Your weekend: Food for thought
Looking to feed your culinary curiosity, without having to leave the Island? Well, you’re in luck. Temple Israel is kicking off a four-session Jewish Chefs Series this Sunday, January 24. The sessions will feature local restaurateurs, vintners, writers and more talking about food and offering cooking demonstrations and tastings.
Tickets for the 90-minute sessions, which each begin at 10:30 a.m., are $25 each or $80 for all four, and they’re available at the door.
“It makes it more enjoyable, knowing the background of what you’re eating,” said Mindy Myers, who cooked up the idea of the series three years ago. “It adds a layer of flavor, in a way.”
Myers said she’ll interview each of the guests about their journey to the kitchen, and that they’ll also talk about how their Jewish heritage influenced their taste buds. The presenters’ books, chocolates, wine and more will be for sale at each of the events.
The events are a fundraiser for the temple’s religious school, and for organizations that are supporting ecological awareness locally.
The series begins January 24 with “A Chocolate Extravaganza,” featuring San Francisco Chocolate Factory manager Sabrina Aller, Berkeley Chocolate Club founder Leonard Pitt and Michael Dashe, an Oakland-based vintner who makes a late-harvest Zinfandel created specifically to be sipped with dark chocolate. The event will include chocolate and wine tastings.
Vivi Moshonov, co-founder of the Mediterranean eatery Sophia Café in Albany, will be presenting on January 31.
Cookbook author Lynn Aurlauf Jones (“Hurry Up, I’m Hungry!”) and cookbook illustrator (“The Wild Vegetarian”) Linda Hillel will present on February 7. They’ll whip up a noodle kugel and chocolate mousse with amaretto whipped cream and a tofu tahini.
Bob Klein, co-owner of the award-winning Oliveto Restaurant & Café in Oakland will wrap up the series on February 21.
The presentations will take place from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Temple Israel, which is at 3183 Mecartney Road. For information, call 593-5285.
