Make a trip for cheese: California's Artisan Cheese Festival

California's Artisan Cheese Festival will take place March 23-25 in Petaluma, Calif. The sixth annual event draws artisan cheesemakers, cheese experts, brewers and wineries from all over for a weekend of seminars, demonstrations, tastings and pairings.

The three days of cheese will also feature farm tours around Sonoma and Marin counties, a cheesemaker dinner featuring chef Cindy Pawlcyn of Mustards Grill in Napa, a Lagunitas Brewery tour followed by a six-course, cheese-filled meal with beer pairings and a brunch hosted by Zazu's Duskie Estes, winner of last year's Cochon 555.

Participating artisans at this year's festival include Cowgirl Creamery, Marin French Cheese, Laura Chenel's Chevre, Bleating Heart, Bellwether Farms, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co., Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery, Valley Ford Cheese Co. and Weirauch Farm & Creamery, among many others.

Tickets are $45 per person.

745 Baywood Drive, Petaluma, (707) 523-3728, artisancheesefestival.com.

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Photo: California Crottin made at Redwood Hill Farm in Sebastopol, Calif.

Credit: Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times

Orange County restaurant week kicks off this weekend

Orange County restaurant week starts Sunday. Multi-course menus with three price categories for lunch ($10, $15 and $20) and dinner ($20, $30 and $40) will be offered by 100 participating restaurants throughout the county.

Participating restaurants to anticipate include Pizzeria Ortica in South Coast Plaza, the Crow Bar and Kitchen in Corona Del Mar and French 75 Bistro in Laguna Beach, among others.

The event runs through March 3. Diners can search participating restaurants by location and price point as well as make reservations online.

For more information, check out www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com.

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Photo: Pizzeria Ortica. Credit: Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times

James Beard Foundation announces 2012 semifinalists

On March 19, the James Beard Foundation will announce the five final nominees for each of the 20 restaurant and chef award categories at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. Finalists are narrowed down by a panel of more than 550 judges from a group of semifinalists chosen from over 57,000 entries received this year.

Southern California semifinalists for this year's awards include M.B. Post and Picca, nominated for best new restaurant; Rivera, nominated for outstanding bar program; Suzanne Goin of Lucques and Nancy Silverton of Mozza, nominated for outstanding chef; and Dahlia Narvaez of Osteria Mozza, nominated for outstanding pastry chef.

Also in the running for Beard restaurant and chef awards are Patina, nominated for outstanding restaurant; Piero Selvaggio of Valentino Restaurant Group and Caroline Styne of Lucques, A.O.C. and Tavern, both nominated for outstanding restaurateur; Providence, nominated for outstanding service; and Patina, Hatfield's and Cut at Beverly Wilshire, all in the running for outstanding wine program.

Best chef nominations for the Pacific region include Josef Centeno of the Lazy Ox Canteen and Baco Mercat, Michael Cimarusti of Providence, David Feau of the Royce at the Langham Huntington, David LeFevre of M.B. Post, Matt Molina of Osteria Mozza, John Rivera Sedlar of Rivera, Paul Shoemaker of Savory and Hiroyuki Urasawa of Urasawa in Beverly Hills.

Nominees for this year's rising star chef of the year award include Angelenos Chad Colby of Mozza2Go, Joshua Drew of Farmshop, Casey Lane of the Tasting Kitchen and Micah Wexler of Mezze.

Finalists will be honored at the James Beard Foundation awards ceremony and gala reception on May 7 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York City.

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Photo: James Beard Foundation

5 Food Events: Moveable Feasts; HopHead Heaven; Can You Dig It?

Moveable Feasts: The Los Angeles Nomadic Division hosts its second Moveable Feasts dinner on Feb. 19. Last month, the dinner was held at Lucques and this month it will take place at Soho House in West Hollywood. This month's event honors Andrea Bowers, an L.A.-based multimedia artist and activist whose work makes political statements by focusing on social issues. Tickets are $200 per person and includes a three-course dinner with wine as well as a special, artist-designed object. RSVP by contacting laura@nomadicdivision.org. 9200 Sunset Blvd., L.A., (310) 432-9200, sohohousewh.com.

HopHead Heaven: Library Alehouse in Santa Monica is celebrating local bitterness with an 11-day fest featuring hoppy brews from Southern California. The alehouse will be pouring beers like Eagle Rock Populist, Bootlegger’s Knuckle Sandwich, El Segundo Blue House Citra Pale, Smog City IPA, Ladyface IPA and Golden Road Point the Way IPA, among others. Small bites like street tacos, sriracha honey wings and habanero shrimp ceviche will be available to pair. 2911 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 314-4855, libraryalehouse.com.

Can You Dig It? On Feb. 24, M.B. Post's chef David LeFevre is kicking off a quarterly series where he'll be hosting a guest chef and featured farmer. The program will feature a three-course meal of small plates at $65 per person with optional wine pairing. For the inaugural event, LeFevre is hosting chef Giuseppe Tentori of Boka and GT Fish & Oyster in Chicago to highlight produce from Maryann Carpenter of Coastal Farms in Santa Paula. 1142 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, (310) 545-5405, eatmbpost.com.

Colman Andrews dinner: Brentwood's Farmshop is hosting a four-course dinner on Feb. 28 with dishes from "The Country Cooking of Italy" by Colman Andrews. Andrews, co-founder of Saveur magazine and the recipient of eight James Beard Awards, will be present at the event to sign copies and discuss his latest release. The event costs $90 per person and includes dinner and a signed copy of the book. 225 26th St., Ste. 25, Santa Monica, (310) 566-2400, farmshopla.com.

Zinfandel Festival Paso Robles: Paso Robles is hosting the 2012 Zinfandel Festival March 16 to 18. The festival turns 20 this year and will celebrate with barrel tastings, winemaker dinners and vineyard tours throughout the weekend featuring Zinfandel blends from more than 150 wineries. See pasowine.com.

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Bagatelle L.A. opens today in West Hollywood

Bagatelle, a New York City-based French bistro, opens a new location on the West Coast today. Located in the former Boudoir space on North La Cienega Boulevard, Bagatelle L.A. features a French- Mediterranean menu from executive chef Scott Quinn, formerly of Bouchon. Signature dishes include poire pochee au vin rouge (red wine poached pear), tartare de thon (yellow fin tuna tartare), terrine de foie gras and poulet organic roti et truffe pour deux (truffle roasted chicken for two).

The 2,700-square-foot restaurant boasts a Paris-infused-with-the-South-of-France appeal, indoor and outdoor seating, as well as a music program featuring DJs on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The bistro is open for dinner every night.

775 North La Cienega, L.A., (310) 659-3900, bistrotbagatelle.com.

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Foundation grants first fellowships in organic plant breeding in U.S.

Clif Bar Family Foundation has recently awarded the first fellowships in organic plant breeding in the United States.

The fellowships are funded through the foundation's initiative Seed Matters, which advocates the development and protection of organic seed systems. Those awarded fellowships will work to breed seeds that thrive in environments with greater variability and different ecological-agronomic conditions so farmers don't have to retreat to pesticides and other non-organic solutions for farming.

Professors and leaders in organic seed research overseeing the program include Stephen Jones at Washington State University, a plant breeder and the director of the Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center; Kevin Murphy at Washington State University, assistant professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences as well as a barley and alternative crops breeder; and William Tracy at University of Wisconsin-Madison, professor of agronomy and interim dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

So far $375,000 in grants have been issued to fund three PhD fellowship students for five years in organic plant breeding at two land grant universities — Washington State University and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Culinary workshop on Gothic desserts at the Getty in March

On March 1 and 2, Getty Center educators Nancy Real and Robin Trento are leading a culinary course that explores the world of Gothic art and cuisine.

The group of 20 participants will tour the exhibition "Gothic Grandeur: Manuscript Illumination, 1200–1350," with their hosts before preparing desserts similar to those found in the medieval courts of Europe.

Real and Trento are incorporating recipes to enrich the historical components of the course and will discuss Gothic history that influenced the time period's desserts, such as the uses of spices and sugar. Panforte di Siena, for example, contains cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper, evidence of the Arab countries' influence on European cuisine because of the use of spices.

After the tour, the class will retreat to the Getty's private dining room, where participants, with the help of their instructors, will prepare desserts representative of the period and countries of origin of the manuscripts featured in the exhibition, such as lavender pudding from England, krapfen from Germany, torta bonissima and panforte di Siena from Italy, marzipan from Spain and pignolat from France.

The workshop is $75 per person.

1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A., (310) 440-7300, www.getty.edu.
 
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Image: "The Dragon Pursues the Woman Clothed in the Sun Who Receives the Wings of an Eagle," about 1255-1260. Credit: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. Ludwig III 1, fol. 21v

Suzanne Goin hosts Lunch Break for Schools fundraiser Feb. 27

 

 

On Feb. 27, chef Suzanne Goin of Tavern, Lucques and A.O.C. will be hosting a Lunch Break for Schools. The nationwide event will raise funds for the Chefs Move to Schools program, which fights child obesity by encouraging children to eat more healthily.

The public is invited to attend the event by dining in or getting lunch to go at Tavern in Brentwood. The proceeds of Goin’s lunch will go to creating resources for nutrition educational programs at schools. For more information, check out www.acfchefs.org/lunchbreakforschools. 

11648 W. San Vicente Blvd., L.A., (310) 806-6464, tavernla.com.

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Photo: Tavern co-owners Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

Highlights from the 2012 EcoFarm Conference

The Ecological Farming Assn. hosted its 32nd annual EcoFarm Conference in Pacific Grove last week, attracting farmers, food activists, educators, researchers and others to the Asilomar Conference Grounds on the Monterey Peninsula to discuss all things related to sustainable agriculture.

A daylong bus tour Wednesday was sold out. Amigo Bob Cantisano of Organic Ag Advisors, Sam Earnshaw of Community Alliance with Family Farmers and Richard Smith of UC Cooperative Extension each led a tour of farms along the Central Coast. Cantisano, with a megaphone attached to his walking stick, acted as the tour talk-show host, if you will.

Cantisano (pictured top left) introduced and interviewed Johnny Wilson, Jeffrey Caspary and Caleb Barron from Fogline Farm, an integrated operation in the Santa Cruz Mountains that grows vegetables and orchard fruit and raises pastured broiler chickens and Berkshire hogs.

Also on the itinerary was Yellow Wall Farm, owned by Allen and Judy Rose Hasty. The couple incorporated farming into their lives much later than most but now happily sell fruits and veggies to local grocery stores and restaurants.

The conference's exhibitor marketplace buzzed with folks from farms such as Harmony Farm Supply & Nursery in Sebastopol, Calif.; organizations including California Certified Organic Farmers and the International Center for Poultry; and businesses such as Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Veritable Vegetable.

Sessions at the event touched on a wide range of topics including the CSA movement, organic wine-making, on-farm habitat diversity for bees and beneficials, conservation using cover crops and compost, local meat for local meals, artisanal cheese-making, the 2012 farm bill, edible eco-gardens, farmer-chef relationships and much more.

Enthusiasts traveled to the conference from across the United States as well as other countries such as Japan and France. Ecofarmconference.org.

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Photos: Scenes from the EcoFarm Conference. Credit: Caitlin Keller / Los Angeles Times

Mezze and the Bruery team up for dinner on Feb. 22

Chef Micah Wexler of Mezze, the contemporary Mediterranean eatery that opened last March on North La Cienega Boulevard, is collaborating with longtime friend Ben Weiss of the Bruery for a four-course meal with beer pairings on Feb. 22.

Mezze's signature small plates, which incorporate flavors from Lebanon, Syria, Morocco and Turkey, will be complemented with the Bruery's suds -- not to mention new, limited edition brews.

Anticipate dishes such as baby yellowtail crudo with pomegranate gremolata; duck gallantine with pistachio and medjool dates; Tunisian fish stew with spiced tomato jus; veal dumplings with beer broth and ras al hanout (a Moroccan spice blend); and a black and Indian lime pie.

Seating is limited -- only 50 tickets are being sold at $85 per person.

401 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 657-4103, mezzela.com.

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Photo: Micah Wexler. Credit: Mezzela.com