Broccoli & Chocolate

restaurants * food events * news

Upcoming Event: Oakland Wine Festival 2015

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Wine festivals aren’t just for Napa, and 2015 is Oakland’s inaugural year getting in on the action. This full-day festival on Saturday July 18 is jam packed full of winemaking and tasting events, seminars, and presentations that you can attend a-la-carte, or one after another with full day and half day packages. See below for the press release information about the festival, and their site for a schedule of activities and tickets!

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Oakland Wine Festival (OWF) is a high profile wine and food event featuring over 100 celebrated winemakers from Napa Valley, Sonoma County, and beyond with creative pairings from 10 of Oakland’s most celebrated chefs.
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Upcoming Event: SF Street Food Festival 2015

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The SF Street Food Festival is back! For years I was invited to the preview dinners for these annual events, and I had thought the 2013 event was the final one. Apparently not — SFSFF is still in action and ready to delight with new hosts Noise Pop and The Midway, and new bay-side location at Pier 70. Read on for more information, and snag your tickets now at this link!

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San Francisco Street Food Festival (SFSFF), the Bay Area’s annual celebration of local food and drink, community, and entrepreneurship, is pleased to announce the dates for the seventh annual festival taking place on August 15 and 16, 2015…. 

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Upcoming Event: Mother’s Day

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Yes, it’s that time again. No, not Christmas; rather, the Christmas that happens just for your mom  (or for you if you’re a mom, yeay!). Yes, Sunday May 10, 2015 is Mother’s Day! And I know there is always some moment in April where I realize MD is coming up, immediately call to make a reservation somewhere — because it’s better to have a reservation somewhere (and then sort out if you want to actually go somewhere else) than to have a reservation nowhere — and then frantically text my sister to see what’s actually going on.

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Mom status: My mom (mom), my sister (also a mom), me (not a mom)

So, if you have not yet remembered to make that reservation (or buy a card, or mark your calendar to remind you to call, or whatever), here are a few suggestions for around the Bay of places that reportedly still have room for you…. 

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Upcoming Event: Book Launch Party for The 30-Day Vegan Challenge

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Putting the words “book launch”, “party”, and “vegan” into one sentence may not be exciting to everyone, but my ears certainly perk up! See below for information on Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s book launch party coming up on Sunday February 1, 2015 from 2-5pm at Encuentro Cafe and Wine Bar, 550 2nd Street, Oakland. Tickets are $25 per person, and there will be appetizers (vegan, of course), wine, and friendly faces.

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Upcoming Event: SF Restaurant Week 2015

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SF Restaurant Week is actually ten days long. If you’re ok with the fact that the title of the event is an outright lie, read on.

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Ok, no one can blame them — “restaurant week” does have a better ring to it than “ten days of restaurants and things”. I’m super excited about SFRW, which is the latest incarnation of the former Dine About Town, now hosted by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. What is SFRW? I thought you’d never ask. Bullet points:

  • January 21-30, 2015
  • Participating restaurants all around SF
  • Fixed menus for lunch (2 courses $25pp), dinner (3 courses $40pp), or super fancy dinner (tasting menu $85pp)

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Upcoming Event: The PopUp Dinner SF

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Have you heard of pop up restaurants? This is usually where a small gathering of people share a meal cooked by a well-known or amateur chef in a temporary location. They are often relatively impromptu, and generally focus on community and hospitality. The PopUp Dinner hosted by Handmade Events takes this concept to a whole new level by gathering thousands of people together to share in a picnic dinner for one evening of the year. The catch? The location is not disclosed until 3pm on the day of the event.

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Events: Scharffen Berger Chocolate and Wine Pairing

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Last week I was invited to a Scharffen Berger chocolate and wine pairing event at a local waterfront restaurant, Waterbar. As you might imagine, I accepted this invitation immediately. As is the norm, I wasn’t sure the actual format for this event (dinner? snacks? sit down or mingling? small gathering or large? bloggers only or others?), but it did not disappoint. And they told us about their new advertising campaign, which is actually really creative and engaging.

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Giveaway: Eat Drink SF — An Epic Foodie Festival

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Yes, it seems that every other weekend there is some amazing food or beverage festival in this grand city of ours, and next weekend is no exception. The Eat Drink SF festival (formerly SF Chefs) will be taking place at Fort Mason August 1-3, 2014, with a huge variety of events from classes to dinners to parties spanning the three-day event.

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Events: SF Chocolate Salon 2014 — Recap

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I was kindly invited to this year’s Chocolate Salon held at Fort Mason. It consisted of dozens of vendors, each with their own table displaying their goods and with samples for patrons to try. Since I was invited as a judge, I was requested to vote on my favorite vendors after the event. All the winners are listed on their website — click the blue circular award in the right margin (why no link, guys?).

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