AAHAAMEDIA

Once considered obscure and faddish, the gluten-free diet has gained significant traction as a valid and respectable lifestyle choice. Just this year, Thomas Keller has released a gluten-free flour, and Barbara Kafka’s gluten-free cookbook, The Intolerant Gourmet, was nominated for a James Beard award. The movement is even on the ... Read More

Alicia Jenish, 34, has been the executive chef of Grand Cafe, the Union Square modern French brasserie, since late last year. Jenish’s food is both rustic and refined and popular menu mainstays like bouillabaisse, flatbread and steak tartare show off her culinary finesse. Healthy dishes show up as well: black ... Read More

A Hmong shaman blesses a young pregnant woman in rural Merced. Hmong refugees have been resettling in California’s Central Valley since the late 1970s, when the CIA retreated from their “Secret War” in Laos. Today the Central Valley is a hub for Hmong refugees. Most arrived with few personal belongings, but ... Read More

Celebrity chef Jacques Pépin has been cooking for over 60 years. He has published 27 cookbooks and recently won an IACP Award for his new TV series "Essential Pépin." Previously, Pépin has won a Daytime Emmy, numerous James Beard Awards and two of France's highest honors. Pépin joined Michael ... Read More

Husband and wife team, Akash and Rana Kapoor have created a name for themselves with their Curry Up Now food trucks, specializing in authentic and boldly flavored Indian street food. Their immense popularity spawned an equally popular brick and mortar joint in San Mateo, which opened last year. Curry Up Now ... Read More

Stanley Morris. photo courtesy of Meredith Fish French Blue is a new restaurant slated to open next month in the former Vanderbilt’s store space in downtown St. Helena. The team behind this new restaurant includes chef Philip Wang (Fog City Diner, Mason’s, Carneros Inn), noted wine country architect Howard Backen (Harlan ... Read More

What's the upside of the gluten-free, wheat-free craze? Diversity in flour! Finally, other healthful whole grains, from oats and rice to barley and kamut, are getting kitchen time and shelf space, elbowing out the tried-and-true bags of all-purpose white and whole wheat. Even if gluten and/or wheat sensitivity isn't your ... Read More

Petit Sale, Foie Gras a la Plancha with Lentils at Txoko We hurried along in the cloak of darkness, skirting the lamp posts, our footsteps echoing on the wet cobblestone. We reached our destination, threw a quick look over our shoulders to make sure we weren’t being followed, and then ... Read More

An elegant table sets the scene for a simple lunch at Montalvo Arts Center. Photo: Niki Ford The lunch couldn't have been simpler: A green salad, a fried egg, and some spiced basmati rice with carrot and beet condiments and crispy fried onions. The long wooden table was piled high with ... Read More

The new four-part PBS Series "America Revealed" explores the hidden food, energy, transportation and manufacturing systems that keep America running. Forum talks to host Yul Kwon about the new program, and about his unique career. The multi-talented Stanford grad has also worked at Google and the FCC. He's also the ... Read More