Purple Cafe’s Prosciutto and Squash Blossom Pizza

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Have you ever eaten a dish that surprises you so much that you can’t stop talking about it?

That was our recent experience in the Seattle area at Purple Café and Wine Bar.

In this case, the dish in question was simple pizza. It was made with a delicious flatbread crust. But the crust was not what made it fabulous. It was the prosciutto, squash blossoms, and lemon olive oil that took the ensemble into another dimension.

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Upon ordering, we thought this was just going to be something that would be kind of different but not very memorable.

We were wrong. The first bite was questionable. The flavors were so good and so amazing that we wondered if everyone was just so hungry and starving that this was the reason it tasted so good. But bite after bite, everyone agreed that this combination was indeed amazing.

The server informed us that this item was new to the menu. We think it will do very well if other diners have an adventurous enough spirit to order it.

Regardless, we are in the process of looking for a recipe for this pizza so everyone can make it at home if they cannot make it to Seattle  or Bellevue. Be warned, fresh squash blossoms are not easy to find.

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Purple Cafe and Wine Bar
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1225 4th Ave
Seattle, WA
(206) 829-2280
430 106th Ave NE
Bellevue, WA
(425) 502-6292

www.purplecafe.com

The Big One – TASTEABLE CALIFORNIA Episode 50

 

We are thrilled to announce that TASTEABLE CALIFORNIA Episode 50 has been released, and airs on KRCB public television to 2.5 Million Households in the 6th largest media market in the United States, the San Francisco Bay Area.

Making it to Episode 50 is a major achievement, and we could not have done it without the support of the station, our team, and of course, the food and wine creators we cover.

ABOUT EPISODE 50

TASTEABLE: California takes viewers on a weekly tour of California food and wine creators and destinations. This episode enjoys poolside dining at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, learns how to make homemade mozzarella at Restaurant Lulu, tours legendary Scoma’s seafood restaurant in San Francisco, talks with CocoTutti about how to be a chocolatier, and gets a recipe for Warm Molten Chocolate Cake.

Produced by TasteTV, www.TasteTV.com

View the Episode 50 Intro Online (note: entire episode only airs on television, not online)

Ceviche Project Pop Up Dinner Series in Los Angeles

 

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Travelers visiting Los Angeles this summer and fall are in for a culinary experience.

The Ceviche Project and DeLeón Tequila are coming to Skybar at Mondrian for a 5-part dinner series featuring 5-course seafood pop-up dinner and handcrafted cocktail pairings, taking place from Thursday, June 25th throughout July 23, August 20, September 24 and October 22.

Tickets for these affairs are available at http://cevicheproject.nightout.com.

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The Ceviche Project is a pop-up culinary and cultural experience that brings together people, music, and Michelin star restaurant–caliber ingredients in a communal and one-of-a-kind dining experience that features innovative takes and artful, never-repeated seafood dishes.

The Ceviche Project, DeLeón Tequila, and Skybar at Mondrian are teaming up to showcase Founder Octavio Olivas’ varied experiments with ceviche and its many variations, as well as tiraditos, oysters on the half-shell, and crudo preparations:  featuring fresh and premium offerings from fish and farmers markets alike.

While guests can expect culinary delights to be the centerpiece of their experience, Ceviche Project is a true celebration of all things summer in Los Angeles: one that brings together a unique mix of in-the-know locals and chic vacationers looking for something new and exciting to share during dinnertime.

Each dinner will kick off with DeLeón Tequila tasting followed by dinner featuring five new dishes paired with handcrafted cocktails from DeLeón, so each dinner is unique. Guests will eat, drink, converse, laugh, dance, learn, and engage, and Olivas will share stories about the origin and inspiration of each dish and paired cocktails.

http://www.cevicheproject.com

Napa Wine-Tasting Passport launched for Yountville Wineries

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If you are heading to Napa this year, and planning on doing some serious wine tasting, be sure to check out the new Passport Program in in the foodie-mecca of Yountville.

The new tasting room Passport Program is organized by the Yountville Chamber of Commerce, and invites wine-lovers to taste at six participating Yountville wineries for one  price. The year-long “Taste Life Here” Wine Tasting Passport Program runs July 1, 2015 into the future.

Yountville-winelogoGuests who purchase a $59 Passport may use it to receive one complimentary tasting at each of the six participating wineries. The participating tasting rooms include Jessup Cellars, Priest Ranch, Cornerstone Cellars, Hill Family Estate, Hope & Grace and Hestan Vineyards. Tasters who visit all six Yountville wineries will be automatically entered into a drawing for a chance to win a two-night stay at Yountville’s Napa Valley Lodge or the Napa Hilton Garden Inn. The $59 price represents a significant discount — roughly saving passport holders 55% off regular tasting room prices. If participants purchase before Aug. 1 they qualify for the Early Bird Special and receive an additional $10 off the Passport Program.

“We’re very excited about the launch of Yountville’s ‘Taste Life Here’ Wine Tasting Passport Program,” said Joel Quigley, Vice President of Marketing Communications at Jessup Cellars, one of the six participating Yountville wineries. “Powered by Cellarpass.com‘s integrated technology, visitors can access the passport system via smart phones, tablets or desktop. As a tasting gallery, the online and smartphone check-in and backend management opens up a new channel for reaching new consumers without overburdening staff like other paper-based passport programs. This is a new day in wine tasting!”

Passports will be sold online through a special URL link that is unique to each participating winery, enabling the program to track sales by each tasting room. To purchase tickets, visit www.yountville.com/passport.

Lumeria Maui refreshes Mind, Tastes, and Body

Napa Valley Wine and Food Village, Cairdean Estates, launches Art Program

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artist Israel Valencia

artist Israel Valencia

Cairdean Estate, Napa Valley’s  Wine & Food Village, reports that it is unveiling an art program with an estate-wide exhibition in conjunction with the Rosgal Gallery (“Rose-gal”) Gallery.

Anticipating the 2015 opening of Rosgal Gallery, Cairdean has integrated the artists’ work throughout the property and among the Estate’s wine and food offerings.

Owners Edwin and Stacia Williams have invited several leading and emerging Napa Valley artists for their premiere exhibition and artist’s reception including Wade Hoefer, Israel Valencia, Teri Tito and Matt Torrens plus guest artist Ryan Sorrell, hailing from Texas, to display their fine art including paintings, photography, foil mosaics and sculpture.

 

artist Matt Torrens

artist Matt Torrens

Art lovers can view the art of Rosgal Gallery along with the Cairdean Vineyard’s Tasting Room, Butterscots Bakery, Deli & Culinary Market, The Farmer & The Fox, and Cairdean’s Michelin Bib Gourmand Award-winning gastropub.

 

ABOUT CAIRDEAN ESTATE:

Cairdean Estate, Napa Valley’s Wine & Food Village, is a new, essential destination for California’s Wine Country. Celebrating the ever-entwining worlds of wine and food, Cairdean Estate has onsite a tasting room open daily to the public, a private, by appointment only tasting room, a 2015 Michelin Bib Gourmand Award winning gastropub,

Interior

Interior

The Farmer & The Fox, serving dinner nightly, and Butterscots Bakery & Deli, offering sandwiches, salads, pastries, baked and frozen desserts, fresh-baked breads and rolls for breakfast and lunch daily. Menus for both venues are created by San Francisco Bay Area favorite and Michelin-recognized Chef Joseph Humphrey. Both restaurants serve beer, wine and artisan craft cocktails.

Butterscots Interior

Butterscots Interior

2015 will see the completion of the Wine & Food Village with the opening of Rosgal Gallery, to feature rotating exhibitions, and Redolent Mercantile, a retail experience in finds exclusive to Napa and even California. Upon completion in 2015, the Cairdean Vineyards Winery, designed by Juancarlos Fernandez and Jarrod Denton of Signum Architecture in St. Helena, will boast extensive wine caves and the largest grass roof in Napa Valley. “Cairdean” means “friends” in Scottish Gaelic and captures the heritage of owners Edwin and Stacia Williams while upholding their belief that wine and food are multi-sensory experiences best enjoyed among friends and loved ones.

eri Tito woodwork

artist Teri Tito woodwork

artist Ryan Sorrell

artist Ryan Sorrell