Blogger klatsch: Local public affairs show This Week in Northern California (is it too late to beg the perennially sweet Belva Davis to be our auntie?) christened a new segment Friday: Food and Wine This Week, hosted by the perennially blond Leslie Sbrocco. Up last Friday? Bay Area Bites bloggers Stephanie Rosenbaum and Michael Procopio on the wine-splattered set of Check, Please! Bay Area. Okay, so maybe the eight-minute segment was a bit all over the map in its virgin run: Procopio, a waiter, talked about the downturn and chintzy tipping, while Rosenbaum took on street food and the SF Underground Farmers' Market. Frankly, it would've taken a whole box of Franzia White Grenache and a lot more than eight minutes to adequately probe those topics, but give Sbrocco props for broaching both. Pour a big glass of Chablis and watch for yourself (after the jump):
Panelists other than this blogger included Rich Higgins, brewmaster at the soon-to-open Social Kitchen and Brewery and a certified cicerone; Tiila Abbitt, beer tasting co-ordinator and FemALEist blogger; and Eric Cripe, beer manager at The Jug Shop and another local cicerone. We sampled the beers ― all widely available for under $2 per bottle ― in this order:
1. Pilsner Urquell (Plzen, Czech Republic)
2. Czechvar (Budweis, Czech Republic)
3. Trumer Pils (Berkeley, Calif., via Salzburg, Austria)
4. Budweiser (St. Louis, Mo., or likely Fairfield, Calif., but really São Paulo, Brazil)
5. Victory Prima Pils (Downington, Penn.)
6. Pabst Blue Ribbon (Woodbridge, Il.)
7. North Coast Scrimshaw (Ft. Bragg, Calif.)
Open today:
Passion Café French Bistro 28 Sixth St. (at Stevenson), 437-9730; open 8 a.m.-9 p.m. daily
