The 6th Annual Oregon Truffle Festival will be held in and around Eugene Oregon over three brisk winter days from January 28-30, 2011. Created to celebrate the magnificent Oregon truffles as they reach the peak of ripeness in their native soil, it is the first festival of its kind in North America, dedicated to sharing the experience of the chefs, foragers and fans of Oregon's wild truffles, from their hidden source in the forest to their glory on the table.

For more information and registration: www.oregontrufflefestival.com

Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI)  and Chef Ann Cooper, the nation’s “Renegade Lunch Lady,” have joined forces for a second year of Salad Bar Project to help bring fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy proteins to school lunch programs and raise awareness around healthier school food through a project that will fund 300 salad bars for public schools across the country.

“With childhood obesity levels at an all-time high, everyone has a stake in this fight and must take action to help change the way our children eat both at home and school,” said Walter Robb, co-chief executive officer for Whole Foods Market.   

From now until Sept. 29, shoppers may donate to the project at the check-out or make a donation online on  www.saladbarproject.org . Salad bar training tools and videos for school nutrition staff will also be available on www.LunchBox.org  

For more information about The Salad Bar Project as well as solutions for affordable, healthy lunches and recipe ideas visit Whole Foods Market’s Web site at: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/backtoschool/ .

The Calendar is heating up for this Fall. Registration is now open for the following events:...  Find out more in Calendar, Hot Events for:

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 from 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM  (an event for Trade and Press)  Tasting Panel Tour 2010- Miami, The Tasting Panel Magazine's 4th Annual Tour, featuring a selection of Double Gold Winners from the San Francisco International Wine Competition and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. http://tptour2010mia.eventbrite.com /

Wednesday, October 13, the 17^th Annual Great Match, The Wines of Spain. A day of trade, press and consumer tasting. The Biltmore,  Coral Gables. For addition information call 888-772-4694 or go to www.greatmatch.org   

Tuesday – Wednesday, October 26 – 27, The 14^th Americas Food & Beverage Show, Miami Beach Convention Center. This trade event expects to attract 6,300 buyers for 63 countries who will come to sample the largest selection of foods and beverages from over 350 exhibitors from over 27 countries.  For additional information and early registyration: www.americasfoodandbeverage.com

Monday, August 23, 2010, 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. The first Appleton Estate Rum 2010 Remixology Bartender’s Challenge . The Remixology Challenge will take place in four U.S. Markets: New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Miami.  Participants are challenged to create a beautifully balanced original Appleton Estate Reserve cocktail with a harmony of ingredients inspired by their favorite published song.  Each Appleton Estate Reserve cocktail will be judged not only on taste and originality, but presentation, creativity and inspiration from song to cocktail.

Participants must currently be bartenders at a bar or restaurant in Miami.  

One contestant from each market will head to the finals in New York City on August 30 – 31, 2010. The crowned champion from the finals will win a trip to Jamaica on October 20 – 26, 2010 to represent the United States in the Bartenders Challenge Global Showcase. Viceroy Miami, 485 Brickell Avenue, Miami, FL 33131. For more information on Appleton Estate Rum’s Bartender’s Challenge:  www.appletonreservemixologychallenge.com  .

Caviar farms spawn across Florida

by Nirvi Shah, The Miami Herald

Raising sturgeon for meat, leather, oil, fins and, of course, eggs, is a fledgling Florida industry that developed after a 1996 law made it possible to farm only exotic species of the fish.    Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/10/1769806/caviar-farms-spawn-across-florida.html#ixzz0whb9dzso

Photos: South Florida Gourmet

Hillbilly Truffle

by Alan Richman, GQ Magazine,  Photograph by François Halard

In France, they call them Périgords—and they’re known as the diamonds of the kitchen. You probably know them as black truffles, those baseball-sized fungi that are sniffed out of the earth by pigs or dogs, get sold for thousands of dollars, and transform any meal into a luxury item. So what happens when—sacrée merde!—an obsessed Yankee learns to grow them in the scrub woods of Davy Crockett’s Tennessee? 

Read More http://www.gq.com/food-travel/alan-richman/200908/alan-richman-perigord-black-truffles-tennessee?currentPage=1#ixzz0whRO8uUS

Vintage Liquors and Wine Bar, a 2,400 square foot space in Midtown is Mr. Nick Barrios' second location for  Vintage Liquors and Wine Bar, the first is in Pinecrest.  There is a wine tasting room with a local wine guide and a variety of fresh tapas.  Besides its extensive wine selection, it offers weekend tastings; cigar humidor; hard to find old and rare wines; great gifts & wine accessories; and a large selection of single malts and tequilas. The grand opening is on August 20.  

Midtown Vintage Liquors and Wine Bar is located at 3301 NE 1st Ave, Ste 105, Miami, FL, 33137. Pinecrest Vintage Liquors and Wine Bar,  11753 South Dixie Hwy, Pinecrest, FL, 33156.

Beer lovers, Food Lovers, Fun Lovers and Brewers rejoice! The 29th  Great American Beer Festival (GABF) September 16-18, will serve more than 2,200 different beers, in one-ounce tasting portions, from an estimated 462 U.S. breweries to the  event’s 49,000-plus attendees.

According to statistics provided by  the Brewers Association:  The number of U.S. breweries is at its highest level (1,599) since before Prohibition. In 2009, overall beer sales decreased 2.2%, while the craft brewing industry (small and independent) grew 7.2% by volume and 10.3% by dollars. Of the 1,599 breweries in the U.S., 1,558 are considered independent craft brewers

 In 2009, the premier U.S. beer festival sold out weeks in advance of the opening session.  Tickets are going fast and are available on www.GreatAmericanBeerFestival.com as well as  the 2010 Great American Beer Festival Facts and Figures page.  Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th Street, Denver, Colorado

Every Wednesday,   Red, the Steakhouse offers all bottles of wine under $100 for 50% off. The Miami Spice menu changes weekly.  Red The Steakhouse.   119 Washington Avenue Miami Beach, FL    305.534.3688   

From Friday August 13 to Sunday August 15,  the 1st annual Boogie Woogie Piano Festival in Coral Gables  hosted by owner Harald Neuweg and Miami’s own “Piano Bob” Wilder  will take place on the Stage inside Fritz & Franz Bierhaus in the Gables.  In addition to the regular menu the Bierhaus will serve New Orleans dishes like Jambalaya and Louisianan fish fry to the sound of  performers like Ann Rabson, Mike Wood, Joe Krown and John Gros all of New Orleans Louisiana, Eden Brent of Jackson, Mississippi as well as South Florida’s Motel Mel and Miami’s own Boogie Woogie Legend, Piano Bob.  

Admission is $ 10 per evening or $ 25 for the entire weekend. Tickets are available at Fritz & Franz Bierhaus  60 Merrick Way just north of Miracle Mile and west of 37th Ave. in Coral Gables. For more Information :  www.bierhaus.cc     305-774-1883

The Gold Medal Wine Tour is a series of dinners featuring the Gold Medal winning wines from the American Fine Wine Competition.  The GMWT is an opportunity to taste the best wines produced in America paired with a very special dinner specially created to pair with these wines by award-winning Chefs - all while supporting local charities and having a great time.

Dinners begin with a one hour “Sparkling Reception" featuring Mumm Napa Brut Rosé followed by a four course dinner paired with four Gold Medal winning wines, a silent auction benefiting the charity, door prizes, and a whole lot of fun. To make your reservations for the dinners, call 561.504.VINE (8463). As follows the schedule of dinners:

- September 30, Benefiting Tomorrow’s Rainbow  www.tomorrowsrainbow.org $125. At Henry’s 16850 Jog Road, Delray Beach, 561.638.1949

- October 14, Benefiting Miami Coalition for the Homeless  www.MiamiCoalitionfortheHomeless.org. $110. At Two Chefs, 8287 South Dixie  Highway, Miami, 305.663.2100

- October 28, Benefiting The Hope Center  www.thehopecenter.org $125. At Ortanique on the Mile, 278 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables, 305.446.7710

- November 10,  Benefiting YNoCure  www.YNoCure.org $125. At Area 31, 270 Biscayne Boulevard Way, on the 16th floor at EPIC Hotel, Miami, 305.424.5234

- November 11, 2010    Benefiting Deliver the Dream  www.DelivertheDream.org $111. At Lola’s on Harrison, 2032 Harrison Street, Hollywood, 954.927.9851

Also share your culinary talents and enter your Salsa or Gazpacho in the people's choice competition. Return your entry form http://www.napafarmbureau.org/images/Competition_Entry.pdf  and get $10 compesos and a free drink. The Napa Valley Tomato Festival,  September 4, 2010, 3 to 6 p.m. will be followed by a Farm Fresh Dinner 6:30-9:30pm    General Festival admission 3-6pm: $20 per person and includes a free drink and a $10 compesos redeemable at Compadres Rio Grille, $25 at the door. $10 for children 11-18. Children under 11 will be admitted without charge.  "Farm Fresh Dinner": $100 per seat, includes all festival activities earlier in the day and a family style dinner with beer and wine prepared by Silverado Brewing Company featuring grass fed beef provided by Long Meadow Ranch and fresh organic produce.  Call 707.224.5403 or log on to http://www.napafarmbureau.org/images/Dinner_Form.pdf  to purchase   tickets.

 "Letters to Juliet ", the new film directed by Gary Winick  starring Amanda Seyfried, Chris Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael García Bernal, and Franco Nero is not just about love, it is about wine, it’s also about oil,  cheeses, truffles and their terroir: the lovely Italian country side . See trailers, click here.

An American girl on vacation in Italy Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), finds an unanswered "letter to Juliet" in the House of Giulietta in Verona. She answers it as she is one of Juliet’s  "Secretary"  - hired to answer thousands of missives left at the fictional lover's Verona courtyard. The letter was written fifty years earlier by Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) who, when gets the response,  embarks on a fun journey with her grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) and Sophie. The film is woven with the colors, the scents and flavors of the Tuscan countryside and a friendship sparked around their  passion for the wine Tenuta Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino turns into a modern-time love affair.

For a preview of the movie go to: www.letterstojuliet-movie.com or http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/summit/letterstojuliet/ .

Cacique and Food Network Celebrity Chef Aarón Sánchez, will be launching its first-ever Go Auténtico Mexican Cook-Off Challenge on September 16 for the Mexican Independence Day Bicentennial.

Amateur chefs and food enthusiasts can submit their own original Mexican dish using Cacique’s  Hispanic products for a chance to compete in a final-four cook-off at Chef Sánchez’s restaurant, Centrico, in New York City that will be filmed, and broadcast over national television.

The grand prize winner will receive an all-expense-paid trip for two to Napa Valley, California and a five day Culinary Boot Camp Vacation at the Culinary Institute of America. The contest begins on September 16, 2010 and all recipes must be submitted by November 15, 2010.

For more information about the Go Auténtico Cook-Off Challenge, go to http://www.caciqueusa.com .

 As grassroots Meatless Monday initiatives continue to spread through communities and households across the country, the trend is being embraced by some of the nation’s greatest chefs.  

Celebrity chef Mario Batali has implemented Meatless Mondays in all 14 of his renowned restaurants, such as Babbo, Esca, Casa Mono and Carnevino Italian Steakhouse. Yes, even a steakhouse! Every Monday, Chef Batali’s menus feature delicious meatless alternatives for those customers looking to get healthy and help the environment by eliminating 15% of their saturated fat intake by making Monday… meatless. 

Wolfgang Puck has introduced Meatless Mondays in Puck Pizzeria & Cucina at Crystals at CityCenter in Las Vegas  and Chef John Frazer of  New York City’s Dovetail restaurant says business is up significantly on Mondays since he instituted the program.  “People are looking for healthy alternatives in increasing numbers so it just makes sense,” he says.

Meatless Monday (www.meatlessmonday.com ) is an initiative of The Monday Campaigns, a nonprofit organization working in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.