Chris Garrett’s San Carlos brewery follows a community-minded mantra — aficionados, families and neighbors have noticed. By Nicole Ruiz Hudson Devil’s Canyon founder Chris Garrett pulls a pint at his San Carlos taproom. (Photo by Charles Russo) Chris Garrett needed an antidote to life in the tech world. Back during the first dot-com boom, Garrett’s work monitoring chat rooms for places like RealNames and Disney left him — predictably, perhaps — a little soul weary. As a result, he began looking for ...
Read MoreThe Chez Panisse alum speaks on the evolution of blogs, his most important kitchen tool and his favorite food haunts What’s cookin’?: David Lebovitz has been a food blogger since 1999. (Photo courtesy of Ten Speed Press) David Lebovitz was a food blogger before the term even existed. He launched his popular website in 1999, long before the advent of Facebook, Yelp or Wordpress. The longtime cook steadily made a name for himself over the ...
Read MoreWe asked local butchers and farmers to weigh in on the best bird for your buck By Elena Kadvany Turkeys on the move in full fanned-out glory. (Photo via Flickr) Matthew Prentice, head butcher at Belcampo Meat Co. in Palo Alto, grew up eating Butterball turkeys for Thanksgiving. The widely available birds are injected with what the company calls a “pre-brine” and are raised on factory farms. This was all he knew, he said, “until I became a ...
Read MoreHere is what’s fermenting at the local wineries of the Santa Cruz Mountains by Laura Ness Mindego Ridge: 10 acres of sun-warmed Pinot vines off Alpine Road. They are fairly anonymous and the majority are not open to the public. Their acreage is often small and they don’t benefit from the name recognition of places like Napa and Sonoma. Even still, a notable array of Peninsula vineyards have quietly made a reputation for themselves in ...
Read MoreAt Tin Pot Creamery’s newest location, owner Becky Sunseri showcases flavors that have been decades in the making. By Kate Bradshaw Yes, please: Tin Pot’s newest location brings Becky Sunseri’s unique flavors to Bay Meadows in San Mateo. (Photo by Charles Russo) Mootella. Blackberry Jamble. Salted Butterscotch. The mastermind behind these clever — and goshdern delectable — flavors, Becky Sunseri, has been sweet on ice cream since her girlhood days. Back then, growing up in Bloomington, Illinois, little Becky had a habit of ...
Read MoreHappy chickens, frolicking pigs: Where to buy local humanely-raised meat right here on the Peninsula You don’t have to be an insufferable bore to want boar that didn’t suffer! This little piggy from Root Down Farm is living the dream. Photo by Federica Armstrong. We all know that Portlandia episode where Fred and Carrie pepper their server with questions about the chicken. “How big is the area where the chickens are able to roam ...
Read MoreLocal author and blogger Erin Gleeson talks Peninsula lifestyle, from bakeries to back-to-school-night booze. By Charles Russo Erin Gleeson, author of The Forest Feast, pictured in the garden at her Redwood City home. (Photo by Charles Russo) Erin Gleeson recently approved the Korean-language edition of her children’s cookbook — The Forest Feast for Kids. It was a bit of a peculiar process, but she just rolled with it. “They asked me how it looked,” Gleeson explains, “and ...
Read MoreWho accidentally enters a yodeling contest—and wins? Someone who understands that in yodeling, as in life, you gotta commit. Eva Glasrud, left, and Becca. Will the friendship survive Becca’s last-minute decision not to join the yodeling contest? We think so. Photo by Justin Smith. Editor’s Note: On Oct. 1, while you and I were shopping for the week or doing laundry or wrapping up a hike, Eva Glasrud was at the Mountain View Oktoberfest ...
Read MoreDavorin Kuchan updates traditional Croatian recipes with California ingredients in Old World Spirits’ high-octane elixirs by Kasia Grobelny Davorin Kuchan at his Old World Spirits distillery in Belmont. (Photo by Charles Russo) Growing up in Croatia around his family’s vineyard just north of Zagreb, Davorin Kuchan found himself drawn to the incendiary end of the family business: high-octane spirits distilled from grapes, plums, walnuts and pears. “I liked winemaking, but I loved distilling,” says the ...
Read MoreHow a San Carlos nurse won top wine awards (and developed purple hands in the process) Nicole Ruiz Hudson Russian Ridge Winery owner Scott Townsend (imbibing at left) and his son Spencer at their tasting room in San Carlos. (Photo by Charles Russo) The inside of Russian Ridge Winery is comfortably cool compared to the midday heat broiling the industrial San Carlos neighborhood just outside the roll-up doors. A huge skylight illuminates the winery’s interior workspace ...
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