Elizabeth Hale of Committee on the Shelterless (COTS), center, and Judy Murphy, a Mary Isaac Center volunteer, right, tearfully listen as a former homeless person recounts how their life was changed for good with help from Catholic Charities during “Lost in Paradise: A Forum on Homelessness in Sonoma County” at the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
As the leader of a homeless services center – and former homeless drug user – Mike Johnson knows it’s crucial to have help available when someone wants to get off the streets.
But when a homeless person in Sonoma County says “I’m ready,” those services often aren’t there. There aren’t enough emergency beds, temporary living spaces or permanent affordable housing for the estimated 4,300 homeless residents.
“The bottleneck is both at the front end and at the back end,” said Johnson, the executive director of the Committee on the Shelterless, or COTS, in Petaluma.
Johnson was among several community leaders to participate in a panel discussion Wednesday night on the causes and impacts of homelessness in Sonoma County in a forum presented by The Press Democrat and Sonoma Magazine.
The “Shine A Light” discussion, before a packed house at the Glaser Center in downtown Santa Rosa, is the first of an occasional series of forums on community issues, Press Democrat Executive Editor Catherine Barnett said.
The forum was prompted by an illuminating Sonoma Magazine article, written by Press Democrat Staff Writer Jeremy Hay, that chronicled the lives of several young people living on the streets of Santa Rosa.
The experts discussed difficulties assisting the estimated 10,000 people who are homeless at some point in a given year in Sonoma County. A one-day census of the homeless population counted 4,280 homeless residents, 1,128 of whom were under age 24 and 277 under age 18.
The waiting list for housing at the COTS Mary Isaak Center in Petaluma is eight weeks, Johnson said.
Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane, right, speaks passionately about how her religious beliefs compel her to aid the homeless during “Lost in Paradise: A Forum on Homelessness in Sonoma County.” (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
The answer to a person in urgent need is: “Stand in line for two months. Sorry. We can’t help you for two months,” he said.
The picture is equally as dire on the other end of the continuum: Burbank Housing operates about 2,800 affordable housing units in Sonoma County. The waiting list is now at 7,400 applicants.
Jennielynn Holmes, director of shelter and housing for Catholic Charities, spoke of a family who recently became homeless for the first time. The mother, father and their 14-year-old daughter are living in the family’s truck under the new “safe parking” program at the county fairgrounds, which allows as many as 50 vehicles on site this winter.
But, Holmes said, “We can do better than that.”
That sentiment was echoed by others on the panel, including Chuck Cornell, executive director of Burbank Housing, Matt Martin, the executive director of Social Advocates for Youth and Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane.
Acting Santa Rosa Police Chief Hank Schreeder spoke of the combination of homelessness, substance abuse and mental illness that leads to police intervention when it affects the quality of life of others.
“Contrary to popular belief, the police can’t solve homelessness and the jail is not a shelter,” he said.
Zane and Cornell advocated for more affordable housing units, while others urged “systems of care” that treat the causes of a person’s homelessness and support them through to permanent housing.
Shadowing the discussion was disagreement about SAY’s Dream Center in Bennett Valley, a controversial proposal to create a 63-bed transitional housing facility for homeless youths and those who have aged out of foster care.
You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 762-7297 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.
Sorry for the quick post here (I’m in two weeks of digital training, 8 hours a day), but this was so important that I wanted to make sure it got out to BiteClubbers asap.
I try not to overwhelm readers with every Kickstart campaign, “vote for my recipe” and “help this person”, but this situation really tugged at my heartstrings. Here’s the story…
A West Marin family, the Porrata-Powells, were recently told their four-year-old son, EZ (Zeke) had Stage 4 cancer. As if that wasn’t enough of a heartbreak, EZ’s father, Roneil, died unexpectedly in his sleep just two weeks ago. And now, mom Alex and her two children are struggling to make ends meet and help EZ with his diagnosis.
To help out, several local farms and ranches are raising funds for the family. Victorian Farmstead, Tara Firma Farms and BN Ranch have launched the “EZ Pound of Ground” Fundraiser (details below), with 100% of proceeds supporting the Roneil Powell Memorial Fund.
In the first four days they have sold 32 EZ Pounds for $20 each. They’ve also received over $800 in donations, leaving many more EZ Pounds to sell! That’s over $1400 that will go to Alex and her kids. If you can’t afford to donate you can still help. PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK OR THE ONE ONFACEBOOK! It might just reach someone who can help, and every EZ Pound matters.
“Mother and children are being put through a series of tests of courage and character that will make you question everything you know to be true,” said Adam Parks of Victorian Farmstead.
I’m going to let Adam’s kind words (he also lost a child to a rare disease) explain further.
It is a situation that I can’t imagine, and that’s coming from someone who has lost a child to a rare disease. You can’t prepare, even when you are given time. And to have your world crushed overnight is to much to comprehend. So, as I would expect, the West Marin community I grew up in is rallying in epic ways. There are auctions, benefits, offers of meals, transportation, child care and even a yoga and meditation benefit! All that is great, but I need to use my place in the world to do some good in my circle of influence. That’s YOU!
Victorian Farmstead has partnered with Tara Firma Farms and BN Ranch to raise money for this family in a way that EVERYONE can participate in. VF and TF are each putting 100 one pound packs of ground beef up for sale for $20 each. BN Ranch is adding in in 100 one pound packs of ground turkey! 100% of this money will go to Alex and her kids. You can buy these at our butcher shop or any of our farmers markets starting Saturday, February 8th. Ground turkey will be available the following week. If you want to help and we are either sold out or you would like turkey, we will give you an IOU card for your $20 this weekend. All you have to do is ask for a pound of ground for Alex.
I can’t make it any easier. Find $20. Clean out your ash tray and couch cushions. Don’t have $20??? Donate what you can. Have a lot of $20 bills??? Donate and leave the ground beef for us to sell to someone else. Live too far away??? Mail a check. I will ship the beef. I have the most loyal followers in the history of the meat business (???) and I’m using my “ask” for this family. Please.
+++++++
HERE IS HOW TO HELP
VF and TF are each putting 100 one pound packs of ground beef up for sale for $20 each available now. BN Ranch is adding in in 100 one pound packs of ground turkey available starting in a week.
100% of this money will go to Alex and her kids.
You can make your purchase at the Victorian Farmstead new butcher shop newCommunity Market in Sebastopol. Or, starting February 8th, stop by any of our farmers markets (details on right hand side of this website).
Note:
If you want to help and we are either sold out or you would like turkey, we will give you an IOU card for your $20 this weekend. All you have to do is ask for a “pound of ground for Alex”
You can also pay online and recieve an IOU via our PAYPAL
(This article was written on Feb. 10, just as the news of the recall was hitting the national press. I wrote this piece to inform people of what we knew at the time — which was very little. I hope you’ll continue to follow the Press Democrat’s great reporting on the Rancho recall here…)
++++++++++
The headlines are terrifying: 8.7 Million Pounds of Possibly Diseased Meat Recalled.
Petaluma’s Rancho Feeding Corp. is under fire after two recalls, the latest involving millions of pounds of “possibly diseased meat” according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). It received one of the most serious warnings, a Class 1 Recall, a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.
But here’s the thing…no one is saying the meat actually was diseased. And no one has reported any illnesses from the beef, most of which has already been sold and consumed according to producers.
The issue at hand is that the meat “did not receive a full inspection” from a USDA inspector It didn’t get a stamp of approval from the USDA. For a year.
“We suffered through this a month ago,” said Tara Smith, owner of Tara Firma Farms in Petaluma, describing the recall of 40,000 pounds of Rancho beef in January. Smith was among the producers directly affected, losing about $8,000 of beef which she claims was organically raised and processed according to proper health and safety procedures.
“The USDA guy practically lives there. He has to be there whenever processing is going on,” said Smith. “If there was a sick cow that showed up, they would turn it away,” she added. “There should have been no recall,” she added, saying the media hype is not only unfair to Rancho, but to the many producers who now have to inform their customers of the recall affecting more than a year’s worth of meat.
She also clarifies that the meat in question wasn’t hamburger or steaks, but offal and carcasses. Meaning you probably didn’t cook any of the meat in question on your barbecue last summer. So don’t freak out. (Here is a list of retailers who carried the meat).
Worst case scenario? We lose the last USDA-certified beef processing plant in the Bay Area (we’ve already lost chicken processing), leaving many local ranchers with no choice but to haul their animals several hours away–stressing the animals, creating higher carbon footprints and crippling extra costs for artisan meat producers throughout the North Bay and beyond.
“This isn’t going to kill the [locally sourced meat] movement we have going on, but its a massive inconvenience and could put some people out of business,” said Adam Parks of Victorian Farmstead Meats, based in Sebastopol. Parks sells chicken, pork and beef from his own farm and other local producers.
Parks is among several local beef purveyors who used Rancho’s facility for “custom cut” (small scale client who can specify how the meat is butchered) and will now have to recall all of the meat they’ve sold in the past year. “Honestly 99 percent of that meat has already been consumed and no one ever got sick. But I’ll have to find the bar codes for all of the beef sold in the past year and contact all of our customers. That kind of paperwork puts a lot of stress on small producers,” Parks said.
Though there’s not yet any official accounting for what amount of the 8.7 million pounds of recalled meats is still in existence, Parks estimates that only about 100,000 pounds of meat sold between Jan. 1, 2013 and Jan. 7, 2014 (the official dates of the recall) havn’t yet been eaten. “It’s a big shock value to say 8.7 million pounds but the vast majority of that beef has been consumed,” he said.
As to exactly what might have happened, Parks echoes other local producers who say the facility was clean, had a vet on staff to monitor the welfare of animals and was family-run operation with deep roots in the community. “These folks are family friends. This isn’t a factory farm, this is a local business,” said Parks. “Did they make mistakes? I’m sure that they did. Its’ impossible to wade through all the stuff the USDA requires.”
“It seems politically motivated. It seems like the USDA is saying to Rancho, ‘We want you out of business’,” said Parks.
Whether the recall will affect his customers’ confidence, Parks says he isn’t worried. “My commitment as the owner of Victorian Farmstead Meats is to my customers. If I say the meat is good, it’s good. If I way it’s well slaughtered, it is. The bottom line is that I’m confident about my meat,” Parks said.
With a dearth of USDA inspectors this situation seems almost inevitable. The USDA’s own 2013 report regarding pig processing states that “some inspectors performed insufficient post-mortem and sanitation inspections, its programs lacked sufficient oversight and the FSIS could not always ensure “humane handling” at slaughter plants. Producers say USDA inspectors were always present during processing at Rancho, leaving the question as to exactly what wasn’t inspected.
Rancho owner Jesse “Babe” Amaral has not spoken to reporters about the closure, but Smith, who said she has spoken at length to him, claims he doesn’t even know why the USDA is doing the recall and has not received any official documentation with details of the alleged transgressions and how they might be rectified.
“I don’t believe the USDA is here to help us as farmers. They push a set of procedures that make food efficient, regardless of all the other things that matter: The nutrition of the food, the land, the life of the animal,” said Smith. “As family farms, we’re not able to turn the tide on this,” she said.
Let’s hope a solution comes soon, because as one of the world’s leaders in local, sustainably and humanely raised food, Sonoma County MUST continue to have a way to process meat in a financially stable, environmentally sane way.
So is Rancho off the hook? The Rancho meat processed in the last year may have been unfit for human consumption. But so far, we don’t know whether it was a clerical error by the USDA or something more worrisome. We just don’t know.
What I’m saying is that unless people have been sickened and/or there is concrete evidence of grave unsanitary or humane practices (which have not come to light), it isn’t to our benefit to jump to conclusions and cheer the closure of our last local beef processor.
Because if Rancho closes, expect your local meats to be, well, not so local. And some small, artisan beef producers to be, well, out of business. And what little local beef processing remains to either go underground and be non-USDA approved (frankly, I trust local ranchers more than large-scale corporations) or become so prohibitively expensive that factory-farmed meats from far flung countries will start looking pretty darn good.
At least that’s how I see it. What’s your take?
ALPHABET SOUP
USDA: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), also known as the Agriculture Department, is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for developing and executing government policies that will help farming, agriculture, forestry, and food communities thrive. It’s overall goals are to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers, promote agricultural trade and production, work to assure food safety, improve nutrition and health by providing food assistance and nutrition education, and protect natural resources, and foster rural communities. (source)
FSIS: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.
FDA: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services – which is one of the United States federal executive departments. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter medicine, vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), and veterinary products. The FDA also enforces other laws, including sanitation requirements on interstate travel and control of disease on products ranging from certain household pets to sperm donation for assisted reproduction. (source)
NACMPI: Established in 1971, the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) advises the Secretary of Agriculture on matters affecting federal and state inspection program activities.
It’s hard to know exactly how to feel about the fact that Big Lots (the closeout retail chain) will now be host to Hostess Thrift Outlets. Now, you’ll be able to snap up Twinkies, CupCakes, Zingers, Ding Dongs, Donettes, Snoballs and other sugary Hostess products to 40% off at Big Lots locations around the country.
On the plus side, there’s no shame in celebrating the return of the Twinkie (in moderation). Hostess Thrift Outlets shuttered en masse in late 2012, to the horror of many sweet-treat fans. For most folks, there’s probably at least one Hostess item that brings back fond memories of childhood.
On the minus side, the move feels a little predatory. Yeah, here comes the Twinkie Buzz Kill.
Big Lots caters to a large demographic, but if you’ve ever spent time in one, it pretty quickly becomes apparent that much of the clientele are trying to squeeze their pennies pretty hard–not by choice but by necessity.
Offering up highly processed, nutrient deficient, sugar-laden treats at a deep discount can’t help but be attractive to families on a tight budget. Speaking here from experience as a single mama feeding two kids, practicality often dictates quantity over quality.
Call it the Ramen Noodle conundrum: Five $1 bags of freeze dried soup can feed you for a few days. Five dollars worth of organic chicken will barely be enough for one meal. If you only have $5 what do you buy?
http://youtu.be/52ulWSp3Ylc
In a perfect world, healthy snacks and organic produce would be the highly discounted items at Big Lots and Twinkies would cost an astonishing $10 each, making them a once-in-a-blue-moon treat rather than a cheap source of nourishment.
But the world isn’t perfect, and we continue to make the worst foods for our health the cheapest and easiest to stuff into our craws.
So, what’s your take? Are cheap Twinkies awesome or awful?
As Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa continues its reinvention, three significant restaurants are slated to open this spring and summer. They will join the already-opened Chipotle, Whole Foods & Taproom, BJ’s Brewery, Quizno’s, Subway, Baskin Robbins and Starbucks.
The first to open will be Sea Noodle Grill, from the owners of Sea Thai Bistro (Santa Rosa, Petaluma). The restaurant is slated for an April opening in the former Fresh China location after an interior overhaul.
Jack’s Urban Eats, a Sacramento-based fast-casual chain is slated for May. The popular salad, sandwich and “carved meats” restaurant has nine other locations mostly in the Sacramento/Davis/Roseville area. Menu items include Chinese chicken salad, Thai prawn salad; hearty steak, turkey and barbecue sandwiches (yes, there’s a veggie); kid-friendly chicken strips, fries; carved meats (tri-tip, roasted turkey); and homey sides of mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, veggies, soup and baked cheese bread.
Finally, Coddingtown Grill will also be opening this year (likely late summer). Details are still vague on the concept, but the restaurant owner is currently developing a similar grill concept at Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton (also a Simon Mall) that will open this spring. The Coddingtown Grill space will likely be near the front of the mall near Starbucks, said mall reps.
One other Coddingtown spring opening will be Jamba Juice, bringing the number of eateries at the mall to eleven.
Michael Chiarello hosts the Bottega Gran Fondo in April
Michael Chiarello hosts the Bottega Gran Fondo in April
February 22-March 1, Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference: Cheesemaker Sheana Davis puts on one of the best gatherings of food and cheese producers in the country each year in Sonoma. Don’t miss the Sonoma Winter Artisan Cheese Fair at Ramekins Culinary Center (450 W. Spain St., Sonoma) on Feb. 23 with a sake and cheese tasting, beer and cheese pairing and mac ‘n cheese cookoff. Tickets are $60, online.
March 2, Cochon 555: Now in its eighth year, the epic pork event of the season hits Napa’s Culinary Institute of America for a day of chef competitions, pig eating and general swine-flavored goodness. This year’s local competitors include Cindy Pawlcyn (Mustard’s Grill), Jason Kupper (The Thomas), Kelly McCown (Goose & Gander), Patrick Clark (The CIA), Dustin Valette (Dry Creek Kitchen), students of The Conservatory led by Larry Forgione and Dave Budworth of Marina Meats. With 1200 pounds of heritage pork, 30 chef-created dishes, live butchery as well as a barkeep competition, there’s plenty to oink about. Tickets are $125 per person, details online.
March 10-16, Sonoma County Restaurant Week: Fifty-plus Sonoma County Restaurants roll out special 2 and 3 course prix-fixe menus during the fifth annual Restaurant Week event. Prices range from $19 to $39 for dinners, and this year, two course lunch menus range from $10 to $20. See all the participants online.
April 12-13, Bottega Gran Fondo: Organized by a world-famous chef, it’s not a huge surprise that Michael Chiarello’s (Bottega, Napa) spring Fondo is as much about the food as the cycling. “We Ride to Eat!” says the tagline for the event, which is limited to 300 participants. In addition to the ride through Napa’s vineyards and farmland, five chefs (Brandon Sharp of Solage, Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park, Matt Accarrino of SPQR), six winemakers/sommeliers (Joel Gott, Larry Turley, Doug Shafer) and cyclists George Hincapie, Christian Vande Velde and Bob Roll and “special guests” Sam Beall (Blackberry Farm) and Gary Erickson and Kit Crawfor dof Clif Family Winery (and, uh, Clif Bars) will be in attendance. Riders have the opportunity to connect with “teams” of Chefs, Sommeliers or Pro Riders, traveling either 40 or 75 mile courses through the Napa Valley. Standard registration is $250 ($350 after March 15) and $650 for the VIP Package (film festival screening pass, VIP cocktails and dinner). Details online.
Tostilocos: They aren’t pretty, but they are delicious.
Tostilocos: They aren’t pretty, but they are delicious.
Sometimes I get bizarre cravings for food I’ve never eaten. Like fermented soy beans, those weird Japanese Pringles flavors(braised pork, mayonnaise, Grand Canyon french fries), or a bottle of menthol cigarette-flavored vodka.
The harder to find, the more my obsession grows until I can’t think about anything else. Must. Eat. Now.
Which is how my quest for Sonoma County Tostilocos began. I recently read about the popular Tijuana street food consisting of a small bag of salsa verde-flavored Tostitos split open and topped with pickled pig skin, jicama, Japanese peanuts, cucumber, lime, hot sauce and a chile and fruit sauce called chamoy. It seemed like an easy find in, say, Santa Rosa’s Roseland, where tasty Mesoamerican street food abounds.
Not so easy, it turns out. After a day of fruitless phone calls, a restaurateur friend broke the bad news, “They just aren’t that popular here”.
Undaunted, the search continued through the evening and onto Facebook. False lead after false lead led to near meltdown until my buddy Emily K. struck gold at Colores! (433 Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa). Her excited texts started flying onto my phone with pictures of the full bag. Half eaten bag. Empty bag.
And so I got my Tostilocos, which were every bite as wonderful as one could hope. Crunchy, spicy, chewy, nutty and altogether addictive. Not to mention having a plastic-wrapped prize at the bottom of the bag (a temporary tatoo in my case). Mission accomplished. $5.50, Colores! ice Cream, Cakes and Food, 433 Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa.
Just heading out of town, but I wanted to share this release on the recently opened Flipside Steakhouse. They’ll be hosting a Superbowl party this weekend as well…Stay tuned for more details.
Flipside Steakhouse and Sports Bar is now open, drawing crowds with its inviting mix of top-quality food, family-friendly atmosphere, moderate prices, and comfortable décor. The restaurant is located at 138 Calistoga Road at Highway 12 in the St. Francis Shopping Center.
The steakhouse side of Flipside Steakhouse and Sports Bar features a full dinner service restaurant with a menu of steaks, prime rib, burgers, seafood, salads, and a raw bar, all featuring locally-sourced fresh produce and ingredients. A generous children’s menu is a draw for parents, and kids under 10 eat for free every day before 7 p.m. Primarily local wines, craft beer on tap and in bottle, and a full bar are available, and a selection of classic desserts and signature shakes satisfy the sweet tooth. The Steakhouse also offers a large banquet room for private events.
The adjacent sports bar is the largest sports bar in Bay Area, and offers: A gastropub lunch menu, the same dinner menu as the Steakhouse plus a late night menu Four billiards tables 27 high-definition 55-inch and 150-inch 3D projector televisions Broadcasts of sporting events from across the U.S. and around the world “We are out to prove that an authentic steakhouse doesn’t have to be stuffy and over-priced, but instead can offer high value at a fair price,” said Nino Rabbaa, CEO of Flip Hospitality and Entertainment Group, formerly SoCo Hospitality Group. “We want to be your favorite neighborhood restaurant with great food and a fun,friendly and casual atmosphere.”
Flipside Steakhouse and Sports Bar is the newest venue in the rapidly expanding Flip Hospitality and Entertainment Group. The company also operates Chez Vous Catering to You; Flipside Bar & Burger on Third Street in downtown Santa Rosa; and the Lakeside Grill in Spring Lake Park in Santa Rosa. The company is currently renovating Space XXV and Rendez Vous Bistro, both on Santa Rosa’s old Courthouse Square, to reopen this spring. In early summer, the company will debut its Flipside Brewhouse in Rohnert Park, in the space formerly occupied by Latitude Island Grill.
Flipside Steakhouse and Sports Bar is open for lunch at 11 a.m. in the sports bar and serves continuously until midnight seven days a week. The adjacent steakhouse serves dinner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and will open soon for weekend brunch. For more information, visit www.flipsidesteakhouse.com or follow Flipside Steakhouse on Facebook. Reservations can be made by phone at 707-539-7700 or on the Open Table web site.
URGENT Need for 50 Acre Lease to Plant Heritage Apples & Stay in Business Locally (Sonoma County, CA)
CropMobster Nick Papadopoulos is once again putting out a 911 to the food community to help Sonoma’s largest producer of ciders made with locally grown apples continue their business.
What they need? 50 acres of land to lease and grow heirloom apples. (They’ll pay rent and do the land stewardship)
Let’s all see if we can get the word out to help the Devotos...
Here are some more details…
They need ideas, connections and community support
They are unable to afford to buy land at this time. The ideal solution and wish come true would be to lease 50 acres for planting heirloom apples in Sonoma County
Note: it doesn’t have to be one big parcel – each can be as small as 9 acres
The challenge is finding a 25-30 year lease.
The Devotos will build a fence, a well and replant the orchard– all at their cost – and pay the land-owner a good rent every year
They are stewards of the land – and will turn your property into a beautiful, thriving organic farm
Don’t have land? Help out by sharing
If you have land, leads, tips or suggestions please contact Hunter Wade ASAP at hunter@devotocider.com
No one can accuse Santa Rosa’s Guy Fieri of letting grass grow under his feet. Or not lending his celeb-chef name to everything from sausages and frying pans to barbecue sauce, pizzas and salsa. He is the mayor of Flavortown, after all.
So, two new items of note: Keurig owners can get a bevy of Fieri’s Flavortown Roast — flavored coffees that include bananas foster, caramel apple bread pudding (“All the flavor from my righteous Caramel Apple Bread Pudding stuffed into your mug”), chocolate mint, hazelnut cinnamon roll and hot fudge brownie.
Says Fieri: “Over the past year, I’ve been working with an awesome team of coffee nuts to create a killer line that’s ready to rock! My fans are going to dig the huge taste, big aroma and funky flavors in my brand new collection.”
So, okay, we can all look forward to that.
But BiteClub has the scoop on a Fieri project that’s got some serious legs. The Diners, Drive Ins and Dives chef is working with Guy Davis of Davis Family Vineyards to release Hunt & Ryde wines.
According to Davis, whose wines regularly garner 90+ points from critics, Guy and Guy were introduced by Fieri’s parents, who were fans of Davis’ wines. And it isn’t that big of a stretch, because Fieri owns a notable pinot vineyard that sells to the likes of Williams Selym.
Davis says he’s grown close to the celebrity chef during the winemaking process, which Fieri takes very seriously. “He was picking, and on the sorting table during harvest,” said Davis.
The first wines (which won’t be released until late 2014 or 2015)include a Bordeaux blend from Rockpile; Estate Pinot and two zinfandels. “Guy is drawn to bigger, bold flavors,” said Davis. Shocking, right? “Each will have its own personality and really express the place,” he said.
The wines will retail for roughly $40 a bottle and sales will benefit Fieri’s charities. Cheers to that.
