5/10 - CELEBRATING FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS: Tracy Hayward of The Perfect Puree and Kari Ruel of Napa Valley Life Magazine

This week we celebrate the success of two female entrepeneurs who have taken the giant step to pursue their dreams at great risk.  Tracy Hayward created the Perfect Puree starting in her parent's garage with no idea the company would become the US's leading producer of fruit and vegetable purees.  And Kari Ruel still produces here coveted magazine, Napa Valley Life in a room in her home, a magazine that graces hotels, restaurants and store counters all over the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Join us in raising your glasses to toast the success of these 2 brave and dedicated ladies!

As President & Founder, Tracy Hayward is the driving force behind The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley. Following in the footsteps of her entrepreneurial father, grandfather and great grandfather, Hayward, whose business acumen is self-taught, founded The Perfect Purée in 1988. Hayward nurtured her love of culinary arts at La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris, France. While completing the orientation course, Hayward became familiar with purees as an essential cooking ingredient which led to her decision to start the first U.S. based company producing quality purees for chefs. Her willingness to test her limitations led her to sell her home, providing her with the necessary startup capital.

The first 18 months involved using a back bedroom in her parents’ home as an office while doing the intensive preliminary work crucial to a successful business launch. Today, The Perfect Purée is the leading U.S. producer of premium fruit and vegetable purees, with nearly thirty exceptional flavors, ranging from staples like raspberry, strawberry and banana to exotics such as lychee, passion fruit and tamarind. Ms. Hayward’s responsibilities as President for the past 23 years have focused on guiding the business development of the company, having established a core team to manage the business needs at the Napa corporate office in all areas, including production, finance, and sales and marketing of the specialty gourmet product line. Ms. Hayward is now focusing her efforts and time to leading research and development.

In addition to her certificate from La Varenne, Ms. Hayward holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations from the University of Southern California. Although her time is at a premium, she makes a point of giving to charitable causes. Through her Casa del Niño Charitable Foundation, U.S.A., she supports her interest and desire to improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged children. Since 2005, the Foundation has supported an after school English program, computer school and administrative offices at an orphanage in Unquillo, Argentina.

Locally, the company is active in the community through the Napa Valley Community Fund, with special focus on Cope Family Center and other local charities to support women and children. Proceeds from The Perfect Purée go to support the Foundation’s activities. Ms. Hayward enjoys current events, learning about early world history, hiking in the Sierras, opera, gourmet cooking, gardening and painting.

Kari Ruel is the founder and publisher of Napa Valley Life Magazine, a bi monthly lifestyle magazine aimed at the people who live, work and play in Napa Valley, CA.  She started the regional magazine in 1998.  In February of 2010 she created a Sustainable Life section to her magazine to provide useful information about living the good green life.

Ruel has a 25-year background in broadcast journalism and print media. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcasting and Journalism with a minor in Political Science/Public Relations from Central Michigan University. She has worked as a reporter for both radio and television and has been published by Associated Press. Kari has lived in the Napa Valley for 20-years and is active in the business and socially conscious community. She has two children and three step children.

Her passion is telling other people’s stories and motivating others to be the best they can be.  She is an avid outdoors woman and enjoys cycling, hiking, camping and gardening and going on extreme adventures.

Perfect Puree Recipes from Sally James

Passion Fruit Macaroons

Makes about 20 macaroons

3 cups shredded coconut

2 tablespoons Culinary Traditions Passion Fruit Concentrate

4 egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup superfine sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 300F.  Line 2 oven trays with parchment.

In a large bowl, toss the coconut with the Passion Fruit Concentrate and mix well to coat thoroughly.  Set aside.

Using electric beaters, whisk the egg whites and salt together in a large, clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Add the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking well after each addition.  Beat for a minute longer until glossy and sugar is dissolved.  Add the vanilla and whisk just to combine. Gently fold the coconut into the egg whites using a large metal spoon. 

Place spoonful’s of mixture on lined trays leaving an inch between to allow for spreading. Bake in preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, swapping trays half way through cooking, or until golden and firm.

Leave on tray for 5-10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in a sealed and lined container.

Seafood Salad with a Passion Fruit Dressing

Serves 2 as a meal, 4 as a starter

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 peeled raw shrimp

2 small or 1 large calamari steaks, cut into chunks and scored with a sharp knife

¼ cup white wine

Salad

3 cups torn frisee lettuce

1 small bulb fennel, halved and shaved or sliced thinly

4 leaves basil, torn

Dressing

1 tablespoon Perfect Puree Culinary Traditions Passion Fruit Concentrate

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt, to taste

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Heat half the oil in a sauté pan and add the prawns.  Cook, stirring until just turning opaque, then add the wine and simmer for a minute.  Drain, reserve liquid and set aside.  Clean the pan and reheat the remaining oil.  Add the calamari, scored side down and cook for 20-30 seconds or until just starting to curl, turn and pour in the reserved liquid. Steam for 30 seconds then drain and add to prawns. Refrigerate and serve cold or warm.

To make the salad, toss together the frisee and fennel and add the basil.  Whisk together the Passion Fruit Concentrate, juice and oil, season to taste.   Toss half through the salad.  Whisk mustard into remaining dressing. 

To serve, place mounds of salad in bowls, top with the seafood, and drizzle with the remaining dressing.

5/3 - Greg Sullivan of AFAR Magazine & Chef Suzette Gresham of Acquerello Restaurant

Slow Living Radio showcases two successful San Francisco residents, Greg Sullivan of AFAR Magazine and Chef Suzette Gresham of Acquerello Restaurant, who each bring a taste of Slow Living to those they touch. 


Greg Sullivan helps us to learn how to travel within a culture, rather than from outside, with his terrific magazine and multi-media company, AFAR.  You’ll learn about exciting new destinations, products and how to make the most out of your travel experience, while Chef Suzette Gresham shares the magic of Acquerello Restaurant and an insider's look at the renowned Slow Food Festival in Italy. 

Greg Sullivan - CEO, Editorial Director & Editor-In-Chief - AFAR MAGAZINE.  

Greg started his career as a corporate securities attorney and later an investment banker before launching a series of successful entrepreneurial ventures. In 1989, he started a business designing and manufacturing international arcade games, including the world’s largest selling coin-operated basketball game. After selling that company, Greg led a car retailing and finance company, growing it into a $750-million operation with 76 dealerships across the country. After selling his interest in that business in 2006, Greg began traveling the globe, searching for his next entrepreneurial opportunity. 

While on a trip to India, Greg and AFAR's co-founder Joe Diaz realized that there was no media voice for cultural explorers, those seeking to broaden themselves by going beyond the typical tourist haunts and connecting deeply with local people and places. Thus was born the inspiration to launch AFAR Media, a media company focused on experiential travel that helps people experience every destination as local residents do.

Greg relaxes during recording

The AFAR Mission

AFAR Media is a new multi-media company developing a series of complementary media, products, and services for people interested in experiential travel. Their mission is to inspire and guide those who travel the world seeking to connect with its people, experience their culture, and understand their perspectives. The company will pursue this mission by seeking to capture the true essence of experiential travel: connection between the traveler, a place, and its people.


AFAR co-founder Greg Sullivan with Nasif Kayed,
director of the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding

The Values of AFAR 
 

AFAR Media will adhere to the following values of experiential travel: Explore from the inside looking out. Provide a sense of cultural immersion. Offer the unexpected. Touch on a range of emotions. Be genuine, real, authentic. Promote connection. Feed the curious. Respect the earth and its people.  Celebrate global diversity.

 




Chef Suzette Gresham
Acquerello Restaurant 

Born in California, of French heritage, Suzette holds several degrees including an A.S. and A.A. She is also an Honors graduate from a Culinary Apprenticeship Program. Having achieved many “firsts,” Suzette was the first female Chef’s Apprentice to accompany the U.S. Culinary Olympic Team to Frankfurt, Germany in 1980. She was also the first to return four years later, as an individual competitor, to win a Bronze medal of her own.

 

After being the first Junior Member of the local ACF chapter, “The Chef’s Association of the Pacific Coast,” and Chairman of the same group for three successful terms, she was elected to the Board of Directors, and held various positions.

Suzette has been the recipient of many awards in the Culinary Arts Competition arena. She was honored in San Francisco with a Grand Award, and a Best of Show in Tucson, Arizona. One of few women to be elected “Chef of the Year” by the local ACF, she also is the holder of the prestigious Antonin Careme medal. Most of her experience had centered around hotels and airlines, until she met her current partner, Giancarlo Paterlini…and together they opened their restaurant, Acquerello, in July of 1989.

           

Suzette’s style of cuisine showcases Italy’s simple but elegant approach to time-honored, traditional dishes, as well as the more modern, interpretive applications. Acquerello has received much recognition for its fine Regional Italian cuisine, expansive wine list, and attentive service. The restaurant has received 2.5 stars out of a possible 3 in the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as a rave review by Carolyn Bates of Gourmet Magazine. In the March 1997 issue of Wine Spectator Magazine, Acquerello was named the number 2 Italian restaurant in the United States.

Suzette with partners, Giancarlo Paterlini, Gianpaolo Paterlini

Now in its 25th year, Acquerello continues to stay in the front line of evolving cuisine. The restaurant was featured on Check, Please! Bay Area in April of 2009, and has continued to receive outstanding reviews from many publications, including Zagat, San Francisco Magazine, and Bon Appetit Magazine. In August of 2009, Michael Bauer of The San Francisco Chronicle wrote a memorable piece in honor of the restaurant’s 20^th anniversary. Finally, in October of 2007, Acquerello received its first Michelin Star, and remains a Michelin starred restaurant today. Acquerello is only one of eleven restaurants that have been continuously in the Chronicle’s “Top 100 Restaurants” since 1997.

After more than 25 years of cooking, Suzette enjoys teaching and has been involved in Draeger’s Culinary Center, Williams Sonoma and graduated over 50 externs through her own kitchen.  Her articles and recipes have been featured in various magazines, including an article on Italian style ragu in the November 2000 issue of Fine Cooking Magazine. She is a contributor to several cookbooks, and has packaged a series of Crostini toppings for the retail market. Suzette has also performed as a Guest Chef aboard the Seabourn Cruise line, and was featured at Kapalua Bay Wine and Food festival, Liguna Nigel Ritz Carlton, Pelican Hill Resort, and the San Diego Bay Wine and Food festival.

Acquerello, a long time supporter of Meals on Wheels, Share Our Strength and many  other individual fundraisers, continues to support the local community.

Suzette’s interest in stewardship and sustainability of all food sources has led to her recent attendance, in October 2010, at Terra Madre, in Turin, Italy. Whether gathering eggs or herbs from her garden, Suzette’s goal is to grow great culinarians and provide an excellent dining experience for her guests.

4/19 - FRENCH FINESSE: Jean-Pierre Vincent of Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne & Matthew McDonald of Bouchon Bakery

Jean-Pierre Vincent

April 19, 2011 was a Slow Living Radio celebration of French finesse with Jean-Pierre Vincent of the Centre Vinicole-Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte and Matthew McDonald of Bouchon Bakery and the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group.


Jean-Pierre Vincent’s career is linked eternally to that of the Centre Vinicole-Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte. A tireless master of the harvest, the Cellar Master has never ceased to dream, innovate, and create. Drawing from his profound understanding of his craft, he has produced a complete line of inimitable wines that all true gourmets must count with today. However, Vincent’s path was far from preordained.While born and raised in Paris, one thing alone was certain: Jean-Pierre loved nature. Early on, choosing a path in agricultural industry opened the doors to the Water and Forestry School, now known as ENGREF (National School of Technology for Life, Food, and Environmental Sciences).

“I would have been happy to roam the forests of Fontainebleau on horseback,

he says, laughing.  After a few mishaps and trials, Jean-Pierre looked at all

possible options for careers close to nature. When he stumbled upon the Enology program, he did not hesitate: here was the perfect opening! But there was a glitch: there was no enology school in Rheims, where his fiancée workedas a nurse. After much research, the future bride called with the good news: there is a possibility to take classes from the “city of the crowns,” ensuring that Jean-Pierre would not have to leave Champagne ever again. Two days after his marriage, celebrated June 26, 1976, he was on his honeymoon as the internships at the different Champagne Houses were assigned.  

Beyond the number itself and the measurable accomplishment, these 500,000,000 bottles produced to date represent a strong milestone and send a clear message. First and foremost, it gives the current picture of a typical Cellar Master’s career, that of Jean-Pierre Vincent and represents the symbol of a house, Nicolas Feuillatte, which has legitimately earned its place in the pantheon of Champagne production. These 500,000,000 bottles correspond to 32 harvests and 32 years of know-how, innovation, creation, and improvements reflected in the complete range of Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte. This achievement is also the mark of a success story, owing much to the deep understanding of terroir,which has yielded a house style beloved the world over. It speaks of the quality of the Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte cuvees, recognized by sommeliers and culinary professionals, and decorated with awards in innumerable tastings by critics in France and abroad.

Matthew McDonald, CMB

Matthew McDonald, CMB - As Executive Bread Baker for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, Matthew McDonald oversees and coordinates all aspects of bread production throughout TKRG’s bakeries and restaurants.  Blending traditional techniques with a depth of knowledge in the science of bread making, McDonald bakes hand-crafted breads from ingredients that meet both his and Chef Keller’s exacting standards.  Based at the original Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, CA McDonald directly oversees the production of breads for The French Laundry, Bouchon and Ad Hoc as well as Bouchon Bakery’s considerable wholesale operations.

McDonald is a Certified Master Baker (CMB), received his certification in 1998, and was part of the Bread Bakers Guild of Americas’ Baking Team USA that placed in the finals in both 1999 and 2002. McDonald was drawn to baking by his earliest inspirations—his mother and grandmother. Later, he considered Tom McMahon, the founder of the Bread Baker’s Guild of America as well as Master Baker Didier Rosada, to be his most formative mentors.

McDonald has worked in various aspects of the industry for the past 15 years: as baker for Artisan Bakers in Sonoma, CA; as a baking and pastry instructor at the National Baking Center in Minneapolis, MN; and as Vice President of Operations for Hudson Bread South in Cherry Hill, NJ. Most recently, he was Director of Wholesale Operations for the Willo Baking Company in Phoenix, AZ.    ###

3/29 - A TRIBUTE TO JAPAN: Featuring Hiro Sone & Lissa Doumani of Restaurant Terra in St. Helena and Ame in San Francisco

Hiro Sone & Lissa Doumani

A Tribute to Japan

Two years ago a group of chefs from the US were on an adventure to Sendai Japan led by Sho and Jiro Kamio.  Together they explored the culinary background of Sendai and parts of Miyagi prefecture.  This was an eye opening experience for these chefs, most having never been to Japan and none to the area of Sendai. They visited a small Sendai Miso producer, a Japanese beef farm; they experienced the quality of Miyagi Wakame (seaweed), uni and scallops in Matsushima.  They tasted sake at Ichinokura and got to understand the process of making sake. They learned of the Sendai Oyster farms which are the parents of almost all the oysters raised on the west coast of the US.  Many of these farms are now gone and the families have lost everything. 

Having met the families and employees behind the products they got to know has motivated these chefs to create a dinner inspired by the products they found on the trip to honor the loss the area has experienced and to hopefully help these farmers reestablish their livelihood.  Details on the dinner are below for those interested in attending.

Our guests tonight, are not only active participants in this dinner, one of them, Hiro Sone, is a native to the region of Meyagi.  Together they will bring us a taste of Japan, its food, lifestyle and culture, from 2 very different perspectives. Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani are world famous restaurateurs with 2 Michelin-starred restaurants, and have an amazing and inspirational story to tell of how their paths met and cultures melded.  Hiro will bring us an insider’s view of this beautiful and bountiful region and how he has brought a taste of the Japanese palate to the US. Come on this journey with us, honoring one of the world’s oldest and most diverse cultures; and in tribute to those who have lost their lives family, friends, homes and livelihood.

About our guests:

Hiro Sone is the chef-owner of Terra restaurant in St. Helena, CA, and Ame in San Francisco, CA. Hiro has come a long way from his beginnings on a premium rice farm in Miyagi, Japan. The cuisine of the three-time nominee and 2003 winner of the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef of California subtly pay homage to his Japanese heritage. But years of disciplined training, cooking experience, and global travel have had equal influence over refined and eclectic cooking style. Hiro and his wife Lissa opened Terra in 1988 to overwhelming acclaim and it remains one of the Napa Valley's top restaurants. Their newest restaurant, Ame, brings the signature taste of their wine country restaurant to appreciative San Francisco diners. Hiro received a James Beard award for "Best California Chef" in 2003, and in 2008 Terra received the "Best Serve Award" from the James Beard Foundation. Terra has received a Michelin star every year since 2007, and Ame has received a Michelin star every year since 2008. Hiro is the co-author of Terra: Cooking from the Heart of the Napa Valley, a cookbook that was nominated for a James Beard "Best American Cookbook" award in 2001.

Lissa Doumani’s luscious desserts may have earned her the nickname “Pastry Princess,” but the fortysomething pastry chef is anything but a prima donna. As the restaurants front-woman, accounting maven, and dining room and pastry manager she hardly has time to perch on fluffed pillows and eat bonbons while her prince, husband/Terra chef Hiro Sone works the pots and pans.

Co-owner Lissa was born into the world of food and wine. As the daughter of Carl Doumani, owner of Stags’ Leap Winery and one-time restaurateur, she spent the first half of her childhood in Los Angeles where her father owned Mexican restaurants. The second half of her youth was spent surrounded by the vineyards and culinary culture of Napa Valley. In both locales she and her family cooked together with regularity. Lissa enjoyed the closeness, bantering, and bickering that went on in the kitchen. By the time she was 12 she knew a restaurant was in her future.

Lissa’s gregarious and confident nature came in handy long before she began welcoming customers at Terra. Upon graduating from high school she started college and briefly worked her way up from dishwasher to pantry in a Yountville restaurant owned by original French Laundry owner Sally Schmitt. But 1982 was the fateful year that she talked her way into a pastry apprenticeship at Wolfgang Puck’s renowned restaurant Spago Hollywood—despite the fact that she had little formal training. Under the tutelage of famed chef and baker Nancy Silverton, she came into her own and secured a position as pastry chef. 

Her job at Spago provided Lissa with more than newfound skills. It was in Wolfgang Puck’s kitchen that she met her future husband and business partner, Japanese chef Hiro Sone, who was training to open Spago Tokyo.

In 1983 the adventurous chef headed to Sydney, Australia, where she designed pastry programs for two hotels over six months, then headed to Tokyo to teach pastry techniques to the Japanese chefs at Spago Tokyo. After a two-month stay and a rekindling of her budding romance with Hiro she and the Japanese chef returned to Los Angeles to embark on life together. Hiro oversaw the kitchen at Spago Hollywood, while Lissa wowed diners and received rave reviews as pastry chef at Roy Yamaguchi’s restaurant 385 North.

Soon afterward, Lissa’s entrepreneurial spirit and a stunning available restaurant space in Napa Valley beckoned her to return to Northern California. In 1988 she and Hiro opened Terra, a nationally acclaimed restaurant celebrating the couple’s culinary expertise, travel experiences, and preference for intimate, world-class dining. Since then she has greeted guests, made sure the bills are paid, orchestrated the décor and staff, and wowed guests nightly with gorgeous and decadent yet refined desserts such as a dense Chocolate Brownie with Bourbon Ice Cream, Orange Risotto in a Brandy Snap with Passion Fruit Sauce, and seasonal tarts, all of which she oversees.

Not one to rest on her laurels, Lissa co-authored with Hiro Terra: Cooking from the Heart of Napa Valley (Ten Speed Press) in 2000 while overseeing the dining room and pastry program. Today her precision management and attention to detail is a primary reason that after 22 years in business Terra is still one of the most cherished dining experiences in Napa Valley.  ###

 A very special dinner at Prospect for

Chef’s United for Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami Farm Aid

Dinner April 3, 2011

Starting at 6:00 with Sparkling and passed appetizers

Sit down at 7:00

Cost $300 per person, 100% of proceeds go to Charity

To Purchase Ticket go to: www.brownpapertickets.com/events/167214

The north coast of Japan and specifically the Miyagi Prefecture was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.  The dinner that will take place at Prospect is a very personal reaction to this catastrophe.

Featured chefs:

Bruce Hill, Bix, Picco, Zero Zero

Ravi Kapur, Prospect

Paul Canales, Former Executive Chef of Oliveto

Staffan Terje, Perbacco and Barbacco

Sho Kamio, Yoshi’s

Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani, Ame and Terra, honorary chef’s whose family live in Miyagi Prefecture