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Artisan Cheese Festival - Exploring California's Celebrated Food Culture
Cheese connoisseurs (and wine lovers) will be very excited to check out the first annual Artisan Cheese Festival, taking place March 9-12, 2007, at the Sheraton Sonoma County-Petaluma Hotel. This weekend-long celebration will feature handcrafted cheeses, foods, wines and beers from California and beyond. Attendees will meet more than a dozen international award-winning cheesemakers and learn how to taste, buy, serve and enjoy distinctive artisan cheeses from the experts.
The four-day festival includes the following activities:
Friday 3/9 - “Meet the Artisans” reception and dine-around with festival experts and chefs at select Sonoma County restaurants.
Saturday 3/10 - Educational Tastings and Seminars led by cheese experts such as award-winning authors Laura Werlin and Janet Fletcher, cheesemakers Sue Conley (Cowgirl Creamery) and Mary Keehn (Cypress Grove) and Gary Danko, (founder of the acclaimed Restaurant Gary Danko).
Saturday Evening Artisan Gala Dinner prepared by top San Francisco and Sonoma chefs including Joey Altman of KRON-TV’s “Bay Café,” award-winning author, educator and radio food show host John Ash, Executive Chef Bruce Hill, of San Francisco’s popular Bix Restaurant and the new Picco in Marin County, Executive Chef Jesse Llapitan, of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and Cory Schreiber, James Beard Award-winning chef/owner of Wildwood restaurant in Portland.
Sunday 3/11 - Artisan Cheese Marketplace - attendees can sample and buy handcrafted products from artisan cheesemakers, food purveyors, vintners and brewers.
Monday 3/12 - Custom tours to visit local artisan creameries and wineries
Ten percent of the event’s ticket proceeds will be donated to local nonprofit organizations, including the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, Sonoma Land Trust, Petaluma Future Farmers of America, California Artisan Cheese Guild and Redwood Empire Food Bank.
The festival also coincides with Sonoma County’s Barrel Tasting Month, during which visitors can meet winemakers and taste wines straight from the barrel, with the option of purchasing wines yet to be marketed to the general public.
Tagged as: Chefs and Confectioners, fashiontribes.com, Food and Drink, Gourmet and Gourmand, International, Northern California, San Francisco, Special Events, Wine
