Lisa Newman is a city planner and the author of For The Love of Apricots: Recipes and Memories of Santa Clara County. The book is peppered with essays and original recipes featuring what else but apricots. Newman grew up in Saratoga in what was then known as “The Valley of Heart’s Delight” that was filled… Continue Reading
Jonathan Kauffman is a food writer at San Francisco Chronicle and the author of Hippie Food: How Back-to-the-Landers, Longhairs, and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat (2018), his debut book and a fascinating one on the history of food in American kitchens. Kauffman spent 5 years researching and writing this book that makes for an… Continue Reading
Amy Guittard is a fifth generation member of the family and the first woman to work in Guittard Chocolate Co of San Francisco. This is a 150 year chocolate company that runs 24/7 and produces over 200 chocolate products.
This was my first trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium that is about 90 minutes away from Silicon Valley. While I have visited Monterey and Carmel many times, I never did manage to visit the famous aquarium. Monterey Bay Aquarium demands your total attention from the moment you step in. There is so much to see… Continue Reading
We discovered a whole new world of Northern California when we took the back roads to Gilroy, Watsonville, Salinas and Carmel. These towns are located in the verdant Santa Clara Valley, Santa Cruz & Monterey counties that is home to “Artichoke capital of the world,” and “Salad Bowl of the world.” The arrival experience to these towns… Continue Reading
Like films, food and wine? Then the 6th Annual Napa Film Festival (NVFF) is the place to be from November 9-13, 2016. For 5 days you get to see feature films, shorts and documentaries and listen to panel discussions on food. And a big bonus of attendig a film festival in the wine country means you… Continue Reading
We sat down with Chris Garcia, curator at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View to find out about the evolution of technology and the history and legacy of Silicon Valley. The Computer History Museum is the place to see those huge computers that used punch cards to the advent of personal computers and smart… Continue Reading
We sat down with Vic Vanni of Solis Winery of Santa Clara Valley to talk about how his family got into the wine business and also taste some wine from his winery. Vani remembers the good old days when they lived in the “Valley of Heart’s Delight,” which is now known as Silicon Valley. His… Continue Reading
Earlier this week I visited the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. I got a guided tour from Chris Garcia, a curator at the museum. This is the place to see how the “Computing Revolution” started 2,000 years ago. The artefacts range from primitive calculating devices to Napier’s Bones to the Enigma machine and the first… Continue Reading
Meet Tom and Sandy Moller of Satori Cellars of Santa Clara Wineries. Tom is a techie-turned-winemaker, while Sandy is a yoga teacher and winemaker. The Mollers started Satori Cellars over 10 years ago and have gone on to win awards for their wines. We spoke to them to find out how they got started with… Continue Reading
Gino Fortino of Fortino Winery in Gilroy talks about Charbono wine, which is made out of an Italian grape varietal. There are only 80 acres of the Italian grape varietal Charbono grown in California and Fortino’s grows some of them. “Cult wine,” is often a phrase used when talking about Charbono. Fortino Winery was founded in… Continue Reading
Meet Dhruv Khannna, a lawyer and owner of Kirigin Cellars, the oldest winery in Santa Clara Valley. 2016 marks the centennial year of Kirigin Cellars located in the oldest wine growing region in California. Khanna combines the tech and agriculture strands of Santa Clara Valley, once known as “Valley of Heart’s Delight,” and now known as “Silicon… Continue Reading
Meet Gene Guglielmo, a third generation winemaker from Santa Clara county, the oldest wine growing region in California. Guglielmo Winery is the oldest continuously family owned and operated winery in Santa Clara Valley. We sat down with Guglielmo to find out the history of his family’s winery and taste a couple of Guglielmo wines. Guglielmo shares how… Continue Reading
We are celebrating California’s wine month with a series of audio, video and blog posts. In the San Francisco Bay area we are surrounded by wineries and vineyards from Sonoma, Napa, Livermore to the wineries of Santa Clara county. Santa Clara Valley is home to the oldest wine growing region in California. Tucked away in Silicon… Continue Reading
We sat down to talk with Master Sommelier Richard Dean of San Francisco’s Taj Campton Place. There are less than 240 Master Sommeliers in the world. He was the youngest in the world and the second American to become a Master Sommelier in the world. He became a Master Sommelier about 40 years ago when California was not… Continue Reading
A visit to Intel Museum is Santa Clara was in my bucket list for over a decade. I had driven past Intel so many times, and yet never made the right turn to Intel’s campus and to the Robert Noyce building where the museum is located. I finally did visit the museum and came away learning… Continue Reading
One of the best places to see an old-fashioned or should I say “Old Tyme” 4th of July Parade in Northern California is the one at Columbia State Park. It is a couple of hours drive as the crow flies east from San Francisco Bay area. Columbia is a Gold Rush town and the parade is… Continue Reading
The San Jose Jazz Winter Fest starts on Feb 25th and runs all the way through March 8, 2016. And this year they have a great line-up of singers, who will perform in downtown San Jose and in Palo Alto. I think this is the first time San Jose Jazz is spreading its wings and reaching to… Continue Reading
Forget zooming up and down the coastal towns of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa to explore the various cuisines of this region. Instead head straight to Karavalli at Taj Gateway in Bangalore to explore new and old dishes from these coastal towns that are a patchwork quilt of Christian, Hindu and Muslim communities. There are the… Continue Reading
My 5 best vegetarian foods to eat in Bangalore are: filter coffee, idli, dosa,vada and coconut water. Technically speaking coffee and coconut water probably qualify as drinks. Now that I have shared the list let me share why they made it to my 5 best vegetarian foods to eat in Bangalore. Every year on my annual… Continue Reading
I was craving for some Mexican food from San Jose’s La Victoria Taqueira in Bangalore after seeing all those Superbowl 50 tweets about salsa and burritos. If only there was a local taqueria from where I could order a veggie burrito and get some nachos with some guac it would be wonderful I thought. While… Continue Reading
Coorg or Kodagu is a stunningly beautiful and verdant place in the Southern state of Karnataka, India. Driving through Coorg’s rolling grasslands, misty mountains and thick forests studded with coffee and pepper plantations is a wonderful experience. Of course, you need to overlook the potholes dotting the road as you make your way through… Continue Reading
Santa Clara county is not only home to many Silicon Valley companies, but is also home to some of the oldest vineyards in California. Some of the vineyards in Santa Clara Valley are over 100 years old. Surprised? So was I when I discovered the Santa Clara Wine trail, which is literally a few miles south… Continue Reading
Our interview with author and essayist Pico Iyer on writing, traveling, American pop culture, data obesity, mass distraction, films and Bollywood. Earlier this year Iyer was in San Francisco, which is where we recorded this interview. Is travel writer the best way to describe Iyer? He calls himself a “transport writer.” Transformation is a subject that… Continue Reading
Meet Samantha Moitke of Mayfield Bakery and Cafe in Palo Alto. We caught up with Executive Pastry Chef Moitke at the first food and technology event called BiTESV at Santa Clara. Moitke was part of the original team when Mayfield Bakery and Cafe opened. In this interview we spoke about the food served in the… Continue Reading
We caught up the talented Avery Ruzicka, head baker and partner of Manresa Bread in Los Gatos, CA at the BiteSV conference in Santa Clara. BiteSV was the first food and technology conference that was held in June 2015 in Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara. Chef/Owner David Kinch heads Manresa, a Michelin-starred restaurant that consistently gets rave reviews.… Continue Reading
A couple of days ago during a visit to San Francisco’s The Fairmont Hotel I finally got to meet Thomas Wolfe, Chief concierge of the hotel. Elegantly dressed in a suit and a bow tie he graciously answered all my inquisitive questions about the hotel’s rich history and famous guests like, Alfred Hitchcock and Ella Fitzgerald, who… Continue Reading
Dosas in a San Francisco street corner? South India Street Food in the heart of San Francisco? I walk by Market and Montogomery quite often and how in heaven’s name did I fail to see this? Who started Dosa Brothers? These were the thoughts flitting through my mind as I impatiently waited for the traffic light to… Continue Reading
Meet Mr. Garlic aka Gerry Foisy. For 28 years come rain or sunshine you will find him at the annual 3-day Gilroy Garlic Festival. His wife, Jeanne put down his name as a volunteer and ever since then he has continued to play Mr. Garlic dressed in his trademark garlic bulb suit topped with a… Continue Reading
Garlic. The smell of stinking rose will tickle your nose as you travel south on Highlway 101 from San Jose to Gilroy. Located about 25 kilometers from San Jose, Gilroy is often described as the “Garlic Capital of the World.” And it comes as a surprise to many people when they discover that Gilroy is… Continue Reading
The Kamla Show 