It's not officially summer yet but the festive vibe is totally here.
Sontes Restaurant, Rochester, offers paella and sangria, among other Spanish delights, at its booth in the Thursdays on First Summer Market & Music Festival. Look for your paella at the corner of First Avenue and Third Street SW, from 11:30 am to 8:30 pm, every Thursday through August.
Mike Arends, part of the culinary team at Zzest Market & Cafe, Rochester, will be giving a cooking demonstration at Radish Magazine's Healthy Living Fair June 18. Rochester's Good Food Store Co-op and Mac's Cafe and Restaurant will also participate in the fair.
The first annual event will be held next to Rochester Downtown Farmers Market, 4th Street at 4th Avenue SE, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (RDFM ends at noon.) Radish Magazine is a part of Post-Bulletin Company and Small Newspaper Group. Visit website here.
Tonight is Grand Opening for Gather by D'Amico, located in the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
As an opening highlight, special small plates will be introduced by D'Amico Executive Chef Jay Sparks and offered on the restaurant's menu through this month.
The small plate series will continue on the first Thursday evening of each month and will feature top Twin Cities guest chefs, including Alex Roberts in July and Isaac Becker in August.
Other than Thursday nights Gather by D'Amico will be open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch, and will feature "globally inspired American cuisine" by executive chef Josh Brown. Fare includes a salad of warm salt-roasted beets with asparagus, pistachio, parmesan, and saporoso vinegar; halibut with spring onions, favas, and morels; barbeque beef short rib banh mi sandwiches; and buttermilk marinated chicken with artichokes, sweet peas, chard, and burrata.
More info from City Pages: http://blogs.citypages.com/food/2011/06/gather_a_first.php
And the Walker's website: http://info.walkerart.org/visit/dining.wac
Consider the following, featuring chef/instructor Antonio Cecconi, from Sopra Sotto, Rochester:
OH, MY PAPA! FATHER'S DAY BRUNCH
SUNDAY, JUNE 19TH
NOON TO 3 PM
Antonio will inspire you and your Papa with a menu that is wonderful for summer grilling. Tasty Herb Pasta will be prepared and served as the first course. The main course will be Grilled Spiedini Misti of meat and vegetables on Rosemary Spears. A hearty Insalata Piccante features green beans, fresh fennel, radicchio and marinated artichoke hearts with Three Herb Dressing. Dessert is the classic Italian Strawberry Zabaglione. Italian wines accompany the courses.
For more information on this and other upcoming Sopra Sotto culinary events, click here.
Twin Cities chef Scott Pampuch is presenting his annual summer Tour de Farm events at Cedar Summit dairy, New Prague; Axdahl's Garden Farm, Stillwater; and Riverbend Farm, near Delano.
Highlights: participitation by "it" chef Mike DeCamp of La Belle Vie, Minneapolis, and Twin Cities "bad boy" (or so sayeth Pioneer Press) chef Landon Schoenefeld at the Cedar Summit gathering.
More on Tour de Farm here.
This sounds like something not to be missed. From Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center's website:
Dinner on the Bluff: "Full Circle Superior - Walk around Lake Superior"
April 30, 2011
5:30 p.m.
Cost: $20 per person (week of event, $25 per person)Join Mike Link and Kate Crowley as they discuss their findings and share their photos of their 5 month expedition circumnavigating Lake Superior on foot. Presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by a buffet dinner. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 507-467-2437.
Menu: rhubarb lentil soup, spring greens w/green tea vinaigrette, almond crusted cod with blueberry lime butter, wild rice dressing, shiitake and sundried tomato focaccia bread, whoopie pies with mint filling and chocolate ganache.
Ready for a barrel of foodie fun? Reserve for the "Progressive Beer Dinner" featuring three of the area's top restaurants--Sontes, Rochester; Nosh, Lake City; and The Rainbow Cafe, Pine Island--on April 16th.
The event kicks off at 5:30 pm with starters at Sontes, followed by a coach bus trip to Nosh for entrees. Then it's on to The Rainbow Cafe for three more courses, with departure at 9:30 pm for Sontes. Aboard the coach a beer class and tasting will be presented featuring Brooklyn Brewery.
A few of the dining highlights: locally raised braised oxtail tamale with grilled pear and Spanish onion salsa; locally raised adobo braised pork shoulder with local fresh goat cheese and polenta; and warm carrot cake with Delice de Bourgogne and mesquite honey "buttercream" and ancho chile toffee.
Event tickets, $125 each, include food, beer class, gratuity and transportation. Tax not included. Advance purchase required; call Sontes at 507-292-1628. In addition, rooms will be available at the Hilton Garden Inn, Rochester, for a special Progressive Dinner rate.
Tickets are on sale for "Palette to Palate, A Unique Local Art, Fine Wine and Gourmet Beer Tasting Experience," 6 to 9 pm, June 16, at Rochester Art Center.
Tessa Leung, sommelier and co-owner of Sontes, one of Roch's top restaurants, will present a global selection of more than 30 wines and microbrews. The evening will also feature a group exhibition of new work by local artists. Proceeds benefit the art center; all attendees must be 21 or over.
Taste of Home Cooking School, which bills itself "America's leading cooking school program," will be in Rochester on March 23rd. PB story link here.
GG has never made it to a Taste of Home event, but she has watched a number of Taste of Home's online videos, including this one (http://videos.tasteofhome.com/video/How-to-Make-a-Pie-Crust-3;search:) for making a bottom pie crust.
If you're starting to think about Easter activities Taste of Home has online instructions for making naturally dyed Easter eggs, among other holiday ideas.
In general GG can't get excited about Taste of Home. She views Taste of Home to be more on the order of Taste of Conventional and Convenient. But feel free to prove her wrong.
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