Food and Wine Events

CANCELLED: Cooks with Books: Marie Simmons - Whole World Vegetarian (San Francisco)

Friday, February 3, 2017 - 12:00pm

Please note: this event has been cancelled.

Greens Restaurant in San Francisco • Singles: $115; Couples: $175 (one book)
Event ticket includes meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

Big-flavored vegetarian dishes from around the globe, from the James Beard Award -- and IACP Award–winning author Marie Simmons.

The best of our vegetarian recipes have always drawn inspiration from other cultures. In Whole World Vegetarian, Marie Simmons follows her culinary wanderlust, bringing together a collection of bold, imaginative dishes and seamlessly adapting them to contemporary tables.

Cooks can expect a wealth of sumptuous options: rice- and corn-stuffed poblano chiles; Greek-style mac-and-cheese with summer squash; Indonesian vegetable salad with peanut dressing. Even the homiest dishes deliver rich rewards, like South American pumpkin–black bean stew with prunes. All have fresh twists: In a zucchini lasagna, squash replaces pasta, and a cold beet soup is replete with chopped fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and apples. A Persian herb omelet gets an unexpected lift with baking powder. From a quick and little-known dip of Iranian yogurt, spinach, and caramelized onions garnished with toasted walnuts to shakshuka, a spicy Tunisian ratatouille crowned with poached eggs and fresh herbs, all become accessible and inviting under Simmons’ guidance.

The winner of a Julia Child Award and two James Beard Awards, Marie Simmons is a cooking teacher and the author of more than a dozen cookbooks, including Sur La Table's Things Cooks Love, Fresh & Fast, The Good Egg, and 365 Ways to Cook Pasta. She was a columnist for Bon Appétit for eighteen years.

 

Greens Restaurant
2 Marina Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94123

Cooks with Books: John Ash - Cooking Wild (Larkspur)

Thursday, January 19, 2017 - 6:30pm

Left Bank Restaurant in Larkspur • Singles: $115; Couples: $165 (one book)
Event ticket includes meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

Uncultivated foods are better for the planet and your plate, so for best health -- and best flavor! -- go wild with Cooking Wild: More than 150 Recipes for Eating Close to Nature!

To eat wild foods, you needn’t crawl through the forest or hunt your own game. Many wild foods are as close by as your local supermarket. But this doesn’t mean that wild foods aren’t worth the hunt. This book takes a big view of “wild,” including recipes and information on both foraged, uncultivated foods as well as looking at the progeny of wild foods more conveniently found for sale alongside their conventional cousins.

Americans are increasingly concerned about where their food comes from and how it’s produced, packaged, and marketed. Heritage breeds, Paleo diets, farmers’ markets, and environmental and climate concerns all point to increased interest in foods that are as natural, untreated, and healthy as they can be. Plants, seafood, meat, and poultry are all covered in more than 150 recipes, and will serve as a historical, agricultural education for your kitchen.

Chef John Ash is a James Beard award-winning author, teacher, and restaurateur. He co-hosts a weekly food and wine radio talk show, The Good Food Hour, broadcast in Sonoma County, and teaches cooking classes at various cooking schools, including the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, California. His most recent book, Culinary Birds, won a James Beard Award for Best Single Subject Cookbook. He lives in Santa Rosa, California.

Left Bank Larkspur Brasserie
507 Magnolia Avenue
Larkspur, CA 94939

Cooks with Books: Marcus Samuelsson - The Red Rooster Cookbook (Insalata's)

Saturday, October 22, 2016 - 12:30pm

Insalata's, San Anselmo
$115 per person (includes meal, wine, tax, tip, & a copy of the book)

Please note: event is now sold out.

When the James Beard Award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson opened Red Rooster on Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem, he envisioned more than a restaurant. It would be the heart of his neighborhood and a meet-and-greet for both the downtown and the uptown sets, serving Southern black and cross-cultural food. It would reflect Harlem's history. Ever since the 1930s, Harlem has been a magnet for more than a million African Americans, a melting pot for Spanish, African, and Caribbean immigrants, and a mecca for artists.

These traditions converge on Rooster’s menu, with Brown Butter Biscuits, Chicken and Waffle, Killer Collards, and Donuts with Sweet Potato Cream. They’re joined by global-influenced dishes such as Jerk Bacon and Baked Beans, Latino Pork and Plantains, and Chinese Steamed Bass and Fiery Noodles. Samuelsson’s Swedish-Ethiopian background shows in Ethiopian Spice-Crusted Lamb, Slow-Baked Blueberry Bread with Spiced Maple Syrup, and the Green Viking, sprightly Apple Sorbet with Caramel Sauce.

Interspersed with lyrical essays that convey the flavor of the place and stunning archival and contemporary photos, The Red Rooster Cookbook is as layered as its inheritance.

120 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
San Anselmo, CA 94960

Cooks with Books: Mario Batali - Big American Cookbook (Terrapin Crossroads)

Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 12:30pm

Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael • Tickets: $125 per person
Event ticket includes meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

This event is sold out.

In his Big American Cookbook, Mario Batali has searched all corners of the country to bring to the table America’s best dishes with 250 delicious recipes. Many of the recipes you’ll find have been passed down from generation to generation and Batali puts his own personal stamp on each one. Batali counts 25 restaurants, ten cookbooks, TV shows, and many other venues that have created this culinary genius a household name.

 

Terrapin Crossroads
100 Yacht Club Drive
San Rafael, CA 94901

Yasmin Khan - The Saffron Tales (Corte Madera)

Sunday, October 9, 2016 - 5:00pm

In conversation with Jasmin Darznik
Ticket: $25 (includes reception and $10 voucher towards book)

Armed with little more than a notebook and a bottle of pomegranate molasses, and fueled by memories of her family’s farm in the lush seaside province of Gilan, British-Iranian cook Yasmin Khan traversed Iran in search of the most delicious recipes.

Her quest took her from the snowy mountains of Tabriz to the cosmopolitan cafés of Tehran and the pomegranate orchards of Isfahan, where she was welcomed into the homes of artists, farmers, electricians, and teachers. Through her travels, she gained unique insight into the culinary secrets of the Persian kitchen, and the lives of ordinary Iranians today.

In The Saffron Tales, Yasmin weaves together stories from Iranian home kitchens with photography and fragrant, modern recipes rooted in the rich tradition of Persian cooking. Fully accessible to the home cook, Yasmin’s recipes range from the inimitable fesenjoon (chicken with walnuts and pomegranates) to kofte berenji (lamb meatballs stuffed with prunes and barberries). She offers a wealth of vegetarian dishes, including tahcheen (baked saffron and aubergine rice) and domaj (mixed herb, flatbread, and feta salad), as well as sumptuous desserts like rose and almond cake, and sour cherry and dark chocolate cookies.

With stunning photography from all corners of Iran and gorgeous recipe images, this lavish cookbook rejoices in the land, life, flavors, and food of an enigmatic and beautiful country.

Yasmin Khan is a writer and cook from London who loves to share people’s stories through food. She runs Persian cooking classes and pop-up supper clubs, and consults on Iran-related artistic projects. Outside of the kitchen, Yasmin has worked as a campaigner running high-profile national and international campaigns for NGOs, and grassroots groups on issues such as poverty and militarism, with a special focus on the Middle East.

Jasmin Darznik is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother’s Hidden Life and teaches in USF’s graduate creative writing program. She was born in Iran.

 

51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925

Literary Supper: Maria Semple - Today Will Be Different (Corte Madera)

Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 6:00pm

Tickets: $65
Event tickets include the meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

Please note: this event is now sold out!

In conversation with Kelly Corrigan

Eleanor knows she's a mess. But today, she will tackle the little things. She will shower and get dressed. She will have her poetry and yoga lessons after dropping off her son, Timby. She won't swear. She will initiate sex with her husband, Joe. But before she can put her modest plan into action-life happens. Today, it turns out, is the day Timby has decided to fake sick to weasel his way into his mother's company. It's also the day Joe has chosen to tell his office-but not Eleanor-that he's on vacation. Just when it seems like things can't go more awry, an encounter with a former colleague produces a graphic memoir whose dramatic tale threatens to reveal a buried family secret.

Today Will Be Different is a hilarious, heart-filled story about reinvention, sisterhood, and how sometimes it takes facing up to our former selves to truly begin living.

Maria Semple is the author of This One Is Mine and Where'd You Go, Bernadette, which has been translated into eighteen languages. She lives in Seattle.

 

51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925

Cooks with Books: Ryan Scott - One to Five (Left Bank)

Sunday, December 4, 2016 - 11:30am

Left Bank Restaurant in Larkspur • Singles: $115; Couples: $175 (one book) 
Event ticket includes meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

If you can't prep it, cook it, and sit down to eat it in less than an hour, chef and television personality Ryan Scott doesn't want to do it. It's just that simple.

One to Five: One Shortcut Recipe Transformed Into Five Easy Dishes is cooking for real life: master one basic recipe and learn to spin it into five quick, affordable, and crowd-pleasing dishes. Discover how Ryan's killer marinade, a simple rotisserie chicken, or an easy slow-cooker roast can turn into soul-satisfying meals like carnitas, stuffed egg rolls, sliders, a Vietnamese salad, and a hearty stew.

From taco night to breakfast as dinner, this book is all about flexibility as Ryan invites home cooks to think creatively about cooking while using supermarket staples. He offers ingenious strategies, tricks, and guidance on stocking the freezer and pantry so that great-tasting meals are always ready at the drop of a hat.

Scott makes cooking so simple that readers can eat a delicious home-cooked meal without the hassle - and have fun while making it.

Ryan Scott is a chef, restaurateur, and an Emmy-Award winning food host. He appears regularly on national television, including Today and Rachael Ray, and is the host of The Ryan Scott Show, a weekly radio show. Ryan is chef and owner of Finn Town in San Francisco. One to Five is his first cookbook. Learn more about Ryan at www.ryanscottenterprises.com.

 

Left Bank Restaurant
507 Magnolia Ave.
Larkspur, CA 94939

Cooks with Books: Alex Prud’homme - The French Chef in America (Left Bank)

Sunday, October 9, 2016 - 6:30pm

Left Bank Restaurant in Larkspur • Singles: $115; Couples: $180 (one book) 
Event ticket includes meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

Julia Child is synonymous with French cooking, but her legacy runs much deeper.

Now, her great-nephew and My Life in France coauthor vividly recounts the myriad ways in which she profoundly shaped how we eat today. He shows us Child in the aftermath of the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, suddenly finding herself America’s first lady of French food and under considerable pressure to embrace her new mantle. We see her dealing with difficult colleagues and the challenges of fame, ultimately using her newfound celebrity to create what would become a totally new type of food television. Every bit as entertaining, inspiring, and delectable as My Life in France, The French Chef in America: Julia Child's Second Act uncovers Julia Child beyond her “French chef” persona and reveals her second act to have been as groundbreaking and adventurous as her first.

Alex Prud’homme is Julia Child’s great-nephew and the coauthor of her autobiography, My Life in France, which was adapted into the movie Julie & Julia. He is also the author of The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Freshwater in the Twenty-First Century, Hydrofracking: What Everyone Needs to Know, and The Cell Game, and he is the coauthor (with Michael Cherkasky) of Forewarned: Why the Government Is Failing to Protect Us—and What We Must Do to Protect Ourselves. Prud’homme’s journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Time, and People.

 

Left Bank Restaurant
507 Magnolia Ave.
Larkspur, CA 94939

Cooks with Books: Ayesha Curry - The Seasoned Life (Left Bank)

Sunday, September 25, 2016 - 6:30pm

Left Bank Restaurant in Larkspur • $120 per person
Event ticket includes meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

Online registration is now closed. Please call (415) 927-0960 x 1 to inquire about waitlist availability.

In The Seasoned Life: Food, Family, Faith, and the Joy of Eating WellAyesha Curry shares 100 of her favorite recipes and invites readers into the home she has made with her two daughters and her husband, Stephen Curry. Ayesha knows firsthand what it is like to be a busy mom and wife, and she knows that for her family, time in the kitchen and around the table is where that balance begins.

This book has something for everybody. The simple, delicious recipes include Cast Iron Biscuits, Smoked Salmon Scramble, Homemade Granola, Mom's Chicken Soup, Stephen's 5 Ingredient Pasta, and plenty of recipes that get the whole family involved -- even the little ones!

Ayesha Curry has been featured in Food & Wine, Time, InStyle, Cooking Light, the Wall Street Journal, People, and USA Today and is a frequent guest on The Rachael Ray Show. Curry has appeared on several popular Food Network programs and hosts her own show on Cooking Channel. Mom to two daughters, Riley and Ryan, and wife to Stephen Curry, she lives in the Bay Area.

 

Left Bank Restaurant
507 Magnolia Ave.
Larkspur, CA 94939

Cooks with Books: Shalane Flanagan & Elyse Kopecky - Run Fast Eat Slow (Left Bank)

Wednesday, September 14, 2016 - 12:00pm

Left Bank Restaurant, Larkspur
Tickets: $100 single, $165 couple (one book)

Event tickets include the meal, wine, tip, and a signed copy of the book.

Please note: this event is now sold out. For waitlist availability, please call (415) 927-0960.

From world-class marathoner and 4-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan and chef Elyse Kopecky comes a whole foods, flavor-forward cookbook for athletes that proves food can be indulgent and nourishing at the same time.
 
Packed with more than 100 recipes for every part of your day, from a morning smoothie to a lunch salad or sandwich to, yes, even, a satisfying dessert, Run Fast Eat Slow has all the bases covered. Fitness-minded readers will find no shortage of delicious meals, snacks, beverages, and sweets to indulge in without the guilt. Meals like Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter and Pesto Zucchini "Pasta" will fill you up, without leaving you feeling heavy. Other fan favorites include Can’t Beet Me Smoothie, High-Altitude Bison Meatballs, Superhero Muffins, Arugula Cashew Pesto and Double Chocolate Teff Cookies. Flanagan and Kopecky also tackle the major misconceptions around what constitutes healthy eating. Many people have an ingrained fear of fat, but healthy fat is essential for preventing weight gain, absorbing nutrients, balancing hormones, building muscle and strong bones, and boosting energy.
 
Packaged as a beautiful full-color hardcover cookbook, this title stands out from other cookbooks geared toward athletes, and will please Shalane’s many fans who have been asking for food advice and recipes from her for years. Shalane will have just returned from competing in the 2016 Olympic Games, and in addition to dishing out cooking and food advice, will share stories about her experience in Rio.

 

Left Bank Brasserie
507 Magnolia Avenue
Larkspur, CA 94939

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