the block to rock up to the same curb and set up their tent, er, truck. After all, one thing Parisians do know and that's food. And every lunch hour, M-F, millions of them swarm the city streets looking for something good to eat.

FYI, Le Camion qui Fume accepts cash only; Cantine California accepts credit cards and cash. Check their sites/ Twitter feeds for today's location.

Twitter @ LocalFoodWine [photos/video by Paige Donner]

Posted via email from Local Food And Wine

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Monsanto Must Pay Damages To French Farmer for Pesticide Poisoning

Exerpted from From Le Figaro (English)

Monsanto must pay for French farmer’s pesticide injuries

A French tribunal found Monsanto, the leading producer of agro chemicals, responsible for serious neurological effects suffered by a French farmer after his exposure to poisonous pesticides. Monsanto must pay for all damages suffered by the farmer.

This win may set a precedent for other cases. The MSA (mutuelle sociale agricole), the French mutual insurance system for agricultural workers, reported that they receive about 200 files a year from agriculturalists who confirm being poisoned by pesticides.