Zocalo » ryan

Wine dinner with Bogle Vineyards November 7th

ryan — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:04:17 +0000

What a treat November 7th is going to be. To relaunch our first of the month dinners, we are bringing in one of the best, Bogle Vineyards. Sacramentans have much to be proud about having the Bogle winery just a stone’s throw away down the Sacramento River. Found in all 50 states as well as 20 different countries(trust me, I drank their wine in Mexico City!) Bogle has become a household name. Having grown up with the family in Clarksburg, I am very excited to be able to work with them once again.

Starting at 6pm, we will serve a 4 course meal(usually only 3 course) paired with a lineup of Bogle wines. Tickets are only $25 and are going fast! Reserve a spot by calling 916.441.0303

Zocalo to partner with March of Dimes

ryan — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:52:19 +0000

Tomorrow, September 22nd at 5pm, we will be one of the many restaurants catering a fundraiser dinner for the March of Dimes. This is the second time we have been asked to help and we are always thankful to participate. Along with catering we are auctioning off a dinner here at Zocalo for up to 20 people with a tequila pairing. Check out our video below to see what we may be possibly serving at the tasting!

Paella and Bogle Phantom a big success

ryan — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:05:19 +0000

We had a great time at Bogle Winery last weekend. The crew and I served various tapas to start the night off such as tortilla espanola with homemade chorizo, a bruschetta with a tomato spread and jamon serrano, and boquerones or white anchovies(one of my faves). The star of the night was the paella which we cooked on the lawn. Shrimp, chicken, kalamari, mussels, clams and roasted veggies were all cooked in huge paella pans to serve the 150 guests. Paired with the paella was the new Phantom release from Bogle. Make sure to get your hands on some now, because that stuff sells fast! Here are a few pics from the event.

Paella party with Bogle Vineyards

ryan — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 01:02:43 +0000

I am so happy to inform you that Bogle wine will have a home on our wine list. Very soon we will be offering their Sauvignon Blanc, my favorite with it’s great balance of fruit and crispness, and their Merlot, a deeper red wine that pairs great with many foods. To kick off the addition, we are throwing a paella party August 27th with the Bogle family at their winery in Clarksburg off the Sacramento River(my hometown, by the way).

Sangria, tapas, wine tasting and of course paella will be joined together with a flamenco guitarist and an incredible atmosphere as the Bogle winery lays due to some of the finest sunsets you will find in the Sacramento valley. Don’t miss out on this Spanish fiesta that is for sure to sell out! Tickets are $65 a person and can be purchased by emailing: bandwagon@boglewinery.com

From corn to tortilla

ryan — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 22:32:07 +0000

This past Tuesday some of my crew and I visited, Mi Rancho Tortilla Factory, in Oakland. They produce the masa we use for our in house corn tortillas. What a treat. We made the switch to Mi Rancho a few months back because we fell in love with this particular masa. Manny, the owner, and myself went back in forth sampling different textures, colors, and flavors in the masa. The outcome is a flavor that takes me back to the streets of Mexico City tasting the different tacos from all the taqueros.

The masa is made of 100% nixtamal, which is dry corn. It is boiled with lime stone, which helps peel away the tough skin of the kernel. It then soaks in it’s cooking liquid and then is taken straight to the grinder. On my trip to Oaxaca a few weeks back I saw the exact same process but on a much smaller scale. People would bring in buckets of cooked nixtamal to the local molinos, or grinders, and pass them through until they got their desired texture.

Mi Rancho produces thousands of tortillas an hour. And even though they are using newer technology, they are focusing on the techniques that masa makers have been using for decades. You can also find their brand in local stores such as the Nugget, Trader Joe’s and Raley’s.

The tortilla, for as simple as it may sound, is to me, that memory item. That thing that with just a slight wiff in the air reminds people of their childhood or in my case of my many experiences in Mexico.

Ceviche verde and it’s two cultures

ryan — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 03:40:34 +0000

This recipe has a lot of background. Years ago, I trained for 4 months in Italy. 2 months in Calabria at the very bottom of the country and 2 months in Lago di Como at the very top. Two very distinct country sides and cooking styles. Then on a trip to Mexico City with Ernesto(Zocalo owner) and my wife we visited a restaurant owned by Mexican cooking star Monica Patino. Her food had many fusions, one being a ceviche verde. I never said this dish is exclusively my idea:-)

So here’s my take on a ceviche verde. The ceviche part being very Mexican and the verde part being very Italian. Forza Italia!

Touring Agave

ryan — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:16:37 +0000

We ended our 3 week hiatus in Mexico touring mezcal and tequila distilleries(we don’t remember much). It was like a Zocalo tequila tasting on steroids. The smells, the landscape, and the producers themselves created an unforgettable experience. Real quick background. Tequila can only be grown in 5 states(Jalisco, being the biggest, Tamaulipas, Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit). This doesn’t mean that agave only grows in 5 states. It means that the Mexican government only allows agave from these particular states to name it’s product “tequila.” Anywhere else bares the name mezcal. But, and a big but, Oaxaca is the main producer of mainstream mezcal and the state that has the real “know how” of making this artisanal product.

About an hour from Oaxaca city lies the towns of Matitlan and Mitla where maguey or agave(it’s the same thing) is grown for mezcal production. Rolando and the crew of Agave de Cortes gave us an in depth look as to how mezcal is made with its rural yet authentic ways. We visited with Don Tacho and watched as he baked the agave underground with wood giving the end product it’s unique smoky flavor.

We then headed north to the Highlands of Jalisco and visited with our favorite tequileros, Carlos Munoz of Herencia Mexicana and Fernando Gonzalez of 7 Leguas . Both guys are great to be around and are very proud of the products they produce. Even though they have different production techniques and distinct flavors, they both will tell you the same thing, take care of the blanco(the unaged most pure tequila). It’s their baby. If you can’t make a good blanco, then don’t waste your time putting it in a barrel to age.

Our August tequila tasting here at the restaurant will be with long time bar manager, Joe Anthony Savala, who has now moved on to represent Herencia Mexicana. I will pair the line with different dishes I had while in Jalisco. With only a few weeks away, make sure to buy tickets online with a discount as seating is limited.

A day with Susana Trilling

ryan — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:17:21 +0000

On our third day in Oaxaca we were treated to the best cooking class I have ever attended. For those who are fanatics of Mexican cooking know the time and energy Susana Trilling has put into placing Oaxacan cuisine on the culinary map. Even if you scope the Foodnetwork or Travel Channel every once in a while you may have seen her paired with Andrew Zimmern of “Bizarre Foods” or Aaron Sanchez of “Heat Seekers”. Oh and by the way, Rick Bayless, Top Chef Master’s champion, was taking his team to her ranch the following week!

Her cooking mantra, Seasons of My Heart, is not only the name of her cooking class and web page, but is the name of her inspiring book that tells her story through its many recipes. The cooking class we attended happens every Wednesday and is a great way to experience the outer towns and culture of the Oaxacan valley. We were given an in depth tour of a great little market in the town of Etla, then taken to Trilling’s beautiful cooking school, Rancho Aurora. The wide open kitchen and wood oven’s in the outside patio made for a perfect day of cooking in an even more perfect setting.

Most impressing of the day was Trilling’s humbleness. Going into the day, I assumed that the class would be given by her staff members. I couldn’t have been more wrong. She walked us through the different steps of her recipes, tasting and adjusting the different dishes, then sat with us to eat. This to me was very symbollic, that a cooking star would still take the time to join us at the dining table.

Many thanks to Susana Trilling and the staff at Rancho Aurora. With their charm and open arms, I know this will not be the last time I visit and for any person willing to experience Oaxaca’s many beauties, keep your Wednesday open for Season’s of My Heart!

Off to Mexico

ryan — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:36:33 +0000

For the next three weeks I will be touring Mexico with my wife to be(the wedding is this Saturday!). I don’t know how I got her to agree to this, but for our honeymoon we will visit three distinct areas. It’s a trip of honeymoon, culinary tours, and tequila tasting all wrapped into one crazy adventure. The plans are as follows. First, we will spend a week in Zihuatanejo on the coast of the state of Guerrero. Second, we head to Oaxaca, what I think is the culinary capitol of the country. Last we head to Jalisco. We split this stay in two- the highlands. where we will be tequila tasting with two of my favorites Siete Leguas and Herencia Mexicana, and Sayulitas a small beach nook near Puerto Vallarta.

I will be blogging from afar as well as sending videos so you can get a little taste of what Mexico has to offer. The trip will be filled with inspiration that we can bring back to Zocalo to only make us better. Stay tuned!!

S.F’s food market does it right

ryan — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 02:08:10 +0000

Ever heard of the ferry building on San Francisco’s Embarcadero? They put together a mind blowing food market Saturday mornings. Tourists, runners, city folk, locals, cats, dogs, everyone in the world makes their way down to the market when open it seems like. And I know why. They don’t hold back. Local purveyors selling fresh farm to table products line the front of the building but the real experience happens in the back. Turn the corner and you’re smacked in the face with aromas of fresh ground coffee, roasted pig, rotisseried chicken(keep walking with me), and the motherload of Mexican street food-tamales. It doesn’t matter how many times I go I head straight to Primavera, a small Mexican booth serving different styled tamales and chilaquiles. How can I not with a 20 ft. sign that says, “Pase Ud.” A nice cold jamaica agua fresca as an accompaniment and views of busy life, but on the other side of the bay bridge, make for the ultimate experience.

Things like that market are what set San Francisco apart. They come up with an idea and run with it. And that liberty is not only what makes them a great city, but it makes them a great city with even greater food.