Spotlight: P Allen Smith TASTE AWARDS Acceptance Speech
TV Host and and Producer P Allen Smith’s remote Acceptance Speech video for their TASTE AWARD win.
Get the Latest Food & Wine Trends in Napa Valley
If you love food and wine, then you know that Napa Valley is an epicenter for both. Between the vast acres of vineyards and the great selections of restaurants, it’s a place where new trends constantly emerge.
We’ve asked experts Chef Barbara Alexander and Karen Rowley what they see as some of the upcoming ones.
Karen and Chef Alexander, what are some of the current culinary trends in Wine Country?
- Quality products with local ingredients keeps trending from the best restaurants to the food trucks that line Soscal Avenue Here in Napa Valley the trend has become much more inclusive with hyper local ingredients frequently grown at the restaurant’s or chef’s own garden and prepared as it is harvested.
- Plant forward food that emphasizes fruits and vegetables in traditional and new cuisine. Sneak in those veggies!
- The big emphasis on food at wineries with new kitchens opening up at a brisk pace and wineries like B Cellar that are completely focused on pairing food and wine
- A resurgence in quality restaurants in downtown Napa
- The Oxbow area has become a culinary haven
- New hotel builds with celebrity chefs like Las Alcobas in Saint Helena with Chris Cosentino’s acclaimed Acacia.
When it comes to wine, what do you see as trending in Napa Valley appellations?
- Preservation of heritage vineyards,
- 1-2 acre single clone vineyards planted in different appellations by the same estate for blending or single vineyard tastings
- The emergence of Coombsville as a major appellation because of its micro climates and ability to grow valley, mountain and coastal grapes
- The way winemakers are letting the terroir of an appellation speak in their wines
- The influx of billionaires purchasing wineries in all appellations
- The explosion of labels touting appellations that do not own any vineyards or have a winery in that appellation
More about Karen and Barbara of Curated Journeys
Karen Rowley
Karen Rowley owns a travel company completely focused on creating wine and culinary adventures all over the world on land and sea. She works with wineries, culinary experts, and chefs to curate the most amazing experiences imaginable. Travel has been her life for 30 years, and she is part of the prestigious Virtuoso Travel Network of the best luxury travel advisors on the planet.
Chef Barbara Alexander
For over 30 years, Chef B. has worked as a professional executive chef, running pedigree hotel kitchens and Michelin-level restaurants in Vancouver, Canada and Sydney, Australia. She has been a culinary educator with The Dubrulle French Culinary School in Vancouver, Canada, The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, Napa Valley, and had a 16-year stint as Culinary Director at the lauded Napa Valley Cooking School. Currently, Chef B. is a consultant for the Culinary Institute of America.
Curated Journeys
Karen Rowley, the co-founder of Curated Journeys, which provides elevated private experiences, discovering what the locals and insiders love about Napa Valley. Food and wine produced by award-winning chefs and winemakers, served in stunning settings.
Curated Journeys wants their guests to know the secret enclaves that lie behind closed gates, in hidden caves, and private estates. Committed to quality, local food, and small production, outstanding wines in their personal lives, they have created unparalleled, immersive experiences for small groups of people to enjoy.
For more information, please visit https://www.manymoretravels.com/product/napa-valley-curated-journeys
VC-based fashion startup The Lobby launches
The Lobby, a personalized shopping concierge service that brings the store to the customer at the office, recently launched.
Backed by top investors including SV Angel and Third Kind Venture Capital, The Lobby was inspired by Google veteran Abigail Holtz‘s own workplace experiences where coworkers regularly tried on clothing purchases at the office, using the bathroom as a makeshift dressing room. Noting how both the workplace and consumer shopping habits have changed over the past decade, Holtz and team set off to re-imagine shopping for millennial consumers, focusing on the thing’s millennials value most: hyper convenience, personal experiences, and innovative products that align with their values.
The Lobby curates emerging brands – such as Greats, Cuyana, Margaux, and Michi – and lets customers request products to try on before they buy. The Lobby’s courier team then delivers items and picks up returns directly from the workplace, allowing shoppers to discover, try and buy without the hassle of return forms, trips to the post office or waiting for refunds on their credit card.
With a focus on direct-to-consumer brands that have a limited brick-and-mortar presence, The Lobby gives members the opportunity to try out brands they’ve only seen in their Instagram feed – without any risk. And for brands, the Lobby offers a new distribution channel that gets their products in the hands of stylish early-adopters.
The Lobby currently delivers to over 50 companies, including most of the San Francisco Bay Area’s top tech startups, and plans to expand to additional cities including New York and Los Angeles
California and Texas have the Toughest Restaurant Reviewers
If you thought the toughest peer restaurant reviews would be in New York or Chicago, you would be wrong. They are in California and Texas, specifically in Austin, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These are results from a study commissioned by Home Run Inn Pizza and analyzed by Digital Third Coast.
The study used Eater.com’s “38 Essential” lists and analyzed 4,000 data points across Google, Yelp, Facebook and TripAdvisor to better understand the rankings and platforms that the average person reads reviews on before making their decision to visit a business or not.
What they found was that California and Texas have some of the toughest and most critical reviewers, although New Yorkers and Chicagoans are definitely the most opinionated.
Overall Rankings:
· Highest ratings: Facebook review
· Lowest ratings: Yelp
· Highest number of reviews: Yelp
· Lowest number of reviews: TripAdvisor
Toughest Crowd: (Average ratings across Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor. #1 being the hardest to please, #25 being the easiest to please)
1. Austin
2. Houston
3. Los Angeles
4. San Francisco
5. Washington, DC
6. New York
7. New Orleans
8. Montreal
9. London
10. Dallas
11. Chicago
12. Nashville
13. Twin Cities
14. Paris
15. Atlanta
16. Miami
17. Portland
18. Las Vegas
19. Detroit
20. Philadelphia
21. Seattle
22. San Diego
23. Boston
24. Denver
25. Charleston
Most opinionated crowd: (Average number of reviews across Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor)
1. Chicago
2. New York
3. San Francisco
4. Las Vegas
5. New Orleans
6. Washington DC
7. Los Angeles
8. San Diego
9. Nashville
10. Houston
11. Portland
12. Austin
13. Miami
14. Charleston
15. Atlanta
16. Detroit
17. Twin Cities
18. Philadelphia
19. Dallas
20. Boston
21. Montreal
22. Seattle
23. Denver
24. Paris
25. London
(#1 the highest number of reviews, #25 fewest reviews)
For more details, visit Chicago-based Digital Third Coast
San Francisco and Puerto Vallarta become Sister Cities
PUERTO VALLARTA AND SAN FRANCISCO JOINED IN ‘SISTERHOOD’
US Mexico Sister Cities Association Connects the Pacific Coast Ports in Strategic Alliance to Foster Tourism
Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco are now sister cities. The sisterhood, formalized under the auspices of the US Mexico Sister Cities Association, was recently announced by Puerto Vallarta city officials in a ceremony celebrating the strategic partnership between the two Pacific Coast ports.
Puerto Vallarta’s Interim Mayor, Rodolfo Domínguez Monroy, led the twinning ceremony, accompanied by the General Consul of Mexico in San Francisco, Gemí José González López; the President of the Tourism Commission, Martha Susana Rodríguez Mejía; and the city’s Tourism Director, Ramón González Lomelí.
The partnership is expected to promote cultural and commercial ties between the cities, which have shared a historical legacy since the 1960s. The two conurbations are also both home to large LGBT communities, a thriving demographic sector that contributes to the Puerto Vallarta’s greatness, Rodriguez Mejia noted at the twinning ceremony.
She added that San Francisco, with the highest per-capita purchasing power in the U.S., is close to Silicon Valley, home to small and large technology corporations from around the world, which could be replicated and developed as a second major industry — in addition to tourism — in Puerto Vallarta.
Oliva Izaguirre, Mexico’s National President of the US Mexico Sister Cities Association, pointed out that Puerto Vallarta serves as an important example of a city with optimistic, enthusiastic and intelligent inhabitants being united with other important cities to strengthen bonds of friendship, to share experiences and to collaborate in different areas such as culture.
In addition to celebrating the new sister city status, Mayor Dominguez Monroy also introduced a team of local business owners who will make up the local committee to oversee the work done under the alliance, which will also work to foster tourism. Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico and United Airlines all offer direct flights between Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco.
The sisterhood between Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco is not affiliated with Sister Cities International. The US Mexico Sister Cities Association (www.usmsca.com) is based in La Jolla, California.
Madame Tussauds San Francisco Unveils Virtual Reality Adventure Experience
The Virtual Room at Madame Tussauds San Francisco
Madame Tussauds San Francisco unveils a new interactive live experience for visitors to “Be a Hero” in the city’s first team-based virtual reality (VR) adventure.
The year is 2217. A team of time-travelers have disappeared and a temporal rift has been detected in the past, risking humanity’s disappearance from the Earth – forever. The mission: save Earth from its dystopian future. Journey through history to solve puzzles and challenges. Unlock the secrets of Ancient Egypt. Repair the moon lander. Fight dinosaurs before they hunt you down. Dive to the bottom of ocean. All of this to correct the mistakes of the past before it destroys life as we know it. Each player will have his/ her own dedicated room, specifically designed and equipped with the latest virtual reality gear.
Developed in partnership with Virtual Room USA, the collaborative virtual reality experience allows groups of 2-4 people to participate in up to four 15-minute timed challenges all while communicating with their teammates.
The Virtual Room is a separately priced attraction from Madame Tussauds with tickets from just $10. The experience is designed for players ages 12 years and up and perfect for groups of friends, family, team-building, birthday parties and more.
ABOUT MADAME TUSSAUDS SAN FRANCISCO
Welcoming a fabulous 10 million guests though our world-famous doors every year, Madame Tussauds gives you the chance to experience the ULTIMATE fame experience. We have nearly 25 unique locations around the world, from New York to Shanghai, Amsterdam to Sydney – and, of course, London, where the story began. Throughout our 250+ year history, Madame Tussauds has brought to life thousands of celebs, stars and heroes – in mind-blowingly accurate detail – giving visitors the opportunity to brush shoulders with their idols and LITERALLY reach for the stars! Truly immerse yourself in our famous worlds and get a taste of life of the rich and famous, as in 2018, the opportunity to become the star continues! Through a combination of our historic artistic methods (that date back centuries, by the way!), immersive sets and pioneering modern tech – guests can experience fame and get closer to the action like never before. Madame Tussauds San Francisco opens daily at 10 a.m., 365 days a year and is located on Fisherman’s Wharf at 145 Jefferson Street. Find on Facebook: @MadameTussaudsSanFrancisco and Instagram and Twitter: @TussaudsSF.