Napa Valley Chefs to participate in Flavor Napa Valley culinary festival

Flavor Napa Valley

Lights! Camera! Action! Cut – take two: Wine! Food! Fun! That’s more like it. It’s true. Food Network stars, along with Napa Valley’s leading chefs and winemakers, will align themselves with the stars and shoot for the moon in Napa Valley this fall.

The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and Silverado Resort and Spa are the places to be mid-November for rubbing shoulders with Napa Valley’s food and wine leaders. Napa Valley’s own culinary creation, Flavor Napa Valley, will feature four days of wine, food and fun in Calistoga and Napa, California.

Napa Valley Chef Thomas Keller will be at Flavor Napa Valley in November

Napa Valley High Profile Chefs

High profile chefs including Tyler Florence, Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto,  Michael Chiarello,  Thomas Keller,  Jeff Jake,  Ken Frank and Cindy Pawlcyn will participate in the November 17-20, 2011 food and wine celebration.

Michael Chiarello CIA Graduate

Chiarello, a graduate of the CIA, was one of the catalysts involved in the creation of Flavor Napa Valley.

“A signature event in Napa Valley was long overdue,” said CIA graduate and Bottega Chef and Owner Michael Chiarello.

Proceeds from Flavor Napa Valley will go to support scholarships at the CIA Greystone campus.

The four day event will launch with a welcome dinner at the Silverado Resort featuring Chef Jeff Jake, Go Fish, Mustard’s Grill and Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen Chef Cindy Pawlcyn and Scarpetta Chef Scott Conant.

Friday features The Appellation Trail a Napa Valley wine tasting event at CIA Greystone.

Food and Wine Magazine hosts a lunch with Bottega Chef Michael Chiarello on Saturday, along with cooking demonstrations and winemaker dinners at Silverado Resort.

Sunday closes with a brunch by Mill Valley’s Tyler Florence, more cooking demonstrations and wine tasting with Napa Valley’s best.

Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto will be cooking at Flavor Napa Valley

Napa Valley Food and Wine on Twitter

Social media types may follow Flavor Napa Valley and participating chefs on Twitter and follow Nancy D. Brown on Twitter, too.

Chef Michael Chiarello

Chef Tyler Florence

Chef Ken Frank La Toque

Chef Jeff Jake, Silverado Resort & Spa

Chef Thomas Keller

Iron Chef Masahura Morimoto

Chef Cindy Pawlcyn

What are your “Must Do” events in Napa Valley, California?

If You Go:

Purchase Tickets for Flavor Napa Valley

Related Posts:

Best Things to See and Do in Calistoga, California

Best Things to See and Do in Napa, California

Chef photo courtesy of James Carriere. Photos of Thomas Keller and Masaharu Morimoto by Travel Writer Nancy D. Brown.

Napa

Specialty foods such as this ham will be on display at the San Francisco Fancy Food Show

San Francisco, California is a food-lovers paradise. This city by the bay launches and closes restaurants faster than a chicken lays eggs. In fact, it is commonly accepted in the food business that a new restaurant is more likely to fail than succeed.

What keeps foodies coming back to San Francisco’s Fancy Food Show

So what keeps foodies  coming back to San Francisco’s Fancy Food Show like moths to the flame?  It’s all about what’s new and what’s next in the gourmet food industry.  What are the latest food trends in the business?

As a travel writer who enjoys dining out and writing restaurant reviews, I can tell you that the San Francisco restaurant scene is exploding with food carts and trucks. How can foodies track down these food trucks? Often times you’ll be able to follow street food vendors using Twitter.

2010 Specialty food trends

What are some other top specialty food trends from 2010 according to the editors of Foodspring? Rumor has it that San Francisco-based Chronicle Books will publish a High Times Cannabis Cookbook in the near future.

Michael Winnike introduced his Happy Goat Caramels at the 2010 Winter Fancy Food Show

A-List chefs give back
• Food trucks 2.0
• D-List celebrities pitch pistachios, including Snooki and Rod Blagojevich
• Sea buckthorn berries
• iPad menu apps
• Mandatory calorie listings on menus
• Food deserts
• Eataly
• Death of Oldways founder K. Dun Gifford
• Umami in a paste
• Hyperlocal food production
• Solar-powered food trucks
• 97 Orchard Street: An Edible History
• High Times Cannabis Cookbook
• Child Nutrition Act

Fancy Food Show Facts

This trade-only event is where buyers from the top names in specialty food retailing come looking for next year’s hot product and trends. Now in its 36th year, the Winter Fancy Food Show is the largest marketplace for specialty food on the West Coast. 80,000 products are slated for display by 1,300 exhibitors from 35 countries. Sorry, the Fancy Food Show is for members of the specialty food trade and media only.

Additionally,  Food Fete takes place on Monday, January 17 in the evening.  Again, my apologies, this is an invitation-only press event that connects gourmet food and beverage products with food and lifestyle journalists and bloggers.

What are your favorite things to do in San Francisco?

If You Go:

San Francisco Fancy Food Show, January 16-18, 2011

George Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, CA

Social media enthusiasts may follow Foodspring on Twitter.  You may also follow Nancy D. Brown on Twitter for the latest travel news.

Related Posts:

Things to Do in San Francisco

San Francisco Fancy Food Show 2010

Article and photos by Travel Writer Nancy D. Brown

San Francisco

Post by Nancy D. Brown

Nancy D. Brown at the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska

 My favorite tips and locations for visitors to Juneau, Alaska. 

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is to the Mendenhall Glacier.

When I crave Juneau cuisine, I turn to Tracy’s King Crab Shack for her king crab.

To escape work I drive out to the Shrine of St. Therese for meditation and awesome scenery.

For complete quiet, I can hide away at the beach at the end of False Outer Point trail.

Ride the Mt. Roberts Tramway in Juneau, Alaska

 If you come to Juneau, get your picture taken at the top of Mount Roberts Tramway.

If you have to order one thing off the menu at Twisted Fish Alaskan Grill, get the coconut salmon appetizer.

Juneau is my one stop shop for glaciers, whale watching and wilderness adventure. I went with Dolphin Jet Boat Tours and had a fine trip. In fact, the company guarantees you’ll see whales or you’ll receive $100 back.

When I want something other than seafood, I go to Chan’s Thai Kitchen.

For a huge splurge, I go to the Gold Room at the Westmark Baranof Hotel.

Photo ops in Juneau include Photo Point at the Mendenhall glacier, the bronze bear on Main Street and the Mt. Roberts Tram.

The best vantage points are taken by walking to the top of Main Street or across the Douglas Bridge to the Breeze Inn parking lot.

The most random thing about Juneau is the Alaska Folk Festival.

In Juneau, an active day outdoors involves walking or hiking the East Glacier Trail.

Go Bear Watching in Juneau, Alaska

Juneau’s best museum is Alaska State Museum followed closely by the Juneau-Douglas City Museum.

For a night of dancing, go to the Viking Lounge.

McDonald’s is the spot for late night dining.

To find out what’s going on at night or on weekends, read the Juneau Empire.

In the spring you should attend Juneau Jazz and Classics.

In the summer you should attend Gold Rush Days and the July 4th Celebrations.

 In the fall you should go deer hunting.

In the winter you should go to Eaglecrest Ski Area.

A hidden gem in Juneau is Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure.

For a great breakfast treat or espresso, go to the Silverbow Bakery or Heritage Coffee Cafe.

Just outside of Juneau you can visit Taku Glacier and have lunch at the Taku Glacier Lodge.

The best way to see Juneau is to walk the historic downtown streets, ride the Mt. Roberts Tram or go flight seeing. (But don’t go in September, as you are more apt to have fog, as was the case for my trip.)

Fish Ladder at the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery, Juneau, Alaska

 If you have kids, you won’t want to miss Gold Creek Salmon Bake and roasting marshmallows. I also enjoyed visiting the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery and looking at the fish ladder.

What are your favorite things to do in Juneau, Alaska?

Photos by Nancy D. Brown. Thank you to Elizabeth Arnett of the Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau. For on the ground support during your visit, follow the Juneau Visitors Center on Twitter.

Related Posts:

Alaska Native Heritage Center

Best Things to See and Do in Anchorage, Alaska

Best Things to See and Do in Fairbanks, Alaska

Best Things to See and Do in Ketchican, Alaska