Hello Friends,
I feel like I just sent out my newsletter – how is it two weeks later? Maybe it’s because I took a whirlwind trip to Zurich – I was there for a mere 48 hours and now feel under the weather. Fingers crossed that whatever this is doesn’t last. My holiday season starts on Sunday when family arrives for Thanksgiving. Oy!
I’m keeping it short today – some early December events to get you warmed up for the holiday season, my November cookbook review, and my first gift guide of the season – cookbooks! I’ll reveal my latest restaurant news in December.
I hope you are feeling well. It’s always a good time to add some extra C to your wellness routine, right?
May you and yours have a beautiful Thanksgiving and I’ll see you in December!
What’s Hot: Holiday Carolers and Tea, A Bauble Bar, A Tractor Parade + More
Not all together and not all at the same time. These are just a few of the food and food-adjacent events that have caught my attention in early December.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at The Palace Hotel Garden Court
Bauble Bar at Four Seasons (thru Dec 25)
In a seasonal comeback The Bauble Bar at San Francisco’s Four Seasons Hotel returns as a luxurious take on Santa’s home. Using the jolly man’s red suit as inspiration, the team devised a room swathed in velvet reds and snowy whites. A canopy of hanging baubles adds plenty of silver and gold.
Cushy, lounge-style seating encourages lingering over plates of Spiny Lobster Crispy Rice, Blue Cheese & Iberico Ham Galette, and Oysters with apple and finger lime. Of course there is nog and mulled wine and whiskey-spiked Hot Cocoa. Because this Bar opens at happy hour and rolls on until the last sip of your after-dinner drink.
Tuesday–Saturday, 4 – 11 p.m., through December 25
Reservations strongly suggested.
Holiday Carolers at The Palace’s High Tea (Dec 3)
It’s true – you can step into the Winter Wonderland (the image above doesn’t do it justice) that is The Palace Hotel’s Holiday Tea program every weekend until December 24. But there’s only one date with the Charles Dickens Carolers – December 3.
The setting is equal parts iconic (amidst the grandeur of the Garden Court) and opulent (yes, the decor befits a palace) and everyone dresses up to match.
In addition to your tea, tiered trays of classic finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones, and cute, mini-pastries make a grand meal of tea. Carolers costumed in Dickensian splendor create a truly immersive experience. It’s an event designed for all ages and by the end, sugar plums will be dancing in everyone’s heads.
12 – 4 p.m.
Adults: $180 Children (ages 5–12): $85
Seven Fishes Party (Dec 6)
Healdsburg’s Ferrari-Carano Vineyards & Winery is switching up the multi-coursed Italian seafood seated dinner for a different sort of extravaganza. Think progressive party with bite-size, seafood-centric fare to pair with wines.
Yes, you will be moving from room to room, to enjoy:
- Dungeness Crab Halibut Fritter with saffron aioli
Paired with 2022 Dominique Chardonnay - Cacio e Pepe with strozzapreti
Paired with 2021 Sky High Ranch Pinot Noir - Local Seafood Cioppino shrimp, clams, and oysters with garlic toast
Paired with 2021 Sangiovese and 2022 Trésor
Chefs will demonstrate the art of making pasta – including some to take home – in in the Enoteca.
11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
$75 per person
30th Annual Holiday Tractor Parade (Dec 6)
Blending holiday spirit and agricultural tradition, the 30th anniversary of a parade that features a prominent symbol of agriculture makes its way down Calistoga’s Lincoln Avenue once the sun sets. (The organizers are aiming for 7 p.m. this year.) Alongside the construction and utility vehicles are floats decorated for the season, live music, and pop-up shops selling hot drinks, snacks and locally made gifts.
I suspect this one will be a big hit with the littles and anyone who likes their holiday adventures short and outside.
7 – 8 p.m. along Lincoln Ave.
Monthly Cookbook Column
Nite Yun, the owner of Lunette in San Francisco dishes on the ancestral food of Kampuchea (known in English as Cambodia) in My Cambodia. Yun pulls a thread from the dishes of her youth in Stockton, California, through her travels in Cambodia, to her first restaurant, Nyum Bai, with sweets inspired by SoCal’s Khmer doughnut shops.
Read the entire cookbook review on my website.
And We’re Off!
The holiday season is packed with ideas for gifting. I’ve got my first holiday gift guide – cookbooks – ready.
25 Cookbooks for Everyone On Your 2025 List
My list includes cookbooks published in 2025 from the doyenne of Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi, and digs deeper into regional and blended cooking styles around the world. Alongside a cookbook that considers Korean temple cooking are two books that look at the threads that bring together the cooking from Eastern Europe to China, a Christmas cookbook highlighting the Gilded Age, two cookbooks geared towards gluten-free baking and cooking, and one from the gal who opened a cooking school in Julia Child’s Provençal home.
Purchase links are embedded in each review.
Thanks for reading and be in touch.
Christina