My Dinner With Jacques, Grocery Outlet Favorites
An epic dinner, then bargain shopping at Grocery Outlet. From black truffle salad to Kraft mac and cheese, I take you on a neck-turning culinary journey.
Welcome back. A lot of good food and wine was consumed to write today’s communiqué. Sure, spot prawns, Akaushi beef and Valrhona chocolate are pure joys to consume, but so are jumbo avocados and tortilla chips.
CLUB MEMBERS: two more wine events left in 2025. They’re at the bottom of the email. Non-members are invited too, it just costs more - might be time to join!
Eat Drink Cook Wine Offers
Speaking of The Club, I’m launching EDC Wine Offers next week. I’ll be selling excellent wines, in sets of 2 to 12 depending, vetted and recommended by me, for 30 to 50% off. My “discount wine program” diverges from the rest by welcoming buyer connections with the wineries through future visits and instant VIP access. My offers are targeted toward wine-lovers who love to support the small brands, just need a little nudge in their direction. I’ll be your nudger!
And just you wait for my live video tasting parties featuring past, current and future wine offers. First live video Thursday, November 4, 5 PM PST.
EDC Wine Offers are open to all subscribers through 2025. Starting in January they will be available to club members exclusively. Look for my inaugural wine offer next Tuesday.
********** A paid Substack subscription = EDC Club Membership **********
A birthday dinner unlike any other
Combine great food & wine, high-end dining, and philanthropy and it’s just another night in Napa Valley Wine Country. Add these to the night’s main event, a birthday celebration for one of the most important culinary icons ever, and you can appreciate the history made at TORC Restaurant two Thursdays ago.
I’m talking about the October 23 Jacques Pépin birthday dinner and fundraiser hosted by TORC’s Sean and Cynthia O’Toole and John Schwartz of Amuse Bouche Wines. The dinner was the first of eight events in 11 days for Pépin in Napa & Sonoma. Furthermore, these were events 68 through 75 of the “90/90 Celebration Campaign,” 90 parties for Pépin’s 90th birthday. Its aim, to celebrate the man, the American culinary renaissance he helped create, and to raise money for his Jacques Pépin Foundation. To no one’s surprise, Napa Valley stepped up with enthusiasm, love and money.
The TORC dinner was a blast, and my wife Holly and I were thrilled to attend. The extra ls energy of a kick-off event added to the spirit as guests squeezed between tables during the reception. “Go say hi to Jacques, it’s your best chance of the night to talk to him,” John tells us. Holly hosted KQED TV pledge drives in the 1990s, and Jacque was her guest a few times. “Jacques, it’s been decades, but we did pledge together at KQED,” she reminds him. “One time we spent an entire segment talking about olive oils.” Jacques, lucid as ever, remembers.
We sit down for a five course dinner, each accompanied by a wine from John’s collection of labels (Amuse Bouche, Coup de Foudre, Au Sommet and more). My favorite dish, the black truffle salad with autumn greens and six-minute duck egg made by Chef Sean. He adapted it from “Jacques Pépin’s The Art of Cooking, Volume II.” Sean takes turns with Chef Kyle Connaughton of Single Thread Restaurant conjuring wonderful dishes based on a Pépin recipe.
John Schwartz plays MC for the night, welcoming guests, sharing his life-long stories about Jacques, introducing our chefs and leading the casual vibe as we dined on world-class, “serious” food & wine. It is presumptive of me to say the TORC dinner was the best of the Pépin 90/90 celebrations, but heck I’ll plant my flag anyway. We honor a man and a culinary movement with sincerity and joy amongst friends and amazing food and wine. What could be better?
The evening ends with Jacques blowing out the candles on his gazillion layer, Valrhona chocolate birthday cake made by Chef Lincoln Carson. We all enjoy with Gentleman’s Cut Bourbon, a Schwartz/Steph Curry partnership. And finally, a live auction to benefit the Jacques Pépin Foundation. The night, all told, raises around $100,000. The eight celebration events in Napa/Sonoma, all told, will exceed half a million in donations. Boom.
My Favorite Grocery Outlet Things
Let’s take a 180 degree turn for a very different type of food and wine adventure. My daughter Talia and I were a half hour early for flu and covid shots at CVS, giving us just enough time for our assignment: pick out ten of our favorite things to buy at Grocery Outlet Napa.
We’re at the “G.O.” in south Napa on Imola Avenue. You’ll find many of the same items at the North Napa G.O., but it’s hit & miss, even at the same store on any given day. If you don’t find the item there today, be sure to check again tomorrow.
Here are my ten Grocery Outlet picks, mostly tried & true favorites. A couple things are first-time buys because part of the G.O. experience is trying something new to you. Today’s list doesn’t include the freezer section, which is worthy of its own dedicated column. If you’re a Grocery Outlet fan like me, readers would like to know your favorites there – please add in comment section below.
Mission Jumbo Avocados, $3.99 for a bag of 4. Buy them nice and firm, then manage their ripening by refrigerating them.
Taco Works Tortilla Works, $2.99 for a one pound bag. This company out of San Luis Obispo makes a light, snappy tortilla chip that doesn’t break apart easily. These were $1.99 before this year, so it took me a while to get over the dollar bump. Still a fantastic deal.
Four Sisters Ground Coffee, $6.99/12 oz bag. I get the French roast. Italian roast is good too. We have a Peet’s palate for coffee and this suits us just fine.
Brendel Petite Sirah “Underdog” Napa Valley 2021, $9.99. The sign reads “Elsewhere $65.” If Brendel in Downtown Napa (closed now) sold this for $65, OUCH! The wine is good. A bit lacking on the mid-palate. $20 would be a fair price for it, so it’s a bargain at $10. As of 10/30 G.O. had lots of Brendel wines available.
Kraft Mac & Cheese, Ranch Flavored, $2.99 for 4 boxes. First time I’ve bought the Ranch flavored version. How is it? After I doctored up with pepper jack cheese, salumi, baby peas and sour cream, real tasty. I consider boxed mac & cheese the palette and I’m the artist. Calorie & sodium alert.
BUL-Ramen, artificial spicy chicken flavor – carbonara, $1.97 for five pouches. Respects to BUL for shamelessly posting artificial on the packaging. Spicy – get ready for forehead sweats. Calorie & sodium alert.
SimplyGO organic large, brown eggs, $3.97/dozen. Grocery Outlet’s brand. These are good eggs. Bonus tip: I use the SimplyGo cheeses for basic cheese needs like doctoring up that mac & cheese.
Ruby Bay Smoked Nova Salmon, $8.99/6 oz. Nova Salmon, by the way, means the salmon is salt cured before being smoked.
Kingsman English Cheddar, $3.99/6 oz. The fancy cheese island at G.O. is always worth a browse. The English cheddars they carry are always a safe bet. Sometimes they have aged Gouda from Holland – the real thing.
New York Style Sausage Co Italian sausage links, $4.59/one pound. Whether the mild or hot, these sausages are perfect to freeze in pairs, then pull out for an easy pick-me-up for red sauces, been soups and such.
Eat Drink Cook Events and Road Trips
Olivia Brion & Cantadora wine tasting and food pairing
Friday, November 14, 4 PM at Vin En Noir Wine Bar in Downtown Napa
Owner/winemaker Kira Ballotta tells stories and serves beguiling wines.
I make “bites” to perfectly pair with her wines. It’s a one-two punch!
$25/person - EDC members $10. BOOK IT
More of a party than a tasting…
The River Club Napa Thursday, December 11, 5 PM.
The River Club, home to Belong Wine Co and Paper Planes Wine Co, is on the Napa River. Beautiful spot to hang out and drink good wine. We’re going there on 12/11 for an evening event to get into the holiday spirit.
EDC Members pay half price for tastings and by the glass. BOOK IT
You made it: the end of this week’s Eat Drink Cook: a life-journal from a Napa Valley dad, wine expert and enthusiastic cook. I write stories about food, wine & cooking. Sometimes I sprinkle in bits about being a dad and just a guy enjoying these crazy times the best I can. Read me for food & wine tips, recipes, and stuff I come across that you may find interesting too. Join the club.
********** A paid Substack subscription = EDC Club Membership **********
Nice Jill and i has lunch many years ago when Copia first opened. Class act and what incredible energy at almost 90. We should all be so healthy. So much for the anti-alcohol folks.