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Well, that was interesting. I've just come from the opening reception of the 2008 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition. As much of a mouthful as that is, it doesn't completely describe the competition that gets under way on...

Just before leaving for Pomona and the 2008 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition this afternoon I had a brief chat with Kurt Spataro, executive chef of Paragary's Restaurant Group. I was trying to confirm speculation that his eponymous...

We hadn't been to the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee for a couple of years, so we were surprised this weekend to discover what to us were several new venues, such as Pyramid Alehouse and Marilyn's, both on the K Street Mall....

After vacillating for weeks over the future of his Gianni's Trattoria in midtown Sacramento, Peter Torza is closing down the business and putting it on the market. Last call is this coming weekend."I gave this my all, but it jut...

Wine enthusiasts venturing into Amador County's Shenandoah Valley this Memorial Day weekend for a bit of tasting will have a new winery to check out. Jeff Runquist, who honed his winemaking palate as an intern at the Shenandoah Valley's...

The recent death of Robert Mondavi may or may not revive a tribute proposed more than three years ago by former State Sen. Wesley Chesbro, a Democrat from Arcata. Though Mondavi was in fine form at the time, Chesbro drew...

To look at bunches of wine grapes just starting to develop on vines in the Sierra foothills, you might not realize the kind of beating they've been taking. They look perfectly fine. But that, however, depends on where you...

One pizza place closes (see below) and two open, isn't that the way it goes? In this instance, however, one may be enough. On Friday, what may be the region's largest pizza restaurant is to open in Roseville. Basic Urban...

Northern California's increasingly expensive and unsteady economy hasn't led to a shakeout of restaurants, but in another sign that restaurateurs are uneasy Peter Torza has closed his I Dragoni Pizzeria in midtown Sacramento and cut back the days that his...

Whoa, how about this heat? Come on, Delta breezes. And thinking of the Delta, it will be the setting May 31 for an ambitious day of culinary-related field trips and a concluding dinner to highlight seasonal ingredients of the greater...

Jeff Back, an early player in midtown Sacramento's surge of wine bars as a manager at 58 Degrees & Holding Co., has teamed up with his wife Gail to open what the couple is calling Folsom's "first upscale wine bar,"...

Aioli Bodega Espanol in midtown Sacramento is "a wonderful place to take a group out." Bistro 33 Midtown is "a great place to troll for the opposite sex or have a high energy night out with friends." Biba is "nearly...

As a nation eager to live better if not forever, Americans are hung up on the pyramid for guidance. First, there was the federal government's Food Guide Pyramid, remodeled three years ago as My Pyramid. Trouble was, those efforts were...

Petite sirah long has had its advocates, but its group of followers hasn't been particularly large or vocal. It's been called a "cult wine," though that suggests a following more limited than it actually is. What's more, petite sirah is...

One wine on my list of the 10 Best Wines of the Year - So Far is the youthful and agile Greg Norman California Estates 2005 Lake County Red Hills Zinfandel ($15). Last night we opened another of the golfer's...

After a two-week closure for remodeling, the Cliff House of Folsom has been reborn as Sudwerk Riverside Restaurant & Brewhouse. No beer will be brewed on the premises. However, the four regular beers and six rotating seasonal beers that have...

If I'd get my hair cut more often I might be more up to speed on Sacramento's culinary scene. When my stylist - go ahead, chuckle - asked what I knew of the new wine bar at Marriott's Residence Inn...

Let's wrap up the week with a lingering note from last weekend's Riverside International Wine Competition. Actually, the note has nothing to do with the competition per se, but with a ritual the night before. That's when the arriving judges...

Chocolate, caramel and salt. Put them together and what's not to like? People who are discovering the "salty caramel chocolates" at Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates at 18th and L in midtown Sacramento are learning just how marvelous the combination can be....

What in the world were Robert and Margrit Mondavi doing in Sacramento last night, other than the obvious, which was savoring dinner at The Waterboy with a couple I didn't recognize? Dinner at The Waterboy is reason enough for a...

It's springtime, and the Dunnigan Hills in northern Yolo County are alive with the sound of...earth-moving equipment, concrete mixers, power saws and the like. Or if not now, Friday, when Sacramentans John and Lane Giguiere break ground for a $2.5-million...

Word came in too late last night to make today's Bee story about challenges facing restaurateurs in Old Sacramento, but here's another sign of confidence in the city's historic district: Janie Desmond Ison is coming back to Old Sacramento.In 1994...

After 35 years, a landmark restaurant site in Old Sacramento is dark. The Fat family has closed California Fat's Asian Grill & Steakhouse, which originally opened in 1973 as China Camp."It was a combination of things. Number one, the economy....

I'm all for recycling and reusing, but an incident in New Zealand shows that prudence may need to be raised with our environmental consciousness.Two women in a restaurant had to be hospitalized after tasting what they thought was mulled wine....

Sunday's final sweepstakes round at the 2008 Riverside International Wine Competition was long and chaotic, in part because it involved many more wines than I thought it would draw. After Saturday's tasting, when my panel and neighboring panels seemed to...

Today shouldn't be as long or as tough as yesterday at the 2008 Riverside International Wine Competition. Saturday, our four-person panel tasted through 137 entries, ranging from light chardonnays to weighty cherry wines. Today, we're scheduled to taste just 48;...

The bright side of a flight delay is that you finally have time to catch up on your reading. Fortunately, I'd tossed into my luggage a couple of new books as I headed for Sacramento International Airport yesterday. One of...

Before long, Californians no longer may have to fret about getting busted if they have a glass of wine with their picnic at a winery. Not that people who do this actually look worried. Deep in state regulations governing the...

The six contenders for the 2008 SushiMasters Finals have been chosen, and the lone Sacramento representative is bound to be one tough opponent. He's Billy Ngo of midtown's Kru Restaurant, who won Best of Show honors in dramatic fashion last...