All evidence to the contrary, I didn't just eat while home in Minneapolis. No, no, that was only 90% of my trip. I did other things, like visit the new Walker, go to the art fair, and take in some rocking local music. My music maven friend took me to a CD release party down on the Left Bank. The band was Flock of Doug and the CD was Wish I Were Here (which, heh) and as I sipped and listened, I started to scribble notes to myself after which I rushed over to buy the CD and I came home inspired.

Now, I won't try to make with the music metaphors here because Music Maven is really the genius in that department, but I will say that I loved what I heard. Pinches of old Paul Westerberg with a bit of Screaming Trees folded into a base of totally unique sound, made for a great gig and a fantastic album. Although I think I know enough about music to recognize what I like, it was really the lyrics that got me excited. I started picking up on all these food references in the songs and it wasn't until I studied the liner notes that I realized just how stuffed with victuals Wish I Were Here actually is. For instance, from "You Smell Nice":

You must come from planet wonderful
Or I suppose you might come from planet really nice
Yes, you're like basmati rice.

listen to Flock of Doug's song "You Smell Nice"

The unexpectedness of the comparison cracked me up because it's also so true. I mean, basmati rice has a very distinct fragrance and it's really quite flattering to be told one smells like that. But I'm a food freak, so being told I smell like cheese is also a compliment in my book. In another song, Flock of Doug is saying "I wanna be your food bank...You explode like popcorn" and "I wanna check your body temperature/I've got a meat thermometer." Two of my absolute favorite Flock of Doug food references are "You melt away like softening butter/I feel like the egg left in the pan un-fried" and "You must taste like icing on a finger." That last one in particular got to me because he's not talking about whipped cream, chocolate, cherries or the other rather clichéd foodstuffs one might lick off a lover -- icing on a finger is a totally different idea, but at the same time, it's comfortable, accessible, and gets my mental tastebuds flowing.

There's another song, "Osama Bin Enron," which, in this political climate, is cathartic to listen to in a hysterically depressing sort of way. It got my normally tepid blood boiling when I heard the sample of Bush's voice saying, "If it feels good, jes' go ahead and do it" break into the middle of the song, but I still whoop it up and sing along, "Osama Bin Laden, you made a village idiot look presidential."

Keep an eye on this space because Flock of Doug is rumored to be perching at the Elbow Room sometime soon.

Imagine meandering down a pretty forest trail next to a babbling brook that leads you to an old mill. With no sight of cars or the highway you may feel like you've stepped back in time. This past weekend up in Napa I had a chance to visit the Bale Grist Mill which is a State Historic Park between St. Helena and Calistoga on Highway 29.

The Bale Grist Mill is the only working mill left in all of California. At one time there were 30 mills in the Bay Area alone. Mills used to be gathering points for local farmers. They would have their grain milled into cornmeal or flour and they would come to gossip and even have meetings.

In addition to seeing how it works, I bought some bags of freshly milled corn and wheat and heard the stories associated with the mill--about the owner, his wife and the history of the time. While Edward Turner Bale built the mill, it was his wife Maria who made it a success. Bale abandoned his family after only a few years to head to the gold country, returned ill and died soon after. Maria installed a conveyor system and built a bolting and threshing machine.

Visiting the mill you also learn about the origin of mill expressions.

Here is a list of all the mill expressions I could find, let me know if I've missed any!

have a millstone around one's neck
put through the mill
hung on tenterhooks
grist for the mill
rule of thumb
manhandle
run of the mill
keep your nose to the grindstone
show me your mettle

What's cooking this Fourth of July weekend? Something good on the grill, I hope! The barbecue season is in full swing, and if you've got an all-American cookout planned, bring an all-American bottle of wine to the table: California Zinfandel.
Zin's robust and spicy character make it a good partner for all sorts of grilled food, from hot dogs and hamburgers to Cajun spiced chicken and tri-tip. And with no shortage of producers offering a broad range of styles and prices, there's sure to be a good match for every palate and pocketbook. Here are a handful of my favorites.

Nalle Winery is a small producer in Healdsburg who makes what I'll call an old school Zin. By not bowing to the current trend of hyperripeness, the wines showcase some of the subtler and compelling nuances of the variety which can at times be dominated by jamminess and high alcohol. Check their website or give them a call to find out where the wines are currently sold - I've found them at the Sonoma Market. Cheers to Nalle for not letting this breed of Zinfandel fall by the wayside!

Rosenblum Cellars, right across the bay in Alameda, is a great place to go to taste a broad range of Zinfandels. These folks produce a staggering array of them, giving you the opportunity to try wines from many different growing regions in the state under one roof. With prices from around 12 dollars for the well-received Non-Vintage Vintner's Blend on up, there's something for everyone. And the winery is easily accessible from the Alameda ferry station, so if you're coming from San Francisco, you don't even have to drive.

Renwood Winery, located in Amador County in the Sierra Foothills, makes an intriguing Fiddletown Zinfandel. Wines from the Foothills tend to have distinct flavors and aromas which set them apart from other California bottles. Differences in soil types and growing conditions play a big part, and the result can be quite good. Compare a bottle of the Renwood Fiddletown Zin to one grown in Napa or Sonoma, and let me know if you get the same impression.

Turley Wine Cellars is immensely popular for their Zinfandel bottlings, so much so that at times it can be difficult to find a bottle, and they can be pricey. If you're looking for a bottle of Zin to splurge on, consider any of their offerings. I recently had the opportunity to taste through their range of Zinfandels and was quite impressed. They are big wines, to be sure, but possessed a complexity and a degree of refinement which I hadn't expected. Premier Cru wine shop in Emeryville has a good selection of current and previous vintages.

Ridge Vineyards rounds out my list of favorite producers. The first bottle of their Lytton Springs Zinfandel I tried, many years ago, made me stop and take notice of this variety. I'm partial to their York Creek bottling as well. Look for them online or in the city at K&L Wines or the Jug Shop (and say hello to Chuck).

Have fun with the Zins this weekend, and have a great 4th!

I haven't lived in Minneapolis for thirteen years and I hadn't even been back for a real visit since 2003, but in that time a ton of new restaurants have sprung up. Some, like Marcus Samuelsson's Aquavit, sadly went the way of the spit-roasted dodo bird before I got a taste. Others, like Jean-Georges' newest, are yet to arrive and also yet to be christened. Luckily, in between the closings and the openings, I still have a host of new restaurants to sample every time I'm back in town.

One of the newest is Tryg's on Lake Street -- a scant few blocks from the house I grew up in. Minneapolosians will remember Nora's on Lake Street, a supper club that was popular with the senior crowd. AARP aside, it was cozy and sweet and some residents still miss it very much. Then, along comes Tryg, Nora's son. Somewhere in there, Nora's closed, was torn down, and Tryg's rose from the ashes. Now, everyone's talking about this new place with the designer martinis and better-than-beer-nuts Brussels sprouts. A walk inside the glass, stone, and steel edifice reveals an airy space with a vaulted ceiling and a huge wood-burning fireplace. It's big and beautiful and it smells like a campfire. But in a good way.

On my first night home my parents seemed to be having some plumbing issues, so my little sister and I decided to go to a place where toilets could flush. We agreed on Tryg's for drinks. Looking over the menu, I was immediately entranced by the S'Mores martini, described as being made with "house-infused toasted marshmallow vodka." Who could refuse? The golden drink came with a graham cracker rim and snow white mini marshmallows bobbing gently on top. A few sips later revealed that they might need to work on this one. All I could really taste was the Frangelico -- I didn't sense anything in the way of a toasted marshmallow flavor. Additionally, the slightly salty graham crackers seemed to exacerbate another very strong taste of vodka in the cocktail. I love the idea of a S'Mores martini, it's just that the execution needs some more refining.

The next night two of my high school friends and I tried out Tryg's for food. It's the wrong season for Brussels sprouts, so we decided to share the cod and octopus ceviche and, because I have to test it everywhere I go, the calamari.

The ceviche was pretty tasty. It was fresh, well-seasoned, and beautifully presented. I was surprised by the inclusion of green olives but they worked the saltiness in nice way. The octopus was slightly more chewy than it should have been, but otherwise really quite tasty.

The calamari that came spilling out of a paper cone were tender, not overly battered, and yummy. The peppery aioli was also lovely, and I appreciated having the option of squeezing either lemon or lime over the little fried squiddies.

For the mains, my two friends ordered the vegetarian special, which were three beautifully composed salads on a long, narrow, glass plate. The white bean salad was the blandest of the three. However, the watermelon with shards of tangy mountain cheese was curiously good, and the gently sauteed heirloom carrots were to die for.

My main was a little more disappointing. It was seared ahi tuna with spring baby artichokes, sunchokes, and a light, fresh broth. The tuna was perfectly done, easy to cut with a fork, but under seasoned and slightly fishy tasting. Good tuna shouldn't taste fishy. I was very excited to have the baby artichokes, but they were way too tough and nearly impossible to chew. On closer inspection I could see that they hadn't been fully stripped down to the mostly yellow leaves. Doing that definitely would have helped with the chewing issue. They were also undercooked. As were the thinly sliced sunchokes, which still had some hairy, rough external skin left on the edges. What really bothered me was the price -- $24 for that unsatisfying dish! I don't think a restaurant serving fishy tuna and unchewable and undercooked artichokes has any business charging that kind of money in Minneapolis. I only plunk down that kind of dosh when eating at The Slanted Door or Chez Panisse's Cafe because their food actually deserves that kind of price point. This food didn't.

For dessert, we split a chocolate cake stuffed into a sweet little flowerpot and topped with chocolate "dirt." It was a decadent, upscale rendition of a dessert I once ordered at Perkins when I was a kid. Because we were told it would have a slice of Humboldt Fog on it, I also insisted on ordering the cheese plate.

While we waited for our dessert orders to arrive, I waxed rhapsodic about Humboldt Fog to my two friends and explained every little (probably not very interesting) detail. From the rind to the ash line to the reason for the name -- they got it all. The cheese plate arrived. And that was NOT Humboldt Fog. First of all, it was not the slightly crumbly consistency of Humboldt Fog. Secondly, it did not have an ash line, it had a blue line. Yep, definitely a blue line. It was a deliciously buttery -- probably double-creme -- cow's milk cheese, but it was NOT the deliciously tangy goat's milk Humboldt Fog. I should have said something, but I didn't want to embarrass my friends so we just ate it and enjoyed it. Still, telling people the wrong cheese is pretty serious in my book.

In conclusion, Tryg's is all cash and no substance and I know I get much more value for my cash at Lucia's.

Tryg's
3118 W. Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN
612.920.7777

With a flippy blue wig and a campy persona, Bakesale Betty (known in her off-hours as Alison Barakat) has carved out her own niche of homey, out-of-this-world baked items that you wish your mom used to make. After moving to the Bay Area five years ago from Sydney, Australia, Betty landed a job as a line cook at Chez Panisse. In her off-hours she peddled her baked goods at the Walnut Creek, Alameda, and Danville farmers markets. Finally, in 2002, she decided to pursue the bakery biz full-time, and just a few weeks ago, opened her own bakery.

Located on the corner of Telegraph Avenue and 51st Street in Oakland's up-and-coming (or has it already arrived) Temescal District, Betty's new bakeshop is awash in bright hues of red and green, with retro ironing boards displaying her wares. Lined up along the countertop were rows and rows of her famous chewy ginger cookies and her succulent, dense, moist banana bread (which by the way is probably the best banana bread I've ever tasted).

In the back, as Betty and fellow bakers sampled what looked to be a heavenly strawberry shortcake, we tasted delicious nut-free brownies. Chewy, cakey, with the perfect crunchy outer crust, these are what brownies should taste like. Betty also sells lemon bars, rhubarb scones, sticky date pudding (another one of my all-time faves!), and oatmeal-raisin cookies (with walnuts). Soon to come are cakes and pies; she even plans to use special pie warmers so that customers can leave the bakery with a nice warm pie. Just like mom used to make and wouldn't let you have.

There are a lot of fantastic bakeries in the Bay Area, but Bakesale Betty is unique, taking the comforts of home and making those special, take-you-back-to-childhood treats better than anyone else. Isn't it nice to just swing by the local bakery and grab a thick slice of chewy honey-sweet banana bread to go with your coffee in the morning? I'm on my way now...

A heads up for all you local foodies out there...KQED is about to begin production on a new reality TV program called "Check, Please! Bay Area." Based on a show out of Chicago, it's a weekly restaurant review series in which Bay Area residents discuss their dining experiences in a TV roundtable. The application process to be on the show will commence online mid-July. Bay Area Bites will provide all the details on how to apply and will follow the program series to share all the reviews of the restaurants featured.

Do you want to be a TV star? Do you have a discerning palate? Can you dish about food in front of a camera? Can you write appetizing restaurant reviews? Are you at least 18 years of age? If so, you may eligible to be a guest on "Check, Please! Bay Area."

The application process is exclusively online so stay tuned for details on how to apply...

Title: Founder, Sonoma Syrup Company

Home town:
Southern California, living in Sonoma for the past 12 years

1. How did you come up with the idea for making syrups?
I've always messed around with sugar in the kitchen from preserving fruit to candying citrus peel. I wanted to use the bounty of my kitchen garden. I had lavender, mint and Meyer lemon and I was always looking for ways to preserve it so I created infused simple syrup for iced tea partly because I'm an iced tea drinker and I hate the way sugar always settles to the bottom of the glass.

Infused simple syrups are a classic ingredient. I looked into the history and found them in the earliest American cookbook, dating back to 1796. I used to use traditional Italian syrups to make sodas at home, but I wanted a high quality natural syrup. So I use real California natural fruits and flavors and pure cane sugar--no corn syrup or anything artificial.

2. What's your favorite season?
Baseball season, summertime. With three boys in little league, there's lots of fun all summer long, then there's Memorial day, Fourth of July...

Also our production is seasonal, especially Meyer lemon, which is harvested November through May. June is the harvest time for lavender and this year I got to see it being harvested.

3. What's your favorite flavor of syrup right now?
The vanilla bean has fine seeds of Madagascar vanilla. This is the only syrup in the world with vanilla seeds in it. It's the most versatile syrup--you can use it with fruit, coffee, brandy, whipped cream, marinades, for caramelizing or in tea. Peet's Coffee & Tea is using it in coffee. It was just chosen as a finalist for the NASFT (The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade) 2005 Product Awards this summer.

I also love the Meyer lemon in ice tea and pomegranate for a pink drinks, tangerine for cosmopolitans and lavender in martinis, like they make at the Sonoma Mission Inn.

4. What's the best thing about living in Sonoma?
The food! Sonoma itself, the Sonoma farmers market, there are such natural beauty and flavors here. The Bay Area supports natural and scrumptious food, even the bartenders want to use natural local flavors!

5. What book are you reading this summer?
Vanilla : The Cultural History of the World's Favorite Flavor and Fragrance by Patricia Rain. I'm really enjoying it, it's great.

Leaving aside the 750 mL standard, what's your favorite size wine bottle? The 3, 4.5, 6, 9, 12, and 16 liter bottles are always up there for me, not only because their giant proportions give an 'Alice in Wonderland' feel but for their crazy names as well: Jeroboam, Rehoboam, Methusalah, Salmanazar, Balthazar, and Nebuchadnezzar. I don't know who decided that the large-format sizes of wine bottle should bear the names of Biblical kings, but it strikes me as deliciously absurd.

Fancy nomenclature and daunting size of the giants aside, I think my favorite would have to be the 375 mL half bottle. It doesn't have a funny name and it's a little bit stubby, but at a table set for two, it lends itself perfectly to pairing with meal courses. Sometimes it can be a real pain to match different plates with one kind of wine, and two full-sized bottles can be a bit much to drink for two diners who plan on leaving the table under their own power. Enter the half bottle. Start with a 375 of a nice Sauvignon Blanc to enjoy with the oysters, then on to a half bottle of Cabernet or something from the Rhone to go with your lamb... you see the possibilities. Even for a single course meal a half bottle can at times make more sense than a full sized one, if you've got to drive or just don't feel like two or three glasses each. Of course, at most restaurants there are usually wines available by the glass, and while this is a perfectly reasonable solution to the question of divergent tastes or desires at the table that obviate the possibility of sharing even a half bottle, there exists the possibility that the bottle your glass is poured from was opened quite some time ago and the wine inside has suffered because of it. A half bottle is opened at your table, fresh for you to enjoy.

Unfortunately, not every restaurant that stocks wine carries small bottles, so when I find one that does I make sure to thank them for doing so and encourage them to continue. It is something I would love to see more of.

Personal chefs are one of those luxuries that are most often reserved for busy families with healthy disposable incomes. Truthfully though, there are plenty of other households that would benefit from these types of services, if only they weren't so prohibitively expensive.

Enter Besos Foods. Ron Pereira & Christine Volden started the company with a goal to "make it easy for everyone to make fresh, healthy meals at home with the highest quality ingredients." Their co-founder (and chef) Jamie Lloyd has developed a menu of meal kits containing fully-prepped ingredients and an easy-to-follow instruction guide; most meals take about 20 minutes to prepare. San Francisco addresses can order as late as 2pm for same-day delivery, while East and North Bay residents can order via Planet Organics, or pick up their kits at the company's headquarters in SoMa.

Recently, we ordered the Wild Halibut with Parmesan Polenta, Summer Squash, Garlic Confit, Purslane and Sorrel Pesto kit.

The kit is packaged in a cute little box that is easy to carry on public transit, a nice touch. Once home, you unpack nicely organized basics--in this case, two halibut filets, two polenta squares, a baggie of squash and another of purslane, plus some little containers of slicked shallots, confited garlic, sorrel pesto and homemade chicken stock. Most ingredients are organic and locally sourced.

Instructions advise you to pat the fish dry and, after seasoning with salt & pepper, searing until golden brown on both sides. Meanwhile, the polenta went into a non-stick pan and into a 400 degree oven for 15 or so minutes while I worked on the rest of the meal.

I sauteed the shallots in a bit of olive oil, then added the squash and deglazed the pan with the provided stock (which, incidentally, was absolutely amazing. I'd buy this stuff by the gallon, and never make stock again, if I could). After a couple of minutes, in went the purslane and garlic and about a minute later, I was ready to plate.

We thought the dish was well-balanced and the flavors complementary. All the ingredients were perfectly fresh, and it was nice to know that everything was locally sourced.

For busy households, singletons looking to impress a date, and people just learning to cook, Besos' meal kits are a great resource. But at $35-43 per kit for 2, they are a bit on the pricey side for regular use; however, the company has just released a series of new "Easy Kits" which run about $25, and might be a little more economical for most people.

Gift certificates are available, and we are planning to order one for a bachelor friend and another for our friends who are new parents.

For more pictures of the kit components, click here

Don't miss this terrific tribute to Julia Child.

Everyone knows who Julia Child was. She managed to stay in the limelight for nearly 40 years and is widely considered responsible to popularizing French cuisine and an general passion for cooking the United States. If you haven't yet seen this American Masters special, it airs again tonight on KQED channel 9 at 6 pm.