Food and Wine Events

Literary Luncheon: Sarah Blake - The Guest Book (Corte Madera Store)

Friday, May 17, 2019 - 12:00pm

Ticket: $55 (includes meal & signed book)
In Conversation with Luisa Smith

The Guest Book is the thought-provoking new novel by New York Times bestselling author Sarah Blake.

No. It is a simple word, uttered on a summer porch in 1936, and it will haunt Kitty Milton for the rest of her life. Kitty and her husband, Ogden, are both from families considered the backbone of the country. But this refusal will come to be Kitty’s defining moment, and its consequences will ripple through the Milton family for generations. For while they summer on their island in Maine, anchored as they are to the way things have always been, the winds of change are beginning to stir.

In 1959 New York City, two strangers enter the Miltons’ circle. One captures the attention of Kitty’s daughter, while the other makes each of them question what the family stands for. This new generation insists the times are changing. And in one night, everything does.

So much so that in the present day, the third generation of Miltons doesn’t have enough money to keep the island in Maine. Evie Milton’s mother has just died, and as Evie digs into her mother’s and grandparents’ history, what she finds is a story as unsettling as it is inescapable, the story that threatens the foundation of the Milton family myth.

Moving through three generations and back and forth in time, The Guest Book asks how we remember and what we choose to forget. It shows the untold secrets we inherit and pass on, unknowingly echoing our parents and grandparents. Sarah Blake’s triumphant novel tells the story of a family and a country that buries its past in quiet, until the present calls forth a reckoning.

Sarah Blake is the author of the novels Grange House and the New York Times bestseller The Postmistress. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two sons.

Please note that tickets are non-refundable.

51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925

CANCELLED: Cooks with Books: Fiorella Butron, John McReynolds, & Mike Emanuel - Stone Edge Farm Kitchen Larder Cookbook (Silver Cloud Vineyard)

Saturday, May 25, 2019 - 12:00pm

 

Presented by Book Passage at Silver Cloud Vineyard, Glen Ellen
Tickets: $155 per person; $250 per couple (includes meal & book)

Please note: This event has been cancelled. It will be rescheduled to an in-store event at a future date

Celebrating the bounty of the estate’s organic kitchen garden, groves, and olive orchard, The Stone Edge Farm Kitchen Larder Cookbook makes the ultimate gift for cooks looking for new creative and efficient means to make the most of abundance and is a thoughtful, practical inspiration for building one’s own repertoire of versatile staples and resourceful dishes combining delicious and dependable larder recipes with fresh, seasonal ingredients.

Divided into chapters around ten classic ingredients—Lemons and Citrus, Herbs, Garlic, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers, Figs, Quince, Olives and Olive Oil, and Grapes—seventy-five delectable recipes show readers how to prepare pantry staples, such as preserves, infused oils, and conservas, and then how to use those same products and ingredients in fully composed seasonal cocktails, dishes, and desserts for family meals and entertaining. Recipes include: Warm Olives with Preserved Lemon, Stone Fruit Salad with Onions, Wild Pecans, and Black Garlic Dressing, Potato and Green Garlic Ravioli, Herb-Crusted Fillet of Beef with Red Wine Jus, and Honey Sage Whiskey Sour.

Step-by-step photographs guide the reader through preservation techniques and recipes and inspire with views of finished and composed dishes and scenery from wine country.

John McReynolds is the author of The Stone Edge Farm Cookbook (2013), winner of the 2014 Cookbook of the Year and Best First Book awards from the International Association of Culinary Professionals (a historic first for a self-published cookbook). He was the founding chef and co-owner of Café La Haye in Sonoma, CA for ten years and is the Executive Chef and Culinary Director of Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards and Winery. His recipes have appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, and cookbooks. Mike Emanuel and Fiorella Butron are both chefs at Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards and Winery.

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Upon reservation, address and directions will be provided to this exclusive property.

Silver Cloud Vineyard
Glen Ellen, CA

Cooks with Books: Ruth Reichl - Save Me The Plums (Left Bank)

Monday, April 8, 2019 - 12:30pm

Left Bank, Larkspur
Tickets: $120 per person; $180 per couple

*Registration is now closed. 

When Condé Nast offered Ruth Reichl the top position at America’s oldest epicurean magazine, she declined. She was a writer, not a manager, and had no inclination to be anyone’s boss. And yet...Reichl had been reading Gourmet since she was eight; it had inspired her career. How could she say no?

This is the story of a former Berkeley hippie entering the corporate world and worrying about losing her soul. It is the story of the moment restaurants became an important part of popular culture, a time when the rise of the farm-to-table movement changed, forever, the way we eat. Readers will meet legendary chefs like David Chang and Eric Ripert, idiosyncratic writers like David Foster Wallace, and a colorful group of editors and art directors who, under Reichl’s leadership, transformed stately Gourmet into a cutting-edge publication. This was the golden age of print media—the last spendthrift gasp before the Internet turned the magazine world upside down.

Complete with recipes, Save Me the Plums is a personal journey of a woman coming to terms with being in charge and making a mark, following a passion and holding on to her dreams—even when she ends up in a place she never expected to be.

Ruth Reichl is the bestselling author of the memoirs Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me With Apples, Garlic and Sapphires, and For You, Mom, Finally; the novel Delicious!; and, most recently, the cookbook My Kitchen Year. She was editor in chief of Gourmet magazine for ten years. Previously she was the restaurant critic for The New York Times and served as the food editor and restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times. She has been honored with six James Beard Awards for her journalism, magazine feature writing, and criticism. She lives in upstate New York with her husband and two cats.

 

Left Bank Brasserie
507 Magnolia Avenue
Larkspur, CA 94939

Cooks with Books: Janet Fletcher - Wine Country Table (Insalata's Restaurant)

Thursday, April 11, 2019 - 6:30pm

 

Presented by Insalata's Restaurant, San Anselmo 
Tickets: $125 per person; $200 per couple (includes meal & book)

Please note: This event is currently at capacity

A luxurious guided tour of breathtaking farms and wineries with a garden-to-table cooking class from a prominent Napa Valley chef -- Wine Country Table showcases the spirit and dishes that make wine country entertaining an evergreen trend from coast to coast. Fifteen renowned producers whose sustainable practices show the future of responsible farming and winegrowing are profiled, including Cakebread Cellars, Domaine Carneros, Handley Cellars, and Tablas Creek Vineyard, along with Lodi Farming (cherries), Hilltop & Canyon Farms (avocados and citrus), and Henderson Orchards (pears).

Award-winning author Janet Fletcher's recipes turn any gathering into a celebration. Wine pairings and recommendations add sophistication to everyday meals. Wine Country Table shows readers firsthand how responsible growing practices and careful technique result in delicious dishes you'll be proud to share with family and friends.

Janet Fletcher is the author or co-author of nearly 30 books on food and beverage, including Cheese & Wine, Cheese & Beer, Yogurt: Sweet and Savory Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, and Sur la Table's Eating Local: Recipes Inspired by America's Farmers. She publishes the weekly Planet Cheese blog and is the cheese columnist for Specialty Food and Somm Journal magazines. Fletcher's journalism has received three James Beard Awards and the IACP Bert Greene Award, and her food writing has appeared in numerous national publications, including the New York Times, Saveur, Fine Cooking, and Food & Wine.

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Our award-winning Cooks with Books events are held at outstanding Bay Area restaurants. The meal is inspired by the author/chefs who discuss their cookbooks with guests throughout the meal. These are happy, convivial events that often sell out quickly, so don’t wait to register! Event tickets include the meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

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Can’t make the event? Need a gift? Click below to purchase the book now.

Insalata's Restaurant
120 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
San Anselmo, CA 94960

Cooks with Books: Jamie Purviance - Weber's Ultimate Grilling (Left Bank Brasserie)

Sunday, June 2, 2019 - 6:30pm

 

Presented by Book Passage at Left Bank, Larkspur
Tickets: $115 per person; $175 per couple (includes meal & book)

Registration is now closed.*

This is your new go-to companion from the most trusted name in grilling. Much more than just a recipe collection, Weber’s Ultimate Grilling is an entirely new take on grilling today, with every recipe step visually depicted in full-color photography. With these extensively tested recipes, anyone—from amateur to ace—can be a barbecue genius. Foundational recipes for popular grilled foods—steak, burgers, pork chops, ribs, chicken breasts and wings, and salmon fillets—are masterfully explained in this keepsake classroom-in-a-book. “Flavor Bomb” spreads offer inspiring, weeknight-friendly recipe ideas for how to create wonderful variations of the most-loved grilled foods. And fun food science facts, along with infographics, illustrations, and tips, help you get the absolute best results every time.

Jamie Purviance is one of America’s top grilling experts and Weber’s master griller. He graduated from Stanford University and the Culinary Institute of America before launching a career as a food writer for publications such as Bon Appetit, Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Cooking, Town & Country, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of numerous cookbooks including Weber’s Way to Grill, a James Beard Award nominee and New York Times best seller. Purviance has appeared as a grilling authority on numerous television shows including Today, The Early Show, Good Morning America, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. He lives in Sacramento, California.

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Our award-winning Cooks with Books events are held at outstanding Bay Area restaurants. The meal is inspired by the author/chefs who discuss their cookbooks with guests throughout the meal. These are happy, convivial events that often sell out quickly, so don’t wait to register! Event tickets include the meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

Left Bank Brasserie
507 Magnolia Avenue
Larkspur, CA 94939

Cooks with Books: Elizabeth Minchilli - The Italian Table (Left Bank Brasserie)

Sunday, May 5, 2019 - 6:30pm

 

Presented by Book Passage at Left Bank, Larkspur
Tickets: $115 per person; $175 per couple (includes meal & book)

Please note: This event is currently at capacity. If you would like to be added to our waitlist, please call (415) 927-0960x1

The Italian Table delivers both parts of the fantasy and reality of Italian meals as they would be eaten on location. Combining menus and recipes with visual experience and inspiration--as well as insight into the traditions of the food and celebrations--it serves as a practical resource that gives home cooks and hosts step-by-step guidance on how to re-create these fabulous meals at their own tables.

Menus and recipes include: Eating in the Market in Florence with Coward's Spaghetti, Pappa al Pomodoro, and Apple Cake; A Sunday Lunch in Emilia-Romagna with Ricotta and Swiss Chard Tortelli, Vegetable Pie, and Stuffed Pork Roast; and A Table by the Sea in Positano with Mozzarella on Grilled Lemon Leaves, Squid and Walnut Salad, and Jackie O's Spaghetti. With a resources section for Italian ingredients; headnotes brimming with interesting history, recipe shortcuts, and serving suggestions; and menu introductions detailing what to drink, how to set the table, and how to time the preparation and the party itself, this is an essential guide for home cooks and those who love to entertain.

Elizabeth Minchilli has written about food, style, and architecture from her home in Italy for the past 25 years. Her website, Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome won a Saveur Blog Award for Best Culinary Coverage, an Italy Magazine Best Food Blog Award, and was named The Culture Trip Local Favorite. Elizabeth is the author of eight books, including Eating My Way Through Italy. She is also the founder of the Eat Italy app. Her books, blogs, apps, and food tours have been praised by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Travel & Leisure, NPR, The Huffington Post, Condé Nast Traveler, and more.

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Our award-winning Cooks with Books events are held at outstanding Bay Area restaurants. The meal is inspired by the author/chefs who discuss their cookbooks with guests throughout the meal. These are happy, convivial events that often sell out quickly, so don’t wait to register! Event tickets include the meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

 

Left Bank Brasserie
507 Magnolia Avenue
Larkspur, CA 94939

Literary Luncheon: Lisa See - The Island of Sea Women (Corte Madera Store)

Tuesday, April 9, 2019 - 12:00pm

Ticket: $55 (includes meal & signed book)

Note: Space is limited. Please call (415) 927-0960x1 for more information

Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger.

Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore. The Island of Sea Women is an epoch set over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War and its aftermath, through the era of cell phones and wetsuits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.

This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a world turned upside down, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce and unforgettable female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.

Lisa See is the New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, China Dolls, and Dreams of Joy, which debuted at #1. She is also the author of On Gold Mountain, which tells the story of her Chinese American family’s settlement in Los Angeles. See was the recipient of the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Association of Southern California and the History Maker’s Award from the Chinese American Museum. She was also named National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women.

Please note that tickets are non-refundable.

 

51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925

Cooks with Books: Martina McBride - Martina’s Kitchen Mix: My Recipe Playlist for Real Life (Calmére Estate Winery)

Saturday, March 30, 2019 - 12:00pm

 

Presented by Book Passage and Bank of Marin at Calmére Estate Winery, Napa
Tickets: $145 per person; $255 per couple (includes meal & book)

Please note: This event is now waitlist only. Please call (415) 927-0960x1 for more information.

To country music icon Martina McBride, cooking and singing aren't all that different. When she makes something delicious, she wants to share it, which is a lot like sharing her music with an audience. When she's not on stage or in the studio, Martina is most likely experimenting in the kitchen and cooking with family and friends. Growing up on a farm in Kansas, Martina began helping her mother in the kitchen at an early age, preparing fresh-from-the-field ingredients. Meals and stories were shared daily around the table. It's a tradition she continues with her own family as often as she can because real life is what's worth celebrating. In this gorgeously photographed cookbook, readers will find more than 100 simple and satisfying recipes filled with fresh, seasonal ingredients and down-home flavor.

In Martina's Kitchen Mix, Martina encourages cooking "outside the lines" and shows you how to make cooking fun with creative "ad-lib" tips for recipe riffs you might consider. Mix things up in the kitchen and create your own delicious memories with her inspired recipes to feed a handful or a houseful. Whip up Martina's family favorites like her mother-in-law Flavia's Deviled Eggs, husband John's Bacon-Wrapped Olives, or her go-to Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Sauce and Slaw. Plan a weekend brunch menu, serving Baked French Toast with Pecan Crumble and Blackberry-Maple Syrup and Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole with Tomato Gravy. Toast friends at happy hour with her Blackberry-Lemon Gin & Tonic while enjoying Grilled Sweet Peppers with Goat Cheese and Herbs. And when it's time to celebrate with family and indulge in dessert, try Martina's Fresh Apple Cake with Homemade Caramel Sauce or No-Bake Peanut Butter-Chocolate Cookies.

Martina McBride is a Kansas native and country music icon who made her debut on the charts in 1992. She has earned a string of hits across 13 albums and has sold over 14 million albums. She is the author of Around the Table: Recipes and Inspiration for Gatherings Throughout the Year. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and three daughters.

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Our award-winning Cooks with Books events are held at outstanding Bay Area restaurants. The meal is inspired by the author/chefs who discuss their cookbooks with guests throughout the meal. These are happy, convivial events that often sell out quickly, so don’t wait to register! Event tickets include the meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

Calmére Estate Winery
2750 Las Amigas Rd.
Napa, CA 94559

Cooks with Books: Dorie Greenspan - Everyday Dorie (Left Bank Restaurant)

Thursday, November 8, 2018 - 6:30pm

Left Bank Restaurant, Larkspur
Tickets: $120 per person; $185 per couple (includes meal & book)

Online ticket sales have now closed. Please call (415) 927-0960 ext. 233 to inquire about waitlist availability.

To the hundreds of thousands who follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, Dorie Greenspan’s food is powerfully cookable—her recipes instant classics. In Everyday Dorie, she invites readers into her kitchen to savor the dishes that she makes all the time, from Miso-Glazed Salmon to Lemon Goop.

What makes a “Dorie recipe”?

Each one has a small surprise that makes it special. Mustard and walnuts in the cheese puffs. Cherry tomatoes stuffed into red bell peppers and oven-charred. Cannellini beans in cod en papillote. The dishes are practical, made with common ingredients from the supermarket, farmers’ market, or pantry, like Sweet Chili Chicken Thighs, which is both weeknight simple and fine enough for company, and Eton Mess, a beautifully casual dessert of crumbled meringue, fruit, and whipped cream. They are easygoing, providing swaps and substitutions. They invite mixing and matching. Many can be served as dinner, or as a side dish, or as an appetizer, or hot, cold, or room temperature. And every single one is like a best friend in the kitchen, full of Dorie’s infectious love of cooking and her trademark hand-holding directions.

Inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America, Dorie Greenspan is the author of Dorie's Cookies, a 2017 James Beard Award-winner for Best Baking and Dessert book; Around My French Table, a New York Times bestseller that wasnnamed Cookbook of the Year by the IACP; Baking Chez Moi, also a Times bestseller; and Baking: From My Home to Yours, a James Beard Award winner. She lives in New York City, Westbrook, Connecticut, and Paris.

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Our award-winning Cooks with Books events are held at outstanding Bay Area restaurants. The meal is inspired by the author/chefs who discuss their cookbooks with guests throughout the meal. These are happy, convivial events that often sell out quickly, so don’t wait to register! Event tickets include the meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

 

Left Bank Restaurant
507 Magnolia Ave.
Larkspur, CA 94939

Cooks with Books: Cara Black - Murder on the Left Bank (Left Bank Restaurant)

Thursday, September 20, 2018 - 6:30pm

Left Bank Restaurant, Larkspur
Tickets: $100 per person; $160 per couple (includes meal & book)

Please note: online ticket sales are now closed. Please call Kathryn Petrocelli (415-927-0960 ext. 239) for ticket availability.

What better way to solve a murder mystery on the Left Bank than to be at the Left Bank? Join us for a fun evening with fellow sleuths and foodies for a French-inspired meal and discussion with Cara Black, author of eighteen books in the New York Times bestselling detective series set in Paris. Murder on the Left Bank is a beautifully crafted page turner that has all of Black’s trademark ingredients including suspenseful plotting, sharp dialogue, and colorful sights and smells of Paris. Readers will visit an ancient royal tapestry factory, art galleries, pungent cafes, and lesser known parts of Paris—all on a pink Vespa.

 

Left Bank Restaurant
507 Magnolia Ave.
Larkspur, CA 94939

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