Get a jump on your holiday shopping at La Cocina and Do415’s Holiday Mercado at Ghirardelli Square. The mercado will be offering a festive good time on Saturday December 6th from 11am-8pm and Sunday December 7th from 11am-6pm. In addition to lots of beautiful and delicious wares, you can also munch on dishes from La Cocina businesses.
On Sunday, check out La Tamalada, a series of classes on tamales from experts including Alicia Villanueva of Alicia Tamales Los Mayas, Dilsa Lugo of Los Cilantros, Guadalupe Guerrero of El Pipila, and Isabel Pazos of El Buen Comer. The classes cost $25; tickets and a schedule can be found here.
To get the weekend off to a great start, join the party on Friday December 5th from 6pm-10pm for O, Mole Night. As the name suggests, there will be lots of mole, from La Cocina businesses El Huarache Loco and Sal de Vida, along with chefs like Traci Des Jardins (Jardinière, Arguello, Mijita), Charles Phan and Rymee Trobaugh (South), Michael Gaines (Kin Khao), and Gonzalo Guzman (Nopalito). Everyone will be offering their best take on mole, along with drinks and dessert. There will be live music keeping everything even more festive too. Tickets are $75 for general admission, which includes two drinks, all the mole you can manage, and dessert; VIP tickets are $100 and get you unlimited access to the bar, hello. Ghirardelli Square, North Point St. at Larkin.
Get out of the city for a holiday open house at MCEVOY RANCH on Sunday December 7th from 11am-3:30pm. The open house festivities include a chance to explore the ranch’s beautiful grounds and orchards, sample their fresh olio nuovo, and check out some of their other products. Registration for the event is $5 per person, with three time slots. You can also enjoy wine and food pairings of current vintages from $20, and purchase barbecue from Q Craft. 5935 Red Hill Rd., Petaluma, 866-617-6779.
Surely a cookbook or two has made it onto your holiday shopping list. To purchase books and meet authors and cooks, head to Berkeley for PASTA SHOP’s Holiday Book Fair on Saturday December 6th from 2pm-4pm. Local authors will be at their Fourth Street location, including Nicolaus Balla and Cortney Burns (Bar Tartine), Sara Deseran (Tacolicious), Tanya Holland (Brown Sugar Kitchen), and Alice Medrich (Flavor Flours). You can also nab some corresponding kitchen tools or treats, and purchases of more than one book will be discounted. 1786 4th St. at Delaware, Berkeley, 510-250-6004.
The idyllic setting at McEvoy Ranch. Photo from Facebook.
Event Info
Friday Dec 5, 2014 – Sunday Dec 7, 2014
