The country’s oldest port-producing vineyard will set up shop in Midtown by the end of the year, combining wine and port tasting with a kitchen store. Called Ficklin Wilcox, the store is owned by Ficklin Vineyards, which was established in Madera, Calif., in 1946. A combination kitchen store and tasting room, it’s a new endeavor for the company. “I felt like it was an original concept,” said Liz Wilcox of Ficklin Wilcox. “I haven’t seen anything quite like it, and my mother-in-law and I have been talking about doing something like this for years.” Wilcox said she comes from a retail background, spending years working with Williams Sonoma. The business will sell kitchenware such as cut

To the delight of history enthusiasts and food and wine lovers throughout the region, Friends of Sutter’s Fort is proud to present a unique culinary experience -- “Feast at the Fort” -- on Saturday evening, September 22.  Previously known as “A Taste of History,” this is the third year for this signature event for Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park (SHP).  “Feast at the Fort” guests will enjoy a satisfying four-course, sit-down dinner prepared by Sacramento’s top chefs amid a beautiful setting inside the historic walls of Sutter’s Fort SHP.  With KFBK’s Kitty O’Neal as the celebrity emcee, the historic food preservation technique of curing – popular in the heyday of Sutter’s Fort -- will be

On Thursday June 7th 2012 the Sactown Dining Collective held their kick-off event at Plates Cafe & Catering. Plates works with the St. Johns Shelter for Women and Children, an organization helping formerly homeless women get back on track. The program at Plates encourages a strong work ethic and shows women how to succeed using the skills they have learned working at the cafe. In collaboration with a group of local sponsors the SDC chefs gave us a peek at the tremendous culinary talents Sacramento has to offer. The evening began with passed appetizers and samplings of beer and wine. Ruhstaller was on hand with their Red Ale and Black IPA, two very aromatic and food friendly beers and Lagu

To the delight of local foodies, wine enthusiasts and the community in general, the 10th Annual Grape Escape is scheduled for Saturday, June 2, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Park in downtown Sacramento.  The popular Grape Escape celebration is the region’s premiere food and wine event that showcases varietals from 60 regional wineries and 40 local restaurants. This annual culinary event provides a rare opportunity for attendees to sip wine from the eight wine regions in the greater Sacramento area while enjoying delicious food samples from Sacramento’s top restaurants. The Grape Escape event first started in 2002 with 700 attendees and 55 participating restaurants and wineries.  This s

After a successful inaugural effort in 2010, Friends of Sutter’s Fort in association with Slow Food Sacramento proudly present the second annual “A Taste of History” fundraising event on Saturday evening, September 24.  “A Taste of History” offers guests a unique culinary experience that includes a four-course, sit-down dinner amid a beautiful setting inside the walls of Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park (SHP).    The highlight of the memorable event is a specially designed menu designed to showcase meals reminiscent of those enjoyed when John Sutter founded Sutter’s Fort in 1839.  Many historic recipes will be re-invented with today’s innovative techniques and vibrant local ingredients. 

Do you love talking about food? Do you flip to the food section of the newspaper before even reading the front page? Is a trip to the grocery store an excursion? For all you foodies, bloggers and lovers of Sacramento’s restaurants and food: The Sacramento Bee and The Sacramento Press have teamed up to bring you “Table Talk Sacramento: The region’s food community comes together for an evening of lively discussion.” There will be two panels addressing different topics, including “What Sacramentans Eat” and the quality of local food writing. Chris Macias will moderate the food writing panel. Macias has served as the Bee’s food and wine writer since 2008. The panelists include: Niesha Lofin

Local chefs will give thanks Thursday if they get a break from cooking. But this week, a handful of them were more than happy to share ideas for Thanksgiving side dishes. They range from Cajun cornbread stuffing and stuffed roasted vegetables to sweet potato gratin and a Swiss dish called chnoepfli – some easy, some family traditions and others just new twists on classic companions to turkey. Just before lunch Wednesday, chef Chris Nestor presided over the kitchen at his newest restaurant, House Kitchen & Bar, 555 Capitol Mall. Working from memory, he jotted down the recipe for Cajun cornbread stuffing, a dish he created two years ago at his other restaurant, INK. "We had jambalaya on

 “Whose cuisine reigned supreme?” All of the contenders in the 8th annual Celebrity Chef Challenge brought their ‘A’ game and amazed the judges and crowd with their culinary talent. Judges , 2009 challenge winner, Adam Pehal, Regional Vice President Wells Fargo Foundation, Chevo Ramierez, Sacdine.com food and wine blogger, Charlotte King, and News 10’s Bryan May, sat with satisfaction on their faces as they were served succulent dish after dish. “The judges reactions are like little kids at Christmas,” said Sacramento and Company’s Melissa Crowley, emcee for the night. “Oh my gosh, it’s amazing. I love watching the chefs brainstorm.” Hundreds of people came out to the California Auto M

 Dear "Cheaters", There is no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna spit it out:  I've been seeing someone else.  I want you to know that I'll always have love for you.  When I was new to town, you took me in, and I'll never forget that.  We'll always have Oregon basketball; who knows, maybe we can ring in the new arena together next fall. You need to understand that it's not you, it's me.  Please, don't cry.  Stop it.  You're a still wonderful bar, I've just found someone I'm more compatible with.   It's been going on a few weeks now. I wanted to watch the Giants game and grab a beer, but it was raining, and I didn't want to go all the way down Folsom to do it. I'd noticed this plac

Mark Miller admitted being flattered when Life magazine named him one of America's most influential chefs of the 1980s alongside Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck and Paul Prudhomme. But he isn't comfortable with his celebrity chef status. Miller is most famous for popularizing the southwest cooking style worldwide. He's written 10 cookbooks altogether, and seven of them deal with southwestern-style cooking, including The Great Chile Book and Coyote Café, named after his famous Santa Fe café. However, what Miller really wants is to inspire people to cook. "Sometimes we watch too much television, and we are preordaining what the [culinary] experience is," Miller said. "People should really de

Knives chopped, pans tossed and orders were shouted — it was an Iron Chef of sorts in the quaint kitchen of the Shady Lady. But instead of competing, a conglomeration of chefs came together to feed those who knew and loved Adam Gregory Rains, who passed away on April 17, 2009. Rains was the victim of a car accident that left three people dead in St. Helena around 1 a.m. Friday morning. His culinary career in Sacramento included working at Kru Restaurant, helping to open Tuli Bistro, and catering with Mulvaney's B&L. Rains had also begun attending the Culinary Institute of America this year. One of Rains's coworkers from Kru said of him, "It didn’t matter how intense it got, he always ma