My posts will be a bit few and far between for the next three weeks. My wife and I are headed out on our honeymoon! Thought we have now been married for 8 months we never took that right of passage for newly weds. Once I return I will be able to regal all you readers with tales of Paris and Puglia (the heal of the boot in southern Italy). Over the next three weeks we will eat and drink our way through the small towns of southern Italy searching for that epic meal. I look forward to finding some new wines and sharring those experiences with all of yall.

Cheers!

Do you genuflect to the coffee gods every morning? Are you a different person before you have that first cup of "joe"? I am and I also thought I knew how coffee was harvested and made, but I was wrong. I recently returned from one of the most amazing experiences I have had in my professional life. On March 27th, 2008 I flew off to Puetro Vallarta to meet up with Tony's Coffees and Teas.

I was invited to go on a coffee sourcing trip in January by Tony's Coffees and Teas and was pretty stoked to go hunt down some great new beans. I did not know I would have a monumental experience that has forever changed my attitude and perception to coffee.

Tony's Coffees and Teas (www.tonyscoffee.com) is a micro-roaster that has been roasting specialty coffee since 1971. Today they exclusively source and roast organically/shade grown Fair Trade coffee beans. I first tried Tony's coffee about two years ago and brought them into Andronico's Market about a year ago. They are one of my favorite coffee roasters in the U.S.A, priding themselves on roasting the beans to the beans' needs, and not just a predetermined roast profile. This means that that each bean is roasted in a way that will highlight its specific flavors and not destroy the essential oils that make coffee great.

A group of West Coast coffee buyers and tasters-some of whom hold Q-taster status, the Master Sommelier to the coffee world formed our eager group. After bonding over a few Pacificos and some amazing ceviche the night of our arrival in Puerto Vallarta, we set off early the next morning to explore this Mexican Coffee thing in earnest. Our first stop was a wet mill where the process of coffee was explained to me in detail for the first time. I was amazed at the primitive process but I reminded myself that some of the most beautiful things in life are simple in nature but need only to be nurtured in the right way to produce an amazing product.

After the wet mill tour we were treated to an amazing lunch on the way to our hotel in Tepic, Nayarit's capital. At lunch we were served amazing garlic shrimp, a beef stew that was singular and fresh, hot tortillas! Once we filled our bellies we checked into our hotel in Tepic and we ate some more! Over the next 5 days we went to various farms, wet mills, dry mills and even had two lectures about the quality inspection and pest management.

One our hosts on the trip was Jim Kosalos, a pioneer in driving the quality of coffee in Nayarit up. He is a PhD. physicist by trade but has moved into coffee and is using his empirical and analytical skills to help drive the improvement in the quality of the coffee in Nayarit. Jim has created a portable unit called the "porta-table" and he is training a new generation of women and men to become more quality conscious. This portable kit has everything one would need in it to take dried beans from the begining of the process to roasting. One of Jim's students has almost passed her Q-grading test and is only 25 years old! She and her colleagues are all contributing to increasing their knowledge of quality coffee to help farmers throughout the state select better coffee and demand a higher premium for their beans.

Why do I keep stressing quality? Quality products generally garner high amounts of many and therefore improve the standard of living for those people producing those goods. Jim's company Cafes Sostentables de Mexico is adding in the training of farmers and university students in the region to drive the quality of the coffee up so they can command a higher price per kilo and improve the lives of the community and their own.

The impression made on my by this trip runs to the core of my social values and personal responsibility to be a good person. Meeting the farmers and seeing how eager they are to learn more and work harder to improve the quality of their coffee and create a world class coffee region was truly amazing. To meet native people who literally rode their horse to meet with us and discuss organic farming and fighting broca (a louse that is a major threat to coffee beans) is something I will never forget.

As you go to your coffee shop, local roaster or grocery store to buy a bag of coffee remember the people who work very hard to bring you this precious gift. Also take the time to make the right decision with your pocketbook. It is vitally important to these farmers, their families, and their communities that you buy Fair Trade and/or direct trade coffee from roasters such as Tony's Coffees and Teas.

I now not only have a chemical dependence on coffee bu have also been deeply touched by those farmers who work so hard to provide me with such a great cup of "joe". I look forward to learning more and sharing what I've learned about coffee with all our readers. If you really like learning about wine, coffee has many similarities and tastes great!

Cheers!

The weekend before last I attended the Natural Food Expo in Anaheim, California.

The Natural Food Expo it’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced. My friend Brant, a VP of a supplement company, told me that he realized that at this show, “It’s hugs, not handshakes.” The Natural Food Expo is bigger and broader than the Fancy Food Show. There’s a lot more than just food. You’ll find everything from supplements to body products and beyond. And you’ll get the added bonus of seeing greased up men with unnatural tans jogging on treadmills.

Some things that shocked me at this show:

1. There was not a recycling bin in site. A few booths had their own, such as Fiji water.
2. Not only were there no recycling bins, there were new cups for every sample. It would make sense if each attendee was given one cup to carry them through the show, right?
3. Powdered beef jerky. What the heck does one do with powdered beef jerky?

Here are some exciting new finds:

Pizza crust made from farro. Super good. This got me on a pizza kick for the whole show. I must’ve tried 5-6 varieties of pizza and the farro crust was my favorite.

Good, locally made raw chocolate, which may be a nice compliment to the Roxanne line that we currently carry.

Natural, clean biscuits and cinnamon rolls. I don’t know about you, but I am a sucker for a good cinnamon roll. There’s something very nostalgic about cinnamon rolls for me--my dad used to make them for us on Saturday mornings when we were growing up and they’re such a good treat.

Of course, I saw more, but as I mentioned after the Fancy Food Show, some things need to remain a secret.

If you celebrate Easter, hope yours was a good one. We celebrated at my folks. My mom hid eggs for my cousin’s two kids and they couldn’t have been cuter. Watching Sam, my 2-year old godson, open each egg and delight in its contents, no matter what was inside it was pretty special. And of course, the food was amazing. My folks cooked a beautiful turkey that was golden and delicious. My dad made raviolis with my grandfather’s meat sauce recipe and they melted in my mouth. My aunt made a simple and beautiful avocado, tomato and onion salad. And the big hit of the day was the hors d’oeuvre that my uncle made, which was veal with Marsala sauce.

I’m off to New York City this week and our trip is pretty much going to revolve around food. I will fill you in upon my return!

What happens when you take 10 wine stewards on an overnight trip to see the Tablas Creek winery? MINDS are BLOWN AWAY!!!!!!!!!!! This past week all the wine stewards and I took a 3 hour drive down to Paso Robles and spent and entire day touring vineyards, tasting out of barrel, blending wine and then a 4 hour dinner with wine education in between each course. Tough life…right? Well, as the cliché says, “Someone’s got to do it!”

On March 4th all of our wine stewards dutifully arose before the sun to meet me at our Los Altos store at 6:45 A.M. and for the first time in my three year history with Andronico’s Market, everyone was EARLY! We all piled into a “12” person van. Really it was more like 10 but there were seatbelts for everyone, it was just tight. The first hour of our drive was a caffeine driven conversation about our trip, the second hour everyone came down from the high and took a little nap. The last hour we became giddy, as we knew the winery was approaching.

Now when most people go visit a winery they walk up to the tasting room, survey the tasting menu pay a few dollars, taste the wine, maybe buy some wine and then go to the next place. Well, for us it was a one-winery day, packed full of learning about vineyards, winemaking and the art of blending wine. We arrived at Tablas Creek right on time (another first) and began our day.

Before I boast about our day, it is important to know about Tablas Creek and the people behind the winery. Tablas Creek is a partnership between the Perrin family of the famed Chateau Beaucastel in Chateauneuf-du-Pape in the southern Rhone and the Haas family who began one of the most important importers in the United State, Vineyard Brands. In the mid-1980’s Robert Hass and Jean Pierre and Francois Perrin decided they want to search California for a sight to produce world-class Rhone style wines. They searched all of California, from the Sierra Foothills, Napa, Sonoma and Santa Barbera. Eventually, in 1989 they found a 120-acre plot of land in west Paso Robles that they deemed “perfect” for producing world-class wine. This 120-acre plot of land sits on a mountain of limestone, which both the Perrin brothers and Mr. Haas believed to be one of the most important keys to achieving their goal. The location had two other properties that made them believe that this WAS the site: elevation and temperature. The vineyard sits about 1,500 feet above sea level and has hot days and very cool nights. When you combine limestone, elevation and large swings in temperature you have all the makings of a good place to plant some grapes, especially Rhone varitals. The winery produces only Rhone style wines with the majority of their production being blends similar to those found in the southern Rhone.

Once we arrived we were promptly greeted Neil Collins, vineyard manager and winemaker. He took us on a tour of the vineyards and highlighted the limestone formations, the process of selecting which vines go where and explained the organic farming methods they use to grow their vines. Seeing a vineyard may seem not too exciting but to wine geeks like us, it is why we are there. Wine tasting is great and its how you know what a wine tastes like (obliviously) but seeing the vineyard allows you to understand WHY a wine tastes the way it does. It was fascinating to see crops of limestone just poke out of the ground and seeing vines struggling to grown amongst all the rocks.

Once we hiked the vineyards Neil took us into the winery and the tasting began. He first took us through barrel samples. Neil explained that all the wines are vinified separately by varietal and by block. All the wines ferment via indigenous yeast, which means the fermentation can take a long time and provide more flavor to the wine. We began with the 2007 whites: Picpoul, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, and Viognier. The wines were all immaculate, evocative, and beautifully made. After the whites we tried the reds. All of the reds are fermented in large 1,000-liter oak tanks. The oak allows for small amounts of oxygen to soften the wines without imparting tons of oak flavors. The reds were all rich, plush, and intense. After our barrel samples, it was time for a tasting of the current releases. Here is what we tried: Côte du Tablas Blanc 2006, Grenache Blanc 2005, Roussane 2005, Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc 2006, Côte du Tablas Rosé 2006, Côte du Tablas Rouge 2005, Mourvedre 2005, Syrah 2005, and the Esprit de Beaucastel 2005 Rouge. My personal favorites are the Côte du Tablas Blanc and Rouge, the Grenache Blanc, the Mourvedre and Esprit du Beaucastel Blanc and Rouge. The wines all have a common thread about them that define the winery. First, there is a purity of fruit both on the nose and the palate that shows the ripeness and balance of what takes place in the vineyard. Second, texture. All the wines have a texture on the palate that let you know the wine is there and has a life and soul. The wines do not attack your palate but caress it. Finally, there is balance. All the wines have beautiful balance between the aroma, the palate and the finish. Each wine is a classic example of its varital or style and provides one with endless pleasure.

After our tasting we enjoyed a lovely al fresco lunch with Robert Haas and Jason Haas. After lunch Jason lead us all on a blending seminar. Blending is the backbone to Tablas Creek. Their primary wines, the Côte du Tablas line and the Esprit du Beaucastel are both blends. Each grape that is blended in provides a specific characteristic to the wine and it is quite an art. A single percentage less or more of just one grape can dramatically change the entire wine. Jason separated us into two groups and placed 4 wines on our tables: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and Counoise. Our task was to each come up with a different blend and then as a table create a blend. This was a fascinating exercise and gave all of us more insight into what each grape provides to a wine. Our table choose 60% Mourvedre which is deep, dark, and brooding. The wine has aromas and flavors of blackberries, black plums, savory spices, leather and chalk. We then added 30% Syrah. The Syrah was more forward with blue fruits such as blueberries and had hints of wild currents. We then added 10% Counoise which is bright and fresh with high-toned aromas of sour cherries and bright acidity. Once combined we had a full-bodied wine with deep and dark aromas with a refreshing kiss of acidity that made the wine seem lighter on the palate.

That concluded our day and our education at Tablas Creek. From vine to table Tablas Creek is a winery that provides wines that are true to the place, the grape and a pleasure to drink.

Excuse the silence, I’ve been working and in my free time, enjoying the early spring. I’m not complaining-things have been really good. Here’s a list of things that have made me happy:

· One of my most favorite, bestest friends visited from Brooklyn.
· There was a lady brunch at Citizen Cake followed by a day of shopping.
· Lunch at the Jay and B Club in Potrero Hill. Yummy Mexican food and super friendly service. One of the owners bought our entire table each a beer. I cleaned my plate, as did everyone I was with!
· We picnicked in the sunshine at Espirit Park.
· The noodle bowl from Minh Tri in the Inner Sunset. Noodles with imperial rolls that stay crunchy 'till the end.
· Sleeping in ‘till 9:30AM on Saturday.
· Day light savings time-longer days are good.
· The movie Persepolis.
· A lunch with my team at Dee Andronico’s house. Dee made Avgolemono Soup, which is a Greek egg-lemon soup that’s light and delicious. Total comfort food and because of the lemon, it can be enjoyed during the summer, too.

As far as work goes, you may or may not know, we’re remodeling our San Francisco store right now. It’s really exciting. I can’t wait to get my hands dirty and start setting up the bakery. Another reason I’m looking forward to this is totally self-serving: the SF store is my local grocery store.

Here are some bakery updates:

· A Fancy Food show find has come to fruition. We got the Opera Macaroons in to our stores this past week. They’re doing well so far. I’m a big sucker for beautiful tasting baked goods that are also gorgeous to look at. It’s the best of both worlds. I served some the other night after a dinner party and they looked so pretty on my little pink cake-stand.

· Another Fancy Food Show connection that materialized is Poco Dolce’s arrival in our stores. Kathy and Candice delivered their product to our stores last week. Toffee sprinkled with grey sea salt is a lovely combination. Trevor, our housewares buyer comes into my office daily for a piece. I don’t want him to eat alone, so I oblige and have some, too. We sit and marvel over this stuff quite often.

Later this week I’m heading down to the Natural Food Expo in Anaheim for a couple of days. This show is very different from the Fancy Food Show and after last year’s trip I’m really looking forward to it. In the next week or two I’ll let you know how the trip went and hopefully tell you about new finds.

I am going to leave you this week with a question. Reply in the comments if you’d like. Where is your favorite brunch spot in the Bay Area?