Archive for the ‘Cali Bride’ Category

In pursuit of the best signature cocktail for a destination wedding, we recruited the award-winning Napa Valley Charbay Distillery. Popular for their fresh picked fruit flavored vodkas, Charbay produces an impressive collection of spirits, ranging from the newly launched tequila Blanco to Tahitian Vanilla Bean Rum and Pilsner Whiskey.

Located near the top of Spring Mountain in St. Helena, the Charbay Vodka line started 12 years ago by Marko Karakasevic, who’s been “Distillin’ and Chilin’ since 1983″. Interestingly, the birth place of Charbay Vodka is Tra Vigne, back in 1997 when Marko was “pulling a shift at the bar” he noticed that the only flavored vodkas in the market (all 2 of them) were not made with fresh fruit, but instead “natural flavors.” The idea struck, and that November, he picked organically grown Meyer lemons from a Napa Valley grower to make Charbay’s first Vodka, Meyer Lemon. The rest is a happily-ever-after tale of the cocktail kind; with cocktail recipes in Bon Appetite Magazine, sales across the nation increasing monthly and a continuous launch of new products Charbay continues to make Napa Valley a hedonistic paradise.

Marko has personal experience creating a signature cocktail for weddings when he created and poured a special vodka concoction for Michael Chirarello’s wedding years ago. Since then, he implemented his own signature cocktail last year at his wedding to his beautiful wife Jennie. Named ‘The 8 Year Kiss,’ a reflection of their eight-year courtship was made with Charbay Raspberry Vodka, fresh raspberries, simple syrup, Odwalla lemonade shaken, served over ice and garnished with a few more raspberries.

Personalize your wedding by taking into consideration the theme, time of the year and wedding colors and location. Other entertaining ideas are to use a signature cocktail to honor your groom’s heritage, generate excitement about your honeymoon or pay homage to your first kiss.

No matter the twist on your cocktail, be creative, happily serve thirsty guests and make memories using a signature cocktail.

Two crowd pleasing cocktails Marko recommends are –

Tahitian Passion

1 1/2 oz. Charbay Tahitian Vanilla Bean Rum
1 oz. Passion Syrup*
1 1/2 oz. Lime Sour*
1 oz. Soda Water
Handful of Mint
Combine all ingredients in a Shaker and Shake. Note: Please do not muddle—shaking the mint with the ice does it.
(Created by Milton Bland of Piatti Restaurant, Sonoma)
*Passion Syrup – Equal Parts Perfect Puree Passion fruit Concentrate and Simple Syrup
*Lime Sour – Equal Parts Lime and Simple Syrup

Pomegranate Wedding Cosmo

1.5 oz. CHARBAY Pomegranate Vodka

1/2 oz. cranberry juice
1/2 oz. Cointreau
Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice; shake until frosty and strain into a martini glass; add a squeeze of lemon & garnish with a lemon wheel.

For more on Autumn Millhouse and her book Romantic Napa Valley, An Insider’s Guide for Couples, click here. For more on Autumn Millhouse and her book Romantic Napa Valley, An Insider’s Guide for Couples, click here.

Robata – Yaki: Open Flame Charcoal Grill Cooking

Japanese comfort food at Katana

Medieval martial arts movie meets marvelous.

Inside, Katana is a little bit medieval martial arts movie, with a dash of nightshade and industrial sensibility. On the patio, it’s pure Hollywood, baby, located right by Miramax, on the Sunset Strip, and rife with agents, starlets, and the strivers that make the city of lights so very bright. Even on a Wednesday night, Katana was hopping and every table packed! So beyond hipster ambiance, what’s the buzz all about, because, although I adore sushi and stir fry, when I think about Japanese food, I don’t often think comfort food or (which in my East Coast memory lies comfortably in the domain of Italian, or Jersey diner). Katana takes it all to a whole new level with their Robata, grilled with smoky binchotan wood and delivered, warm, yummy crispy and tender to your table. Let the wait staff guide you, as the menu is extensive and you want to get it right. Our server, Cal took on the task of pairing expertly mixed, delicately flavored cocktails that worked in concert with the entrees. Standouts were the Shrimp Bacon Skewers, the Yellowtail Hanabi, the Baked Crab Hand Roll, and the Fois Gras skewers. Although I went with my favorite girl date, Heidi Richman (our Rocker Bride blogger) Katana is a perfect place for a pre event, bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, or hot date. Sharing is caring and the generously proportioned small plates makes sure that everyone gets a nice big bite.

Robata is just about as satisfying as any comfort food I have ever experienced, and I will run, not walk back to Katana, not for the scene (if that matters to you) but for the food. It was stellar.

Tasting Menu

Salmon Truffle
Yellowtail Diced? Tuna Carpaccio
Regular Hanabi
Yellowtail Hanabi
Seabass skewers
Shrimp Bacon skewers
Foie Gras skewers
Green Beans
Baked Crab Hand Roll
Volcano Dessert

Libations

Pear Martini
Vodka with muddled Cucumber and Sake
Ginger Pomegranate Martini
Passion and Spice Martini
Effen Black Cherry and Soda
Blueberry Vodka w/ Simple Syrup splash of lime and Curacao
Vodka w/ splash of Watermelon Puckers Midori and dash of Sour

http://katanarobata.com/katana/index.htm