Wine Country Big Q Results

By biteclub
The Tex Wasabi’s All Star Team

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Here are the winners of the second annual Wine Country Big Q, held Saturday, July 14, 2012 at Sonoma Academy in Santa Rosa. The KCBS-judged event ranked some of the top national and local barbecue pit masters against each other in a smoky tete-a-tete of pig, beef, lamb and sauce.

The Inside ‘Que

– Judging is serious business. Unless you’ve got your KCBS credentials, don’t expect a spot at the judging tables. However, the leftover table outside the judging room is not a bad place to hang out.

– 56 Stairs to Hell: What the contestants called the 56 steps they had to climb to the judging area in the brief 10 minute window before dropping off their meats. Watching BBQ pitmasters do a dead run up nearly six flights of stairs is impressive. Especially when the head judge is yelling “30 seconds!”

– Pignut Barbecue rocks. This local team, on their maiden voyage, does some stellar ‘que and even more stellar sauces. Let’s hope we see more of these guys.

– Eating a pound of meat isn’t as easy as it sounds.

– Woodhouse BBQ are serious competitors, especially when giving out their world-famous chocolates with tasty ribs.

– Ringers don’t always win.

Top 5 placings in Chicken (any cut)
1. Hog Island Pitmasters, Discovery Bay, CA

2. Woodhouse Barbecue, St. Helena, CA

3. Smoke Slayers, Sunnyvale, CA

4. R&R BBQ, Taylorsville, UT

5. I.A.B. 30 BBQ, Gilbert, AZ

Top 5 placings in Pork Ribs
1. R&R BBQ

2. Bad S. BBQ

3. Tex Wasabi’s All Stars, Santa Rosa (Ray Lambe head cook from Florida and Gorilla of Gorilla’s Barbecue is from Pacifica)

4. Big O’s BBQ 2HOT4U, Meridian, CA

5. I.A.B. 30 BBQ

Top 5 placings in Pork (can be pulled, chunked or sliced) typically shoulder or boston butt
1. Smokey Luv BBQ, Novato, CA

2. R&R BBQ

3. Woodhouse Barbecue

4. Casual Smokers, (from Kansas City, MO) now live in Dublin, CA

5. Smoke Slayers

Top 5 placings in Beef Brisket
1. I.A.B. 30 BBQ

2. Casual Smokers

3. Hog Island Pitmasters

4. Woodhouse Barbecue

5. R&R BBQ

Lamb – Niman Ranch and American Lamb Board donated bone in leg of lamb for all contestants. The winner of this class received a perfect score 180 points. This is very uncommon, but this is the 5th perfect score for Mary Odor. And this is her first time cooking lamb plus she didn’t even take a taste of it.
1. Biq O’s BBQ 2HOT4U

2. Smokey Luv BBQ

3. Dads Doing What they Love, Los Altos, CA

Mystery Meat was Pork Bellies, each team received 2 pork bellies provided by Niman Ranch and co-sponsored by American AgCredit.
1. Smoke Slayers

Reserve Grand Champion
I.A.B. 30 BBQ of Gilbert, AZ (they have family in town, on their way here from Arizona they were hit by a drunk driver that shoved their motor home into a 18 wheeler (just past the Grapevine). They had to be towed to a location to get their rig fixed so they could compete at Wine Country Big Q. Their motor home is their prep station.

Grand Champion
R&R Barbecue of Taylorsville, UT
The Grand Champion qualifies to attend the Kansas City Royal this October one of the Grand Daddy’s of competition.

People’s Choice Award for Bold Bean Challenge
Baird’s BBQ of Santa Rosa

People’s Choice Award for the Winery Big Beef Challenge
Kendall-Jackson Winery of Santa Rosa

People’s Choice Award for Barbecue
Barbecue Bob and the Smokin’ Banditos of Cloverdale (Hamburger Ranch)

Rootstock 2012: The Food Winners

By biteclub

The judges have spoken, and here are the results of the Rootstock Best Bites Competition are as follows:

Best Fried: Nellie’s Oysters. Okay, so barbecued oysters and fresh ahi tuna poke are their bread and butter, but the fried calamari and fish? Yeah, crispy, crunchy and just about perfect. Five out of five judges agree.

Most Creative:Bay Laurel Culinary with an Issan Style Dog (Thai shredded pork with spicy chili, mayo and green papaya relish) and the Korean Sloppy Joe with sesame mayo and kimchee.

Best use of Meat: La Texanita. Carne asada. ‘Nuf said.

Best Use of Local Products: We wanted to give John Franchetti (of Rosso) the Meat award for the lush roasted pig (plus crunchy skin) he served up as sliders with slaw at the event. But even closer to our heart is John’s unwavering commitment to local farmers and local products. So, our hats are off to you, Rosso.

Best Presentation: Street Eatz is another perennial favorite who we wish could have won multiple categories. But what really took us was her bento box approach to traditional Japanese isayaki. The plate included soba noodles, her unmatched agadashi, teriyaki chicken, rice and steamed broccoli. Mmmm.

Grand Poobah and Best Overall:
Gabe is the upstart who just killed it at Rootstock. First off, you kind of can’t go wrong by bringing the judges a PLATTER of food that included local lamb (from Victorian Farmstead), baba ganoush, chickpeas, rice, dolmas, hummus and a separate plate of magic goodness I can’t even remember (other than it was incredible). Then there was the Tahini Ice Cream. Then there was the Affagado Ice Cream. We die.

Thanks to everyone who participated, including The Judges: Teresa Smith (our BiteClub winner), Chef Christopher Hansen, Brian Howlett, Heather Irwin, Hans Dippel. As well as organizers Joel Quigley and Cailyn McCauley and all the folks at Vintner’s Square.

Missed it? Rootstock is a food, wine, art and music festival held right here in Santa Rosa at Santa Rosa’s Vintner’s Square. There’s a wine and craft brew tasting, gourmet street foods, and live music from the main stage including indie singer-songwriters Jim Bianco, Holly Conlan, Jesse Thomas and Javier Dunn.

 

Win Gloria Ferrer Catalan Fest Tix

By biteclub


CONTEST CLOSED: CONGRATS ROBIN

 

Celebrate Spanish culture in all of its Flamenco dancing, paella-eating, guitar-strumming glory at the Gloria Ferrer’s 20th annual Catalan Festival. The two-day event July 21 and 22 at the Sonoma winery features all that, plus grape stomping, tapas, wine-tasting seminars and of course, plenty of Gloria Ferrer wines to sip and sample.

Want to go? (Of course you do.) Here’s what you gotta do to win two tickets…

In the comments below, tell BiteClub about your favorite Spanish-inspired food and wine pairing. Is it paella with cava? Some verdejo with Manchego , or perhaps a bottle of Va de Vi and some Spanish love poetry with your honey? It’s up to you.

The most inspiring answer wins a pair of VIP tickets that includes admission for two, 2 drink tickets and 4 food tickets per person. Read the full rules here.

MUST BE 21 to enter, decision of the judge (that’s me) is final. Contest closes Thursday at noon, and you must claim your prize by 3pm Thursday afternoon (so use a real email address you check frequently) or the judge will pick a second-runner up.

 Just want to buy tickets? Details at http://www.gloriaferrer.com/catalan-festival or http://www.facebook.com/gloriaferrer

Download Catalan Festival Event Schedule
Download Catalan Festival Flyer

See some frun from last year.

Flying Goat’s Phil Anacker

By biteclub
Flying Goat's Phil Anacker

In the beginning, there was Robusta. It was the charcoal-colored stuff that dripped into your Mr. Coffee in the morning, scooped from cans the size of oil barrels and freeze-dried within an inch of its life. And no matter how much cream and sugar was added, it was not good. Robusta begat Arabica, a coffee that introduced America to baristas and the grande macchiato. It was better, but still not great.

Now cresting is a third wave of coffee that’s all about pour-overs, globe-trotting coffee buyers, micro-roasting and the quest for the ultimate cup. At the curl is Sonoma County’s  Phil Anacker, co-owner of Healdsburg’s Flying Goat Coffee Company.

Sometimes referred to as our very own Yoda of coffee, Anacker has been on a nearly 20 year quest to find single-origin coffees from small producers that live up to his exacting standards. Scouring 13 of the world’s best coffee growing regions, from Ethiopia to Central America, his passport is a testament to his passion. “I just had to replace it,” he says, having filled the pages.

But his real mission is to get the rest of us to put down our caramel frappa-whatevers and actually taste a real cup of coffee.

“Coffee is something people drink every day, but most of us have no idea how it gets into the cup,” says Anacker. The second-most traded commodity in the world (after oil), coffee is ubiquitous, but all too often over-roasted to mask cheap, poorly harvested beans. Anacker buys small lots of some of the best coffees in the world.

In the back room of the Healdsburg warehouse that houses the company’s roaster, he demonstrates the process (which incidentally has a lot in common with wine tasting) of “cupping”, something he does up to 20 times a day to test out new batches of coffee. It involves pouring 200-degree water over roughly ground beans, a lot of sniffing and loud slurping to extract the flavors of each individual coffee. Some are more acidic. Others have sweet or fruity qualities. But none of it has the bitter, harsh qualities most of us identify with most coffees.

His staff often participate in the cuppings, and baristas in Healdsburg and the Santa Rosa outpost spend up to four months learning (and being tested) in the ways of coffee culture.

Soon, the Flying Goat will offer a Brew Bar for customers to sample some of its most exclusive coffees. Brewed cup by cup, these are top-flight pours from some of Anacker’s favorite producers from around the globe. Like San Francisco’s Blue Bottle, Ritual Roasters or Four Barrel, the concept is to expose coffee drinkers to a cup of coffee that’s been carefully managed from seed to mug. Perfectly picked. Perfectly roasted. Perfectly brewed.

So good, that you won’t need to spend 5 minutes at the condiment station masking the flavor.

“Our whole focus is to have people try different coffees and see how good they are. You don’t have to be a sugar and cream zombie,” says Anacker.

Flying Goat Coffee, 10 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, (707) 575-1202; 324 Center Street, Healdsburg, (707) 433-9081 and 419 Center St., Healdsburg, 433-8003.

Star Chefs Dream Dinner

By biteclub

This is a dream dinner of epic proportions, with an epic price tag to match. On July 29, 2102 the Four Star Chefs (as named by the SF Chron) converge on Quince for a once-in-a-lifetime meal.

On the roster:

  • Douglas Keane, Cyrus
  • Thomas Keller, The French Laundry
  • David Kinch, Manresa
  • Christopher Kostow, The Restaurant at Meadowood
  • Corey Lee, Benu
  • Roland Passot, La Folie
  • Daniel Patterson, Coi
  • Michael Tusk, Quince Restaurant
  • Alice Waters, Chez Panisse

If you’re not breathing heavily by now (and really, you should be), “the nine-course menu will be paired with wines hand-selected by the restaurants’ talented Wine Directors.”

The menu is still under wraps, but I’m sure we’ll be hearing more in the coming weeks. Now the cost: $2,500/Couple (limit 4 seats per person) and $1,500/Single. That hurt to write.

The meal is a benefit for the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks.

If you’re a high roller, here are the details: To make reservations, please call (415) 775-8500 x 31 or email 4stardinner@quincerestaurant.com or check out the details here.

 

Cyrus closing?!

By biteclub
Cyrus restaurant may reopen near Geyserville.

After several years of disputes and lawsuits between Healdsburg’s Michelin-starred Cyrus Restaurant and their Les Mars Hotel landlords, it was announced today that the restaurant will close October 29, 2012.

Crossroads Winery, LP, owned by investor Bill Foley, will take over ownership of the restaurant space inside the Les Mars. Foley is the owner of Chalk Hill Winery, Sebastiani Vineyard and Winery in Sonoma; Merus, Altvus, Kuleto Estate in Napa as well as numerous wineries throughout California and Washington and New Zealand. He co-owns the Les Mars with David Fink.

Despite a very public airing of their disagreements, Cyrus chef Douglas Keane is positive about the ultimate decision to shutter his restaurant. “It’s a good thing. This makes a lot of sense. Nick (Peyton, his business partner) and I are happy. There were a lot of misunderstood passions.”

The big question, however, is what’s next.

The restaurant will remain open for business, and throughout the fall, Keane will showcase some of the all-time favorite dishes from the seven-year stint of the restaurant. After that, he and Peyton will continue to run Healdsburg Bar and Grill. They have maintained the rights to the Cyrus brand, though aren’t making any immediate plans to relocate or reopen a new restaurant right now.

“I want to have some fun. I have nothing solid planned,” Keane said. He does plan to spend some time working with rescue dogs and spending time with his wife. “Maybe we’ll bring back the two martini lunch,” he laughs.

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Previous Coverage: Cyrus Eviction Notice

Kettles Vietnamese Restaurant | Santa Rosa

By biteclub

The owners of Boathouse sushi have opened Kettles, a Vietnamese restaurant, near Coddingtown Mall.

The menu runs several pages, with familiar items like pho, bun (rice noodles) and banh mi (Vietnamese Sandwiches), but it’s worth straying a bit off the beaten path and tucking into some less known items including lime marinated beef carpaccio served in a cocktail glass; a Vietnamese crepe that’s sweet and savory, filled with shrimp and bean sprouts; iced coffee, served in a drip-pour glass with sweetened condensed milk and exotic fruit sodas with banana, strawberry or raspberry. Shaken Beef is a top pick, with tender cubes of filet mignon and sliced onions in garlic and fish sauce that’s rich with tart, umami and peppery flavors. Don’t worry about the name, though which refers to the cooking technique of shaking the pan, not the beef itself.

At the former Panda Buffet, 1202 W Steele Ln., Santa Rosa, 528-3747.

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Wine Country Big Q

By biteclub

Q ain’t for quaint at the second annual Wine Country Big Q (1-5pm, July 14, 2012). This is a rib-tastic, porkapalooza of hardcore barbecue pit posses, itching for some Kansas City gold. The only KC-sanctioned event in Wine Country, this is the real-deal of barbecue cook-offs, with trained judges and serious teams vying for cash prizes and bragging rights.  Attendees can sample dozens of authentic barbecued meats, world class wines and award-winning brews while listening to the country crooning of local artist,

In addition to the ‘cue pros, wineries will also go head to head with the Big Beef Challenge to find the best tri-tip (paired, of course with their wines), and local firehouses will let ‘er rip with the Bold Bean Challenge–a competition for the best barbecued beans.

Wanna get in on the action? The Wine Country Big Q happens at Sonoma Academy (2500 Farmers Lane, Santa Rosa). Tickets are $45 for adults, $20 for kids with portions of the proceeds benefitting the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County. Buy tickets online or at G&G Supermarkets or Johnson Pool and Spa. Details online.

 

 

Ravenswood Winery Tattoo Coming Out Party

By biteclub

A little body ink for a lifetime of free wine?* Seems like a fair trade to the folks at Ravenswood Winery. They’ll host their annual Tattoo Coming Out Party at the Sonoma winery from 122-4:30pm July 14 to see who’s taken the challenge of tattooing the company logo– the David Lance Goines circle of ravens–on their bods. And trust us, its a growing legion. Not up for the lifetime commitment? Airbrush artists will give you a temp version while you snap your fingers to grape-inspired poetry and sip zinfandel. Smooth.

Fourth Annual Tattoo Coming Out Party and Poetry Slam: July 14, 2012, 12-4:30pm, $15/$10 Club Members. 18701 Gehricke Road, Sonoma, 888-669-4679.

*Of course, there’s a catch to free wine for a lifetime. It’s available only in the tasting room, in person. Full details on the website, but seriously…I’d ask for all the fine print before getting a tattoo.