Thursday, April 19, 2007

“Passport to Dry Creek Valley” and the Legend of the Squash Bird

My wife and I are in the middle of planning and prepping a huge catering event this next weekend in Sonoma. It’s called “Passport to Dry Creek Valley,” which is an annual event showcasing the wines, and vineyards of the amazingly beautiful Dry Creek Valley (photo from visitwineroad.com). We will be doing the food and wine pairing for our dear friend Bill Frick, at the Frick Winery for the 11th year, and despite all the hard work we always look forward to it.

There are over 58 wineries involved in this event, and over 4,000 wine enthusiasts will be eating and sipping their way through the valley. By the way, if you have a chance, check out the Frick Winery website. Bill produces some of the most delicious wine in the entire state!

Due to the limited time available to film new clips and write articles, you may see me using this next week and a half as an excuse to finish adding the last of the old clips from Youtube and my previous blog to the site. I will have a few new clips to add, but don’t be surprised if you see a clip that you saw on the old blog (especially if you’ve been with me from the start).

Today’s clip is a perfect example. It’s the (mostly) true story about how a young Chef (me!) got his big break and was sent to San Francisco to make squash into birds. Enjoy!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

great story. lol. Now how do I get tickets to this passport??

Chef John said...

Sorry, I believe it's sold out :(

Anonymous said...

I am so down with the squash bird. You should've had this up before Easter. People (even more people) would've been all over it. So cool. Great story. Hmmmmm.....when's my next brunch....

Chef John said...

Yes, you are right! I almost uploaded a rabbit clip and then thought better of it!

Anonymous said...

Maybe some chefs have become more open-minded about all things silly. My garde manger instructor delighted in having us make apple swans. We would even make them for visitors with children sometimes, huge hit.

Chef John said...

ah yes, the apple swan, another favorite of mine. Also, great practice for knife skills. Yes, we can only hope this next generation of Garde Manger Chefs are more open-minded! Thanks for sharing.

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Anonymous said...

Hi John.
Great story, and what a great bird.

I can only agree with you, and hope that the next generation of chefs are more opened minded as you say.

At the restaurant im at now, we try not use mirrors, plants and fruitsbaskets (very used in denmark), but instead use fruits, vegestables in all forms and shapes.