Autumn Food & Wine Festival

5:30- 9:30 pm

Dinner with Traci Des Jardins and Friends
Manzanita inside The Ritz-Carlton Highlands
Join James Beard award-winning chef and Autumn Food &
Wine co-hostsTraci Des Jardins and Mark Estee with other
notable California chefs as they create a locally inspired
five-course dinner and wine pairing at Manzanita. $25 of each
ticket will be donated to Project MANA, a local hunger
relief agency serving the North Lake Tahoe region.

Winery Dinners and Special Tasting Events
North Shore and Truckee Restaurants
Our restaurants and chefs celebrate Autumn Food & Wine and the Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week with very special food and wine presentations. From simple tapas to multi-course winery dinners, the choices are endless.  Please call your favorite restaurant directly for reservations, or call us for suggestions at 530.581.6900.

PlumpJack Cafe, Squaw Valley, features Truchard Vineyards 530-583-1576

Saturday, September 11, 2010

10:30-11:30am
The Village at Northstar

Sushiology - Hands on Sushi Rolling & Sake Pairing
                   with Chef Chris Jackson
Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar
It's no secret the sushi discovered at Mikuni is one of a kind. With the popular Mikuni Sushiology classes, you can learn some of the most famous techniques in creating Mikuni-style sushi. Learn from imaginative, inventive and sharp-witted Chef Chris Jackson. He's one of the amazing chefs of the Mikuni sushi bar. Hands on sushi rolling and tasting is limited to 30. Gekkeikan Sake and Plum Wine will be paired with the Sushi. Must be a minimum of 18 years of age to participate and 21 years of age for Sake/Wine Tasting.  Sushi and sake tasting.

Hands on sushi rolling and tasting is limited to 30 guests

Overlook Pavilion

Tuscan Grilling Techniques with Chef Lars Kronmark
Chef Instructor, Culinary Institute of America, Napa
Chef Lars just returned from a four week work study
program in Italy and is excited to share the art of
cooking a two pound Florentine Steak
(Bistecca alla Fiorentina) the way Italians have done
for hundreds of years in Tuscany.  Lars will also
demonstrate grilling rosemary scented beef skewers,
crostini with chicken liver and sage, black charred
Leeks and the secret to blending Tuscan seasoning salt.
Get your seat early.... Demonstration.

11am-6pm
The Village at Northstar

Gourmet Marketplace Trade Fair
Taste and buy from our local ranchers, growers and producers handcrafted gourmet goodies, artisan olive oils and hard to find delicacies. Browse the artists market, the Tahoe Plein Air Painting event, photography exhibits, the galleries in the Village and the artisans. Our vendors feature incredible handmade jewelry, clothing accessories and one-of-a-kind gifts. Enjoy the music of Jim Steinke, master of the guitar, mandolin and mandocello in his encore appearance at the Festival.

Also on tap are children's activities, bubble blowing, face painting, cupcake decorating, bunge jump (additional cost), stilt walkers, balloon sculptures and various activities at the children's shops in the Village.

Noon-2:30pm

Traci Des Jardins Celebrity Chef Luncheon
Manzanita at The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe
Take a scenic gondola ride from the Village at Northstar and join James Beard award-winning chef Traci Des Jardins and Reylon Agustin, Chef de Cuisine of Manzanita at The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe. Des Jardins, one of the country's most acclaimed chefs, is the chef/co-owner of Jardiniere, one of San Francisco's top restaurants, chef/partner of Public House at AT&T Park - home of the San Francisco Giants, as well as Mijita located in the San Francisco Ferry Building and AT&T Park. She will prepare a market fresh three-course luncheon with matching wine pairings. Limited seating. Reserve early for this fabulous celebration of food and wine.

Noon-1:15pm
Village Stage

Pasta and More
Chef Jason Gronlund
Senior Director of Culinary
Carla's Pasta

World-traveler, culinary expert and a Johnson & Wales Culinary Graduate, Chef Jason will share his recipes and simple techniques for a superb menu which can be made in your own kitchen. His stage presence and humor makes for a lively, informative and tasty demonstration. Be careful, he may bring you up on stage as his assistant! Cooking demonstration.

The Chocolate Bar Restaurant
Noon-1:15pm

The Chocolate Bar - Sweet and Spicy Chocolate Pairings with Chef Ben Deinken
Recruited from Denver, Colorado, Chef Ben brings years of training and experience to his craft. His ideas are inspired by fresh, local ingredients and straight-forward flavors. Learn the history of how to bring two dishes together to increase the flavor of chocolate. Chef Ben will explain the history of chocolate and will explore how a spicy dish before a chocolate dish can actually increase the flavor of chocolate. You will make a chocolate fondue that is rich, thick and works well with fruits, marshmallows, cakes, pies and cookies. Each dish will be paired with a wine and you will learn how to plate the dish then enjoy! Maximum: 30 people. All ages permitted. Food and wine tasting.

Noon - 4pm
The Village at Northstar
Gourmet Marketplace

Marketplace Wine and Beer Tasting
Pick up your souvenir glass and sample the generous array of wines from wineries of California and beyond. New this year is a beer tasting from NorCal Beverage Co., featuring Stella Artois, Becks, Bass and Hoegaarden (Belgium). You asked for it, we deliver!

1:30-2:30pm
Overlook Pavilion

Family Hands-On Pizza Grilling with Chef Lara Ritchie
Nothing To It Culinary School, Reno
Cook side-by-side on the gas grill with Chef Lara, Culinary Director, Co-Owner and Chef Instructor of the Nothing To It Culinary Center in Reno. Lara's easy teaching style and down-to-earth presentation captures the imagination of our young budding chefs as well as seasoned home cooks. You will prepare delicious grilled pizza, and then enjoy the fruits of your labor. Class is extremely limited to the first 25 guests. Young chefs must be a minimum age of nine years. Food tasting.Conference Room

The Boutique Wines of Suisun Valley
California's Newest Appellation
Roger King, Winemaker, King Andrews Vineyards
Suisun Valley Vintners and Growers Association
We love bringing the tasting room to you, especially not-yet-discovered small boutique wineries from unexpected wine growing regions. The wineries of Suisun Valley Appellation have an impressive range of varietals.  You will sample six varietals plus a dessert wine all paired with some mighty fine food that perfectly complement the wine flight.

2:45-3:45pm

Sushiology - Hands on Sushi Rolling & Sake Pairing
                   with Chef Chris Jackson
Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar
It's no secret the sushi discovered at Mikuni is one of a kind. With the popular Mikuni Sushiology classes, you can learn some of the most famous techniques in creating Mikuni-style sushi. Learn from imaginative, inventive and sharp-witted Chef Chris Jackson. He's one of the amazing chefs of the Mikuni sushi bar. Hands on sushi rolling and tasting is limited to 30. Gekkeikan Sake and Plum Wine will be paired with the Sushi. Must be a minimum of 18 years of age to participate and 21 years of age for Sake/Wine Tasting.  Sushi and sake tasting.

Hands on sushi rolling and tasting is limited to 30 guests

Asian Inspiration with Chef Douglas Dale
Wolfdale's Cuisine Unique, Tahoe City
Village Center Stage
Join our own celebrated and renowned Chef Douglas Dale in
a live cooking demo on the Center Stage. Douglas will present a signature collection of his mouth-watering Tapas style (small plate) appetizers.  It is his style, interpretation and use of spectacular local, fresh, seasonal ingredients which has established him as a true culinary genius. Get your seat early for this extremely popular world-class Chef with an impeccable culinary reputation and wide following.

Olivier of Napa Valley, Village at Northstar

Silver Oak Vertical Tasting and Olivier Food Pairing
Kim Caffrey, Senior Wine Educator, Silver Oak Cellars
By popular demand, Silver Oak Cellars is returning with a rare vertical of their Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon vintages 2001-2006. The '06 Release Day is the first Saturday in August and it's going to be a very tasty vertical, indeed. And three wines will be paired with the Olivier chef's fabulous offerings.  Very limited seating. Reserve early. Food and wine tasting.

Baxter's Bistro, The Village at Northstar

Food and Wine Pairings from Arount the World
Chef de Cuisine Michael Plapp, Baxter's Bistro
Dawn Bertsch, Chamber & Chambers Wine Group
Chef Michael's culinary style is to create a menu drawing from many cultures, using the finest seasonal ingredients available and using organic and sustainable products from local farmers and ranchers.  His culinary career began in Southern California at Patina, and Campanile as well as at Restaurant Daniel Boulud in New York. He and Dawn will explain how chefs and winemakers work together to pair global food and wine for all occasions. Food and wine tasting.

3-4pm
Overlook Pavilion

Family Hands-On Pizza Grilling with Chef Lara Ritchie
Nothing To It Culinary School, Reno
Cook side-by-side on the gas grill with Chef Lara, Culinary Director, Co-Owner and Chef Instructor of the Nothing To It Culinary Center in Reno. Lara's easy teaching style and down-to-earth presentation captures the imagination of our young budding chefs as well as seasoned home cooks. You will prepare delicious grilled pizza, and then enjoy the fruits of your labor. Class is extremely limited to the first 25 guests. You chefs must be a minimum age of nine years. Food tasting.

4-5:30pm
Village Stage

Blazing Pans Mountain Chef Cook-Off©
Chef David Lutz, Evergreen, Tahoe City
Chef Chad Shrewsbury, Six Peaks Grille, Squaw Valley
Marko and Jenni Karakasevic
Charbay Artisan Winery & Distillery, St. Helena
Blazing Pans is the signature and event extraordinaire of Saturday's festivities. A fierce, live cooking battle between defending champion Chef/Owner David Lutz of Everygreen Restaurant, Tahoe City and this year's challenger, Chef Chad Shrewsbury, Chef de Cuisine, Six Peaks Grille, Resort at Squaw Creek. Chef Lutz and Shrewsbury will be presented with a secret ingredient unveiled at the start of the competition. The only thing they can bring to the culinary stage are their personal knives, a chef assistant, incredible culinary expertise and nerves of steel. This is live entertainment at its best.... Iron Chef© style! Dress up in costume; bring your finest cheering voice, noisemakers and a thirst for an ice-cold Charbay cocktail, hosted by Marko and Jenni Karakasevic, Charbay Artisan Winery & Distillery.  To make things even more interesting, Chef Jason Gronlund will emcee the competition, adding a whole new element.  Hang on!

5:45-6:30pm
The Village at Northstar

Charbay Artisan Winery & Distillery Annual Release Party - Doubled and Twisted Whiskey
Master Distiller Marko Karakasevic and Jenni Karakasevic
The term Doubled & Twisted was from the days of not knowing the exact proof coming out of a copper pot still on the second run. It's the best stuff! The heart of the heart cut. D&T was coming out of the still at about 162 proof and twisting on itself, so that's when Master Distiller Marko K. took the picture that would later turn into the label. Marko did not want to duplicate anybody's style of whiskey; he wanted to make his own style that accents the ingredients. It was barrel aged for a day and then bottled clear to capture the true whiskey flavors. We can already hear those moon doggies howling!

Chef Jason Gronlund joins us from Florida to prepare succulent  food pairings to bring out the nuances of the spirit. Includes a signed 1 Liter Jug of Charbay Double and Twisted Whiskey!