Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel debuts Fredericks for Breakfast and Lunch in San Francisco

The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel in San Francisco recently opened their new eatery called Fredericks.

Fredericks is helmed by Executive Chef Daniel Corey (formerly of Michelin Star LUCE at the InterContinental), paying homage to Frederick C. Clift, the original owner of the property. The restaurant has a black and white floor similar to what adorned the space in the 1920s, as well as neutral walls with exposed brick, also part of the earlier space. The floor itself was the inspiration for the rest of the decor, which features a classical look from the hotel’s original restaurant while echoing the chic feel of modern day San Francisco.

Fredericks has a combination of booth, banquette and square table seating for guests who want to linger, enjoy their meal, and soak up the ambiance. A sampling of the breakfast menu reveals sweet pastries at breakfast such as a Kouign-Amann Baton and savory pastries like the Union Square with Sausage, Hash Browns, Egg & Cheese, as well as tasty offerings such as a Gravlax Plate with Bagel, Salmon, Cream Cheese, Tomato, Red Onion & Capers; Avocado Toast on Sourdough with an 8 Minute Egg; and a California Shakshuka with two Poached Eggs, Tomatoes, Peppers, Cilantro, and Yogurt.

The restaurant also serves lunch, where patrons will find soups and salads including the Kale Salad with Medjool Date, Almonds, Aged White Cheddar and Sherry Vinaigrette, alongside sandwiches and more substantial fare such as Fish Tacos made with Crispy Local Rock Cod, Smoked Jalapeno Crema, &  Marinated Cabbage and a Half-Roasted Chicken with Marble Potatoes and Grilled Lemon.

In addition, in a section with high seating and smaller tables, Fredericks also serves to-go food and drinks – with selections designed to complement the offerings in the Redwood Room – including a high-end coffee program with partner roaster, Peerless, gourmet pastries and snacks, elevated comfort food, and wine, beer and cocktails on tap.

The Clift’s legendary Redwood Room reopened on July 1, 2021 with a new sumptuous food menu, handcrafted cocktails, and a revitalized look. The room retains its namesake redwood walls and glamorous lighting, only undergoing a change in furniture, flooring, and wall art. The new bar is manufactured from an 800-year-old redwood tree found by a custom woodworker in Montana. Also new — original Gustav Klimt paintings [reproductions created by students of Klimt, under his direction] uncovered onsite during the hotel renovations — have been painstakingly restored and re-hung, lending the room an art nouveau ambiance.  Menu items include Warm Orange Pull-Apart Buns with Honey Butter made with honey from The Clift’s own rooftop beehives, Waygu Beef “Double Double” Sliders with White Cheddar and Onion Jam on a Brioche Bun, and Oysters on the Half Shell with Passion Fruit Mignonette and Caviar.  Newer cocktails include an updated Old Fashioned (“The Big Chair”) – a nod to the famed oversized chair that every visitor to The Clift has likely taken a photo with, and “The Mr. Clift”, the lounge’s take on a Manhattan.

More information at:
https://www.redwoodroomsf.com/

Fredericks is open seven days a week, Reservations are not required. https://www.sonesta.com/us/california/san-francisco/clift-royal-sonesta-hotel/fredericks

 

Real Oyster Cult Makes Good on Promise to Deliver Delicious Live Oysters to Your Doorstep

Fresh oysters are a delicacy that require one main ingredient, and that’s freshness. So when we heard about seafood company Real Oyster Cult, that says they will deliver fresh oysters across the country to you, and guarantees that they are actually fresh, we had to take a look at it. Fortunately, we found that this promise was in fact delivered upon 100%.

The oysters that we received were all tightly closed within their shells, proof that they were not only alive but also determined to remain that way, with their freshness and sea water inside. Not a single one had even the slightest hint of an open shell. The overall reviewers’ verdict on their taste was an A+.

Real Oyster Cult is one of several national or local firms that have moved into the area of bringing sustainably harvested seafood directly to people’s homes. These oysters arrive live in an insulated cold storage device, which allows them to be stored in a home refrigerator for up to 10 days without a problem.

Of course, who is really going to keep live oysters in the refrigerator for 10 days without eating them? But it’s good to know that you have the option, as long as you keep them on ice.

Real Oyster Cult says that this entire idea came to them because they are already oyster farmers, and they were in the habit of throwing great parties on their floating workspace above the oyster beds, a perfect place to concoct this new business model.

Seems like they did a great job with that idea. Not only do they send the oysters that they cultivate themselves, they also now include the opportunity for seafood lovers to taste oysters from over 70 different farms from across North America. The 20 oysters that we received in the Real Oyster Cult Gift Bundle package were of three different types, and this was from a possible curated selection of over 20 varieties oysters available.  The package can be increased by 20 oysters at a time, and they can send a bundle of 40 or 60 oysters, depending on your needs. The Gift Bundle also includes a free shucking knife and rubberized non-slip gloves, which are not just practical and safe, but also a delight to use. They definitely speed up the process if you don’t have an oyster knife and gloves already available. If you don’t eat oysters on a regular basis, the gloves can alternately be used in the garden.

On top of being a tasty luxury, oysters are known for having multiple health and wellness benefits. Furthermore, apparently being an oyster farmer is more than a delicious occupation, although tiring.  It also helps keep the natural environment clean. Oysters clean the ocean and can filter nitrogen from 25 to 50 gallons of sea water every day. Too much nitrogen is not good for the ecosystem, and oysters contribute to keeping it balanced. Real Oyster Cult says that helping to support this balance is part of their overall mission.

In addition to the several varieties of oysters available, Real Oyster Cult also has seasoning sauces and hot sauces (called Mignon-Nips), wine and whiskey pairing packages, caviar, Maine Lobster, and Jonah Crab Claws. The Gift Bundle starts at around $69.

Find out more at www.realoystercult.com

Vinfolio Creates a Program to Manage Investments in Fine Wine

 

Vinfolio, one of the country’s leading fine wine companies, recently announced the launch of a new cutting-edge fine wine investment program. Now, in addition to securing some of the most sought after wines by the bottle, Vinfolio clients can also gain access to a selection of investment-grade stock in original cases directly on the company’s e-commerce platform, or by working directly with Vinfolio’s executive team to build a bespoke fine wine investment portfolio.

“From the time of my initial investment in Vinfolio back in 2016, it seemed that the U.S. market was lacking a player who could bring the idea of fine wine as an investment opportunity to the mainstream in a clear and accessible way,” says Don St. Pierre, Executive Chairman of Vinfolio. “Now, with the addition of more than 5,000 cases of investment-grade wines to our platform and the launch of our full-service investment program, we are proudly assuming that mantle.”

“Historically speaking, fine wine has outperformed many of the traditional asset classes available and we are seeing more and more people looking to diversify by building a wine portfolio,” Vinfolio President Adam Lapierre says. “We believe we are in a unique position to support clients embarking on this journey thanks to our deep knowledge of the collectible fine wine market, unmatched global network of suppliers and innovative business model. I’m particularly excited by our full-service investment program: the process is extremely simple, fully transparent and, at the same time, low cost to the investor. It’s a game-changer.”

Vinfolio’s strength lies not just in the sourcing of fine wines at the best prices, but also in its use of technology to create a platform that provides both buyers and sellers with all the requisite tools and intelligence to successfully build and liquidate a wine portfolio. In addition to its marketplace platform, Vinfolio has proprietary access to crucial flow-data which lies at the heart of all our decision-making. The company’s algorithm dynamically looks at current U.S. retail listings, auction sale prices, and sales on its own platform to determine what is the current fair market value of a given wine. From there, Vinfolio can trigger buy or sell activities to ensure a sound investment and a healthy return.

Over the last three decades, investment-grade wine has performed very strongly against just about all major asset classes. Analysis of a representative selection of the foremost traded investment-grade wines reveals a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 11 percent since 1988. In context, the returns for U.S. Equities (DJIA), U.K. equities (FTSE), Asia equities (Hang Seng), Gold, and Oil for the same period were materially lower.

ABOUT VINFOLIO

Vinfolio is majority-owned by Executive Chairman Don St. Pierre Jr. and his business partner and good friend Allan Warburg, co-founder and co-CEO of Bestseller Fashion Group China. St. Pierre is the recipient of numerous wine industry accolades, including being named number seven on Decanter magazine’s 2011 Top 50 global wine industry power players and selected by Wine Enthusiast Magazine as the 2011 International Man of the Year. In 2012, the French government awarded St. Pierre Jr. the degree of Knight in the French Ordre du Mérite Agricole, and in 2015, he was appointed as a member of the supervisory board of Vinexpo Overseas. Vinfolio’s ownership also includes Jean-Michel Valette, who chairs the Education and Examination Board (EEB) of the Institute of Masters of Wine and is former chairman of Robert Mondavi Corporation and Peet’s Coffee, Jon Moramarco, former CEO of Constellation Brands, and Steve Case, founder of AOL and co-founder at venture capital firm Revolution

Visit https://www.vinfolio.com/wine-investing for more details on Vinfolio’s new investment initiative.

Viva Tequila Festival Mexico Experience Tour Honored by the TASTE AWARDS

Atlanta’s Viva Tequila Festival was honored at this year’s TASTE AWARDS (aka, the TASTY Awards). Often called the “Oscars of Food, Fashion and Lifestyle Media,” this edition of the Taste Awards highlighted Viva Tequila Mexico Experience under the category of OUTSTANDING CULINARY & TRAVEL EXPERIENCE. This year, as for many awards shows, the Taste Awards had a virtual broadcast that reached viewers across the globe, from Japan and South Africa to England, Poland and Italy, and from New Zealand to Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

Hosted by wine, beer and spirits purveyor Juan Bonilla, dubbed “Mr. Tequila,” the Viva Tequila Festival Mexico Experience tour takes participants on an exclusive trip down the historic timeline of Mexico’s Tequila Trail, providing in-depth understanding of the different regions that cultivate Tequila, the history of this iconic Mexican spirit and its importance in local, national and international economies.

The Viva Tequila Festival Mexico Experience tour visits several cities, including Tlaquepaque, Tequila, Atotonilco and Guadalajara to provide a local perspective of the manufacturing of Tequila. Participants are able to mingle with locals and admire and shop for unique Mexican works of art, both folk and fine, all while sipping limited edition craft Tequilas from distilleries that embody traditional to modern styles of manufacturing.

Highlights includes visits to the Fortaleza and Don Nacho craft distilleries as well as hacienda of José Cuervo, where participants bottle their own Reserva de la Familia, and enjoy a tasting in the property’s private cellar and then dinner at the Tienda de Raya, both opened exclusively for Viva Tequila Festival.

Tour participants are treated to stays in centuries-old haciendas that were once home to some of Mexico’s wealthiest people. They can enjoy a morning horseback ride at the historic, 17th century Hacienda Labor de Rivera or disconnect and relax with a spa treatment at Hacienda El Carmen Hotel & Spa.

Other winners at this year’s Taste Awards included recipients of the new ANDREW ZIMMERN DISCOVERY AWARD. This award honors the mission to discover new cultures, flavors or talent. The inaugural honorees of this new award are noted chefs Andrew Zimmern and Tyler Florence.

Other well-known personalities who won or were honored at the Taste Awards include Ming Tsai, Selena Gomez, Idris Elba, Dylan Dreyer, Chef John Folse and Lidi Bastianich, along with Bravo’s Top Chef, America’s Test Kitchen, NHK, the Africa Channel and New Soul Kitchen.

The Taste Awards have included appearances by stars, celebrities, producers and executives from networks and platforms such as the Food Network, the Style Network, Bravo, the Cooking Channel, TLC, Discovery, Lifetime, E! Entertainment Television, PBS, Create TV, APT, NBC, ABC, the CW, HGTV, the Travel Channel, HD Net, Hulu, YouTube, Dreamworks, Esquire Network, FYI Network, The History Channel, Bio, iHeart Radio, Sony Pictures, APT, Myx TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime and more. See them at www.TheTasteAwards.com.

For more information on Viva Tequila Festival’s tours, visit www.vivatequilafestival.com.

Word of the Day: How to Pronounce Aioli

There is always great pleasure in knowing the correct pronunciation of a word you use in front of other people, both friends and colleagues. Unfortunately the real world challenge comes from whether they also know how to correctly pronounce it, and in which region you are. The last thing you want is to misled even further.

Aioli is a good example. It is word both French and Spanish, and means “garlic” and “oil,” which are the two key ingredients.

So for the record:

AMERICA (often more like “aye-oh-lee, but can be the European version as well)

EUROPE (always more like “eye-oh-lee”)

Just in case you are curious, here’s the Australian pronunciation

Fortnum & Mason’s Sailboat Chocolate is Bringing You 99% Emission-Free Luxury Chocolate

If you think things are moving too fast, then Fortnum & Mason has some news for you. They not only get their own chocolate direct from the source in the Caribbean, but they also do it on their own sailboat! That’s right, a slow-going sailboat. A luxury sailboat.

The general idea is that this helps make the brand the world’s first ’farm to store’ 99% emission-free chocolate. The project is a collaboration between Fortnum & Mason, and the Grenada Chocolate Company in partnership with Chantal Coady OBE.

In addition to the wind-powered boats delivering the chocolate made from Trinitario Cocoa beans, they also come in fully-recyclable boxes.

We’re waiting for the client option to sail on the boat in the Caribbean while eating bars of this sustainable chocolate. (hint, hint)