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Tuesday, October 25, 2016

10/24/2016 - Bayview Live with Tyra Fennell; Wild Game with Chef Bob Hurley



Tyra Fennel
Executive Director and Founder

Tyra Fennell is the founder and executive director of Imprint.City, an organization seeking to activate industrial, underutilized spaces with art projects, encouraging community and economic development.

Imprint.City is currently producing Bayview LIVE, an annual arts and music festival created to highlight the beauty of performing and visual arts that reflects the cultural landscape of the Bayview Hunters Point and in partnership with Mission Bit, an organization offering free programming classes taught by computer science majors, tech leaders and software developers, supports tech education programming for Bayview youth. Imprint.City also produces two subsequent Bayview-based festivals including Tribe City Festival, the West Coast’s answer to Afro Punk and the Burning Man inspired SPARC Festival in collaboration with the Flaming Lotus Girls.

Prior to launching Imprint.City, Tyra Fennell developed and implemented programs for the San Francisco Arts Commission and is also credited for starting then SF49ers Vernon Davis’ Visual Arts Scholarship Fund, now the Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts and 3rd on Third, an activation which continues to occur every third Friday in Bayview.

Tyra currently serves on the board of Bayview Community Legal and has served as the chair of the Bayview YMCA. In addition to the aforementioned organizations, Tyra is the chair of the arts and culture committee for the Bayview Alliance, spearheaded by philanthropist Roselyne “Cissie” Swig. Tyra also serves as a member of Leader Nancy Pelosi’s African American Roundtable, San Francisco Assemblyman David Chiu’s Women’s Committee and is an Emerge California Fellow. She is also a resident of the Bayview Hunters Point and a Howard University graduate.



To learn about Imprint.City programs and events, visit imprintcity.org

About Bayview Live


On Saturday, October 22nd from Noon to 7:00 p.m. on Egbert Avenue between Third and Jennings Street in the Bayview Hunters Point, Imprint.City in partnership with Mission Bit and the Mural Music and Art Project launched the first annual BayviewLIVE Festival. BayviewLIVE, a festival created to address the digital divide by leveraging resources to support tech education for neighborhood youth will welcome Grammy Award nominated artist Jidenna, a large scale mural lead by artist Cameron Moberg and youth artists from the Mural Mural and Art Project and a robust tech experience area provided by Air B&B.

“San Francisco is the international hub of the tech community, yet our residents of color experience tremendous barriers to meaningfully participate. At Mission Bit, we’ve been solving the tech divide by lending laptops to youth of color that don’t have them at home and offering free coding education that will support them with being able to compete for jobs or start their own businesses, says a native to the Bayview-Hunters Point and Mission Bit CEO, Stevon Cook.

The Bayview, an historically African American neighborhood in San Francisco, has been afflicted by many disparities including violence, low high school graduation rates and lack of opportunities for job readiness, particularly among African-American and Latino males. There are also huge inequalities as it pertains to access to science, technology, engineering, art and math education (S.T.E.A.M). BayviewLIVE, a S.T.E.A.M festival, was developed to highlight the beauty of the performing and visual arts, reflecting the cultural landscape of the neighborhood while also bringing revenue to local businesses. The festival, additionally seeks to motivate young people of color to stay with S.T.E.A.M education training by showcasing their final projects during a vibrant, fun-filled arts festival.

“What we hope to achieve by featuring student tech projects and youth artists at the BayviewLIVE festival and including high profile visual and performing artists, is providing the kind of “cool factor” needed to have a lasting impact on the minds of youth participants, encouraging them to continue their journey within the tech and arts space,” explains Imprint.City executive director, Tyra Fennell.

The BayviewLIVE Festival is presented by the Imprint.City, the Mural Music and Art Project and Mission Bit with funding support from the California Arts Council, Facebook, KQED, the San Francisco Community Challenge Grant Program, Five Point, Air B&B, the Bayview YMCA, SF Foundation, the Bayview Alliance, the Bay Bridged, the Zellerbach Foundation and McCormack, Baron, Salazar.





Bob Hurley
Hurley’s Restaurant & Bar
Wild Game Week

For 20 seasons, Chef “Wild Bob” Hurley has been pairing the grape harvest with the autumn hunt to celebrate his own special Wild Game Week.  The annual event this year is November 2nd – 7th.  Throughout the year locals as well as returning visitors (some planning their vacation around Wild Game Week) look forward to Chef Hurley’s culinary occasion along with the grape harvest.

Bob invites all adventurous diners to come and sample the exciting delicacies that include: Pheasant, Venison, Antelope, Buffalo Rib Eye, Braised Wild Boar, Ostrich, Grilled Mako Shark, Octopus and more!

About Bob Hurley

In the summer of 1988 Chef Bob Hurley planted his roots firmly in the California Wine Country, first as a chef at Domaine Chandon, then later as Executive Chef at the Napa Valley Grille. 

In November 2002 he opened his own restaurant, Hurley's Restaurant, in Yountville, California.  Chef Hurley describes his menu as local California cuisine high in flavor and influenced by the Mediterranean so that it fits very well with wine. The regular menu offers a wide array of options.  The “Wine Country” theme allows diversity so that it is not tied down to a particular style or ethnicity.  It is creative food done simply and he always has two or three wild game selections as well. The menus are revised about three times each year to take advantage of seasonal changes, particularly with produce and seafood.  Fall brings on wonderful risottos with wild mushrooms and squashes, and in the chilly winter it’s time for the deep rich braises with root vegetables and hearty potato based soups.  His summer menu lightens up again with fresh vine ripened heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn, and wonderful summer stone fruit. 





Chef Bob Hurley is a world traveler and a devotee of the culture, cuisine and lifestyle of many other countries. His years of trekking and working around the world provide the basis for his theory that Napa Valley is no longer a melting pot of cuisines from the rest of the world; but they have come together to create a Napa Valley regional cuisine.  Chef Hurley says that concurrent with the development of the Napa Valley’s prestigious wine industry, the origins and methods of local cooking have changed.  Prior to the wine industry’s rise to prominence, cuisine of the Napa Valley was often prepared using methods defined by the limitations of experience.  Then with the success of the wine industry, its corresponding tourism and the plethora of cooking schools, the food of the region has become influenced and includes the tastes of Asia, Europe and Mexico, as well as other regional and ethnic areas of the United States.

Since Chef Hurley began cooking professionally more than 30 years ago, he has always had a strong belief that the use of regional, seasonal ingredients is important on many different levels.  It promotes sustainability, showcases local producers and provides the finest dining experience to the customer.  He says that the Napa Valley is particularly blessed with a wide range of such products, from produce and meats to fish and fruits, as well as artisanal breads, cheeses, oils and much more.  This philosophy is a guiding light behind the menu development at Hurley’s Restaurant.

The wine program at Hurley’s Restaurant also closely follows his local ingredient philosophy.  Chef Hurley likes to regard the town of Yountville as the epicenter of his restaurant, first by using wine and other products of the distinct Yountville appellation, then working out into other parts of the Napa Valley and beyond.  Given the fact that Hurley’s Restaurant is literally the center of Yountville and Yountville is the center of the Napa Valley, Chef Hurley feels an extra responsibility to expand his diner’s horizons when it comes to wine selections, and the response has been gratifying.  Many area winemakers and winery owners have chosen to make Hurley’s Restaurant their neighborhood watering hole.  As such, he gets to try and offer wines that are in short supply.  While the restaurant does not employ a sommelier, each of the managers is extremely wine and beverage knowledgeable and they, in turn, guide the entire wait staff in a continual program of tastings and education.  Just as Chef Hurley looks for strong classic cooking skills, and a consistent work ethic and attention to detail in the kitchen staff, he has also been able to hire managers that have solid food and beverage skills plus a considerable depth of local knowledge.

Always the first to respond to the needs of the non-profit sector, Chef Hurley has been a regular participant in charitable events including Guide Dogs for the Blind,  the Veterans Home of Yountville Luncheon and Pathway Home Programs,  Napa Valley Wine Auction,  Copia: American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, the Napa Valley Academy Awards AIDS benefit, the Napa Valley Mustard Festival, VIP chef for Hands Across the Valley food bank, the Staglin Family Vineyard Music Festival for Mental Health and many others.  Other Napa Valley community events he actively participates in are the Napa Valley Film Festival, Sense Yountville, Flavor! Napa Valley, Yountville Festival of Lights and is an active board member of the Lincoln Theater Center For the Arts located at the historic Yountville Veterans Home.  He also finds time to do a large number of food and wine demonstrations. 

Chef Hurley has brought his Napa Valley cuisine to the famous James Beard House in New York City several times and was also named a Shining Star Chef by Cooking Light Magazine.  He has been a regular on San Francisco’s Bay TV and has appeared several times on the award-winning California food show, Bringing it Home with Laura McIntosh.  Chef Hurley is a featured chef on the nationally syndicated PBS special “The Great Chefs of Napa Valley”.

In addition to special events throughout the year, such as his Dungeness Crab Festival in December,  Robert Burns Scottish Supper in January and Mardi Gras in February, he also prepares custom menus for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.  But his personal favorite is Wild Game Week, which is normally the second week every November.  For almost 20 years, Chef Hurley has been matching the grape harvest with the autumn hunt and for six days prepares a changing all-day menu of exotic game dishes and invites all adventurous diners to come and sample the delicacies from around the world. 

Hurley’s Restaurant is a white tablecloth, full service establishment that is focused on quality food and service.  The dining room, highlighted by a stone fireplace, is a favorite among locals and winemakers.  The ambiance is casual and friendly without losing the special feeling you get when you come to a well-run establishment that is serious about what it does.  The expansive bar opens up to a large wrought iron and stone-enclosed patio right in the center of town where you can watch the world go by.  It’s the perfect place to meet friends, or make friends, where you can enjoy the late night menu every night.  When there is a chill in the air, they light up the patio fireplace and turn on the outdoor heaters which enable even large groups of friends to gather for a casual drink, good conversation and a late-night snacks well into the evening.



Tuesday, October 18, 2016

10/17/2016 - A Chat with Sasha Paulsen of the Napa Valley Register


Slow Living Radio is delighted to welcome Features Editor, Sasha Paulsen of the Napa Valley Register who is also an author and ghost writer.  We hear about her travels in Italy, new books and life as an editor in the famous Napa Valley.

Sasha Paulsen
Features Editor

Sasha Paulsen attended Silverado and Napa High School before leaving to pursue her degree in English at UC Berkeley, followed by a masters in journalism from Cal. Her career has taken her to London, Paris, Munich and Boston before returning to her home town Napa to raise her two children, Sam and Ariel (Sam is now a med student at UCLA and Ariel is a Linguist.) Sasha started working at the Napa Valley Register in 1999, being a perfect place for a single mom, and has been features editor ever since, in charge of food, wine, arts, travel, and lifestyle stories.

In her spare time, Sasha, also writes fiction (first novel “Dancing on a Spider’s Web” is set in Berkeley, SF and Napa); and works on occasional non-fiction projects – Mike Grgich’s autobiography “A Glass Full of Miracles” most notably. She has collaborated extensively with Master of Wine Tim Hanni on “The Masters Secrets to Enjoying Wine in China,” and “Why You Like the Wines You Like” and, with the help of her daughter Ariel, is finishing up “The Sweet Wine Lovers’ Manifesto.”

A sneak preview of the book she ghost wrote for Mike Grgich, A Glass Full of Miracles.


Napa Valley icon Miljenko “Mike” Grgich has released his memoir, “A Glass Full of Miracles,” in celebration of his 93rd birthday on April 1st. The book, published by Violetta Press, was written with Napa Valley Register editor Sasha Paulsen and chronicles the long and storied life of a young Croatian boy whose search for freedom and the chance to fulfill his American Dream led him through countless hardships to become one of the most revered and beloved winemaking legends in history.

“My life has been filled with miracles’” Mike Grgich says. “How else do you explain that a little boy from a little village in Croatia now has his wine on display in the Smithsonian Institution, in the same place as Abraham Lincoln’s hat and Neal Armstrong’s space suit?”


George Taber, the Time magazine reporter who broke the story of the Paris Tasting and later was the author of “Judgment of Paris” about the famed tasting, praises “A Glass Full of Miracles:” “Mike Grgich may be small in stature, but he is a giant in the world of wine. His new book dramatically tells his full story, which is a great tale of a dream come true…there are a lot more aspects to Mike’s life than just Cabernet and Chardonnay. It’s a great and fun read.”

“A Glass Full of Miracles” retails for $40, to pre-order visit www.ViolettaPress.com, www.grgich.com and www.amazon.com. The book will ship in mid-April. For more information about the book, visit www.ViolettaPress.com.




Listen in here to be entertained by Sasha with Tim Hanni on  Slow Living Radio

Sasha with Tim Hanni on Slow Living Radio discussing
"Why you like the Wine you Like"