Remember the old commercial; I think it was for a chicken place, “Parts is parts”? The idea was that there wasn’t much difference between products. Parts were parts and ingredients were ingredients. And thirty years ago, there may have been some truth to the adage…but not today. Yeast is no longer just yeast and cheese is certainly not just cheese. Take mozzarella for instance. Visit ten different restaurants and you’re likely to taste ten different styles of mozzarella. Visit Willow Street and you’ll taste one that’s fresh. As in made daily. Not because it’s easier or cheaper. It just tastes better. And we should know, because if there  is one  thing  our staff is good at, it’s tastings, many, many tastings. Now, if your only taste of mozzarella came from the deli case at the supermarket, you haven’t tasted real mozzarella. The cheese that you ate, with the consistency of a superball and a shelf life that would make a cockroach envious, is nothing like the real deal. Simply put…there are few flavors as unique and subtle as fresh mozzarella. Traditionally made from buffalo milk (water buffalo that is), mozzarella has a rich history that has inspired some pretty cool, if questionable, legends. Take the one about Marc Antony and Cleopatra sailing down the Nile on barges pulled by said water buffalo, eating sumptuous meals and feasting on cheese. You guessed it, mozzarella. If fact, Caesar’s envoy took such a liking to the treat, it’s said that he sent water buffalo back to the boss in Rome. The Italians then took the cheesy baton and ran with it. And the rest, as they say, is history. So the next time you’re on your way from Rome to Naples and spot a water buffalo, take a moment  to  thank Marc and Cleo. And if you can’t make it to the old country, stop by Willow Street and taste our fresh mozzarella on our Fresh Tomato Bruschetta our Arugula and Fresh Mozzarella Salad or on our famous Margherita Pizza. Real. Good.   Willow Street…all things being equal,we’re not.   Wanna learn more? Check out www.instructables.com/id.Great-Mozzarella-Cheese. 
 

Randall Grahm, founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard will host a wine tasting and book signing Wednesday, June 16 from 6 until 8 p.m.  Mr. Grahm will be pouring wines from selections of his excellent hand crafted wines. Tasting tickets are 5 for $10.00. Come …meet, greet and enjoy! 

Randall Grahm Receives 2010 James Beard Foundation Award

Been Doon So Long: A Randall Grahm Vinthology Recognized as Beverage Book of the Year

NEW YORK, NY – The James Beard Foundation’s 2010 Beverage Book of the Year is Been Doon So Long: A Randall Grahm Vinthology. Grahm’s book was awarded the honor in an evening ceremony held at Espace in New York City, where winners of the foundation’s broadcast media and journalism awards were announced. Considered the nation’s most prestigious recognition program honoring professionals in the food and beverage industries, the awards recognize recipients for excellence in their fields.

Randall Grahm is the visionary, irreverent winemaker and President-for-Life of Bonny Doon Vineyard based in Santa Cruz, CA.  A prolific writer, Been Doon so Long is Grahm’s first book.  It is a collection of his eclectic writings on wine – poems, satiric literary parodies, essays, polemics and speeches, and was published by University of California Press.

In accepting the award, Grahm thanked his editor and publisher, an academic press, for taking the risk of publishing Been Doon So Long, a truly genre-bending book, containing a certain amount of frankly pretty edgy material, and an ungodly number of long, byzantine footnotes.

This is the second James Beard Foundation award for Grahm. He received the award for Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year in 1994.

A maverick in most regards, Grahm established Bonny Doon Vineyard in 1983 in the bucolic northern California hamlet of Bonny Doon. Best known for Rhône-style blends, Grahm produced his first vintage of flagship wine, Le Cigare Volant in 1984.  An hommage to Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Le Cigare Volant firmly established Grahm as the leader of the Rhône Rangers movement in the United States.  In 2001, Grahm led the industry charge converting all of his wines to screw cap closures, and since 2008, all his wines have featured full disclosure ingredient labeling.

Today, in a scaled back operation, Grahm describes himself as a terroir-seeker. His newly purchased property currently under development in San Juan Bautista, is farmed biodynamically, in a fashion Grahm describes as “old-fangled.” He acknowledges that while the subtext of his book is one winemaker’s quest for terroir, the real work now is turning his words into deeds.

To learn more, please visit www.beendoonsolong.com and www.bonnydoonvineyard.com. 

Download full-size PDF here: Spring Specials

Featuring KENWOOD Vineyards and Valley of the Moon Wines

Wednesday, April 22, 2010 at the Los Gatos Location (Note: rescheduled to April 22 due to weather.)
Outside on the Side Patio from
6 PM to 8 PM
5 Tastings for $10

Weather permitting, dress accordingly

If you would like to pre-order wine please email Cherie Long at cherielong413@hotmail.com

Download full-size pricing PDF here: WineTasting4.21

Please RSVP on our Facebook page if you’d like to attend.

Restaurants want to know they’re serving quality, natural and humane beef to their patrons.

A great article from the Dining section of the New York Times highlighting the superiority of Creekstone Farms (as well as Niman Ranch) beef.

From farm...

...to meat packing plant..

... to burger

Here is a slide show of the Creekstone Farms plant, one of the most sophisticated meat packing plants in the United States.

All of us at Willow Street would like to happily confirm the renovation plans for our Willow Glen location as part of the overall Willow Glen project construction plans.

If current plans stay on course ground will break on the construction of a new retail and office space at the corner of Lincoln and Willow Street which will be know as “Town Center” in June of this year.

Town Center will be a state-of-the-art multi-story complex with a 2 level parking garage. It will house many of the same businesses located on the corner of Willow Street and Lincoln Avenue as well as providing space for new businesses.

Willow Street Pizza’s remodel is scheduled to be the first phase of the construction project. This remodel will include a new bar area and an expanded patio. This project will also greatly improve the parking situation and is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

The Willow Street Pizza remodel may be finished as early as the holiday season this year.

For information on the Downtown Willow Glen project please view our blog post here.

Once a month, come join us at the Los Gatos location 5:30 to 8 PM. Five for $10 tastes and free appetizers (on the patio if weather permits). Read more about this event.

Starting February 24th