TOAST OF NAPA

Photo of Mondavi cellars courtesy the Robert Mondavi website.

ON JUNE 18th, 2013, every wine-lover in California and beyond is invited to pause, pour and toast the grandfather of the California wine industry, Robert Mondavi on what would have been his 100th birthday.
Mondavi, who died in 2008, invested his life not only in making and marketing California wine varietals, but also educating others about wine by investing in The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at the University of California, Davis as well as COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in Napa.

For this particular birthday toast, Mondavi himself would have preferred a French wine, but more appropriate, I say, is the bright, summery Robert Mondavi 2011 Fume Blanc, a slightly sweet, crisp white that's perfect for summer dinners. www.robertmonndaviwinery.com

 

SWEET CAUSE

CANDY IS CANDY and new flavors are always fun. But the new Mike 'N Ike Lemonade Blends candies are more than just new flavors -- they are candies with one really sweet cause. A portion of the profits for the boxes of sour-sweet candies go to Alex's Lemonade Stand, a non-profit that is dedicated to finding cures for all kids who have cancer.
The organization, founded by a 4-year-old child with cancer who decided to sell lemonade to help other young victims of cancer, has raised $60 million for cancer research and has funded 300 research projects. For more information, go to www.alexslemonade.org

QUICK BOOST

MOST DAYS, MY go-to energy drink is black coffee, brewed fresh. And lots of it. But since I do like to change it up -- and to add to the morning jolt -- from time to time, I welcomed samples of a new-fangled energy drink called Runa Clean Energy.
Lightly flavored and barely sweet, Runa gets it's energetic punch from an Ecuadoran leaf called guayusa (pronounced gwhy-u-say), a leaf that has all the caffeine of coffee, tons of antioxidants, and not even a hint of bitter flavor.

The leaf, well known in the Amazon for its healthy properties, gives Runa a jolt just as powerful as coffee, and is also believed to improve focus, acuity and even quash appetite. I'm not sure if it did all of that for me -- but it definitely provides energy and tastes good.
Runa makes a range of guayusa-infused products, including a range of loose-leaf teasans flavored with things such as mint, hibiscus and orange, bottled teas in similar flavors and carbonated waters. All are good, but the waters are my favorite. Find Runa at Whole Foods for about $2.29 per can. www.runa.org  

SHREK SPREAD

I AM NOT SURE if I did something wrong, but when I made this bright green aspargus spread, I couldn't help but laugh at the lime green color. Good thing that it turned out to be pretty tasty, and even better alongside a short glass of citrusy Arnaldo Caprai Grecante Grechetto 2011, $19.
The recipe came from some creative cooks associated with the Italian winery. I will definitely make it again -- maybe even for a kid-party. I bet the kids will love it, and they'll have no idea that they are eating asparagus.

Asparagus Pesto

20 thin stalks asparagus, ends trimmed and peeled if the skin is old or tough

4 cloves garlic, roasted

1/4 cup pine nuts

Juice of 1/2 lemon

5 tablespoons grated pecorino

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Steam asparagus until it is tender but still bright green in color. Remove from heat and shock in cold water to preserve color. Put asparagus into a food-processor or blender. Add pine nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, pecorino romano, salt and pepper to taste. Puree until smooth, adding water as necessary to keep blender moving. Serve as a dip with pita chips or crackers, or use as a sauce on pasta.

SAVORY EXPERIENCE

Photo courtesy Ame website

FOOD, NO MATTER HOW good it is, really is just food. But when that food is part of a Kaiseki dinner prepared by Chef Hiro Sone at Ame in San Francisco, it's so much more. The food becomes part of a sensory experience that is a celebration of all that is beautiful about food.
The dinners, launched in May, are multi-course dinners prepared tableside by Sone himself, in true Kyoto style. Each course features seasonal and local ingredients that are transformed into art on the plate.
Since Kaiseki dinners in Japan start at about $200 per person, it's no surprise that these dinners at Ame are a bit pricey -- $165 per person without wine. Pairings with the various courses are provided for another $95 per person.
When I read the pricetag on these dinners, I balked. What meal could ever be worth that much money? In some respects, the Kaiseki is little more than an amped-up prix fix menu at a very nice restaurant. But in reality, you are paying not just for the food, but for the rich traditions that surround the meal -- including $10,000-kimonos worn by servers, or handmade laquerware that sells for as much as $800 per bowl.
Chef Sone plans the menus weeks in advance. The next two dates are June 6 and July 11. Seating is extremely limited and reservations are required and must be pre-paid. Payment will only be refunded if cancellation is recieved a full seven days before the dinner. It's also important to note that no substitutions are allowed, and very limited changes can be made due to allergies and dietary restrictions. Menus will not be announced until the day of the dinner. For more information or reservations, contact Ame at www.amerestaurant.com

BETTER BOLOGNA

THE PRIMARY REASON why I don't eat a lot of summer sausage and bologna -- and rarely fed it to my kids as they were growing up -- is that I think of it as processed junk food. In my mind, it's packed with fat and additives that are not OK to eat without a heaping spoonful of guilt.
But last week, I got a sausage education. I got to try a handful of varieties of fresh, real, all natural sausage made by Alef Sausage in Illinois. I tried veal bologna and chicken bologna, summer sausage and beef sausage and I must admit that I really enjoyed the latter, especially.
The best news is that when I served some of these fresh sausages to kids aged 2 to 22 -- they absolutely loved them. They cleared the plate and asked for more. Of course we'd love for our kids to eat their veggies and to learn to love nutritious foods that are packed with adult flavors. But I am convinced that getting them hooked on real foods made right is the first step: Smokey sausage that gets it's flavor from being smoked; bologna made with just chicken, salt, sugar and spices -- nothing else.
Alef gets it right. The company has Russian roots, so don't be surprised if you see a little unfamiliar writing on their website. The sausages are about $5 per pound. www.alefsausage.com