CALVADOS CLOSE-UP: On Moviemaking as Tasting Trip

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by Jonathan Kiefer

The origin of AROUND THE SUN is this. My friend Oliver Krimpas and I had been trying to make a movie together for years. The plan was for me to write a script that he’d direct. After a false start with one project that couldn’t achieve liftoff, austere frugality seemed like the only way forward. I tried to think up some idea involving very few characters in mostly one locale. It was like the Mystery Box challenge: to take a few choice luck-of-the-draw ingredients, and a finite amount of time, and prepare a dish that Gordon Ramsay won’t spit out and yell at you for.

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BITTER WAS NEVER NOT THE NEW BLACK

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By Michael Cecconi

The Old World never stopped liking bitterness. I don’t know if it stems from having so many wars fought on their soil, or simply being exposed to it through permeable borders and colonialism. Americans appreciation of bitterness is limited at best. The United States is only reinforcing this flavor isolationism. I propose a tasty rebellion: drink bitter, don’t just be bitter.

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The Thistlestop is both a pun and a marriage of the U.S. (rye) and Italy (Cynar) with citrus officiating. It is dry, bitter, and yet inspires a desire for another sip. It is also easy to make, and the artichoke derived Cynar is a great guest to have at your home bar.

Let’s make a Thistlestop:

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EatDrinkFilms #98 – It’s a wrap.

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Dear Friends,

There’s an art to writing well – about food, film, or anything else that sparks a person’s passion. For Jonathan Gold, it’s the cafes, restaurants and food trucks, the sights, sounds and people of Los Angeles that inspire. The only food critic to win a Pulitzer Prize, the popular writer serves as the genial focus of the aptly yclept new documentary City of Gold. Gaetano Kazuo Maida and Patricia Unterman, Bay Area writers and Renaissance sorts, offer their insights into the film and its centerpiece in Critics Corner in this week’s edition of EatDrinkFilms. Continue reading →

Killing the Cool : Understanding the rise of Japanese whisky

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whiskyart7“I think it has a lot to do with that concept of killing the cool – that philosophy where once something becomes popular it has to be killed, and then you jump onto something else. At the end of the day, it’s really about trend.” – Linh Do

by Janne Barklis

Linh Do tends bar. She has that up-close-and-personal relationship with trends, especially in the spirits world, as only one serving up sought-after intoxications can. I reached out to this wildly intelligent whisky enthusiast because I wanted to learn more about when, how and why Japanese whisky claimed blog, bar, liquor store and conversation spotlight.

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Spirit Works Distillery: Wheat, Women and Song

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by Risa Nye

Two things drew me to visit Spirit Works Distillery in Sebastopol: They serenade their barrels with music, and they have an all-female distillery team. Unusual on both counts, it was worth a trip out of town to get a closer look at the operation. As a bonus, getting there provided a scenic view of the vineyards and the acres of brilliant yellow mustard flowers that pop up every year at this time. Continue reading →

His and Hers Beer Notes – Sudwerk Uncle Fester

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by Daniel Barnes and Darcey Self-Barnes

Uncle Fester Batch #4 (Sudwerk) 9.3% ABV Available at Sudwerk Dock Store through Brewers Cut membership (16.9 oz. bottle) and poured into mini wine glasses. This barrel-aged doppelbock from Sudwerk.

Uncle Fester Batch #4 (Sudwerk)

9.3% ABV

Available at Sudwerk Dock Store through Brewers Cut membership (16.9 oz. bottle) and poured into mini wine glasses. Continue reading →

From Bubbles to Boardrooms

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by Michaela Kane Rodeno

Michaela Rodeno shares reflections from her pioneering career at the forefront of the wine industry in Napa Valley.

Tracing the arc of her career development from its unlikely beginnings in early 1970s Napa, when the wine industry was in its infancy, to being part of the two-person team that launched Domaine Chandon in the U.S., to her role as St. Supéry Winery’s first CEO, Rodeno has extensive wit and wisdom to share. Continue reading →

Stookey’s, Part Deux: Drinks and Style

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by Julie Lindow

(Ed. note: This is the second of two parts about Stookey’s Club Moderne, celebrating its first anniversary this month. Part One ran in the Jan. 22 edition of EatDrinkFilms.)

Whether you want a quiet corner to finish your book along with a perfect Negroni, to observe an extraordinary bartender in action, or to join friends for a round of 100 Reasons Rye on a comfortable booth bench, Stookey’s Club Moderne is the place for you. Continue reading →