Monthly Archives: April 2013

Zesty Lemonade Pisco at Omnivore Books

by  on  in Events
Zesty Lemonade Pisco

Zesty Lemonade Pisco

One of my favorite pop-up venues in San Francisco is hands-down Omnivore Books. Why? Not only do I get the pleasure of supporting the authors that stop by to talk about their new books, but I get to surprise the audience with Pisco cocktails and Peruvian desserts. And who doesn’t like surprises? Would you like a Pisco cocktail? Yes please! The cocktails and desserts that I make for an event at Omnivore Books are often inspired by the author’s book, and for Toby Sonneman’s Lemon: A Global History event I enjoyed making a Zesty Lemonade Pisco cocktail and a dessert with Pisco and lemon zest.
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Pisco Bijou

by  on  in Cocktails
Pisco Bijou

Pisco Bijou

If you speak French, you know that Bijou means jewel, and if you drink cocktails, you know that the classic Bijou is made by mixing three spirits whose colors represent three different jewels: diamond, emerald, and ruby. In the classic Bijou cocktail, gin is used for the diamond, but here, the diamond is Pisco, which plays very nicely with the aromatics from the chartreuse and the sweetness of the vermouth. If you don’t speak French, don’t worry, one sip of the Pisco Bijou will make you fluent and one drink might get you into a little bit of trouble: Voulez-vous un Pisco Bijou mon cheri?
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On The Chef’s Stage at SF Garden Show 2013

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Pisco + Peru at SF Garden Show 2013

Pisco + Peru at SF Garden Show 2013

On March 21, I took the audience at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show on a gastronomical tour of Peru + Pisco during my first ever appearance at a Chef’s Stage. Though I’ve performed on stage before, it was not as a chef, but as a guest musician playing percussion with a Flamenco group from Spain at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. This time, instead of playing my hand drums, however, I would be performing solo, sautéing and simmering on a stove top, and mixing cocktails on a side table. In other words, almost the same thing, right? So how did I end up on the stage this time? It all started with an invitation from the Chef’s Stage Coordinator, Jay Estey.
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